bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Spring nitrogen and plant growth regulator effects on seed yield of orchardgrass
Authors: Anderson Nicole P. , Morad Mohammed M. , Chastain Thomas G. 
Published: October 2024

AbstractOrchardgrass (Dactylis glomerata L.) is an important forage seed crop, but unlike other cool‐season grasses, seed yields have not increased over time. Seed yield increases in orchardgrass may be possible with plant growth regulators (PGRs) such as trinexapac‐ethyl (TE) and chlormequat chloride (CCC). Field trials were conducted at Hyslop Experimental Farm near Corvallis, Oregon, over three crop years (2017–2019) to examine the effects of spring nitrogen (N) and PGRs on seed production characteristics in orchardgrass. Spring N treatments included 0, 112, 157, and 202 kg N ha−1 and PGR applications were timed using the BBCH (Biologische Bundesanstalt, Bundessortenamt und Chemische Industrie) scale. Four PGR treatments included an untreated control, 210 g TE ha−1 at BBCH 32, 210 g TE ha−1 at BBCH 51, and 105 g TE ha−1 + 1500 g CCC ha−1 at BBCH 32. An interaction of spring N and PGR increased seed yields in 2 years, while spring N and PGR increased seed yield independently in the other year. The combination of TE and CCC PGRs did not increase seed yield over TE alone. Seed yield increases from spring N were due to an increase in seed number m−2, while increases in seed yield attributable to PGRs were the result of increased seed number m−2 and harvest index. This study suggests that the combination of 112 kg ha−1 spring N and 210 g ha−1 TE PGR is the best practice to maximize seed yield in orchardgrass.
Two‐Dimensional Boridene Nanosheets for Efficient Electrochemical Nitrogen Fixation Under Ambient Conditions
Authors: Lai Jinhua , Li Tan , Ding Liang‐Xin , Chen Gao‐Feng , Wang Haihui 
Published: October 2024

AbstractThe carbon‐free electrocatalytic nitrogen reduction reaction (NRR) is an alternative technology to the current Haber‐Bosch method, that can be conducted under ambient conditions, and directly converting water and nitrogen (N₂) into ammonia (NH₃). However, the limited activity and selectivity of NH₃ electrosynthesis hinder the practical applications of NRR. In this study, we present a novel type of electrocatalyst called boridene nanosheets enriched with metal vacancies that are specifically designed for efficient electrocatalytic NRR under ambient conditions. Electrochemical testing in a 0.1 M phosphate‐buffered saline (PBS) electrolyte demonstrates that boridene exhibits a high Faradaic efficiency of 66.7 % for NH₃ production at −0.2 V vs. RHE, with a maximum NH₃ yield rate of 23.6 μg h−1 mgcat−1 at −0.4 V vs. RHE. Durability tests show that boridene maintains significant stability throughout multiple cycles of NRR. Mechanistic insights are obtained through in situ Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, revealing that boridene exhibits a preference for the distal pathway during the process of NRR. These findings highlight the potential of boridene as an efficient and stable catalyst for sustainable NH₃ synthesis.
High Resource Overlap and a Consistently Generalised Pattern of Interactions in a Bat–Flower Network in a Seasonally Dry Landscape
Authors: Tremlett Constance J. , Chapman Mark , Maher Kathryn H. , Keller Alexander , Blüthgen Nico , Peh Kelvin S.‐H. , Zamora‐Gutierrez Veronica 
Published: October 2024

