bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Sexual selection sustains biodiversity via producing negative density‐dependent population growth
Authors: Kobayashi Kazuya 
Published: November 2018

Abstract

Mechanisms for maintaining biodiversity are still unclear despite considerable research. The classic theory predicts that stable co‐occurrence of competitive species requires niche differentiation. In fact, the co‐occurring species are often differentiated from each other. However, the neutral theory assuming equivalence of the reproductive rate of all individuals regardless of the species in a biological community has successfully recreated the observed patterns of species abundance distribution. This success is based on the unrealistic assumption suggesting that some mechanisms eliminate interspecific differences in the reproductive rates.

Here, I present sexual selection as a candidate of the mechanisms by constructing analytical and simulation models. Sexual selection affects the traits that increase mating success even at the expense of fecundity when the species is abundant. By contrast, when the species is at a relatively low density, this negative effect on fecundity is mitigated because less competition for mating occurs in the rare species.

The analytical model of this effect on fecundity predicted that sexual organisms stop population growth before exhausting resources due to the effect. This prediction was confirmed by simulation models. The simulations also showed that hundreds of competitive species with interspecific differences in reproductive potential can coexist over 10,000 generations. Moreover, species abundance distributions obtained from the simulations were similar to the patterns observed in field data. Given the generality of sexual reproduction in nature, sexual selection is likely to play a significant role in sustaining biodiversity over a broad range of environments.

Synthesis. Evolution does not always maximize population growth rate. This study shows that evolution of sexual selection controls the population growth rate according to density and stabilizes the population size. This stabilizing effect has a potential to rescue endangered species from extinction, prevent overgrowth of common species, promote coexistence of competitive species, and successfully recreate the observed patterns of species abundance distribution.
Neighborhood diversity simultaneously increased and decreased susceptibility to contrasting herbivores in an early stage forest diversity experiment
Authors: Grossman Jake J. , Cavender‐Bares Jeannine , Reich Peter B. , Montgomery Rebecca A. , Hobbie Sarah E. 
Published: November 2018

Abstract

Forest structure and diversity can regulate tree vulnerability to damage by insects and pathogens. Past work suggests that trees with diverse neighbours should experience less leaf herbivory and less damage from specialist herbivores and diseases, and that the effect of neighbourhood diversity should be strongest at small spatial scales.

In an early stage temperate tree diversity experiment, we monitored damage from leaf removing herbivores, specialist (gallers and leaf miners) herbivores, and two specialist fungal diseases (maple leaf anthracnose and cedar apple gall rust) over 3 years. The experimental design included treatments that varied independently in phylogenetic and functional diversity and we made our analyses across four spatial scales (1–16 m2).

Neighborhood diversity simultaneously increased leaf removal for some species, decreased it for others, and had no effect on yet others. Height apparency—the difference between a focal plant’s height and its neighbours’—was the best single predictor of leaf removal across species and spatial scales, but the strength and direction of its effect were also species‐specific.

Specialist pathogens and fungal foliar diseases showed signs of associational resistance and susceptibility. Oaks (Quercus spp.) were more resistant to leaf miners and maples were more resistant to anthracnose when surrounded by diverse neighbours (associational resistance). In contrast, birches (Betula papyrifera) were more susceptible to leaf miners and eastern red cedars (Juniperus virginiana) were more susceptible to cedar apple gall rust (Gymnosporangium juniperi‐virginianae) infection in diverse environments (associational susceptibility).

Herbivore and pathogen damage was better predicted by community structure and diversity at small spatial scales (1 and 4 m2) than large scales (9 and 16 m2), suggesting a characteristic spatial scale for these biodiversity‐ecosystem functioning effects.

