bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Context dependency in biodiversity patterns of central German stream metacommunities
Authors: Tonkin Jonathan D. , Heino Jani , Sundermann Andrea , Haase Peter , Jähnig Sonja C. 
Published: February 2016

SummaryContext dependency is an emerging topic that is challenging our understanding of the factors shaping biodiversity in metacommunities. River networks and other dendritic systems provide unique systems for examining variation in the processes shaping biodiversity between different metacommunities.We examined biodiversity patterns in five benthic invertebrate data sets, from two catchments in central Germany, with the aim of exploring context dependency in these systems. We used variance partitioning to disentangle the variation explained in three biodiversity metrics: taxonomic richness, Simpson's diversity and local contribution to beta diversity (LCBD; a measure of the uniqueness of a site). As explanatory variables, we used proxies of network position (i.e. catchment size and altitude) and habitat conditions.Contrary to our expectation, we found no evidence of a decline in LCBD downstream in our study. Local habitat conditions and catchment land use played a much stronger role than catchment size and altitude in explaining variation in the three biodiversity metrics. Observed patterns were highly variable between different data sets in our study. These findings suggest that factors shaping biodiversity patterns in these systems are highly context dependent and less related to their position along the river network than local habitat conditions.Given the clear context dependency between data sets, we urge researchers to focus on disentangling the factors driving the high levels of variability between individual systems through the study of a number of replicate, rather than single, metacommunities.
Benchmarking novel approaches for modelling species range dynamics
Authors: Zurell Damaris , Thuiller Wilfried , Pagel Jörn , Cabral Juliano S. , Münkemüller Tamara , Gravel Dominique , Dullinger Stefan , Normand Signe , Schiffers Katja H. , Moore Kara A. , Zimmermann Niklaus E. 
Published: February 2016

AbstractIncreasing biodiversity loss due to climate change is one of the most vital challenges of the 21st century. To anticipate and mitigate biodiversity loss, models are needed that reliably project species’ range dynamics and extinction risks. Recently, several new approaches to model range dynamics have been developed to supplement correlative species distribution models (SDMs), but applications clearly lag behind model development. Indeed, no comparative analysis has been performed to evaluate their performance. Here, we build on process‐based, simulated data for benchmarking five range (dynamic) models of varying complexity including classical SDMs, SDMs coupled with simple dispersal or more complex population dynamic models (SDM hybrids), and a hierarchical Bayesian process‐based dynamic range model (DRM). We specifically test the effects of demographic and community processes on model predictive performance. Under current climate, DRMs performed best, although only marginally. Under climate change, predictive performance varied considerably, with no clear winners. Yet, all range dynamic models improved predictions under climate change substantially compared to purely correlative SDMs, and the population dynamic models also predicted reasonable extinction risks for most scenarios. When benchmarking data were simulated with more complex demographic and community processes, simple SDM hybrids including only dispersal often proved most reliable. Finally, we found that structural decisions during model building can have great impact on model accuracy, but prior system knowledge on important processes can reduce these uncertainties considerably. Our results reassure the clear merit in using dynamic approaches for modelling species’ response to climate change but also emphasize several needs for further model and data improvement. We propose and discuss perspectives for improving range projections through combination of multiple models and for making these approaches operational for large numbers of species.
Fiscal Competition and Higher Education Spending in Germany
Authors: Fischer Georg-Benedikt , Wigger Berthold U. 
Published: February 2016

AbstractThe present paper studies the determinants of higher education spending by the German federal states with a focus on the interplay between higher education spending of neighboring states. More specifically, the paper asks whether the German federal states free-ride on one another’s higher educational spending or whether they employ higher education spending to attract university graduates. We identify a positive relationship between the states’ higher education spending and conclude that the states compete for graduates rather than free-ride. We also consider the effect of the recent introduction of tuition fees in some, but not all German states. We do not find evidence that tuition fees led to crowding out of public higher education funds.
Behind the Pan‐European Convergence Path: The Role of Innovation, Specialisation and Socio‐economic Factors
Authors: Chapman Sheila , Meliciani Valentina 
Published: February 2016

AbstractThe paper analyses the determinants of regional disparities in per capita gross domestic product (GDP) and their evolution over time in the enlarged European Union (EU). With reference to the literature it groups EU regions on the basis of three different factors—specialisation, socio‐economic features, and innovation. It then analyses regional disparities in per capita GDP (EU‐relative and country‐relative) across groups over 2004–2011 using both non‐parametric tools and traditional regression analysis with spatial effects. The paper finds that EU‐wide convergence actually conceals growing divergenceacrossold member regions andwithinnew members. Coming to the factors that lie at the heart of regional disparities, country factors lose importance for newcomers but become more important for older members, notwithstanding longstanding integration. Socio‐economic factors and innovation instead become increasingly important for all areas, socio‐economic factors lying at the heart ofwithin‐country differences and innovation more of thosebetweenregions. Finally, specialisation appears to have a lower explanatory power.
Increased arterial stiffness predicts cognitive impairment in hemodialysis patients
Authors: Tasmoc Alexandra , Donciu Mihaela‐Dora , Veisa Gabriel , Nistor Ionut , Covic Adrian 
Published: February 2016

