bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Characterization of ovary genes of beet webworm, Loxostege sticticalis, through de novo transcriptome analysis and its potential application in ovary grading
Authors: Lin Xinda , Zeng Juan , Wang Bo , Yao Yun , Du Yongjun 
Published: December 2016

AbstractThe beet webworm, Loxostege sticticalis (L.) (Lepidoptera: Crambidae), is an important insect pest that infests crops such as sugar beet, maize, and potato in Asia, Europe, and North America. The ovary grade is a reliable factor that can be used to forecast L. sticticalis outbreaks. However, forecasting outbreaks by dissecting female ovaries is tedious and generally impractical. Better methods for outbreak forecasting need to be developed. Molecular information on ovary transcriptomes potentially provides criteria for ovary grade. We constructed a library of female ovaries from L. sticticalis and sequenced the transcriptome with RNA‐Seq technology. We analyzed the gene expression profile with Gene Ontology (GO), Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG), and Clusters of Orthologous Groups (COG) for eukaryotic complete genome analysis. The RNA‐seq libraries generated over 62 640 808 clean reads, and a total of 22 628 genes were identified. Many genes related to oocyte meiosis, oocyte maturation, cell adhesion, and signal transduction were identified. Twenty‐eight oocyte meiosis‐ and oocyte maturation‐related genes were selected for quantitative real‐time (qRT) PCR and revealed differentially expressed genes among ovary grades (I–IV) of females. Of the 28 genes selected, 12 were highly expressed in one of the four ovary grades. These genes have potential use as molecular markers for ovary grading serve as a resource for forecasting population outbreaks of L. sticticalis.
Prognostic analysis of patients with epilepsy according to time of relapse after withdrawal of antiepileptic drugs following four seizure‐free years
Authors: Park Soochul , Lee Dong Hyun , Kim Seung Woo , Roh Yun Ho 
Published: December 2016

SummaryObjectiveWe performed a retrospective, prognostic analysis of a cohort of patients with epilepsy according to time of relapse after four seizure‐free years.MethodsPlanned withdrawal of antiepileptic drugs (AEDs) and at least 3 years of follow‐up after AED discontinuation were performed. The following two groups were assessed: (1) an early relapse (ER) group of patients who experienced recurrence during AED withdrawal and (2) a late relapse (LR) group of patients who experienced recurrence after completion of the AED discontinuation process. After dichotomization, the relapse rate, prognostic factors, and their impacts for each group were compared with those of a group of patients who continued to be seizure‐free after AED withdrawal (SF group) using multiple logistic regression analysis. The AED intake mode was also analyzed.ResultsTwo hundred seventeen (64.6%) of the 336 total patients experienced relapse. One hundred thirty‐nine patients (41.4%) and 78 patients (23.2%) were included in the LR and ER groups, respectively. Symptom duration >120 months showed the strongest negative prognostic impact as demonstrated by the 4.7‐fold higher risk of recurrence in the ER group compared with the SF group. Additional factors with a negative prognostic impact included an age at epilepsy onset of ≤20 years and the presence of localization‐related epilepsy. No reliable predictor between the SF and LR groups was revealed. After exclusion of the SF group, post hoc analysis according to age at epilepsy onset and symptom duration showed that the above‐mentioned negative prognostic factors significantly affected the relapse patterns of the LR and ER groups.SignificanceThe results suggest that longer symptom duration, which could be associated with intrinsic reactivation of epilepsy, is the strongest negative prognostic factor for relapse. Relapse after AED withdrawal in prolonged follow‐up of seizure‐free patients is one aspect of the natural history of epilepsy.
Juvenile growth of a macrohabitat generalist tied to hydrological character of large‐river system
Authors: Spurgeon Jonathan J. , Pegg Mark A. 
Published: December 2016

Summary

Characteristics of river hydrology, including components of the natural flow regime, have been used to describe fish growth patterns. Contradictory growth responses among species, life‐stages within species and river systems suggest that eco‐hydrological relationships may not be scalable to all species and river systems; thus, increased knowledge regarding growth–flow relationships among a greater diversity of taxa and river systems may aid conservation and management of riverine fishes.

