bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
A HOPS protein, CmVps39, is required for vacuolar morphology, autophagy, growth, conidiogenesis and mycoparasitic functions of Coniothyrium minitans
Authors: Yang Xiaoxiang , Cui Hui , Cheng Jiasen , Xie Jiatao , Jiang Daohong , Hsiang Tom , Fu Yanping 
Published: April 2016

SummaryConiothyrium minitans is an important sclerotial and hyphal parasite of the plant pathogen Sclerotinia sclerotiorum. Previously, a conidiation‐deficient mutant, ZS‐1N22225, was screened from a T‐DNA insertional library of C. minitans. CmVps39, a homologue of Vam6p/Vps39p that plays a critical role in vacuolar morphogenesis in yeast, was disrupted by a T‐DNA insertion in this mutant. CmVps39 is composed of 1071 amino acids with an amino‐terminal citron homology domain and a central clathrin homology domain, as observed for other Vam6p/Vps39p family proteins. Abnormal fragmented vacuoles were observed in ΔCmVps39 under light microscopy and transmission electron microscopy, and ΔCmVps39 showed impairment in autophagy. ΔCmVps39 also exhibited significantly reduced hyphal development, poor conidiation and decreased sclerotial mycoparasitism. In addition, deletion of CmVps39 affected osmotic adaptation, pH homeostasis and cell wall integrity. Taken together, our results suggest that CmVps39 has an essential function in vacuolar morphology, autophagy, fungal development and mycoparasitism in C. minitans.
Outer membrane vesicles containing signalling molecules and active hydrolytic enzymes released by a coral pathogen Vibrio shilonii AK1
Authors: Li Jie , Azam Farooq , Zhang Si 
Published: April 2016

SummaryProduction and release of outer‐membrane vesicles (OMVs) is known in many bacteria including human pathogens. To date, OMV release has not been reported in coral‐associated bacteria. We discovered that Vibrio shilonii AK1, a well‐studied coral pathogen, produces OMVs in culture. Transmission electron microscopy showed that V. shilonii cultures release two types of vesicles, with a single membrane or two membranes, as well as vesicle chain‐like morphotype in purified vesicle fraction. No significant difference was observed in the amount of OMVs produced by cultures grown at 20°C or 30°C. OMV proteomic analysis, never before done in a coral isolate, showed that a large number of low abundance proteins were exclusively detected in OMVs released by 20°C cultures. Further, the OMVs purified from AK1 cultures grown at both 20°C and 30°C carry N‐acylhomoserine lactone quorum sensing signals, as well as alkaline phosphatase, lipase and chitinase activities. Our results show that V. shilonii OMVs are conduits of signalling molecules, active enzymes and other proteins to its environment. These findings suggest important ecophysiological roles of OMVs in coral reef environment. We discuss the importance of OMV release for V. shilonii fitness and propose several hypotheses as well as a conceptual model.
Parental physical and lifestyle factors and their association with newborn body composition
Authors: McCarthy FP , Khashan AS , Murray D , Kiely M , Hourihane J O'B , Pasupathy D , Kenny LC ,   on behalf of the SCOPE Ireland Cohort study and the Cork BASELINE Birth Cohort Study
Published: April 2016

