bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Disentangling the trophic interactions between American bullfrogs and native anurans: Complications resulting from post‐metamorphic ontogenetic niche shifts
Authors: Bissattini Alessandra M. , Buono Vincenzo , Vignoli Leonardo 
Published: February 2019

Abstract

The American bullfrog, Lithobates catesbeianus (Shaw, 1802), is considered one of the world's worst invaders because of its potential to affect native fauna adversely, especially amphibians, through predation, competition, breeding interference, and disease transmission.
Here, the potential impact of introduced American bullfrogs (juveniles and adults) on native adult green frogs, Pelophylax kl. esculentus (Linnaeus, 1758), was investigated in a pond ecosystem by means of stomach‐content and stable‐isotope analyses. Specifically, this study was aimed at assessing the impact of the American bullfrog on native green frogs in terms of predation and competition (i.e. feeding ecology and habitat use), and uncovering changes in interspecific interactions linked to the ontogenetic dietary–habitat shifts of the invaders.
Stomach contents and isotope analyses suggest that L. catesbeianus changes trophic position in the food chain and undergoes ontogenetic dietary–habitat shifts during its life cycle. The species therefore has the potential to exert a double impact on native green frogs: as a predator at the adult stage and as a competitor (for food and habitat use) at the juvenile stage.
Stomach‐content and isotope analyses gave similar results, suggesting that the predation impact by adult American bullfrogs on green frogs is mediated by the presence of the alien red swamp crayfish, Procambarus clarkii (Girard, 1852). Juvenile American bullfrogs and native amphibians overlap in their diet composition and in their habitat use, suggesting the existence of potential competition between the two species.
Ontogenetic dietary–habitat shifts in the American bullfrog, local conditions, and trophic interactions should be seriously considered in management approaches to promote the long‐term coexistence of L. catesbeianus and native amphibians. Such management options have been neglected in the literature, and are worthy of further investigation to understand their efficacy on native species.
Output tracking with disturbance attenuation for cascade control systems subject to network constraint
Authors: Ma Dan , Li Zhuoyu , Zhao Rubing 
Published: February 2019

AbstractIn this paper, we investigate the output tracking control and disturbance attenuation for a class of cascade control systems subject to network‐induced delays. In order to indicate the time‐varying characteristics and uncertainty of network‐induced delays, a switched system approach is applied to the cascade architecture. This leads to the simultaneous design of controllers and switching signals in terms of the network transmission. Unlike the traditional cascade control design approach, which needs to first tune the secondary controller and then the primary one, we can provide a simultaneous design method of the double‐loop controllers and switching signals to make the networked cascade control system achieve the output tracking performance with disturbance attenuation. Finally, two examples are proposed to demonstrate the feasibility and the effectiveness of the approach.
Turning corporate environmental ethics into firm performance: The role of green marketing programs
Authors: Han Meini , Lin Han , Wang Jiangyan , Wang Yunzhen , Jiang Wan 
Published: February 2019

AbstractIn this study, we develop a better understanding of the mechanisms by which corporate environmental ethics influences performance through the adoption of substantive actions. The empirical results of a moderated mediating analysis show that firms with higher environmental ethics are more likely to implement green marketing programs, consisting of the green production, pricing, distribution, and promotion programs and then improve firm performance. It is also observed that closure mechanism negatively moderates the mediation effect of green marketing programs because it leads to low trust and unwillingness to internal cooperation. These findings indicate that the value of corporate environmental ethics could not be determined in a vacuum, both strategy and people do matter when pursuing environmentally driven performance.
Efficacy of the SEPARPROCATH® radiation drape to reduce radiation exposure during cardiac catheterization: A pilot comparative study
Authors: Patet Camille , Ryckx Nick , Arroyo Diego , Cook Stéphane , Goy Jean‐Jacques 
Published: February 2019

