bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Modelling marine larval dispersal: a cautionary deep-sea tale for ecology and conservation
Authors: Ross Rebecca E. , Nimmo-Smith W. Alex M. , Torres Ricardo , Howell Kerry L. 
Published: April 2019

AbstractLarval dispersal data are increasingly sought after in ecology and marine conservation, the latter often requiring information under time limited circumstances. Basic estimates of dispersal are often used in these situations acknowledging their oversimplified nature. Larval dispersal models (LDMs) are now becoming more popular and may be a tempting way of refining predictions, but prior to targeted groundtruthing their predictions are of unknown worth. This case study uses deep-sea LDMs to compare predictions of dispersal. Two LDMs driven by different example hydrodynamic models are compared, along with an informed estimate based on mean current speed and planktonic larval duration (PLD) to provide insight into predictive variability. LDMs were found to be more conservative in dispersal distance than an estimate. This difference increased with PLD which may result in a bigger disparity for deep-sea species predictions. Although LDMs were more spatially targeted than an estimate, the two LDM predictions were also significantly different from each other and would result in contrasting advice for marine conservation. These results show a greater potential for model variability than previously appreciated by ecologists and strongly advocates groundtruthing predictions before use in management. Advice is offered for improved model selection and interpretation of predictions.
Epigenetic gestational age and trajectories of weight and height during childhood: a prospective cohort study
Authors: Bright Harold D. , Howe Laura D. , Khouja Jasmine N. , Simpkin Andrew J. , Suderman Matthew , O’Keeffe Linda M. 
Published: April 2019

AbstractBackgroundDifferences between an individual’s estimated epigenetic gestational age (EGA) and their actual gestational age (GA) are defined as gestational age acceleration (GAA). GAA is associated with increased birthweight and birth length. Whether these associations persist through childhood is yet to be investigated.MethodsWe examined the association between GAA and trajectories of height and weight from birth to 10 years (n=785) in a British birth cohort study, the Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children (ALSPAC). EGA of participants was estimated using DNA methylation data from cord blood using a recently-developed prediction model. GA of participants was gathered in ALSPAC from clinical records and was measured from last menstrual period (LMP) for most participants. GAA of participants, measured in weeks, was calculated as the residuals from a regression model of EGA on actual GA. Height and weight were obtained from several sources including birth records, research clinics, routine child health clinics, links to health visitor records and parent-reported measures from questionnaires. Analyses were performed using linear spline multilevel models and adjusted for maternal age, maternal pre-pregnancy BMI, maternal smoking during pregnancy and maternal education.ResultsIn adjusted analyses, offspring with a one-week greater GAA were born on average 0.14 kg heavier (95% Confidence Interval (CI) 0.09, 0.19) and 0.55 cm taller (95% CI 0.33, 0.78) at birth. These differences in weight persisted up to approximately age 9 months but thereafter began to attenuate and reduce in magnitude. From age 5 years onwards, the association between GAA and weight reversed such that GAA was associated with lower weight and this association strengthened with age (mean difference at age 10 years −0.60 kg (95% CI, −1.19, −0.01)). Differences in height persisted only up to age 9 months (mean difference at 9 months 0.15 cm, (95% CI −0.09, 0.39)). From age 9 months to age 10 years, offspring with a one-week greater GAA were of comparable height to those with no GAA (mean difference at age 10 years −0.07 cm, (95% CI −0.64, 0.50)).ConclusionsGestational age acceleration is associated with increased birth weight and length and these differences persist to age 9 months. From 5 years onwards, the association of GAA and weight reverses such that by age 10 years greater GAA is associated with lower childhood weight. Further work is required to examine whether the weight effects of GAA strengthen further through adolescence and into early adulthood.
Effects of climate change and grazing pressure on shrub communities of West Asian rangelands
Authors: Louhaichi Mounir , Ouled Belgacem Azaiez , Petersen Steven L. , Hassan Sawsan 
Published: April 2019