ObjectiveTo investigate the parental physical and lifestyle determinants of newborn body composition.DesignProspective cohort study.SettingCork University Maternity Hospital, a tertiary referral hospital in Cork, Ireland.PopulationAll babies were recruited as part of a prospective birth cohort, Babies After SCOPE: Evaluating the Longitudinal Impact Using Neurological and Nutritional Endpoints (BASELINE). These babies were recruited from women who had participated in the Screening of Pregnancy Endpoints (SCOPE) study Ireland, a prospective, multicentre cohort studyMethodsMultivariate linear regression was used to analyse the effect of a range of maternal and paternal physical and lifestyle features on neonatal body fat percentage (BF%).Main outcome measuresNeonatal BF%. Neonatal adiposity was assessed within 48 hours of birth using air displacement plethysmography (PEAPOD®).ResultsIn all, 1243 infants were enrolled in the study. Increasing maternal body mass index (adjusted mean difference 0.09; 0.04, 0.15) and waist height ratio (adjusted mean difference 6.59; 0.27, 12.92) were significantly associated with increased neonatal BF%. In contrast, maternal smoking was associated with reduced neonatal BF% compared with non smokers (adjusted mean difference –0.55; –1.07, –0.03). Infant sex significantly altered neonatal BF%, with female infants having higher neonatal BF% compared with male infants (adjusted mean difference 1.98; 1.54, 2.53). No association was observed between paternal body mass index (BMI), paternal age or paternal smoking and neonatal BF%.ConclusionsMaternal smoking, BMI, waist height ratio and infant sex were associated with altered BF%.Tweetable abstractMaternal smoking, BMI, waist height ratio and infant sex are associated with altered neonatal body fat percentage.
Transcriptome profile of Chinese bush cricket, Gampsocleis gratiosa: A resource for microsatellite marker development
Authors: Zhou Zhi‐Jun , Kou Xiao‐Yan , Qian Lei‐Yang , Liu Jing 
Published: April 2016

AbstractThe Chinese bush cricket, Gampsocleis gratiosa, has a long history as a pet in China. To date, the sequencing of its whole genome is unavailable as a non‐model organism. Transcriptomic information is also scarce for this species. The G. gratiosa transcriptome was sequenced using Illumina HiSeq 2000 paired‐end sequencing technology. In total 52 million clean reads with an average length of 90 bp were generated, which produced 74,821 unigenes with a mean length of 580 bp and an N50 length of 759 bp. In total 29,674 (39.66%) unigenes were successfully annotated against the NR, NT, Swiss‐Prot, Gene Ontology (GO), Clusters of Orthologous Groups of proteins (COGs) and Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) databases. Further functionally classified of unigenes against GO, COGs and KEGG found that a total of 11,935 (19.95%) unigenes were categorized into 61 GO terms, 19,576 unigenes were clustered into 25 COG functional categories and 17,971 unigenes were assigned to 258 KEGG pathways. In addition, 2093 microsatellite loci were identified, of which 591 loci had flanking sequences suitable for polymerase chain reaction (PCR) primer design. The transcriptome profile of G. gratiosa contributed to the accumulation of orthopteran genomic data, and the microsatellite loci provided useful tools for future studies of this and other closely related Gampsocleis species.
Crossover design and its application in late‐phase diabetes studies
Authors: Wang Tao , Malone James , Fu Haoda , Heilmann Cory , Qu Yongming , Huster William J. 
Published: April 2016

AbstractCrossover design has been widely used in late‐phase clinical studies, as well as in pharmacokinetic and pharmacodynamic, bioequivalence, and medical device studies; however, its interpretability and applicability continue to be debated. Herein we provide discussions around a crossover design's scientific benefit, applicability, and how it can be implemented in late‐phase diabetes studies by properly handling key issues: carryover effect, washout period, and baseline selection. Specifically, detailed considerations are provided about the validity and situations of having appropriate length of study duration to deal with carryover effects so that a washout period may not be needed. A simulation study and data mining results on 12 crossover late‐phase insulin clinical trials are presented to examine the discussion points and proposals.
The Piotroski F‐score: evidence from Australia
Authors: Hyde Charles E. 
Published: April 2016

AbstractA market‐neutral strategy that is long [short] stocks with a high [low] Piotroski F‐score generates an index‐weighted 0.8 percent pm on S&P/ASX 200 stocks and 1.4 percent pm on smaller stocks. Equal‐weighted returns are higher and in all cases returns are statistically significant. However, the Carhart model alphas are not statistically significant except in the case of equal‐weighted small cap portfolios. For such portfolios, however, most of the alpha comes from the short side and most institutional investors would find them uninvestable due to capacity constraints. A range of tests indicate that analyst neglect does not explain the F‐score premium.
Contrasting responses of small mammals to fire and topographic refugia
Authors: Swan Matthew , Galindez‐Silva Carolina , Christie Fiona , York Alan , Di Stefano Julian 
Published: April 2016

