bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Virus-Host Infection Dynamics of Marine Single-Celled Eukaryotes Resolved from Metatranscriptomics
Authors: Moniruzzaman Mohammad , Wurch Louie L. , Alexander Harriet , Dyhrman Sonya T. , Gobler Christopher J. , Wilhelm Steven W. 
Published: December 2016

AbstractMetatranscriptomics has emerged as a tool in microbial ecology that can resolve the functional landscape of both prokaryotes and eukaryotes within a community. In this study, we extend the potential of metatranscriptomics to probe active virus infections and virus-host relationships in marine systems. Polyadenylation-selected RNA-seq data were examined from microbial communities in two productive marine environments: a brown tide bloom event dominated by Aureococcus anophagefferens in Quantuck Bay, NY, and a diatom-dominated plankton community in Narragansett Bay, RI. Active infections by diverse giant viruses (NCLDVs) of algal and non-algal hosts were found at both sites. Ongoing infections of A. anophagefferens by a known Mimiviridae (AaV) were observed during both the peak and decline of the bloom. Bloom decline was also accompanied by increased activity for viruses other than AaV, including (+) ssRNA viruses. In Narragansett Bay, increased temporal reso’lution revealed active NCLDVs with both ‘boom-and-bust’ as well as ‘steady-state infection’-like ecologies. Statistical co-occurrence examinations of the dsDNA, ssRNA and dsRNA markers within the data revealed a broad spectrum of statistically strong and significant virus-host relationships that included both known as well as novel interactions. Our approach offers a method for screening the diversity and dynamics of active viral infections in natural systems and develops links between viruses and their potential hosts in situ.SignificanceViruses are important partners in ecosystem scale ecology, yet their study to date is primarily limited to single virus-host infection models in the laboratory or limited to “potential-actions” derived from metagenomics analyses. Using metatranscriptomic sequences from polyadenylated-RNA selected samples, we have simultaneously captured information regarding eukaryotic diversity and active infection by viruses with dsDNA genomes, resulting in a statistical opportunity to predict “who is infecting whom”. This approach further provides concurrent insight regarding viruses with ssRNA and dsRNA genomes, capturing dynamics for the communities of viruses infecting single-celled eukaryotes. Given the central role of these plankton in global scale processes, our efforts result in a transformational step-forward regarding the study of in situ virus-host interactions.
Slice-sampled Bayesian PRF mapping
Authors: Quax Silvan C. , van Koppen Thomas C. , Jylänki Pasi , Dumoulin Serge O. , van Gerven Marcel A.J. 
Published: December 2016

AbstractFunctional magnetic resonance imaging (FMRI) allows to non-invasively measure human brain activity at the millimeter scale. As such, it is widely used in computational neuroimaging studies that aim to build models to predict stimulus-induced neural responses in visual cortex. A popular method is population receptive field (PRF) mapping, which is able to characterize responses to a large range of stimuli. For each voxel, the PRF method estimates the best fitting receptive field properties (such as location and size in the visual field) using a coarse–to–fine approach which minimizes, but not eliminates, the risk of returning a local minimum. Here, we provide a Bayesian approach to the PRF method based on the slice sampler. Using this approach, we provide estimates of receptive field properties while at the same time being able to quantify their uncertainty. We test the performance of conventional and Bayesian approaches on simulated and empirical data.
Optimizing survey methods for spiders and harvestmen assemblages in an Amazonian upland forest
Authors: Tourinho Ana Lúcia , Dias Sidclay C. , Lo-Man-Hung Nancy F. , Pinto-da-Rocha Ricardo , Bonaldo Alexandre B. , Baccaro Fabricio B. 
Published: December 2016