ABSTRACTPollination is an ecosystem process that is crucial to maintain biodiversity and ecosystem function. Bats are important pollinators in the tropics and are an integral part of complex plant–pollinator interaction networks. However, network analysis–based approaches are still scarce at the plant species and bat community levels. We used metabarcoding to identify plant taxa present in pollen from fur and faecal samples collected across 1 year from three nectar‐feeding bat roosts in central Mexico. We calculated the frequency of occurrence of plant taxa and assembled a zoocentric network of bat–plant interactions. We constructed a year‐long network, encompassing the entire period of sampling, two seasonal networks comprising the wet and dry seasons, and six individual networks from sampling at two‐month intervals across the year. Four species of nectar‐feeding bats interacted with 36 plant species from 16 families. We found highly generalised interaction patterns across networks corresponding with opportunistic feeding behaviour by bats, with little seasonal variation in network structure. There was high resource overlap between bat species, and bats visited a diverse range of plant species even during periods with a high abundance of particular resources in the landscape. The diverse diet of nectar‐feeding bats emphasises the importance of floristically rich natural habitats in the landscape to provide reliable foraging resources year‐round in a seasonally variable system. While a generalised network structure is thought to increase robustness, further research is necessary to understand how fluctuations in pollinator abundance and diversity in the face of land use and climate change may impact bat–flower networks and the consequences to plant communities.
A Method for Conveying Confidence in iNaturalist Observations: A Case Study Using Non‐Native Marine Species
Authors: Ackland Sarah J. , Richardson David M. , Robinson Tamara B. 
Published: October 2024

ABSTRACTConcerns and limitations relating to data quality, reliability and accuracy hamper the use of citizen science initiatives in research and conservation. Valued for their cost‐effective and large data acquisition potential, citizen science platforms such as iNaturalist have been highlighted as beneficial tools to supplement monitoring using traditional data sources. However, intrinsic uncertainties in unverified observations stem from the nature of species being identified, the quality of uploaded media and georeferencing; these factors can limit the value of the data as they can result in inaccurate records. Verification of data prior to use is critical. This process can, however, be laborious and time‐consuming, with bias associated with the individual responsible for the task. To address this challenge this study developed a protocol for assigning confidence in iNaturalist observations, using marine alien and cryptogenic species observations from South Africa as a case study. A positive relationship was found between the accuracy of observations and confidence score. The inherent data quality assessment in iNaturalist, termed quality grade, was found to be an inadequate proxy for accuracy. The results of this study highlight the importance of the expert verification phase when using citizen science data. The confidence score facilitates a streamlined approach to the verification process by reducing the time taken to validate records, while assessing the three levels of uncertainty within observations and reducing researcher bias. It is recommended that this confidence score be used as an essential tool when using citizen science derived data.
Body Mass Shapes Most Life History Traits and a Fast‐Slow Continuum in Amphibians
Authors: Cejp Benjamin , Griebeler Eva Maria 
Published: October 2024

ABSTRACTAmphibians have the least studied life histories among vertebrates, although they have unique and the most diverse life histories within this group. We compiled a new dataset on adult body mass and 16 other life history traits of 2069 amphibian species across three orders (1796 frogs, 236 salamanders, 37 caecilians). These traits characterise fecundity, offspring development from egg deposition to metamorphosis and adult life. We established allometric models on traits for all amphibians and each of the three orders to assess a potential scaling of traits to body mass and then checked whether allometric slopes were consistent with two different metabolic scaling exponents. Further, we examined a possible fast‐slow continuum in all amphibians, as well as in each of the two orders frogs and salamanders by applying principal component analysis (PCA) to five traits. Our allometric models indicated a positive scaling to body mass for 11 traits across all amphibians, 12 in frogs, and 10 in salamanders, and for five out of eight traits analysed in caecilians. Allometric slopes on most traits characterising offspring development were not significant. All slopes did not support a three‐quarter metabolic scaling exponent, whereas slopes on age at maturity and maximum longevity were consistent with an amphibian metabolic scaling exponent of 0.88. As in fishes, reptiles, birds, and mammals, the first axes of our PCAs indicated a body mass‐dependent fast‐slow continuum in amphibians. Amphibian species of slow life histories have larger body masses, later sexual maturities and longer lifespans and lay more and larger eggs than species of fast life histories, a pattern also known from reptiles. The second axes indicated a trade‐off between egg size and number. As this trade‐off was nearly independent of body mass, we hypothesise that amphibians have occupied a broad range of ecological niches without evolutionary changes in body mass.
Chromosome‐Level Genome Assembly for the Chinese Serow (Capricornis milneedwardsii) Provides Insights Into Its Taxonomic Status and Evolution
Authors: Li Anning , Yang Qimeng , Li Rongrong , Cai Keli , Zhu Li , Wang Xiaoyu , Cheng Gong , Wang Xihong , Lei Yinghu , Jiang Yu , Zan Linsen 
Published: October 2024

