bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Resource partitioning between ungulate populations in arid environments
Authors: Cooke Robert S. C. , Woodfine Tim , Petretto Marie , Ezard Thomas H. G. 
Published: August 2016

AbstractHerbivores are major drivers of ecosystem structure, diversity, and function. Resilient ecosystems therefore require viable herbivore populations in a sustainable balance with environmental resource availability. This balance is becoming harder to achieve, with increasingly threatened species reliant on small protected areas in increasingly harsh and unpredictable environments. Arid environments in North Africa exemplify this situation, featuring a biologically distinct species assemblage exposed to extreme and volatile conditions, including habitat loss and climate change‐associated threats. Here, we implement an integrated likelihood approach to relate scimitar‐horned oryx (Oryx dammah) and dorcas gazelle (Gazella dorcas) density, via dung distance sampling, to habitat, predator, and geographic correlates in Dghoumes National Park, Tunisia. We show how two threatened sympatric ungulates partition resources on the habitat axis, exhibiting nonuniform responses to the same vegetation gradient. Scimitar‐horned oryx were positively associated with plant species richness, selecting for vegetated ephemeral watercourses (wadis) dominated by herbaceous cover. Conversely, dorcas gazelle were negatively associated with vegetation density (herbaceous height, litter cover, and herbaceous cover), selecting instead for rocky plains with sparse vegetation. We suggest that adequate plant species richness should be a prerequisite for areas proposed for future ungulate reintroductions in arid and semi‐arid environments. This evidence will inform adaptive management of reintroduced ungulates in protected environments, helping managers and planners design sustainable ecosystems and effective conservation programs.
The interaction of land‐use legacies and hurricane disturbance in subtropical wet forest: twenty‐one years of change
Authors: Hogan James Aaron , Zimmerman Jess K. , Thompson Jill , Nytch Christopher J. , Uriarte María 
Published: August 2016

AbstractDisturbance shapes plant communities over a wide variety of spatial and temporal scales. How natural and anthropogenic disturbance interact to shape ecological communities is highly variable and begs a greater understanding. We used five censuses spanning the years 1990–2011 from the 16‐ha Luquillo Forest Dynamics Plot (LFDP) in northeast Puerto Rico to investigate the interplay of human land‐use legacies dating to the early 20th century and two recent hurricanes (Hugo, 1989 and Georges, 1998). The LFDP is a landscape mosaic comprised of an area of mature subtropical wet forest and three areas of secondary forest with differing past land‐use intensities. We examined the degree to which hurricane disturbance–effect and subsequent community recovery varied across past land‐use classes. We expected areas with greater intensity of human land use to be more affected by hurricane disturbance therefore exhibiting greater initial damage and longer successional recovery times. Structurally, areas of secondary forest contained smaller trees than old‐growth areas; hurricanes caused widespread recruitment of shrubs and saplings that thinned with time since the first hurricane. Species richness of the plot declined over time, mostly due to the loss of rare species, but also due to the loss of some heliophilic, pioneer species that became abundant after the first hurricane. Species composition differed strongly between areas of secondary and mature forest, and these differences were largely constant over time, except for an increase in compositional differences following the second hurricane. An indicator species analysis attributed this pattern to the longer persistence of pioneer species in areas of greater past land‐use intensity, likely due to the more open canopy in secondary forest. When secondary forest areas of differing past land‐use intensity were considered separately, few species of low community rank were found as indicators. When these areas were combined, more and higher‐ranked species emerged as indicators, creating ecologically meaningful indicator species combinations that better captured the broad‐scale plant community response to past land use. Our findings support the idea that effects of past land use can persist for decades to centuries following land‐use abandonment, illustrating the importance of land‐use legacies in shaping regenerating tropical secondary forests.
The demography of tree species response to climate: seedling recruitment and survival
Authors: Canham Charles D. , Murphy Lora 
Published: August 2016

