bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Lateral facies variations in the Triassic Dachstein platform: A challenge for cyclostratigraphy
Authors: Samankassou Elias , Enos Paul 
Published: July 2019

AbstractThe Triassic Dachstein platform limestone at Steinernes Meer, Salzburg, Austria, includes 611 m of limestone with 222 peritidal cycles overlain by 273 m of subtidal, non‐cyclic and weakly cyclic limestone. Cycle patterns include both shoaling and deepening upward, symmetrical, truncated, and couplets without a depth vector. Beds are laterally discontinuous, and cycle bounding surfaces are laterally variable in the studied strata. Of 558 subtidal and intertidal beds measured, 121 (21.7%) disappear laterally. An additional 73 beds (13.1%) show significant (>10%) lateral variations in thickness. Mean thickness variation is 49%. Both lateral variations and terminations appear to lack a spatial vector. Disappearances toward the inferred platform interior (west) total 10% of the beds. East, toward the platform margin, 11.6% of the beds disappear. Thickness changes occur in 6.5% of beds in each direction. The lack of lateral continuity of beds precludes a simple allocyclic forcing model and is consistent with a non‐eustatic component to stratification. Erosion of intertidal intervals is the process that can be most readily documented. Non‐uniform rates of production, transport and distribution of sediments, superposed on stratigraphic sequences driven by eustasy, probably also contributed to the complex cycle patterns recorded in the Dachstein. Such composites of autocyclic and extrabasinal factors should not be uncritically interpreted as exclusive records of orbital forcing. Lateral discontinuities and thickness variations would also produce inaccuracies in spectral analysis of thickness patterns, typically conducted in search of ‘Milankovich frequencies’, as well as in construction of Fischer plots to analyse long‐period oscillations in accommodation. Any section subjected to cycle analysis should be examined for lateral changes, to the extent permitted by the exposures, in order to produce the most complete (composite) section possible.
Significance of fluid chemistry throughout diagenesis of aragonitic Porites corals – An experimental approach
Authors: Pederson Chelsea L. , Weiss Leonie , Mavromatis Vasileios , Rollion‐Bard Claire , Dietzel Martin , Neuser Rolf , Immenhauser Adrian 
Published: July 2019

AbstractMarine carbonates are among the most important archives of environmental information in both modern and past environments. Widely used but particularly sensitive archives are the aragonitic skeletons of scleractinian corals. However, due to the metastable nature of aragonite, a multitude of chemical, mineralogical, and (micro)biological processes can lead to diagenetic alteration of these archives and their proxy information can be altered or lost. Here, hydrothermal alteration experiments were performed to create a better understanding of the diagenesis of an often‐utilized genus, Porites. Same‐specimen subsamples were heated in two fluid types and at two temperatures and durations, and their resulting alteration features were assessed to allow insight to the mechanisms and drivers of diagenetic modification. Experiments with fluid temperatures of 130°C induced remobilization and darkening of organic matrices, with no other evidence for alteration observed. In contrast, specimens exposed to a temperature of 160°C underwent significant diagenetic alteration dependent on fluid type. Fluid chemistry, particularly Mg/Ca ratios, was found to regulate the type of alteration (e.g. neomorphism or reprecipitation). Reaction with meteoric water resulted in almost complete neomorphism of the aragonite skeleton to blocky calcite, as well as significant exchange with the experimental fluid. In comparison, samples altered in the experimental burial fluids record no mineralogic or significant isotopic change, but instead, small‐scale dissolution–reprecipitation of the primary skeleton, along with the precipitation of pore‐filling aragonitic needle cements was observed. The δ18Ocarbonate data indicate transformation via dissolution–reprecipitation mechanisms depending on the degree and mechanism of diagenesis, and are strongly dependent on fluid chemistry. The main outcome of this work is that a multi‐proxy approach has the best potential to shed light on the interpretation of processes and pathways of aragonitic coral alteration. This study has implications for early alteration of carbonate archives within varying diagenetic fluids, with results aiding in the identification of past burial conditions.
Should the Decisions of Institutional Review Boards Be Consistent?
Authors: Friesen Phoebe , Yusof Aimi Nadia Mohd , Sheehan Mark 
Published: July 2019

