bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Protection of exploited fish in temperate regions: high density and biomass of snapper Pagrus auratus (Sparidae) in northern New Zealand marine reserves
Authors: Willis Trevor J. , Millar Russell B. , Babcock Russ C. 
Published: December 2010

Summary 1. The use of marine reserves as tools either for conservation or fisheries management requires rigorous empirical evidence for the recovery of exploited species within them. 2. The relative density and size structure of snapper Pagrus auratus (Sparidae), an intensively exploited reef fish species, were measured, using baited underwater video, inside and outside three northern New Zealand marine reserves (Leigh Marine Reserve, Hahei Marine Reserve and Tawharanui Marine Park) every 6 months from October 1997 to April 1999. 3. Log‐linear modelling showed that relative total density and egg production of snapper were higher in all three reserves than in fished areas. Snapper that were larger than the minimum legal size were estimated to be 14 times denser in protected areas than in fished areas, and the relative egg production was estimated to be 18 times higher. In the Leigh reserve, legal‐size snapper were larger than legal‐size snapper in fished areas. 4. At the Leigh reserve, snapper density consistently peaked at the reserve centre and declined towards either boundary, which suggests that snapper became increasingly vulnerable to fishing towards the reserve boundaries. 5. Inshore snapper density was significantly higher in autumn than in spring, supporting previous suggestions that snapper make regular onshore–offshore seasonal migrations that might be related to spawning. We suggest that the observed recovery of snapper populations within reserves is attributable to immigration of individuals from fished areas that take up residency within reserves, rather than juvenile recruitment. 6. Synthesis and applications. This study demonstrates the effectiveness of marine reserves for protecting an exploited species previously thought to be too mobile to respond to area‐based protection. Although it is difficult to envisage significant enhancement of fished areas via adult emigration, it is likely that the reserves contribute significantly to local gamete production. In addition, the protection of fish populations within reserves might slow reductions in genetic diversity caused by size‐selective mortality brought about by exploitation.
Local population dynamics are important to the conservation of metapopulations in highly fragmented landscapes
Authors: Baguette Michel , Schtickzelle Nicolas 
Published: December 2010

Summary1. Population viability analyses (PVA) are extremely useful tools for the management of endangered species at the landscape scale. Two main families of spatially explicit models are available to perform PVA: (i) presence–absence models, in which local populations are either existing or extinct at each generation, and (ii) structured population models, in which the dynamics of each local population are modelled. In this study we compared the usefulness of both approaches for the prediction of the persistence of a species living in a highly fragmented landscape.2. The cranberry fritillaryBoloria aquilonarisis an arctic–alpine relict species in western Europe. It lives in landscapes where altitude or the proximity of oceans provide the high humidity conditions required for the formation of peat bogs, the only habitat of the butterfly. In such landscapes, the distribution of the butterfly is fragmented, following the natural distribution of peat bogs; this fragmentation is increased by human‐induced peat bog destruction.3. The study of the dynamics of a highly fragmented metapopulation of the cranberry fritillary in a network of 14 habitat patches totalling 26·23 ha revealed that: (i) the density at the equilibrium wasc.700 butterflies ha−1; (ii) local population dynamics in small populations were negative; and (iii) six estimates of the growth rateRtshowed large variations even in a large population. Both local extinctions and recolonization events are likely to occur, and two sites (one of 7 ha) unoccupied during two generations were recolonized in the third year.4. We conclude that the future of this metapopulation is not guaranteed, given its large spatial scale and unbalanced, erratic local population dynamics. We hypothesize that global warming could explain the instability of local population dynamics detected here in addition to the decline of this arctic–alpine relict species, which is currently reported in all its refuge localities in the Netherlands.5. Presence–absence models based on metapopulation structure and habitat characteristics should provide relatively safe predictions, as the population network (14 patches) is just below the minimum amount of suitable habitat (MASH) for the long‐term persistence of a viable metapopulation. However, careful investigation of local population dynamics showed a high instability in the network, which is confirmed by population extinction at a large site.6. Synthesis and applications.We urge conservation biologists to consider the local population dynamics of endangered species for the management of metapopulations in fragmented landscapes. In the case of the cranberry fritillary, continuing site protection is essential.
Termite assemblage collapse along a land‐use intensification gradient in lowland central Sumatra, Indonesia
Authors: Jones D. T. , Susilo F. X. , Bignell D. E. , Hardiwinoto S. , Gillison A. N. , Eggleton P. 
Published: December 2010