AbstractSeedling recruitment and survival are critical bottlenecks in tree population dynamics and are likely to play central roles in shifts in species distributions under climate change. We use data from the Forest Inventory and Analysis program to quantify the relationships between two key climate variables—mean annual temperature and growing season water deficit—and rates of seedling recruitment and survival for the 50 most common tree species in the eastern United States. Our statistical models include the positive effects of conspecific adult abundance on recruitment and the potentially negative competitive effects of total canopy abundance on seedling survival. The tradeoff between these two effects creates a range from positive to negative conspecific density dependence, depending on the absolute and relative abundance of conspecific vs. heterospecific adults in a plot. Variation along the climate gradients mirrors patterns found previously in adult distributions. The clearest signal is in variation in the presence/absence of seedlings, while seedling density when present is only weakly related to local climate. The relatively narrow niche breadths for the presence of both seedlings and adults suggest that the frequency of occurrence of species within the landscape, rather than their relative abundance when present, will show the greatest response to climate change. Our analyses predict seedling survival as a function of mean annual temperature independent of the effects of competition and water deficit and thus provide an indication of the fundamental niche for seedling distribution along the temperature gradient. For more than half of the 50 species, their realized seedling niches are displaced to warmer climates. This reflects the prevalence of species in which survival declines with increasing temperature across a significant portion of at least their southern range. Our results show that when the effects of warmer climates are taken into account, seedling survival generally increases with increasing water deficit in the generally humid climates of the eastern United States. This result is consistent with recent global surveys of the relationship between net primary productivity and forest turnover rates, but contrasts with recent studies highlighting the potential impact of drought stress on tree mortality in more arid climates.
Collaborative Water Resource Management: What makes up a supportive governance system?
Authors: de Boer Cheryl , Vinke‐de Kruijf Joanne , Özerol Gül , Bressers Hans 
Published: August 2016

AbstractCollaboration is increasingly seen as an important aspect of successful water management, and yet it remains insufficiently understood. This paper examines how collaboration is influenced by the governance system that guides and organizes the related actions and interactions. Building upon an existing governance assessment tool, this paper provides the basis for predicting how supportive (or restrictive) a governance system will be towards collaboration, according to eight different governance system classes. The validity of this framework is reflected upon in case studies from five countries: Mexico, the Netherlands, Canada, Romania and Turkey. The collaborative processes in Mexico, Romania and Turkey are embedded in restrictive governance systems and show low levels of collaboration. The governance system in the Canadian case is assessed as neutral and shows a medium level of collaboration, whereas the governance system in the Netherlands shows high levels of collaboration and is assessed as supportive. The results are encouraging, as the case studies demonstrate the predicted influences of a governance system on collaboration. Yet, the case studies also highlight the potential importance of characteristics of the collaborative process and collaborating actors. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd and ERP Environment
In the Eye of the Beholder: Network location and sustainability perception in flood prevention
Authors: Balsiger Jörg , Ingold Karin 
Published: August 2016

AbstractThe aim of this paper is to investigate how sustainability perceptions are emergent properties of collaborative networks in flood governance in Switzerland. In recent decades, the impact of global warming and multiple stresses on water regimes has influenced the design of new approaches to flood risk management, especially in Western Europe. The use of non‐structural measures such as planning tools and watershed campaigns indicates a change from technocratic to more integrated flood governance perspectives. Flood governance is increasingly influenced by the principle of sustainability, understood as stronger horizontal integration of its social, economic and environmental dimensions. The paper examines the integration of sustainability in the design of flood prevention and policies, suggesting that integration relates to participating actors’ perceptions of sustainability and that these perceptions are reflected in network structures. Focusing on four regional case studies, we use survey data and social network analysis to investigate how actors relate to each other and how they rank sustainability indicators. Results show that sustainability perceptions differ strongly across cases, and tend to be more balanced (assigning equal importance to environmental, economic and social indicators) within and sometimes even across actor types and sectors. We find that while actors in central network positions tend to have more balanced sustainability perceptions, context‐ and project‐specific factors impact sustainability perceptions even more. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd and ERP Environment
Dynamic functional connectivity of neurocognitive networks in children
Authors: Marusak Hilary A. , Calhoun Vince D. , Brown Suzanne , Crespo Laura M. , Sala‐Hamrick Kelsey , Gotlib Ian H. , Thomason Moriah E. 
Published: August 2016

