bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
A modified DNA barcode approach to define trophic interactions between native and exotic pentatomids and their parasitoids
Authors: Gariepy Tara D. , Bruin Allison , Konopka Joanna , Scott‐Dupree Cynthia , Fraser Hannah , Bon Marie‐Claude , Talamas Elijah 
Published: September 2018

AbstractThe establishment of invasive Halyomorpha halys (Stål) outside of its native range may impact native species assemblages, including other pentatomids and their scelionid parasitoids. This has generated interest in defining species diversity and host‐parasitoid associations in this system to better understand the impact of invasive alien species on trophic interactions in invaded regions. Information on scelionid–pentatomid associations in natural habitats is lacking, and species‐level identification of these associations can be tenuous using rearing and dissection techniques. Naturally occurring pentatomid eggs were collected in areas where H. halys has established in Canada and were analysed using a modified DNA barcoding approach to define species‐level trophic interactions. Identification was possible for >90% of egg masses. Eleven pentatomid and five scelionid species were identified, and trophic links were established. Approximately 70% of egg masses were parasitized; parasitism and parasitoid species composition were described for each species. Telenomus podisi Ashmead was the dominant parasitoid and was detected in all host species. Trissolcus euschisti Ashmead was detected in several host species, but was significantly more prevalent in Chinavia hilaris (Say) and Brochymena quadripustulata (Fabricius). Trissolcus brochymenae Ashmead and Tr. thyantae Ashmead were recorded sporadically. Parasitism of H. halys was 55%, and this species was significantly less likely to be parasitized than native pentatomids. The scelionid species composition of H. halys consisted of Te. podisi, Tr. euschisti and Tr. thyantae. Although these species cannot develop in fresh H. halys eggs, we demonstrate that parasitoids attempt to exploit this host under field conditions.
RADseq data reveal ancient, but not pervasive, introgression between Californian tree and scrub oak species (Quercussect.Quercus: Fagaceae)
Authors: Kim Bernard Y. , Wei Xinzeng , Fitz‐Gibbon Sorel , Lohmueller Kirk E. , Ortego Joaquín , Gugger Paul F. , Sork Victoria L. 
Published: September 2018

AbstractA long‐term debate in evolutionary biology is the extent to which reproductive isolation is a necessary element of speciation. Hybridizing plants in general are cited as evidence against this notion, and oaks specifically have been used as the classic example of species maintenance without reproductive isolation. Here, we use thousands of SNPs generated by RAD sequencing to describe the phylogeny of a set of sympatric white oak species in California and then test whether these species exhibit pervasive interspecific gene exchange. Using RAD sequencing, we first constructed a phylogeny of ten oak species found in California. Our phylogeny revealed that seven scrub oak taxa occur within one clade that diverged from a common ancestor withQ. lobata, that they comprise two subclades, and they are not monophyletic but include the widespread tree oakQ. douglasii. Next, we searched for genomic patterns of allele sharing consistent with gene flow between long‐divergent tree oaks with scrub oaks. Specifically, we utilized theD‐statistic as well as model‐based inference to compare the signature of shared alleles between two focal tree species (Q. lobataandQ. engelmannii) with multiple scrub species within the two subclades. We found that introgression is not equally pervasive between sympatric tree and scrub oak species. Instead, gene flow commonly occurs from scrub oaks to recently sympatricQ. engelmannii, but less so from scrub oaks to long‐sympatricQ. lobata. This case study illustrates the influence of ancient introgression and impact of reproductive isolating mechanisms in preventing indiscriminate interspecific gene exchange.
A comparison of mosquito densities, weather and infection rates of Aedes aegypti during the first epidemics of Chikungunya (2014) and Zika (2016) in areas with and without vector control in Puerto Rico
Authors: Barrera R. , Amador M. , Acevedo V. , Beltran M. , Muñoz J. L. 
Published: September 2018