PurposeThe purpose of this study is to evaluate the vulnerability of the important rangeland shrub,Atriplex leucoclada(Boiss) to both climate change and livestock grazing, within the Syrian rangelands as a representative landscape type of West Asia.Design/methodology/approachEcologically based quantitative niche models were developed for both shrub species using maximum entropy and 13 spatially explicit GIS-based layers to predict current and future species distribution scenarios. Climatic variables varied over time in line with the predictions created from the HADCM3 global circulation model.FindingsResults indicate that with grazing and climate change, the distribution ofA. leucocladawill be reduced by 54 per cent in 2050, with the mean annual and minimum temperatures of the coldest month having the highest contribution in the model (28.7 and 21.2 per cent, respectively). The contribution of the grazing pressure, expressed by the overgrazing index, was estimated at 8.2 per cent.Originality/valueThese results suggest that the interaction of climate and increased grazing has the potential to favor the establishment of unpalatable species, while reducing the distribution of preferred plant species on western Asia rangelands.
Contributions of path-dependency and social capital drivers to housing tenure transitions in Britain
Authors: Aguda Oluwadamilola 
Published: April 2019

Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to investigate the contributions of path-dependency and some contextual social capital drivers to housing tenure transitions in Britain. Different situations have continued to shape young adults’ housing tenure decisions. However, very little research has been done to investigate the impact of some social capital drivers, such as neighbourhood integration and strength of parental intimacy, on housing tenure decisions in Britain.

Design/methodology/approach
This paper is carried out by tracking a sample of young adults in the British Household Panel Survey from 1991 to 2015 until they make tenure transition. Multinomial fixed-effects logistic regression of time to tenure transition was useful for the models, incorporating established economic and demographic drivers and with the inclusion of contextual social capital variables.

Findings
The inclusion of the number of years of parental home ownership experience tends to improve on previous path-dependency indicators of tenure transition. With additional years of parental home ownership experience, British young adults are more likely to remain or return to parental housing. Also, individuals that exchange better with their neighbours are less likely to switch tenure. On the other hand, regularity of contact with parents showed a positive relationship with home ownership or parental housing transitions.

Originality/value
To the best of the author’s knowledge, no study has explored the impact of the duration of socialisation in parental housing and also the impact of some other social capital drivers, such as neighbourhood integration and strength of parental intimacy, on housing tenure decisions among young adults. Hence, it is believed that the findings will further assist policymakers in understanding the dimensions and drivers of tenure shifts.
Political will and public will for climate-smart agriculture in Senegal
Authors: Raile Eric D. , Young Linda M. , Sarr Adama , Mbaye Samba , Raile Amber N.W. , Wooldridge Lena , Sanogo Diaminatou , Post Lori Ann 
Published: April 2019

Purpose
Agriculture must transform as climate change progresses. The international community has promoted climate-smart agriculture (CSA) as a set of solutions. Previous analyses of opportunities for scaling up CSA have not looked closely at building political and social support for policies, practices and programs. The purpose of this paper is to fill that gap in the case study country of Senegal.

Design/methodology/approach
The study applies the conceptual definitions, operationalizations and assessment targets from the political will and public will (PPW) approach to social change. Semi-structured interviews and documents constitute the sources of data and information.

Findings
The analysis identifies opportunities to generate political will for supplying an enabling environment for the widespread adoption of CSA. On the public will side, the analysis identifies opportunities to generate and channel demand for CSA.

Research limitations/implications
Researchers investigated some definitional components more completely than others due to resource and access constraints. Further, the context specificity of the components limits generalizability of certain findings.

Social implications
Social structures may need to change for successful adoption of certain CSA innovations, but improved agricultural outcomes are likely to result.

