bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Low doses of neonicotinoid pesticides in food rewards impair short-term olfactory memory in foraging-age honeybees
Authors: Wright Geraldine A. , Softley Samantha , Earnshaw Helen 
Published: October 2015

AbstractNeonicotinoids are often applied as systemic seed treatments to crops and have reported negative impact on pollinators when they appear in floral nectar and pollen. Recently, we found that bees in a two-choice assay prefer to consume solutions containing field-relevant doses of the neonicotinoid pesticides, imidacloprid (IMD) and thiamethoxam (TMX), to sucrose alone. This suggests that neonicotinoids enhance the rewarding properties of sucrose and that low, acute doses could improve learning and memory in bees. To test this, we trained foraging-age honeybees to learn to associate floral scent with a reward containing nectar-relevant concentrations of IMD and TMX and tested their short (STM) and long-term (LTM) olfactory memories. Contrary to our predictions, we found that none of the solutions enhanced the rate of olfactory learning and some of them impaired it. In particular, the effect of 10 nM IMD was observed by the second conditioning trial and persisted 24 h later. In most other groups, exposure to IMD and TMX affected STM but not LTM. Our data show that negative impacts of low doses of IMD and TMX do not require long-term exposure and suggest that impacts of neonicotinoids on olfaction are greater than their effects on rewarding memories.
Steady-state photoconductivity and multi-particle interactions in high-mobility organic semiconductors
Authors: Irkhin P. , Najafov H. , Podzorov V. 
Published: October 2015

AbstractFundamental understanding of photocarrier generation, transport and recombination under a steady-state photoexcitation has been an important goal of organic electronics and photonics, since these processes govern such electronic properties of organic semiconductors as, for instance, photoconductivity. Here, we discovered that photoconductivity of a highly ordered organic semiconductor rubrene exhibits several distinct regimes, in which photocurrent as a function of cw (continuous wave) excitation intensity is described by a power law with exponents sequentially taking values 1, 1/3 and ¼. We show that in pristine crystals this photocurrent is generated at the very surface of the crystals, while the bulk photocurrent is drastically smaller and follows a different sequence of exponents, 1 and ½. We describe a simple experimental procedure, based on an application of “gauge effect” in high vacuum, that allows to disentangle the surface and bulk contributions to photoconductivity. A model based on singlet exciton fission, triplet fusion and triplet-charge quenching that can describe these non-trivial effects in photoconductivity of highly ordered organic semiconductors is proposed. Observation of these effects in photoconductivity and modeling of the underlying microscopic mechanisms described in this work represent a significant step forward in our understanding of electronic properties of organic semiconductors.
Optical coherency matrix tomography
Authors: Kagalwala Kumel H. , Kondakci H. Esat , Abouraddy Ayman F. , Saleh Bahaa E. A. 
Published: October 2015

AbstractThe coherence of an optical beam having multiple degrees of freedom (DoFs) is described by a coherency matrix G spanning these DoFs. This optical coherency matrix has not been measured in its entirety to date—even in the simplest case of two binary DoFs where G is a 4 × 4 matrix. We establish a methodical yet versatile approach—optical coherency matrix tomography—for reconstructing G that exploits the analogy between this problem in classical optics and that of tomographically reconstructing the density matrix associated with multipartite quantum states in quantum information science. Here G is reconstructed from a minimal set of linearly independent measurements, each a cascade of projective measurements for each DoF. We report the first experimental measurements of the 4 × 4 coherency matrix G associated with an electromagnetic beam in which polarization and a spatial DoF are relevant, ranging from the traditional two-point Young’s double slit to spatial parity and orbital angular momentum modes.
Impact Of Environmental Variation On Host Performance Differs With Pathogen Identity: Implications For Host-Pathogen Interactions In A Changing Climate
Authors: Shikano Ikkei , Cory Jenny S. 
Published: October 2015