AbstractBackgroundInterventional cardiologists are exposed to radiation‐induced diseases, partly due to patient's scatter radiation.ObjectivesWe sought to compare the radiation exposure (RE) of the cardiac catheterization room staff using SEPARPROCATH®, a novel radio‐protective drape versus standard shielding equipment.MethodsThis was a two‐step prospective, randomized pilot trial: first, in experimental conditions using a phantom model, and second, during cardiac catheterization. Primary end‐point was operator RE corresponding to the ratio between operator cumulative dose (CD) and dose area product (DAP). Secondary end‐points were nurse RE, operator and nurse CD, DAP, and fluoroscopy time.ResultsA total of 51 patients were included. SEPARPROCATH® was associated with a lower operator RE (0.07 [0–0.19] vs. 0.37 [0.23–0.81] μSv/Gy.cm2 without SEPARPROCATH®, p value <0.0001) and lower nurse RE (0 [0–0.05] vs. 0.13 [0.03–0.28] μSv/Gy.cm2, p value <0.0001) corresponding to an RE relative risk reduction of 81% and 99%, respectively. Similar reductions were observed for operator and nurse CDs. No difference was found in DAP (19 [11–29] vs. 14 [10–32] Gy.cm2 without SEPARPROCATH®, p value 0.81).ConclusionSEPARPROCATH® offers significant additional radioprotection to the operator and nurse during cardiac catheterization without affecting patient safety.
A misdiagnosed cause of early postoperative bowel obstruction
Authors: Blouhos Konstantinos , Boulas Konstantinos A. , Paraskeva Aikaterini , Triantafyllidis Alexandros , Kariotis Ioannis , Hatzigeorgiadis Anestis 
Published: February 2019

Key Clinical MessageIn the setting of altered anatomy, diagnosis of superior mesenteric artery syndrome requires high clinical and imaging suspicion as the defined imaging criteria cannot be applied.
Laser‐Cutting Fabrication of Mxene‐Based Flexible Micro‐Supercapacitors with High Areal Capacitance
Authors: Wang Na , Liu Jinzhang , Zhao Yi , Hu Mingjun , Qin Ruzhan , Shan Guangcun 
Published: February 2019

AbstractFlexible micro‐supercapacitors (MSCs) in the form of a thin sheet are anticipated to be the thinnest possible structure. High energy storage capacity is an added merit of such devices and is also important for practical applications. In this work, we devise double‐side MSCs by using a UV laser to cut interdigital patterns in a 20‐μm‐thick Ni foil with both sides coated with MXene films. Because of the laser beam penetration and the use of MXene slurry to coat films with a high mass loading of ∼3 mg cm−2, both surfaces of the Ni sheet can be exploited for energy storage, achieving a high areal capacitance of 52 mF cm−2. Moreover, the fabrication of multiple coplanar MSCs in series or parallel can be accomplished via one‐step laser cutting process. In addition to the symmetric design that has a voltage window of 0.6 V, we make asymmetric MSCs by assembling two set of Ni finger electrodes coated with porous carbon or Zn as negative electrodes, and MXene as positive electrodes. The carbon//MXene MSC reaches a broader voltage window of 0.8 V, and the voltage of Zn//MXene hybrid MSC can be further increased to 1.1 V. Our study provides a new strategy to increase the areal energy density of thin sheet MSCs with limited area.
Nanocrystalline MoO3/Polymerized Dibromo‐EDOT as Hybrid Nanocomposite: Efficient Hole Transport Material for Solid‐State Dye‐Sensitized Solar Cells
Authors: Woo Kim Dong , Cheruku Rajesh , Thogiti Suresh , Min Bong‐Ki , Hong Kim Jae 
Published: February 2019

AbstractA hybrid inorganic−polymer hole‐transport material (HTM) exhibited good photovoltaic properties owing to the excellent combination of desirable characteristics of the organic and inorganic materials. Solution‐processed nanocrystalline MoO3 and conducting polymerized dibromo‐3,4‐ethylenedioxythiophene (EDOT) were mixed to develop a hybrid material, which was used in efficient solid‐state dye‐sensitized solar cells (ssDSSCs) as an HTM. Nanocrystalline MoO3 was prepared by a low‐temperature solution method, and the dibromo‐EDOT was prepared from commercially available EDOT by a conventional bromination method. The incorporation of MoO3 into a hybrid HTM significantly improved the device efficiency owing to its high charge transport mechanism and suppression of the recombination in the ssDSSCs. Furthermore, we examined the influence of the blend ratio of MoO3 and dibromo‐EDOT on the photovoltaic performance of the devices. Moreover, the ssDSSCs were characterized by electrochemical impedance spectroscopy and Tafel polarization analysis to examine the charge transfer kinetics. The improved performance of the ssDSSCs could be attributed to increased charge carrier collection by the hybrid HTM. The photovoltaic results revealed that the device fabricated with a hybrid HTM containing 0.2 wt% MoO3 showed the best efficiency.
Leveraging contextual information for cold‐start Web service recommendation
Authors: Tian Gang , Wang Qibo , Wang Jian , He Keqing , Zhao Weidong , Gao Panpan , Peng Yanjun 
Published: February 2019