AbstractThe human brain is highly dynamic, supporting a remarkable range of cognitive abilities that emerge over the course of development. While flexible and dynamic coordination between neural systems is firmly established for children, our understanding of brain functional organization in early life has been built largely on the implicit assumption that functional connectivity (FC) is static. Understanding the nature of dynamic neural interactions during development is a critical issue for cognitive neuroscience, with implications for neurodevelopmental pathologies that involve anomalies in brain connectivity. In this work, FC dynamics of neurocognitive networks in a sample of 146 youth from varied sociodemographic backgrounds were delineated. Independent component analysis, sliding time window correlation, and k‐means clustering were applied to resting‐state fMRI data. Results revealed six dynamic FC states that re‐occur over time and that complement, but significantly extend, measures of static FC. Moreover, the occurrence and amount of time spent in specific FC states are related to the content of self‐generated thought during the scan. Additionally, some connections are more variable over time than are others, including those between inferior parietal lobe and precuneus. These regions contribute to multiple networks and likely play a role in adaptive processes in childhood. Age‐related increases in temporal variability of FC among neurocognitive networks were also found. Taken together, these findings lay the groundwork for understanding how variation in the developing chronnectome is related to risk for neurodevelopmental disorders. Understanding how brain systems reconfigure with development should provide insight into the ontogeny of complex, flexible cognitive processes. Hum Brain Mapp 38:97–108, 2017. © 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
Pretreatment count of peripheral neutrophils, monocytes, and lymphocytes as independent prognostic factor in patients with head and neck cancer
Authors: Valero Cristina , Pardo Laura , López Montserrat , García Jacinto , Camacho Mercedes , Quer Miquel , León Xavier 
Published: August 2016

AbstractBackgroundThe purpose of this study was to analyze the prognostic value of pretreatment count of peripheral neutrophils, lymphocytes, monocytes, and neutrophil‐to‐lymphocyte ratio (NLR) in patients with head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC).MethodsLocal, regional, and distant recurrence‐free survival and disease‐specific survival were analyzed according to the count of neutrophils, lymphocytes, monocytes, and NLR.ResultsWe observed a decrease in disease‐specific survival as the quartile category of neutrophils, monocytes, and NLR increased. In the case of lymphocytes, patients in the lower quartile had lower disease‐specific survival. Considering the disease‐specific survival as the dependent variable, a recursive partitioning analysis classified the patients according to the neutrophil and monocyte counts.ConclusionHigh pretreatment count of peripheral neutrophils and/or monocytes was independently related with worse prognosis in patients with HNSCC. Classification based on pretreatment neutrophil and monocyte counts enabled the identification of different prognostic profiles. © 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Head Neck 39: 219–226, 2017
Salinity‐dependent toxicity of water‐dispersible, single‐walled carbon nanotubes to Japanese medaka embryos
Authors: Kataoka Chisato , Nakahara Kousuke , Shimizu Kaori , Kowase Shinsuke , Nagasaka Seiji , Ifuku Shinsuke , Kashiwada Shosaku 
Published: August 2016

AbstractTo investigate the effects of salinity on the behavior and toxicity of functionalized single‐walled carbon nanotubes (SWCNTs), which are chemical modified nanotube to increase dispersibility, medaka embryos were exposed to non‐functionalized single‐walled carbon nanotubes (N‐SWCNTs), water‐dispersible, cationic, plastic‐polymer‐coated, single‐walled carbon nanotubes (W‐SWCNTs), or hydrophobic polyethylene glycol‐functionalized, single‐walled carbon nanotubes (PEG‐SWCNTs) at different salinities, from freshwater to seawater. As reference nanomaterials, we tested dispersible chitin nanofiber (CNF), chitosan‐chitin nanofiber (CCNF) and chitin nanocrystal (CNC, i.e. shortened CNF). Under freshwater conditions, with exposure to 10 mg l−1 W‐SWCNTs, the yolk sacks of 57.8% of embryos shrank, and the remaining embryos had a reduced heart rate, eye diameter and hatching rate. Larvae had severe defects of the spinal cord, membranous fin and tail formation. These toxic effects increased with increasing salinity. Survival rates declined with increasing salinity and reached 0.0% in seawater. In scanning electron microscope images, W‐SWCNTs, CNF, CCNF and CNC were adsorbed densely over the egg chorion surface; however, because of chitin's biologically harmless properties, only W‐SWCNTs had toxic effects on the medaka eggs. No toxicity was observed from N‐SWCNT and PEG‐SWCNT exposure. We demonstrated that water dispersibility, surface chemistry, biomedical properties and salinity were important factors in assessing the aquatic toxicity of nanomaterials. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Impact of state medicaid expansion status on length of stay and in‐hospital mortality for general medicine patients at US academic medical centers
Authors: Anderson Mary E. , Glasheen Jeffrey J. , Anoff Debra , Pierce Read , Lane Molly , Jones Christine D. 
Published: August 2016