AbstractSpecialist and generalist pathogens may exert different costs on their hosts; thereby altering the way hosts cope with environmental variation. We examined how pathogen-challenge alters the environmental conditions that maximize host performance by simultaneously varying temperature and nutrition (protein to carbohydrate ratio; P:C) after exposure to two baculoviruses; one that is specific to the cabbage looper,Trichoplusia ni(TnSNPV) and another that has a broad host range (AcMNPV). Virus-challenged larvae performed better on more protein-biased diets, primarily due to higher survival, whereas unchallenged larvae performed best on a balanced diet. The environmental conditions that maximized host performance differed with virus identity because TnSNPV-challenge inflicted fitness costs (reduced pupal weight and prolonged development) whereas AcMNPV-challenge did not. The performance of TnSNPV-challenged larvae rose with increasing P:C across all temperatures, whereas temperature modulated the optimal P:C in AcMNPV-challenged larvae (slightly protein-biased at 16 °C to increasingly higher P:C as temperature increased). Increasing temperature reduced pupal size, but only at more balanced P:C ratios, indicating that nutrition moderates the temperature-size rule. Our findings highlight the complex environmental interactions that can alter host performance after exposure to pathogens, which could impact the role of entomopathogens as regulators of insect populations in a changing climate.
Ultra-wideband microwave absorber by connecting multiple absorption bands of two different-sized hyperbolic metamaterial waveguide arrays
Authors: Yin Xiang , Long Chang , Li Junhao , Zhu Hua , Chen Lin , Guan Jianguo , Li Xun 
Published: October 2015

AbstractMicrowave absorbers have important applications in various areas including stealth, camouflage and antenna. Here, we have designed an ultra-broadband light absorber by integrating two different-sized tapered hyperbolic metamaterial (HMM) waveguides, each of which has wide but different absorption bands due to broadband slow-light response, into a unit cell. Both the numerical and experimental results demonstrate that in such a design strategy, the low absorption bands between high absorption bands with a single-sized tapered HMM waveguide array can be effectively eliminated, resulting in a largely expanded absorption bandwidth ranging from 2.3 to 40 GHz. The presented ultra-broadband light absorber is also insensitive to polarization and robust against incident angle. Our results offer a further step in developing practical artificial electromagnetic absorbers, which will impact a broad range of applications at microwave frequencies.
Vialess vertical microstrip‐to‐microstrip transition using open slot‐line
Authors: Liu Gang , Li Lin , Xiao Yang , Chen Si‐Si 
Published: October 2015

A new wide‐band, low‐loss and compact vertical microstrip‐to‐microstrip transition is presented. The proposed structure consists of two quarter‐wavelength open‐circuited microstrip lines and a quarter‐wavelength open slot‐line etched on the common ground plane. The theoretical analysis based on equivalent‐circuit model reveals that the proposed transition exhibits ultra‐wide passband with three transmission poles. To effectively enhance the bandwidth, the optimised parameters are obtained by the transmission poles separations. Finally, a transition having a wide fractional bandwidth of 114% is achieved with the compact size of 8.75 mm × 4.2 mm. Predictions are well verified by measurements over a wide frequency range.
Small area 0.3 pJ/conv, 45 ps time‐to‐digital converter for arrays of silicon photomultiplier interfaces in 150 nm CMOS
Authors: Perenzoni M. , Xu H. , Stoppa D. 
Published: October 2015

A ring‐oscillator‐based time‐to‐digital converter (TDC) is presented which can achieve a figure‐of‐merit of 0.3 pJ/conv in a very small footprint of 0.0024 mm2. Thanks to the optimisation of the ring‐oscillator and of the sub‐cycle interpolation, a 45‐ps LSB is obtained with only 0.95 mW of power consumption. The area and power characteristics make the TDC suitable for its use in repeated instances, such as in multiple silicon photomultipliers readout channels or single‐photon imaging devices with time‐correlated detection.
Mechanism for enhanced wavelength tuning in gain‐levered InP quantum dot lasers
Authors: Thomas Robert , Briglin Daniel , Krysa Andrey B. , Smowton Peter Michael 
Published: October 2015

Peak gain wavelength tuning via the gain‐lever effect is demonstrated in segmented contact InP quantum dot Fabry–Perot lasers. A tuning range of 6.5 ± 0.1 nm was recorded in the lasing spectra of a 1.9 mm long broad area device operating at 22°C. The authors clarify the nature of the tuning mechanism and identify the critical material and device parameters that determine the limits of the wavelength tuning range.
Vertiginous Symptoms and Objective Measures of Postural Balance in Elderly People with Benign Paroxysmal Positional Vertigo Submitted to the Epley Maneuver
Authors: Silva Camila , Ribeiro Karyna , Freitas Raysa , Ferreira Lidiane , Guerra Ricardo 
Published: October 2015