ABSTRACTIn response to increasing concerns regarding inconsistency in the decision‐making of institutional review boards (IRBs), we introduce the decision‐maker's dilemma, which arises when complex, normative decisions must be made regularly. Those faced with such decisions can either develop a process of algorithmic decision‐making, in which consistency is ensured but many morally relevant factors are excluded from the process, or embrace discretionary decision‐making, which makes space for morally relevant factors to shape decisions but leads to decisions that are inconsistent. Based on an exploration of similarities between systems of criminal sentencing and of research ethics review, we argue for a discretionary system of decision‐making, even though it leads to more inconsistency than does an algorithmic system. We conclude with a discussion of some safeguards that could improve consistency while still making space for discretion to enter IRBs’ decision‐making processes.
How Do We Really Communicate?Challenging the Assumptions behind Informed Consent Interventions
Authors: Cargill Stephanie Solomon 
Published: July 2019

ABSTRACTIt is generally accepted that ethical research requires valid informed consent and that current informed consent practice frequently fails to attain it. Interventions concerning the content and methods of communication in informed consent have met with limited success. One explanation is that they reflect an outdated and limited model of how communication functions, thetransmission model of communication. This model assumes that communication is linear, is limited in time, and succeeds when the content of a message is passed from one person to another without distortion. Later communication models have challenged the limitations and inaccuracies of this model, emphasizing the continuous, contextual, and relational nature of communication. Looking beyond these assumptions behind current interventions can open multiple paths of research and intervention that have the potential to affect and improve the informed consent process in much greater ways than have been achieved previously.
“Closer‐to‐home” strategy benefits juvenile survival in a long‐distance migratory bird
Authors: Cheng Yachang , Fiedler Wolfgang , Wikelski Martin , Flack Andrea 
Published: July 2019

AbstractHuman‐induced changes in the climate and environment that occur at an unprecedented speed are challenging the existence of migratory species. Faced with these new challenges, species with diverse and flexible migratory behaviors may suffer less from population decline, as they may be better at responding to these changes by altering their migratory behavior. At the individual level, variations in migratory behavior may lead to differences in fitness and subsequently influence the population's demographic dynamics. Using lifetime GPS bio‐logging data from 169 white storks (Ciconia ciconia), we explore whether the recently shortened migration distance of storks affects their survival during different stages of their juvenile life. We also explore how other variations in migratory decisions (i.e., time, destination), movement activity (measured using overall body dynamic acceleration), and early life conditions influence juvenile survival. We observed that their first autumn migration was the riskiest period for juvenile white storks. Individuals that migrated shorter distances and fledged earlier experienced lower mortality risks. In addition, higher movement activity and overwintering “closer‐to‐home” (with 84.21% of the tracked individuals stayed Europe or North Africa) were associated with higher survival. Our study shows how avian migrants can change life history decisions over only a few decades, and thus it helps us to understand and predict how migrants respond to the rapidly changing world.
Demographic and population responses of an apex predator to climate and its prey: a long‐term study of South Polar Skuas
Authors: Pacoureau Nathan , Delord Karine , Jenouvrier Stéphanie , Barbraud Christophe 
Published: July 2019

