bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Payments for ecosystem services and corporate social responsibility: Perspectives on sustainable production, stakeholder relations, and philanthropy in Thailand
Authors: Thompson Benjamin S. 
Published: December 2018

AbstractPayments for ecosystem services (PES) are environmental management tools that enable corporations to simultaneously enhance their environmental performance and fund sustainable development in rural areas. PES is primarily promoted as part of a sustainable production strategy for conserving natural resources, offsetting carbon emissions, and green supply chain management. Nevertheless, PES uptake by the private sector remains low, and few studies have analysed whether corporate‐financed PES schemes conform to this rationale. This study evaluates three of the first PES schemes in Thailand, financed by large corporations in the water utilities, aquaculture, and beverage sectors. Interviews with 39 business managers and project stakeholders suggest that PES may be viewed as a tool for philanthropy, public relations, and gaining license to operate—akin to many corporate social responsibility initiatives. Explanations and ramifications are discussed in the context of ecological uncertainty, risk management, financial performance, organisational learning, and the corporate‐engagement strategies of non‐governmental organisations.
Influence of Carbon and Oxygen Chemical Potentials on the Hydrogen Donor Identity During Methanation on Ni, Co, and Ni‐Co Clusters
Authors: Lachkov Petar T. , Chin Ya‐Huei (Cathy) 
Published: December 2018

AbstractRate measurements in the kinetically controlled regime and equilibrium carbon and oxygen chemical titrations show two distinct mechanistic paths during COx methanation reactions on first‐row transition metal clusters. On Ni and, for a limiting set of conditions, Ni−Co clusters, the reaction occurs via the addition of a hydrogen adatom into CH3* intermediates on clusters partially covered with carbon. On Co and, in a subset of conditions, Ni−Co clusters, it occurs via the donation of hydrogen from OH* to CH3* on clusters partially covered with reactive oxygen adatoms (O*). The [CO]2‐to‐[CO2] and [CO2]‐to‐[CO] operating ratios are the surrogates of carbon and oxygen chemical potentials, respectively, as a consequence of water‐gas shift equilibration. These ratios, together with the carbon and oxygen binding energies, determine the relative surface coverages of carbon and oxygen, the involvement of H* vs. OH* in the kinetically‐relevant step, and in turn, the rate dependencies. Stronger carbon and oxygen binding energies lead to more stabilized transition states of the kinetically relevant steps and larger methanation rates.
Carbon Catalyzed Hydroxylation of Benzene with Dioxygen to Phenol over Surface Carbonyl Groups
Authors: Shan Wanjian , Li Shuai , Cai Xiaochun , Zhu Jie , Zhou Yu , Wang Jun 
Published: December 2018

AbstractCarbon materials are promising environmentally‐benign heterogeneous catalysts but design of effective carbon catalysts with comparable or even superior performance to metal‐based ones is highly challengeable. Herein, N‐doped mesoporous carbons with the surface enriched with abundant oxygen species were synthesized by a facile hydrothermal doping strategy in the self‐assembly of phenolic resin, followed with a carbonization process. Direct hydroxylation of benzene to phenol with O2 as the sole oxidant was effectively catalyzed by these carbons, affording a yield superior or comparable to previous efficient transition metal and even noble metal‐based catalysts. The catalyst is facilely recovered and stably reused. The surface carbonyl groups are the active sites for O2 activation (rate determining step) to generate hydroxyl radicals, which are the reactive oxygen species to oxidize the benzene. This methodology is readily extendable to the oxidation of various other benzene derivatives.
Borylated N‐Heterocyclic Carbenes: Rearrangement and Chemical Trapping
Authors: Kristinsdóttir Lilja , Vasko Petra , Niu Haoyu , Kolychev Eugene L. , Campos Jesús , Fuentes M. Ángeles , Hicks Jamie , Thompson Amber L. , Aldridge Simon 
Published: December 2018

