bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Rhizosphere and litter feedbacks to range‐expanding plant species and related natives
Authors: Manrubia Marta , van der Putten Wim H. , Weser Carolin , Veen Ciska (G. F.) 
Published: September 2019

Abstract

Plant–soil feedback (PSF) results from the net legacy effect that plants leave in the composition of soil communities and abiotic soil properties. PSF is induced by the rhizosphere and by litter inputs into the soil, however, we have little understanding of their individual contributions. Here, we examine feedback effects from the rhizosphere of living plants, decomposing litter and their combination.

We used four pairs of climate warming‐induced range‐expanding plant species and congeneric natives, and examined PSF effects on plant biomass production, as well as on decomposition in their new range.

We tested the hypothesis that the plant rhizosphere provides less negative feedback to range‐expanders than to the congeneric natives, and that feedback mediated by litter decomposition does not provide such a difference because decomposers might be less specialized than pathogens. To determine PSF, we used soil from the congener species within each pair as an ‘away’ soil to indicate whether range‐expanders may have lost their specialized soil biota upon arrival in the novel range.

Our results show that although range‐expanding plant species and their congeneric natives developed neutral PSF in both rhizosphere‐ and litter‐conditioned soils, two of the four range‐expanders produced more biomass than natives in soils conditioned by litter, that is, soils with high nutrient content. Shoot litter from two out of four range‐expanding species decomposed more than that of natives, but decomposition was unaffected by soil conditioning.

Synthesis. We compared PSF effects of range‐expanders and congeneric natives mediated via both the rhizosphere and litter using the congeneric species as a control. Under those conditions, PSF effects were neutral and not affected by plant origin. Therefore, we conclude that studies not comparing within plant genera may overestimate the impact of plant origin on PSF. Still, even under those conditions range‐expanders appeared to benefit more from high soil nutrient availability than natives, thus providing a possible advantage over congeneric natives.
Quinazolinone derivative BNUA‐3 ameliorated [NDEA+2‐AAF]‐induced liver carcinogenesis in SD rats by modulating AhR‐CYP1B1‐Nrf2‐Keap1 pathway
Authors: Bose Pritha , Siddique Mohd. Usman M. , Acharya Reetuparna , Jayaprakash Venkatesan , Sinha Barij Nayan , Lapenna Antonio , Pattanayak Shakti P 
Published: September 2019

AbstractCytochrome P450 1B1, considered as one of the novel chemotherapeutic targets involved in cancer prevention and therapy is also associated with the conversion of procarcinogens into their active metabolites. The aryl hydrocarbon receptor (AhR) is responsible for mediating different biological responses to a wide variety of environmental pollutants and also causes transcriptional activation of cytochrome P450 enzymes including CYP1B1 and thus plays a pivotal role for initiating cancer and its progression. On the other hand, active carcinogenic metabolites and reactive oxygen species‐mediated stress alter different molecular signalling pathways and gene expressions. Quinazoline derivatives are recognized for their diversified biological activities including anticancer properties. The current study was designed for evaluation of chemotherapeutic efficacy of a synthetic quinazolinone derivative BNUA‐3 against hepatocellular cancer in Sprague‐Dawley (SD) rats. A detailed in vivo analysis was performed by administrating BNUA‐3 (15, 30 mg/kg b.w. for 28 days, i.p.) in N‐Nitrosodiethylamine + 2‐Acetylaminofluorene induced partially hepatectomized liver cancer in SD rats. This was followed by morphological evaluations, biochemical estimations and analysis of different mRNA and protein expressions. The results demonstrated the potency of BNUA‐3 in efficient restoration of the altered morphology of liver, its protective effect against lipid peroxidation, enzymic and non‐enzymic antioxidants levels in liver tissue which was disrupted after cancer induction. The study also demonstrated downregulation of AhR, CYP1B1 and Keap1 expressions with subsequent augmentation of protective Nrf2, HO‐1, NQO1 and GSTA1 expressions thus, revealing the chemotherapeutic potency of BNUA‐3 in inhibiting liver carcinogenesis through AhR/CYP1B1/Nrf2/Keap1 pathway.
(In)visible materialities in the context of dementia care
Authors: Cleeve Helena , Borell Lena , Rosenberg Lena 
Published: September 2019