We used channel catfish (Ictalurus punctatus: Ictaluridae), and a set of candidate mixed‐effect linear models to assess juvenile fish growth in relation to components of the flow regime within the Lower Platte River (LPR), Nebraska, U.S.A. The LPR is subjected to extremes in river flow conditions from both natural and anthropogenic sources, and provides a model system with which to assess growth–flow relationships.

Juvenile channel catfish growth was influenced by the duration, magnitude and timing of in‐channel flows. Specifically, sustained high‐flow periods during the spring increased growth; whereas, reduced growth occurred during prolonged periods of low‐flow conditions within the LPR.

Differences in juvenile channel catfish growth with respect to changing flow conditions may be due to changes in river productivity between low‐ and high‐flow conditions; thus, we discuss the applicability of alternative river production models with respect to juvenile fish growth in wide braided river systems such as the LPR.

Reduced duration and changes to the timing of high‐flow periods may result in a myriad of deleterious effects including as our study shows, exacerbating slow growth of juvenile channel catfish and potentially other fishes with similar flow requirements. Conservation and management of large‐river species may benefit from water management policies that consider the complex and often contrasting growth responses of lotic fishes as well as the importance of using multiple aspects of the flow regime when assessing ecological responses.
Impaired ecosystem process despite little effects on populations: modeling combined effects of warming and toxicants
Authors: Galic Nika , Grimm Volker , Forbes Valery E. 
Published: December 2016

AbstractFreshwater ecosystems are exposed to many stressors, including toxic chemicals and global warming, which can impair, separately or in combination, important processes in organisms and hence higher levels of organization. Investigating combined effects of warming and toxicants has been a topic of little research, but neglecting their combined effects may seriously misguide management efforts. To explore how toxic chemicals and warming, alone and in combination, propagate across levels of biological organization, including a key ecosystem process, we developed an individual‐based model (IBM) of a freshwater amphipod detritivore,Gammarus pseudolimnaeus, feeding on leaf litter. In thisIBM, life history emerges from the individuals’ energy budgets. We quantified, in different warming scenarios (+1–+4 °C), the effects of hypothetical toxicants on suborganismal processes, including feeding, somatic and maturity maintenance, growth, and reproduction. Warming reduced mean adult body sizes and population abundance and biomass, but only in the warmest scenarios. Leaf litter processing, a key contributor to ecosystem functioning and service delivery in streams, was consistently enhanced by warming, through strengthened interaction between the detritivorous consumer and its resource. Toxicant effects on feeding and maintenance resulted in initially small adverse effects on consumers, but ultimately led to population extinction and loss of ecosystem process. Warming in combination with toxicants had little effect at the individual and population levels, but ecosystem process was impaired in the warmer scenarios. Our results suggest that exposure to the same amount of toxicants can disproportionately compromise ecosystem processing depending on global warming scenarios; for example, reducing organismal feeding rates by 50% will reduce resource processing by 50% in current temperature conditions, but by up to 200% with warming of 4 °C. Our study has implications for assessing and monitoring impacts of chemicals on ecosystems facing global warming. We advise complementing existing monitoring approaches with directly quantifying ecosystem processes and services.
Long‐term forest resilience to climate change indicated by mortality, regeneration, and growth in semiarid southern Siberia
Authors: Xu Chongyang , Liu Hongyan , Anenkhonov Oleg A. , Korolyuk Andrey Yu , Sandanov Denis V. , Balsanova Larisa D. , Naidanov Bulat B. , Wu Xiuchen 
Published: December 2016

