bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Antifungal activity and identification of active compounds of Bacillus amyloliquefaciens subsp. plantarum against Botryosphaeria dothidea
Authors: Cheng M. , Xu Q. , Li Y. , Qin H. , Chen J. 
Published: November 2016

SummaryThe canker disease caused by Botryosphaeria dothidea in China has resulted in serious damage and death to Carya cathayensis and continues to expand its range. A Bacillus strain, designated Bacillus amyloliquefaciens subsp. plantarum CGMCC 11640, was successfully screened from 103 field isolates from local soils by a plate dual‐culture method. It showed inhibition zones between B. dothidea and CGMCC 11640 in vitro. From a methyl alcohol extract of the filtrate, the antifungal compounds were identified as a series of lipopeptides by HPLC, namely fengycins, surfactins and iturins, with fengycins being the dominant component. The fengycins were further identified by LC–MS to be a mixture of C15, C16, C17 and C18 fengycin A and their isomers (normal, iso and anteiso). The strong anti‐B. dothidea activity indicated that the B. amyloliquefaciens subsp. plantarum CGMCC 11640 and its bioactive components might provide an alternative bioresource for the biocontrol of C. cathayensis canker.
Fungicide sensitivity of Dothistroma septosporum isolates in the UK
Authors: Piotrowska M. J. , Ennos R. A. , Riddell C. , Hoebe P. N. 
Published: November 2016

SummaryDothistroma septosporum, a causal agent of Dothistroma needle blight (DNB), is a damaging fungal pathogen of pines that has recently started to affect native Scots pine woodlands in the UK. In addition to silvicultural methods, fungicide spraying of forest nursery stock can help prevent the spread of DNB. However, the effectiveness of modern single‐site fungicides against D. septosporum and the risk of fungicide resistance evolution remain largely unknown. In this project, we aimed to establish sensitivity profiles of D. septosporum to some widely used single‐site fungicide classes in vitro, and to determine whether fungicide resistance is already present, as this could increase the spread of D. septosporum genotypes on planting stock in native woodlands. For this purpose, we compared isolates of D. septosporum, originating from pine stands unexposed to fungicides, with isolates from nursery outbreaks, for sensitivity to a range of commonly applied fungicides. Most of the fungicides we tested were effective in vitro and we observed no significant shifts in sensitivity in forest nurseries. Although further tests in planta are required to confirm effectiveness of single‐site fungicides against D. septosporum, our results suggest that they can be successfully used in DNB control, although appropriate measures to prevent the evolution of fungicide resistance are strongly recommended.
Elm yellows: A phytoplasma disease of concern in forest and landscape ecosystems
Authors: Marcone C. 
Published: November 2016

SummaryElm yellows (EY) is a lethal or decline phytoplasma disease that affects several Ulmus (elm) species and hybrids, which is widespread in North America and Europe. The symptoms vary among the elm species. In those native to North America, main symptoms include epinasty, chlorosis, premature casting of the leaves, yellow to brown discoloration of the phloem in the roots and stem and tree death that usually occurs within 1 or 2 years from the appearance of foliar symptoms. In contrast, affected trees of European and Asian species are primarily characterized by witches’ broom as a specific symptom, do not show phloem discoloration and are less prone to decline. The disease is caused by a relatively genetically homogeneous phytoplasma, the EY agent “Candidatus Phytoplasma ulmi,” a member of the EY phytoplasma group or 16SrV group, subgroup 16SrV‐A. In nature, this pathogen exhibits a high plant host specificity. The elm leafhopper Scaphoideus luteolus is the only confirmed vector of EY phytoplasma in North America, whereas Macropsis mendax has been reported as a natural vector in Northern Italy. However, other insect vectors are likely to be involved in its natural spread. Phytoplasmas of other taxonomic groups or 16SrV subgroups, which are known to infect a wide range of plant hosts, have been identified in naturally infected elm trees. However, the pathological relevance of these “non‐elm” phytoplasmas needs to be confirmed in many cases. Their detection is mainly based on the highly sensitive nested PCR assays, while pathological data are lacking. This study summarizes, within the framework of a single comprehensive review, the current knowledge of EY. Gaps in knowledge of this disease and prospects for future research are also critically discussed.
shapecoder: a new method for visual quantification of body mass index in young children
Authors: Park B.‐K. Daniel , Reed M. P. , Kaciroti N. , Love M. , Miller A. L. , Appugliese D. P. , Lumeng J. C. 
Published: November 2016

