bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
I want to touch the sky: how an enterprise challenges stigma for sex‐workers
Authors: Kilpatrick Rob , Pio Edwina 
Published: May 2013

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to demonstrate how a “just” enterprise can challenge stigma deeply embedded in culture and in the process develop and prevent a whole new generation of women, in this case the daughters and grand‐daughters of sex‐workers, from being stigmatized.Design/methodology/approachDrawing on fieldwork interviews this paper, through appreciative inquiry analyses and most significant change questioning, examines the development of an Indian based enterprise called Freeset, a company employing women leaving sex work, and examines its history and its possible future trajectory. Freeset challenges the stigma of these Indian sex‐workers, including that perpetuated through patriarchy, by offering alternative work which displays respect for their abilities and dreams and up‐skills them to function as leaders in their communities.FindingsWhile stigma erodes social status by discounting and discrediting persons considered outside the norm, it is possible to challenge that process and change the life trajectory of its victims.Research limitations/implicationsHearing and highlighting the voice of the stigmatized is vital in clarifying a holistic view of stigma and its impact on society.Practical implicationsThere are significant insights into how values based enterprises might establish their ethos in cultures that discount those values the enterprise upholds.Originality/valueFew enterprises focused on producing social change outcomes develop sustainable business practices that challenge the economic root causes of stigma. Freeset provides new insights into managing diversity issues in a South Asian context to achieve that goal.
Case report of anti‐transcription intermediary factor‐1‐γ/α antibody‐positive dermatomyositis associated with gastric cancer and immunoglobulin G4‐positive pulmonary inflammatory pseudotumor
Authors: Ito Kotaro , Imafuku Shinichi , Hamaguchi Yasuhito , Fujimoto Manabu , Nakayama Juichiro 
Published: May 2013

AbstractDermatomyositis is a rare connective tissue disease often associated with internal malignancy and interstitial pneumonitis. Serologically, various auto‐antibodies (Ab) are associated with dermatomyositis. Anti‐transcription intermediary factor‐1‐γ/α (TIF‐1‐γ/α) Ab was recently identified as an auto‐Ab and was observed mostly in cancer‐associated dermatomyositis. IgG4‐related disease is a newly described entity characterized by increased serum IgG4 levels and IgG4‐positive plasma cell infiltration with fibrosis in organs such as the pancreas and parotid gland. IgG4‐related disease also includes inflammatory pseudotumors in various organs. We report herein a 59‐year‐old Japanese man who had dermatomyositis complicated with a gastric cancer and an IgG4‐related pulmonary inflammatory pseudotumor. He manifested typical classical Gottron's papules on the fingers, V‐sign erythema on the chest, flagellate erythema on the back, nail fold bleeding and facial erythema. Serum levels of anti‐TIF‐1‐γ/α Ab were positive as assessed by immunoprecipitation assay. He also had bilateral swelling of the parotid gland, and an excised specimen of the lung showed inflammatory pseudotumor with IgG4‐positive plasma cells. As far as we know, this case is the first to report the association of IgG4‐related disease and TIF‐1‐γ/α‐positive dermatomyositis. Further accumulation of such cases is required to elucidate the mechanism of this association.
Epidermolysis bullosa pruriginosa triggered by scabies infestation
Authors: Kim Jaehwan , Loh Chee Hoou , Murrell Dedee F. 
Published: May 2013

AbstractEpidermolysis bullosa pruriginosa (EB‐Pr) is an unusual variant of dystrophic EB. Potential genetic disease modifiers and metabolic factors have been investigated, but thus far no specific insight into this phenotype has emerged. We report an in‐depth description of three patients diagnosed as having EB‐Pr in whom this particular phenotype developed after scabies infestation and dramatically improved after full treatment. This short communication suggests that scabies infestation could be one of the important triggering factors for the development of the EB‐Pr phenotype.
Paracrine cytokine mechanisms underlying the hyperpigmentation of seborrheic keratosis in covered skin areas
Authors: Takenaka Yuko , Hoshino Yumi , Nakajima Hiroaki , Hayashi Nobukazu , Kawashima Makoto , Imokawa Genji 
Published: May 2013