SummaryWeb service recommendation becomes an increasingly important issue when more and more services are published on the Internet. Many Web service recommendation methods have been proposed in recent years, most of which adopted collaborative filtering (CF) techniques. In general, these approaches have two limitations. Firstly, they rarely leverage user ratings since this kind of explicit feedback is difficult to collect for Web services. Secondly, the new user cold‐start problem is an inherent limitation of CF because the new users have not yet cast sufficient numbers of votes. In this paper, pseudo ratings of services constructed based on plenty of user‐service interactions, also known as a kind of implicit feedback, are provided to represent users' preferences on services. Based on these pseudo ratings, we present a novel Web service recommendation approach, which can alleviate the cold‐start problem by integrating contextual information and an online learning model. Experiments conducted on a real world data set show that, compared with the method without contextual information, our proposed approach that handles the cold start problem by integrating contextual information can achieve better F‐Measure performance (5.08 times increase on average). Moreover, the proposed online recommendation approach can dramatically decrease the time overhead while keeping the similar recommendation performance.
Green, Mild, and Efficient Friedel–Crafts Benzylation of Scarcely Reactive Arenes and Heteroarenes under On‐Water Conditions
Authors: La Manna Pellegrino , Soriente Annunziata , De Rosa Margherita , Buonerba Antonio , Talotta Carmen , Gaeta Carmine , Neri Placido 
Published: February 2019

AbstractMetal‐free Friedel–Crafts benzylation (FCB) of scarcely reactive arenes and heteroarenes was performed under on‐water conditions by an environmentally sustainable procedure. The catalytic strategy exploits the hydrophobicity of the resorcinarene macrocycle 1 a. The proposed mechanism is based on the activation of benzyl chloride by H‐bonding interactions with catalyst 1 a. In fact, under on‐water conditions the hydrophobic amplification of the strength of the H‐bonding interactions between the OH groups of the resorcinarene catalyst and the chlorine atom of benzyl chloride leads to polarization of the C−Cl bond, which consequently promotes electrophilic attack of the π nucleophile. Thus, many arenes and heteroarenes were efficiently benzylated under mild on‐water conditions by using resorcinarene 1 a as catalyst. The FCB of benzene is industrially relevant for the synthesis of diphenylmethane, and hence the on‐water procedure was extended to the gram‐scale synthesis of diphenylmethane, starting from benzene and benzyl chloride in the presence of resorcinarene catalyst 1 a.
Phosphorylation of Polymeric Carbon Nitride Photoanodes with Increased Surface Valence Electrons for Solar Water Splitting
Authors: Fang Yuanxing , Li Xiaochun , Wang Xinchen 
Published: February 2019

AbstractOvercoming the sluggish kinetics of the water oxidation is the key to a high performance for solar water splitting. Herein, phosphorylated polymeric carbon nitride (PCN) photoanodes were developed and showed enhanced photocurrent densities for solar water splitting. A photocatalytic efficiency of 120 μA cm−2 was achieved in the basic solution (1.0 m NaOH) without sacrificial agents. In this system, phosphates were ionically anchored on the surface of PCN, and the modified films showed significantly increased density of valence electrons, and thus promoting photocatalytic efficiency.
Dispersal of Amur tiger from spatial distribution and genetics within the eastern Changbai mountain of China
Authors: Ning Yao , Kostyria Aleksey V. , Ma Jianzhang , Chayka Marina I. , Guskov Valentin Yu , Qi Jinzhe , Sheremetyeva Irina N. , Wang Meng , Jiang Guangshun 
Published: February 2019