AbstractIn Puerto Rico, the first records of the transmission of Chikungunya (CHIKV) and Zika (ZIKV) viruses were confirmed in May 2014 and December 2015, respectively. Transmission of CHIKV peaked in September 2014, whereas that of ZIKV peaked in August 2016. The emergence of these mosquito‐transmitted arboviruses in the context of a lack of human population immunity allowed observations of whether the outbreaks were associated with Aedes aegypti (Diptera: Culicidae) densities and weather. Mosquito density was monitored weekly in four communities using sentinel autocidal gravid ovitraps (AGO traps) during 2016 in order to provide data to be compared with the findings of a previous study carried out during the 2014 CHIKV epidemic. Findings in two communities protected against Ae. aegypti using mass AGO trapping (three traps per house in most houses) were compared with those in two nearby communities without vector control. Mosquito pools were collected to detect viral RNA of ZIKV, CHIKV and dengue virus. In areas without vector control, mosquito densities and rates of ZIKV detection in 2016 were significantly higher, similarly to those observed for CHIKV in 2014. The density of Ae. aegypti in treated sites was less than two females/trap/week, which is similar to the putative adult female threshold for CHIKV transmission. No significant differences in mosquito density or infection rates with ZIKV and CHIKV at the same sites between years were observed. Although 2016 was significantly wetter, mosquito densities were similar.
Altered intestinal antibacterial gene expression response profile in irritable bowel syndrome is linked to bacterial composition and immune activation
Authors: Bennet Sean M. P. , Sundin Johanna , Magnusson Maria K. , Strid Hans , Tap Julien , Derrien Muriel , Le Nevé Boris , Doré Joël , Törnblom Hans , Simrén Magnus , Öhman Lena 
Published: September 2018

AbstractBackgroundImmune activity and gut microbiota may impact the pathophysiology of irritable bowel syndrome (IBS). We aimed to determine whether antibacterial gene expression of immune activity‐defined IBS patients differed compared to healthy subjects (HS) and ulcerative colitis (UC) patients and whether antibacterial profiles reflected gut microbiota composition and IBS symptoms.MethodsExpression of 84 antibacterial genes in biopsies from HS, IBS patients (clustered according to immune activity (systemic and intestinal cytokines): immunonormal or immunoactive), and UC patients was assessed by Human Antibacterial Response RT2 Profiler PCR Array. In IBS patients, 16S rRNA gene sequencing of fecal and mucosal bacteria was performed and symptom pattern and severity were assessed.Key ResultsIntestinal antibacterial gene expression profiles differed between IBS patients (n = 31) and HS (n = 16), but did not differ between IBS subgroups based on bowel habit predominance or symptom severity. Based on previously identified IBS clusters, IBS patients with normal (n = 15) and enhanced immune activity (n = 16) had clearly separate antibacterial gene expression profiles from active UC patients (n = 12) and differed compared to each other and to HS. The differences in antibacterial gene expression profiles between immunonormal and immunoactive IBS patients were also reflected in distinct fecal and mucosal microbiota composition profiles, but not in symptom pattern or severity.Conclusions & InferencesThis study demonstrates an altered antibacterial gene expression profile in IBS patients compared to HS and UC patients. While not linked to symptoms, immune activity‐defined IBS clusters showed different intestinal antibacterial gene expression and distinct fecal and mucosal bacterial profiles.
Is metformin still the most efficacious first‐line oral hypoglycaemic drug in treating type 2 diabetes? A network meta‐analysis of randomized controlled trials
Authors: Jia Y. , Lao Y. , Zhu H. , Li N. , Leung S.‐W. 
Published: September 2018

SummaryObjectivesThe objective of the study is to compare the efficacy of hypoglycaemic drugs for type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) by network meta‐analysis of randomized controlled trials (RCTs).MethodsWe compared 11 major oral hypoglycaemic drugs under five categories evaluated by RCTs as drug monotherapy for the patients with T2DM, measuring glycosylated haemoglobin (%) or fasting plasma glucose (mmol L−1) as outcomes. RCT quality was assessed with the Cochrane risk of bias tool. Network meta‐analysis estimated the mean differences and 95% credible intervals. Subgroup and sensitivity analyses were performed to determine the results robustness. The Grading of Recommendation, Assessment, Development, and Evaluation evidence strength was assessed.ResultsSeventy‐five RCTs including 33,830 patients were identified. Their study quality was high. Regarding glycosylated haemoglobin, top three anti‐diabetics were repaglinide (mean differences −1.39 [95% credible intervals −1.75 to −1.03]), gliclazide (−1.37 [−2.04 to −0.71]) and metformin (−1.13 [−1.37 to −0.90]), against placebo. Regarding fasting plasma glucose, top three anti‐diabetics were repaglinide (−2.01 [−2.75 to −0.97]), metformin (−1.72 [−2.16 to −1.27]) and glipizide (−1.57 [−2.44 to −0.64]), against placebo. There was no difference between metformin and repaglinide. Subgroup and sensitivity analyses found the results to be robust. The evidence strength was moderate to high.ConclusionThis meta‐analysis showed that repaglinide and metformin would be the most efficacious oral drugs for first‐line monotherapy of T2DM.
High‐density characterization of a localized reentry circuit occurred after AF ablation
Authors: Frontera Antonio , Takigawa Masateru , Haïssaguerre Michel , Derval Nicolas , Jaïs Pierre 
Published: September 2018

