bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Cross‐talk between a regulatory small RNA, cyclic‐di‐GMP signalling and flagellar regulator FlhDC for virulence and bacterial behaviours
Authors: Yuan Xiaochen , Khokhani Devanshi , Wu Xiaogang , Yang Fenghuan , Biener Gabriel , Koestler Benjamin J. , Raicu Valerica , He Chenyang , Waters Christopher M. , Sundin George W. , Tian Fang , Yang Ching‐Hong 
Published: August 2015

SummaryDickeya dadantii is a globally dispersed phytopathogen which causes diseases on a wide range of host plants. This pathogen utilizes the type III secretion system (T3SS) to suppress host defense responses, and secretes pectate lyase (Pel) to degrade the plant cell wall. Although the regulatory small RNA (sRNA) RsmB, cyclic diguanylate monophosphate (c‐di‐GMP) and flagellar regulator have been reported to affect the regulation of these two virulence factors or multiple cell behaviours such as motility and biofilm formation, the linkage between these regulatory components that coordinate the cell behaviours remain unclear. Here, we revealed a sophisticated regulatory network that connects the sRNA, c‐di‐GMP signalling and flagellar master regulator FlhDC. We propose multi‐tiered regulatory mechanisms that link the FlhDC to the T3SS through three distinct pathways including the FlhDC‐FliA‐YcgR3937 pathway; the FlhDC‐EcpC‐RpoN‐HrpL pathway; and the FlhDC‐rsmB‐RsmA‐HrpL pathway. Among these, EcpC is the most dominant factor for FlhDC to positively regulate T3SS expression.
The Sovereign Yield Curve and the Macroeconomy in China
Authors: Yan Yifeng , Guo Ju'e 
Published: August 2015

AbstractA dynamic Nelson–Siegel model is adopted to estimate three time‐varying factors of yield curves, the level, the slope and the curvature, and a vector autoregressive model is built to study interactions between macro variables and the yield curve. Results show that, first, money supply growth is a more effective instrument to curb inflation than the monetary policy interest rate; however, the central bank also adjusts the interest rate to stabilize money supply. Second, investment is an important measure to stimulate the Chinese economy, but it also pushes up money supply growth, which results in higher inflation. Third, the yield curve reacts significantly to innovations to investment growth and money supply growth. The segmentation of China's bond market hinders the efficient implementation of monetary policy, and the monetary policy transmission mechanism is still weak in China. Finally, interactions between the yield curve and the macroeconomy in China are nearly unidirectional. Macroeconomic variables reshape the yield curve, but direct adjustments of the yield curve do not significantly change macroeconomic variables. Due to the incomplete liberalization of financial markets, there exists a wide disjunction between the real economy and financial markets in China.
Internationalization of the RMB, Capital Market Openness and Financial Reforms in China
Authors: Aizenman Joshua 
Published: August 2015

AbstractThis paper provides an overview of Chinese financial and trade integration in recent decades, and the challenges facing China in the coming years. China had been a prime example of export‐led growth, benefiting from learning by doing, and by adopting foreign know‐how, supported by a complex industrial policy. While the resultant growth has been spectacular, it comes with hidden but growing costs and distortions. The Chinese export‐led growth path has been challenged by its own success, and the global financial crisis forced China toward rebalancing, which is a work in progress. Reflecting on the internationalization of the CNY, rapid acceleration of the commercial internationalization of the CNY is expected. In contrast, there are no clear‐cut reasons to rush with the full CNY financial internationalization: the gains from CNY financial internationalization are overrated.
Resource conservation strategies for rice‐wheat cropping systems on partially reclaimed sodic soils of the Indo‐Gangetic region, and their effects on soil carbon
Authors: Mishra V.K. , Srivastava S. , Bhardwaj A.K. , Sharma D.K. , Singh Y.P. , Nayak A.K. 
Published: August 2015

