bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
An environmental oestrogen disrupts fish population dynamics through direct and transgenerational effects on survival and fecundity
Authors: Schwindt Adam R. , Winkelman Dana L. , Keteles Kristen , Murphy Mark , Vajda Alan M. 
Published: February 2014

Summary

Increased need for water and projected declines in precipitation due to climate change could leave waterways increasingly dominated by wastewater effluent. Understanding how components of wastewater influence fish populations is necessary for effective conservation and management. Despite research demonstrating effects of oestrogens, such as 17α‐ethynylestradiol (EE2), on fish physiology and population failure, the generality of population responses is uncertain and the underlying mechanisms affecting population declines are unknown. EE2 is the steroid oestrogen in human contraceptive pills and has been measured up to 11 ng L−1 in the environment.

We identify disrupted population dynamics due to direct and transgenerational effects on survival and fecundity. We conducted a year‐long study on three generations of fathead minnows Pimephales promelas Rafinesque in aquatic mesocosms and laboratory aquaria. We added environmentally relevant concentrations of EE2 daily using a static renewal, which approximates a pulsed exposure that fish experience in natural systems.

EE2 (3·2 ng L−1) reduced F0 male survival to 17% (48% lower than controls) and juvenile production by 40% compared to controls. F1 fish continuously exposed to EE2 failed to reproduce, and reproduction of the F1 transferred to clean water was 70–99% less than controls.

F2 larval survival, exposed only as germ cells in their parents, was reduced by 51–97% compared to controls. The indirect effect on F2 survival suggests the possibility of transgenerational effects of EE2.

Synthesis and applications. Our results suggest that fish populations exposed to environmentally relevant 17α‐ethynylestradiol (EE2) concentrations may not recover from exposure. Management of short‐lived highly fecund fishes should be prioritized to protect fish from the embryo through gonadal differentiation. Reducing effluent will not be possible in many situations; hence, conservation of breeding and rearing habitat in unpolluted tributaries or reaches is needed. Additionally, resource managers could enhance habitat connectivity in rivers to facilitate immigration. Finally, investment in advanced wastewater processing technology should improve removal of bioactive chemicals such as EE2. Our results provide a baseline for regulatory agencies to consider when assessing the ecological effects of environmental oestrogens, and our approach to evaluating population‐level effects could be widely applied to other contaminants.
The Tree of Life in ecosystems: evolution of plant effects on carbon and nutrient cycling
Authors: Cornelissen Johannes H. C. , Cornwell William K. 
Published: February 2014

Summary

The time is now ripe for ecologists and evolutionary biologists together to tackle a huge and important new challenge: mapping plant species effects on ecosystem functions onto the Tree of Life. This new research agenda is now tractable because of major recent advances in (i) screening plant species world‐wide for the traits that support these functions, as well as in our understanding of how these traits support these functions; (ii) genetic screening and bioinformatics to build huge molecular plant phylogenies; and (iii) the comparative methods tools to analyse traits and phylogenies together.

Understanding the evolutionary dynamics of traits related to biogeochemical cycling requires concerted research activity at a range of different phylogenetic scales, from analyses that consider data from all land plants to micro‐evolution and other sources of intraspecific variation. This effort also requires study of the different plant organs involved in carbon and nutrient uptake, processing and transport, including the coordination between them.

This overall effort should reveal (i) which lineages are associated with fast and which with slow turnover of carbon and nutrients (and water); (ii) how they are associated with fast versus slow turnover in terms of the traits involved; (iii) when in evolutionary history key transitions between fast and slow occurred; and (iv) what were and are the consequences of such variation in plant carbon and nutrient traits and turnover rates for past, present and future ecosystem functioning and services.