AbstractEcologists widely acknowledge that a complex interplay of endogenous (density‐dependent) and exogenous (density‐independent) factors impact demographic processes. Individuals respond differently to those forces, ultimately shaping the dynamics of wild populations. Most comprehensive studies disentangling simultaneously the effects of density dependence, climate, and prey abundance while taking into account age structure were conducted in terrestrial ecosystems. However, studies on marine populations are lacking. Here we provide insight into the mechanisms affecting four vital rates of an apex Antarctic marine predator population, the South Polar SkuaCatharacta maccormicki, by combining a nearly half‐century longitudinal time series of individual life histories and abundance data, with climatic and prey abundance covariates. Using multistate capture–mark–recapture models, we estimated age classes effects on survival, breeding, successful breeding with one or two chicks and successful breeding with two chicks probabilities, and assessed the different effects of population size, climate, and prey abundance on each age‐specific demographic parameter. We found evidence for strong age effects in the four vital rates studied. Vital rates at younger ages were lower than those of older age classes for all parameters. Results clearly evidenced direct and indirect influences of local climate (summer sea ice concentration), of available prey resources (penguins), and of intrinsic factors (size of the breeding population). More covariate effects were found on reproductive rates than on survival, and younger age classes were more sensitive than the older ones. Results from a deterministic age‐structured density‐dependent matrix population model indicated greater effects of prey abundance and sea ice concentration on the total population size than on the breeding population size. Both total population size and the number of breeders were strongly affected by low values of sea ice concentration. Overall, our results highlight the greater sensitivity of reproductive traits and of younger age classes to prey abundance, climate variability, and density dependence in a marine apex predator, with important consequences on the total population size but with limited effects on the breeding population size. We discuss the mechanisms by which climate variability, prey abundance, and population size may affect differentially age‐specific vital rates, and the potential population consequences of future environmental changes.
Do plant–microbe interactions and aluminum tolerance influence alpine sedge species’ responses to nitrogen deposition?
Authors: Potter Teal S. , Owens William M. , Bowman William D. 
Published: July 2019

AbstractA common response of plant communities to increased nitrogen (N) deposition is a shift in species’ abundances. Multiple factors have been proposed to explain the changes in abundance, notably competition and soil acidification. We hypothesized that a plant species that decreased in abundance with elevated N would have lower ectomycorrhizal fungi, altered root‐associated bacteria communities, and/or greater susceptibility to Al toxicity than a species that increased in abundance with increasing N deposition. We examined changes in plant–microbe associations and Al toxicity in two dominant species from an alpine dry meadow community subjected to long‐term low‐level N addition. Carex rupestris has increased in cover over time with N addition and Kobresia myosuroides has decreased. We conducted field sampling of soil microbes from treatment plots and tested whether field levels of Al have toxic effects on sedge species in a greenhouse study. Declines in ectomycorrhizal infection of Cenococcum geophilum occurred on Kobresia with increasing N treatment. In contrast, neither Al level nor changes in bacteria community composition corresponded with the change in cover of sedge species. Decreased ectomycorrhizal infection may have contributed to the decrease in abundance of Kobresia. This study contributes to an understanding of the types of plant–soil interactions that may influence how plant species respond to N deposition and rejects Al toxicity and changes in bacteria composition as factors that likely play a role in changes in sedge abundance.
Differences in dietary niche and foraging behavior of sympatric mule and white‐tailed deer
Authors: Berry Stephanie L. , Shipley Lisa A. , Long Ryan A. , Loggers Chris 
Published: July 2019