AbstractSeveral studies have documented that regional climate warming and the resulting increase in drought stress have triggered increased tree mortality in semiarid forests with unavoidable impacts on regional and global carbon sequestration. Although climate warming is projected to continue into the future, studies examining long‐term resilience of semiarid forests against climate change are limited. In this study, long‐term forest resilience was defined as the capacity of forest recruitment to compensate for losses from mortality. We observed an obvious change in long‐term forest resilience along a local aridity gradient by reconstructing tree growth trend and disturbance history and investigating postdisturbance regeneration in semiarid forests in southern Siberia. In our study, with increased severity of local aridity, forests became vulnerable to drought stress, and regeneration first accelerated and then ceased. Radial growth of trees during 1900–2012 was also relatively stable on the moderately arid site. Furthermore, we found that smaller forest patches always have relatively weaker resilience under the same climatic conditions. Our results imply a relatively higher resilience in arid timberline forest patches than in continuous forests; however, further climate warming and increased drought could possibly cause the disappearance of small forest patches around the arid tree line. This study sheds light on climate change adaptation and provides insight into managing vulnerable semiarid forests.
Holocene carbon dynamics at the forest–steppe ecotone of southern Siberia
Authors: Mackay Anson William , Seddon Alistair W. R. , Leng Melanie J. , Heumann Georg , Morley David W. , Piotrowska Natalia , Rioual Patrick , Roberts Sarah , Swann George E. A. 
Published: December 2016

AbstractThe forest–steppe ecotone in southern Siberia is highly sensitive to climate change; global warming is expected to push the ecotone northwards, at the same time resulting in degradation of the underlying permafrost. To gain a deeper understanding of long‐term forest–steppe carbon dynamics, we use a highly resolved, multiproxy, palaeolimnological approach, based on sediment records from Lake Baikal. We reconstruct proxies that are relevant to understanding carbon dynamics including carbon mass accumulation rates (CMAR; g C m−2 yr−1) and isotope composition of organic matter (δ13CTOC). Forest–steppe dynamics were reconstructed using pollen, and diatom records provided measures of primary production from near‐ and off‐shore communities. We used a generalized additive model (GAM) to identify significant change points in temporal series, and by applying generalized linear least‐squares regression modelling to components of the multiproxy data, we address (1) What factors influence carbon dynamics during early Holocene warming and late Holocene cooling? (2) How did carbon dynamics respond to abrupt sub‐Milankovitch scale events? and (3) What is the Holocene carbon storage budget for Lake Baikal. CMAR values range between 2.8 and 12.5 g C m−2 yr−1. Peak burial rates (and greatest variability) occurred during the early Holocene, associated with melting permafrost and retreating glaciers, while lowest burial rates occurred during the neoglacial. Significant shifts in carbon dynamics at 10.3, 4.1 and 2.8 kyr bp provide compelling evidence for the sensitivity of the region to sub‐Milankovitch drivers of climate change. We estimate that 1.03 Pg C was buried in Lake Baikal sediments during the Holocene, almost one‐quarter of which was buried during the early Holocene alone. Combined, our results highlight the importance of understanding the close linkages between carbon cycling and hydrological processes, not just temperatures, in southern Siberian environments.
Tree demography suggests multiple directions and drivers for species range shifts in mountains of Northeastern United States
Authors: Wason Jay W. , Dovciak Martin 
Published: December 2016

AbstractClimate change is expected to lead to upslope shifts in tree species distributions, but the evidence is mixed partly due to land‐use effects and individualistic species responses to climate. We examined how individual tree species demography varies along elevational climatic gradients across four states in the northeastern United States to determine whether species elevational distributions and their potential upslope (or downslope) shifts were controlled by climate, land‐use legacies (past logging), or soils. We characterized tree demography, microclimate, land‐use legacies, and soils at 83 sites stratified by elevation (~500 to ~1200 m above sea level) across 12 mountains containing the transition from northern hardwood to spruce‐fir forests. We modeled elevational distributions of tree species saplings and adults using logistic regression to test whether sapling distributions suggest ongoing species range expansion upslope (or contraction downslope) relative to adults, and we used linear mixed models to determine the extent to which climate, land use, and soil variables explain these distributions. Tree demography varied with elevation by species, suggesting a potential upslope shift only for American beech, downslope shifts for red spruce (more so in cool regions) and sugar maple, and no change with elevation for balsam fir. While soils had relatively minor effects, climate was the dominant predictor for most species and more so for saplings than adults of red spruce, sugar maple, yellow birch, cordate birch, and striped maple. On the other hand, logging legacies were positively associated with American beech, sugar maple, and yellow birch, and negatively with red spruce and balsam fir – generally more so for adults than saplings. All species exhibited individualistic rather than synchronous demographic responses to climate and land use, and the return of red spruce to lower elevations where past logging originally benefited northern hardwood species indicates that land use may mask species range shifts caused by changing climate.
Forest structure determines the abundance and distribution of large lianas in Gabon
Authors: Poulsen John R. , Koerner Sally E. , Miao Zewei , Medjibe Vincent P. , Banak Ludovic Ngok , White L. J. T. 
Published: December 2016

