bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Greater impacts from an extreme cold spell on tropical than temperate butterflies in southern China
Authors: Wang Xu , Liu Hong , Gu Mao‐Bin , Boucek Ross , Wu Zhong‐Min , Zhou Guang‐Yi 
Published: June 2016

AbstractThe forecasted changes in global climate include not only shifts in average conditions, but also changes in the frequency and intensity of climatic extremes. One such climate extreme expected to change in the future are extreme cold spells. Although these disturbances may become less frequent, extreme cold spells are believed to persist in the foreseeable future and will likely have profound effects on species distributions, community organization, and ecosystem function. However, generalities about how ecosystems respond to these disturbances remain understudied. In 2008, an extreme once‐in‐50‐year cold spell affected sub‐tropical China, causing catastrophic damage to natural systems within the swath of the disturbance. In this study, we investigated the effects of this disturbance on a community of butterflies in the Nanling Mountain Preserve in southern China. Butterfly count surveys were conducted from 2006 to 2011. We predicted that the 2008 cold spell would have disproportionate effects on tropical butterfly species, increasing community dominance of more broadly tolerant temperate species. Over the course of the study, we counted 3403 butterflies from 249 species. Our results showed that the cold spell reduced abundances of temperate and tropical species by 50% and 88%, respectively. The disproportionate loss of tropical butterfly species changed butterfly community structure, resulting in a post cold spell community nearly completely dominated by temperate species. Butterfly communities remained dominated by temperate species for 2 years before the abundances of tropical species return to predisturbance conditions in 2011. As cold spells change in frequency and intensity in the future, we should expect their role in structuring sub‐tropical communities, in particular, the presence and dominance of tropical species to also change.
Design for mosquito abundance, diversity, and phenology sampling within the National Ecological Observatory Network
Authors: Hoekman D. , Springer Y. P. , Gibson C. , Barker C. M. , Barrera R. , Blackmore M. S. , Bradshaw W. E. , Foley D. H. , Ginsberg H. S. , Hayden M. H. , Holzapfel C. M. , Juliano S. A. , Kramer L. D. , LaDeau S. L. , Livdahl T. P. , Moore C. G. , Nasci R. S. , Reisen W. K. , Savage H. M. 
Published: June 2016

AbstractThe National Ecological Observatory Network (NEON) intends to monitor mosquito populations across its broad geographical range of sites because of their prevalence in food webs, sensitivity to abiotic factors, and relevance for human health. We describe the design of mosquito population sampling in the context ofNEON's long‐term continental scale monitoring program, emphasizing the sampling design schedule, priorities, and collection methods. Freely availableNEONdata and associated field and laboratory samples, will increase our understanding of how mosquito abundance, demography, diversity, and phenology are responding to land use and climate change.
An amphibian species of concern prefers breeding in active beaver ponds
Authors: Zero Victoria H. , Murphy Melanie A. 
Published: June 2016

AbstractChanges in water availability threaten to reduce suitable habitat for wildlife in the western United States. Ecosystem engineers, such as beavers (Castor canadensis), potentially mitigate the effects of such habitat changes, particularly in stochastic environments. Our goal was to determine factors driving wetland use of a widespread, declining species, the northern leopard frog (Lithobates pipiens), in southeastern Wyoming. We evaluated hypotheses about habitat preferences of leopard frogs in a healthy population using occupancy modeling. Although leopard frogs may breed in a variety of wetlands, we found that the main drivers of breeding distribution in southeast Wyoming were the degree of beaver activity at wetlands and the ability of a site to retain water throughout the summer. In both years of our study (2012–2013), leopard frogs bred only in beaver ponds, with a preference for those ponds actively used by beavers. Leopard frogs also bred in wetlands that were less likely to dry over the course of the season. This effect was strongest in a dry year when water availability was limiting (2012), but still among the top drivers in the wetter year (2013). The decreased predictive power of water in a high snowpack year corresponded to an increase in the importance of wetland shape complexity, likely representative of breeding habitat availability along wetland edges. Identifying factors driving the distribution of healthy populations of species that are declining elsewhere can uncover limiting factors across the species’ range. We conclude that beavers are one vital conservation and management tool for maintaining declining populations of northern leopard frogs. While site‐level effects may vary, the presence of beaver ponds across the landscape in water‐limited systems, particularly in times of drought, should have positive impacts on many native amphibian species.
Avian relationships with wildfire at two dry forest locations with different historical fire regimes
Authors: Latif Quresh S. , Sanderlin Jamie S. , Saab Victoria A. , Block William M. , Dudley Jonathan G. 
Published: June 2016

