bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Political transition and emergent forest‐conservation issues in Myanmar
Authors: Prescott Graham W. , Sutherland William J. , Aguirre Daniel , Baird Matthew , Bowman Vicky , Brunner Jake , Connette Grant M. , Cosier Martin , Dapice David , De Alban Jose Don T. , Diment Alex , Fogerite Julia , Fox Jefferson , Hlaing Win , Htun Saw , Hurd Jack , LaJeunesse Connette Katherine , Lasmana Felicia , Lim Cheng Ling , Lynam Antony , Maung Aye Chan , McCarron Benjamin , McCarthy John F. , McShea William J. , Momberg Frank , Mon Myat Su , Myint Than , Oberndorf Robert , Oo Thaung Naing , Phelps Jacob , Rao Madhu , Schmidt‐Vogt Dietrich , Speechly Hugh , Springate‐Baginski Oliver , Steinmetz Robert , Talbott Kirk , Than Maung Maung , Thaung Tint Lwin , Thawng Salai Cung Lian , Thein Kyaw Min , Thein Shwe , Tizard Robert , Whitten Tony , Williams Guy , Wilson Trevor , Woods Kevin , Ziegler Alan D. , Zrust Michal , Webb Edward L. 
Published: October 2017

AbstractPolitical and economic transitions have had substantial impacts on forest conservation. Where transitions are underway or anticipated, historical precedent and methods for systematically assessing future trends should be used to anticipate likely threats to forest conservation and design appropriate and prescient policy measures to counteract them. Myanmar is transitioning from an authoritarian, centralized state with a highly regulated economy to a more decentralized and economically liberal democracy and is working to end a long‐running civil war. With these transitions in mind, we used a horizon‐scanning approach to assess the 40 emerging issues most affecting Myanmar's forests, including internal conflict, land‐tenure insecurity, large‐scale agricultural development, demise of state timber enterprises, shortfalls in government revenue and capacity, and opening of new deforestation frontiers with new roads, mines, and hydroelectric dams. Averting these threats will require, for example, overhauling governance models, building capacity, improving infrastructure‐ and energy‐project planning, and reforming land‐tenure and environmental‐protection laws. Although challenges to conservation in Myanmar are daunting, the political transition offers an opportunity for conservationists and researchers to help shape a future that enhances Myanmar's social, economic, and environmental potential while learning and applying lessons from other countries. Our approach and results are relevant to other countries undergoing similar transitions.
Haemoglobin‐mediated response to hyper‐thermal stress in the keystone speciesDaphnia magna
Authors: Cuenca Cambronero Maria , Zeis Bettina , Orsini Luisa 
Published: October 2017

AbstractAnthropogenic global warming has become a major geological and environmental force driving drastic changes in natural ecosystems. Due to the high thermal conductivity of water and the effects of temperature on metabolic processes, freshwater ecosystems are among the most impacted by these changes. The ability to tolerate changes in temperature may determine species long‐term survival and fitness. Therefore, it is critical to identify coping mechanisms to thermal and hyper‐thermal stress in aquatic organisms. A central regulatory element compensating for changes in oxygen supply and ambient temperature is the respiratory protein haemoglobin (Hb). Here, we quantify Hb plastic and evolutionary response inDaphnia magnasubpopulations resurrected from the sedimentary archive of a lake with known history of increase in average temperature and recurrence of heat waves. By measuring constitutive changes in crude Hb protein content among subpopulations, we assessed evolution of the Hb gene family in response to temperature increase. To quantify the contribution of plasticity in the response of this gene family to hyper‐thermal stress, we quantified changes in Hb content in all subpopulations under hyper‐thermal stress as compared to nonstressful temperature. Further, we tested competitive abilities of genotypes as a function of their Hb content, constitutive and induced. We found that Hb‐rich genotypes have superior competitive abilities as compared to Hb‐poor genotypes under hyper‐thermal stress after a period of acclimation. These findings suggest that whereas long‐term adjustment to higher occurrence of heat waves may require a combination of plasticity and genetic adaptation, plasticity is most likely the coping mechanism to hyper‐thermal stress in the short term. Our study suggests that with higher occurrence of heat waves, Hb‐rich genotypes may be favoured with potential long‐term impact on population genetic diversity.
Macromolecular rate theory (MMRT) provides a thermodynamics rationale to underpin the convergent temperature response in plant leaf respiration
Authors: Liang Liyin L. , Arcus Vickery L. , Heskel Mary A. , O'Sullivan Odhran S. , Weerasinghe Lasantha K. , Creek Danielle , Egerton John J. G. , Tjoelker Mark G. , Atkin Owen K. , Schipper Louis A. 
Published: October 2017

