bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Canker and fine‐root loss of Malus sieversii (Ldb.) Roem. caused by Phytophthora plurivora in Xinjiang Province in China
Authors: Liu Ai‐Hua , Shang Jing , Zhang Jing‐Wen , Kong Ting‐Ting , Yue Zhao‐Yang , Wen Jun‐Bao 
Published: August 2018

AbstractIn recent years, the distribution and population of the Xinjiang wild apple, Malus sieversii, a protected vulnerable plant among endangered rare germplasm resources of China, have been decreasing. A field survey conducted during 2015–2017 detected decline and dieback of Xinjiang wild apple in the Yili region in Xinjiang Province. Two Phytophthora spp. were isolated from cankers and soil samples around symptomatic M. sieversii trees: One isolate was shown to cause infection, based on Koch's postulates. The isolate was identified as Phytophthora plurivora based on morphological features, physiological characteristics, ITS1–5.8S–ITS2 rDNA and cox1 sequence analyses. This is the first report of P. plurivora pathogenicity on Xinjiang wild apple in Xinjiang Province in China, constituting a new host for this pathogen. The potential of P. plurivora to cause damage in pure stands of Xinjiang wild apple in Xinjiang Province should be determined.
First report of Apoharknessia eucalyptorum on Eucalyptus dunnii in Brazil
Authors: de Almeida Garrett Alexandre Techy , Imani Jafargholi , Tambarussi Evandro Vagner , de Oliveira Garcia Flávio Augusto , Kogel Karl‐Heinz , Figueiredo Filho Afonso 
Published: August 2018

AbstractHerein, we describe the conidia and phylogeny of Apoharknessia eucalyptorum, a causal agent of leaf blight, and the symptoms of infection on eucalypt trees, which is the first report of A. eucalyptorum in Brazil. Inoculation tests and re‐isolation of A. eucalyptorum confirmed that Eucalyptus dunnii is a host for this leaf blight. Because the known distribution of A. eucalyptorum is limited, no analysis of the impacts of the disease on tree growth has been conducted, and more detailed studies are needed on the aetiology and epidemiology of this leaf disease.
Adopting a new technology: potatoes and population growth in the periphery
Authors: Berger Thor 
Published: August 2018

AbstractSweden's population doubled in size between 1750 and 1850 despite a century of stagnating per capita incomes and real wages, which has led many historians to attribute the population explosion to the introduction of the potato. This article provides the first systematic evidence on the potato's contribution to Swedish living standards and population growth. Potatoes at least doubled output per acre, and welfare ratios that account for potato consumption imply that they raised living standards significantly for labourers. Estimates that exploit regional differences in the suitability of land for cultivating potatoes further show that cities, counties, and rural parishes with more land suitable for potato cultivation experienced a sharp relative acceleration in population growth as the potato spread in the early nineteenth century. An expansion of the population was mainly driven by relative increases in fertility and, consistent with Malthusian predictions, there was no long‐run impact on per capita incomes. According to these estimates, the introduction and spread of the potato can account for one‐tenth of population growth between 1800 and 1850, thus suggesting that it was an important catalyst for the Swedish population explosion.
Experiences during the execution of emergency endodontic treatment and levels of anxiety in dental students
Authors: Grock Camila Hélen , Luz Luciana Batista , Oliveira Vanessa Farias , Ardenghi Thiago Machado , Bizarro Lisiane , Ferreira Maria Beatriz Cardoso , Montagner Francisco 
Published: August 2018

AbstractPurposeThis study aims to evaluate the experience of dental students and assess their anxiety levels when performing emergency endodontic treatments.MethodsUndergraduate students completed the STAI‐Trait/State and a questionnaire to assess their confidence level to perform each step of an emergency endodontic procedure. They also answered a numerical scale (NRS) for anxiety before and after emergency care. Ten randomly selected students from the same sample further participated in a focus group aimed at obtaining qualitative data on their perception of endodontic treatments’ conduction and the learning process necessary to perform them.ResultsA total of 23 students joined the study. The majority of the participants reported feeling “confident” when performing local anaesthesia (57.6%), rubber dam placement (57.6%) and coronal sealing (72.7%). However, a small number reported feeling “little confident” to perform access cavity (15.2%) or pulpotomy/pulpectomy (24.2%). Students who scored above the 3rd quartile of STAI‐Trait/State were classified as “highly anxious,” and comprised 26.1% of the sample. The values of NRS scale were higher in the preoperative when compared with the post‐operative assessment. All students classified as “highly anxious” reported low confidence in performing “access cavity” and “pulpotomy/pulpectomy.”ConclusionBoth quantitative and qualitative analysis showed different anxiety levels in dental students. It can possibly contribute to a reduction in confidence prior to emergency endodontic procedures. The current findings suggest it might be important to rearrange activities in order to allow for more practical classes in Endodontics.
Truancy in Europe: Does the type of educational system matter?
Authors: Keppens Gil , Spruyt Bram 
Published: August 2018