AbstractWildfire is a key factor influencing bird community composition in western North American forests. We need to understand species and community responses to wildfire and how responses vary regionally to effectively manage dry conifer forests for maintaining biodiversity. We compared avian relationships with wildfire burn severity between two dry forest locations of Arizona and Idaho. We predicted different responses to wildfire between locations due to regional differences in historical fire regime. We conducted point count surveys for 3 yr following wildfire (Arizona: 1997–1999; Idaho: 2008–2010) and used multispecies hierarchical models to analyze relationships of bird occupancy with burn severity. Consistent with our prediction for mixed‐severity fire regimes characterizing the Idaho location, we observed proportionately more positive species occupancy relationships and, consequently, a positive species richness relationship with burn severity in Idaho. We also observed the opposite pattern in Arizona, which was congruent with our prediction for the low‐severity fire regime characterizing that location. Cavity nesters and aerial insectivores occupied more severely burned sites following wildfire, corresponding with predicted increases in nesting substrate and foraging opportunities for these species. In contrast, canopy‐nesting foliage gleaners and pine seed consumers exhibited negative relationships with burn severity. Our results were consistent with predictions based on species life histories and with patterns from the literature, suggesting generality of observed relationships and locational difference in relationships with wildfire. We therefore suggest that optimal management strategies for maintaining avian diversity could differ regionally. Specifically, intensive fuels management may be ecologically less appropriate for promoting biodiversity in areas such as the Idaho location where mixed‐severity wildfires and dense forest stands were historically more common.
Snake body size frequency distributions are robust to the description of novel species
Authors: Maritz Bryan , Kgaditse Mimmie , Alexander Graham John 
Published: June 2016

AbstractThe accurate interpretation of body size frequency distributions (BSFDs) has important implications for understanding large‐scale ecological and evolutionary patterns because they are shaped by ecological and evolutionary processes. However, incomplete species sampling, resulting either from a paucity of reliable body size data or because those species have not yet been detected/described, also has the potential to influence BSFD shape and skew when missing species are disproportionately large or small. Missing species may thus influence the skew of a BSFD, misleading subsequent interpretations. In contrast to many vertebrate taxa, the BSFDs of snakes appears to be log‐normal, with no significant skew. However, the influence of imperfect species sampling on these distributions has however not been previously evaluated. We collated body size data and date of description for 300 species of elapid, and 264 species of viperid snakes and assessed the shape and skew of the BSFD of each clade. Next we tested the hypothesis that date of description was related to body size in each clade. We show that the BSFDs of elapid and viperid snakes are both log‐normal, with no significant skew. Moreover we demonstrate size‐related differences in the probability of detection (as measured by year of description) among elapids and vipers: in both lineages, species with larger body size tend to have been described earlier. However, simulations testing the effect of the addition of novel, small‐bodied species revealed that the distributions of elapids and vipers are not highly vulnerable to becoming significantly skewed in the future. Our results support current interpretations of BSFDs in snakes that suggest a lack of size‐associated biases in the speciation and extinction rates of this clade.
Site‐directed mutagenesis studies of hydrophobic residues in the lid region of T1 lipase
Authors: Tang Qingyun , Lan Dongming , Yang Bo , Khan Faez Iqbal , Wang Yonghua 
Published: June 2016

