bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Challenging the maximum rooting depth paradigm in grasslands and savannas
Authors: Nippert Jesse B. , Holdo Ricardo M. 
Published: December 2014

Summary

For many grassland and savanna ecosystems, water limitation is a key regulator of individual plant, community and ecosystem processes. Maximum rooting depth is commonly used to characterize the susceptibility of plant species to drought. This rests on the assumption that deep‐rooted plant species would have a greater total volume of soil water to exploit and should be less susceptible to episodic changes in water availability.

Independent of maximum rooting depth, rooting strategies based on differences in biomass allocation with depth, uptake plasticity in relation to water availability and variation in water transport capability may all influence growth responses and susceptibility to drought. Many examples from grasslands and savannas reflect these rooting strategies among coexisting grass, forb and woody species.

Here, we use a dynamic model of plant water uptake and growth to show how changes in root distribution, functional plasticity and root hydraulic conductivity have the potential to influence aboveground biomass and competitive outcomes, even when maximum rooting depth remains constant. We also show theoretically that shifts in root distribution to surface soils without changes in maximum depth can potentially outweigh the benefits of increased maximum rooting depth.

Combining our current reliance on biogeographic descriptions of maximum rooting depth with insights about other, more subtle aspects of root structure and function are likely to improve our understanding of ecosystem responses to dynamic water limitation.
Is successional research nearing its climax? New approaches for understanding dynamic communities
Authors: Meiners Scott J. , Cadotte Marc W. , Fridley Jason D. , Pickett Steward T. A. , Walker Lawrence R. 
Published: December 2014

Summary

Succession has been a focus of extensive ecological study for well over a century. Despite this sustained interest, succession remains a central theme in ecological research and is positioned to continue that prominence in this era of expanding human impacts. Community ecology is currently experiencing a profound conceptual expansion, providing many new insights into succession.

Here we present an existing conceptual framework of successional drivers that includes variation in site conditions, species availability and species performance, and expand it to include both evolutionary and geographic sources of variation. This framework is useful because it specifies relationships among individual drivers and is causally complete. While we generally think about succession as a within‐site process, the inclusion of phylogenetic and geographic processes allows integration across broader scales.

We use the conceptual framework to highlight several opportunities for successional research that have developed within community ecology, but have not been fully integrated into succession work. These ideas represent not only individual drivers of succession, but also potential synergistic processes operating through interaction with other drivers. The complexity of drivers in succession strongly argues for the need to move away from single factor studies towards combinatorial studies that incorporate multiple drivers.

Utilizing a trait‐based approach should allow researchers to address successional drivers at multiple ecological scales and lead to new insights that integrate ecological systems. Our ability to do this will depend on the availability of equivalent data across multiple systems, suggesting the need for more standardization in successional studies.

Addressing the research opportunities highlighted here will not only produce insights into successional systems, but also expand our understanding of fundamental questions in community ecology as a whole. Of particular importance is the ability to address broader scale questions that go beyond the idiosyncrasies of individual sites and systems. Understanding the dynamics of successional systems will remain critical to understanding, managing and predicting anthropogenic impacts on natural systems.
Usual interstitial pneumonia following resolution of cavitated pulmonary masses in a patient with ANCA‐associated vasculitis
Authors: Fukui Shoichi , Kobayashi Satomi , Kamei Satoshi , Takizawa Yasunobu , Setoguchi Keigo , Hishima Tsunekazu 
Published: December 2014

AbstractA 72‐year‐old woman with slight pulmonary interstitial reticular markings was initially diagnosed with microscopic polyangiitis (MPA). Two years later, cavitated pulmonary masses appeared, and a biopsy specimen revealed granulomas. Granulomatosis with polyangiitis (GPA) was diagnosed. The masses resolved with treatment. Ten years later, the usual interstitial pneumonia (UIP) pattern appeared on chest computed tomography (CT). The diagnosis of lung toxicity from methotrexate (MTX) or cyclophosphamide (CYC) was precluded by the clinical course. Despite treatment with prednisolone (PSL), the UIP progressed. The change of pulmonary pathology from masses to UIP is rare in patients with GPA.
A novel histone deacetylase 6‐selective inhibitor suppresses synovial inflammation and joint destruction in a collagen antibody‐induced arthritis mouse model
Authors: Lee Jaejoon , Hong Eun Chung , Jeong Hyemin , Hwang Ji Won , Kim Hyungjin , Bae Eun‐Kyung , Ahn Joong Kyong , Choi Yoon‐La , Han Jungho , Cha Hoon‐Suk , Koh Eun‐Mi 
Published: December 2014