Summary1. Termites are major decomposers in tropical regions and play an important role in soil processes. This study measured the impact of land‐use intensification on the termite assemblage of lowland rain forest in Jambi Province, on the Indonesian island of Sumatra. Termite composition was assessed in seven land‐use types along a disturbance gradient, from primary forest, through different silvicultural systems, to grassland and cultivated land without trees. A range of environmental variables was also measured.2. Termite species richness and relative abundance declined as follows: primary forest > selectively logged forest > mature ‘jungle rubber’ (a diverse agro‐forest dominated by rubber trees) > mature rubber plantation > youngParaserianthes falcatariaplantation (a softwood tree) >Imperata cylindricagrassland > cassava garden. Termite richness fell from 34 species in the primary forest to one species in the cassava garden. The relative abundance of soil‐feeding termites showed a significantly greater decline along the gradient than did wood‐feeding termites.3. Of the environmental variables, woody plant basal area was most strongly correlated with termite species richness (r = 0·973) and relative abundance (r = 0·980). This reflects the response of forest‐adapted termites to progressive simplification of the physical structure of the habitat, resulting in the reduction of canopy cover and alteration in microclimate, and the loss of feeding and nesting sites.4. Synthesis and applications. Comparisons with other studies show that the decline in termite species richness and relative abundance seen at Jambi is a general trend that occurs elsewhere when forests are converted to other land uses. To help mitigate the loss of termites when forests are disturbed, we recommend the following management practices: the use of reduced‐impact logging techniques, maximizing forest patch size and connectivity, minimizing length of forest edges, and leaving dead wood to decayin situ.
Impacts of a weed biocontrol agent on recovery from water stress in a target and a non‐targetHypericumspecies
Authors: Willis Anthony J. , Berentson Peter R. , Ash Julian E. 
Published: December 2010

Summary1. Biological control agents that impact on non‐target native species have limited desirability.Aculus hypericiwas introduced into Australia to help control the weed St John's wortHypericum perforatum, despite indications from pre‐release trials that this eriophyid mite could survive and reproduce on a non‐target native species,Hypericum gramineum. We used field experiments to explore the probability ofA. hypericicolonizing eitherH. gramineumorH. perforatumin sympatric populations of the alternative hosts, and to determine the impact ofA. hypericion the growth of field‐grownH. gramineum.2. We used a glasshouse experiment to compare the impact ofA. hypericion the ability of each host to recover from water stress and to investigate how such recovery affects herbivore populations on the alternative hosts. As Australia is frequently affected by drought, this issue is critical to both the efficacy and safety of biological weed control.3. The probability ofA. hypericicolonizingH. gramineumwas significantly lower than the probability of it colonizing the target weed. Despite the ability ofA. hypericito infestH. gramineum, the mite had negligible impacts on all measured indices of growth and reproduction.4. During the water limitation experiment, the non‐target host supported populations ofA. hypericithroughout the experimental period, but population size was consistently low. In comparison, mite populations increased considerably on the target weed and were associated with significant decreases in growth. Water limitation compounded the adverse impacts of mites on the weed, but did not affect impacts on the non‐target native.5. Despite the detrimental effects of mites on the growth ofH. perforatum, we found little evidence that they impaired the ability of eitherH. perforatumorH. gramineumto recover from water stress.6. Synthesis and applications.Rigorous host‐specificity testing is necessary to ensure that biological weed control agents do not impact on non‐target species. Potentially, however, these tests may reject beneficial agents unnecessarily, because of low level feeding or reproduction on non‐target species. Although host‐specificity testing might indicate that non‐target native species may host biocontrol agents, our results demonstrate that such non‐target species are not, necessarily, damaged.
Save those molecules! Molecular biodiversity and life*
Authors: Campbell Anthony K. 
Published: December 2010