Here, we introduce seven papers that together help set up this research agenda, each at a different phylogenetic level and resolution, and for different plant organs. Recent studies have begun to reveal evolutionary patterns in traits that matter to carbon and nutrient cycling for other groups of organisms, such as decomposing fungi and macrodetritivores and herbivorous animals. Ultimately such studies will all help towards the goal of mapping effects of organisms on biogeochemical cycling onto the entire Tree of Life.
So excellent a fishe: a global overview of legal marine turtle fisheries
Authors: Humber Frances , Godley Brendan J. , Broderick Annette C. 
Published: February 2014

AbstractAimWe provide a global assessment of the current legal direct take of marine turtles, including the scale and species breakdown at country level, and investigate the significance of legal take to marine turtle populations within the wider context of global threats.LocationWorld‐wide.MethodsWe undertook a comprehensive review of the literature (> 500 publications) and contacted over 150 in‐country experts to collate data for countries that permit the legal take of marine turtles (as of 1 January 2013). Current annual take for each country and species was estimated, and estimates were generated for the 1980s, 1990s and 2000s.ResultsCurrently, 42 countries and territories permit direct take of turtles and collectively take in excess of 42,000 turtles per year, the majority of which (> 80%) are green turtles Chelonia mydas (Linnaeus 1758). Ten countries account for more than 90% of legal take each year with Papua New Guinea (36.1%) and Nicaragua (22.3%) accounting for more than half of the total global take. Since 1980, we estimate that more than 2 million turtles have been legally taken in these countries, with current levels < 60% of those in the 1980s.Main conclusionsOur results provide the most comprehensive global synthesis of the legal take of turtles in recent years and suggest that legal take has the potential to be a driver of marine turtle population dynamics, comparable to mortality estimates through recorded bycatch. However, it is likely that illegal take, along with bycatch, is significantly under‐recorded and far greater than the total level of directed legal take. This hampers the ability to assess the relative impacts of these threats to marine turtles.
A study on the ASTM E1921 standard in determining the fracture toughness of ferritic steels
Authors: Aytekin H. 
Published: February 2014

ABSTRACTOne of the most important aims of the fracture mechanics is to determine the fracture toughness of a material. Various methods were developed for this purpose and have been still used nowadays. In the J‐integral method that is one of them, providing of a dominant linear elastic condition on the specimen is not required. However, in ferritic steels, the fracture toughness values (KJC) obtained by the J‐integral method show some inconsistencies. Therefore, the ASTM E1921 standard was developed on ferritic steels, which are instabilities in the values of elastic or elastoplastic fracture toughness. In this study, a new method was used to determine the fracture toughness (KIC) of ferritic steels, and it was compared with the standard. Three steels with different mechanical properties and average grain size were investigated in this study.
Finite element modelling of residual stresses in shot‐peened steam turbine blades
Authors: Newby M. , James M. N. , Hattingh D. G. 
Published: February 2014

ABSTRACTThe attachment region in steam turbine blades is critical to structural integrity, and hence, surface treatment by shot peening or roller burnishing is commonly used to induce compressive residual stresses in the fir‐tree region of the blade. In particular, the last stage blades on the low pressure rotors present the highest risk in terms of catastrophic failure due to their size and operating conditions. These blades have a mass of some 24 kg and operate in a wet steam environment at approximately 60 °C while rotating at 3000 rpm; potential failure modes include high and low cycle fatigue, stress corrosion cracking and corrosion fatigue. This paper reports the development of, and results obtained from, an elastic‐perfectly plastic finite element model of the residual stresses in the attachment region of a last stage blade and the influence on these compressive stresses of fatigue cycling. The model uses thermal quenching to simulate the residual stress profile obtained in the fir‐tree serrations after shot peening. Results were validated via extensive synchrotron and laboratory X‐ray diffraction measurements of the residual stress in shot‐peened specimens.
Urban expansion dynamics and natural habitat loss in China: a multiscale landscape perspective
Authors: He Chunyang , Liu Zhifeng , Tian Jie , Ma Qun 
Published: February 2014