AbstractTruancy is known to: Hamper academic achievement, predict a range of school‐related problems and cause early school leaving. Hence, the development and implementation of measures to tackle truancy are considered as important strategies to prevent early school leaving in Europe. Despite this, there is almost no comparative research which studies variation in truancy rates. This article relies on PISA 2012 data from 24 European countries to empirically answer two questions: (1) To what degree do truancy rates vary cross‐nationally? and (2) Do these differences in truancy rates relate to characteristics of the educational system? We found that between‐country truancy rates varied more than differences in early school leaving. Moreover, even after taking into account control variables such as economic development and youth unemployment rates, the ways in which educational systems select and group pupils are closely related to truancy rates.
Children's rights and their subjective well‐being from a multinational perspective
Authors: Casas Ferran , González‐Carrasco Mònica , Luna Xevi 
Published: August 2018

AbstractThis article explores the relationship between children's knowledge and perceptions about their rights and subjective well‐being (SWB) in a sample of 8‐, 10‐ and 12‐year‐olds in 18 countries, taking account of gender differences. Children's knowledge and perceptions about their rights were analysed considering whether they reported that they knew their rights, whether they had heard about the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC) and whether they thought that, in their country, adults respected their rights. To explore SWB, a modified version of the Student's Life Satisfaction Scale, adapted by the Children's Worlds project, was used. Children reporting that they knew their rights, knew about the CRC, or thought that in their country adults respected their rights demonstrated significantly higher SWB scores than those reporting otherwise in the 18 countries. The effects of perceiving that adults in general respected children's rights in their own country on SWB were much more important than the knowledge of children's rights or the knowledge of the CRC. Results provide useful indications on how to promote children's well‐being in public policies, including in education, through the promotion of their rights.
The impact of EU‐funded development interventions on teaching practices in Hungarian schools
Authors: Fazekas Ágnes 
Published: August 2018

AbstractThis article analyses the impact of EU‐funded curriculum development interventions implemented in Hungary between 2004 and 2012, focusing on contextual features influencing school‐ and teacher‐level adoption processes. It is based on a four‐year empirical study which aimed at better understanding the impact mechanisms of modernising interventions targeted at school and classroom level teaching practices. The results show that: (1) EU‐funded curriculum development programmes have had a significant impact on a large number of Hungarian schools (ISCED 1, 2 and 3), (2) interventions were particularly effective in schools operating as knowledge‐intensive organisations and (3) the impact of interventions was influenced by the specificities of both the programme and the local context of adoption. The first part of the article presents the theoretical framework of the research and the main characteristics of EU‐funded curriculum‐development programmes. The following section explores the key features of the research, including its purpose, design and survey instruments. The last part presents the main outcomes, showing the measured impact of interventions on everyday practices of both schools as organisations and individual teachers, as well as the possible links between organisational characteristics and the success of programme implementation.
Combined effects of nitrogen fertilizer and straw application on aggregate distribution and aggregate‐associated organic carbon stability in an alkaline sandy loam soil
Authors: Wang Z. , Wang Z. , Ma L. J. , Ali Khattak W. , Hu W. , Meng Y. L. , Zhou Z. G. 
Published: August 2018

SummaryResearch on aggregate‐associated organic carbon (AOC) stability has increased, but its response to nitrogen (N) and straw (S) application after nitrogen reduction in alkaline sandy loam soil remains unclear. A 2‐year field study and a short‐term incubation experiment were performed to investigate the combined effect of the N + S application on aggregate distribution and stability, and AOC content and mineralization in eastern China. The study involved three N amounts (75, 150 and 300 kg N ha−1) with or without straw amendments under continuous cotton–barley rotation. The N + S application promoted the formation of larger macroaggregates (8–2 mm), with larger mean weight diameter and geometric mean diameter than with N application alone. Aggregate stability increased significantly with increasing rate of N application. The amount of N had less effect on AOC content in the 0–20‐cm layer and cumulative mineralization of AOC in both layers compared with the N + S application. The addition of straw in promoting AOC, however, was more evident in the 20–40‐cm layer. Compared with N fertilizer alone, applying N + S increased the cumulative mineralization of AOC by 27.7% in the 0–20‐cm layer and by 80.9% in the 20–40‐cm layer for different rates of N and aggregate sizes. In addition, at 0–20‐cm depth, there was less C mineralization in macroaggregates than in microaggregates, indicating that macroaggregates showed better protection of AOC in that layer. Our study suggests that N application alone had a large effect on aggregate stability, whereas combined N + S application had a large effect on AOC content and its mineralization in the soil studied.Highlights
We studied aggregate and aggregate‐associated organic carbon stability under N and straw application in alkaline sandy loam soil.
Nitrogen and straw treatment carried out with prior application of a gradient of excessively large N inputs.
Macroaggregates showed better protection of AOC in the 0–20‐cm soil layer.
N and N + S applications had large effects on aggregate stability, AOC content and its mineralization.
Elevated atmospheric concentrations of carbon dioxide reduce monarch tolerance and increase parasite virulence by altering the medicinal properties of milkweeds
Authors: Decker Leslie E. , de Roode Jacobus C. , Hunter Mark D. 
Published: August 2018