AbstractThe Indo‐Gangetic plain is characterized by intensive agriculture, largely by resource‐poor small and marginal farmers. Vast swathes of salt‐affected areas in the region provide both challenges and opportunities to bolster food security and sequester carbon after reclamation. Sustainable management of reclaimed soils via resource conservation strategies, such as residue retention, is key to the prosperity of the farmer, as well as increases the efficiency of expensive initiatives to further reclaim sodic land areas, which currently lay barren. After five years of experimentation on resource conservation strategies for rice‐wheat systems on partially reclaimed sodic soils of the Indo‐Gangetic region, we evaluated changes in different soil carbon pools and crop yield. Out of all resource conservation techniques which were tested, rice‐wheat crop residue addition (30% of total production) was most effective in increasing soil organic carbon (SOC). In rice, without crop residue addition (WCR), soils under zero‐tillage with transplanting, summer ploughing with transplanting and direct seeding with brown manuring showed a significant increase in SOC over the control (puddling in rice, conventional tillage in wheat). In these treatments relatively higher levels of carbon were attained in all aggregate fractions compared to the control. Soil aggregate sizes in meso (0.25‐2.0 mm) and macro (2‐8 mm) ranges increased, whereas micro (< 0.25 mm) fractions decreased in soils under zero‐till practices, both with and without crop residue addition. Direct seeding with brown manuring and zero tillage with transplanting also showed an increase of 135% and 95%, respectively, over the control in microbial biomass carbon, without crop residue incorporation. In zero tillage with transplanting treatment, both with and without crop residue showed significant increase in soil carbon sequestration potential. Though the changes in accrued soil carbon did not bring about significant differences in terms of grain yield, overall synthesis in terms of balance between yield and carbon sequestration indicated that summer ploughing with transplanting and zero tillage with transplanting sequestered significantly higher rates of carbon, yet yielded on par with conventional practices. These could be appropriate alternatives to immediately replace conventional tillage and planting practices for rice‐wheat cropping systems in the sodic soils of the Indo‐Gangetic region.
Recent Trends in the Use of Natural Antioxidants for Meat and Meat Products
Authors: Kumar Yogesh , Yadav Deep Narayan , Ahmad Tanbir , Narsaiah Kairam 
Published: August 2015

AbstractAntioxidants are added to fresh and processed meat and meat products to prevent lipid oxidation, retard development of off‐flavors, and improve color stability. In the food industry, they can be divided into natural and synthetic antioxidants. Synthetic antioxidants have been confirmed for their toxicological and carcinogenic effects. Thus, the food industry now chooses natural products over synthetic ones. This review provides an overview of the current trends in the use of antioxidants from natural sources, for potential applications in meat and meat products. These natural antioxidants contain some active compounds, which exert antioxidative potential in meat and meat products by different mechanisms of action. The efficient extraction of these antioxidants from their natural sources, along with establishing their in vitro and in producto antioxidant activity, has been a great challenge for researchers engaged in this field. Therefore, this review is focused on all these aspects, along with current studies related to this area, to provide in‐depth information to readers.
The Potential of High‐throughput Metagenomic Sequencing of Aquatic Bacterial Communities to Estimate the Postmortem Submersion Interval
Authors: Benbow Mark Eric , Pechal Jennifer L. , Lang Jennifer M. , Erb Racheal , Wallace John R. 
Published: August 2015

AbstractHuman remains can be discovered in freshwater or marine ecosystems, circumstances where insects and other invertebrates have infrequently been used for understanding the time of postmortem submersion. In this study, the identification and succession of epinecrotic bacterial communities on vertebrate remains were described during decomposition in a temperate headwater stream during two seasons (summer and winter). Bacterial communities were characterized with 454 pyrosequencing and analyzed at phyletic and generic taxonomic resolutions. There was a significant increase in genera richness over decomposition during both seasons. Additionally, multivariate statistical modeling revealed significant differences in bacterial communities between seasons at both taxonomic resolutions and siginificant genera differences among sampling days within each season, suggesting a succession of these communities. These data are the first to describe aquatic bacterial succession using high‐throughput metagenomic sequencing on vertebrate remains submerged in a freshwater habitat, and provide initial evidence for their potential use in forensic investigations.
An Improved Equation forTBSandADD: Establishing a Reliable Postmortem Interval Framework for Casework and Experimental Studies
Authors: Moffatt Colin , Simmons Tal , Lynch‐Aird Jeanne 
Published: August 2015