ABSTRACTChinese serow (Capricornis milneedwardsii) is mainly distributed in the south of Yellow River in China, which has been listed as vulnerable by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN). However, the reference genome of serow has not been reported and its taxonomic status is still unclear. Here, we first constructed a high‐quality chromosome‐level reference genome of C. milneedwardsii using PacBio long HiFi reads combined with Hi‐C technology. The assembled genome was ~2.83 Gb in size, with a contig N50 of 100.96 Mb and scaffold N50 of 112.75 Mb, which were anchored onto 24 chromosomes. Furthermore, we found that the Chinese serow was more closely related to muskox, which diverged from ~4.85 million years ago (Mya). Compared to the karyotype of goat (2n = 60), we found the Chinese serow (2n = 48) experienced six chromosome fusions, which resulted in the formation of six central centromere chromosomes. We also identified two positively selected genes (MYH6 and DCSTAMP) specific to Chinese serow, which were involved in ‘viral myocarditis’ and ‘Cardiac muscle contraction’. Interestingly, compared to other Caprinae animals, the MYH6 protein of Chinese serow occurred two mutations (E1520S and G1521S), which might be related to hypoxia tolerance. The high‐quality reference genome of C. milneedwardsii provides a valuable information for protection of serows and insights into its evolution.
Testing source elevation versus genotype as predictors of sugar pine performance in a post‐fire restoration planting
Authors: Moran Emily V. , DeSilva Rainbow , Canning Courtney , Wright Jessica W. 
Published: October 2024

AbstractClimate change is motivating a reassessment of how seeds are selected for reforestation, as rapid environmental change can lead to local maladaptation in trees. Genetic association studies and past seed source climate both have the potential to help identify appropriate planting stock, but these techniques have not been compared and tested as part of an operational planting program. In this study, we combined an analysis of single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) associated with environmental gradients in sugar pine (Pinus lambertiana) with an analysis of post‐fire seedling survival and growth in a restoration experiment. Our genotype–environment association (GEA) tests of 92 individuals from varying climates within CA revealed 829 SNPs (out of 300,604) with significant association with climate gradients, especially April snowpack. Of these, 323 either had annotations that suggested potential functional importance or were identified by two different methods. We then built Bayesian models of survival and growth for all seedlings in a separate post‐fire planting experiment, to test the relative predictive ability of source elevation (a common proxy for source climate) versus the proportion of seedling alleles expected to be locally advantageous based on GEA. Across three sites within the King Fire scar in Eldorado National Forest in 2017, 2018, and 2019, 1774 seedlings were planted. Of these, 206 had enough green needles in 2020 to allow sample collection, and 161 were successfully genotyped. We found that source elevation was generally better at predicting seedling performance than genotype indices, perhaps because of the limited scope of the association analysis. Seed sources from 500 to 1800 ft (152.4–548.6 m) lower in elevation, and one seed zone further south generally performed as well or better than local seed sources. This result, and those of similar previous studies, suggest that “climate matching” using past climate information for existing seed sourcing units is a reasonable starting point for finding seedlings suited to already‐altered planting site climate conditions. However, further tests with more extensive genomic and performance data may improve the utility of genotype information for seed selection.
Similarity learning networks uniquely identify individuals of four marine and terrestrial species
Authors: Kabuga Emmanuel , Langley Izzy , Arso Civil Monica , Measey John , Bah Bubacarr , Durbach Ian 
Published: October 2024