AbstractWe present the case of a localized reentry circuit that developed 24 h after radiofrequency ablation of atrial fibrillation (AF). The circuit was of interest because it overlapped with sites of previous defragmentation during AF. The circuit presented a small funnel that measured only 1.4 mm at its narrowest segment. Fractionated signals, which codify for slow conduction zones, corresponded to the isthmus site. Ablation at this site interrupted the atrial tachycardia.
Effects of the short‐term exposure to ambient air pollution on atrial fibrillation
Authors: Liu Xiaole , Kong Dehui , Liu Yanbo , Fu Jia , Gao Peng , Chen Taibo , Fang Quan , Cheng Kang'an , Fan Zhongjie 
Published: September 2018

AbstractBackgroundAtrial fibrillation (AF) is an important arrhythmia associated with cardiovascular morbidity and mortality. This study is focused on exploring the potential relationship between short‐term air pollution exposure and occurrence of AF.MethodsA case‐crossover design was used to investigate the effect of pollutants on AF occurrence among 100 patients from 2013 to 2014. The air pollutants included ambient particulate matter less than 2.5 μm in aerodynamic diameter (PM2.5), particulate matter less than 10 μm in aerodynamic diameter (PM10), nitrogen dioxide (NO2), sulfur dioxide (SO2), carbon monoxide (CO), and ozone (O3). Participants with cardiac implantable electronic devices implanted were followed‐up to December 31, 2014.ResultsA 10 μg/m3 increase of PM2.5 and PM10 was associated with 3.8% (95% confidence interval [CI]: 1.4–6.2) and 2.7% (95% CI: 0.6–4.8) increase in the risk of AF occurrence, respectively. No statistically significant association was noted with SO2, NO2, CO, and O3.ConclusionsShort‐term exposure to particular matter, both PM2.5 and PM10, is associated with an increased risk of AF. This further demonstrates the urgency for air quality monitoring and control in geographical area with intense pollution.
Left atrial voltage mapping using a new impedance‐based algorithm in patients with paroxysmal atrial fibrillation
Authors: Asvestas Dimitrios , Vlachos Konstantinos , Bazoukis George , Martin Claire A. , Letsas Konstantinos P. , Sakellaropoulou Antigoni , Kossyvakis Charalampos , Saplaouras Athanasios , Prappa Efstathia , Goga Christina , Vassilikos Vassilios , Valkanas Kosmas , Deftereos Spiridon , Sideris Antonios , Efremidis Michael 
Published: September 2018