AbstractTemperature is a crucial factor in determining the rates of ecosystem processes, for example, leaf respiration (R) – the flux of plant respired CO2 from leaves to the atmosphere. Generally, R increases exponentially with temperature and formulations such as the Arrhenius equation are widely used in earth system models. However, experimental observations have shown a consequential and consistent departure from an exponential increase in R. What are the principles that underlie these observed patterns? Here, we demonstrate that macromolecular rate theory (MMRT), based on transition state theory (TST) for enzyme‐catalyzed kinetics, provides a thermodynamic explanation for the observed departure and the convergent temperature response of R using a global database. Three meaningful parameters emerge from MMRT analysis: the temperature at which the rate of respiration would theoretically reach a maximum (the optimum temperature, Topt), the temperature at which the respiration rate is most sensitive to changes in temperature (the inflection temperature, Tinf) and the overall curvature of the log(rate) versus temperature plot (the change in heat capacity for the system, ). On average, the highest potential enzyme‐catalyzed rates of respiratory enzymes for R are predicted to occur at 67.0 ± 1.2°C and the maximum temperature sensitivity at 41.4 ± 0.7°C from MMRT. The average curvature (average negative ) was −1.2 ± 0.1 kJ mol−1 K−1. Interestingly, Topt, Tinf and appear insignificantly different across biomes and plant functional types, suggesting that thermal response of respiratory enzymes in leaves could be conserved. The derived parameters from MMRT can serve as thermal traits for plant leaves that represent the collective temperature response of metabolic respiratory enzymes and could be useful to understand regulations of R under a warmer climate. MMRT extends the classic TST to enzyme‐catalyzed reactions and provides an accurate and mechanistic model for the short‐term temperature response of R around the globe.
A framework for the identification of hotspots of climate change risk for mammals
Authors: Pacifici Michela , Visconti Piero , Rondinini Carlo 
Published: October 2017

AbstractAs rates of global warming increase rapidly, identifying species at risk of decline due to climate impacts and the factors affecting this risk have become key challenges in ecology and conservation biology. Here, we present a framework for assessing three components of climate‐related risk for species: vulnerability, exposure and hazard. We used the relationship between the observed response of species to climate change and a set of intrinsic traits (e.g. weaning age) and extrinsic factors (e.g. precipitation seasonality within a species geographic range) to predict, respectively, the vulnerability and exposure of all data‐sufficient terrestrial non‐volant mammals (3,953 species). Combining this information with hazard (the magnitude of projected climate change within a species geographic range), we identified global hotspots of species at risk from climate change that includes the western Amazon basin, south‐western Kenya, north‐eastern Tanzania, north‐eastern South Africa, Yunnan province in China, and mountain chains in Papua‐New Guinea. Our framework identifies priority areas for monitoring climate change effects on species and directing climate mitigation actions for biodiversity.
Survival and detection of Bacillus cereus in the presence of Escherichia coli, Salmonella enteritidis, Staphylococcus aureus, Pseudomonas aeruginosa and Candida albicans after rechallenge in make‐up removers
Authors: Yossa N. , Arce G. , Smiley J. , Jo Huang M.‐C. , Yin L. , Bell R. , Tallent S. , Brown E. , Hammack T. 
Published: October 2017