AbstractEstimating the size of animal populations plays an important role in evidence‐based conservation and management. Some methods for estimating population size rely on animals being individually identifiable. Traditionally, this has been done by marking physically captured animals, but increasingly, animals with distinctive natural markings are surveyed noninvasively using cameras. Animal reidentification from photographs is usually done manually, which is expensive, laborious, and requires considerable skill. An alternative is to develop computer vision methods that can support or replace the manual identification task. We developed an automated approach using deep learning to identify whether a pair of photographs is of the same individual or not. The core of the approach is a similarity learning network that uses paired convolutional neural networks with a triplet loss function to summarize image pairs and decide whether they are from the same individual. Prior to the main matching step, two additional convolutional neural networks perform image segmentation, cropping the animal object within the image, and orientation prediction, deciding which side of the animal was photographed. We applied the approach to four species, with images of the same individual often spanning several years: systematic surveys of bottlenose dolphins (Tursiops truncatus, 2008–2019) and harbor seals (Phoca vitulina, 2015–2019), a citizen science dataset of western leopard toads (Sclerophrys pantherina, unknown dates), and a publicly available repository of humpback whale images (Megaptera novaeangliae, unknown dates). For these species, our best‐performing models were able to identify whether a pair of images were from the same individual or different individuals in 95.8%, 94.6%, 88.2%, and 83.8% of the cases, respectively. We found that triplet loss functions outperformed binary cross‐entropy loss functions and that data augmentation and additional manual curation of training data provided small but consistent improvements in performance. These results demonstrate the potential of deep learning to replace or, more likely, support and facilitate manual individual identification efforts.
Two decades of evaluating evaluation capacity building: A bibliographic coupling review
Authors: Konjore Mervyan J. 
Published: October 2024

AbstractEvaluation capacity building (ECB) has emerged as a dominant tool in evaluation. Several reviews have taken stock of ECB over the past 20 years, examining how understanding of ECB has developed over time. By examining this existing research on the evaluation of ECB design, effectiveness, measurement, integration, and sustainability, opportunities to advance the field's existing knowledge base around ECB evaluation forward become apparent. This landscape review uses bibliographic coupling and content analysis to offer a robust analysis of publications on the evaluation of ECB. The results of this review of multidisciplinary ECB publications shed light on areas of strength within the existing literature and identify opportunities to build upon current scholarship. Promising areas for future research include exploring how moderators and mediators influence ECB outcomes, eliminating threats to internal validity in ECB studies, and strengthening the rigor required for external generalizability.
Association of hospital safety climate and compliance with occupational safety practices among nurse interns: A cross‐sectional study using canonical correlation analysis
Authors: He Shan , Li Zheng‐liang , Wu Ying , Chen Xin , Chen Yi‐jun , Chen Wen‐feng , Chen Qian‐zhu , Xiong Fang‐fang 
Published: October 2024

AbstractBackground and AimsNurse interns may be at a similar or higher risk than registered nurses. The key elements and mechanisms involved in the effects of safety climate on safety performance are not well understood. This study explores the relationship between the perceived hospital safety climate and compliance with occupational safety practices among nurse interns.MethodsA cross‐sectional study was conducted among 178 nurse interns in three tertiary university hospitals in Chongqing city, China. The Chinese version of the Hospital Safety Climate Scale (HSCS) was used to measure the perceived hospital safety climate of nurse interns. Compliance behavior was measured using the Compliance with Occupational Safety Practice Scale (COSPS). Canonical correlation analysis and multiple linear regression modeling were used to examine their relationship.ResultsTotal scores for the HSCS and COSPS were 92 (80,100) and 185 (175,185) [M (P25, P75)], respectively. Canonical correlation coefficients for canonical variates 1 and 2 were 0.636 (p < 0.001) and 0.414 (p < 0.001), respectively. Nurse interns' compliance with occupational safety practices was mainly influenced by management support, feedback/training, personal protective and engineering control equipment availability, and absence of job hindrance. Multiple linear regression showed that management support of HSCS accounted for 37.1% of the variance in compliance (β = 0.283, p = 0.039).ConclusionNurse interns reported high levels of perceived hospital safety climate and compliance with occupational safety practices. Younger nurse interns reported a lower level of perceived hospital safety climate. Nurse educators can improve interns' compliance by promoting better management support, feedback/training, personal protective and engineering control equipment availability, and fewer job hindrance.
Women attending the sexual assault treatment unit services in the Republic of Ireland: A 7‐year review
Authors: Kane D. , Walshe J. , Maher N. , Pucillo C. , Richardson D. , Holmes A. , Flood K. , Eogan M. 
Published: October 2024