BACKGROUNDMedicaid is often associated with longer hospitalizations and higher in‐hospital mortality than other insurance types.OBJECTIVETo characterize the impact of state Medicaid expansion status under the Affordable Care Act (ACA) on payer mix, length of stay (LOS), and in‐hospital mortality.DESIGN/SETTING/PATIENTSRetrospective cohort study of general medicine patients discharged from academic medical centers (AMCs) within the University HealthSystem Consortium from October 1, 2012 to September 30, 2015.INTERVENTION/MEASUREMENTSHospitals were stratified according to state Medicaid expansion status. The proportion of discharges by primary payer, LOS index, and mortality index were compared between Medicaid‐expansion and nonexpansion hospitals before and after ACA implementation. ACA implementation was defined as January 1, 2014, for all states except Michigan, New Hampshire, Pennsylvania, and Indiana, which had unique dates of Medicaid expansion.RESULTSWe identified 3,144,488 discharges from 156 hospitals in 24 Medicaid‐expansion states and Washington, DC, and 1,114,464 discharges from 55 hospitals in 14 nonexpansion states during the study period. Hospitals in Medicaid‐expansion states experienced a significant 3.7% increase in Medicaid discharges (P = 0.013) and a 2.9% decrease in uninsured discharges (P < 0.001) after ACA implementation, whereas hospitals in nonexpansion states saw no significant change in payer mix. In a difference‐in‐differences analysis, the changes in LOS and mortality indices pre‐ to post‐ACA implementation did not differ significantly between hospitals in Medicaid‐expansion versus nonexpansion states.CONCLUSIONSThe differential shift in payer mix between Medicaid‐expansion and nonexpansion states under the ACA did not influence LOS or in‐hospital mortality for general medicine patients at AMCs in the United States. Journal of Hospital Medicine 2015;11:847–852. © 2015 Society of Hospital Medicine
Uterine junctional zone thickness in infertile women evaluated by MRI
Authors: Meylaerts Liesbeth J. , Wijnen Leen , Ombelet Willem , Bazot Marc , Vandersteen Marjan 
Published: August 2016

PurposeTo prospectively evaluate and compare the junctional zone (JZ) and outer myometrial thickness in infertile and healthy nulliparous women at different locations in the uterine wall during the menstrual cycle by magnetic resonance imaging (MRI).Materials and MethodsWe performed pelvic 1.5T MRI (T2‐weighted turbo spin echo sequences) on 28 infertile women: 5 with infertility of unknown origin, 12 anovulating, and 11 on ovarian stimulation therapy (mean age 28.5, 30.8, and 29.3 years, respectively); and a control group consisting of 18 healthy nulliparous volunteers (mean age 26.4 years). The women with unknown infertility origin and the control group underwent MRI investigations during their follicular, ovulatory, and luteal phase. The JZ and outer myometrial thicknesses were measured at six locations in the uterine wall: anterior and posterior wall of the isthmus, midcorpus, and fundus.ResultsThe JZ in the anovulating women at the posterior wall of the isthmus (4.2 mm) was significantly thicker compared to the control group (3.2, 3.0, and 2.9 mm, in respectively the three menstrual phases) (P = 0.027). The outer myometrium in the anovulating women was significantly thicker at all measured locations (average 11.5 mm) in comparison to the control group (8.1, 8.0, and 8.5 mm, in respectively the three menstrual phases) (P < 0.050). The infertile women on ovarian stimulation therapy showed a significantly thicker outer myometrium at the anterior wall (isthmus, midcorpus, and fundus) (P < 0.050).ConclusionThe results indicate that a thickened JZ, and especially a thickened outer myometrium, might be associated with infertility.Level of Evidence: 1J. Magn. Reson. Imaging 2017;45:926–936.
Management of Grazing Intensity in the Semi‐Arid Rangelands of Southern Australia: Effects on Soil and Biodiversity
Authors: Waters Cathleen Maria , Orgill Susan Elizabeth , Melville Gavin John , Toole Ian Douglas , Smith Warren John 
Published: August 2016