AbstractThis study details attempts to access N‐heterocyclic carbenes (NHCs) featuring the diazaborolyl group, {(HCNDipp)2B}, as one or both of the N‐bound substituents, to generate strongly electron‐donating and sterically imposing new carbene ligands. Attempts to isolate N‐heterocyclic carbenes based around imidazolylidene or related heterocycles, are characterized by facile N‐to‐C migration of the boryl substituent. In the cases of imidazolium precursors bearing one N‐bound diazaborolyl group and one methyl substituent, deprotonation leads to the generation of the target carbenes, which can be characterized in situ by NMR measurements, and trapped by reactions with metal fragments and elemental selenium. The half‐lives of the free carbenes at room temperature range from 4–50 h (depending on the pattern of ancillary substituents) with N‐to‐C2 migration of the boryl function being shown to be the predominant rearrangement pathway. Kinetic studies show this to be a first‐order process that occurs with an entropy of activation close to zero. DFT calculations imply that an intramolecular 1,2‐shift is mechanistically feasible, with calculated activation energies of the order of 90–100 kJ mol−1, reflecting the retention of significant aromatic character in the imidazole ring in the transition state. Trapping of the carbene allows for evaluation of steric and electronic properties through systems of the type LAuCl, LRh(CO)2Cl, and LSe. A highly unsymmetrical (but nonetheless bulky) steric profile and moderately enhanced σ‐donor capabilities (compared with IMes) are revealed.
Cobalt‐Catalyzed Hiyama‐Type C−H Activation with Arylsiloxanes: Versatile Access to Highly ortho‐Decorated Biaryls
Authors: Bu Qingqing , Gońka Elżbieta , Kuciński Krzysztof , Ackermann Lutz 
Published: December 2018

AbstractVersatile direct Hiyama‐type C−H arylations of benzamides were accomplished with organosiloxanes by chelation‐assisted cobalt catalysis. The C−H arylation featured broad substrate scope, including challenging C(sp3)−H activation, the use of γ‐valerolactone as biomass‐derived solvent, and selectively provided the desired biaryls, even when being highly sterically hindered.
The energy carriers hydrogen, natural gas and liquefied gas in comparism
Authors: Grofe Theodor , Rubner Isabel 
Published: December 2018

AbstractDie Energieversorgung ist gesellschaftlich und auch schulisch ein spannendes und relevantes Themenfeld. In diesem Artikel wird eine vergleichende Untersuchung der drei Energieträger Wasserstoff, Erdgas und Autogas hinsichtlich ihrer Verbrennungsenthalpien mit einfachen Schulexperimenten vorgestellt. Dabei werden die massenbezogene und die volumenbezogene bzw. stoffmengenbezogene Energiedichte in den Blick genommen, die sich jeweils unterscheiden. Die Experimente sind mit sehr einfachen Mitteln durchführbar und eignen sich als Schülerübungen sowie als Demonstrationsversuche.
“Colourful energy“ from the Caribbean – a hybrid redox flow battery with Blue Curaçao
Authors: Novotny Jana , Quarthal Dominik , Solovev Andreas , Oetken Marco 
Published: December 2018

AbstractDer folgende Beitrag zeigt, wie mit einem einfachen Aufbau eine für die Schule sehr effiziente Hybrid‐Redox‐Flow‐Batterie realisiert werden kann. Die Implementierung des so zukunftweisenden Themenfeldes der modernen Speichermedien ist ein Paradebeispiel für eine curriculare Innovation und sollte bereits in die Lehrpläne der Schulen erfolgen, da hier häufig entscheidende Weichen hinsichtlich der Berufswahl gestellt werden und der Fortbestand unserer auf Naturwissenschaft und Technik beruhenden Industriegesellschaft und das Wohl ihrer Menschen in höchstem Maße von der Qualifizierung der jungen Menschen abhängig sind. Zur höheren Motivation der Schülerinnen und Schüler wurde ein auf Blue Curaçao basierter Katholyt eingesetzt. Durch die Verwendung dieser „Alltagschemikalie“ und des am „state of the art“ anknüpfenden Themenfeldes „Redox‐Flow‐Batterien“ kann ein Lebensweltbezug der Lernenden im Unterricht erzeugt werden, welcher den Beliebtheitsgrad des Chemieunterrichts steigern soll.
Synthesis, Electrochemical and Photochemical Studies on π‐Extended Mono‐β‐Functionalized Porphyrin Dyads
Authors: Prakash Kamal , Sankar Muniappan , Seetharaman Sairaman , D'Souza Francis 
Published: December 2018