T1 lipase is a potential biocatalyst for industrial application since it is highly thermostable and displays optimal activity at 60–75°C. Structural analysis of T1 lipase shows that its lid region undergoes a spatial displacement along with a distinct secondary structure reorganization upon activation. To study structure/function of this atypical lid, we performed site‐directed mutagenesis on the hydrophobic residues in the lid region. These residues were mutated to hydrophilic ones and biochemical properties of mutants were investigated. Results showed that F181 might be an important residue for enzyme‐substrate binding. Mutants A186S and A190S had 35–50% increase in catalytic efficiencies compared to wild‐type T1, without compromising their functions at high temperatures. In general, mutagenesis did not cause large changes to chain‐length preference in T1 lipase. Mutants A186S and V187N were inactive towards long‐chain pNP esters (p‐Nitrophenyl stearate) and V187N showed lower activity towards long‐chain triacylglycerols than wt T1, which makes it a potential catalyst in dairy industry. Thermostability of mutants were affected at different extent due to the influence of hydrophobic contact between the lid and the protein core. These findings not only shed light on the lipase structure/function relationship but also lay the framework for further engineering to gain more potent, stable, and selective lipases.Practical applications: A thermostable T1 lipase owns an atypical lid and hydrophobic residues in the lid influence its catalytic properties. Here, we screened mutants A186S and A190S with 35–50% increase in catalytic efficiency, which have industrial application in the modification of fats and oils. Moreover, mutant V187N showed lower activity towards long‐chain TAGs than wt T1. This mutant can be a potential biocatalyst in dairy industry which promote generation of short‐chain fatty acids from milk fats to increase flavors in dairy products.The lid region of thermostable T1 lipase undergoes a spatial displacement along with a distinct secondary structure reorganization upon activation (PDB ID: 2DSN, 2W22 [16,17]). Mutagenesis on hydrophobic residues in the lid affect catalytic properties of T1 lipase.
Amylin modulates the formalin‐induced tonic pain behaviours in rats
Authors: Potes C.S. , Pestana A.C. , Pontes M. , Caramelo A.S. , Neto F.L. 
Published: June 2016

AbstractBackgroundAmylin is a peptide from the calcitonin gene‐related peptides (CGRP) family that is expressed by nociceptors. Amylin may modulate pain via a spinal action.MethodsThe effect of amylin's administration on the formalin test of acute and tonic pain was evaluated. Amylin's ability to modulate neuronal activity was analysed by c‐Fos expression at the spinal cord lumbar 4–5 region (L4‐5) and brain.ResultsAmylin subcutaneous administration 20 min prior, but not immediately before formalin, shortened the interphase and anticipated the beginning of the tonic pain phase. Amylin reduced the number of activated spinal cord neurons. Blockade of spinal amylin‐receptors by prior L4‐5 intrathecal administration of an amylin‐receptor antagonist (AC187) attenuated these effects, whereas intrathecal BIBN4096 (CGRP‐receptor antagonist) did not, proving that part of amylin's effects were spinally mediated via amylin‐receptors. The locus coeruleus and other areas involved in descending modulation and affective responses to pain showed an increased number of activated neurons upon amylin subcutaneous administration, suggesting a role for supraspinal areas in some observed effects. L4‐5 intrathecal injection of amylin or AC187 showed that both ligands attenuated tonic pain, but blockade of the amylin‐receptor action by AC187 decreased further the number of paw jerks in this period.ConclusionsOverall, data suggested that amylin modulates pain with an inflammatory component and the autoanalgesic/inhibitory mechanisms occurring in the interphase of the formalin test. Amylin might have affected the nociceptive system at different levels (spinal cord and brain), explaining the different effects observed according to the time of amylin injection.What does this study add?

Amylin modulated formalin interphase and tonic pain behaviours probably by targeting spinal neurons and affecting supraspinal areas involved in affective and modulatory components of pain.