Introduction Benign Paroxysmal Positional Vertigo (BPPV) is one of the most common and treatable causes of peripheral vestibular vertigo in adults. Its incidence increases with age, eventually leading to disability and a decreased quality of life.
Objective The research aims to assess short-term effects of Otolith Repositioning Maneuver (ORM) on dizziness symptoms, quality of life, and postural balance in elderly people with Benign Paroxysmal Positional Vertigo.
Methods A quasi-experimental study, which evaluated 14 elderly people that underwent the Otolith Repositioning Maneuver and reevaluation after one week. The authors performed statistical analysis by descriptive analysis of central tendency and dispersion; for pre- and post-treatment conditions, the authors used the Wilcoxon test.
Results All aspects of the Dizziness Handicap Inventory (physical, functional, emotional, and total scores) as well as the Visual Analogue Scale (VAS) decreased after therapy (p < 0.05 and p = 0.001, respectively). However, more than half of the elderly participants did not achieve negative Dix-Hallpike. Regarding static and dynamic balance, there were significant differences in some parameters of the modified Clinical Test of Sensory Interaction and Balance, Limits of Stability and gait assessment measured by the Dizziness Gait Index (p < 0.05).
Conclusion Results reveal clinical and functional benefits in elderly people with Benign Paroxysmal Positional Vertigo submitted to Otolith Repositioning Maneuver. However, most of the participants did not overcome Benign Paroxysmal Positional Vertigo and not all aspects of postural balance improved. Therefore, a longer follow-up period and a multidisciplinary team are required to establish comprehensive care for elderly patients with dizziness complaints.
Species distribution modelling in predicting response to climate change.
Authors: Hill M. P. , Thomson L. J. 
Published: October 2015

Abstract

Species distribution modelling comprises a range of widely used tools for predicting potential changes in insect pest species distributions with climate change. We review the current literature to see the effectiveness of different approaches, particularly in comparing predictions based on current distribution data (correlative or 'environmental niche models') and those based on life-history traits and determination of thermal limits (mechanistic models). We review new developments in implementing processes such as dispersal and biotic interactions within species distribution models and how these could be used to develop management strategies incorporating natural enemies into climate change predictions. We propose that species distribution models should be linked with key trait data where possible to inform better of response to climate change.
Adaptive responses of plants to insect herbivores under climate change.
Authors: Rasmann S. , Pellissier L. 
Published: October 2015

Abstract

Global climate change, including the rise of CO2 emissions and global warming, are predicted to alter the composition of communities through differential colonization abilities between sessile plants and their mobile insect herbivores along latitudinal and elevation gradients. In particular, under the scenario of increasing temperature, it is expected that insect abundance and diversity will increase at higher elevation and latitude. The outcome of novel interactions between previously non-overlapping plant and insect species will ultimately result from the ability of the plant to adjust its defence and tolerance strategy. However, plant responses to herbivory may also be directly impacted by the effect of CO2 and temperature on plant defensive hormonal pathways. Additionally, syndromes of plant defences and tolerance are driven by inherited functional traits, biotic and abiotic conditions and the geographical and historical contingencies affecting the community. Therefore, understanding evolutionary species responses to climate change and novel plant-herbivore interactions requires understanding of genetic variation, strength of phenotypic plasticity in response to herbivore attack and trait phylogenetic conservatism. We advocate the study along elevation gradients for predicting ecological and evolutionary outcomes of climate change on plant-herbivore interaction.
Climate change effects on agricultural insect pests in Europe.
Authors: Lindström L. , Lehmann P. 
Published: October 2015

