bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Potentiation of amygdala AMPA receptor activity selectively promotes escalated alcohol self‐administration in a CaMKII‐dependent manner
Authors: Cannady Reginald , Fisher Kristen R. , Graham Caitlin , Crayle Jesse , Besheer Joyce , Hodge Clyde W. 
Published: January 2016

AbstractGrowing evidence indicates that drugs of abuse gain control over the individual by usurping glutamate‐linked mechanisms of neuroplasticity in reward‐related brain regions. Accordingly, we have shown that glutamate α‐amino‐3‐hydroxy‐5‐methyl‐4‐isoxazolepropionic acid receptor (AMPAR) activity in the amygdala is required for the positive reinforcing effects of alcohol, which underlie the initial stages of addiction. It is unknown, however, if enhanced AMPAR activity in the amygdala facilitates alcohol self‐administration, which is a kernel premise of glutamate hypotheses of addiction. Here, we show that low‐dose alcohol (0.6 g/kg/30 minutes) self‐administration increases phosphorylation (activation) of AMPAR subtype GluA1 S831 (pGluA1 S831) in the central amygdala (CeA), basolateral amygdala and nucleus accumbens core (AcbC) of selectively bred alcohol‐preferring P‐rats as compared with behavior‐matched (non‐drug) sucrose controls. The functional role of enhanced AMPAR activity was assessed via site‐specific infusion of the AMPAR positive modulator, aniracetam, in the CeA and AcbC prior to alcohol self‐administration. Intra‐CeA aniracetam increased alcohol‐reinforced but not sucrose‐reinforced responding and was ineffective following intra‐AcbC infusion. Because GluA1 S831 is a Ca2+/calmodulin‐dependent protein kinase II (CaMKII) substrate, we sought to determine if AMPAR regulation of enhanced alcohol self‐administration is dependent on CaMKII activity. Intra‐CeA infusion of the cell‐permeable CaMKII peptide inhibitor myristolated autocamtide‐2‐related inhibitory peptide (m‐AIP) dose‐dependently reduced alcohol self‐administration. A subthreshold dose of m‐AIP also blocked the aniracetam‐induced escalation of alcohol self‐administration, demonstrating that AMPAR‐mediated potentiation of alcohol reinforcement requires CaMKII activity in the amygdala. Enhanced activity of plasticity‐linked AMPAR‐CaMKII signaling in the amygdala may promote escalated alcohol use via increased positive reinforcement during the initial stages of addiction.
University licensing of patents for varietal innovations in agriculture
Authors: Rickard Bradley J. , Richards Timothy J. , Yan Jubo 
Published: January 2016

AbstractThere has been a sharp increase in the number of patented agricultural varieties from public universities in the United States. We develop an experiment to examine the revenue stream to universities from licensing plant‐based innovations. In the experiment we asked subjects to bid for access for a patented input that would be used to produce a differentiated product; treatments were employed to solicit bids that were financed by fees, royalties, and a combination of the two mechanisms under exclusive and nonexclusive contracts. The literature studying the economics of downstream duopoly competition in quantity suggests that revenues for the innovator would be greatest under a nonexclusive contract that uses fees and royalties. In our experiment we allow more than two firms to obtain access to the patent in the nonexclusive treatments, and our empirical results suggest that innovator revenues are greatest when royalties are used alone in a nonexclusive contract.
Chinese consumers’ willingness to pay for pork traceability information—the case of Wuxi
Authors: Wu Linhai , Wang Hongsha , Zhu Dian , Hu Wuyang , Wang Shuxian 
Published: January 2016