AbstractSeemingly mundane materialities are intertwined with important, but often neglected, care interactions. It has been argued that if healthcare professionals paid more attention to the roles materialities can have, everyday routines could become important occasions for care. In response to such proposals, we argue that it is relevant to examine how materialities are currently understood. In this article, we explore materialities as part of work in a dementia unit. Using abstracted illustrations of everyday materialities to elicit reflections, we conducted 11 individual interviews with certified nursing assistants. Through phenomenographic analysis we explain our findings as three different categories conceptualising understandings of materialities as: ‘tools for care’, ‘a set of principles for care’ and ‘caring relationships’. Our analysis indicates that understanding materialities as instruments was reinforced and made visible through the healthcare organisation while understanding materialities as part of specific relationships with residents appeared informal and less visible. How materialities were understood seemed to have several implications for residents. While care practices could benefit from nursing assistants’ abilities to alternate between ways of understanding materialitites, such competence seemed dependent on how professional care was organised, structured and materialised.
Embracing a ‘new normal’: the construction of biographical renewal in young adults’ narratives of living with a stoma
Authors: Polidano Kay , Chew‐Graham Carolyn A. , Bartlam Bernadette , Farmer Adam D. , Saunders Benjamin 
Published: September 2019

AbstractStoma surgery can be a life‐changing procedure due to bodily changes and related psychological responses. Despite previous literature identifying unique challenges for young adults living with a long‐term condition, no studies have explored the biographical implications of stoma formation. Drawing on interviews with 13 young adults, aged 18–29 years, with a stoma resulting from inflammatory bowel disease, this article aims to generate new theoretical insights in understanding the process of biographical (re)construction and the wider implications of stoma formation among this group. Data analysis combined constructivist grounded theory and narrative analysis. Whilst two narratives display ‘biographical suspension’ characterised by a distancing of self from their stoma, the majority of narratives highlight positive transformations in the young adults’ conceptions of self; which we explain through the concept of ‘biographical renewal’. The liberating effects of stoma surgery allowed young adults to reclaim aspects of their pre‐illness selves, yet also reconfigure a new, altered sense of self, culminating in a ‘new normal’. However, psychological distress also co‐existed alongside these positive representations, revealing a tension that young adults attempt to reconcile through narrativising their experiences. Our findings have implications for the identification and management of the psychological needs of young people with a stoma.
Differentiation of Commercially Available Kratom by Purported Country of Origin using Inductively Coupled Plasma–Mass Spectrometry,
Authors: Braley Cody , Hondrogiannis Ellen M. 
Published: September 2019

AbstractKratom is a plant material exhibiting both analgesic and stimulant effects and is also forensically relevant since it is abused as a “legal high.” It is regulated in several countries but not scheduled in the United States at the federal level. This study used inductively coupled plasma–mass spectrometry (ICP–MS) to measure the concentrations of 13 elements in 19 kratom samples obtained from an online distributor selling kratom, from Borneo, Malaysia, Indonesia, Thailand, and Vietnam, for the purpose of using the elements to discriminate among purported country of origin, “suborigin,” and strain. Analysis of variance revealed statistical differences in concentrations of elements from each group, while discriminant function analysis (using leave‐one‐out classification) successfully classified kratom samples by their purported country of origin (100%), “suborigin,” (100%), and strain (86%). Our method illustrates the possibility of utilizing ICP–MS for determination of commercially available kratom samples by purported origin, “subororign,” or by product line.
Microbial communities of the Mediterranean rocky shore: ecology and biotechnological potential of the sea‐land transition
Authors: Molina‐Menor Esther , Tanner Kristie , Vidal‐Verdú Àngela , Peretó Juli , Porcar Manuel 
Published: September 2019