AbstractUnburnt patches within burnt landscapes are expected to provide an important resource for fauna, potentially acting as a refuge from direct effects of fire and allowing animals to persist in burnt landscapes. Nevertheless, there is little information about the way refugia are used by fauna and how populations may be affected by them. Planned burns are often patchy, with unburnt areas generally associated with gully systems providing a good opportunity to study faunal use of refugia. We used a before–after control‐impact design associated with a planned burn in south eastern Australia to investigate how two small mammal species, the bush rat Rattus fuscipes and agile antechinus Antechinus agilis, used unburnt gully systems within a larger burnt area. We tested three alternative hypotheses relating to post‐fire abundance: (i) active refugia – abundance would increase in unburnt patches because of a post‐fire shift of individuals from burnt to unburnt areas; (ii) passive refugia – abundance in unburnt patches would remain similar to pre‐fire levels; and (iii) limited or no refugia – abundance would reduce in unburnt patches related to the change induced by fire in the wider landscape. We found the two species responded differently to the presence of unburnt refugia in the landscape. Relative to controls, fire had little effect on bush rat abundance in gullies, supporting hypothesis 2. In contrast, agile antechinus abundance increased in gullies immediately post‐fire consistent with a shift of individuals from burnt parts of the landscape, supporting hypothesis 1. Differences in site fidelity, habitat use and intraspecific competition between these species are suggested as likely factors influencing responses to refugia. The way unburnt patches function as faunal refugia and the subsequent influence they have on post‐fire population dynamics, will to some extent depend on the life history attributes of individual species.
Revisiting the use of the invasive species concept: An empirical approach
Authors: Pereyra Patricio Javier 
Published: April 2016

AbstractInvasion science has not been developed without controversies. Two questions that are still unsolved are: what is an invasive species?, and are invasive species an inherent conservation problem? These questions have led to discussions about effects versus origins. In contrast to the definitional problems, a unified framework describing invasion as a step‐by‐step process has been widely accepted. I conducted a bibliographic search with two separate databases searching for (i) evidence of less use of controversial terms over time; (ii) how many articles defined ‘invasive species’; (iii) the criteria used to define a species as invasive; and (iv) in which stage of the invasion continuum were species labelled as invasive located. My results show that controversial terms are widely used, that authors rarely define ‘invasive species’ and, often, it is very complicated to determine which criterion they used. In addition, only a fraction of the species labelled as invasive could be classified as such according to the unified framework of invasion stages. This is not a merely semantic issue, because invasive is a strong and value‐laden term that is used to guide environmental agendas. The uncritical use of a key concept could hamper research, complicate communication among peers and produce mixed results.
Changes over 46 years in plant community structure in a cleared brigalow (Acacia harpophylla) forest
Authors: Johnson Robert W. , McDonald William J. , Fensham Roderick J. , McAlpine Clive A. , Lawes Michael J. 
Published: April 2016

AbstractPlant succession theory underpins the development of strategies for the conservation and regeneration of native communities. Current theory has been based largely on space‐for‐time rather than long‐term monitoring data, which have known limitations. There is general consensus that more site‐specific studies are needed to corroborate existing hypotheses. The target vegetation is a brigalow (Acacia harpophylla, Mimosaceae) forest in one of Australia's most endangered ecosystems, which was cleared and burnt in 1963. Forty quadrats were placed systematically within each of six 20 m × 20 m permanent plots. Presence, density and per cent canopy cover data were recorded for each species at 18 times over 46 years. Brigalow dominated the original vegetation, assumed dominance soon after clearing through massive root suckering and remained dominant throughout the study. It achieved maximum density within two years when severe intraspecific competition led to self‐thinning. After approximately 30 years, vacant niches appeared. Woody understorey species were slow to recolonise. Species richness and other diversity indices increased rapidly to a maximum after 2–4 years, declined until the 30th year when they again increased. This was the pattern of the species‐rich herbaceous layer; woody species showed a steady monotonic increase. The ‘hump‐shaped’ relationship between cover (biomass) and species richness was confirmed. This example fits the inhibition model for which few examples have been described. While the long‐term successional pattern is slightly confounded by climatic variability preceding sample surveys, this space‐for‐time study not only supports a bimodal pattern of diversity over time but also indicates that the relative species richness of the herbaceous and woody layers may explain the extreme variability reported in the literature.
Rapidity of fibrosis progression in liver transplant recipients with recurrent hepatitis C is influenced by toll‐like receptor 3 polymorphism
Authors: Citores Maria J. , Pérez‐Pulgar Sofia , Duca Ana , Crespo Gonzalo , de la Fuente Sara , Vilches Carlos , Navasa Miquel , Cuervas‐Mons Valentin 
Published: April 2016