AbstractOvergrazing contributes to rangeland degradation altering plant community composition, erosion and biodiversity. Little unanimity in the literature exists on the effects of livestock grazing on soil carbon and biodiversity, in part, due to uncontrolled grazing pressure from native and feral animals. Paired paddock contrasts at three, long‐term (>8 years) study locations in the southern Australian rangelands were used to examine the effects of managing grazing intensity through the use of exclusion fencing and rotational grazing on soil organic carbon (SOC), soil nitrogen (TN), ground cover and biodiversity (flora and invertebrates). Grazing management had no effect on SOC or TN on grey soils (Vertisols), but for red soils (Lixisols), significantly higher levels of SOC were found for both the 0 to 5 and 5 to 10‐cm soil depths (0·3% and 0·27% respectively) and associated with increased TN. We found strong and consistent relationships among SOC and higher perennial (p < 0·001), higher litter (p < 0·05) cover and close proximity to trees (p < 0·05). Managing grazing intensity resulted in significantly higher perennial ground cover (p < 0·001) on Vertisols (8·9 to 11%) and Lixisols (12·5 to 15%) and higher plant diversity (both native and exotic) but negatively impacted invertebrate diversity, indicating trade‐offs between production and resources. We provide evidence that the effects of grazing management on SOC are mediated by ground cover and increased organic matter supply and/or reduced soil carbon redistribution (erosion), which indicates that the management of grazing intensity may provide a tool to avoid soil carbon loss in rangelands. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Laser ablation electrospray ionization high‐resolution mass spectrometry for regulatory screening of domoic acid in shellfish
Authors: Beach Daniel G. , Walsh Callee M. , Cantrell Pamela , Rourke Wade , O'Brien Sinead , Reeves Kelley , McCarron Pearse 
Published: August 2016

RationaleDomoic acid (DA) is a potent neurotoxin that accumulates in shellfish. Routine testing involves homogenization, extraction and chromatographic analysis, with a run time of up to 30 min. Improving throughput using ambient ionization for direct analysis of DA in tissue would result in significant time savings for regulatory testing labs.MethodsWe assess the suitability of laser ablation electrospray ionization high‐resolution mass spectrometry (LAESI‐HRMS) for high‐throughput screening or quantitation of DA in a variety of shellfish matrices. The method was first optimized for use with HRMS detection. Challenges such as tissue sub‐sampling, isobaric interferences and method calibration were considered and practical solutions developed. Samples included 189 real shellfish samples previously analyzed by regulatory labs as well as mussel matrix certified reference materials.ResultsDomoic acid was selectively analyzed directly from shellfish tissue homogenates with a run time of 12 s. The limits of detection were between 0.24 and 1.6 mg DA kg−1 tissue, similar to those of LC/UV methods. The precision was between 27 and 44% relative standard deviation (RSD), making the technique more suited to screening than direct quantitation. LAESI‐MS showed good agreement with LC/UV and LC/MS and was capable of identifying samples above and below 5 mg DA kg−1 wet shellfish tissue, one quarter of the regulatory limit.ConclusionsThese findings demonstrate the suitability of LAESI‐MS for routine, high‐throughput screening of DA. This approach could result in significant time savings for regulatory labs carrying out shellfish safety testing on thousands of samples annually. © 2016 The Authors. Rapid Communications in Mass Spectrometry Published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.