AbstractAimLianas are an important component of forest structure in the tropics, accounting for up to 45% of total stems. Mounting evidence that tropical forests are undergoing structural changes, with a growing abundance of lianas reducing forest carbon storage potential, imparts a sense of urgency to study the drivers that control liana abundance and biomass, particularly in Africa where data come from a few, small‐scale studies.LocationGabon, Africa.MethodsIn the first countrywide study of lianas, we implemented the most ambitious, large‐scale forest inventory in tropical Africa to date, quantifying the density, basal area and biomass of large lianas (≥10 cm in diameter) using a systematic, random design of 104 plots located across Gabon. Additionally, we examined the relative importance of environmental variables (mean annual precipitation, mean annual temperature, seasonality, soil nitrogen, soil fertility), disturbance (effect of gaps, forest type) and forest structure (large tree biomass) in driving macroscale variation in the abundance of large lianas.ResultsIn total, we surveyed 1354 large lianas, and found the density, basal area and biomass of large lianas in Gabon to be comparable to that in other tropical forests. The success of large lianas was positively related to soil N, but most strongly correlated with forest structure, particularly large tree biomass. The strength of the association between large lianas and large trees increased with tree size class.Main conclusionsForest structure and the availability of large trees may be more important predictors of the abundance and distribution of large lianas in African tropical forests than environmental variables and disturbance. Changing environmental conditions are likely to have little direct effect on large lianas, but climate change, defaunation and land‐use activities that diminish forest structure and reduce the number of large trees could have strong indirect effects on large lianas in Central African forests.
Development of a Matrix‐Matched Sphalerite Reference Material (MUL‐ZnS‐1) for Calibration of In Situ Trace Element Measurements by Laser Ablation‐Inductively Coupled Plasma‐Mass Spectrometry
Authors: Onuk Peter , Melcher Frank , Mertz‐Kraus Regina , Gäbler Hans‐Eike , Goldmann Simon 
Published: December 2016

Sphalerite (ZnS) is an abundant ore mineral and an important carrier of elements such as Ge, Ga and In used in high‐technology applications. In situ measurements of trace elements in natural sphalerite samples using LA‐ICP‐MS are hampered by a lack of homogenous matrix‐matched sulfide reference materials available for calibration. The preparation of the MUL‐ZnS1 calibration material containing the trace elements V, Cr, Mn, Co, Ni, Cu, Ga, Ge, As, Se, Mo, Ag, Cd, In, Sn, Sb, Tl and Pb besides Zn, Fe and S is reported. Commercially available ZnS, FeS, CdS products were used as the major components, whereas the trace elements were added by doping with single‐element ICP‐MS standard solutions and natural mineral powders. The resulting powder mixture was pressed to pellets and sintered at 400 °C for 100 h using argon as an inert gas. To confirm the homogeneity of major and trace element distributions within the MUL‐ZnS1 calibration material, measurements were performed using EPMA, solution ICP‐MS, ICP‐OES and LA‐ICP‐MS. The results show that MUL‐ZnS‐1 is an appropriate material for calibrating trace element determination in sphalerite using LA‐ICP‐MS.
CCR2 mediates Helicobacter pylori‐induced immune tolerance and contributes to mucosal homeostasis
Authors: Sun Xia , Zhang Min , El‐Zaatari Mohamad , Huffnagle Gray B. , Kao John Y. 
Published: December 2016