AbstractHosts combat their parasites using mechanisms of resistance and tolerance, which together determine parasite virulence. Environmental factors, including diet, mediate the impact of parasites on hosts, with diet providing nutritional and medicinal properties. Here, we present the first evidence that ongoing environmental change decreases host tolerance and increases parasite virulence through a loss of dietary medicinal quality. Monarch butterflies use dietary toxins (cardenolides) to reduce the deleterious impacts of a protozoan parasite. We fed monarch larvae foliage from four milkweed species grown under either elevated or ambient CO2, and measured changes in resistance, tolerance, and virulence. The most high‐cardenolide milkweed species lost its medicinal properties under elevated CO2; monarch tolerance to infection decreased, and parasite virulence increased. Declines in medicinal quality were associated with declines in foliar concentrations of lipophilic cardenolides. Our results emphasize that global environmental change may influence parasite–host interactions through changes in the medicinal properties of plants.
Phosphatase activity and nitrogen fixation reflect species differences, not nutrient trading or nutrient balance, across tropical rainforest trees
Authors: Batterman Sarah A. , Hall Jefferson S. , Turner Benjamin L. , Hedin Lars O. , LaHaela Walter J. Kimiko , Sheldon Pete , van Breugel Michiel 
Published: August 2018

AbstractA fundamental biogeochemical paradox is that nitrogen‐rich tropical forests contain abundant nitrogen‐fixing trees, which support a globally significant tropical carbon sink. One explanation for this pattern holds that nitrogen‐fixing trees can overcome phosphorus limitation in tropical forests by synthesizing phosphatase enzymes to acquire soil organic phosphorus, but empirical evidence remains scarce. We evaluated whether nitrogen fixation and phosphatase activity are linked across 97 trees from seven species, and tested two hypotheses for explaining investment in nutrient strategies: trading nitrogen‐for‐phosphorus or balancing nutrient demand. Both strategies varied across species but were not explained by nitrogen‐for‐phosphorus trading or nutrient balance. This indicates that (1) studies of these nutrient strategies require broad sampling within and across species, (2) factors other than nutrient trading must be invoked to resolve the paradox of tropical nitrogen fixation, and (3) nitrogen‐fixing trees cannot provide a positive nitrogen‐phosphorus‐carbon feedback to alleviate nutrient limitation of the tropical carbon sink.
Variation between individuals fosters regional species coexistence
Authors: Uriarte María , Menge Duncan 
Published: August 2018

AbstractAlthough individual‐level variation (IV) is ubiquitous in nature, it is not clear how it influences species coexistence. Theory predicts that IV will hinder coexistence but empirical studies have shown that it can facilitate, inhibit, or have a neutral effect. We use a theoretical model to explore the consequences of IV on local and regional species coexistence in the context of spatial environmental structure. Our results show that individual variation can have a positive effect on species coexistence and that this effect will critically depend on the spatial structure of such variation. IV facilitates coexistence when a negative, concave‐up relationship between individuals’ competitive response and population growth rates propagates to a disproportionate advantage for the inferior competitor, provided that each species specialises in a habitat. While greater variation in the preferred habitat generally fosters coexistence, the opposite is true for non‐preferred habitats. Our results reconcile theory with empirical findings.
Abnormal hippocampal functional network and related memory impairment in pilocarpine‐treated rats
Authors: Jiang Yin , Han Chun‐Lei , Liu Huan‐Guang , Wang Xiu , Zhang Xin , Meng Fan‐Gang , Zhang Jian‐Guo 
Published: August 2018