Activation of spinal amylin‐receptors may contribute to the initiation of inflammatory pain mechanisms.
Bunts, Bloop Singles, Sacrifices, Hard Base Running, and Lots of Luck
Authors: Alkin Marvin 
Published: June 2016

AbstractAlkin shares stories about his own evaluation life that he prepared for the American Evaluation Association (AEA) 2013 symposium session, based on his responses in interviews conducted by David Williams and on his earlier writings. He briefly mentions his father's influence on his values and extraprofessional evaluations before giving several examples of evaluation experiences he had as a teacher and counselor, as a university student, as a new faculty member, and as a home buyer—all before or while learning about the field of evaluation. He explores how an accumulation of experiences throughout his career and life provided opportunities for him to apply what he learned in his extraprofessional evaluation life to the formal approaches he took in conducting and writing about professional evaluation.
Factors That Influenced My Conduct of Evaluations and Evaluation Training Programs
Authors: Stufflebeam Daniel L. 
Published: June 2016

AbstractIn stories he shares about his own evaluation life, Stufflebeam notes some of the fundamental values he learned from his parents’ examples and efforts to help him develop these values as a child growing up during the Depression. He also shares a story about his extraprofessional evaluation experiences as a substitute teacher in Chicago, where he taught in more than 40 different schools and observed the need for professional evaluation of the school system. He lists many other extraprofessional evaluation experiences and connects them to his decades of developing the context, inputs, processes, and products (CIPP) approach and his professional evaluation practices.
Probing the Past to Understand the Present: Can We Relate Early Training and Life Experience to our Evaluative Orientations?
Authors: Chelimsky Eleanor 
Published: June 2016

AbstractChelimsky shares her own stories about her evaluation life and comments on connections she sees between her extraprofessional and professional evaluation life experiences. These stories come from a paper she prepared for the American Evaluation Association 2013 symposium session, based in part on interviews conducted by David Williams. She mentions the influence her parents had on her values and her evaluation life. She elaborates on the influence she feels that her career in piano performance and her experiences living in Paris, France had on her evolving extraprofessional evaluation life and her professional evaluation experiences in her later career.
A novel approach for the modeling of HEMT high power device
Authors: Sang Lei , Li Xiangxiang , Huang Wen , Rui Jincheng , Pang Dongwei 
Published: June 2016

SummaryCurrent characteristic has not been detailed, analyzed, and modeled in conventional High‐electron‐mobility transistor field‐effect transistor model, which is not accuracy enough because the current has different variation rules under different gate voltages. A novel approach for the modeling of high‐electron‐mobility transistor high power amplifier is proposed in this paper. In order to obtain a more accuracy nonlinear model, drain current database are divided into three different regions, including the high gate bias region, the middle gate bias region, and the approximate pinch‐off regions. The three nonlinear current regions are modeled separately and implemented in final high‐electron‐mobility transistor field‐effect transistor model based on support vector regression algorithm. The proposed model is validated with high accuracy by comparing the simulated data with the tested data of a high power gallium nitride high‐electron‐mobility transistor amplifier, which the modeling is based on fewer samples compared with conventional methods based on the integrated current model. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
An unidentified heavy rainfall station ‘Tamhini’ in the northern region of Western Ghats of India
Authors: Kothawale D. R. , Despande N. R. , Narkhedkar S. G. , Kulkarni J. R. 
Published: June 2016

ABSTRACTTamhini, a station located in the leeward side of northern parts of Western Ghats (WG) of India, receives a mean‐monsoon rainfall of 6498.4 mm. The station has no record of any meteorological agencies in India. Therefore, the existence of such heavy rainfall (HR) station remained unknown. In this study, many special features of Tamhini rainfall have been discovered hitherto unknown to monsoon meteorologists. Statistical analysis of daily rainfall data of monsoon season (June–September) of Tamhini for the period 1975–2013 has been carried out. The analysis showed that in spite of lying on the leeward side of main WG, Tamhini's monsoon rainfall is more than that of stations lying on the windward side of the WG. This is in contrast to widely accepted view that rainfall is lower on the leeward side of mountains. Tamhini rainfall ranks number one in the north Peninsula and fifth in India. It is more compared to Cherrapunji monsoon rainfall (second highest rainfall‐receiving station in India) in 8 non‐El Nino years. It has the highest 1‐day (695 mm) and 3‐day (1055 mm) rainfalls in the Peninsular WG region. There are many extended HR spells during the season with a mean duration of 10 days. Other stations in the same area viz. Mulshi‐camp, Shirgaon, Davdi and Ambawane also receive high monsoon season rainfalls. Area‐mean rainfall of the region has been studied to understand the frequency distribution of HR spells. Such spells are of concern as total accumulated water during these spells is conducive for occurrence of floods. No significant trends in Tamhini and area‐mean seasonal and HRs are observed. The discovery of this station has shown the occurrence of high rainfall on the leeward side, which is a unique feature in the orographic rainfall distribution in the world.
Activating KRAS mutation is prognostic only among patients who receive preoperative chemotherapy before resection of colorectal liver metastases
Authors: Margonis Georgios Antonios , Kim Yuhree , Sasaki Kazunari , Samaha Mario , Buettner Stefan , Amini Neda , Pawlik Timothy M. 
Published: June 2016