AbstractBackgroundWe previously demonstrated that H. pylori infection leads to increased induction of regulatory T cells in local and systemic immune compartments. Here, we investigate the role of CCR2 in the tolerogenic programing of dendritic cells in a mouse model of H. pylori infection.Materials and MethodsCCR2 deficient (CCR2KO) mice and wild‐type (Wt) mice infected with H. pylori SS1 strain were analyzed by qPCR and FACS analysis. In vitro, bone marrow‐derived DC on day 6 from CCR2KO and Wt mice cocultured with or without H. pylori were examined to determine the impact of CCR2 signaling on dendritic cells function by qPCR, ELISA, and FACS analyses.ResultsAcute H. pylori infection was associated with a threefold increase in CCR2 mRNA expression in the gastric mucosa. H. pylori‐infected CCR2KO mice exhibited a higher degree of mucosal inflammation, that is, increased gastritis scores and pro‐inflammatory cytokine mRNA levels, but lower degree of H. pylori gastric colonization compared to infected Wt mice. Peripheral H. pylori‐specific immune response measured in the CCR2KO spleen was characterized by a higher Th17 response and a lower Treg response. In vitro, CCR2KO bone marrow‐derived DC was less mature and shown a lower Treg/Th17 ratio. Moreover, blockade of CCR2 signaling by MCP‐1 neutralizing antibody inhibited H. pylori‐stimulated bone marrow‐derived DC maturation.ConclusionsOur results indicate that CCR2 plays an essential role in H. pylori‐induced immune tolerance and shed light on a novel mechanism of CCR2‐dependent DC Treg induction, which appears to be important in maintaining mucosal homeostasis during H. pylori infection.
Functional and phenotypic heterogeneity of group 3 innate lymphoid cells
Authors: Melo‐Gonzalez Felipe , Hepworth Matthew R. 
Published: December 2016

SummaryGroup 3 innate lymphoid cells (ILC3), defined by expression of the transcription factor retinoid‐related orphan receptor γt, play key roles in the regulation of inflammation and immunity in the gastrointestinal tract and associated lymphoid tissues. ILC3 consist largely of two major subsets, NCR+ ILC3 and LTi‐like ILC3, but also demonstrate significant plasticity and heterogeneity. Recent advances have begun to dissect the relationship between ILC3 subsets and to define distinct functional states within the intestinal tissue microenvironment. In this review we discuss the ever‐expanding roles of ILC3 in the context of intestinal homeostasis, infection and inflammation – with a focus on comparing and contrasting the relative contributions of ILC3 subsets.
Family Caregiver Factors Associated with Unmet Needs for Care of Older Adults
Authors: Beach Scott R. , Schulz Richard 
Published: December 2016

ObjectivesTo examine caregiver factors associated with unmet needs for care of older adults.DesignPopulation‐based surveys of caregivers and older adult care recipients in the United States in 2011.Setting2011 National Health and Aging Trends Study and National Study of Caregiving.ParticipantsFamily caregivers (n = 1,996) of community‐dwelling older adults with disabilities (n = 1,366).MeasurementsDisabled care recipient reports of unmet needs for care in the past month with activities of daily living (ADLs; e.g., wet or soiled clothing), mobility (e.g., have to stay inside), or instrumental activities of daily living (IADLs; e.g., medication errors). Caregiver reported sociodemographic characteristics, caregiving intensity and tasks performed, health, and psychosocial effects.ResultsOf the care recipients, 44.3% reported at least one unmet need for care in the past month (38.2%ADLrelated, 14.6%IADLrelated). Younger caregivers, caregiving sons, caregivers not living with care recipients, and having supplemental paid caregivers were associated with more unmet needs. Caregivers with recipients reporting two or more unmet needs were more likely to spend more than 100 hours per month caregiving, help with skin care and wounds, report caregiving as emotionally and physically difficult, and report restricted participation in valued activities (allP< .001).ConclusionUnmetADLneeds are prevalent among older adults with family caregivers. Caregivers experiencing high levels of burden, stress, and negative physical and psychosocial impacts may provide substandard or poor care to older adults, which may be a risk factor for neglect. Clinicians caring for disabled older adults should assess their unmet needs and the capacity of caregivers to address them.