AbstractLiver transplantation activates the innate immune system through toll‐like receptors (TLRs), potentially leading to allograft rejection and graft failure. We evaluated the association of single‐nucleotide polymorphisms in TLR genes with the severity of hepatitis C virus recurrence after liver transplantation (LT). This is a two‐center study of 176 adult patients who received a first LT from deceased donors for hepatitis C virus (HCV) cirrhosis. Eleven polymorphisms were evaluated by real‐time polymerase chain reaction and melting curves analyses: TLR1 (Asp248Ser and Ser602Ile), TLR2 (Arg753Gln), TLR3 (Leu412Phe), TLR4 (Asp299Gly), TLR5 (Arg392Stop), TLR6 (Ser249Pro), TLR7 (Gln11Leu), TLR8 (Met1Val), and TLR9 (−1237T/C and −1486C/T). The CC genotype of TLR3 Leu412Phe in liver recipients was associated with severe recurrence (odds ratio (OR) = 2.01, 95% confidence interval (95% CI) = 1.02‐3.93, p = 0.04). We also analyzed this polymorphism in 72 of their donors but no association was found with severity of HCV recurrence (p = 0.89). Multivariate analysis showed donor age older than 40 yr (OR=2.93; 95% CI = 1.49–5.8, p = 0.002) and the TLR3 Leu412Phe CC genotype (OR=2.02, 95%CI=1.01–4.05, p = 0.046) were independently associated with severe HCV recurrence. Our results show that the TLR3 Leu412Phe CC genotype is independently associated with severity of hepatitis C recurrence after LT.
Dewey's Participatory Educational Democracy
Authors: Višňovský Emil , Zolcer Štefan 
Published: April 2016

AbstractIn this essay, Emil Višňovský and Štefan Zolcer outline John Dewey's contribution to democratic theory as presented in his 1916 classic Democracy and Education. The authors begin with a review of the general context of Dewey's conception of democracy, and then focus on particular democratic ideas and concepts as presented in Democracy and Education. This analysis emphasizes not so much the technical elaboration of these ideas and concepts as their philosophical framework and the meanings of democracy for education and education for democracy elaborated by Dewey. Apart from other aspects of Deweyan educational democracy, Višňovský and Zolcer focus on participation as one of its key characteristics, ultimately claiming that the notion of educational democracy Dewey developed in this work is participatory.
The Role of “Small Publics” in Teacher Dissent
Authors: Stitzlein Sarah M. , Rector‐Aranda Amy 
Published: April 2016

AbstractIn this essay, Sarah Stitzlein and Amy Rector‐Aranda, drawing on John Dewey's theoretical suggestions regarding how to best form publics capable of bringing about change through deliberation and action, offer teachers guidance on how to form and navigate spaces of political protest and become more effective advocates for school reform. Using Aaron Schutz's analysis of teacher activism as a point of departure, Stitzlein and Rector‐Aranda argue for the development in schools of “small publics,” that is, Deweyan democratic spaces within which teachers can dialogue and exchange ideas about the problems they face in the classroom. While Schutz treats this type of space merely as a stepping stone toward the real locus of political action, the power public, Stitzlein and Rector‐Aranda argue that small publics are themselves important spaces where teachers can work together to frame problems and build coalitions and solidarity with other groups in order to take action in the wider public sphere and bring about change in schools.
Imagining Democratic Futures for Public Universities: Educational Leadership Against Fatalism's Temptations
Authors: Abowitz Kathleen Knight 
Published: April 2016