AbstractChina's extensive urbanization has resulted in a massive loss of natural habitat, which is threatening the nation's biodiversity and socioeconomic sustainability. A timely and accurate understanding of natural habitat loss caused by urban expansion will allow more informed and effective measures to be taken for the conservation of biodiversity. However, the impact of urban expansion on natural habitats is not well‐understood, primarily due to the lack of accurate spatial information regarding urban expansion across China. In this study, we proposed an approach that can be used to accurately summarize the dynamics of urban expansion in China over two recent decades (1992–2012), by integrating data on nighttime light levels, a vegetation index, and land surface temperature. The natural habitat loss during the time period was evaluated at the national, ecoregional, and local scales. The results revealed that China had experienced extremely rapid urban growth from 1992 to 2012 with an average annual growth rate of 8.74%, in contrast with the global average of 3.20%. The massive urban expansion has resulted in significant natural habitat loss in some areas in China. Special attention needs to be paid to the Pearl River Delta, where 25.79% or 1518 km2 of the natural habitat and 41.99% or 760 km2 of the local wetlands were lost during 1992–2012. This raises serious concerns about species viability and biodiversity. Effective policies and regulations must be implemented and enforced to sustain regional and national development in the context of rapid urbanization.
Changing knowledge and the academic profession in Portugal
Authors: Santiago Rui , Carvalho Teresa , Ferreira Andreia 
Published: February 2014

AbstractThe paper analyses the Portuguese academics' perceptions about changes in their research activities and modes of knowledge production. Quantitative data gathered from an on‐line national survey have been used to develop this analysis. Results reveal that the majority of academics declared that they were not involved in knowledge and technology transfer and that their research activities were not influenced by external sponsors or clients. However, they did recognise that were strong external pressures to reconfigure the epistemologies, ontologies and the institutional conditions under which knowledge is produced. The data analysis also reveals that academics recognise forms of hybridism between autonomy and endogenous dynamics and heteronomy and exogenous dynamics in the development of their research activities and knowledge production.
The Intergenerational Transmission of European Identity: The Role of Gender and Discussion within Families
Authors: Quintelier Ellen , Verhaegen Soetkin , Hooghe Marc 
Published: February 2014

AbstractThis article shows that while European identity tends to be weak among Europeans, a significant transmission of European identity occurs between parents and their children. Belgian adolescents' conversations with their mothers about the European Union strengthen this transmission process. This indicates that European identity is not a superficial phenomenon, but that it is integrated into the social identity of families. Various authors have already stated that the project of European integration requires development of a stronger sense of European identity among citizens of the European Union Member States. Using insights from social identity theory, it is demonstrated in the paper that salient social identities are being transmitted within families. Analyses of the Parent–Child Socialization Study, conducted among 2,085 Belgian father–mother–child triads, back this conclusion.
A deterministic framework for selecting a flood forecasting and warning system at watershed scale
Authors: Golian S. , Yazdi J. , Martina M.L.V. , Sheshangosht S. 
Published: February 2014

AbstractFeasibility and efficiency of flood forecasting and warning systems (FFWS) are among the most important aims of the watershed flood management. In this paper, a framework was developed to select an FFWS with respect to the costs and benefits of developing and using them and depending on the location and the time of concentration of target points. Target points were determined according to the exposure to flood risk of recreational and population centres in the watershed. A comparison of the economic costs or damages, the injuries or loss of lives for the cases with or without an FFWS had been carried out. The costs of FFWS had been estimated by means of an analysis of the components and equipments required by the hydrological features of the watershed. The economic damages had been estimated based on survey information of assets in the floodplain, lead time for target points and the injuries or losses of lives. These had been estimated according to the intensity of flood hazard, vulnerability, behaviour of population and its location relative to the hazard exposure.
Iatrogenic Pseudoaneurysm of the Middle Meningeal Artery after External Ventricular Drain Placement
Authors: Grandhi Ramesh , Zwagerman Nathan T. , Lee Philip , Jovin Tudor , Okonkwo David O. 
Published: February 2014

