bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Conservation status of the Endangered Nubian dragon tree Dracaena ombet in Gebel Elba National Park, Egypt
Authors: Kamel M. , Ghazaly U. M. , Callmander M. W. 
Published: July 2014

AbstractThe Nubian dragon tree Dracaena ombet, which is categorized as Endangered on the IUCN Red List, is found on the highest slopes of Gebel Elba National Park in Egypt, with scattered populations in Sudan, Djibouti, Ethiopia and Somalia. The Gebel Elba population is threatened by drought. Surveys were conducted in the Park to assess the condition and document the distribution of the species to prepare a baseline for conservation efforts. Eight sites were surveyed during 2007–2009: trees were tagged and their locations were recorded using a global positioning system, and tree density, diameter at breast height and population status were estimated. Of 353 trees recorded only 46% (161 individuals) were alive and only 27% (96 individuals) were in a healthy condition. Only 1% (2 individuals) were young trees, indicating a low regeneration level. Field-based observations suggest that 80% of the D. ombet population in Gebel Elba may soon be extinct. A conservation action plan is needed for this flagship species in Egypt and throughout its range.
The impacts of a community forestry program on forest conditions, management intensity and revenue generation in the Dang district of Nepal
Authors: Poudel Narayan Raj , Fuwa Nobuhiko , Otsuka Keijiro 
Published: July 2014

AbstractA growing literature documents the positive impact of community management on non-timber forest conservation but not on the condition of timber forests, which require higher management intensity than do non-timber forests. Using ground-level data of the age composition of trees and the management activities of timber forests and applying a rigorous econometric technique to deal with the endogeneity of handing over forest use rights to the community, we find that a longer period of community management is associated with a higher density of pole-size trees, indicating that community management facilitates the rehabilitation of timber forests. We also find that population pressure leads to deforestation under state management but encourages forest management under community management.
Warming climate extends dryness-controlled areas of terrestrial carbon sequestration
Authors: Yi Chuixiang , Wei Suhua , Hendrey George 
Published: July 2014

AbstractAt biome-scale, terrestrial carbon uptake is controlled mainly by weather variability. Observational data from a global monitoring network indicate that the sensitivity of terrestrial carbon sequestration to mean annual temperature (T) breaks down at a threshold value of 16°C, above which terrestrial CO2 fluxes are controlled by dryness rather than temperature. Here we show that since 1948 warming climate has moved the 16°C T latitudinal belt poleward. Land surface area with T > 16°C and now subject to dryness control rather than temperature as the regulator of carbon uptake has increased by 6% and is expected to increase by at least another 8% by 2050. Most of the land area subjected to this warming is arid or semiarid with ecosystems that are highly vulnerable to drought and land degradation. In areas now dryness-controlled, net carbon uptake is ~27% lower than in areas in which both temperature and dryness (T < 16°C) regulate plant productivity. This warming-induced extension of dryness-controlled areas may be triggering a positive feedback accelerating global warming. Continued increases in land area with T > 16°C has implications not only for positive feedback on climate change, but also for ecosystem integrity and land cover, particularly for pastoral populations in marginal lands.
Cisplatin modulates B-cell translocation gene 2 to attenuate cell proliferation of prostate carcinoma cells in both p53-dependent and p53-independent pathways
Authors: Chiang Kun-Chun , Tsui Ke-Hung , Chung Li-Chuan , Yeh Chun-Nan , Feng Tsui-Hsia , Chen Wen-Tsung , Chang Phei-Lang , Chiang Hou-Yu , Juang Horng-Heng 
Published: July 2014