Originality/value
This examination of crucial elements for scaling up CSA efforts constitutes the most extensive application of the PPW approach to date, thus providing an example of this generalizable method.
Self-censorship in social networking sites (SNSs) – privacy concerns, privacy awareness, perceived vulnerability and information management
Authors: Warner Mark , Wang Victoria 
Published: April 2019

PurposeThis paper aims to investigate behavioural changes related to self-censorship (SC) in social networking sites (SNSs) as new methods of online surveillance are introduced. In particular, it examines the relationships between SC and four related factors: privacy concerns (PC), privacy awareness (PA), perceived vulnerability (PV) and information management (IM).Design/methodology/approachA national wide survey was conducted in the UK (N= 519). The data were analysed to present both descriptive and inferential statistical findings.FindingsThe level of online SC increases as the level of privacy concern increases. The level of privacy concern increases as the levels of PA and PV increase and the level of effective IM decreases.Originality/valueThis study extends the literature on online SC, showing that PCs increase the level of SC in SNSs. It provides support for three antecedent factors to PC which impact upon levels of SC when communicating in SNSs.
Adoption of e-Governance
Authors: Khanra Sayantan , Joseph Rojers P. 
Published: April 2019

PurposeThis study aims to investigate India’s poor performance in the overall implementation of e-Governance despite significant improvements in the quality and scope of e-Government services in the country.Design/methodology/approachThe study proposes a conceptual model based on four hypotheses that are tested using the structural equation modeling technique. Based on the results obtained, the conceptual model is suitably modified.FindingsThe major finding of the study is that “English proficiency” and “digital divide” sequentially mediate the relationship between “service quality” and the “willingness to adopt e-Governance” in India.Research limitations/implicationsThe conceptual model emerging from the study adds to the literature on e-Governance service quality and adoption. However, a longitudinal or experimental study may provide more insights into the context.Practical implicationsPrimarily, this study would interest agencies involved in developing and delivering e-Governance services. Besides, the findings may be useful for the “big data companies” that are interested in gaining direct access to the last-mile users of developing countries.Social implicationsThe study intends to provide directions to policymakers on improving access to e-Governance services for the people who are deprived of the benefits of such services.Originality/valueThis is the first study to incorporate both English proficiency and digital divide in a single conceptual model in the literature related to the relationship between service quality and the willingness to adopt e-Governance.
High-performance computer graphics technologies in engineering applications
Authors: Peng Chao 
Published: April 2019

Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to investigate possibilities to adopt state-of-the-art computer graphics technologies for big data visualization in engineering applications. Toward this purpose, a conceptual heterogeneous system is proposed for graphical rendering, which is established with multiple central processing unit cores and multiple graphics processing unit GPUs.

Design/methodology/approach
The design of the system supports both general-purpose computation and graphics-related computation. Three processing components are discussed to fulfill the execution requirements in load balancing, data streaming and display. This design fully uses computational and memory resources and enhances the performance with the support of GPU-based parallelization.

Findings
The advantages and disadvantages of particular technical methods for each processing component are discussed. The possible ways to integrate them are analyzed.

Originality/value
This work has contributions of using computer graphics technologies in engineering applications.
The decline in plant biodiversity slows down soil carbon turnover under increasing nitrogen deposition in a temperate steppe
Authors: Yang Sen , Liu Weixing , Qiao Chunlian , Wang Jing , Deng Meifeng , Zhang Beibei , Liu Lingli 
Published: April 2019

Abstract

Nitrogen (N) deposition not only alters the physiological processes of individual plant, but also leads to world‐wide biodiversity loss. However, little is known about how the hierarchical responses from individual physiological processes to plant community structure would have cascading effects on soil carbon (C) cycling.

Here, we assessed whether changes in plant chemical composition and community composition under increasing N input would affect the turnover rate of litter layer and soil C loss via heterotrophic respiration (Rh) in a temperate grassland.