Background and ObjectivesWhile the prognostic role of KRAS status after resection of CRLM has been previously explored, the importance of KRAS status relative to the receipt of preoperative chemotherapy remains largely unknown.MethodsA total of 430 patients who underwent curative‐intent surgery for CRLM between 2000 and 2015 and who had available KRAS genotype data were identified. Data regarding KRAS mutation status, receipt of preoperative chemotherapy, and overall survival (OS) were assessed using univariable and multivariable analyses.ResultsMedian patient age was 58 years (IQR, 50.4–66.4 years). A total of 258 patients (60.0%) received preoperative chemotherapy, while 172 (40.0%) had upfront surgery. Median and 5‐year OS in the entire cohort was 65.1 months and 53.2%, respectively. KRAS mutation was associated with a worse 5‐year OS compared with wild‐type tumors (HR 1.41; P = 0.042). After stratifying by the receipt of preoperative chemotherapy, the prognostic value of KRAS mutation only persisted among patients who had received preoperative chemotherapy (HR 1.67; P = 0.012). In contrast, KRAS mutation status had no impact on OS among patients who had not received preoperative chemotherapy (P = 0.597).ConclusionsKRAS mutation status was an independent predictor of OS among patients undergoing liver resection of CRLM. However, after stratifying by receipt of preoperative chemotherapy, KRAS was informative relative to prognosis only among patients who received preoperative chemotherapy. J. Surg. Oncol. 2016;114:361–367. © 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
A Journey into the Microstructure of PVDF Made by RAFT
Authors: Guerre Marc , Lopez Gérald , Soulestin Thibaut , Totée Cédric , Améduri Bruno , Silly Gilles , Ladmiral Vincent 
Published: June 2016

Poly(vinylidene fluoride) (PVDF) is a very important fluoropolymer. It possesses high resis­tances to weathering or ageing and to chemical and thermal aggressions, as well as unique electroactive properties. The reversible‐deactivation radical polymerization (RDRP) of VDF can, so far, only be achieved via degenerative transfer using ITP (iodine transfer polymerization) or RAFT (reversible addition–fragmentation chain transfer). However, due to chain defects, and transfer to solvents, the RAFT polymerization of VDF produces PVDF chains with different chain ends. This article presents the results obtained from advanced 1H, 13C, and 19F NMR spectroscopy experiments using decoupling strategies, to ascertain unequivocally the microstructure of the PVDF chains synthesized using RAFT polymerization. This article provides a very detailed description of the different α‐ and ω‐chain ends of PVDF51‐XA and reveals an uncommon NMR heteronuclear coupling between the proton of the stereocenter of the CTA R‐group and the fluorine atoms of the CF2 moiety of the first added VDF unit.
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UV‐Triggered Surface‐Initiated Polymerization from Colorless Green Tea Polyphenol‐Coated Surfaces
Authors: Bai Guoqiang , Ma Shuanhong , Qie Runtian , Liu Zhiqing , Shi Yulin , Li Cuihua , Wang Rongjie , Guo Xuhong , Zhou Feng , Jia Xin 
Published: June 2016

A facile and versatile approach to constructing colorless surface coatings based on green tea polyphenols is reported, which can further act as a photoinitiating layer to initiate radical polymerization. These colorless green tea polyphenol coatings are capable of successfully photografting polymer brushes, and the resulting polymer brush patterns show spatial shape adjustability by masked UV irradiation. Both surface modifications and photografted polymer brushes do not alter the original color of the substrates. This method could be promising for the development of surface modifications.
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