Summary 1. Biodiversity involves diversity of species, genetics and habitats. But there is a fourth source of biodiversity – molecular biodiversity – without which evolution cannot occur, either in the origin of a new species, its survival and development, or its eventual extinction. 2. Molecular biodiversity is distinct from genetic diversity, though both ultimately depend on inheritable DNA. It occurs within one individual, between individuals of the same species, between related species, within and between phyla and ecosystems, and throughout evolution. There is also a crucial evolutionary role for ‘hidden’ molecular biodiversity in ‘bad’ genes. These highlight what Darwin and Wallace missed, the origin of a biological process, or a species. 3. Genetic engineering of bioluminescence, coupled with molecular imaging, has given us a wonderful technology for lighting up the molecular biodiversity of individual living cells, and even whole organisms. This has highlighted a major challenge – when is a biological process analogue or digital? 4. Synthesis and applications. The care of our planet, and ecology in the 21st century, depend on a new thinking based on molecular biodiversity. My go‐home message is that ecologists must grasp the opportunities presented by advances in molecular and cellular biology. But, although molecules are at the centre of modern biology and medicine, science begins and ends with a curiosity about the whole – the cell, the organ or the individual organism, within a particular ecosystem.
Current issues with fish and fisheries: editor's overview and introduction
Authors: Ormerod S. J. 
Published: December 2010

Summary 1. By any measure, fishes are among the world's most important natural resources. Annual exploitation from wild populations exceeds 90 million tonnes, and fish supply over 15% of global protein needs as part of total annual trade exceeding $US 55 billion. Additionally, with over 25 000 known species, the biodiversity and ecological roles of fishes are being increasingly recognised in aquatic conservation, ecosystem management, restoration and aquatic environmental regulation. 2. At the same time, substantial management problems now affect the production, exploitable stocks, global diversity, trophic structure, habitat quality and local composition of fish communities. 3. In marine systems, key issues include the direct effects of exploitation on fish, habitats and other organisms, while habitat or water quality problems arise also from the atmospheric, terrestrial and coastal environments to which marine systems are linked. In freshwaters, flow regulation and obstruction by dams, fragmentation, catchment management, pollution, habitat alterations, exotic fish introductions and nursery‐reared fish are widespread issues. 4. Management responses to the problems of fish and fisheries include aquatic reserves in both marine and freshwater habitats, and their effectiveness is now being evaluated. Policies on marine exploitation increasingly emphasise fishes as integral components of aquatic ecosystems rather than individually exploitable stocks, but the rationalisation of fishing pressures presents many challenges. In Europe, North America and elsewhere, policies on freshwaters encourage habitat protection, integrated watershed management and restoration, but pressures on water resources will cause continued change. All these management approaches require development and evaluation, and will benefit from a perspective of ecological understanding with ecologists fully involved. 5. Synthesis and applications. Although making a small contribution to the Journal of Applied Ecology in the past, leading work on aquatic problems and fish‐related themes appear increasingly in this and other mainstream ecology journals. As this special profile of five papers shows, significant contributions arise on diverse issues that here include the benefit of aquatic reserves, river restoration for fish, the accumulation of contaminants, interactions with predators, and the fitness of salmonids from nurseries. This overview outlines the current context in which papers on the applied ecology of fish and fisheries are emerging, and it identifies scope for further contributions.
Hemin and Magnesium-Protoporphyrin IX Induce Global Changes in Gene Expression inChlamydomonas reinhardtii
Authors: Voß Björn , Meinecke Linda , Kurz Thorsten , Al-Babili Salim , Beck Christoph F. , Hess Wolfgang R. 
Published: December 2010