AbstractCisplatin is a widely used anti-cancer drug. The B-cell translocation gene 2 (BTG2) is involved in the cell cycle transition regulation. We evaluated the cisplatin effects on prostate cancer cell proliferation and the expressions of BTG2, p53, androgen receptor (AR) and prostate specific antigen (PSA) in prostate carcinoma, p53 wild-type LNCaP or p53-null PC-3, cells. Cisplatin treatments attenuated cell prostate cancer cell growth through inducing Go/G1 cell cycle arrest in lower concentration and apoptosis at higher dosage. Cisplatin treatments enhanced p53 and BTG2 expression, repressed AR and PSA expression and blocked the activation of androgen on the PSA secretion in LNCaP cells. BTG2 knockdown in LNCaP cells attenuated cisplatin-mediated growth inhibition. Cisplatin enhanced BTG2 gene expression dependent on the DNA fragment located within -173 to -82 upstream of BTG2 translation initiation site in prostate cancer cells. Mutation of the p53 response element from GGGCAGAGCCC to GGGCACC or mutation of the NFκB response element from GGAAAGTCC to GGAAAGGAA by site-directed mutagenesis abolished the stimulation of cisplatin on the BTG2 promoter activity in LNCaP or PC-3 cells, respectively. Our results indicated that cisplatin attenuates prostate cancer cell proliferation partly mediated by upregulation of BTG2 through the p53-dependent pathway or p53-independent NFκB pathway.
Sunlight-promoted photocatalytic hydrogen gas evolution from water-suspended cellulose: a systematic study
Authors: Speltini Andrea , Sturini Michela , Dondi Daniele , Annovazzi Enrico , Maraschi Federica , Caratto Valentina , Profumo Antonella , Buttafava Armando 
Published: July 2014

Abstract
This work presents a systematic study of cellulose (CLS) as a sacrificial biomass for photocatalytic H2 evolution from water. The idea is indeed to couple a largely available and not expensive biomass, and water, with a renewable energy like solar radiation. An aqueous CLS suspension irradiated either at 366 nm (UV-A) or under sunlight in the presence of Pt/TiO2 behaves as a H2 evolving system. The effects of irradiation time, catalyst and CLS concentrations, pH and water salinity are studied. Addition of CLS to the sample significantly improved H2 evolution from water splitting, with yields up to ten fold higher than those observed in neat water. The mechanism of the photocatalytic process relies on the TiO2-mediated CLS hydrolysis, under irradiation. The polysaccharide depolymerisation generates water-soluble species and intermediates, among them 5-hydroxymethylfurfural (HMF) was identified. These intermediates are readily oxidized following the glucose photoreforming, thus enhancing water hydrogen ion reduction to give gas-phase H2. The formation of “colored” by-products from HMF self-polymerization involves a sort of “in situ dye sensitization” that allows an effective photoreaction even under solar light. The procedure is evaluated and successfully extended on cellulosic biomasses, i.e. rice husk and alfalfa (Medicago sativa) stems, not previously investigated for this application.
Introduction to τ-tilting theory
Authors: Iyama Osamu , Reiten Idun 
Published: July 2014

SignificanceMutation is an ingredient in the construction of cluster algebras. It deals with replacing an element in the free generating set (x1,x2,..., xn) of the rational function field Q(x1,x2,..., xn) by another element. In module categories for finite dimensional algebras, what is called “support τ-tilting modules” have a similar behavior. They are built up bynparts, and there is an operation of mutation. This plays an important role in categorifying cluster algebras.
Greedy bases in rank 2 quantum cluster algebras
Authors: Lee Kyungyong , Li Li , Rupel Dylan , Zelevinsky Andrei 
Published: July 2014

Significance
The quantum cluster algebras are a family of noncommutative rings introduced by Berenstein and Zelevinsky as the quantum deformation of the commutative cluster algebras. At the heart of their definition is a desire to understand bases of quantum algebras arising from the representation theory of nonassociative algebras. Thus a natural and important problem in the study of quantum cluster algebras is to study their bases with good properties. In this paper, we lay out a framework for understanding the interrelationships between various bases of rank two quantum cluster algebras.
Information-based fitness and the emergence of criticality in living systems
Authors: Hidalgo Jorge , Grilli Jacopo , Suweis Samir , Muñoz Miguel A. , Banavar Jayanth R. , Maritan Amos 
Published: July 2014