AbstractIntroduction Cognitive impairment is a major, but underdiagnosed, risk factor for negative outcomes in patients with chronic kidney disease (CKD). The main goal of this study was to evaluate, for the first time, the relationship between arterial stiffness and cognitive impairment in a cohort of hemodialysis patients. Methods We prospectively analyzed the cognitive function and pulse wave velocity (PWV) of 72 hemodialysis patients, mean age 56.54 ± 13.96 y, from two Romanian dialysis centers. We administered to all patients the Mini Mental State Examination (MMSE), Trail Making Test Part‐A (TMTA) and Part‐B (TMTB), and Mini‐Cog Test. Radial arterial waveforms during 40 cardiac cycles were recorded in each patient. Findings Mean MMSE score was 25.13 ± 3.47, mean MiniCog score was 3.51 ± 1.18, mean TMTA (sec) was 103.77 ± 53.13 and mean TMTB (sec) was 214.93 ± 112.25. In linear unadjusted regression, PWV values were associated with worse MMSE scores (β = −0.36, P = 0.001, 95% CI: −0.68 to −0.17), and MiniCog scores (β = −0.26, P = 0.02, 95% CI: −0.19 to −0.01). Also, PWV value was significant associated with TMTA test, but not with TMTB. After further adjustments, PWV remained a strong predictor for cognitive impairment measured by MMSE, TMTA, MiniCog, but not for TMTB. Discussion Cognitive impairment was associated with higher PWV values in our cohort. Further evidence is needed in order to support arterial stiffness as a long‐term predictor for cognitive decline in ESRD patients.
Post‐Fukushima radiation education for public health nursing students: a case study
Authors: Konishi E. , Nagai T. , Kobayashi M. , Mitsumori Y. , Ono W. , Asahara K. , Porter S. E. 
Published: February 2016

BackgroundThe recent Fukushima Nuclear Power Plant accident was one of more than 200 serious nuclear/radiation incidents (accidents and disasters) that occurred worldwide since 1945. The current Fukushima disaster is in the recovery phase with the decreasing levels of radiation in the environment. However, fears and stigma related to the perceived risk of radiation exposure persist among the general population.IntroductionTo improve on students’ preparedness for social and public health challenges after a radiation incidence, radiation education was provided for undergraduate public health nursing students.AimThis case study reports the development and implementation of the first class of radiation education in public health nursing, as well as students’ reflections on their class experience.MethodsWe included a 90‐min radiation class in an undergraduate public health nursing course in Tokyo, Japan. Lectures/discussion on technical and environmental aspects provided the minimally essential content for basic radiation knowledge. After class, all the 65 students were invited to freely write their reflections on the class. With their consent, 61 students’ anonymous written accounts were qualitatively analysed.ResultsFive themes emerged: awareness of ignorance about radiation, problems produced by the mass media, becoming knowledgeable about radiation, public health nurses’ role, and trustful and enjoyable lecture.DiscussionThe class inspired students to consider social, psychological and relational aspects of knowing and not knowing about radiation and their future professional role.Conclusion and implications for nursingOnce radiation is taught at school, nursing students will emerge as professionals with the belief that radiation is within their professional purview. Education is key to disaster prevention, preparation, response and recovery. Given the ubiquitous nature of health challenges after a radiation incident, radiation education is indispensable for nursing students worldwide.
Correlates of range size variation in the Australian seed‐plant flora
Authors: Gallagher Rachael V. 
Published: February 2016

AbstractAimTo map and analyse range size variation in the terrestrial seed‐plant flora of Australia in relation to latitude, habitat availability, climate and soils, and to compare mean range size between biomes and growth forms.LocationAustralia.MethodsRange sizes were estimated from herbarium records using alpha‐hulls for 19,227 species and mapped into a set of 0.5° × 0.5° grid cells across Australia. Ordinary‐least squares regressions were used to test for relationships between mean range size, latitude and habitat availability. Simultaneous autoregressive models (SAR) with spatial error terms were used in a multi‐model framework to assess the role of aridity, mean annual temperature (MAT), soil pH, depth and total P concentration in shaping range size variation. Species‐level differences between growth forms (graminoids, herbs, trees, shrubs, climbers) and biomes were assessed using one‐way analysis of variance (ANOVA).Results68% of Australian seed‐plant species have ranges which cover < 1% of the continent. Generally, large ranges are characteristic of graminoids and herbs and are associated with arid and grassland biomes. The smallest ranges were found in Mediterranean ecosystems in the SW corner of the continent, and were typically shrub species. Range size peaked at mid‐latitudes and was not consistently smaller at lower latitudes (contrary to Rapoport's Rule). Increasing aridity, MAT and soil pH were strong predictors of large range size; however, soil depth and P content had little influence in SAR models.Main conclusionsAridity and temperature are the primary drivers of range size variation in the Australian flora. Trait syndromes which promote colonization and survival in arid and grassland habitats (e.g. C4 photosynthesis, wind pollination) have allowed grasses and herbs to occupy large areas of the continent. Ranges were not smaller, on average, in the tropics due to the concentration of large‐ranged species in the widespread arid biome in the centre of the continent.
Spatiotemporal diversification of a low‐vagility Neotropical vertebrate clade (short‐tailed opossums, Didelphidae: Monodelphis)
Authors: Pavan Silvia E. , Jansa Sharon A. , Voss Robert S. 
Published: February 2016