Synthesis. Humans control forest diversity through selective harvesting and planting in natural stands and plantations. Our experimental demonstration of the role of local community structure and diversity in suppressing some forms of pest and pathogen damage to trees suggests that forest management can be most effective when diversity is considered at small spatial scales and the underlying biology of particular pests, pathogens, and hosts is taken into account. Pictured here: the “galls” formed by cedar apple gall rust (Gymnosporangium juniperae‐virginiae) on eastern red cedar (Juniperus virginiana) in early spring release wind‐dispersed teleospores. Junipers showed associational susceptibility: greater susceptibility to gall rust with more diverse neighbours.
Engaging Professionals in Sustainable Workplace Innovation: Medical Doctors and Institutional Work
Authors: Bartram Timothy , Stanton Pauline , Bamber Greg J. , Leggat Sandra G. , Ballardie Ruth , Gough Richard 
Published: November 2018

AbstractThis paper investigates the role of medical professionals in the success and longevity of the implementation of workplace innovation and organizational change in the Accident and Emergency (A&E) Departments of two large public hospitals, in Australia and Canada, during the introduction of process improvement using Lean Management (LM) methodologies. We ask why and how doctors resist, influence or enable LM initiatives in healthcare. Using a qualitative methodology, we contribute to institutional work theory by unpacking the complex forms of boundary and practice work undertaken by key actors who effectively use their professional status and power to enable practice changes to be embedded. Our findings lend support to the importance of the involvement and ownership of senior doctors in the design, introduction and implementation of successful workplace innovation and organizational change. Senior doctors use their professional expertise, positional and political power at the industry, organization and workplace levels to influence strategically the use of resources designated for workplace innovation to improve efficiencies, quality of patient care and maintain their dominance. The significant organizational change achieved reflected the ownership and leadership of the workplace innovation by senior doctors in ‘hybrid roles’ who captured the rhetoric and minimized adversarialism among key stakeholders.
Service providers' and health professionals' views and suggestions for the Australian National Meal Guidelines for the Commonwealth Home Support Program
Authors: Clancy Annabel , Walton Karen , Charlton Karen , Mcmahon Anne‐Therese , Ringland Emma , Williams Peter , Tapsell Linda 
Published: November 2018

AimTo summarise the views and suggestions of service providers and health professionals on issues related to the development of National Meal Guidelines.MethodsA national online survey of meal service providers and health professionals in Australia was conducted. Potential participants were identified from previously conducted workshop consultations. Snowball sampling was used whereby participants were encouraged to share the survey link with relevant colleagues. De‐identified data were collated and closed responses calculated based on the proportion of participants answering each question. Open‐ended responses were systematically examined to identify common themes within the data.ResultsThe 289 participants were mostly female (83%) and service providers (47%). Most participants described their services to be home‐delivery (57%), sourcing meals from external providers (47%), were providing menu choice (59%), and were able to cater for special diets (95%). Participants felt that National Meal Guidelines would be beneficial in improving meal service provision and promoting consistency between organisations but were concerned that they may be impractical and costly. They also identified priority areas for inclusion in the guidelines including nutrition recommendations for customers, dietary modifications for special needs, menu variety/structure and considerations about meal types. Nourishing mid‐meal snacks, food fortification and screening and monitoring of malnutrition are future considerations for service activities.ConclusionsFuture research should examine the uptake and satisfaction of service providers and health professionals with the National Meal Guidelines.
Nutritional quality and reformulation of a selection of children's packaged foods available in Australian supermarkets: Has the Health Star Rating had an impact?
Authors: Morrison Holly , Meloncelli Nina , Pelly Fiona E. 
Published: November 2018