Abstract

In this chapter, we will discuss observations of climate change effects on agricultural pests in Europe, the possible mechanisms behind these observed effects and finally delve into more detail through some relatively well studied model species (the Colorado potato beetle and the rape beetle). Direct effects of climate change on agricultural pests in Europe are difficult to dissect from all the human-induced changes that have taken place in parallel with an increased mean annual temperature. During the past decade, agriculture has become more professionalized in terms of land use, crop cultivation techniques and pest management strategies. We review the effect of climate change on agricultural pests by comparing the speed of range expansion of pest species to non-pest species. It seems that the poleward range shift has been faster for pest than non-pest species. We attribute this partly to the globalization of agriculture as human-assisted movement has broken many natural dispersal barriers. Since the biology of many pest species is relatively poorly studied, direct conclusions on how climate change has affected the biological processes of pests are challenging to make.
Responses of tree-killing bark beetles to a changing climate.
Authors: Raffa K. F. , Aukema B. H. , Bentz B. J. , Carroll A. L. , Hicke J. A. , Kolb T. E. 
Published: October 2015

Abstract

Bark beetles cause widespread tree mortality, so understanding how climate change will influence the distribution and magnitude of outbreaks by this group of herbivores is important. We first develop a framework of outbreak dynamics that emphasizes transitions from states dominated by negative feedback to those dominated by positive, density-dependent feedback. We then consider mechanisms by which temperature and precipitation changes can allow populations to breach critical thresholds, and the empirical data relating outbreaks to weather. Finally, we consider how anticipated climatic change, and relationships with new hosts and natural enemy guilds, may influence dynamics in new habitats. There is strong evidence that elevated temperature can increase overwintering survival and decrease generation times of bark beetles, although evolved traits can also constrain response to warming in some habitats. Moreover, combinations of phenotypic plasticity, genotypic variation and physiological thresholds yield a broad range of conditions under which adults emerge synchronously, and thus can mass attack trees. There is likewise strong evidence that severe drought reduces tree defences against attack. Drought stress can occur through lower precipitation and/or higher temperatures that reduce soil moisture and/or raise vapour pressure deficit. We also delineate three categories of range modifications: increased and more persistent establishment in areas where trees experienced only intermittent exposure historically; establishment in areas dominated by host species but where local populations experienced little or no pressure historically; and movement into new areas containing susceptible species that have not been exposed previously. Each of these has been documented for bark beetles. Trees in areas that experienced minor or no exposure generally had lower defences than their more historically exposed counterparts. However, there can be lags in beetle behavioural responses. In some cases, more heterogeneous forest structure, more abundant local predators and competitors and low host nutritional quality could potentially lessen risk in new habitats. Direct comparative studies are needed to evaluate outbreak potentials following range expansions driven by climate warming.
Effects of new forest management on insect damage risk in a changing climate.
Authors: Björkman C. , Bylund H. , Nilsson U. , Nordlander G. , Schroeder M. 
Published: October 2015

Abstract

Recent findings suggest that damage by forest insect pests will increase as a consequence of climate warming. Here, we ask whether changes in forest management can alter and possibly mitigate the increased risk of damage and outbreaks. We focus mainly on conditions in northern Europe, particularly Sweden, but conclusions should be valid for northern temperate forests. Three types of insect pests are considered; the regeneration pest, Hylobius abietis (pine weevil), defoliators and the bark beetle, Ips typographus. We compare the expected effect of new management methods with the presently predominant method of even-aged stands, which are thinned two to three times before final harvest by clear-felling. Continuous cover forestry (CCF) is the method most different from the present practice. CCF would lead to a drastic decrease in pine weevils, and also less damage by defoliators, but this latter prediction is uncertain. For the bark beetle, the uncertainty is even greater. In mixed forests, all three insect pest types are expected to become less of a problem. Putative mechanisms involve more abundant and diverse natural enemy fauna, and a more scattered distribution of food resources. A shorter rotation period (including no thinning) is expected to increase the damage by pine weevils, as it will result in more abundant breeding material. For defoliators, it is difficult to foresee the effects. A shorter rotation period will decrease the risk of bark beetle outbreaks, as storm-fellings will be less frequent and young stands more common. The effects of exotic tree species and clonal forestry are complex and will depend on several factors. A general conclusion is that forest management may be used to mitigate the anticipated risk of insect pest damage as a consequence of climate warming, but more research is required to certify these indications.
Advanced glycation end-product (AGE) induces apoptosis in human retinal ARPE-19 cells via promoting mitochondrial dysfunction and activating the Fas-FasL signaling
Authors: Wang Pu , Xing Yiqiao , Chen Changzheng , Chen Zhen , Qian Zhimin 
Published: October 2015