AbstractInvertebrates can be sampled using any of several well-established, rapid and cost-effective methods for documenting species richness and composition. Despite their many differences, different orders of arachnids have been often sampled together in various studies. Active nocturnal search has been long considered the most efficient method for sampling spiders and harvestmen in tropical forests. We compared the number of species and composition of spiders and harvestmen simultaneously sampled using three sampling methods: beating tray, active nocturnal search and Winkler traps at areas along the Urucu River, Coari, Amazonas. We found that a reasonable inventorying of harvestmen can be accomplished solely by nocturnal search, whereas the beating tray and Winkler approaches are redundant. For spiders, both the nocturnal and beating tray methods were complementary and are needed to provide a more complete picture of spider assemblages. An inventory based solely on nocturnal search saves 75% of the survey costs for harvestmen assemblages and 46% for spider assemblages. Based on our findings we propose that different taxonomic groups (e.g. harvestmen and spiders) should be sampled separately in tropical forests, especially for monitoring purposes, and different sets of methods should be combined for each according to their most efficient and best cost-benefit performance.
Defining the genetic architecture of stripe rust resistance in the barley accession HOR 1428
Authors: Clare Shaun , Kitcher William , Gardiner Matthew , Green Phon , Hubbard Amelia , Moscou Matthew J. 
Published: December 2016

ABSTRACTPuccinia striiformisf. sp.hordei, the causal agent of barley stripe rust, is a destructive fungal pathogen that significantly affects barley cultivation. A major constraint in breeding resistant cultivars is the lack of mapping information of resistance (R) genes and their introgression into adapted germplasm. A considerable number ofRgenes have been described in barley toP. striiformisf. sp.hordei, but only a few loci have been mapped. Previously, Chen and Line (1999) reported two recessive seedling resistance loci in the Ethiopian landrace HOR 1428. In this study, we map two loci that confer resistance toP. striiformisf. sp.hordeiin HOR 1428, which are located on chromosomes 3H and 5H. Both loci act as additive effect QTLs, each explaining approximately 20% of the phenotypic variation. We backcrossed HOR 1428 to the cv. Manchuria and selected based on markers flanking theRpsHOR128-5Hlocus. Saturation of theRpsHOR1428-5Hlocus with markers in the region found KASP marker K_1_0292 in complete coupling with resistance toP. striiformisf. sp.hordeiand was designatedRps9. Isolation ofRps9and flanking markers will facilitate the deployment of this genetic resource into existing programs forP. striiformisf. sp.hordeiresistance.
Critical minimum temperature limits xylogenesis and maintains treelines on the Tibetan Plateau
Authors: Li Xiaoxia , Liang Eryuan , Gricar Jozica , Rossi Sergio , Cufar Katarina , Ellison Aaron M. 
Published: December 2016

ABSTRACTPhysiological and ecological mechanisms that define treelines are still debated. It is suggested that the absence of trees above the treeline is caused by the low temperature that limits growth. Thus, we raise the hypothesis that there is a critical minimum temperature (CTmin) preventing xylogenesis at treeline. We tested this hypothesis by examining weekly xylogenesis across three and four growing seasons in two natural Smith fir (Abies georgeivar.smithii) treeline sites on the south-eastern Tibetan Plateau. Despite differences in the timing of cell differentiation among years, minimum air temperature was the dominant climatic variable associated with xylem growth; the critical minimum temperature (CTmin) for the onset and end of xylogenesis occurred at 0.7±0.4 °C. A process-based-modeled chronology of tree-ring formation using this CTminwas consistent with actual tree-ring data. This extremely low CTminpermits Smith fir growing at treeline to complete annual xylem production and maturation and provides both support and a mechanism for treeline formation.
Beyond thermal limits: comprehensive metrics of performance identify key axes of thermal adaptation in ants
Authors: Penick Clint A. , Diamond Sarah E. , Sanders Nathan J. , Dunn Robert R. 
Published: December 2016

Summary

How species respond to temperature change depends in large part on their physiology. Physiological traits, such as critical thermal limits (CTmax and CTmin), provide estimates of thermal performance but may not capture the full impacts of temperature on fitness. Rather, thermal performance likely depends on a combination of traits—including thermal limits—that vary among species.