AimTo examine whether the nutritional quality of children's packaged food products available in Australian supermarkets improved between 2013 and 2016, and whether any change could be detected in product reformulation since the introduction of the Health Star Rating (HSR) labelling scheme.MethodsPackaged food products marketed towards children were purchased from three Australian supermarkets in July 2013 (for a previous study) and July 2016. Nutritional quality was assessed using the Food Standards Australian New Zealand Nutrient Profiling Scoring Criterion. Comparisons were made between the nutrient composition and formulation of products (a) available in 2013 and 2016; and (b) with and without HSR graphics.ResultsOf the 252 children's packaged products analysed, 53.6% were classified as ‘less healthy’. HSR‐labelled products had a significantly higher proportion classified as ‘healthy’ than those without the HSR (χ2 = 26.5; P < 0.0001; 73.8% and 59.0%, respectively). Overall, 28.5% displayed the HSR; the majority (81.5%) having a rating of ≥3.0 stars. Cereal‐based products had the greatest uptake of the scheme, with HSR‐labelled products having significantly lower mean energy and saturated fat content (P < 0.01) and higher mean protein and fibre content (P < 0.001) than non‐HSR products. Reformulation of products that were available in 2013 had occurred in 100% of HSR‐labelled products in comparison to 61.3% of non‐HSR labelled products.ConclusionsDespite the introduction of the HSR, more than half of children's packaged foods sampled are ‘less healthy’. However, early indications suggest that the HSR may stimulate healthier product reformulation.
Alcohol Consumption in Combination with an Atherogenic Diet Increased Indices of Atherosclerosis in Apolipoprotein E/Low‐Density Lipoprotein Receptor Double‐Knockout Mice
Authors: Furuta Yuzo , Liu Jinyao , Himemiya‐Hakucho Ayako , Yoshimura Koichi , Fujimiya Tatsuya 
Published: November 2018

BackgroundAlcohol abuse and adherence to atherogenic diet (AD; a low‐carbohydrate–high‐protein diet) have been positively associated with cardiovascular disease. In addition, it has been demonstrated clinically that dietary intake is increased on days when alcohol is consumed. Here, the additive effects of ethanol (EtOH) and AD on atherosclerosis, a major underlying cause of cardiovascular disease, were investigated in apolipoprotein E/low‐density lipoprotein receptor double‐knockout (KO) mice. The mechanisms, especially aortic oxidative stress damage, were highlighted.MethodsTwelve‐week‐old male KO mice on AD with or without EtOH treatment were bred for 4 months. Age‐matched male C57BL/6J mice on a standard chow diet without EtOH treatment served as controls. Analyses were conducted using ultrasound biomicroscopy, histopathological and fluorescence immunohistochemical examinations, Western blots, and polymerase chain reaction.ResultsKO mice on AD with EtOH treatment showed increases in aortic maximum intima media thickness, hypoechoic plaque formation, and mean Oil‐Red‐O content. These results were associated with enhanced ratio of aortic 8‐hydroxy‐2′‐deoxyguanosine (8‐OHdG)‐immunopositive area to the metallothionein (MT) immunopositive area and suppression of AD‐induced up‐regulated aortic Mt1, Mt2, and upstream stimulatory factor 1 mRNA expressions. Moreover, 8‐OHdG was expressed in the nuclei of CD31‐ and alpha smooth muscle actin‐immunopositive cells, and the up‐regulated mRNA expressions of aortic nitric oxide synthase 3 and platelet‐derived growth factors were only observed in the KO mice on AD with EtOH treatment.ConclusionsAlcohol abuse and adherence to AD may promote the shift of aortic oxidative stress and antioxidative stress balance toward oxidative stress predominance and reduced antioxidative stress, which may be partly due to the decrease in MT at the cell biological level and down‐regulation of Mt at the gene level, which in turn could play a role in the up‐regulation of endothelial dysfunction‐related and vascular smooth muscle cell proliferation‐related gene expression and the progression of atherosclerosis in mice with hyperlipidemia.
Challenges in Accurately Assessing Prenatal Alcohol Exposure in a Study of Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder in a Youth Detention Center
Authors: Freeman Jacinta , Condon Carmen , Hamilton Sharynne , Mutch Raewyn C. , Bower Carol , Watkins Rochelle E. 
Published: November 2018