AbstractIn this study, consumers’ willingness to pay for farming, slaughter and processing, distribution and marketing, and government certification information was investigated in Wuxi, Jiangsu Province, China using an experimental auction and real choice experiment based on incentive compatibility of the nonhypothetical elicitation method. No significant differences in consumers’ willingness to pay were revealed by the experimental auction and real choice experiment on the whole, and results from both nonhypothetical experimental methods demonstrated that consumers were willing to pay certain premiums for all four types of traceability information and had the highest willingness to pay for government certification information. These results indicate that consumers trust in pork safety protection under governmental supervision. Moreover, it was found that government certification information played a significant role in improving consumer utility, demonstrating that consumers paid close attention to safety risks in farming. Therefore, this study predicts that the introduction of governmental supervision into the pork traceability system and establishment of a system for collecting traceability information starting from the stage of pig farming will play important roles in meeting consumer demands for pork quality and safety, as well as promoting the development of traceable food policies.
Consumer sorting and hedonic valuation of wine attributes: exploiting data from a field experiment
Authors: Gustafson Christopher R. , Lybbert Travis J. , Sumner Daniel A. 
Published: January 2016

AbstractThis article uses a novel experimental approach to measure consumer willingness to pay (WTP) for wine attributes. We invited customers of a local supermarket who had selected a bottle of wine to purchase to participate in a valuation experiment. Integrating their original wine choice into the experiment, each participant evaluated six alternative wines, generating a rich set of data on willingness to pay and consumer characteristics. The data from the experiment allow us to compare standard shelf price‐based wine attribute valuation estimates with estimates using WTP data and an increasing amount of information about individual consumers. The full model employs individual fixed effects to estimate WTP parameters without bias from consumer sorting or supply side influences. Our WTP estimates for wine attributes differ markedly from previous attribute value estimates. Consumers in our sample display clear and stable preferences for wine varieties, but less clear preferences for appellations. Our results suggest caution is needed in using market prices to estimate parameters of the consumer valuation function for product attributes.
The role of common pool problems in irrigation inefficiency: a case study in groundwater pumping in Mexico
Authors: Sun Shanxia , Sesmero Juan P. , Schoengold Karina 
Published: January 2016

AbstractGroundwater depletion is a serious problem in Mexico. Several policy alternatives are currently being considered in order to improve the efficiency of irrigation water use so that extraction of groundwater is diminished. An understanding and quantification of different sources of inefficiency in groundwater extraction is critical for policy design. Survey data from a geographically extensive sample of irrigators is used to gauge the importance of common pool problems on input‐specific irrigation inefficiency. Results show that mechanisms of electricity cost sharing implemented in many wells have a sizable impact on inefficiency of irrigation application. Moreover, irrigation is very inelastic to its own unitary cost. Therefore, results suggest that policies aimed at eliminating electricity cost‐sharing mechanisms would be significantly more effective than electricity price‐based policies in reducing irrigation application. Results also show that well sharing does not affect groundwater pumping significantly, suggesting either a limited effect of individual pumping on water level or absence of strategic pumping by farmers sharing the wells.
Submergence: Precarious Politics in Colombia's Future Port‐City
Authors: Zeiderman Austin 
Published: January 2016

AbstractThis article examines popular politics under precarious conditions in the rapidly expanding port‐city of Buenaventura on Colombia's Pacific coast. It begins by identifying the intersecting economic, ecological, and political forces contributing to the precarity of life in Buenaventura's intertidal zone. Focusing on conflicts over land in the waterfront settlements of Bajamar (meaning “low‐tide”), it then describes the efforts of Afro‐Colombian settlers and activists to defend their territories against threats of violence and displacement. In doing so, they must navigate historical legacies of ethno‐racial politics as well as formations of liberal governance and their multicultural and biopolitical logics of vulnerability and protection. The socio‐material conditions of the intertidal zone, and in particular the figure of submergence, are used to illuminate forms of political life in Colombia's future port‐city. The struggles of Afro‐Colombians to contest violent dispossession in Buenaventura reflect the racialized politics of precarity under late liberalism.
Beaches under pressure – effects of human access on vegetation at Baltic Sea beaches
Authors: Seer Franziska K. , Irmler Ulrich , Schrautzer Joachim 
Published: January 2016