Here, we examine how thermal limits correlate with the main components that influence fitness in ants. First, we compare how temperature affected colony survival and growth in two ant species that differ in their responses to warming in the field—Aphaenogaster rudis (heat‐intolerant) and Temnothorax curvispinosus (heat‐tolerant). We then extended our study to compare CTmax, thermal requirements of brood and yearly activity season among a broader set of ant species.

While thermal limits were higher for workers of T. curvispinosus than A. rudis, T. curvispinosus colonies also required higher temperatures for survival and colony growth. This pattern generalized across 17 ant species, such that species whose foragers had a high CTmax also required higher temperatures for brood development. Finally, species whose foragers had a high CTmax had relatively short activity seasons compared with less heat‐tolerant species.

The relationships between CTmax, thermal requirements of brood and seasonal activity suggest two main strategies for growth and development in changing thermal environments: one where ants forage at higher temperatures over a short activity season and another where ants forage at lower temperatures for an extended activity season. Where species fall on this spectrum may influence a broad range of life‐history characteristics and aid in explaining the current distributions of ants as well as their responses to future climate change.

A lay summary is available for this article.
Admixture is a driver rather than a passenger in experimental invasions
Authors: Hufbauer Ruth A. 
Published: December 2016

Genetic admixture propels invasions of Callosobruchus maculatus across experimental landscapes.In Focus: Wagner, N.K., Ochocki, B.M., Crawford, K.M., Compagnoni, A. & Miller, T.E.X. (2017) Genetic mixture of multiple source populations accelerates invasive range expansion. Journal of Animal Ecology, 86, 21–34.In this issue of Journal of Animal Ecology, Wagner et al. (2017) demonstrate that genetic diversity can alter the course of spread of biological invasions. They employ Callosobruchus seed beetles in a clever array of linked habitat patches to compare experimental invasions using individuals from single population sources or from mixes of two, four or six population sources. By taking a model‐selection approach, they find that any amount of mixture propels growth rates and spread of introduced populations. This suggests that heterosis alone can alter the course of an invasive range expansion.
Density dependence and marine bird populations: are wind farm assessments precautionary?
Authors: Horswill Cat , O'Brien Susan H. , Robinson Robert A. 
Published: December 2016

Summary

Although density‐dependent regulation of population growth is thought to be relatively widespread in nature, density‐independent models are often used to project the population response to drivers of change. Such models are often considered to provide a maximum estimate of mortality and therefore offer a precautionary approach to impact assessment. However, this perception assumes that density dependence operates as compensatory (negative density dependence), and overlooks that other forms of density dependence, such as depensation (positive density dependence), would generate a contrasting population response.

Currently, there is debate about including density‐dependent mechanisms in models that assess the impact of offshore wind farms on marine bird populations. Density dependence is considered poorly understood for this group of species. Consequently, it is either excluded from assessments, or incorporated in a compensatory form that has little empirical validation.

We reviewed the evidence for compensatory and depensatory regulation of 31 marine bird species, and conducted a meta‐analysis to examine the functional shape of density‐dependent population growth. The evidence was also evaluated in relation to established species‐specific indices of wind farm vulnerability in order to assess whether compensatory mechanisms are likely to offset losses associated with collision or displacement.

Compensatory regulation was reported across all of the demographic processes and focal groups considered, and was attributed to a variety of causal mechanisms. The strength of compensatory population growth appeared consistent between colonies; however, the regulation of productivity was highly context‐dependent with a similar number of studies reporting compensatory, depensatory and insignificant effects. Depensation was consistently attributed to increased rates of predation at lower population densities.