AbstractMegyesi et al.'s (J Forensic Sci, 2005, 50, 618) paper was important to forensic anthropology as it introduced a quantitative framework for estimating time since death in human cadavers, based upon physical appearance by way of scoring on a novel scale. However, errors concerning rounding, temperature scale, and incorrect use of a statistical regression model render their predictive formula unusable. Based upon only their more reliable data, a more appropriate regression model to predict accumulated degree days (ADD) from total body score (TBS) is presented. The new model is also a superior fit (r2 = 0.91) and produces markedly narrower confidence intervals than the original, which also allowed impossible, negativeADDvalues. Explanations of the shortcomings in the original analysis and calculations are presented, which it is hoped will help forensic scientists avoid making similar mistakes.
The rpb2 gene represents a viable alternative molecular marker for the analysis of environmental fungal communities
Authors: Větrovský Tomáš , Kolařík Miroslav , Žifčáková Lucia , Zelenka Tomáš , Baldrian Petr 
Published: August 2015

AbstractAlthough the commonly used internal transcribed spacer region of rDNA (ITS) is well suited for taxonomic identification of fungi, the information on the relative abundance of taxa and diversity is negatively affected by the multicopy nature of rDNA and the existence of ITS paralogues. Moreover, due to high variability, ITS sequences cannot be used for phylogenetic analyses of unrelated taxa. The part of single‐copy gene encoding the second largest subunit of RNA polymerase II (rpb2) was thus compared with first spacer of ITS as an alternative marker for the analysis of fungal communities in spruce forest topsoil, and their applicability was tested on a comprehensive mock community. In soil, rpb2 exhibited broad taxonomic coverage of the entire fungal tree of life including basal fungal lineages. The gene exhibited sufficient variation for the use in phylogenetic analyses and taxonomic assignments, although it amplifies also paralogues. The fungal taxon spectra obtained with rbp2 region and ITS1 corresponded, but sequence abundance differed widely, especially in the basal lineages. The proportions of OTU counts and read counts of major fungal groups were close to the reality when rpb2 was used as a molecular marker while they were strongly biased towards the Basidiomycota when using the ITS primers ITS1/ITS4. Although the taxonomic placement of rbp2 sequences is currently more difficult than that of the ITS sequences, its discriminative power, quantitative representation of community composition and suitability for phylogenetic analyses represent significant advantages.
Road density and wetland context alter population structure of a freshwater turtle
Authors: Hamer Andrew J. , Harrison Lee J. , Stokeld Danielle 
Published: August 2015

AbstractRoads are detrimental to wildlife populations that require contiguous networks of terrestrial and aquatic habitats. Many species of freshwater turtles are sensitive to habitat fragmentation caused by roads, and are susceptible to road mortality during overland migrations. The common long‐necked turtle (Chelodina longicollis) is anAustralian freshwater turtle that frequently moves between wetlands, and so populations may incur negative impacts from road effects. Here, we assessed the relationship betweenC. longicollisand road density and landscape variables within populations inhabiting 20 wetlands distributed throughout greaterMelbourne,Australia. The size frequency distribution ofC. longicollisat sites surrounded by high road densities was skewed towards larger individuals, but there was no difference in the frequency of juveniles between high and low road density sites. Regression modelling revealed a clear positive relationship between road density and carapace length (CL) ofC. longicollis; the meanCLat a site with the highest road density was predicted to be 23% greater than meanCLat a site surrounded by no roads. FemaleCLwas also positively related to road density. There was a clear positive relationship between wetland age andCL, although this relationship was not as strong. While there was no relationship evident between road density and the proportion of femaleC. longicollisat a site, more females were captured at smaller ephemeral sites surrounded by a high proportion of green open space and located near drainage lines. We did not find evidence of sex‐related differences in road effects. These results suggest that roads may be affectingC. longicollisin the study area, but the direct cause of any effects is difficult to identify.
2015 RANZCOG Arthur Wilson Memorial Oration ‘From little things, big things grow: The importance of periconception medicine’
Authors: Norman Robert J. 
Published: August 2015