SignificanceRecently, evidence has been mounting that biological systems might operate at the borderline between order and disorder, i.e., near a critical point. A general mathematical framework for understanding this common pattern, explaining the possible origin and role of criticality in living adaptive and evolutionary systems, is still missing. We rationalize this apparently ubiquitous criticality in terms of adaptive and evolutionary functional advantages. We provide an analytical framework, which demonstrates that the optimal response to broadly different changing environments occurs in systems organizing spontaneously—through adaptation or evolution—to the vicinity of a critical point. Furthermore, criticality turns out to be the evolutionary stable outcome of a community of individuals aimed at communicating with each other to create a collective entity.
Tribonucleation of bubbles
Authors: Wildeman Sander , Lhuissier Henri , Sun Chao , Lohse Detlef , Prosperetti Andrea 
Published: July 2014

SignificanceMicroscopic gas–vapor bubbles play an important role in various processes in nature, industry, and medicine. Sometimes they are desired: to lower the temperature at which a liquid starts to boil or to enhance the contrast in medical ultrasound applications. In other cases, bubbles are harmful: they cause damage when expanding and collapsing near the propeller blades of ships, and sickness upon expanding in the veins of plants and animals. In spite of their ubiquity, the “nucleation” of bubbles, i.e., the mechanism responsible for their initial formation, has remained mysterious for a long time and, even today, it is not fully understood. Here, we show that bubbles can nucleate when two solids are gently rubbed together in a liquid: “tribonucleation.”
Activity-dependent dendritic spine neck changes are correlated with synaptic strength
Authors: Araya Roberto , Vogels Tim P. , Yuste Rafael 
Published: July 2014

Significance
Dendritic spines are the main recipients of excitatory information in the brain, and though it is accepted that they must serve an essential function in neural circuits, their precise role remains ill-defined. Here, using minimal synaptic stimulation, we show that spine neck length correlates inversely with synaptic efficacy. In addition, we discovered a previously unidentified form of spine plasticity following a spike timing-dependent plasticity protocol, characterized by rapid shortening of spine neck length and concomitant increases in synaptic strength. These results provide new insights for our understanding of synaptic plasticity, and could provide an explanation for the presence of thousands of long-necked spines in the dendrites of pyramidal neurons, whose somatic synaptic contribution would otherwise be small or negligible.
Assessment and risk analysis of casing and cement impairment in oil and gas wells in Pennsylvania, 2000–2012
Authors: Ingraffea Anthony R. , Wells Martin T. , Santoro Renee L. , Shonkoff Seth B. C. 
Published: July 2014

SignificancePrevious research has demonstrated that proximity to unconventional gas development is associated with elevated concentrations of methane in groundwater aquifers in Pennsylvania. To date, the mechanism of this migration is poorly understood. Our study, which looks at more than 41,000 conventional and unconventional oil and gas wells, helps to explain one possible mechanism of methane migration: compromised structural integrity of casing and cement in oil and gas wells. Additionally, methane, being the primary constituent of natural gas, is a strong greenhouse gas. The identification of mechanisms through which methane may migrate to the atmosphere as fugitive emissions is important to understand the climate dimensions of oil and gas development.
Early guenon from the late Miocene Baynunah Formation, Abu Dhabi, with implications for cercopithecoid biogeography and evolution
Authors: Gilbert Christopher C. , Bibi Faysal , Hill Andrew , Beech Mark J. 
Published: July 2014

Significance
The primate subfamily Cercopithecinae represents the most diverse and successful living Old World primate group, with a current distribution throughout Africa and Asia. However, how and when these monkeys dispersed out of Africa is not well understood. This paper is significant in its description of a ∼6.5–8.0 million-y-old fossil guenon from Arabia representing the earliest cercopithecine (and only guenon) yet known outside of Africa. Furthermore, this specimen extends the guenon fossil record by at least 2.3 million y and may represent the earliest known cercopithecine as well. Because Old World monkeys appear to have dispersed out of Africa sometime during the Late Miocene, the Arabian fossils also have implications for dispersal scenarios in Old World monkey biogeography and evolution.
Metagenomic scaffolds enable combinatorial lignin transformation
Authors: Strachan Cameron R. , Singh Rahul , VanInsberghe David , Ievdokymenko Kateryna , Budwill Karen , Mohn William W. , Eltis Lindsay D. , Hallam Steven J. 
Published: July 2014