SummaryBackgroundFew tools exist to quantify body mass index visually.ObjectiveTo examine the inter‐rater reliability and validity (sensitivity and specificity for overweight/obesity and obesity) of a three‐dimensional visual rating system to quantify body mass index (BMI) in young children.MethodsChildren (n = 242, mean age 5.9 years, 50.0% male; 40.5% overweight/ obese) participated in a videotaped protocol and weight and height were measured. Research staff applied a novel three‐dimensional computer‐based figure rating system (shapecoder) to the child's videotaped image. Inter‐rater reliability was calculated, as well as correlation with measured body mass index (BMI) and sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value and negative predictive value for overweight/obesity and obesity.ResultsInter‐rater reliability was excellent (intraclass correlation coefficient = 0.98). The correlation of shapecoder‐generated BMI with measured BMI was 0.89. For overweight/obesity, the sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value and negative predictive value were 62%, 97%, 94% and 79% respectively. For obesity, these values were 65%, 99%, 97% and 92% respectively.Conclusionshapecoder provides a method to quantify child BMI from video images with high inter‐rater reliability, fair sensitivity and good specificity for overweight/obesity and obesity. The approach offers an improvement over existing two‐dimensional rating scales for BMI.
Can welfare and labour market regimes explain cross‐country differences in the unemployment of young people?
Authors: TAMESBERGER Dennis 
Published: November 2016

AbstractNo single institution can reduce (long‐term) youth unemployment. Welfare and labour market institutions function as “bundles”, through multiple inter‐institutional synergies. Based on a focused literature review for theory and on cluster analysis for empirics, the author identifies five such regimes across the EU‐27 and estimates their effects on the youth unemployment ratio and on long‐term youth unemployment. The most helpful institutional arrangement for young people in the labour market would be a combination of strong dual apprenticeship embedded in a corporatist labour market regime with high levels of social security, active labour market policy, and spending on education and childcare.
University of Texas Roundtable on Recent Trends in U.S. Venture Capital
Authors: Gibbins Brooks , Shamapant Venu , Schiffman Glenn , Saper Jake , Wiles Ken 
Published: November 2016

At a recent private equity conference hosted by the McCombs School of Business at the University of Texas in Austin, four venture capitalists representing the East and West Coasts provided testimony to the spread of the VC industry far beyond Silicon Valley to places like New York, London, and Berlin—as well as Austin itself. The result, in the words of one panelist, has been “a shift from Silicon Valley as the epicenter of so much innovation and growth to something more like a globally distributed network of capital, talent, and opportunity.”Along with this geographic expansion of the industry, perhaps the most notable change is the tendency of today's VCs to delay the IPOs of their portfolio companies and, by keeping them private longer, capture more of their growth in value. Whereas 20 years ago 90% or more of the value appreciation came after the IPO of a highly successful company (think about Micro‐Soft or Amazon.com), a much larger share of the overall value creation now appears to be taking place before the IPO, thanks to the growing use of a funding vehicle known as private initial public offerings, or PIPOs. The use of PIPOs has enabled VC‐backed companies to attract large amounts of capital from large institutional investors like Fidelity—which in the past would not have invested in the company until the IPO—while retaining what the panelists view as significant advantages of private ownership and governance.
Drivers of Shareholder Returns in Tech Industries (or How to Make Sense of Amazon's Market Value)
Authors: Milano Gregory V. , Chatterjee Arshia , Fedigan David 
Published: November 2016