AbstractA series of π‐conjugated mono‐β‐functionalized donor−acceptor porphyrin dyads (1–4) with various donor groups (phenyl, naphthyl, anthracenyl and pyrenyl) and their metal complexes (M=Zn(1 a–4 a), Cu(1 b–4 b), Co(1 c–4 c) and Ni(1 d–4 d)) were synthesized and characterized by various spectroscopic and electrochemical techniques. A modified one‐step Horner‐Wadsworth‐Emmons reaction was performed on monoformyl porphyrin to get ethenyl‐linked mono‐β‐porphyrin dyads in good to excellent yields (70–90 %). Red‐shifted absorption and emission spectra were observed as compared to unsubstituted pristine tetraphenylporphyrins due to π‐extended donors. Time‐resolved fluorescence studies confirmed the effective intramolecular Förster energy transfer from the donor moiety to the porphyrin core in anthracene‐ and pyrene‐appended porphyrin dyads. DFT and TD‐DFT optimization signified that the orientation of the donor and acceptor plays a vital role in energy transfer as co‐planarity of the donor with the porphyrin core increases the energy transfer efficiency. The distribution of electron density on HOMOs and LUMOs indicated an excitation energy transfer (EET) mechanism from the donor moiety to the porphyrin acceptor core. All porphyrin dyads exhibited a cathodic shift in their oxidation potential suggesting facile oxidation of the porphyrin core due to π‐extension and the presence of electron‐donating moieties. Finally, femtosecond transient absorption spectral studies were performed to secure evidence of excitation transfer and kinetic information of the energy transfer event in the dyads.
Rapid Assessment of Mitochondrial Complex I Activity and Metabolic Phenotyping of Breast Cancer Cells by NAD(p)H Cytometry
Authors: Ramanujan V Krishnan 
Published: December 2018

AbstractCancer cells are known to display a variety of metabolic reprogramming strategies to fulfill their own growth and proliferative agenda. With the advent of high resolution imaging strategies, metabolomics techniques, and so forth, there is an increasing appreciation of critical role that tumor cell metabolism plays in the overall breast cancer (BC) growth. In this report, we demonstrate a sensitive, flow‐cytometry‐based assay for rapidly assessing the metabolic phenotypes in isolated suspensions of breast cancer cells. By measuring the temporal variation of NAD(p)H signals in unlabeled, living cancer cells, and by measuring mitochondrial membrane potential {Δψm} in fluorescently labeled cells, we demonstrate that these signals can reliably distinguish the metabolic phenotype of human breast cancer cells and can track the cellular sensitivity to drug candidates. We further show the utility of this metabolic ratio {Δψm/NAD(p)H} in monitoring mitochondrial functional improvement as well as metabolic heterogeneity in primary murine tumor cells isolated from tumor biopsies. Together, these results demonstrate a novel possibility for rapid metabolic functional screening applications as well as a metabolic phenotyping tool for determining drug sensitivity in living cancer cells. © 2018 International Society for Advancement of Cytometry
Combining active restoration and targeted grazing to establish native plants and reduce fuel loads in invaded ecosystems
Authors: Porensky Lauren M. , Perryman Barry L. , Williamson Matthew A. , Madsen Matthew D. , Leger Elizabeth A. 
Published: December 2018

AbstractMany drylands have been converted from perennial‐dominated ecosystems to invaded, annual‐dominated, fire‐prone systems. Innovative approaches are needed to disrupt fire‐invasion feedbacks. Targeted grazing can reduce invasive plant abundance and associated flammable fuels, and fuelbreaks can limit fire spread. Restored strips of native plants (native greenstrips) can function as fuelbreaks while also providing forage and habitat benefits. However, methods for establishing native greenstrips in invaded drylands are poorly developed. Moreover, if fuels reduction and greenstrip establishment are to proceed simultaneously, it is critical to understand how targeted grazing interacts with plant establishment. We determined how targeted grazing treatments interacted with seed rate, spatial planting arrangement (mixtures vs. monoculture strips), seed coating technology, and species identity (five native grasses) to affect standing biomass and seeded plant density in experimental greenstrips. We monitored for two growing seasons to document effects during the seedling establishment phase. Across planting treatments, ungrazed paddocks had the highest second‐year seeded plant densities and the highest standing biomass. Paddocks grazed in fall of the second growing season had fewer seedlings than paddocks grazed in spring, five months later. High seed rates minimized negative effects of grazing on plant establishment. Among seeded species, Elymus trachycaulus and Poa secunda had the highest second‐year densities, but achieved this via different pathways. Elymus trachycaulus produced the most first‐year seedlings, but declined in response to grazing, whereas P. secunda had moderate first‐year establishment but high survival across grazing treatments. We identified clear tradeoffs between reducing fuel loads and establishing native plants in invaded sagebrush steppe; similar tradeoffs may exist in other invaded drylands. In our system, tradeoffs were minimized by boosting seed rates, using grazing‐tolerant species, and delaying grazing. In invaded ecosystems, combining targeted grazing with high‐input restoration may create opportunities to limit wildfire risk while also shifting vegetation toward more desirable species.
Eusociality outcompetes egalitarian and solitary strategies when resources are limited and reproduction is costly
Authors: Fronhofer Emanuel A. , Liebig Jürgen , Mitesser Oliver , Poethke Hans Joachim 
Published: December 2018