SummaryMicrobial communities from harsh environments hold great promise as sources of biotechnologically relevant strains and compounds. In the present work, we have characterized the microorganisms from the supralittoral and splash zone in three different rocky locations of the Western Mediterranean coast, a tough environment characterized by high levels of irradiation and large temperature and salinity fluctuations. We have retrieved a complete view of the ecology and functional aspects of these communities and assessed the biotechnological potential of the cultivable microorganisms. All three locations displayed very similar taxonomic profiles, with the genus Rubrobacter and the families Xenococcaceae, Flammeovirgaceae, Phyllobacteriaceae, Rhodobacteraceae and Trueperaceae being the most abundant taxa; and Ascomycota and halotolerant archaea as members of the eukaryotic and archaeal community respectively. In parallel, the culture‐dependent approach yielded a 100‐isolates collection, out of which 12 displayed high antioxidant activities, as evidenced by two in vitro (hydrogen peroxide and DPPH) and confirmed in vivo with Caenorhabditis elegans assays, in which two isolates, CR22 and CR24, resulted in extended survival rates of the nematodes. This work is the first complete characterization of the Mediterranean splash‐zone coastal microbiome, and our results indicate that this microbial niche is home of an extremophilic community that holds biotechnological potential.
Financial applications of semidefinite programming: a review and call for interdisciplinary research
Authors: Gepp Adrian , Harris Geoff , Vanstone Bruce 
Published: September 2019

AbstractOptimisation problems in finance commonly have non‐linear constraints for which previous solutions have required unrealistic assumptions. However, many of these can be efficiently solved as semidefinite programming (SDP) problems, which have less restrictive assumptions. Through review of the literature that uses SDP in finance, two major research streams are identified: portfolio optimisation and option pricing. Nevertheless, many finance researchers are unaware of SDP. One possible reason is that this research is often published in non‐finance journals. This paper aims to better integrate the SDP research to promote wider use of current findings and further interdisciplinary research, particularly in environmental finance.
Behavioral and physiological stress responses to local spatial disturbance and human activities by howler monkeys at Los Tuxtlas, Mexico
Authors: Cañadas Santiago S. , Dias P. A. D. , Garau S. , Coyohua Fuentes A. , Chavira Ramírez D. R. , Canales Espinosa D. , Rangel Negrín A. 
Published: September 2019

AbstractTo develop effective conservation and management actions, it is important to examine anthropogenic disturbance patterns and their impact on wildlife. We examined variation in the behavioral and physiological stress response of the Critically Endangered Mexican mantled howler monkeys Alouatta palliata mexicana in relation to two types of anthropogenic disturbance, habitat spatial patterns and presence of humans or their livestock (noise and presence nearby primates). We studied four groups (42 individuals) in two forest fragments at the Los Tuxtlas Biosphere Reserve for a total of 1100 observation hours, during which we recorded the howler monkeys’ vocalizations, locomotion and vigilance. We additionally collected fecal samples to determine the concentrations of glucocorticoid metabolites (fGCM). Howler monkeys vocalized less and moved more when in more spatially disturbed locations and when exposed more time to nearby noise but spent less time in locomotion when humans were present. fGCM were only related to human presence, suggesting that habitat spatial patterns are less of a challenge than human presence. This may be related to the generally unpredictable nature of the latter. Although our study does not allow determining whether the behavioral and physiological responses of howler monkeys to disturbance are costly, from a conservation standpoint it may be more prudent to assume that they are and design strategies to mitigate them. In this sense, actions aimed at reducing anthropogenic noise could benefit the conservation of Mexican mantled howler monkeys.
Spatial niche modelling of five endemic cacti from the Brazilian Caatinga: Past, present and future
Authors: Simões Silvana dos Santos , Zappi Daniela , Costa Grênivel Mota da , de Oliveira Guilherme , Aona Lidyanne Yuriko Saleme 
Published: September 2019