AbstractAimsAtrial fibrosis is associated with the pathogenesis and progression of atrial fibrillation (AF). We sought to evaluate the extent of left atrial (LA) scarring in patients with paroxysmal AF (PAF) undergoing catheter ablation using a new impedance‐based algorithm.MethodsWe prospectively enrolled 73 consecutive patients (43 males, 58 years) with PAF who underwent pulmonary vein antral isolation. We first performed high‐density bipolar voltage mapping during sinus rhythm using Tissue Proximity Indicator (TPI), one of the features of the ConfiDense mapping module integrated in the electroanatomic mapping system. A dense LA shell was created initially without TPI (mean points 2,411) and subsequently activating TPI (mean points 1,167). Each point was classified according to the peak‐to‐peak bipolar voltage electrogram based on two criteria (criterion A: healthy >0.8 mV, border zone: 0.4–0.8 mV, scarred: <0.4 mV; criterion B: healthy: >0.5 mV, border zone: 0.25–0.5 mV, scarred: <0.25 mV).ResultsLA voltage analysis represented significantly smaller scarred areas when mapping was performed with TPI‐ON compared with TPI‐OFF in both voltage criteria (average LA voltage area: 3.02 ± 5.28 cm2 vs 9.15 ± 13.11 cm2 vs in criterion A and 1.19 ± 2.54 cm2 vs 5.61 ± 9.56 cm2 in criterion B). A statistically significant voltage difference was observed in all segments of the left atrium between the two mapping protocols, particularly on the inferior wall.ConclusionA more specific delineation of LA fibrosis may be produced using the TPI feature of the ConfiDense mapping module, through elimination of false‐positive annotated mapping points due to low contact.
Public health nurses’ experiences of using interpreters when meeting with Arabic‐speaking first‐time mothers
Authors: Rifai Elissa , Janlöv Ann‐Christin , Garmy Pernilla 
Published: September 2018

AbstractObjectivesThe aim of this study was to investigate public health nurses’ experiences of using interpreters when meeting with Arabic‐speaking first‐time mothers.Design and SampleAn inductive qualitative design was used. Individual interviews were conducted with Swedish public health nurses (n = 11) with experience of working in child health care with interpreters when meeting with Arabic‐speaking first‐time mothers.MeasuresData were analyzed using qualitative content analysis.ResultsThe analysis of the interviews resulted in one overarching theme: Having to accept and learn to incorporate interpreters when meeting with Arabic‐speaking first‐time mothers. Three subthemes were identified: (a) enabling an understanding of the situation of the mothers; (b) contributing to a trustful relationship; and (c) creating disturbing elements in the dialogue.ConclusionsUsing interpreters optimized the conversation between the public health nurse and the Arab‐speaking first‐time mother; however, the complexity of using interpreters was also apparent.
(In)credible Subjects: NGOs, Attorneys, and Permissible LGBT Asylum Seeker Identities
Authors: McGuirk Siobhán 
Published: September 2018

AbstractIn this paper, I demonstrate how statist logics concerning acceptable lesbian, gay, bisexual, and/or transgender (LGBT) immigrants permeate civic spheres, creating new forms of exclusion for asylum seekers in the United States. Existing research on US asylum policy and procedures as they pertain to LGBT claimants suggests that a “gay enough” litmus test typifies U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) adjudications, such that officers expect claimants to engage in conspicuous consumption of stereotypical commodities and culture and to appear visibly “LGBT,” either through gender non‐conformity or by being “out.” My analysis focuses on the social as well as legal lives of LGBT asylum seekers in the United States. Drawing on ethnographic and interview data collected at specialist NGOs, I argue that limited ideas about LGBT subjectivity often structure NGO workers’ attitudes and practices in ways that echo USCIS criteria for granting asylum. I demonstrate how NGO client selection and intake processes assume homonormative ideals and subtly yet effectively replicate existing adjudication norms. Within ostensibly non‐governmental spaces, LGBT asylum seekers experience suspicion, surveillance, and pressure to conform to NGO workers’ expectations of “credible” claimants. Contrary to NGOs’ stated intentions, these processes extend, rather than challenge, existing barriers to asylum.
Fashioning the Legal Subject: Popular Justice and Courtroom Attire in the Caribbean
Authors: Cabatingan Lee 
Published: September 2018

AbstractClothing, as has been shown in a growing body of anthropological research, not only reflects reality but also works to make it. This article uses the unique lens provided by fashion to focus on the populace in which popular courts stake their legitimacy. Much in the way that laws, processes, and procedures affect people's relationship to law, courthouse attire, too, subtly and perhaps more cunningly contributes to the creation of subjects that interact with and understand the law in specific ways. Specifically, the clothing worn in and required by a popular courthouse helps to make the very community in which that court claims its popularity. Ethnographic examples from fieldwork in a municipal tribunal in Cuba and in the Caribbean Court of Justice in Trinidad and Tobago show how fashion reflects the historical development of each court while it simultaneously works to transform populations into ideal legal subjects.
Challenging Corporate “Personhood”: Energy Companies and the “Rights” of Non‐Humans
Authors: Fitz‐Henry Erin 
Published: September 2018