The time of our conception is when we are most vulnerable to survival and growing as a healthy human being. Genetic and environmental effects on gametes and the developing embryo can be literally life‐and‐death events with regard to the successful outcome of pregnancy. In the past decade, we have also understood that environmental factors under which the gametes grow and the embryo develops have lifelong implications with regard to developmental origins of health and disease. We now know that parenting begins before conception in that a compromised egg or sperm from either parent can alter the trajectory of development even if the embryo and intrauterine environment is optimal. There are now a large number of factors known to impact on the gametes to adversely affect them, including obesity, nutrition, cigarette smoking and environmental pollutants. The increasing use of in vitro fertilisation across the world exposes developing embryos to less than optimal environmental conditions through altered culture media, gases and potential pollutants from plastics, air and water. Many of these environmental exposures have not undergone experimental investigation and yet widely implemented in thousands of laboratories across the world. There have been many attempts to set up periconception planning either through the health service, the print and electronic media or through government action. We as a profession, as well as our Colleges, could do much better job in this area of preventative medicine by developing better guidelines and education for professional colleagues, the health service and the community.
Perinatal mental health: Fathers – the (mostly) forgotten parent
Authors: Wong Olivia , Nguyen Tram , Thomas Naomi , Thomson‐Salo Frances , Handrinos Dennis , Judd Fiona 
Published: August 2015

AbstractIntroductionThe importance of parental mental health as a determinant of infant and child outcomes is increasingly acknowledged. Yet, there is limited information regarding paternal mental health during the perinatal period. The aim of this review is to summarize existing clinical research regarding paternal mental health in the perinatal period in various contexts, and its possible impact on infant development.MethodAn electronic literature search was conducted using MEDLINE and PubMed databases. Key texts were used to cross‐check for any further articles of interest.ResultsMen are at increased risk of mental health problems during the transition to fatherhood, as well as during the perinatal period. Paternal mental health during the perinatal period has been shown to impact on their child's emotional and behavioral development. However, research addressing the needs of fathers with mental illness and the impact of their illness on their infant and family has been limited.ConclusionsA paradigm shift is required, from a focus on women following childbirth and women with pre‐existing psychiatric disorders, to a broader family perspective with the focus firmly on parent–infant relationships. This paradigm shift needs to involve greater research into the fathering role and paternal mental illness during the perinatal period, including further studies into risk factors, impact on the family system, and the most appropriate form of intervention and service provision.
Underdiagnosis of depression in an economically deprived population in Macao, China
Authors: Lao Cheng‐Kin , Chan Yok‐Man , Tong Henry Hoi‐Yee , Chan Alexandre 
Published: August 2015