ABSTRACTExternal ventricular drain (EVD) placement is often a routine but lifesaving neurosurgical procedure performed throughout the world. Misadventures involving the procedure are well documented throughout the literature. However, we present a unique case of middle meningeal artery pseudoaneurysm formation after EVD placement not before described and provide a review of the literature.
Extraventricular Neurocytoma and Ganglioneurocytoma: Advanced MR Imaging, Histopathological, and Chromosomal Findings
Authors: Nabavizadeh Seyed Ali , Chawla Sanjeev , Baccon Jennifer , Zhang Paul J. , Poptani Harish , Melhem Elias R. , Vossough Arastoo 
Published: February 2014

ABSTRACTExtraventricular neurocytoma and ganglioneurocytoma are rare intra‐axial brain neoplasms that are now recognized as distinct entities in the 2007 WHO classification of brain tumors. We describe the conventional MR imaging, perfusion MRI, proton MR spectroscopy (1H MRS), histopathology, immunohistochemistry, and chromosomal analysis in two cases of these tumors, with some features which have not been previously well described. Both tumor types demonstrated markedly elevated cerebral blood volume on perfusion MRI and had 1p19q chromosomal codeletions. Both tumor types showed an elevated Cho/Cr ratio, but extraventricular ganglioneurocytoma showed a preserved NAA/Cr ratio. These tumors should be considered in the differential diagnosis of intra‐axial brain tumors.
Utility of island populations in re‐introduction programmes – relationships betweenArabian gazelles (Gazella arabica) from theFarasanArchipelago and endangered mainland populations
Authors: Lerp Hannes , Plath Martin , Wronski Torsten , Bärmann Eva V. , Malczyk Anna , Resch Revina‐Rosa , Streit Bruno , Pfenninger Markus 
Published: February 2014

AbstractUnderstanding local adaptation and population differentiation is vital to the success of re‐introduction initiatives. As other mammals living on islands,Arabian gazelles (G. arabica) show reduced body size on theFarasan archipelago, which we corroborated in this study through morphometric analyses of skulls. In the light of the steep population decline on theArabianPeninsula – but stable population development on the archipelago – we tested the potential suitability ofFarasan gazelles as a source for re‐introductions on the mainland. We therefore investigated genetic differentiation betweenFarasan and mainland populations using eleven nuclear microsatellite loci and detected a distinct genetic cluster exclusively present on the archipelago, which we inferred to be separated from the mainland cluster for less than 2000 years. About 30% of sampled individuals fromFarasanIslands showed assignment to a mainland cluster with signs of ongoing introgression. Analyses using the isolation‐with‐migration model confirmed recent (probably human‐induced) bidirectional exchange of gazelles between mainland and island populations. Hence, the surprisingly uniform island dwarfism most likely reflects phenotypic plasticity, that is, altered morphology as a direct consequence of harsh environmental conditions and resource limitation on the archipelago. Should a further decline ofArabian gazelles on the mainland necessitate restocking in the future,Farasan gazelles may thus become an additional source for captive breeding programmes.
Patterns of selection on Plasmodium falciparum erythrocyte‐binding antigens after the colonization of the New World
Authors: Yalcindag Erhan , Rougeron Virginie , Elguero Eric , Arnathau Céline , Durand Patrick , Brisse Sylvain , Diancourt Laure , Aubouy Agnes , Becquart Pierre , D'Alessandro Umberto , Fontenille Didier , Gamboa Dionicia , Maestre Amanda , Ménard Didier , Musset Lise , Noya Oscar , Veron Vincent , Wide Albina , Carme Bernard , Legrand Eric , Chevillon Christine , Ayala Francisco J. , Renaud François , Prugnolle Franck 
Published: February 2014