AbstractObjectivePathogenic contamination of cosmetics intended to be applied on or around the eye area, including make‐up removers, may lead to severe eye infections. To assess the efficacy of antimicrobial preservatives in these products, we investigated the survival and detection of Bacillus cereus F 4227A spiked into make‐up removers, alone and in the presence of other relevant micro‐organisms.MethodsFour brands of make‐up removers, A, B, C and D, were challenged three times (day 0, day 7 and day 14) using B. cereus, in pure and mixed cultures, at a final concentration of 5 log CFU per mL of Bacillus cereus or 6 log CFU per mL for other micro‐organisms. Inoculated samples were diluted and spiral‐plated after 30 min and 24 h of each challenge onto selective media for recovery of surviving micro‐organisms: BACARA (B. cereus), MacConkey (E. coli), ChromID (P. aeruginosa), XLT4 (S. enteritidis), Baird Parker agar (Staph. aureus) and PDA+chlortetracycline HCL (C. albicans).ResultsThe population of B. cereus spiked as a pure culture increased significantly from the first to the third challenge after 30‐min exposure time, going from 0.73 to 2.59 in A, from 0.80 to 2.69 in B and from 0.80 to 1.67 log CFU per mL in C (P < 0.05). Likewise, the B. cereus population from the mixed cultures had a significantly higher survival count at the third challenge: from 0.12 log MPN per mL to 2.16 log CFU per mL in A, 0.57 to 2.27 log CFU per mL in B and from undetected (LOD = 0.48 log MPN) to 0.98 log CFU per mL in C, respectively. After challenges, Staph. aureus, C. albicans and P. aeruginosa increased in B; Staph. aureus and C. albicans in C; and E. coli and Staph. aureus in D. The growth of other bacteria types was unaffected by the number of challenges, but B. cereus population was detected with the third challenge.ConclusionIt is appropriate to assess the antimicrobial efficacy of preservatives using at least three challenges, especially for cosmetics that are subjected to repetitive contamination by users.
Consumers as legitimating agents: How consumer‐citizens challenge marketer legitimacy on social media
Authors: Lillqvist Ella , Moisander Johanna K. , Firat A. Fuat 
Published: October 2017

AbstractPrevious research has shown that consumers increasingly challenge the legitimacy of marketers and unsolicited marketing communication in online contexts. Based on a qualitative study, this article examines how and for what reasons consumers challenge marketer legitimacy—the perceived appropriateness of marketers and their activities—in the empirical context of Reddit, a popular social news and community website. The study suggests that consumers challenge or accept marketer legitimacy in online communities based on particular, community and situation specific, legitimacy criteria that reflect and reproduce the values and norms of the community. In doing so, it is argued, consumers play a role as legitimating agents—consumer‐citizens that have the power to confer or deny legitimacy in the context of business‐society relations. Overall, the study advances knowledge in the field of consumer studies in two ways. First, it builds a symbolic interactionist perspective on consumer‐citizens as legitimating agents who enact their active citizenship role in the marketplace by assessing and constructing marketer legitimacy in online communities. Second, it offers an empirically grounded account of how and for what reasons consumer‐citizens challenge or accept the legitimacy of marketers and unsolicited marketing communication in online communities.
Antifungal resistance and physicochemical attributes of apricots coated with potassium sorbate‐added carboxymethyl cellulose‐based emulsion
Authors: Kowalczyk Dariusz , Kordowska‐Wiater Monika , Złotek Urszula , Skrzypek Tomasz 
Published: October 2017

SummaryAntifungal effectiveness of potassium sorbate (KS) incorporated into edible coating composed of carboxymethyl cellulose and candelilla wax blend (CMC‐CnW) was tested on apricots inoculated with fungi. The efficiency of KS‐added coating was higher than KS‐free formulation. The antifungal action of KS‐free coating was likely associated with a reduced access of oxygen to the infection sites and, consequently, modification of the gaseous atmosphere within the fruit tissues. Rhizopus nigricans as the fastest growing fungus was the most resistant to the coating treatment. In turn, KS‐loaded coating was very effective against Botrytis cinerea and Monilinia fructigena. Coating significantly delayed softening of apricots. The results of this study demonstrate that KS can be incorporated into coating to control common fungal diseases of apricots. Nevertheless, the CMC‐CnW coating treatment inhibited the respiratory functions and caused deterioration in the fruit sensory quality.
Maternal provision of non‐sex‐specific transformer messenger RNA in sex determination of the wasp Asobara tabida
Authors: Geuverink E. , Verhulst E. C. , van Leussen M. , van de Zande L. , Beukeboom L. W. 
Published: October 2017