Earnings according to GAAP do a notoriously poor job of explaining the current values of the most successful high‐tech companies, which in recent years have experienced remarkable growth in revenues and market capitalizations. But if GAAP earnings fail to account for the values of such companies, are there other measures that do better?The authors address this question in two main ways. They begin by summarizing the findings of their recent study of both the operating and the stock‐market performance of 169 publicly traded tech companies (with market caps of at least $1 billion). The aim of the study was to identify which of the many indicators of corporate operating performance—including growth in revenues, EBITDA margins, and returns on equity—have had the strongest correlation with shareholder returns over a relatively long period of time. The study's main conclusion is that investors appear to be looking for signs of neither growth nor efficiency in using capital alone, but for an optimal mix or balancing of those goals. And that mix, as the study also suggests, is captured in a cash‐flow‐based variant of “residual income” the authors call “residual cash earnings,” or RCE.In the second part of their article, the authors show how and why RCE does a much better job than reported net income or EPS of explaining the current market value of Amazon.com, one of the best‐performing tech companies in the world. Mainly by treating R&D spending as an investment of capital rather than an expense, RCE reveals the value of a company that is distinguished by both the amount and the productivity of its ongoing investment—both of which have been obscured by GAAP.
A Better Way to Measure Operating Performance (or Why the EVA Math Really Matters)
Authors: O'Byrne Stephen F. 
Published: November 2016

Most companies rely heavily on earnings to measure operating performance, but earnings growth has at least two important weaknesses as a proxy for investor wealth. Current earnings can come at the expense of future earnings through, for example, short‐sighted cutbacks in investment, including spending on R&D. But growth in EPS can also be achieved by investing more capital with projected rates of return that, although well below the cost of capital, are higher than the after‐tax cost of debt. Stock compensation has been the conventional solution to the first problem because it's a discounted cash flow value that is assumed to discourage actions that sacrifice future earnings. Economic profit—in its most popular manifestation, EVA—has been the conventional solution to the second problem with earnings because it includes a capital charge that penalizes low‐return investment.But neither of these conventional solutions appears to work very well in practice. Stock compensation isn't tied to business unit performance—and often fails to provide the intended incentives for the (many) corporate managers who believe that meeting current consensus earnings is more important than investing to maintain future earnings. EVA doesn't work well when new investments take time to become profitable because the higher capital charge comes before the related income.In this article, the author presents two new operating performance measures that are likely to work better than either earnings or EVA because they reflect the value that can be lost either through corporate underinvestment or overinvestment designed to increase current earnings. Both of these new measures are based on the math that ties EVA to discounted cash flow value, particularly its division of current corporate market values into two components: “current operations value” and “future growth value.” The key to the effectiveness of the new measures in explaining changes in company stock prices and market values is a statistical model of changes in future growth value that captures the expected effects of significant increases in current investment in R&D and advertising on future profits and value.
Patterns of species richness, endemism and environmental gradients of African reptiles
Authors: Lewin Amir , Feldman Anat , Bauer Aaron M. , Belmaker Jonathan , Broadley Donald G. , Chirio Laurent , Itescu Yuval , LeBreton Matthew , Maza Erez , Meirte Danny , Nagy Zoltán T. , Novosolov Maria , Roll Uri , Tallowin Oliver , Trape Jean‐François , Vidan Enav , Meiri Shai 
Published: November 2016