Synthesis and applications. We conclude that among marine bird species with high vulnerability to wind farms, compensatory regulation is unlikely to offset large and sustained losses from the breeding population. In addition, depensation has the potential to accelerate population declines and generate local or regional extinctions, especially in smaller colonial species. Consequently, density‐independent models will not offer a consistently precautionary approach for assessing the potential impact of wind farms on marine bird populations. Instead, assessments should examine the potential population response using a range of density‐dependent structures.
Measuring and predicting the influence of traits on the assembly processes of wood‐inhabiting fungi
Authors: Abrego Nerea , Norberg Anna , Ovaskainen Otso 
Published: December 2016

Summary

The identification of traits that influence the responses of the species to environmental variation provides a mechanistic perspective on the assembly processes of ecological communities. While much research linking functional ecology with assembly processes has been conducted with animals and plants, the development of predictive or even conceptual frameworks for fungal functional community ecology remains poorly explored. Particularly, little is known about the contribution of traits to the occurrences of fungal species under different environmental conditions.

Wood‐inhabiting fungi are known to strongly respond to habitat disturbance, and thus provide an interesting case study for investigating to what extent variation in occurrence patterns of fungi can be related to traits. We apply a trait‐based joint species distribution model to a data set consisting of fruit‐body occurrence data on 321 wood‐inhabiting fungal species collected in 22 460 dead wood units from managed and natural forest sites.

Our results show that environmental filtering plays a big role on shaping wood‐inhabiting fungal communities, as different environments held different communities in terms of species and trait compositions. Most importantly, forest management selected against species with large and long‐lived fruit‐bodies as well as late decayers, and promoted the occurrences of species with small fruit‐bodies and early decayers. A strong phylogenetic signal in the data suggested the existence of also some other functionally important traits than the ones we considered.

We found that those species groups that were more prevalent in natural conditions had more associations to other species than species groups that were tolerant to or benefitted from forest management. Therefore, the changes that forest management causes on wood‐inhabiting fungal communities influence ecosystem functioning through simplification of interactive associations among the fungal species.

Synthesis. Our results show that functional traits are linked to the responses of wood‐inhabiting fungi to variation in their environment, and thus environmental changes alter ecosystem functions via promoting or reducing species with different fruit‐body types. However, further research is needed to identify other functional traits and to provide conclusive evidence for the adaptive nature of the links from traits to occurrence patterns found here.
The Development of the Mozambican Banking Sector and Strategic Fit of Mergers and Acquisitions: A Two‐Stage DEA Approach
Authors: Wanke Peter , Barros Carlos P. , Azad Md. Abul Kalam , Constantino Dercio 
Published: December 2016

AbstractThis paper examines the strategic fit of mergers and acquisitions (M&A) in Mozambican banks, using a two‐stage data envelopment analysis (DEA) approach to compute the impact of contextual variables on efficiency scores and returns to scale of the resulting virtual merged banks. In an ‘M&A DEA’ model, different pairs of bidder and target companies are considered. In the first stage an M&A DEA model is used. Simplex regression is adopted in the second stage. The results reveal that ownership (public or foreign) impacts virtual efficiency levels. However, the findings also show that care must be exercised with M&A because the resultant banking organization could be oversized when foreign ownership is predominant, especially when public ownership is low. Given the relative sizes of the markets in terms of productive resources, M&A involving Mozambican banks can easily lead to decreasing returns to scale. Thus, a greater emphasis should be given to merging purely public banks with foreign ones and vice versa.
Recruiting CEOs in Local Government: A ‘Game of Musical Chairs’?
Authors: Hutchinson Jacquie , Walker Elizabeth , McKenzie Fiona Haslam 
Published: December 2016