AbstractWe previously reported that increased expression of the endothelin (EDN)1/EDNB receptor (EDNBR) as well as the stem cell factor (SCF)/SCF receptor (c‐KIT) linkages is mainly responsible for the activation of melanocytes in the epidermal hyperpigmentation of ultraviolet (UV)‐B melanosis and lentigo senilis (LS). In this study, we characterized seborrheic keratosis (SK) to examine the paracrine cytokine mechanism(s) involved in its epidermal hyperpigmentation by reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction, immunohistochemistry and western blotting analyses. In contrast to our previous study which showed the upregulated expression of EDN1 and EDNBR at the transcriptional and translational levels in the epidermis of SK, we observed unexpectedly that the cytokine SCF and its receptor c‐KIT are not upregulated, but are downregulated at both the gene and protein levels. We established SK cell lines to examine whether SK basaloid cells are less sensitive to SCF‐inducible stimulation than are normal human keratinocytes (NHK). Comparison of the stimulatory effects of interleukin (IL)‐1α or tumor necrosis factor (TNF)‐α on SCF production between SK cells and NHK demonstrated that SK cells do not respond to IL‐1α or TNF‐α to stimulate production of SCF, whereas a significant stimulation of SCF is elicited by those same cytokines in NHK. These finding underscore a role of phenotypic changes in melanogenic cytokine production in the epidermis between SK and LS/UV‐B melanosis.
Single‐trait functional indices outperform multi‐trait indices in linking environmental gradients and ecosystem services in a complex landscape
Authors: Butterfield Bradley J. , Suding Katharine N. 
Published: May 2013

Summary

Functional traits can be used to describe the composition of communities through indices that seek to explain the factors that drive community assembly, biotic effects on ecosystem processes or both. Appropriately representing functional composition is therefore essential for predicting the consequences of environmental context and management actions for the provisioning of multiple ecosystem services (ESs) in heterogeneous landscapes.

Functional indices can be constructed from single or multiple traits; however, it is not clear how they differ in information content or ability to predict biodiversity – ecosystem function relationships in complex landscapes. Here, we compare the utility of analogous single‐ and multi‐trait indices in linking environmental variation and functional composition to ESs in a heterogeneous landscape, relating functional indices based on three plant traits [height, relative growth rate and root density (RD)] to variation in the physical environment and to two ESs (forage production and soil carbon) and their net ES level.

Two orthogonal gradients, elevation and soil bulk density (BD), explained significant variation in several dimensions of functional composition comprised of single traits. These traits in turn significantly predicted variation in ESs and their net values. Only one index measured with multiple traits (functional richness) varied with the physical environment, while none predicted variation in ES or net ES levels.

One ES, soil carbon, increased with the community‐average value of RD, while the other, forage production, was related to the range and community‐average value of height. In turn, average RD increased with soil BD while the average and range of height declined with elevation. Due to these environmental patterns, soil carbon and forage production did not covary strongly, leading to moderate net ES levels across the landscape.

Synthesis: Single‐trait indices of functional composition best linked variation in environmental gradients with productivity and soil carbon. Because the environment–trait functioning relationships were independent of one another, the ESs were independently distributed across the landscape, providing little evidence of synergies or trade‐offs. Single‐ and multi‐trait indices contained unique information about functional composition of these communities, and both are likely to have a place in predicting variation in ESs under different scenarios.
Relative contributions of plant traits and soil microbial properties to mountain grassland ecosystem services
Authors: Grigulis Karl , Lavorel Sandra , Krainer Ute , Legay Nicolas , Baxendale Catherine , Dumont Maxime , Kastl Eva , Arnoldi Cindy , Bardgett Richard D. , Poly Franck , Pommier Thomas , Schloter Michael , Tappeiner Ulrike , Bahn Michael , Clément Jean‐Christophe 
Published: May 2013