AbstractAimTo investigate the effects of Tubastatin A, a selective histone deacetylase‐6 inhibitor, on synovial inflammation and joint destruction in a collagen antibody‐induced arthritis (CAIA) mouse model.MethodsCollagen antibody‐induced arthritis mice were given daily intraperitoneal injections of various concentrations of Tubastatin A (0, 10, 50, 100 mg/kg). The clinical score and paw thickness were measured. Mice were sacrificed on day 15, and the expression of tumor necrosis factor (TNF)‐α, interleukin (IL)‐1 and IL‐6 in the serum were analyzed using enyme‐linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). Two pathologists independently measured the synovitis score. Micro‐computed tomography (CT) scans of the joints were performed to quantify joint destruction. The expression of IL‐6 from human fibroblast‐like synoviocytes (FLSs) after incubation with various doses of Tubastatin A (0, 0.75, 1.5, 3 μmol/L) was measured using ELISA.ResultsThe clinical arthritis score was significantly attenuated and paw thickness was lower in the group treated with 100 mg/kg Tubastatin A compared with those treated with vehicle alone. The synovitis score was significantly reduced in the 100 mg/kg Tubastatin A‐treated group compared with the control group. Micro‐CT showed that quantitative measures of joint destruction were significantly attenuated in the 100 mg/kg Tubastatin A‐treated group compared with the control. The expression of IL‐6 in the sera was lower in the mice treated with Tubastatin A compared with the control. The expression of IL‐6 in human FLSs decreased dose‐dependently after incubation with Tubastatin A without affecting cell viability.ConclusionsTubastatin A successfully ameliorated synovial inflammation and protected against joint destruction in CAIA mice, at least in part, by modulating IL‐6 expression.
Efficient abstracting of dive profiles using a broken‐stick model
Authors: Photopoulou Theoni , Lovell Philip , Fedak Michael A. , Thomas Len , Matthiopoulos Jason 
Published: December 2014

Summary

For diving animals, animal‐borne sensors are used to collect time–depth information for studying behaviour, ranging patterns and foraging ecology. Often, this information needs to be compressed for storage or transmission. Widely used devices called conductivity‐temperature‐depth satellite relay data loggers (CTD‐SRDLs) sample time and depth at high resolution during a dive and then abstract the time–depth trajectory using a broken‐stick model (BSM). This approximation method can summarize efficiently the curvilinear shape of a dive, using a piecewise linear shape with a small, fixed number of vertices, or break points.

We present the process of abstracting dives using the BSM and quantify its performance, by measuring the uncertainty associated with the profiles it produces. We develop a method for obtaining a confidence zone and an index for the goodness‐of‐fit (dive zone index, DZI) for abstracted dive profiles. We validate our results with a case study using dives from elephant seals (Mirounga spp.). We use generalized additive models (GAMs) to determine whether the DZI can be used as a proxy for an absolute measure of fit and investigate the relationship between the DZI and the dive shape.

We found a strong correlation between the residual sum of squares (RSS) for the difference between the detailed and abstracted profiles, and the DZI and maximum residual (R4), for dives resulting from CTD‐SRDLs (69% deviance explained). On its own, the DZI explained a lower percentage of deviance which was variable for abstracted dives with different numbers of break points. We also found evidence for systematic differences in the DZI for different dive shapes (65% deviance explained).