AbstractPathogens, which have recently colonized a new host species or new populations of the same host, are interesting models for understanding how populations may evolve in response to novel environments. During its colonization of South America from Africa, Plasmodium falciparum, the main agent of malaria, has been exposed to new conditions in distinctive new human populations (Amerindian and populations of mixed origins) that likely exerted new selective pressures on the parasite's genome. Among the genes that might have experienced strong selective pressures in response to these environmental changes, the eba genes (erythrocyte‐binding antigens genes), which are involved in the invasion of the human red blood cells, constitute good candidates. In this study, we analysed, in South America, the polymorphism of three eba genes (eba‐140, eba‐175, eba‐181) and compared it to the polymorphism observed in African populations. The aim was to determine whether these genes faced selective pressures in South America distinct from what they experienced in Africa. Patterns of genetic variability of these genes were compared to the patterns observed at two housekeeping genes (adsl and serca) and 272 SNPs to separate adaptive effects from demographic effects. We show that, conversely to Africa, eba‐140 seemed to be under stronger diversifying selection in South America than eba‐175. In contrast, eba‐181 did not show any sign of departure from neutrality. These changes in the patterns of selection on the eba genes could be the consequence of changes in the host immune response, the host receptor polymorphisms and/or the ability of the parasite to silence or express differentially its invasion proteins.
Dysphagia as a result of ossification of the anterior longitudinal ligament in a patient with myotonic dystrophy
Authors: Ishizawa Keisuke , Okano Tsubasa , Sasaki Takahiro , Tomioka Ryo , Araki Nobuo 
Published: February 2014

AbstractA 61‐year‐old man with myotonic dystrophy (dystrophia myotonica [DM]) complained of dysphagia. Videofluoroscopy suggested impairment of swallowing attributable to weakness of the oropharyngoesophageal muscles. To manage this problem, percutaneous endoscopic gastrostomy was attempted, but the endoscopy showed the upper esophagus was obstructed. Computed tomography (CT) of the neck showed ossification of the anterior longitudinal ligament (OALL) compressing the esophagus. In the serum, 1,25‐dihydroxycholecalciferol was elevated; head CT suggested hyperostosis of the calvarium; and dual‐energy X‐ray absorptiometry at lumbar segments yielded a bone mineral density of 1.092 g/cm2, corresponding to 113% of the age‐matched, Asian male controls. Systemic abnormal calcium metabolism could underlie this patient, which might have, directly or indirectly, contributed to OALL, resulting in dysphagia. The issue of abnormal calcium metabolism in DM deserves further exploration, as it can manifest with diverse, unexpected clinical symptoms, such as dysphagia as a result of OALL, as in the present case.
Simultaneous over‐expressing of an acyl‐ACP thioesterase (FatB) and silencing of acyl‐acyl carrier protein desaturase by artificial microRNAs increases saturated fatty acid levels in Brassica napus seeds
Authors: Sun Jin‐Yue , Hammerlindl Joe , Forseille Li , Zhang Haixia , Smith Mark A. 
Published: February 2014

SummaryNo temperate oilseeds crops are available that produce oil with a high saturated fatty acid content. To achieve such a profile, Brassica napus cv. DH12075 was engineered by simultaneous seed‐specific over‐expression of a native fatty acyl‐ACP thioesterase B [BnFatB(2)] and artificial microRNA‐mediated down‐regulation of eight endogenous genes encoding putative stearoyl‐ACP desaturases (BnSADs). Semi‐quantitative RT‐PCR analysis of transformed lines showed that the BnFatB(2) gene was highly over‐expressed and the eight putative SAD genes were strongly down‐regulated in developing seed demonstrating the successful application of microRNA as a tool for down‐regulation of genes in the allotetraploid plant B. napus. Analysis of seed triacylglycerol (TAG) composition revealed that all lines contained high levels of palmitic acid (16:0) and moderately increased levels of stearic acid (18:0). Total saturated fatty acid content was increased from 7.4% in the control to 37.3–45.6% in the transformed lines, with FatB over‐expression as the dominant trait. A twofold increase in 16:0 was observed in seed polar lipids. The melting point of oil from mature seeds was increased from −10 °C in DH12075 to 15 °C in the line with the highest saturated fatty acid content. TAG composition showed a shift from predominantly C54 TAG to C50 and C52 TAGs enriched in palmitic acid. Seedling establishment at low temperature was compromised in lines with high saturated fatty acid content. Results suggested that transcript encoding stearoyl‐ACP desaturase in developing B. napus seeds is present in considerable excess of the level required for efficient desaturation of 18:0.