We showed that more than a decade’s N addition significantly decreased plant species richness, litter layer turnover rate and Rh. The 13C‐NMR results showed that, for individual species, N addition either increased the abundance of recalcitrant C groups such as alkyl and methoxyl, or decreased labile C groups such as carbohydrate, resulting in decreases in carbohydrate C‐to‐methoxyl C ratio (CC/MC) for most species. Our data also showed that with the increase in N deposition, the abundance of relatively high degradable dominant species, such as Agropyron cristatum and Artimesia frigida declined rapidly, and the relatively recalcitrant species such as Potentilla bifurca and Leymus chinensis become dominant. Changes in individual species’ chemical composition and plant community composition significantly decreased litter quality at community level, as indicated by the lower community‐level CC/MC at higher N addition rates.

The result of step‐AIC model selection further showed that plant diversity loss and the decrease in community‐level CC/MC jointly explained the decrease in Rh after N addition best, and further relative importance partition result showed that these two factors respectively contributed 65.1% and 34.9% of the explained variation.

Overall, we demonstrated that changes in plant chemical composition and diversity loss due to N addition reduced the quality of plant C input to soil, which further slowed down litter layer turnover rate and inhibited soil heterotrophic respiration. Our study complements the intermediate links of how shifts in plant community structure regulate soil C cycle under global changes.

A plain language summary is available for this article.
Impacts of dead wood manipulation on the biodiversity of temperate and boreal forests. A systematic review
Authors: Sandström Jennie , Bernes Claes , Junninen Kaisa , Lõhmus Asko , Macdonald Ellen , Müller Jörg , Jonsson Bengt Gunnar 
Published: April 2019

Abstract

Dead wood (DW) provides critical habitat for thousands of species in forests, but its amount, quality and diversity have been heavily reduced by forestry. Therefore, interventions aiming to increase DW might be necessary to support its associated biodiversity, even in protected forests, which may be former production forests. Our aim was to synthesize the current state of knowledge drawn from replicated experimental studies into solid quantitative evidence of the effects of DW manipulation on forest biodiversity, with a focus on protected forests.

We conducted a full systematic review of effects of DW manipulation on forest biodiversity in boreal and temperate regions. We included three intervention types: creation of DW from live trees at the site, addition of DW from outside the site and prescribed burning. Outcomes included abundance and species richness of saproxylic insects, ground insects, wood‐inhabiting fungi, lichens, reptiles and cavity‐nesting birds. In total, we included 91 studies, 37 of which were used in meta‐analyses.

Although meta‐analysis outcomes were heterogeneous, they showed that increasing the amount of DW (“DW enrichment”) has positive effects on the abundance and richness of saproxylic insects and fungi. The positive effect on saproxylic pest insect abundance tended to be less than that on saproxylic insects in general. No significant effects were found for ground insects or cavity‐nesting birds.

Although reviewed studies were mainly short term, our results support that management that increases DW amounts has the potential to increase the abundance of DW‐dependent species and, in most cases, also their species richness. Studies of burning showed positive effects on the abundance of saproxylic insects similar to those of other interventions, even though burning on average resulted in a smaller enrichment of DW amounts.

Policy implications. The findings of the review suggest that manipulating dead wood (DW) can be an effective part of conservation management to support biodiversity in protected areas. The findings also indicate that the diversity of DW types is important, a mix of DW qualities should be favoured. Burning seems to be an effective method to increase biodiversity but to benefit cavity‐nesting birds, snag losses need to be minimized.
Functional diversity and composition of Caatinga woody flora are negatively impacted by chronic anthropogenic disturbance
Authors: Ribeiro Elâine M. S. , Lohbeck Madelon , Santos Braulio A. , Arroyo‐Rodríguez Víctor , Tabarelli Marcelo , Leal Inara R. 
Published: April 2019

Abstract

Tropical plant assemblages can be taxonomically and phylogenetically impoverished by chronic anthropogenic disturbance (CAD), such as firewood collection and extensive grazing. However, to what extent the functional dimension responds to CAD is still unclear. Such knowledge is urgently required for predicting, preventing or even reversing the impacts of CAD.