AbstractClimate change, together with human activities, impacts on natural and human systems on all continents and poses a major threat to biodiversity, especially in environments with a high rate of endemism and where species are profoundly adapted to specific environmental conditions, as is the case of the seasonally dry tropical forests, noticeably the Caatinga, an exclusively Brazilian biome. The objective of this study was to build spatial niche models of five species of Cactaceae (Arrojadoa penicillata, Brasilicereus phaeacanthus, Pereskia aureiflora, Stephanocereus leucostele and Tacinga inamoena) endemic to the Caatinga and with different traits, to evaluate the impact of climate change on their geographical distribution. The species records and environmental variable values were overlaid on a grid of 6818 cells with 0.5° spatial resolution. Niche models were obtained for five types of general circulation models between ocean and atmosphere and 12 different ecological models. The ensemble ecological niche model was calculated at present and projected to past (last glacial maximum – LGM, 21 000; and mid‐Holocene – Hol, 6000 years ago) and future climate conditions (average of 2080), under the effect of climate change, in the greenhouse gas emission scenario RCP4.5. The distribution pattern of the studied species indicates an area with less environmental suitability in the LGM, followed by an expansion that began in the Hol and continued until the present period. In the future (2080), the models predicted a retraction of areas of environmental suitability, in which P. aureiflora and B. phaeacanthus, given their more restricted, marginal habitat and woody habit, present a great risk of extinction, whilst S. leucostele, A. penicillata and T. inamoena present a smaller reduction in suitable area, partly reflecting their spreading, less woody habit. Regional conservation actions for Cactaceae species and their habitat need to take these findings into account if we are to ensure the survival of these species.
Resistance to cyclic fatigue of reciprocating instruments determined at body temperature and phase transformation analysis
Authors: Scott Raymond , Arias Ana , Macorra José C. , Govindjee Sanjay , Peters Ove A. 
Published: September 2019

AbstractThe purpose of this study was to compare cyclic fatigue (CF) resistance of reciprocating instruments at body temperature and relate the findings to their martensitic transformation temperatures. Contemporary nickel‐titanium (NiTi) reciprocating instruments WaveOne Primary, WaveOne Gold Primary and EdgeFile X1 (n = 20 each and #25 tip diameter) were tested for CF resistance at body temperature (37 ± 1°C). Instruments were actioned according to manufacturer guidelines until fracture occurred in a simulated canal (angle of curvature = 60°, radius of curvature = 3 mm and centre of curvature = 5 mm from the tip). Time to fracture was recorded, and data analysed using Weibull analysis. Two instruments of each were tested using differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) to assess phase transformation temperatures. Reciprocating instruments manufactured with new alloys seem to be safer to CF than those manufactured with traditional M‐Wire at body temperature. Martensitic transformation temperatures seem not to relate with fatigue behaviour for reciprocating motions.
Early‐stage endometrial cancer, CTNNB1 mutations, and the relation between lymphovascular space invasion and recurrence
Authors: Imboden Sara , Tapia Coya , Scheiwiller Nadja , Kocbek Vida , Altermatt Hans J. , Janzen Jan , Mueller Michael D. , McKinnon Brett 
Published: September 2019

AbstractIntroductionWomen diagnosed with early‐stage (FIGO 1) endometrial cancer, grade 1 and 2 can have a good prognosis. Most of these women can be treated successfully with a hysterectomy and bilateral salpingo‐oophorectomy and without the additional adjuvant treatment that is accompanied by more risks for complications. However, when recurrence does occur, the consequences can be dire. Accurate decisions must therefore be made by surgeons to avoid either under‐ or over‐treatment. Risk and patient stratification for tailoring treatment still need further improvement. Both histopathology and genetic variants could be integrated into the decision process if relevant factors were identified.Material and methodsMorphological features and the presence of selected genetic mutations in isolated malignant endometrial epithelial cells from these tumors were analyzed in a strictly defined cohort of FIGO 1, grade 1 and 2 low‐risk endometrial cancer. Their presence in this cohort, their relation to recurrence, and the association between histopathological features and mutations were determined. This analysis was performed using archival formalin‐fixed paraffin‐embedded tissue, complete re‐evaluation of histopathological features, laser capture microdissection of epithelial cells, and a polymerase chain reaction‐based mutational screening assay.ResultsTwenty‐one women with recurrence, after initial identification as low‐risk endometrial cancer, were compared with 20 matched control women. The histological marker of lymphovascular invasion was significantly associated with recurrence. There was also a very high prevalence of mutations in CTNNB1 gene, occurring in 50% of this cohort. PTEN mutations were also observed in 27.8% of cases and PIK3CA mutations in 22.2%; none of these mutations were significantly related to recurrence.ConclusionsThis study supports the importance of lymphovascular space invasion to identify women with significant risk for recurrence in initially low‐risk, early‐stage endometrial cancer. It also identifies CTNNB1 as a significant mutation in early‐stage disease, and although it may not represent a marker for recurrence its high prevalence in early stage disease could have relevance for both pathogenesis and early treatment.
Histological chorioamnionitis is predicted by early infant C‐reactive protein in preterm infants and correlates with neonatal outcomes
Authors: Ryan Emer , Eves Doireann , Menon Poornima Jayadev , Alnafisee Sarah , Mooney Eoghan E. , Downey Paul , Culliton Marie , Murphy John F. A. , Vavasseur Claudine , Molloy Eleanor J. 
Published: September 2019