AbstractPopulation dispersal and migration often indicate an expanded habitat and reduced inbreeding probability, and to some extend reflects improvement in the condition of the population. The Amur tiger population in the northern region of the Changbai mountain in China mostly distributes along the Sino–Russian border, next to the population in southwest Primorye in Russia. The successful dispersal westward and transboundary movement are crucial for the persistence of the Amur tiger in this area. This study explored the spatial dispersal of the population, transboundary migration, and the genetic condition of the Amur tiger population within the northern Changbai mountain in China, using occurrence data and fecal samples. Our results from 2003 to 2016 showed that the Amur tiger population in this area was spreading westward at a speed of 12.83 ± 4.41 km every three years. Genetic diversity of the Amur tiger populations in southwest Primorye was slightly different than the population in our study area, and the potential individual migration rate between these two populations was shown to be about 13.04%. Furthermore, the relationships between genetic distances and spatial distances indicated the existence of serious limitations to the dispersal of the Amur tiger in China. This study provided important information about spatial dispersal, transboundary migration, and the genetic diversity of Amur tigers in China, showed the urgent need for Amur tiger habitat restoration, and suggested some important conservation measures, such as corridor construction to eliminate dispersal barriers and joint international conservation to promote trans‐boundary movement.
The effects of Bacillus subtilis on Caenorhabditis elegans fitness after heat stress
Authors: Hoang Kim L. , Gerardo Nicole M. , Morran Levi T. 
Published: February 2019

AbstractMicrobes can provide their hosts with protection from biotic and abiotic factors. While many studies have examined how certain bacteria can increase host lifespan, fewer studies have examined how host reproduction can be altered. The nematode Caenorhabditis elegans has been a particularly useful model system to examine how bacteria affect the fitness of their hosts under different contexts. Here, we examine how the bacterium Bacillus subtilis, compared to the standard C. elegans lab diet, Escherichia coli, affects C. elegans survival and reproduction after experiencing a period of intense heat stress. We find that under standard conditions, nematodes reared on B. subtilis produce fewer offspring than when reared on E. coli.However, despite greater mortality rates on B. subtilis after heat shock, young adult nematodes produced more offspring after heat shock when fed B. subtilis compared to E. coli. Because offspring production is necessary for host population growth and evolution, the reproductive advantage conferred by B. subtilis supersedes the survival advantage of E. coli. Furthermore, we found that nematodes must be reared on B. subtilis (particularly at the early stages of development) and not merely be exposed to the bacterium during heat shock, to obtain the reproductive benefits provided by B. subtilis. Taken together, our findings lend insight into the importance of environmental context and interaction timing in shaping the protective benefits conferred by a microbe toward its host.
Cognitive regulation of ventromedial prefrontal activity evokes lasting change in the perceived self‐relevance of persuasive messaging
Authors: Doré Bruce P. , Cooper N. , Scholz C. , O'Donnell Matthew B. , Falk Emily B. 
Published: February 2019

AbstractPersuasive messages can change people's thoughts, feelings, and actions, but these effects depend on how people think about and appraise the meaning of these messages. Drawing from research on the cognitive control of emotion, we used neuroimaging to investigate neural mechanisms underlying cognitive regulation of the affective and persuasive impact of advertisements communicating the risks of binge drinking, a significant public health problem. Using cognitive control to up‐regulate (vs. down‐regulate) responses to the ads increased: negative affect related to consequences of excessive drinking, perceived ad effectiveness, and ratings of ad self‐relevance made after a one‐hour delay. Neurally, these effects of cognitive control were mediated by goal‐congruent modulation of ventromedial prefrontal cortex and distributed brain patterns associated with negative emotion and subjective valuation. These findings suggest that people can leverage cognitive control resources to deliberately shape responses to persuasive appeals, and identify mechanisms of emotional reactivity and integrative valuation that underlie this ability. Specifically, brain valuation pattern expression mediated the effect of cognitive goals on perceived message self‐relevance, suggesting a role for the brain's valuation system in shaping responses to persuasive appeals in a manner that persists over time.
Impact of postoperative radiation therapy for deeply invasive oral cavity cancer upstaged to stage III
Authors: Cramer John D. , Samant Sandeep , Heron Dwight E. , Ferris Robert L. , Kim Seugwon 
Published: February 2019