Abstract
Advanced glycation end-products (AGEs) are extremely accumulated in the retinal vascular and epithelial cells of diabetes mellitus (DM) patients, particularly with diabetic retinopathy (DR). To elucidate the pathogenesis of the AGE-induced toxicity to retinal epithelial cells, we investigated the role of Fas–Fas ligand (FasL) signaling and mitochondrial dysfunction in the AGE-induced apoptosis. Results demonstrated that the AGE-BSA- induced apoptosis of retinal ARPE-19 cells. And the AGE-BSA treatment caused mitochondrial dysfunction, via deregulating the B-cell lymphoma 2 (Bcl-2) signaling. Moreover, the Fas/FasL and its downstreamer Caspase 8 were promoted by the AGE-BSA treatment, and the exogenous α-Fas exacerbated the activation of Caspase 3/8. On the other side, the siRNA-mediated knockdown of Fas/FasL inhibited the AGE-BSA-induced apoptosis. Taken together, we confirmed the activation of Fas–FasL signaling and of mitochondrial dysfunction in the AGE-BSA-promoted apoptosis in retinal ARPE-19 cells, implying the important role of Fas–FasL signaling in the DR in DM.
3′-Hydroxy-ε,ε-caroten-3-one inhibits the differentiation of 3T3-L1 cells to adipocytes
Authors: Kotake-Nara Eiichi , Hase Megumi , Kobayashi Miyuki , Nagao Akihiko 
Published: October 2015

Abstract
An oxidative metabolite of lutein, 3′-hydroxy-ε,ε-caroten-3-one, inhibited the differentiation of 3T3-L1 cells to adipocytes and the subsequent triacylglycerol production, but lutein did not. The α,β-unsaturated carbonyl structure of 3′-hydroxy-ε,ε-caroten-3-one was considered to participate in the inhibitory effect, suggesting that this lutein metabolite has the potential to prevent metabolic syndrome.
Reverse Hölder’s inequality for spherical harmonics
Authors: Dai Feng , Feng Han , Tikhonov Sergey 
Published: October 2015

This paper determines the sharp asymptotic order of the following reverse Hölder inequality for spherical harmonics

Y
n

Y_n

of degree

n
n

on the unit sphere

S

d
−
1

\mathbb {S}^{d-1}

of

R

d

\mathbb {R}^d

as

n
→
∞

n\to \infty

:
\[

‖

Y
n

‖

L
q

(

S

d
−
1

)

≤
C

n

α
(
p
,
q
)

‖

Y
n

‖

L
p

(

S

d
−
1

)

,

0
>
p
>
q
≤
∞
.

\|Y_n\|_{L^q(\mathbb {S}^{d-1})}\leq C n^{\alpha (p,q)}\|Y_n\|_{L^p(\mathbb {S}^{d-1})},\ 0>p>q\leq \infty .

\]
In many cases, these sharp estimates turn out to be significantly better than the corresponding estimates in the Nikolskii inequality for spherical polynomials. Furthermore, they allow us to improve two recent results on the restriction conjecture and the sharp Pitt inequalities for the Fourier transform on

R

d

\mathbb {R}^d

.
Viruses are a dominant driver of protein adaptation in mammals
Authors: Enard David , Cai Le , Gwenapp Carina , Petrov Dmitri A. 
Published: October 2015

SummaryViruses interact with hundreds to thousands of proteins in mammals, yet adaptation against viruses has only been studied in a few proteins specialized in antiviral defense. Whether adaptation to viruses typically involves only specialized antiviral proteins or affects a broad array of proteins is unknown. Here, we analyze adaptation in ~1,300 virus-interacting proteins manually curated from a set of 9,900 proteins conserved across mammals. We show that viruses (i) use the more evolutionarily constrained proteins from the cellular functions they hijack and that (ii) despite this high constraint, virus-interacting proteins account for a high proportion of all protein adaptation in humans and other mammals. Adaptation is elevated in virus-interacting proteins across all functional categories, including both immune and non-immune functions. Our results demonstrate that viruses are one of the most dominant drivers of evolutionary change across mammalian and human proteomes.