BackgroundPrenatal alcohol exposure (PAE) can result in permanent disability, including physical, neurodevelopmental, and cognitive impairments, known as fetal alcohol spectrum disorder (FASD). Individuals with FASD are more likely to engage with the law, including being placed in detention, than individuals without FASD. Young people who were sentenced to detention participated in a FASD prevalence study in Western Australia. The diagnosis of FASD requires a multidisciplinary assessment and confirmation of maternal alcohol consumption during pregnancy. Obtaining accurate assessment of PAE for young people participating in the study was challenging.MethodsAn interview with the birth mother or other responsible adult for young people sentenced to detention in Western Australia was conducted as part of the FASD assessment. The Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test consumption subset (AUDIT‐C), other relevant questions, and documentary evidence were used to assess PAE. PAE was categorized according to the Australian Guide to the Diagnosis of FASD: no PAE reported, confirmed or confirmed high‐risk, or unknown.ResultsAmong the 101 participants, information on PAE was unable to be obtained for 13 (13%) young people. Of the remaining 88 participants with information of PAE, 41 reported no PAE and 47 had confirmed PAE.ConclusionsAccurately assessing prenatal alcohol consumption is challenging in any setting, but it is exceptionally challenging when assessed 13 to 17 years retrospectively as part of a FASD assessment for a young person sentenced to detention. Recording and recoding detailed qualitative responses was required to provide an accurate assessment of PAE using the AUDIT‐C. Standardized recording of PAE in antenatal and birth records would facilitate later assessments for FASD and provide opportunities for advice and support for women who continue to drink during pregnancy.
Mast cell chymase impairs bronchial epithelium integrity by degrading cell junction molecules of epithelial cells
Authors: Zhou Xiaoying , Wei Tao , Cox Christopher W. , Jiang Yuan , Roche William R. , Walls Andrew F. 
Published: November 2018

AbstractBackgroundAn increased degree of mast cell (MC) degranulation and damage to the epithelial lining are prominent features of bronchial asthma. In asthmatic airways, it seems likely that epithelial cells will be exposed to increased concentrations of proteases from MC, though their actions on the epithelium are still not very clear.MethodsBronchial rings from human lung tissue or 16HBE cell monolayer were incubated with MC chymase in different doses or various inhibitors. The sections of paraffin‐embedded tissue were haematoxylin‐eosin stained and computerized by image analysis for epithelial damage‐scale‐evaluation; the cell viability, proliferation, adhesion and lactate dehydrogenase activity release were assayed; the expressions of gelatinases, cell junction molecules and structure proteins of 16HBE were examined.ResultsMast cell chymase was found to provoke profound changes in the morphology of bronchi epithelial layer. Following incubation with chymase, there was 40% reduction in the length of epithelium that was intact, with detachment of columnar epithelial cells and basal cells. Chymase reduced epithelial cell proliferation and induced cell detachment, which were associated with the changes in secretion and activation of matrix metalloproteinase‐2/9. In intact epithelial cell layers, immunocytochemistry study revealed that chymase reduced the expressions of occludin, claudin‐4, ZO‐1, E‐cadherin, focal adhesion kinase and cytokeratin. Overall data of this study indicated that MC chymase can influence tissue remodelling, disrupt epithelial cell junctions, inhibit wound healing and impair the barrier function of epithelium, resulting in dysfunction of airway wall and ECM remodelling in pathogenesis of asthma.ConclusionMast cell chymase plays a key role in inducing the damage to bronchial epithelium in asthma.
“The long‐time requirements of the nation”: The US Cooperative Soil Survey and the Political Ecologies of Improvement
Authors: Van Sant Levi 
Published: November 2018