AbstractSince the early 2000s, the idea of “rights” for nature has gained increasing traction among environmental activists throughout the Americas. Drawing on a series of recent legal cases in the state of Pennsylvania, this article tracks the efforts of a U.S.‐based nongovernmental organization to use such rights in ongoing struggles against energy companies involved in natural gas extraction. The central argument is that, despite their considerable philosophical and practical difficulties, the rights of nature are being productively used as part of a grassroots movement of civil disobedience that aims to simultaneously challenge corporate personhood and reestablish the power of local communities to defend the rights of ecosystems within their jurisdictions. By explicitly juxtaposing the “rights” of nature with the “rights” of corporate persons, local communities facing the impacts of natural gas extraction are attempting not only to make substantive claims about the legal defensibility of nonhuman rights but also, just as importantly, to set precedents for the revocation of corporate personhood. Close attention to these arguments suggests ways of bringing together recent work on corporate personhood with theoretical insights drawn from political ontology.
Selling Speed: Management Consultants, Acceleration, and Temporal Angst
Authors: Stein Felix 
Published: September 2018

AbstractRecent studies of capitalist modernity have defined one of its attributes as the acceleration of social life. This article provides ethnographic insight into one of the drivers of this acceleration by describing the labor of management consultants as speeding up corporate activity. Since speed is hard to sell directly, management consultants foster an intense temporality in the people they work with, one that highlights the temporal nature of all things and stresses temporal finitude. As part of selling speed, consultants need to develop this temporality themselves. The resulting alienation stems not only from temporal incongruities but also from feelings of being trapped in time, as well as blindness to the long‐lasting and the potentially infinite aspects of human existence.
Contesting Secularism: Civil Marriage and Those Who Do Not Belong to a Religious Community in Lebanon
Authors: Abillama Raja 
Published: September 2018

AbstractIn late 2012 the first civil marriage in Lebanon and, at the end of the following year, the first Lebanese baby to be not registered as belonging to a community, were officially recognized months after administrative delay and legal argumentation. These recognitions unsettled the Lebanese consensus that all citizens belonged to one of the communities of Muslims, Christians, or Jews that, moreover, had long held exclusive jurisdiction over the marriages of their members. A space seemed to have opened up in which a secular alternative could be pursued in the conduct of matters of state and personal life. Based on an analysis of the constitutive processes of this recognition, I trace the lineaments of a distinctively Lebanese secularism, which, I argue, consists of the assumption that marriage and identity are joined together in a mutually dependent relationship. I show that although the recognition of civil marriage and non‐belonging may seem to drive a wedge between marriage and identity, they are in fact a different way of rearticulating this assumption and the attitudes, norms, and practices that sustain it. Far from securing their stable separation, the recognition shifts their point of tension from the community to the individual, and from legal to administrative power.
On the asymptotic non‐equivalence of efficient‐GMM and MEL estimators in models with missing data
Authors: Chen Xuerong , Chen Yan , Wan Alan T.K. , Zhou Yong 
Published: September 2018

AbstractThe generalized method of moments (GMM) and empirical likelihood (EL) are popular methods for combining sample and auxiliary information. These methods are used in very diverse fields of research, where competing theories often suggest variables satisfying different moment conditions. Results in the literature have shown that the efficient‐GMM (GMME) and maximum empirical likelihood (MEL) estimators have the same asymptotic distribution to order n−1/2 and that both estimators are asymptotically semiparametric efficient. In this paper, we demonstrate that when data are missing at random from the sample, the utilization of some well‐known missing‐data handling approaches proposed in the literature can yield GMME and MEL estimators with nonidentical properties; in particular, it is shown that the GMME estimator is semiparametric efficient under all the missing‐data handling approaches considered but that the MEL estimator is not always efficient. A thorough examination of the reason for the nonequivalence of the two estimators is presented. A particularly strong feature of our analysis is that we do not assume smoothness in the underlying moment conditions. Our results are thus relevant to situations involving nonsmooth estimating functions, including quantile and rank regressions, robust estimation, the estimation of receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curves, and so on.