Significance
Plant biomass conversion into biofuels and chemicals can reduce human reliance on petroleum and promote sustainable biorefining processes. The structural polymer lignin can comprise up to 40% of plant biomass, but resists decomposition into valuable monoaromatic compounds. In this study, we devised a previously unidentified biosensor responsive to lignin transformation products. We used this biosensor in a functional screen to recover metagenomic scaffolds sourced from coal bed bacterial communities. Genetic and biochemical analyses revealed six functional classes mediating lignin transformation that are mobilized in nature via horizontal gene transfer. Our results suggest that bacterial lignin transformation is an adaptive trait that can be exploited to engineer combinatorial arrays with defined product profiles, a prerequisite for scale-up production using different plant sources.
IL-33/ST2 axis promotes mast cell survival via BCLXL
Authors: Wang Jun-Xia , Kaieda Shinjiro , Ameri Sarah , Fishgal Nadia , Dwyer Daniel , Dellinger Anthony , Kepley Christopher L. , Gurish Michael F. , Nigrovic Peter A. 
Published: July 2014

SignificanceMast cells (MC) are long-lived cells that accumulate in inflamed tissues. IL-33 has been characterized extensively as a MC activator, but a contribution of IL-33 and its receptor IL-1 receptor-related protein ST2 to MC survival remains unappreciated. Here, we show that IL-33 attenuates apoptosis of human and murine MC, principally via the antiapoptotic molecule B-cell lymphoma-X large (BCLXL). In vivo, IL-33 and ST2 can confer a cell-intrinsic survival advantage to murine MC, particularly in the context of inflammation. These results identify the IL-33/ST2 axis as an important pathway supporting MC persistence in tissues, raising the possibility that therapeutic targeting of IL-33 could limit the contribution of MC to chronic inflammatory diseases.
Intraoperative mass spectrometry mapping of an onco-metabolite to guide brain tumor surgery
Authors: Santagata Sandro , Eberlin Livia S. , Norton Isaiah , Calligaris David , Feldman Daniel R. , Ide Jennifer L. , Liu Xiaohui , Wiley Joshua S. , Vestal Matthew L. , Ramkissoon Shakti H. , Orringer Daniel A. , Gill Kristen K. , Dunn Ian F. , Dias-Santagata Dora , Ligon Keith L. , Jolesz Ferenc A. , Golby Alexandra J. , Cooks R. Graham , Agar Nathalie Y. R. 
Published: July 2014

Significance
The diagnosis of tumors during surgery still relies principally on an approach developed over 150 y ago: frozen section microscopy. We show that a validated molecular marker—2-hydroxyglutarate generated from isocitrate dehydrogenase 1 mutant gliomas—can be rapidly detected from tumors using a form of ambient MS that does not require sample preparation. We use the Advanced Multimodality Image Guided Operating Suite at Brigham and Women’s Hospital to demonstrate that desorption electrospray ionization MS could be used to detect residual tumor that would have been left behind in the patient. The approach paves the way for the clinical testing of MS-based intraoperative monitoring of tumor metabolites, an advance that could revolutionize the care of surgical oncology patients.
Realized niche shift during a global biological invasion
Authors: Tingley Reid , Vallinoto Marcelo , Sequeira Fernando , Kearney Michael R. 
Published: July 2014

Significance
Species’ distributions result from dispersal and physiological constraints, interactions with other species, and ultimately, evolution. Biological invasions result from the deliberate or accidental movement of species between regions they would not reach through natural dispersal and can cause major conservation, economic, and human health issues. However, invasions also provide fascinating insights into species’ distribution limits. We investigate the invasion of the cane toad from South America to Australia by comparing the results of two modeling approaches: one considering physiological constraints and the other considering the joint influences of physiology, dispersal, and biotic interactions. Our findings demonstrate that the cane toad is limited in its native distribution by biotic interactions but, in Australia, is free to fill its climatic potential.
Transcription factor induction of human oligodendrocyte progenitor fate and differentiation
Authors: Wang Jing , Pol Suyog U. , Haberman Alexa K. , Wang Chunming , O’Bara Melanie A. , Sim Fraser J. 
Published: July 2014