AbstractAimTo infer historical‐biogeographical patterns and processes in South America based on estimated divergence times and ancestral distributions for a diverse clade of small marsupials (Monodelphis).LocationSouth America.MethodsWe estimated a time‐scaled phylogeny using sequence data from four nuclear genes and one mitochondrial gene for most currently recognized species, which we also scored for biome occupancy. We used maximum‐likelihood methods that explicitly model historical‐biogeographical processes to estimate ancestral distributions.ResultsThe earliest cladogenetic events in the genus occurred in the late Miocene, with subsequent diversification from the early Pliocene to the late Pleistocene. Model selection suggests an important role for founder‐event speciation, a process seldom accounted for in previous biogeographical analyses of continental clades. Two equivalently optimal models that incorporate this process each reconstruct the most recent common ancestor of Monodelphis as occurring in both Amazonia and the Atlantic Forest, from which the Andes, the Arid Diagonal (Caatinga, Cerrado, Chaco) and other neighbouring biomes were colonized during the Pliocene and Pleistocene.Main ConclusionsThe diversification of Monodelphis was not restricted to a narrow time interval, suggesting that speciation cannot be attributed to a single leading factor such as tectonism or Pleistocene climatic fluctuations. In particular, speciation within the Atlantic Forest biome appears to have occurred in the Neogene, whereas most Amazonian speciation events are substantially younger. Amazonia and/or the Atlantic Forest hosted most diversification events within Monodelphis and were the historical sources of lineages that subsequently colonized other areas. Founder‐event speciation, a concept traditionally associated with long‐distance dispersal among islands, must sustain other interpretations in historical‐biogeographical analyses of non‐vagile organisms in continental contexts. Possible mechanisms for founder‐event speciation in Monodelphis include historically transient connections between currently disjunct biomes and rapid reproductive isolation of populations colonizing adjacent but ecologically disparate biomes.
The geography of speciation in coral reef fishes: the relative importance of biogeographical barriers in separating sister‐species
Authors: Hodge Jennifer R. , Bellwood David R. 
Published: February 2016

AbstractAimTo understand how geography has influenced the generation and maintenance of biodiversity. We examined the relative importance of biogeographical barriers in the divergence of extant coral reef fish species.LocationPan‐tropical coral reefs.MethodsSister‐species were identified from a recent phylogeny encompassing four fish families (Chaetodontidae, Epinephelidae, Labridae and Pomacanthidae) and classified as allopatric or overlapping based on data compiled fromIUCNmaps. Nearest linear distances were mapped as indicators of vicariance and compared with previously identified biogeographical barriers. Congruent vicariance versus regional richness determined the relative influence of barriers. Patterns of overlap among non‐allopatric sister‐species were mapped and assessed.ResultsCongruent vicariance was detected across six previously described biogeographical barriers: the Amazon and Orinoco rivers, Isthmus of Panama, Hawaiian Archipelago, Indo‐Pacific, and a previously understudied barrier separating the Western Indian Ocean from the Central Indo‐Pacific (CIP) termed the Mid‐Indian Ocean Barrier (MIOB). TheMIOBshowed the strongest vicariant signal. None of the barriers had significantly more or less relative influence. The majority of sister‐species were non‐allopatric. Overlap was concentrated in an area concordant with the biodiversity hotspot in theCIP, where sister‐pairs had significantly low overlap.Main conclusionsBiogeographical barriers may have influenced vicariance of extant species during the past 5 Myr. Older barriers influenced divergence between clades. Turbidity currents produced by outflow from the Ganges and Indus river systems likely explain the strength of theMIOB. Despite the array of described barriers within theCIP, the Sunda Margin Barrier (SMB) was the only vicariant signal detected in the region. Low relative influence of theSMBand significantly low overlap among non‐allopatric sister‐pairs in theCIPhighlights its importance as an area of evolutionary dynamism, where the separation of Indian and Pacific Ocean faunas and their subsequent range expansion has led to increased species overlap and higher regional biodiversity.
Evaluating differences in Pavlovian fear acquisition and extinction as predictors of outcome from cognitive behavioural therapy for anxious children
Authors: Waters Allison M. , Pine Daniel S. 
Published: February 2016