AbstractExplaining the evolution and maintenance of animal groups remains a challenge. Surprisingly, fundamental ecological factors, such as resource variance and competition for limited resources, tend to be ignored in models of cooperation. We use a mathematical model previously developed to quantify the influence of different group sizes on resource use efficiency in egalitarian groups and extend its scope to groups with severe reproductive skew (eusocial groups). Accounting for resource limitation, the model allows calculation of optimal group sizes (highest resource use efficiency) and equilibrium population sizes in egalitarian as well as eusocial groups for a broad spectrum of environmental conditions (variance of resource supply). We show that, in contrast to egalitarian groups, eusocial groups may not only reduce variance in resource supply for survival, thus reducing the risk of starvation, they may also increase variance in resource supply for reproduction. The latter effect allows reproduction even in situations when resources are scarce. These two facets of eusocial groups, resource sharing for survival and resource pooling for reproduction, constitute two beneficial mechanisms of group formation. In a majority of environmental situations, these two benefits of eusociality increase resource use efficiency and lead to supersaturation—a strong increase in carrying capacity. The increase in resource use efficiency provides indirect benefits to group members even for low intra‐group relatedness and may represent one potential explanation for the evolution and especially the maintenance of eusociality and cooperative breeding.
A practical introduction to microbial molecular ecology through the use of isolation chips
Authors: Alessi Anna M. , Redeker Kelly R. , Chong James P. J. 
Published: December 2018

AbstractIn the context of antimicrobial resistance as one of the most serious issues faced globally by health providers, we explored a practical introduction to molecular microbial ecology. We designed field work and practical experiments for third year members of a 4 year undergraduate Masters Program, in which the students employed traditional and novel isolation techniques to identify antimicrobial activities from soil dwelling microorganisms. Students gained experience in isolating DNA from complex microbial communities, amplifying 16S rRNA genes and applied richness/diversity indices as well as principal coordinate analyses to the interpretation of the data they obtained from high throughput sequencing. Our results confirmed that isolation chips facilitate the growth of a greater diversity and different species subset from the complex soil microorganism community than traditional plate spreading techniques. However, rarefaction of 16S rRNA amplicon sequencing data showed that the majority of observed species in soil remain unculturable by current methods. Based on the written reports produced by the students carrying out the work, we concluded that the described protocols are robust and informative, that these activities provide a good practical introduction to the theories and practice of molecular ecology and can be easily deployed to groups of six or more students in a cost‐effective manner.
Effects of a presumably protective endosymbiont on life‐history characters and their plasticity for its host aphid on three plants
Authors: Li Shirong , Liu Deguang , Zhang Rongfang , Zhai Yingting , Huang Xianliang , Wang Da , Shi Xiaoqin 
Published: December 2018

AbstractHamiltonella defensa is well known for its protective roles against parasitoids for its aphid hosts, but its functional roles in insect‐plant interactions are less understood. Thus, the impact of H. defensa infections on life‐history characters and the underlying genetic variation for the grain aphid, Sitobion avenae (Fabricius), was explored on three plants (i.e., wheat, oat, and rye). Compared to cured lines, H. defensa infected lines of S. avenae had lower fecundity on wheat and oat, but not on rye, suggesting an infection cost for the aphid on susceptible host plants. However, when tested on rye, the infected lines showed a shorter developmental time for the nymphal stage than corresponding cured lines, showing some benefit for S. avenae carrying the endosymbiont on resistant host plants. The infection of H. defensa altered genetic variation underlying its host S. avenea’s life‐history characters, which was shown by differences in heritabilities and genetic correlations of life‐history characters between S. avenae lines infected and cured of the endosymbiont. This was further substantiated by disparity in G‐matrices of their life‐history characters for the two types of aphid lines. The G‐matrices for life‐history characters of aphid lines infected with and cured of H. defensa were significantly different from each other on rye, but not on oat, suggesting strong plant‐dependent effects. The developmental durations of infected S. avenae lines showed a lower plasticity compared with those of corresponding cured lines, and this could mean higher adaptability for the infected lines.Overall, our results showed novel functional roles of a common secondary endosymbiont (i.e., H. defensa) in plant‐insect interactions, and its infections could have significant consequences for the evolutionary ecology of its host insect populations in nature.
Near‐complete genome assembly and annotation of the yellow drum (Nibea albiflora) provide insights into population and evolutionary characteristics of this species
Authors: Han Zhaofang , Li Wanbo , Zhu Wen , Sun Sha , Ye Kun , Xie Yangjie , Wang Zhiyong 
Published: December 2018