AbstractQuestionsHow do cover, richness and composition of plant species vary according to different levels of beach access? What shifts in plant traits occur along gradients of tourism intensity? What recommendations regarding the sustainable management of Baltic Sea beaches can be proposed?LocationSouthern Baltic Sea beaches in Germany.MethodsIn this study, the species composition of vascular plants on beaches with differing accessibility to tourists was analysed at the southwest Baltic Sea coast. In total, 894 vegetation plots were evaluated in order to determine vegetation changes along the sea–inland gradient due to different levels of human accessibility at beaches. Relevés were conducted as repeated transects from the beach ridge to the shore. Shifts in vegetation characteristics due to different levels of tourism access were analysed at the level of plant communities and plant species traits.ResultsSpecies richness did not differ significantly between the levels of accessibility. Vegetation cover significantly increased with distance to the shore and was highest in the upper shore area of closed beaches (52.0 ± 2.7%). Corresponding to the increase in beach access, we observed an increase in ruderal species and a decrease in typical beach species of the vegetation class Honckenyo‐Elymetea. Tourism access and distance to the shoreline had a decisive influence on the distribution of plants with selected plant traits. In particular, at accessible sites, a loss of plants with leaves having high scleromorphy was recorded.ConclusionsIncreased beach access results in a loss of typical beach plant species. Changes in vegetation characteristics are considered to alter the function of the beach ecosystem. Based on these results, we derived spatially differentiated management measures for excluding the most sensitive beach areas from tourism.
The invasion of common milkweed (Asclepias syriaca) in sandy old‐fields – is it a threat to the native flora?
Authors: Kelemen András , Valkó Orsolya , Kröel‐Dulay György , Deák Balázs , Török Péter , Tóth Katalin , Miglécz Tamás , Tóthmérész Béla 
Published: January 2016

AbstractQuestionsCommon milkweed (Asclepias syriaca L.) is an invasive ‘super species’ that has invaded extensive areas in Europe, forming novel ecosystems. One study has reported neutral effects of common milkweed on the native flora of sand dune grasslands in Hungary after the removal of invasive pine plantation. However, the effects of common milkweed on native flora more generally are unknown. Focusing on the potential effect of milkweed, we tested the following hypotheses: (1) the cover of native grassland species decreases with increasing cover of common milkweed; and (2) native species with low specific leaf area (SLA), height, seed mass and clonal spreading ability (i.e. low competitive ability) are more likely suppressed by milkweed compared with natives with high competitive ability.LocationLate successional sandy old‐fields invaded by milkweed in the Great Hungarian Plain (Kiskunság, central Hungary).MethodsWe recorded the cover of vascular plants in seven old‐fields; in each old‐field we sampled 12 plots including plots with different milkweed cover and control plots without milkweed. We used linear mixed effect models for exploring the effects of milkweed on the species richness and cover of native grassland species. To identify the common traits of the most affected native species, we used trait‐based analyses; we studied leaf–height–seed traits and clonal spreading ability.ResultsWe detected no effect of common milkweed on total species richness, but it had a negative effect on the cover of grassland species. The negative effect of common milkweed was most pronounced on the cover of species with low SLA, low seed mass and low clonal spreading ability.ConclusionsOur results suggest that native, late successional sandy grasslands invaded by common milkweed form undesirable novel ecosystems because of significant negative impacts on the cover of native grassland species, especially those species with low competitive ability. For these species, management of milkweed might be needed to ensure their persistence in sandy grasslands in this landscape.
The word is not enough: on morphemes, characters and ontological concepts
Authors: Göpel Torben , Richter Stefan 
Published: January 2016