AbstractMule (Odocoileus hemionus) and white‐tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus) are congeneric and share similar life histories, yet their distribution is segregated across much of North America. Extensive research on both species within and outside their zone of co‐occurrence has not fully explained these distribution patterns, especially the potential role of diet and foraging behavior. Therefore, we used a common garden experiment to compare diet composition, diet quality, foraging behavior, and intake of tractable mule and white‐tailed deer foraging together within the dry Douglas‐fir (Pseudotsuga menziesii)/ponderosa pine (Pinus ponderosa) forests of northeastern Washington. We sampled at 21 0.5‐ha sites from June to August 2016. We used standard bite count techniques coupled with forage biomass sampling, behavioral observations, and nutritional analyses to compare the foraging ecology of the two species. Mule and white‐tailed deer had similar activity patterns. However, mule deer took larger bites and harvested food faster than white‐tailed deer, and white‐tailed deer consumed more diverse but higher‐quality diets than mule deer. These differences resulted in mule deer acquiring ~25% more dry matter and digestible energy per day. About 90% of the diets consumed by both deer species consisted of deciduous shrubs and forbs, and they selected many of the same plant species. However, overall diet composition was 38% dissimilar, with mule deer consuming diets that were more likely to contain shrubs with higher levels of tannins and lower levels of dry matter digestibility than diets eaten by white‐tailed deer. Dietary overlap was greatest at both very low and very high forage biomass, indicating potential for modest resource competition or partitioning. Our research provides evidence that differences in diet composition of mule and white‐tailed deer do not merely reflect differences in habitat selection, but also suggest the species differ in their fundamental nutritional niches.
Leaf venation networks of Bornean trees: images and hand‐traced segmentations
Authors: Blonder Benjamin , Both Sabine , Jodra Miguel , Majalap Noreen , Burslem David , Teh Yit Arn , Malhi Yadvinder 
Published: July 2019

AbstractThe data set contains images of leaf venation networks obtained from tree species in Malaysian Borneo. The data set contains 726 leaves from 295 species comprising 50 families, sampled from eight forest plots in Sabah. Image extents are approximately 1 × 1 cm, or 50 megapixels. All images contain a region of interest in which all veins have been hand traced. The complete data set includes over 30 billion pixels, of which more than 600 million have been validated by hand tracing. These images are suitable for morphological characterization of these species, as well as for training of machine‐learning algorithms that segment biological networks from images. Data are made available under the Open Data Commons Attribution License. You are free to copy, distribute, and use the database; to produce works from the database; and to modify, transform, and build upon the database. You must attribute any public use of the database, or works produced from the database, in the manner specified in the license. For any use or redistribution of the database, or works produced from it, you must make clear to others the license of the database and keep intact any notices on the original database.
Oral administration of lipoteichoic acid from Lactobacillus rhamnosus GG overcomes UVB‐induced immunosuppression and impairs skin tumor growth in mice
Authors: Friedrich Adrián D. , Campo Valeria E. , Cela Eliana M. , Morelli Adrian E. , Shufesky William J. , Tckacheva Olga A. , Leoni Juliana , Paz Mariela L. , Larregina Adriana T. , González Maglio Daniel H. 
Published: July 2019

AbstractThere is increasing evidence of the relevant connection and regulation between the gut and skin immune axis. In fact, oral administration of lipoteichoic acid (LTA) from Lactobacillus rhamnosus GG (LGG) prevents the development of UV‐induced skin tumors in chronically exposed mice. Here we aim to evaluate whether this LTA is able to revert UV‐induced immunosuppression as a mechanism involved in its anti‐tumor effect and whether it has an immunotherapeutic effect against cutaneous squamous cell carcinoma. Using a mouse model of contact hypersensitivity, we demonstrate that LTA overcomes UV‐induced skin immunosuppression. This effect was in part achieved by modulating the phenotype of lymph node resident dendritic cells (DC) and the homing of skin migratory DC. Importantly, oral LTA reduced significantly the growth of established skin tumors once UV radiation was discontinued, demonstrating that it has a therapeutic, besides the already demonstrated preventive antitumor effect. The data presented here strongly indicates that oral administration of LTA represents a promising immunotherapeutic approach for different conditions in which the skin immune system is compromised.
IL‐33‐activated murine mast cells control the dichotomy between RORγt+ and Helios+Tregs via the MK2/3‐mediated IL‐6 production in vitro
Authors: Andreas Nico , Weber Franziska , Meininger Isabel , Templin Nicole , Gaestel Matthias , Kamradt Thomas , Drube Sebastian 
Published: July 2019