Although the proportional loss of information in the abstraction of time–depth dive profiles by BSM is high, what remains is sufficient to infer goodness‐of‐fit of the abstracted profile by reversing the abstraction process. Our results suggest that together the DZI and R4 can be used as a proxy for the RSS, and we present the method for obtaining these metrics for BSM‐abstracted profiles.
Talanoa as empathic apprenticeship
Authors: Farrelly Trisia , Nabobo‐Baba Unaisi 
Published: December 2014

AbstractTalanoa has been defined as ‘talking about nothing in particular’, ‘chat’ or ‘gossip’. It is within the cultural milieu of talanoa that knowledge and emotions are shared and new knowledge is generated. Talanoa has recently been taken up by development researchers and others as a culturally appropriate research method in Pacific contexts. However, talanoa is often treated as synonymous with ‘informal open‐ended interviews’ and tends to gloss over the deep empathic understanding required in such exchanges. Highlighting the connection between talanoa and empathy is vital in ensuring that development practitioners and researchers are implicitly aware of the political dimensions, cultural appropriacy and socio‐ecological impact of their research methods. This connection is also critical in illuminating how talanoa as a method may decolonise research in the Pacific, inform the decolonisation of research in other cultural contexts, and contribute to ethical and empowering development policy and practice. We will argue for the merits of what we refer to here as ‘empathic apprenticeship’: an intentional, embodied, emotional, and intersubjective methodology and process between the researcher and the participant. An empathic apprenticeship has the potential to enhance shared understandings between all human beings and is essential if talanoa is intended as a decolonising research methodology.
Assessing the ‘true impact’ of development assistance in the Gaza Strip and Tokelau: ‘Most Significant Change’ as an evaluation technique
Authors: Shah Ritesh 
Published: December 2014

AbstractThe democratic evaluative tradition has sought to change evaluation practice towards approaches and techniques that generate diverse forms of knowledge and foster public deliberation over a programme's merit and worth. This paper locates one evaluation method, ‘Most Significant Change’ (MSC), within this tradition. Drawing on two different evaluations – one, of a comprehensive economic sector assistance package to the Government of Tokelau, and the other of a psychosocial and academic support intervention for pre‐adolescent children in conflict‐affected regions of the Gaza Strip – the paper provides evidence of how MSC can capture unexpected outcomes, act as a tool for real‐time formative learning, and expose the competing theories, logics and values behind programme activity. The examples within the paper also provide evidence of how MSC begins to redistribute traditional power relationships in assessing the merit and worth of observed impacts by increasing the legitimacy of local programme knowledge, and engaging all parties in evaluative decisions. By doing so, MSC, the paper argues, better serves the purposes of learning, improvement and mutual accountability which should sit at the core of good development practice.
Preschool children favor copying a successful individual over an unsuccessful group
Authors: Wilks Matti , Collier‐Baker Emma , Nielsen Mark 
Published: December 2014

AbstractThe human aptitude for imitation and social learning underpins our advanced cultural practices. While social learning is a valuable evolutionary survival strategy, blind copying does not necessarily facilitate survival. Copying from the majority allows individuals to make rapid judgments on the value of a trait, based on its frequency. This is known as the majority bias: an individual's tendency to copy the behavior elicited by the largest number of individuals in a population. An alternative approach is to follow those who are the most proficient. While there is evidence that children do show both processes, no study has directly pitted them against each other. To do this, in the current experiment 36 children aged between 4 and 5 years watched live actors demonstrate, as a group or individually, how to open novel puzzle boxes. Children exhibited a bias to the majority when group and individual methods were successful, but favored the individual if the group method was unsuccessful. Affiliating children with the unsuccessful majority group did not impact on this pattern.
Obesity interacts with infectious mononucleosis in risk of multiple sclerosis
Authors: Hedström A. K. , Lima Bomfim I. , Hillert J. , Olsson T. , Alfredsson L. 
Published: December 2014