AbstractThe field of morphology has recently seen the arrival of computer‐aided ontologies, tools which permit the semantic organization of defined concepts and which therefore promise to be extremely useful in computer‐mediated approaches involving morphological data, for example in cladistics. The theoretical relationship between ontologies and cladistics, however, has hardly been explored. Here we examine the ontological status of the main terms in morphological cladistics, i.e. morpheme, character, character state and ontological concept. Morphemes are units of the descriptional perspective, whereas character states are units of the evolutionary perspective and refer to identical stages of transformation. Both morphemes and character states represent things, i.e. real entities. However, character state and morpheme denote different perspectives on these entities (description vs. evolution). Characters (transformation series; Hennig's ideographic character concept) and ontological concepts are both classes, but not of the same nature. Ontological concepts which are used to classify morphemes are constructs, i.e. totally man‐made classes that serve only as a way of classifying real entities for human recognition. Characters, however, are classes that encompass all character states of common descent and which therefore have objective, human‐independent properties. Characters, then, are natural kinds, classes which exhibit a natural identity in the same way as monophyla do, for example, which also have common descent as an objective property. Against this background, ontology‐based morphology can be a valuable addition to phylogenetic systematics. Formalized, machine‐parsable descriptions permit the generalization of morphemes in large datasets and can facilitate the recognition of identical character states. However, the expertise of the researcher is indispensable, and full automation of the transfer from the descriptive level to the evolutionary level thus appears impossible.
An open, prospective, non‐randomized, controlled, multicentre study to evaluate the clinical outcome of implant treatment in women over 60 years of age with osteoporosis/osteopenia: 1‐year results
Authors: Temmerman Andy , Rasmusson Lars , Kübler Alexander , Thor Andreas , Quirynen Marc 
Published: January 2016

AbstractBackgroundOsteoporosis has been called a potential risk factor for bone healing around implants.AimThe aim of this multicentre study was to verify the clinical performance of fluoridated implants in the maxilla of subjects with diagnosed systemic primary osteoporosis/osteopenia.Material and MethodsPostmenopausal women in need of 2–8 splinted implants in maxilla underwent bone mineral density measurements in the hip and spine, using dual‐energy X‐ray absorptiometry scans. Based on their T‐scores, they were divided into two study groups: Group O (osteoporosis/osteopenia group) subjects had a T‐score ≤−2, Group C (control group) had a T‐score of ≥−1, and subjects with a T‐score <−1 but >−2 were excluded. Implants were placed with a two‐stage procedure and loaded 4–8 weeks after abutment surgery. At 6 months and 1 year after functional loading, clinical parameters (including peri‐apical radiographs) were assessed.ResultsOne hundred and forty‐eight implants were placed in 48 subjects (mean age: 67 years (range [59–83]). Sixty‐three implants were placed in 20 osteoporosis subjects (Group O, mean age: 69 years; range [59–83]), and 85 were placed in control subjects (Group C, mean age: 65 years; range [60–74]). The cumulative survival rate, on an implant level, was 99.3% (Group O: 98.4%; Group C: 100.0%). The cumulative survival rate, on a subject level, was 97.9% (Group O: 94.7%; Group C: 100.0%). Marginal bone level (MBL) alterations from functional loading to the 1‐year follow‐up visit were measured on an implant level and a subject level. The overall MBL alteration on an implant level was −0.01 ± 0.51 mm (Group O: −0.11 ± 0.49 mm; Group C: 0.05 ± 0.52 mm). The overall MBL alteration on a subject level was −0.04 ± 0.27 mm (Group O: −0.17 ± 0.30 mm; Group C: 0.04 ± 0.23 mm).ConclusionWithin the limitations of this prospective, non‐randomized, controlled, multicentre study, it can be concluded that oral implant therapy in patients suffering from osteoporosis/osteopenia is a reliable treatment option with comparable integration rates as in healthy patients. Long‐term follow of the study groups is necessary to compare marginal bone alterations and treatment outcomes.
The role of early visual input in the development of contour interpolation: the case of subjective contours
Authors: Hadad Bat‐Sheva , Maurer Daphne , Lewis Terri L. 
Published: January 2016