AbstractIn mast cells, IL‐33 typically induces the activation of NF‐κB, which results in the production of cytokines such as IL‐6 and IL‐2. Here, we demonstrate that the IL‐33‐induced IL‐6 production in murine mast cells and the formation of RORγt+ Tregs essentially depends on the MAPKAPs, MK2, and MK3 (MK2/3) downstream of MyD88. In contrast to this, the IL‐33‐induced and MyD88‐dependent IL‐2 production in mast cells contributes to the maintenance of Helios+ Tregs. Thereby, the IL‐33‐induced IL‐2 response and, thus, the maintenance of Helios+ Tregs are limited by an IL‐6‐mediated autocrine negative feedback stimulation acting on mast cells. Collectively, we present MK2/3 in IL‐33‐activated mast cells as a signaling node, which controls the dichotomy between RORγt+ Treg and Helios+ Treg in vitro.
Probing the interactions between hardness and sensory of pistachio nuts during storage using principal component analysis
Authors: Habibi Najafi Mohammad B. , Leufven Anders , Edalatian Dovom Mohammad Reza , Sedaghat Naser , Pourfarzad Amir 
Published: July 2019

AbstractInstrumental hardness and sensory characteristics of pistachio nuts such as flavor, texture, and overall acceptability were measured in three different packages (atmosphere, vacuum, and oxygen scavenger), at three different conditions temperatures (20, 35, and 50˚C) during 12 weeks’ storage. Results showed that the effect of temperature, storage time, and interaction effects of packaging and temperature, and packaging and storage time, and packaging and temperature and stoarge time on instrumental hardness were significant (p < 0.01). In sensory evaluation, the effect of treatments on sensory attributes was not significant. Instrumental hardness and sensory texture had a high correlation with each other. Principal component analysis (PCA) of the data obtained for the samples permitted the reduction of the variables to two principal components, which together explained 60.7% of the total variability.
A multivariate neuroimaging biomarker of individual outcome to transcranial magnetic stimulation in depression
Authors: Cash Robin F. H. , Cocchi Luca , Anderson Rodney , Rogachov Anton , Kucyi Aaron , Barnett Alexander J. , Zalesky Andrew , Fitzgerald Paul B. 
Published: July 2019

AbstractThe neurobiology of major depressive disorder (MDD) remains incompletely understood, and many individuals fail to respond to standard treatments. Repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS) of the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC) has emerged as a promising antidepressant therapy. However, the heterogeneity of response underscores a pressing need for biomarkers of treatment outcome. We acquired resting state functional magnetic resonance imaging (rsfMRI) data in 47 MDD individuals prior to 5–8 weeks of rTMS treatment targeted using the F3 beam approach and in 29 healthy comparison subjects. The caudate, prefrontal cortex, and thalamus showed significantly lower blood oxygenation level‐dependent (BOLD) signal power in MDD individuals at baseline. Critically, individuals who responded best to treatment were associated with lower pre‐treatment BOLD power in these regions. Additionally, functional connectivity (FC) in the default mode and affective networks was associated with treatment response. We leveraged these findings to train support vector machines (SVMs) to predict individual treatment responses, based on learned patterns of baseline FC, BOLD signal power and clinical features. Treatment response (responder vs. nonresponder) was predicted with 85–95% accuracy. Reduction in symptoms was predicted to within a mean error of ±16% (r = .68, p < .001). These preliminary findings suggest that therapeutic outcome to DLPFC‐rTMS could be predicted at a clinically meaningful level using only a small number of core neurobiological features of MDD, warranting prospective testing to ascertain generalizability. This provides a novel, transparent and physiologically plausible multivariate approach for classification of individual response to what has become the most commonly employed rTMS treatment worldwide. This study utilizes data from a larger clinical study (Australian New Zealand Clinical Trials Registry: Investigating Predictors of Response to Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation for the Treatment of Depression; ACTRN12610001071011; https://www.anzctr.org.au/Trial/Registration/TrialReview.aspx?id=336262).