AbstractAt current rates, almost all U.S. public universities could reach a point of zero state subsidy within the next fifty years. What is a public university without public funding? In this essay, Kathleen Knight Abowitz considers the future of public universities, drawing upon the analysis provided in John Dewey's Democracy and Education. Knight Abowitz conducts an initial institutional analysis through two broad prisms: that of the political landscape that authorizes universities as public institutions, and that of the present political–economic context of public education in general and public universities in particular. Dewey's conception of democratic education is then explored; his arguments regarding aims, experience, thinking, and social intelligence provide important tools for imagining the democratic futures of public universities today.
Geography, History, and the Aims of Education: The Possibility of Multiculturalism in Democracy and Education
Authors: Pratt Scott L. 
Published: April 2016

AbstractIn this essay, Scott Pratt develops the tension at work in Democracy and Education between conceptions of multiculturalism that emerge from Dewey's commitment to progress as a process of civilization and from his contrasting commitment to a vision of progress as a localized process that requires respect for boundaries and limits. The first is related to what Patrick Wolfe has called “settler colonialism.” The second conception of multiculturalism, framed by the aims of education and the conception of growth, avoids the problems of the first and provides a foundation for a practical, decolonial multiculturalism in the context of twenty‐first‐century education.
Herbivore dung as food for dung beetles: elementary coprology for entomologists
Authors: HOLTER PETER 
Published: April 2016

1. How do dung beetles and their larvae manage to subsist on herbivore dung consisting of plant remains that are at least partly indigestible, mixed with various metabolic waste products? To clarify what is known and not known about this basic aspect of dung beetle biology, the present review summarises information on dung composition and discusses the feeding of beetles (food: fresh dung) and larvae (food: older dung) in relation to this information.2. There is 70–85% water in typical fresh dung, and undigested lignocellulose or ‘fibre’ constitutes about 70% of the organic matter which also contains 1.5–3%N. About 75% of this is ‘metabolic faecal nitrogen’, mostly associated with dead and alive microbial biomass. As all essential amino acids and cholesterol are probably present, additional synthesis by microbial symbionts may not be needed by the beetles.3. Beetles minimise the intake of lignocellulose by filtering fibre particles out of their food which is probably microbial biomass/debris with much smaller particle size. Excess fluid may be squeezed out of this material by the mandibles before ingestion.4. All larvae are bulk feeders and unable to filtrate, but little is known about the composition of their food, i.e. older dung in pats or underground brood masses. Larvae in dung pats may depend on easily digestible dung components, probably microbial biomass, whereas the nutritional ecology of larvae in brood masses is still not understood. Unravelling the composition of their food might answer some of the so far unanswered questions.
Parasitoid aggregation and interference in host–parasitoid dynamics
Authors: OKUYAMA TOSHINORI 
Published: April 2016

1. Parasitoids do not distribute themselves evenly among available patches, which has an important bearing on the dynamics of host–parasitoid interactions. This study examined the density‐dependent nature of aggregation of the parasitoid Dirhinus giffardii Silvestri on the oriental fruit fly host, Bactrocera dorsalis (Hendel) distributed among discrete patches.2. Four artificial patches were created in a cage, and the number of hosts in each patch was manipulated. Parasitoids were released into the cage, and whether parasitoid density and host density influence the degree of parasitoid aggregation was examined.3. Parasitoid aggregation became stronger (e.g. uneven distribution among patches) as the parasitoid density decreased and also as the host density increased. The index of parasitoid aggregation was not influenced by the distribution of hosts among patches.4. The empirically characterised aggregation pattern was incorporated in a host–parasitoid model that consists of one host and one parasitoid species. The analysis of the model shows that an unstable system (i.e. the coexistence of the host and parasitoid is impossible) can be stabilised (i.e. coexistence is possible) when the parasitoid aggregates in a way that is consistent with the pattern found in the experiment.