BackgroundExtinction is a key theoretical model of exposure‐based treatments, such as cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT). This study examined whether individual differences in physiological responses and subjective stimulus evaluations as indices of fear extinction predicted response to CBT.MethodsThirty‐two nonanxious comparisons and 44 anxious, 7‐to‐13‐year‐old children completed a Pavlovian conditioning and extinction task. Anxious children then completed group‐based CBT. Skin conductance responses (SCRs) as well as subjective arousal and valence evaluations were measured in response to a conditioned stimulus paired with an aversive tone (CS+) and another conditioned stimulus presented alone (CS−). Both stimuli were presented alone during extinction. Diagnostic and symptom measures were completed before and after treatment.ResultsLike nonanxious comparisons, treatment responders did not acquire conditioned negative stimulus evaluations and displayed elevated SCRs that declined significantly across extinction trials. Nonresponders, by contrast, showed elevated negative stimulus evaluations of both CSs that were sensitive to extinction trials but showed no change in SCRs during extinction. Change in physiological but not evaluative indices of fear extinction predicted better treatment outcomes.ConclusionsIndividual differences in evaluative and physiological indices of fear extinction might moderate response to CBT.
Identification of Entamoeba polecki with Unique 18S rRNA Gene Sequences from Celebes Crested Macaques and Pigs in Tangkoko Nature Reserve, North Sulawesi, Indonesia
Authors: Tuda Josef , Feng Meng , Imada Mihoko , Kobayashi Seiki , Cheng Xunjia , Tachibana Hiroshi 
Published: February 2016

AbstractUnique species of macaques are distributed across Sulawesi Island, Indonesia, and the details of Entamoeba infections in these macaques are unknown. A total of 77 stool samples from Celebes crested macaques (Macaca nigra) and 14 stool samples from pigs were collected in Tangkoko Nature Reserve, North Sulawesi, and the prevalence of Entamoeba infection was examined by PCR. Entamoeba polecki was detected in 97% of the macaques and all of the pigs, but no other Entamoeba species were found. The nucleotide sequence of the 18S rRNA gene in E. polecki from M. nigra was unique and showed highest similarity with E. polecki subtype (ST) 4. This is the first case of identification of E. polecki ST4 from wild nonhuman primates. The sequence of the 18S rRNA gene in E. polecki from pigs was also unique and showed highest similarity with E. polecki ST1. These results suggest that the diversity of the 18S rRNA gene in E. polecki is associated with differences in host species and geographic localization, and that there has been no transmission of E. polecki between macaques and pigs in the study area.
Modified CLIP with objective liver reserve assessment retains prognosis prediction for patients with advanced hepatocellular carcinoma
Authors: Shao Yu‐Yun , Liu Tsung‐Hao , Lee Ying‐Hui , Hsu Chih‐Hung , Cheng Ann‐Lii 
Published: February 2016

AbstractBackground and AimThe Cancer of the Liver Italian Program (CLIP) score is a commonly used staging system for hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) helpful with predicting prognosis of advanced HCC. CLIP uses the Child‐Turcotte‐Pugh (CTP) score to evaluate liver reserve. A new scoring system, the albumin–bilirubin (ALBI) grade, has been proposed as they objectively evaluate liver reserve. We examined whether the modification of CLIP with ALBI retained its prognosis prediction for patients with advanced HCC.MethodsWe included patients who received first‐line antiangiogenic therapy for advanced HCC. Liver reserve was assessed using CTP and ALBI scores, which were then incorporated into CLIP and ALBI‐CLIP, respectively. To assess their efficacies of prognostic prediction, the Cox's proportional hazard model and concordance indexes were used.ResultsA total of 142 patients were included; 137 of them were classified CTP A and 5 patients CTP B. Patients could be divided into four or five groups with different prognosis according to CLIP and ALBI‐CLIP, respectively. Higher R2 (0.249 vs 0.216) and lower Akaike information criterion (995.0 vs 1001.1) were observed for ALBI‐CLIP than for CLIP in the Cox's model predicting overall survival. ALBI‐CLIP remained an independent predictor for overall survival when CLIP and ALBI‐CLIP were simultaneously incorporated in Cox's models allowing variable selection with adjustment for hepatitis etiology, treatment, and performance status. The concordance index was also higher for ALBI‐CLIP than for CLIP (0.724 vs 0.703).ConclusionsModification of CLIP scoring with ALBI, which objectively assesses liver reserve, retains and might have improved prognosis prediction for advanced HCC.