AbstractAimTo map and assess the richness patterns of reptiles (and included groups: amphisbaenians, crocodiles, lizards, snakes and turtles) in Africa, quantify the overlap in species richness of reptiles (and included groups) with the other terrestrial vertebrate classes, investigate the environmental correlates underlying these patterns, and evaluate the role of range size on richness patterns.LocationAfrica.MethodsWe assembled a data set of distributions of all African reptile species. We tested the spatial congruence of reptile richness with that of amphibians, birds and mammals. We further tested the relative importance of temperature, precipitation, elevation range and net primary productivity for species richness over two spatial scales (ecoregions and 1° grids). We arranged reptile and vertebrate groups into range‐size quartiles in order to evaluate the role of range size in producing richness patterns.ResultsReptile, amphibian, bird and mammal richness are largely congruent (r = 0.79–0.86) and respond similarly to environmental variables (mainly productivity and precipitation). Ecoregion size accounts for more variation in the richness of reptiles than in that of other groups. Lizard distributions are distinct with several areas of high species richness where other vertebrate groups (including snakes) are species‐poor, especially in arid ecoregions. Habitat heterogeneity is the best predictor of narrow‐ranging species, but remains relatively important in explaining lizard richness even for species with large range sizes.Main conclusionsReptile richness varies with similar environmental variables as the other vertebrates in Africa, reflecting the disproportionate influence of snakes on reptile richness, a result of their large ranges. Richness gradients of narrow‐ranged vertebrates differ from those of widespread taxa, which may demonstrate different centres of endemism for reptile subclades in Africa. Lizard richness varies mostly with habitat heterogeneity independent of range size, which suggests that the difference in response of lizards is due to their ecological characteristics. These results, over two spatial scales and multiple range‐size quartiles, allow us to reliably interpret the influence of environmental variables on patterns of reptile richness and congruency.
Five‐year efficacy and safety of tenofovir‐based salvage therapy for patients with chronic hepatitis B who previously failed LAM/ADV therapy
Authors: Lim Lucy , Thompson Alexander , Patterson Scott , George Jacob , Strasser Simone , Lee Alice , Sievert William , Nicoll Amanda , Desmond Paul , Roberts Stuart , Marion Kaye , Bowden Scott , Locarnini Stephen , Angus Peter 
Published: November 2016

AbstractBackgroundMultidrug‐resistant HBV continues to be an important clinical problem. The TDF‐109 study demonstrated that TDF±LAM is an effective salvage therapy through 96 weeks for LAM‐resistant patients who previously failed ADV add‐on or switch therapy. We evaluated the 5‐year efficacy and safety outcomes in patients receiving long‐term TDF±LAM in the TDF‐109 study.MethodsA total of 59 patients completed the first phase of the TDF‐109 study and 54/59 were rolled over into a long‐term prospective open‐label study of TDF±LAM 300 mg daily.ResultsResults are reported at the end of year 5 of treatment. At year 5, 75% (45/59) had achieved viral suppression by intent‐to‐treat analysis. Per‐protocol assessment revealed 83% (45/54) were HBV DNA undetectable. Nine patients remained HBV DNA detectable, however 8/9 had very low HBV DNA levels (<264IU/mL) and did not meet virological criteria for virological breakthrough (VBT). One patient experienced VBT, but this was in the setting of documented non‐compliance. The response was independent of baseline LAM therapy or mutations conferring ADV resistance. Four patients discontinued TDF, one patient was lost to follow‐up and one died from hepatocellular carcinoma.ConclusionsLong‐term TDF treatment appears to be safe and effective in patients with prior failure of LAM and a suboptimal response to ADV therapy. These findings confirm that TDF has a high genetic barrier to resistance is active against multidrug‐resistant HBV, and should be the preferred oral anti‐HBV agent in CHB patients who fail treatment with LAM and ADV.
Pre‐rain green‐up is ubiquitous across southern tropical Africa: implications for temporal niche separation and model representation
Authors: Ryan Casey M. , Williams Mathew , Grace John , Woollen Emily , Lehmann Caroline E. R. 
Published: November 2016

Summary

Tree phenology mediates land–atmosphere mass and energy exchange and is a determinant of ecosystem structure and function. In the dry tropics, including African savannas, many trees grow new leaves during the dry season – weeks or months before the rains typically start. This syndrome of pre‐rain green‐up has long been recognized at small scales, but the high spatial and interspecific variability in leaf phenology has precluded regional generalizations.

We used remote sensing data to show that this precocious phenology is ubiquitous across the woodlands and savannas of southern tropical Africa.

In 70% of the study area, green‐up preceded rain onset by > 20 d (42% > 40 d). All the main vegetation formations exhibited pre‐rain green‐up, by as much as 53 ± 18 d (in the wet miombo). Green‐up showed low interannual variability (SD between years = 11 d), and high spatial variability (> 100 d).