AbstractYellow drum (Nibea albiflora) is an important fish species in capture fishery and aquaculture in East Asia. We herein report the first and near‐complete genome assembly of an ultra‐homologous gynogenic female yellow drum using Illumina short sequencing reads. In summary, a total of 154.2 Gb of raw reads were generated via whole‐genome sequencing and were assembled to 565.3 Mb genome with a contig N50 size of 50.3 kb and scaffold N50 size of 2.2 Mb (BUSCO completeness of 97.7%), accounting for 97.3%–98.6% of the estimated genome size of this fish. We further identified 22,448 genes using combined methods of ab initio prediction, RNAseq annotation, and protein homology searching, of which 21,614 (96.3%) were functionally annotated in NCBI nr, trEMBL, SwissProt, and KOG databases. We also investigated the nucleotide diversity (around 1/390) of aquacultured individuals and found the genetic diversity of the aquacultured population decreased due to inbreeding. Evolutionary analyses illustrated significantly expanded and extracted gene families, such as myosin and sodium: neurotransmitter symporter (SNF), could help explain swimming motility of yellow drum. The presented genome will be an important resource for future studies on population genetics, conservation, understanding of evolutionary history and genetic breeding of the yellow drum and other Nibea species.
Sustainability governance in public administration: Interpreting practical governance arrangements in Swiss cantons
Authors: Bornemann Basil , Christen Marius 
Published: December 2018

AbstractIn order to play a key role in the governance of societal change towards sustainability, public administrations need to transform their own ways of working, that is, their internal governance. This paper complements existing research on sustainability governance in public administration that focuses on formal institutions and instruments with a practice‐oriented interpretive perspective. Drawing on an open analytical framework and using qualitative document and interview analyses, the paper reconstructs sustainability governance in public administrations from the perspective of the actors responsible for the task, that is, sustainability officers. Based on detailed case studies on sustainability governance in six Swiss cantons, four ideal types of sustainability governance are derived, which help to better structure the empirical variety of practical sustainability governance arrangements. The results show that sustain‐ability governance is designed and implemented “on the ground” in a variety of ways, with overall diversity being confined. Both research and practice can benefit from such a conceptually and empirically enriched image of sustainability governance in public administrations.
Batch‐injection Amperometric Analysis on Screen‐printed Electrodes: Analytical System for High‐throughput Determination of Pharmaceutical Molecules
Authors: Stefano Jéssica S. , Dias Aline C. , Arantes Iana V. S. , Costa Brenda M. C. , Silva Luiz A. J. , Richter Eduardo M. , Banks Craig E. , Munoz Rodrigo A. A. 
Published: December 2018

AbstractThis work presents a single analytical system able to perform high‐throughput determinations of different pharmaceutical molecules on screen‐printed electrodes (SPEs) assembled on a batch‐injection analysis (BIA) cell. Two types of SPEs, both containing a carbon conductive ink as working electrode, were selected for the determination of levamisole (LVM) in aqueous and sodium levothyroxine (NaLVT) in hydroethanolic media. The main analytical characteristics of the proposed system for both examples are high precision (RSD <3.8 %, n=10), low detection limits (submicromolar range), and high sample‐throughput (>150 h−1) using a single SPE, demonstrating the extended lifetime of such sensors, which are adequate for routine pharmaceutical analysis. The proposed analytical system requires battery‐powered portable devices, including potentiostat and reader, electronic micropipette, BIA cell and SPEs, and can be applied for a wide range of pharmaceutical molecules. In case of analyte adsorption on electrode surface, fast electrode cleaning can be supplied by external stirring easily adapted to the cell, which is demonstrated in this work for NaLVT determination.