AbstractAimHistological chorioamnionitis (HCA) is associated with preterm birth and adverse neonatal outcomes. We evaluated the rise in C‐reactive protein (CRP) in preterm infants as a predictor of HCA severity and outcomes.MethodsConsecutive preterm infants, born January 2009 to January 2014 in the National Maternity Hospital, Dublin, under 32 weeks' gestation or <1.5 kg birthweight, were included. Histological chorioamnionitis was staged as maternal inflammatory response, foetal inflammatory response and non‐HCA.ResultsPreterm infants (n = 518) were included with a mean gestational age 28.5 ± 2.8 weeks, birthweight 1.1 ± 0.3 kg, and 53.5% were male. Histological chorioamnionitis was found in 25.4%. Histological chorioamnionitis was present in 93.7% when CRP > 5 mg/L, 65.2% when CRP 1‐5 mg/L and in 19.4% when CRP < 1 mg/L. When both the immature to total neutrophil (IT) ratio was >0.2 and the CRP > 1 mg/L the positive predictive value and negative predictive value for HCA were 92.5% and 84.9%, respectively. Histological chorioamnionitis was associated with more resuscitation and respiratory distress syndrome (both P < .001). A CRP > 10 mg/L was associated with a foetal inflammatory response and increased early‐onset sepsis.ConclusionHigher early CRP was a surrogate predictor of HCA and correlated with the severity of HCA. Higher CRP and HCA were associated with adverse early outcomes.
High prevalence of attention‐deficit/hyperactivity disorder in adolescents with severe obesity seeking bariatric surgery
Authors: Leib Shiran , Gilon Mann Tal , Stein Daniel , Vusiker Irena , Tokatly Latzer Itay , Ben‐Ami Michal , Feigin Anya , Dubnov‐Raz Gal 
Published: September 2019

AbstractAimTo examine the prevalence of attention‐deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and related post‐surgical weight loss in adolescents with severe obesity seeking bariatric surgery.MethodsThe study population included 84 adolescents (age 13‐19 years; 44 males, 40 females) with severe obesity who sought bariatric surgery at the Sheba Medical Centre in Israel during the years 2011‐2017. Anthropometric and clinical data were collected from medical records. A subgroup of 20 participants filled questionnaires that evaluated ADHD‐like symptoms, eating behaviours and quality of life. Data on adolescents that ultimately underwent surgery (n = 45) were also obtained.ResultsThe prevalence of ADHD was 28.6% in adolescents seeking bariatric surgery, much higher than that of the general adolescent population of Israel (17.1%, P < .001). There were no significant differences in reductions of weight, body mass index, body mass index standard deviation scores and body fat percent between participants with or without ADHD. In the subgroup that filled questionnaires, higher scores on ADHD‐Rating Scale at baseline were associated with greater excess weight loss.ConclusionThe prevalence of ADHD in adolescents seeking bariatric surgery was very high. Diagnosed ADHD was not related to post‐surgical weight loss, whereas baseline ADHD‐related behaviour was associated with higher post‐surgical weight loss.