SummaryPlant functional diversity and soil microbial community composition are tightly coupled. Changes in these interactions may influence ecosystem functioning. Links between plant functional diversity, soil microbial communities and ecosystem functioning have been demonstrated in experiments using plant monocultures and mixtures, using broad plant and microbial functional groups, but have not been examined in diverse natural plant communities.We quantified the relative effects of plant and microbial functional properties on key ecosystem functions. We measured plant functional diversity, soil microbial community composition and parameters associated with nitrogen (N) cycling and key nutrient cycling processes at three grassland sites in different parts of Europe. Because plant structure and function strongly influence soil microbial communities, we determined relationships between ecosystem properties, plant traits and soil community characteristics following a sequential approach in which plant traits were fitted first, followed by the additional effects of soil micro‐organisms.We identified a continuum from standing green biomass and standing litter, linked mostly with plant traits, to potentialNmineralization and potential leaching of soil inorganicN, linked mostly with microbial properties. Plant and microbial functional parameters were equally important in explaining % organic matter content in soil. A parallel continuum ran from plant height, linked with above‐ground biomass, to plant quality effects captured by the leaf economics spectrum, which were linked with the recycling of carbon (C) andN.More exploitative species (higher specific leaf area, leafNconcentrations and lower leaf dry matter content) and taller swards, along with soil microbial communities dominated by bacteria, with rapid microbial activities, were linked with greater fodder production, but poorCandNretention. Conversely, dominance by conservative species (with opposite traits) and soil microbial communities dominated by fungi, and bacteria with slow activities, were usually linked with low production, but greater soilCstorage andNretention.Synthesis– Grassland production,Csequestration and soilNretention are jointly related to plant and microbial functional traits. Managing grasslands for selected, or multiple, ecosystem services will thus require a consideration of the joint effects of plant and soil communities. Further understanding of the mechanisms that link plant and microbial functional traits is essential to achieve this.
Using functional traits to quantify the value of plant communities to invertebrate ecosystem service providers in arable landscapes
Authors: Storkey Jonathan , Brooks David , Haughton Alison , Hawes Cathy , Smith Barbara M. , Holland John M. 
Published: May 2013

Summary

The loss of farmland biodiversity threatens the sustainability of ecosystem services delivered within agricultural landscapes. The functional trait approach has been successfully used in grassland systems to quantify trade‐offs and synergies between services delivered directly by plant communities. Many of the services delivered by arable landscapes, however, depend on invertebrate consumers, and the application of the trait‐based approach to these systems depends on quantifying functional relationships between trophic levels.
Two data sets of plant and invertebrate communities from a range of annual crops and uncropped land habitats were analysed. The community‐weighted means of plant functional traits were calculated for the vegetation samples and used as the explanatory variables in a multivariate analysis of plant species composition across habitats. The constrained axes scores were used in statistical models to explain the variance in associated total invertebrate abundance, phytophagous invertebrates and invertebrate numbers weighted by importance in the diet of farmland bird chicks.
The multivariate analysis discriminated between plant communities characterized by ruderal traits (high specific leaf area and early flowering) and those with more competitive traits. More ruderal communities also supported proportionally more invertebrates. The suite of traits included in the analysis explained a greater proportion of the variance in invertebrate abundance between uncropped habitats, as opposed to between annual crops.
The overlap between the plant traits that respond to disturbance (functional response traits) and those that affect the abundance of phytophagous invertebrates (functional effect traits) and the diet of farmland birds demonstrates the potential for using common functional metrics to integrate the assessment of an ecosystem service across different habitats particularly on uncropped land where intensity of disturbance is the main environmental driver.
Synthesis. The quantification of functional linkages between arable plants and the abundance of their associated invertebrate consumer communities is the first step in extending the trait‐based approach to quantify trade‐offs and synergies between ecosystem services developed in grassland systems to landscapes dominated by arable crops. However, applying the functional approach to in‐crop weed communities and other service providers such as pollinators will require the incorporation of additional response and effect traits.
Imperfect detection is the rule rather than the exception in plant distribution studies
Authors: Chen Guoke , Kéry Marc , Plattner Matthias , Ma Keping , Gardner Beth 
Published: May 2013