AbstractThis article focusses on leadership in local government and the attributes valued in a CEO. It draws on a series of interviews with both Mayors/Shire Presidents and incumbent CEOs undertaken as the local government sector is faced with a number of complex challenges that is expanding the traditional role and responsibilities from the regulated organisational delivery of ‘rates, roads, and rubbish’, to one that is involved in long‐term more market‐driven delivery of a diverse range of services. The analysis raises the question as to whether both political and organisational leaders have fully understood the impact of the changing sector, and the consequential type of organisational leadership required. Further, the article argues that long established formal power structures and processes of local government and specifically the apparent unencumbered power of Mayors and elected members over all aspects of CEO employment, especially recruitment, may in fact compromise leadership appointments and organisational performance.
Letter: vedolizumab for the management of inflammatory bowel disease in patients after liver transplantation for primary sclerosing cholangitis
Authors: Hartery K. , O'Reilly S. , Houlihan D. , Doherty G. , Mulcahy H. , Cullen G. , Sheridan J. 
Published: December 2016

Linked ContentThis article is linked to Stallmach et al paper. To view this article visit https://doi.org/10.1111/apt.13813.
Letter: proton pump inhibitors and prognosis of cirrhosis – searching for the balance point
Authors: Schiavon L. L. , Silva T. E. , Fischer J. , Narciso‐Schiavon J. L. 
Published: December 2016

Linked ContentThis article is linked to Dultz et al paper. To view this article visit https://doi.org/10.1111/apt.13061.
Green governance? Local politics and ethical businesses in Great Britain
Authors: Bradley Tony , Ziniel Curtis 
Published: December 2016

AbstractOne of the least understood aspects of the world‐wide “greening of markets” is the emergence of local “ethical marketplaces” and the subset of alternative business models described as “ethical businesses.” But previous research has demonstrated the ability of local politicians to encourage their regions toward more ethical marketplaces. This paper explores the impact radical centrist third party representation has on the emergence of ethical businesses across Great Britain. To understand this relationship, we utilize a novel data set of organizations with membership in Ethical Junction, the United Kingdom's largest network for ethical businesses. We use a zero‐inflated Poisson regression to model the connection, and find a meaningful relationship, between third‐party political representation on British local councils and the presence of ethical businesses within local authorities. This presents an example of the way in which radical political change may be part of a wider social movement toward greening markets.
Bridging the gap: How sustainable development can help companies create shareholder value and improve financial performance
Authors: Gómez‐Bezares Fernando , Przychodzen Wojciech , Przychodzen Justyna 
Published: December 2016

AbstractThis study examines the effect of integrating sustainability into corporate strategy on various aspects of shareholder value creation and financial performance in the British capital market. The employed method is based on the content analysis of corporate disclosures and a new technique for assessing the adoption of the corporate sustainability concept (embracing the environmental, social, and financial aspects of a company's policies at the same time). Using extensive data of FTSE 350 firms covering the years 2006–2012, 65 companies were selected as meeting corporate sustainability criteria. For the above period, we find that these firms were characterized by higher financial risk exposure, lower asset growth rates, lower BV/MV ratios, lower EVA ratios, and higher MVA ratios. Such relations were generally present among different size and industry groupings. The results support the thesis that firms that incorporate sustainability issues into their business operations are better able to leverage their resources toward stronger financial performance and shareholder value creation than other companies. The paper contributes to the literature by offering a more holistic approach to corporate sustainable performance measurement and shedding additional light on its relation to financial performance in the context of the recent global financial crisis and its direct aftermath.
The Shifting Meanings of Race in China: A Case Study of the African Diaspora Communities in Guangzhou
Authors: LAN SHANSHAN 
Published: December 2016

AbstractBased on archival research and multi‐sited fieldwork among Chinese and migrants from Africa in Guangzhou, Yiwu (China), and Lagos (Nigeria), this research explores the contradictions and unevenness in the racialization of black African identity in South China. I argue that racism against black Africans in Guangzhou needs to be contextualized within larger contexts such as the rise of China as a global economic power, its changing relations with Africa under the Mao and post‐Mao regimes, the intersection of internal and international migration in global cities such as Guangzhou, and the persistent influence of Western racial ideology in popular media. [African Migrants; China; Blackness; Race; Racism]