AbstractWe tested the effect of early monocular and binocular deprivation of normal visual input on the development of contour interpolation. Patients deprived from birth by dense central cataracts in one or both eyes, and age‐matched controls, discriminated between fat and thin shapes formed by either illusory or luminance‐defined contours. Thresholds indicated the minimum amount of curvature (the fatness or thinness) required for discrimination of the illusory shape, providing a measure of the precision of interpolation. The results show that individuals deprived of visual input in one eye, but not those deprived in both eyes, later show deficits in perceptual interpolation. The deficits were shown mostly for weakly supported contours in which interpolation of contours between the inducers was over a large distance relative to the size of the inducers. Deficits shown for the unilateral but not for the bilateral patients point to the detrimental effect of unequal competition between the eyes for cortical connections on the later development of the mechanisms underlying contour interpolation.
Effects of subcutaneous, low‐dose glucagon on insulin‐induced mild hypoglycaemia in patients with insulin pump treated type 1 diabetes
Authors: Ranjan A. , Schmidt S. , Madsbad S. , Holst J. J. , Nørgaard K. 
Published: January 2016

AimTo investigate the dose–response relationship of subcutaneous (s.c.) glucagon administration on plasma glucose and on counter‐regulatory hormone responses during s.c. insulin‐induced mild hypoglycaemia in patients with type 1 diabetes treated with insulin pumps.MethodsEight insulin pump‐treated patients completed a blinded, randomized, placebo‐controlled study. Hypoglycaemia was induced in the fasting state by an s.c. insulin bolus and, when plasma glucose reached 3.4 mmol/l [95% confidence interval (CI) 3.2–3.5], an s.c. bolus of either 100, 200, 300 µg glucagon or saline was administered. Plasma glucose, counter‐regulatory hormones, haemodynamic variables and side effects were measured throughout each study day. Peak plasma glucose level was the primary endpoint.ResultsPlasma glucose level increased significantly by a mean (95% CI) of 2.3 (1.7–3.0), 4.2 (3.5–4.8) and 5.0 (4.3–5.6) mmol/l to 6.1 (4.9–7.4), 7.9 (6.4–9.3) and 8.7 (7.8–9.5) vs 3.6 (3.4–3.9) mmol/l (p < 0.001) after the three different glucagon doses as compared with saline, and the increase was neither correlated with weight nor insulin levels. Area under the plasma glucose curve, peak plasma glucose, time to peak plasma glucose and duration of plasma glucose level above baseline were significantly enhanced with increasing glucagon doses; however, these were not significantly different between 200 and 300 µg glucagon. Free fatty acids and heart rates were significantly lower initially after glucagon than after saline injection. Other haemodynamic variables, counter‐regulatory hormones and side effects did not differ between interventions.ConclusionsAn s.c. low‐dose glucagon bolus effectively restores plasma glucose after insulin overdosing. Further research is needed to investigate whether low‐dose glucagon may be an alternative treatment to oral carbohydrate intake for mild hypoglycaemia in patients with type 1 diabetes.
Influence of climate and abundance on migration timing of adult Atlantic salmon (Salmo salar) among rivers in Newfoundland and Labrador
Authors: Dempson Brian , Schwarz Carl J. , Bradbury Ian R. , Robertson Martha J. , Veinott Geoffrey , Poole Rebecca , Colbourne Eugene 
Published: January 2016

AbstractEvidence mounts for the influence of climate variability on temporal trends in the phenology of many organisms including various species of fish. Accordingly, we examined variation in adult Atlantic salmon Salmo salar run timing in thirteen Newfoundland and Labrador rivers where returns were monitored at fishways or fish‐counting fences. Run timing varied significantly among rivers with the median date of return differing by up to 5 weeks. Duration of runs was generally short with most adults returning over a period of three to 5 weeks. A mixed model analysis incorporating a first‐order autoregressive error structure was used to generalise changes in run timing among all monitored rivers. Results indicated that the median date of return has advanced by almost 12 days over a 35‐year interval from 1978 to 2012, while several individual rivers have advanced by almost 21 days. The influence of climate on median timing was evident when the simultaneous effects of both climate and salmon abundance were controlled. We found earlier runs associated with overall warmer climate conditions on the Newfoundland and Labrador Shelf. Results contrast with those from the north‐east Atlantic where Atlantic salmon are returning later in some rivers coincident with warming climate conditions.