These results are consistent with a high degree of local phenological adaptation, and an insolation trigger of green‐up. Tree–tree competition and niche separation may explain the ubiquity of this precocious phenology. The ubiquity of pre‐rain green‐up described here challenges existing model representations and suggests resistance (but not necessarily resilience) to the delay in rain onset predicted under climate change.
Unravelling the inheritance, QST and reproductive phenology attributes of the tetraploid tropical grass Brachiaria ruziziensis (Germain et Evrard)
Authors: Simeão Rosangela M. , Valle Cacilda B. , Resende Marcos D. V. 
Published: November 2016

AbstractThe autotetraploid forage Congo signal grass (Brachiaria ruziziensis) is an important component in the Brachiaria breeding programme. As with other tropical forage grass species, the association between flowering and seed yield components, the mode of inheritance and the effects of population structure on phenotypic breeding are lacking. Seventeen characteristics evaluated in 59 half‐sib progeny of seven subpopulations were analysed using a mixed model methodology. According to the commonality analysis, the total seed yield (0.67) and number of days to flowering (0.22) had a greater influence on the filled‐seed yield. The flowering synchrony, total number of panicles, filled‐seed yield, green matter yield and dry matter yield presented statistically significant additive genetic variance between and within the subpopulations. The QST estimates ranged from 0.09 for the flowering synchrony index to 0.31 for the filled‐seed yield. The effects of population structure and its use in breeding programmes are further discussed.
Can ecosystem functional recovery be traced to decomposition and nitrogen dynamics in estuaries of the Lower Laguna Madre, Texas?
Authors: Marquez Mario A. , Fierro‐Cabo Alejandro , Cintra‐Buenrostro Carlos E. 
Published: November 2016

AbstractThe biggest incentive to attempt the restoration and protection of estuaries is their widely acknowledged ecological and economic importance. Assessing estuary health and recovery can most accurately come from examining ecosystem processes. The purpose of this study was to explore the potential of mass loss and nitrogen (N) dynamics during leaf litter decomposition, to detect signs of functional recovery in two estuarine systems in south Texas. Submerged litterbags with black mangrove (Avicennia germinans) leaves were retrieved at various dates over 320 days. Decomposition was about 50% slower in one of the recovering systems compared to a reference site. Nitrogen immobilization and release from decaying leaf litter also discriminated among sites. Nitrogen immobilization potentials ranged from 4.15 to 6.89 mgN/g leaf litter, with the reference site exhibiting the highest value and thus the highest potential to conserve N during litter decomposition. The reference site also had a N immobilization time twice as long as the recovering sites, and a slower net release after the immobilization, appearing again as the most conservative in this part of the N cycling, possibly pointing to a less disturbed, or more stable ecosystem. Overall, the N dynamics during decomposition of mangrove leaf litter were similar in both recovering sites, whereas the reference site had a more conservative nutrient dynamics with more N being retained for longer in decomposing litter, coupled with a slower net release. Metrics derived from N dynamics may provide a finer resolution assessment of functional recovery, than only decomposition metrics.
CD6 and Linker of Activated T Cells are Potential Interaction Partners for T Cell‐Specific Adaptor Protein
Authors: Hem C. D. , Ekornhol M. , Granum S. , Sundvold‐Gjerstad V. , Spurkland A. 
Published: November 2016

AbstractThe T cell‐specific adaptor protein (TSAd) contains several protein interaction domains, and is merging as a modulator of T cell activation. Several interaction partners for the TSAd proline‐rich region and phosphotyrosines have been identified, including the Src and Tec family kinases lymphocyte‐specific protein tyrosine kinase and interleukin 2‐inducible T cell kinase. Via its Src homology 2 (SH2) domain, TSAd may thus function as a link between these enzymes and other signalling molecules. However, few binding partners to the TSAd SH2 domain in T cells are hitherto known. Through the use of in silico ligand prediction, peptide spot arrays, pull‐down and immunoprecipitation experiments, we here report novel interactions between the TSAd SH2 domain and CD6 phosphotyrosine (pTyr)629 and linker of activated T cells (LAT) pTyr171, pTyr191 and pTyr226.