Background and purposeThe possible interaction between adolescent obesity and past infectious mononucleosis (IM) was investigated with regard to multiple sclerosis (MS) risk.MethodsThis report is based on two population‐based case–control studies, one with incident cases (1780 cases, 3885 controls) and one with prevalent cases (4502 cases, 4039 controls). Subjects were categorized based on adolescent body mass index (BMI) and past IM and compared with regard to occurrence of MS by calculating odds ratios with 95% confidence intervals (CIs) employing logistic regression. A potential interaction between adolescent BMI and past IM was evaluated by calculating the attributable proportion due to interaction.ResultsRegardless of human leukocyte antigen (HLA) status, a substantial interaction was observed between adolescent obesity and past IM with regard to MS risk. The interaction was most evident when IM after the age of 10 was considered (attributable proportion due to interaction 0.8, 95% CI 0.6–1.0 in the incident study, and attributable proportion due to interaction 0.7, 95% CI 0.5–1.0 in the prevalent study). In the incident study, the odds ratio of MS was 14.7 (95% CI 5.9–36.6) amongst subjects with adolescent obesity and past IM after the age of 10, compared with subjects with none of these exposures. The corresponding odds ratio in the prevalent study was 13.2 (95% CI 5.2–33.6).ConclusionsAn obese state both impacts the cellular immune response to infections and induces a state of chronic immune‐mediated inflammation which may contribute to explain our finding of an interaction between adolescent BMI and past IM. Measures taken against adolescent obesity may thus be a preventive strategy against MS.
Color Assimilation of Resin Composites with Adjacent Color According to the Distance
Authors: Lee Yong‐Keun , Yu Bin , Zhao Guang‐Feng , Lim Jin Ik 
Published: December 2014

AbstractStatement of ProblemColor of esthetic restorative materials shifts toward color of adjacent material.PurposeThe purposes were to determine the amount of distance‐dependent color shift in resin composites toward the color of adjacent materials and to define a color shift parameter (CSP) that can quantify this phenomenon.MethodsThree brands of resin composites, two shades for each, were investigated. Specimens of 2 (thickness) × 4 (width) × 16 (length) mm3 were fixed in an adjustable XY stage in contact with black and white ceramic tiles at each end. Color was measured by a spectroradiometer at seven separated points in 2‐mm intervals, in which P1 was 2 mm away from the black tile. Mean value of the color differences (ΔE*ab) between P1 and each of the other measurement points (P2–P6) was defined as the CSP, in which higher CSP value indicated smaller color assimilation toward P1 color.ResultsThe range of the CSP was 7.5–12.4, which was influenced by the brand and shade of resin composites (p < 0.05).ConclusionsThe CSP defined in this study provided the amount of color shift of esthetic materials toward adjacent color, which indicated the color assimilation effect of these materials.Clinical SignificanceThe CSP investigated in the present study might be used to compare the tendency of color assimilation of esthetic restorative materials, and proper CSP ranges for optimal color assimilation or color blocking should be further determined.
The liverwort Pellia endiviifolia shares microtranscriptomic traits that are common to green algae and land plants
Authors: Alaba Sylwia , Piszczalka Pawel , Pietrykowska Halina , Pacak Andrzej M. , Sierocka Izabela , Nuc Przemyslaw W. , Singh Kashmir , Plewka Patrycja , Sulkowska Aleksandra , Jarmolowski Artur , Karlowski Wojciech M. , Szweykowska‐Kulinska Zofia 
Published: December 2014

Summary

Liverworts are the most basal group of extant land plants. Nonetheless, the molecular biology of liverworts is poorly understood. Gene expression has been studied in only one species, Marchantia polymorpha. In particular, no microRNA (miRNA) sequences from liverworts have been reported.

Here, Illumina‐based next‐generation sequencing was employed to identify small RNAs, and analyze the transcriptome and the degradome of Pellia endiviifolia.

Three hundred and eleven conserved miRNA plant families were identified, and 42 new liverwort‐specific miRNAs were discovered. The RNA degradome analysis revealed that target mRNAs of only three miRNAs (miR160, miR166, and miR408) have been conserved between liverworts and other land plants. New targets were identified for the remaining conserved miRNAs. Moreover, the analysis of the degradome permitted the identification of targets for 13 novel liverwort‐specific miRNAs. Interestingly, three of the liverwort microRNAs show high similarity to previously reported miRNAs from Chlamydomonas reinhardtii.