SummaryImperfect detection can seriously bias conventional estimators of species distributions and species richness. Plant traits, survey‐specific conditions and site‐specific characteristics may influence plant detection probability. However, the generality of the problems induced by imperfect detection in plants and the magnitude of this challenge for plant distribution studies are currently unknown.We address this question based on data from theSwissBiodiversityMonitoring, in which vascular plants are surveyed twice in the same year along a 2.5‐km transect in 451 1‐km2quadrats. Overall, 1700 species were recorded. We chose a random sample of 100 species from the 1700 species to determine general detection levels. To examine the relationship of covariates on detection, we chose a stratified random sample of 100 species from 886 species that were detected in at least 18 locations, with 25 each from four life‐forms (LF): grass, forb, shrub and tree. Using aBayesian multispecies site‐occupancy model, we estimated occurrence and detection probability of these species and their relation to covariates.Based on the random sample of 100 species, detection probability during the first survey ranged 0.03–0.99 (median 0.74) and during the second survey, 0.03–0.99 (median 0.82). Based on the stratified random sample of 100 species, detection probability during the first survey ranged 0.02–0.99 (median 0.87) and during the second survey, 0.01–1 (median 0.89). Detection probability differed slightly among the fourLFs. In 60 species, survey season or elevation had significant effects on detection. We illustrated detection probability maps forSwitzerland based on the modelled relationships with environmental covariates.Synthesis. Our findings suggest that even in a standardized monitoring program, imperfect detection of plants may be common. With the absence of a correction for detection errors, maps in plant distribution studies will be confounded with spatial patterns in detection probability. We presume that these problems will be much more widespread in the data sets that are used for conventional plant species distribution modelling. Imperfect detection should be estimated, even in distribution studies of plants and other sessile organisms, to better control detection errors that may compromise the results of species distribution studies.
An experimental framework to identify community functional components driving ecosystem processes and services delivery
Authors: Dias André T. C. , Berg Matty P. , de Bello Francesco , Van Oosten Arend Raoul , Bílá Karolína , Moretti Marco 
Published: May 2013

Summary
There is a growing consensus that the distribution of species trait values in a community can greatly determine ecosystem processes and services delivery. Two distinct components of community trait composition are hypothesized to chiefly affect ecosystem processes: (i) the average trait value of the species, quantified by community‐weighted mean trait values (CWM; related to the mass ratio hypothesis) and (ii) the degree to which trait values differ between species in a community, quantified by different indices of functional diversity (FD; related to non‐additive community effects). The uncertainty on the relative effect of these two components is stimulating an increasing number of empirical studies testing their effects on ecosystem processes and services delivery.
We suggest, however, that the interdependence between CWM and FD poses a challenge on disentangling their relative importance. We present a framework that allows designing experiments to decouple and assess the effects of these two community functional components on ecosystem processes and services. To illustrate the framework, we focused on leaf litter decomposition, as this is an essential process related to important ecosystem services. Using simulations, we applied the framework for plant leaf litter traits (litter nitrogen and phenolic content) that are related to litter decomposition.
CWM and FD generally showed a hump‐shaped relationship (i.e. at more extreme CWM values, communities can have only low FD values). Within this relationship, we showed that it is possible to select quasi‐orthogonal combinations of CWM and FD that can be treated statistically. Within these orthogonal CWM and FD combinations, it is also possible to select species assemblages controlling for other community parameters, such as total biomass, total density and species richness.
Synthesis. The framework provides a novel approach for designing experiments to decouple the effects of CWM and FD of communities on ecosystem processes, which otherwise cannot be easily disentangled. To apply the framework and design proper experimental layouts, it is essential to have a priori knowledge of the key traits by which species affect ecosystem processes and service delivery.
Identification of 100 fundamental ecological questions
Authors: Sutherland William J. , Freckleton Robert P. , Godfray H. Charles J. , Beissinger Steven R. , Benton Tim , Cameron Duncan D. , Carmel Yohay , Coomes David A. , Coulson Tim , Emmerson Mark C. , Hails Rosemary S. , Hays Graeme C. , Hodgson Dave J. , Hutchings Michael J. , Johnson David , Jones Julia P. G. , Keeling Matt J. , Kokko Hanna , Kunin William E. , Lambin Xavier , Lewis Owen T. , Malhi Yadvinder , Mieszkowska Nova , Milner‐Gulland E. J. , Norris Ken , Phillimore Albert B. , Purves Drew W. , Reid Jane M. , Reuman Daniel C. , Thompson Ken , Travis Justin M. J. , Turnbull Lindsay A. , Wardle David A. , Wiegand Thorsten 
Published: May 2013