AbstractIn many insect species maternal provision of sex‐specifically spliced messenger RNA (mRNA) of sex determination genes is an essential component of the sex determination mechanism. In haplodiploid Hymenoptera, maternal provision in combination with genomic imprinting has been shown for the parasitoid Nasonia vitripennis, known as maternal effect genomic imprinting sex determination (MEGISD). Here, we characterize the sex determination cascade of Asobara tabida, another hymenopteran parasitoid. We show the presence of the conserved sex determination genes doublesex (dsx), transformer (tra) and transformer‐2 (tra2) orthologues in As. tabida. Of these, At‐dsx and At‐tra are sex‐specifically spliced, indicating a conserved function in sex determination. At‐tra and At‐tra2 mRNA is maternally provided to embryos but, in contrast to most studied insects, As. tabida females transmit a non‐sex‐specific splice form of At‐tra mRNA to the eggs. In this respect, As. tabida sex determination differs from the MEGISD mechanism. How the paternal genome can induce female development in the absence of maternal provision of sex‐specifically spliced mRNA remains an open question. Our study reports a hitherto unknown variant of maternal effect sex determination and accentuates the diversity of insect sex determination mechanisms.
RNA interference and functional characterization of a tergal gland alpha amylase in the German cockroach, Blattella germanica L.
Authors: Myers A. J. , Gondhalekar A. D. , Fardisi M. , Pluchar K. D. , Saltzmann K. D. , Bennett G. W. , Scharf M. E. 
Published: October 2017

AbstractGerman cockroach males possess tergal glands that secrete a combination of oligosaccharides, lipids and proteins. Four major proteins occur in the secretion, with one being the 63 kDa alpha‐amylase Blattella germanica Tergal Gland protein‐1 (BGTG‐1). Denaturing and starch gel electrophoresis coupled with peptide sequencing verified amylase activity for the BGTG‐1 protein. BGTG‐1 gene expression profiles were determined by using quantitative real‐time PCR to compare messenger RNA abundance among isolated tissues of males, females and gravid females. Differences in BGTG‐1 gene expression occurred among male tissues, with tergal gland tissue showing the highest expression. Tissues of nongravid and gravid females had significantly lower expression in comparison with male tergal glands (gravid females lowest). RNA interference (RNAi) was used to silence BGTG‐1 gene expression by injecting BGTG‐1 homologous double‐stranded RNA (dsRNA) into male cockroaches. Groups injected with BGTG‐1 dsRNA showed ∼90% lower BGTG‐1 gene and protein expression compared to controls, which correlated with lower amylase activity in colorimetric assays. However, behavioural assays comparing precopulatory behaviour and mating success between RNAi and control males did not reveal differences. These results connect amylase gene expression and activity in tergal gland tissue but suggest other factors, such as other tergal gland components, may contribute more strongly to mating success.
HOTAIR but not ANRIL long non‐coding RNA contributes to the pathogenesis of multiple sclerosis
Authors: Pahlevan Kakhki Majid , Nikravesh Abbas , Shirvani Farsani Zeinab , Sahraian Mohammad Ali , Behmanesh Mehrdad 
Published: October 2017

SummaryStudies have revealed that dysregulation in gene expression is one of the main aspects of multiple sclerosis (MS) pathogenesis. Although the molecular pathways underlying the immunomodulatory role of vitamin D (VD) in MS is not completely elucidated, VD has more recently become a topic of interest in immune regulation and is widely administered to patients with MS as an immunomodulatory supplement. Long non‐coding RNAs (lncRNAs) are known to play important roles in regulation of gene expression via different mechanisms. Given that VD‐related genes are regulated by epigenetic mechanisms, here we aimed to evaluate the role of VD in combination with HOTAIR and ANRIL lncRNAs using in vivo, in vitro and in silico experiments in MS pathogenesis. Our data revealed that HOTAIR but not ANRIL lncRNA is probably involved in the pathogenesis of MS and experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis through an unclear mechanism and it seems that by affecting the expression, inflammation and VD can influence HOTAIR‐related mechanisms, which require further study.
The competitive nature of signal transducer and activator of transcription complex formation drives phenotype switching of T cells
Authors: Sadreev Ildar I. , Chen Michael Z. Q. , Umezawa Yoshinori , Biktashev Vadim N. , Kemper Claudia , Salakhieva Diana V. , Welsh Gavin I. , Kotov Nikolay V. 
Published: October 2017