This is the first observation of miRNAs that exist both in a representative alga and in the liverwort P. endiviifolia but are not present in land plants. The results of the analysis of the P. endivifolia microtranscriptome support the conclusions of previous studies that placed liverworts at the root of the land plant evolutionary tree of life.
Chronic intraocular pressure elevation impairs autoregulatory capacity in streptozotocin‐induced diabetic rat retina
Authors: Wong Vickie H. , Armitage James A , He Zheng , Hui Flora , Vingrys Algis J. , Bui Bang V. 
Published: December 2014

AbstractPurposeTo assess ocular blood flow responses to acuteIOPstress following 4 weeks of chronicIOPelevation in streptozotocin (STZ)‐induced diabetic and control rats. We hypothesise that chronicIOPelevation for 4 weeks will further impair blood flow regulation inSTZ‐induced diabetic rats eyes.MethodsTwo weeks following citrate buffer orSTZ‐injections chronicIOPelevation was induced in Long Evans rats via fortnightly intracameral injections of microspheres (15 μm) suspended in 5% polyethylene glycol.IOPwas monitored daily. Electroretinography (ERG, −6.79–2.07 log cd s m−2) was undertaken at Week 4 to compare photoreceptor (RmPIII),ON‐bipolar cell (Vmax) and ganglion cell dominantERG[scotopic threshold response (STR)] components. 4 weeks post‐chronicIOPinduction, ocular blood flow (laser Doppler flowmetry) was measured in response to acuteIOPchallenge (10–100 mmHg, in 5 mmHg steps, each 3 min).ResultsFour weeks of chronicIOP(mean ± S.E.M., citrate: 24.0 ± 0.3 to 30.7 ± 1.3 andSTZ‐diabetes: 24.2 ± 0.2 to 31.1 ± 1.2 mmHg) was associated with reduced photoreceptor amplitude in both groups (−25.3 ± 2.2% and −17.2 ± 3.0%, respectively).STZ‐diabetic eyes showed reduced photoreceptor sensitivity (citrate: 0.5 ± 1.8%,STZ‐diabetic: −8.1 ± 2.4%). ParadoxicallyON‐bipolar cell sensitivity was increased, particularly in citrate control eyes (citrate: 166.8 ± 25.9%,STZ‐diabetic: 64.8 ± 18.7%). The ganglion cell dominantSTRwas not significantly reduced inSTZ‐diabetic rats. Using acuteIOPelevation to probe autoregulation, we show thatSTZ‐diabetes impaired autoregulation compared with citrate control animals. The combination ofSTZ‐diabetes and chronicIOPelevation further impaired autoregulation.ConclusionsSTZ‐diabetes and chronicIOPelevation appear to be additive risk factors for impairment of ocular blood flow autoregulation.
Sexual Assault, Overweight, and Suicide Attempts in U.S. Adolescents
Authors: Anderson Laura M. , Hayden Brittany M. , Tomasula Jessica L. 
Published: December 2014

Associations between overweight, sexual assault history, and suicide attempts were examined among 31,540 adolescents from the combined 2009 and 2011 nationally representative Youth Risk Behavior Surveys samples. These variables have not previously been studied concurrently. It was hypothesized that overweight and sexual assault, together, would interact and result in increased suicide attempts. Findings across analyses included (a) no significant associations between sexual assault and overweight in females or males (p = .65 and p = .90, respectively), (b) statistically significant associations between female (but not male) overweight status and suicide attempts (p = .001), (c) a strong association between sexual assault and suicide risk in males (p < .001) and females (p < .001), and (d) an elevated risk for suicide in overweight males with co‐occurring sexual assault, with over 33% of males with such histories attempting suicide. Preliminary findings have powerful implications for research and secondary prevention.
The release of 5‐hydroxytryptamine from the rat stomach in vitro
Authors: Bennett A. , Bucknell Anne , Dean A. C. B. 
Published: December 2014

1. 5‐HT was released into the lumen of the intact isolated rat stomach and into the bath fluid surrounding a preparation of the body and antrum stretched mechanically.2. Release of 5‐HT increased when the pressure inside the intact stomach was raised or when the body/antrum preparation was stretched.3. This increased release was not prevented by hexamethonium, atropine, hyoscine or procaine, and was probably due to distortion of cells containing 5‐HT.4. During periods of peristalsis induced by transmural stimulation the pharmacological activity of the fluid in the stomach was usually increased owing to a greater release of 5‐HT and also to the release of an unidentified substance.5. In reserpine‐treated rats, 5‐HT was released into the stomach but transmural stimulation did not produce true peristalsis and only rhythmic contractions occurred.6. Peristalsis was seldom reduced by methysergide, and it is concluded that 5‐HT is not essential for gastric peristalsis in the rat.