AbstractSoil surveys are one of the most powerful tools of modern statecraft, yet they have received little critical scrutiny. This article examines the early history of the US cooperative soil survey, from its founding in 1899 through the New Deal, and argues that it functioned not only as a tool of agricultural modernisation but also as a technology for the development of white nationalist state power. The founding of the soil survey, for instance, was successful based on its claims to resolve post‐frontier racial anxieties about national vigour. Over the next several decades soil surveying grew increasingly central to the execution of state power and arguably formed the basemap for New Deal conservation and planning efforts in the 1930s. The New Deal's decentralised and democratising projects promoted a more inclusive liberal nationalism, yet still supported the reproduction of white supremacy. This analysis shows how taking racial politics more seriously adds depth to studies of environmental governance, and suggests a model for doing so that highlights the articulation of race, nature, and nation through logics of improvement. Soil surveys remain an important political‐ecological technology today and deserve more critical scrutiny. Political ecologists might also work with land reform and reparations movements to determine if and how soil surveys could be useful for liberatory projects.
The gut microbiota of hand, foot and mouth disease patients demonstrates down‐regulated butyrate‐producing bacteria and up‐regulated inflammation‐inducing bacteria
Authors: Li Weiran , Zhu Yu , Li Yiyuan , Shu Min , Wen Yang , Gao Xiaolin , Wan Chaomin 
Published: November 2018

AbstractAimThis study explored the gut microbiota of children with hand, foot and mouth disease (HFMD).MethodsWe enrolled 15 cases with HFMD admitted to the West China Second Hospital, Sichuan University, China, from July to September 2016 at a median age of three years. The controls were 15 healthy children of a similar age who underwent routine health examinations at the hospital during the same period. Gut microbiota was analysed using high throughput 16S ribosomal deoxyribonucleic acid sequencing.ResultsThe gut microbiota in the HFMD patients was distinct from the controls. Compared with the controls, the composition of gut microbiota in the HFMD cases represented a reduction of two butyrate‐producing bacteria, Ruminococcus (0.73 ± 1.28 versus 7.78 ± 20.01, p = 0.026) and Roseburia (0.67 ± 1.69 versus 1.61 ± 3.27, p = 0.024) and an up‐regulation of Escherichia (5.26 ± 10.50 versus 1.59 ± 5.90,p < 0.01) and Enterococcus (4.12 ± 12.49 versus 0.12 ± 0.41, p = 0.015).ConclusionThe dysbiosis of gut microbiota of the HFMD cases included a reduction of butyrate‐producing bacteria and an up‐regulation of inflammation‐inducing bacteria. These may have impaired the intestinal biological mucosal barrier and host immune functions, promoting the invasion of the enterovirus.
Hepatitis E virus infection after haploidentical haematopoietic stem cell transplantation: incidence and clinical course
Authors: Tang Fei‐Fei , Mo Xiao‐Dong , Wang Yu , Yan Chen‐Hua , Chen Yu‐Hong , Chen Huan , Han Wei , Chang Ying‐Jun , Zhang Hai‐Ying , Xie Yan‐Di , Ma Hui , Wei Lai , Xu Lan‐Ping , Huang Xiao‐Jun , Zhang Xiao‐Hui 
Published: November 2018

SummaryHepatitis E virus (HEV) is increasingly found to cause hepatitis in allogeneic haematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HSCT) patients. However, little is known about HEV infection in patients receiving haploidentical HSCT (haplo‐HSCT). Here, we retrospectively evaluate the incidence and clinical course of HEV infection in haplo‐HSCT patients. From January 2014 to July 2017, 177 patients with unexplained elevated transaminases after receiving haplo‐HSCT at Peking University Institute of Haematology were screened for HEV using HEV serology. HEV RNA was assessed in blood samples when HEV‐IgG and/or IgM antibodies were positive. Acute HEV infection was identified in 7 patients (3·9%), 1 of whom had developed a chronic HEV infection. The median time from haplo‐HSCT to HEV infection was 17·5 (range, 6–55) months. HEV infection was confirmed by the presentation of anti‐HEV IgM + anti‐HEV IgG (rising) (n = 5) or HEV‐RNA + anti‐HEV IgM + anti‐HEV IgG (n = 2). None of the patients died of HEV infection directly: 2 patients with HEV infection died showing signs of ongoing hepatitis, and 5 patients cleared HEV with a median duration of HEV infection of 1·5 (range, 1·0–5·7) months. In conclusion, HEV infection is a rare but serious complication after haplo‐HSCT. We recommend screening of HEV in haplo‐HSCT.