SummarySignal transducers and activators of transcription (STATs) are key molecular determinants of T‐cell fate and effector function. Several inflammatory diseases are characterized by an altered balance of T‐cell phenotypes and cytokine secretion. STATs, therefore, represent viable therapeutic targets in numerous pathologies. However, the underlying mechanisms by which the same STAT proteins regulate both the development of different T‐cell phenotypes and their plasticity during changes in extracellular conditions remain unclear. In this study, we investigated the STAT‐mediated regulation of T‐cell phenotype formation and plasticity using mathematical modelling and experimental data for intracellular STAT signalling proteins. The close fit of our model predictions to the experimental data allows us to propose a potential mechanism for T‐cell switching. According to this mechanism, T‐cell phenotype switching is the result of the relative redistribution of STAT dimer complexes caused by the extracellular cytokine‐dependent STAT competition effects. The developed model predicts that the balance between the intracellular STAT species defines the amount of the produced cytokines and thereby T‐cell phenotypes. The model predictions are consistent with the experimentally observed interferon‐γ to interleukin‐10 switching that regulates human T helper type 1/type 1 regulatory T‐cell responses. The proposed model is applicable to a number of STAT signalling circuits.
Phylogenetic distribution of a male pheromone that may exploit a nonsexual preference in lampreys
Authors: Buchinger T. J. , Bussy U. , Li K. , Wang H. , Huertas M. , Baker C. F. , Jia L. , Hayes M. C. , Li W. , Johnson N. S. 
Published: October 2017

AbstractPheromones are among the most important sexual signals used by organisms throughout the animal kingdom. However, few are identified in vertebrates, leaving the evolutionary mechanisms underlying vertebrate pheromones poorly understood. Pre‐existing biases in receivers' perceptual systems shape visual and auditory signalling systems, but studies on how receiver biases influence the evolution of pheromone communication remain sparse. The lamprey Petromyzon marinus uses a relatively well‐understood suite of pheromones and offers a unique opportunity to study the evolution of vertebrate pheromone communication. Previous studies indicate that male signalling with the mating pheromone 3‐keto petromyzonol sulphate (3kPZS) may exploit a nonsexual attraction to juvenile‐released 3kPZS that guides migration into productive rearing habitat. Here, we infer the distribution of male signalling with 3kPZS using a phylogenetic comparison comprising six of 10 genera and two of three families. Our results indicate that only P. marinus and Ichthyomyzon castaneus release 3kPZS at high rates. Olfactory and behavioural assays with P. marinus, I. castaneus and a subset of three other species that do not use 3kPZS as a sexual signal indicate that male signalling might have driven the evolution of female adaptations to detect 3kPZS with specific olfactory mechanisms and respond to 3kPZS with targeted attraction relevant during mate search. We postulate that 3kPZS communication evolved independently in I. castaneus and P. marinus, but cannot eliminate the alternative that other species lost 3kPZS communication. Regardless, our results represent a rare macroevolutionary investigation of a vertebrate pheromone and provide insight into the evolutionary mechanisms underlying pheromone communication.
Antagonistic pleiotropy can maintain fitness variation in annual plants
Authors: Brown K. E. , Kelly J. K. 
Published: October 2017

AbstractAntagonistic pleiotropy (AP) is a genetic trade‐off between different fitness components. In annual plants, a trade‐off between days to flower (DTF) and reproductive capacity often determines how many individuals survive to flower in a short growing season, and also influences the seed set of survivors. We develop a model of viability and fecundity selection informed by many experiments on the yellow monkeyflower, Mimulus guttatus, but applicable to many annual species. A viability/fecundity trade‐off maintains stable polymorphism under surprisingly general conditions. We also introduce both spatial heterogeneity and temporal stochasticity in environmental parameters. Neither is necessary for polymorphism, but spatial heterogeneity allows polymorphism while also generating the often observed non‐negative correlations in fitness components.