Chronic anthropogenic disturbance may operate as an ecological filter by selecting functional trait values (e.g. low wood density), thereby altering the functional composition and diversity of plant assemblages. We tested this hypothesis using 29 woody plant assemblages across three ontogenetic stages (seedlings, saplings and adults) in a 220‐km2 landscape of the Caatinga, northeast Brazil. We adopted a CAD index consisting of four indicators (proximity to urban centre and houses and the density of both people and livestock) and tested how well it explained the functional diversity and effect sizes (richness, evenness and dispersion) and composition (community‐weighted mean).

Chronic anthropogenic disturbance affected several functional metrics across the three ontogenetic stages. However, CAD effects were stronger in adult communities by negatively affecting functional richness, dispersion and their effect sizes. CAD also altered the functional composition of leaf mass per area, woody density and leaf area of adult assemblages. Sapling communities were affected in terms of functional composition (leaf area, leaf dry matter and wood density), with positive and negative effects, while seedling assemblages responded positively to CAD only in terms of functional evenness and its effect size. Some changes in functional metrics were influenced by dominant Euphorbiaceae species across ontogenetic stages, especially in terms of leaf area and woody density.

Synthesis. Chronic anthropogenic disturbance is an important driver of plant‐community functional organization across ontogenetic stages in the Caatinga. Adult assemblages are particularly sensitive and tend to lose functional niche space and support more acquisitive rather than conservative strategies as chronic anthropogenic disturbance increases. The proliferation of Euphorbiaceae disturbance‐adapted species can explain part of the community responses to chronic anthropogenic disturbance. Our findings highlight the ecological effects of chronic anthropogenic disturbance and show that it is a key influence on tropical biotas. Changes in plant functional traits associated with plant resource use are likely to affect ecosystem functioning and services provided by Caatinga.
Testing DNA barcodes against morphology for the ‘tripectinate Abantiades' (Lepidoptera: Hepialidae) reveals a complex relationship between COI sequence data and morphology
Authors: Simonsen Thomas J , Moore Michael D , Dupont Steen T , Stevens Mark I 
Published: April 2019

AbstractWe analyse COI sequence data from 140 specimens of the Australian ‘tripectinate‐Abantiades' to explore the group's molecular diversity and identify potential taxonomic challenges for future studies. A recent taxonomic revision raised the number of species in the group from three to 10. Our results generally agree with that study, but we identify further potential new species. However, our results also highlight the limitations of single gene taxonomic studies as some otherwise well‐defined species are non‐monophyletic in our analyses – in particular Abantiades argentata Tindale appears paraphyletic with respect to several other lineages, and may comprise more than one species. Overall, the mitochondrial COI diversity of the ‘tripectinate‐Abantiades' can be divided into three major groups, with a majority of the species found in the semi‐arid regions of South Australia and Western Australia.
A CTOD equation based on the rigid rotational factor with the consideration of crack tip blunting due to strain hardening for SEN(B)
Authors: Khor WeeLiam 
Published: April 2019

AbstractCrack tip opening displacement (CTOD) from national and international standards was shown to give different values. This paper investigates the feasibility of CTOD determined based on the concept of rigid rotational factor in single‐edge notched bend (SENB) specimens. Based on validated modelling methods, finite element (FE) models were simulated for crack ratios 0.3 ≤ a0/W ≤ 0.7 and yield‐to‐tensile ratio 0.44 ≤ σys/σuts ≤ 0.98. This covers cases of shallow to deeply cracked specimens and a wide range of strain hardening properties. CTOD obtained from the FE models was used as the basis of a newly implemented strain hardening corrected rotational factor, which considers the effects of crack tip blunting due to strain hardening, rp sh. An improved equation considering strain hardening was implemented based on the rp sh. The equation gives accurate estimation of CTOD from the FE models compared with the equation from BS 7448‐1, ASTM E1820, and WES 1180.