AbstractBackgroundThis article is about the eighth edition staging guidelines for upstaged patients with oral cavity squamous cell carcinoma (OCSCC) with >10 mm depth to pT3. This upstages some patients from stage I‐II to stage III, a point at which patients are traditionally considered for postoperative radiation therapy (PORT). The role of PORT in patients upstaged for >10 mm depth is unknown.MethodsWe identified patients with surgically resected stage I‐II OCSCC with >10 mm depth who were upstaged to stage III. We used Cox proportional hazard modeling to compare patients who received PORT to those who did not (median follow‐up 38.6 months).ResultsWe observed that 3.6% of patients with OCSCC were upstaged to stage III for depth >10 mm including 823 eligible patients. On adjusted analyses, PORT was associated with improved overall survival in patients upstaged to stage III (adjusted hazard ratio [aHR] 0.47, 95% confidence interval [CI] 0.30‐0.73).ConclusionPORT is associated with improved survival for patients with OCSCC upstaged to stage III for >10 mm depth.
Cross‐scale focus measure aggregation in depth recovery of microscopic objects
Authors: Mahmood Muhammad Tariq 
Published: February 2019

AbstractIn shape from focus (SFF) methods, image focus volume enhancement is an important issue for acquiring accurate depth maps. Mostly, conventional approaches do focus aggregation locally to enhance the focus volume, which may not suppress noisy focus measurements properly and consequently, may provide deteriorated depth maps. Multiresolution fusion‐based method is proposed for image focus volume enhancement. First, an initial focus volume is obtained by applying a conventional focus measure. Then, a pyramid of focus volumes is computed using Gaussian filters and subsampling. Focus measures from various focus volumes at different levels are merged into a single resultant focus volume. Finally, the depth map is obtained from the resultant focus volume by maximizing the focus measure in the optical‐axis direction. According to the best of my knowledge, the cross‐scale aggregation has never been used in enhancing the image focus volume in SFF. The proposed method is evaluated through the experiments using image sequences of real microscopic and simulated objects. Results comparisons based on root mean square error (RMSE) and correlation demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed method in improving the focus volume and depth map. The proposed fusion method of volumes is a simple but effective. The idea of cross‐scale aggregation of focus measures is effective in providing precise focus measures that consequently, provide accurate depth map. In future work, it will further be explored and a more sophisticated and optimization‐based fusion algorithm will be applied.
HIV infection modulates IL-1β response to LPS stimulation through a TLR4-NLRP3 pathway in human liver macrophages
Authors: Zhang Lumin , Mosoian Arevik , Schwartz Myron E , Florman Sander S , Gunasekaran Ganesh , Schiano Thomas , Fiel M Isabel , Jiang Wei , Shen Qi , Branch Andrea D , Bansal Meena B 
Published: February 2019

Abstract
IL-1β is an important mediator of innate inflammatory responses and has been shown to contribute to liver injury in a number of etiologies. HIV patients have increased necroinflammation and more rapid fibrosis progression in chronic liver injury compared to non-HIV-infected patients. As the resident liver macrophage is critical to the IL-1β response to microbial translocation in chronic liver disease, we aim to examine the impact of HIV-1 and LPS stimulation on the IL-1β response of the resident hepatic macrophages. We isolated primary human liver macrophages from liver resection specimens, treated them with HIV-1BaL and/or LPS ex vivo, examined the IL-1β response, and then studied underlying mechanisms. Furthermore, we examined IL-1β expression in liver tissues derived from HIV-1 patients compared to those with no underlying liver disease. HIV-1 up-regulated TLR4 and CD14 expression on isolated primary CD68+ human liver macrophages and contributed to the IL-1β response to LPS stimulation as evidenced by TLR4 blocking. Nucleotide-binding domain, leucine-rich-containing family, pyrin domain-containing-3 (NLRP3) was shown to be involved in the IL-1β response of liver macrophages to HIV-1 infection and NLRP3 blocking experiments in primary CD68+ liver macrophages confirmed the contribution of the NLRP3-caspase 1 inflammatory signaling pathway in the IL-1β response. High in situ IL-1β expression was found in CD68+ cells in human liver tissues from HIV-1-infected patients, suggesting a critical role of IL-1β responses in patients infected by HIV. HIV infection sensitizes the IL-1β response of liver macrophages to LPS through up-regulation of CD14 and TLR4 expression and downstream activation of the NLRP3-caspase 1 pathway. These findings have implications for enhanced immune activation in HIV+ patients and mechanisms for rapid fibrosis progression in patients with chronic liver injury.
Resident liver macrophages infected by HIV-1 demonstrate an increased IL-1β response to LPS that is mediated by TLR4 and downstream activation of the caspase1-NLRP3 pathway.