AbstractObjectiveSexual assault is pervasive in today's society, with the numbers of those reporting it increasing. In Ireland, 50% of women will experience some form of sexual violence in their lifetime. We sought to describe the incident details of females presenting to the Sexual Assault Treatment Unit (SATU) network in the Republic of Ireland and to determine associations between incident characteristics and: (1) victim age, (2) presence of injury, (3) victim‐perpetrator relationship, and (4) number of assailants.MethodsThis was a retrospective cross‐sectional study of all females who attended between 2017 and 2023. Descriptive bivariate analysis was performed.ResultsThere were 5942 female attendances, with an average age of 26 years. The largest age group was women between 18 and 25 years (38.1%, n = 2263). Forensic examinations were performed in 76.6% (n = 4549). Assailants were male in 92% (n = 5469) of incidents, with multiple assailants disclosed in 7.3% (n = 435). Strangers or recent acquaintances were the assailant in 38.5% (n = 2290) of incidents, and close associates in 22.9% (n = 1359). Incidents occurred at the survivor's home in 22% (n = 1306) of incidents, and in the assailant's home in 22.6% (n = 1342). Drug use within 24 h was reported in 15.1% (n = 897) of cases, and alcohol use in 72% (n = 4276). Drug‐facilitated assault was suspected by 16.1% (n = 955). Injuries (genital and extra‐genital) occurred in 30.3% (n = 1800) of attendances and were more likely to be seen in those who disclosed ingesting alcohol (Relative risk [RR] 1.325, P < 0.001) or drugs (RR 1.111, P = 0.04) in the 24 h preceding the incident, in those who presented within 24 h (RR 1.646, P < 0.001), those aged 18 years or older (RR 1.07, P = 0.003), and those where the incident occurred outdoors (RR 1.24, P < 0.001).ConclusionThis study, one of the largest on female attendances to a national SATU network, offers detailed insights into demographics, incident details, and circumstances. Most were young women, mainly 18 years and older, many of whom were full‐time students. Forensic examinations were the primary reason for attendance, underscoring the network's key role in evidence collection. The study also identified factors linked to a higher risk of injury detection, such as immediate post‐incident attendance, being over 18, outdoor incidents, perpetration by a stranger, and prior alcohol or drug use.
Genetically humanized phenylketonuria mouse model as a testing tool for human genome editing in fertilized eggs
Authors: Tsuji‐Hosokawa Atsumi , Tsuchiya Iku , Shimizu Kie , Terao Miho , Yasuhara Mito , Miyamoto Natsuho , Kikuchi Saki , Ogawa Yuya , Nakamura Kazuaki , Matsubara Yoichi , Takada Shuji 
Published: October 2024

AbstractTargeted genome editing has made significant advancements; however, safety and ethical issues have not been fully elucidated, resulting in strict control of the technique. We tested genome editing tools on gametes from a genetically humanized mouse model using a phenylketonuria (PKU) mouse model to gain insights into genome editing in human embryos. The human PKU mouse model PahhR111X mice was generated. The junctional region between exon 3 and intron 3 of Pah was replaced with a 120 bp corresponding human PAH sequence, including the pathogenic common variant c.331C > T in PahhR111X mice. PahhR111X mice successfully recapitulated the PKU phenotype and showed cognitive dysfunction and depressive‐like behavior, which are observed in human patients with PKU. Genome editing was applied to fertilized eggs of PahhR111X mice utilizing sgRNA that targets the human sequence. Mice with the corrected allele exhibited normal serum phenylalanine levels. Through genome editing, we validated the utility of sgRNA. The genetically humanized mouse model suggested that germ‐line genome editing of the pathogenic variant may be feasible for monogenic disorders by revealing the recovery of the phenotype; however, there are remaining issues with the tool, including its efficiency and accuracy. This genome editing protocol using a genetically humanized mouse model will provide insights for improving current issues and contribute to the establishment of heritable human genome editing protocols.