SummaryObjectiveAlthough abnormal hippocampal structure and impaired spatial memory have been revealed in a pilocarpine rat model of temporal lobe epilepsy (TLE), the brain functional network changes are still unclear. The aim of the present study was to investigate the changes of brain functional connectivity related to the hippocampus and the associated memory impairment in a pilocarpine model of TLE.MethodsFunctional magnetic resonance imaging signals were recorded in pilocarpine‐treated rats and controls by using a 7.0 T magnetic resonance scanner, and independent component analysis was performed to determine the hippocampal functional network. Behavioral tests, including novel location test, novel object test, and episodic memory test, were utilized to evaluate different aspects of memory impairment.ResultsMemory impairment was observed in the TLE group in all three behavior tests. As compared to control, decreased connectivity of the hippocampal functional network was observed in the anterior dorsal hippocampus, the amygdala, the thalamus, the motor cortex, and the somatosensory cortex in the TLE group. Meanwhile, increased connectivity was found in the visual cortex, the mesencephalon, and the insula in the TLE group. Correlation analysis revealed that functional connections between the hippocampal network and brain regions such as the dorsal hippocampus and the thalamus specifically relate to the spatial memory behavior, whereas connections between the hippocampal network and regions such as the amygdala, the motor cortex, the somatosensory cortex, and the mesencephalon relate to both the spatial and the object memory performance.SignificanceOur results indicated a trend of decreased connectivity in the hippocampal functional network, as well as spatial, object, and episodic memory impairment in the pilocarpine‐induced TLE rat. Moreover, connections within the hippocampal network showed a relationship with spatial memory, and connections between the hippocampal network and regions in other networks revealed an association with both spatial and object memory.
Color polarization vision mediates the strength of an evolutionary trap
Authors: Robertson Bruce A. , Horváth Gábor 
Published: August 2018

AbstractEvolutionary traps are scenarios in which animals are fooled by rapidly changing conditions into preferring poor‐quality resources over those that better improve survival and reproductive success. The maladaptive attraction of aquatic insects to artificial sources of horizontally polarized light (e.g., glass buildings, asphalt roads) has become a first model system by which scientists can investigate the behavioral mechanisms that cause traps to occur. We employ this field‐based system to experimentally investigate (a) in which portion(s) of the spectrum are polarizationally water‐imitating reflectors attractive to nocturnal terrestrial and aquatics insects, and (b) which modern lamp types result in greater attraction in this typical kind of nocturnal polarized light pollution. We found that most aquatic taxa exhibited preferences for lamps based upon their color spectra, most having lowest preference for lamps emitting blue and red light. Yet, despite previously established preference for higher degrees of polarization of reflected light, most aquatic insect families were attracted to traps based upon their unpolarized spectrum. Chironomid midges, alone, showed a preference for the color of lamplight in both the horizontally polarized and unpolarized spectra indicating only this family has evolved to use light in this color range as a source of information to guide its nocturnal habitat selection. These results demonstrate that the color of artificial lighting can exacerbate or reduce its attractiveness to aquatic insects, but that the strength of attractiveness of nocturnal evolutionary traps, and so their demographic consequences, is primarily driven by unpolarized light pollution. This focuses management attention on limiting broad‐spectrum light pollution, as well as its intentional deployment to attract insects back to natural habitats.
QT length during methadone maintenance treatment: gene × dose interaction
Authors: Zerdazi El‐Hadi , Vorspan Florence , Marees Andries T. , Naccache François , Lepine Jean‐Pierre , Laplanche Jean‐Louis , Prince Nathalie , Marie‐Claire Cynthia , Bellivier Frank , Mouly Stéphane , Bloch Vanessa 
Published: August 2018

AbstractMethadone is known to be a risk factor for sudden death by enlarging ECG QT corrected (QTc) interval. For other medical conditions, QTc lengthening has been described as the result of interactions between pharmacological treatments and genetic factors. Former heroin‐dependent subjects under methadone maintenance treatment in remission for at last 3 months were recruited. We studied the association between QTc length (Bazett formula) and 126 SNPs located on five genes (KCNE1, KCNQ1, KCNH2, NOS1AP and SCN5A) previously associated with drug‐induced QT prolongation. Both SNP‐based and gene‐based approaches were used, and we tested also the interaction of the top SNP with methadone dosage to predict the QTc length. In our sample of 154 patients, current methadone daily dose was associated with QTc length (rPearson = 0.26; P = 10−3). Only one SNP, rs11911509 on KCNE1, remained significantly associated with QT length after correction for multiple testing (P = 3.84 × 10−4; pcorrected = 0.049). Using a gene‐based approach, KCNE1 was also significantly associated with QTc length (pempirical = 0.02). We found a significant interaction between methadone dosage and rs11911509 minor allele count (allele A vs. C; P = 0.01). Stratified analysis revealed that the correlation between QTc length and methadone dosage was restricted only to AA carriers of this top SNP. Patients’ genetic background should be taken into account in the case of clinically relevant QT enlargement during methadone maintenance treatment.
Size of Financing Need and the Choice between Asset Sales and Security Issuances
Authors: Desai Chintal A. , Gupta Manu 
Published: August 2018

AbstractWe study the effect of the size of financing need on a firm's choice between selling assets and issuing securities to finance its investments. The balance sheet effect predicts that a firm prefers to sell assets when the financing need is relatively small as there is less information asymmetry regarding the value of a (small) subset of its assets. When the financing need is large, a firm prefers issuing securities to selling assets. We find evidence supporting the prediction. Our findings remain unchanged when we employ measures of financing need that are relatively independent of the actual amount of financing raised.