Summary
Fundamental ecological research is both intrinsically interesting and provides the basic knowledge required to answer applied questions of importance to the management of the natural world. The 100th anniversary of the British Ecological Society in 2013 is an opportune moment to reflect on the current status of ecology as a science and look forward to high‐light priorities for future work.
To do this, we identified 100 important questions of fundamental importance in pure ecology. We elicited questions from ecologists working across a wide range of systems and disciplines. The 754 questions submitted (listed in the online appendix) from 388 participants were narrowed down to the final 100 through a process of discussion, rewording and repeated rounds of voting. This was done during a two‐day workshop and thereafter.
The questions reflect many of the important current conceptual and technical pre‐occupations of ecology. For example, many questions concerned the dynamics of environmental change and complex ecosystem interactions, as well as the interaction between ecology and evolution.
The questions reveal a dynamic science with novel subfields emerging. For example, a group of questions was dedicated to disease and micro‐organisms and another on human impacts and global change reflecting the emergence of new subdisciplines that would not have been foreseen a few decades ago.
The list also contained a number of questions that have perplexed ecologists for decades and are still seen as crucial to answer, such as the link between population dynamics and life‐history evolution.
Synthesis. These 100 questions identified reflect the state of ecology today. Using them as an agenda for further research would lead to a substantial enhancement in understanding of the discipline, with practical relevance for the conservation of biodiversity and ecosystem function.
Costs and benefits of relative bark thickness in relation to fire damage: a savanna/forest contrast
Authors: Lawes Michael J. , Midgley Jeremy J. , Clarke Peter J. 
Published: May 2013

Summary

In fire‐prone ecosystems, bark protects the stem bud bank from fire. Absolute bark thickness is a good indicator of this protective function, but it depends on stem size as well as inherent differences between species. Relative bark thickness (i.e. relative to stem diameter) takes the latter into account. We argue that relative bark thickness is an important functional trait offering insights to the evolution of species persistence in fire‐prone habitats.

During growth ontogeny different species can acquire absolutely thick bark through having: (i) relatively thick bark (i.e. an early commitment to thick bark) or (ii) relatively thin bark but fast stem diameter growth rates. We test the hypothesis that the most effective way of protecting tree stems from frequent fire is by having relatively thick‐barked small stems. We predict that species with higher relative bark thickness are more common in fire‐prone habitats. In habitats with long fire‐free intervals such as rainforest, delayed investment in bark thickness results in thin bark.

We examined the relative bark thickness of woody congeners from Australian non‐fire‐prone forest and fire‐prone savanna and in other tree‐dominated systems world‐wide. We determined the relative cost of acquiring absolute bark thickness of 0.5 cm for different rates of bark allocation. The insulating benefits of bark were considered a linear function of bark thickness.

Synthesis. We suggest that relatively thick bark minimizes the costs of acquiring absolutely thick bark, and it confers greater protection to smaller stems. The cost of acquiring thick bark prevents small trees from merely accumulating bark as a consequence of fast height or stem diameter growth. Accordingly, our field survey indicated that forest species had relatively thin bark and acquired thick bark only as a consequence of very large size, while fire‐prone savanna species had relatively thick‐barked small stems. Based on this, relative bark thickness appears to be a good predictor of local fire regimes and is a useful plant functional trait.