Significance
Transplantation of human myelinogenic cells represents a realizable strategy for treatment of congenital and acquired demyelinating diseases. Although generation of undifferentiated neural stem and progenitors is feasible, the induction of myelinogenic cell fate remains a significant challenge. In this paper, we describe, to our knowledge, the first comprehensive study of transcription factor expression and function by purified neural and oligodendrocyte progenitors obtained directly from human brain tissue. We have identified those transcription factors capable of regulating oligodendrocyte progenitor fate and establish that among these, only SOX10 was capable of comprehensively inducing oligodendrocyte fate both in vitro and following transplantation into a model of human leukodystrophy. Thus, viral and pharmacologic approaches to increasing SOX10 expression likely will improve the outcome of human transplant therapy.
Synthetic (+)‐antroquinonol exhibits dual actions against insulin resistance by triggering AMP kinase and inhibiting dipeptidyl peptidase IV activities
Authors: Hsu C Y , Sulake R S , Huang P‐K , Shih H‐Y , Sie H‐W , Lai Y‐K , Chen C , Weng C F 
Published: July 2014

Background and PurposeThe fungal product (+)‐antroquinonol activates AMP kinase (AMPK) activity in cancer cell lines. The present study was conducted to examine whether chemically synthesized (+)‐antroquinonol exhibited beneficial metabolic effects in insulin‐resistant states by activating AMPK and inhibiting dipeptidyl peptidase IV (DPP IV) activity.Experimental ApproachEffects of (+)‐antroquinonol on DPP IV activity were measured with a DPPIV Assay Kit and effects on GLP‐1‐induced PKA were measured in AR42J cells. Translocation of the glucose transporter 4, GLUT4, induced either by insulin‐dependent PI3K/AKT signalling or by insulin‐independent AMPK activation, was assayed in differentiated myotubes. Glucose uptake and GLUT4 translocation were assayed in L6 myocytes. Mice with diet‐induced obesity were used to assess effects of acute and chronic treatment with (+)‐antroquinonol on glycaemic control in vivo.Key ResultsThe results showed that of (+)‐antroquinonol (100 μM ) inhibited the DPP IV activity as effectively as the clinically used inhibitor, sitagliptin. The phosphorylation of AMPK Thr172 in differentiated myotubes was significantly increased by (+)‐antroquinonol. In cells simultaneously treated with S961 (insulin receptor antagonist), insulin and (+)‐antroquinonol, the combination of (+)‐antroquinonol plus insulin still increased both GLUT4 translocation and glucose uptake. Further, (+)‐antroquinonol and sitagliptin reduced blood glucose, when given acutely or chronically to DIO mice.Conclusions and ImplicationsChemically synthesized (+)‐antroquinonol exhibits dual effects to ameliorate insulin resistance, by increasing AMPK activity and GLUT4 translocation, along with inhibiting DPP IV activity.
Non‐unique stratal geometries: implications for sequence stratigraphic interpretations
Authors: Burgess Peter M. , Prince Guy D. 
Published: July 2014

AbstractThere is now strong evidence that stratal geometries on basin margins are most likely a consequence of multiple controls, not just variations in accommodation. Consequently, correct sequence stratigraphic interpretation of stratal geometries requires an understanding of how multiple different controls may generate similar geometries. Using a simple numerical stratigraphic forward model, we explore the impact of time variable sediment supply and different sediment transport rates on stratal geometries. We demonstrate how four common types of stratal geometry can form by more than one set of controlling parameter values and are thus likely to be non‐unique, meaning that there may be several sets of controlling factors that can plausibly explain their formation. For example, a maximum transgressive surface can occur in the model due to an increase in rate of relative sea‐level rise during constant sediment supply, and due to a reduction in rate of sediment supply during a constant rate of relative sea‐level rise. Sequence boundaries, topset aggradation and shoreline trajectories are also examples of non‐unique stratal geometries. If the model simulations in this work are sufficiently realistic, then the modelled stratal geometries are important examples of non‐uniqueness, suggesting the need for a shift towards sequence stratigraphic methods based on constructing and evaluating multiple hypotheses and scenarios.