AbstractIntroductionPrevious literature revealed an association between low income and depression. Despite the availability of effective treatments, depression is often underdiagnosed and undertreated. This study was designed to evaluate the prevalence of depressive symptoms and their impact on health‐related quality of life (HRQoL) in a low‐income population in Macao.MethodsThis cross‐sectional study targeted the adult beneficiaries of local food bank program. The program was established to provide food assistance to the residents who had low income but were ineligible for government financial assistance. All data were collected through interview and questionnaires. The Patient Health Questionnaire (PHQ‐9) was used for assessing depressive symptoms. Information about depression diagnosis was obtained by the self‐report method. HRQoL levels were measured by the 12‐item Short‐Form Health Survey, Version 2.0.ResultsA total of 272 study participants were included for analysis. Based on the PHQ‐9 scores, 27.6% of the participants suffered from moderate to severe depressive symptoms. Among them, 76% were not diagnosed with depression. Those with moderate to severe depressive symptoms had significantly lower levels of HRQoL (P < 0.001). Anxiety disorders (OR = 9.71, 95% CI = 2.36–40.06), migraine (OR = 3.88, 95% CI = 1.55–9.73), and poor to fair self‐rated health (OR = 6.30, 95% CI = 1.95–20.40) were the independent factors associated with moderate to severe depressive symptoms.DiscussionUnderdiagnosis of depression was prevalent in this low‐income population. There is a need to raise their awareness of mental disorders and improve their access to mental health services.
Effects of adding an arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi inoculum and of distance to donor sites on plant species recolonization following topsoil removal
Authors: Torrez Vania , Ceulemans Tobias , Mergeay Joachim , de Meester Luc , Honnay Olivier 
Published: August 2015

AbstractQuestionsDoes addition of an arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF) inoculum increase the short‐term restoration success of nutrient‐poor grassland (NPG) after topsoil removal? Does distance to intact remnant grassland (IRG) patches affect restoration success, and does the effect of inoculum addition depend on distance to IRGs?LocationMeerdaal forest, Oud‐Heverlee, Belgium.MethodsIn a topsoil‐removed site of 8.5 ha, where 24 IRG patches (ca. 10% of the area) were kept, 48 plots (1 m2) were established at three distances (5, 10 and 20 m) from the edge of IRG patches. Half of the plots at each distance class were inoculated with a custom‐made AMF inoculum, whereas the remaining plots were used as controls. We recorded plant species abundance in the plots, just before addition of the AMF inoculum and 1 yr after. We used repeated measures ANOVA to test for effects of inoculum addition, distance to IRG patches and their interaction on plant species richness, diversity and plant community similarity between IRG patches and plots. We also evaluated the response of AMF‐dependent plant species, specialist species of NPG and species with specific seed dispersal adaptations.ResultsAdding the inoculum positively affected species richness and/or diversity of all plant species, AMF‐dependent species and specialist species. It increased plant community similarity to the IRG patches. Increasing distance from IRG patches had a negative effect on richness and/or diversity of all plant species and specialist species. The positive effect of inoculum addition on richness and/or diversity of all species, AMF‐dependent species and specialist species decreased with increasing distance from IRG patches to the plots, likely indicating priority effects.ConclusionsThe application of a custom‐made AMF inoculum increased the short‐term restoration success of NPG after topsoil removal. Dispersal limitation of specialist plant species of NPG, however, likely negatively affected the effect of inoculum addition. Apart from the AMF effect, the reported strongly positive short‐time effect of inoculation was likely due to the high density of IRG patches at the site, and the presence of organic matter and other micro‐organisms in the inoculum.
The Cross-Cut Statistic and its Sensitivity to Bias in Observational Studies with Ordered Doses of Treatment
Authors: Rosenbaum Paul R. 
Published: August 2015

Summary
A common practice with ordered doses of treatment and ordered responses, perhaps recorded in a contingency table with ordered rows and columns, is to cut or remove a cross from the table, leaving the outer corners—that is, the high-versus-low dose, high-versus-low response corners—and from these corners to compute a risk or odds ratio. This little remarked but common practice seems to be motivated by the oldest and most familiar method of sensitivity analysis in observational studies, proposed by Cornfield et al. (1959), which says that to explain a population risk ratio purely as bias from an unobserved binary covariate, the prevalence ratio of the covariate must exceed the risk ratio. Quite often, the largest risk ratio, hence the one least sensitive to bias by this standard, is derived from the corners of the ordered table with the central cross removed. Obviously, the corners use only a portion of the data, so a focus on the corners has consequences for the standard error as well as for bias, but sampling variability was not a consideration in this early and familiar form of sensitivity analysis, where point estimates replaced population parameters. Here, this cross-cut analysis is examined with the aid of design sensitivity and the power of a sensitivity analysis.