AbstractRetrograde signaling is a pathway of communication from mitochondria and plastids to the nucleus in the context of cell differentiation, development, and stress response. In Chlamydomonas reinhardtii, the tetrapyrroles magnesium-protoporphyrin IX and heme are only synthesized within the chloroplast, and they have been implicated in the retrograde control of nuclear gene expression in this unicellular green alga. Feeding the two tetrapyrroles to Chlamydomonas cultures was previously shown to transiently induce five nuclear genes, three of which encode the heat shock proteins HSP70A, HSP70B, and HSP70E. In contrast, controversial results exist on the possible role of magnesium-protoporphyrin IX in the repression of genes for light-harvesting proteins in higher plants, raising the question of how important this mode of regulation is. Here, we used genome-wide transcriptional profiling to measure the global impact of these tetrapyrroles on gene regulation and the scope of the response. We identified almost 1,000 genes whose expression level changed transiently but significantly. Among them were only a few genes for photosynthetic proteins but several encoding enzymes of the tricarboxylic acid cycle, heme-binding proteins, stress-response proteins, as well as proteins involved in protein folding and degradation. More than 50% of the latter class of genes was also regulated by heat shock. The observed drastic fold changes at the RNA level did not correlate with similar changes in protein concentrations under the tested experimental conditions. Phylogenetic profiling revealed that genes of putative endosymbiontic origin are not overrepresented among the responding genes. This and the transient nature of changes in gene expression suggest a signaling role of both tetrapyrroles as secondary messengers for adaptive responses affecting the entire cell and not only organellar proteins.
Recombinant monoclonal human immunoglobulin E to investigate the allergenic activity of major grass pollen allergen Phl p 5
Authors: Madritsch C. , Flicker S. , Scheiblhofer S. , Zafred D. , Pavkov‐Keller T. , Thalhamer J. , Keller W. , Valenta R. 
Published: December 2010

Cite this as: C. Madritsch, S. Flicker,S. Scheiblhofer, D. Zafred, T. Pavkov‐Keller, J. Thalhamer, W. Keller and R. Valenta, Clinical & Experimental Allergy, 2011 (41) 270–280.AbstractBackground
Allergen recognition by IgE antibodies is a key event in allergic inflammation.Objective
To construct a plasmid for the expression of human monoclonal IgE antibodies of any desired specificity and to express IgE specific for the major timothy grass pollen allergen Phl p 5.Methods
In a first step, the DNA sequence coding for the IgG1 heavy chain was excised and replaced by the sequence coding for the human ɛ constant region gene in plasmid pLNOH2 expressing a human Phl p 5‐specific IgG1 heavy chain. Then, this construct together with a second plasmid expressing the corresponding Phl p 5‐specific light chain was co‐expressed in COS‐7 cells. The Phl p 5‐specific IgE (rhuMabEP5) was analysed for allergen‐specificity and isotype by ELISA. Cross‐reactivity of rhuMabEP5 was investigated by immunoblotting using pollen extracts from various grass species. The allergenic activity of Phl p 5 was studied by exposing rat basophil leukaemia (RBL) cells expressing human‐FcɛRI to rhuMabEP5 and Phl p 5.Results
We report the construction of vector pLNOH2‐P5IgE, for the expression of human IgE and exemplify its usefulness by the production of a complete and functional human monoclonal IgE (rhuMabEP5). rhuMabEP5 is specific for the grass pollen allergen Phl p 5 and cross‐reacts with group 5 allergens in natural grass pollen extracts. RBL‐release assays with rhuMabEP5 demonstrated that oligomerization does not contribute to the high allergenic activity of Phl p 5.Conclusion and Clinical Relevance
Plasmid pLNOH2‐P5IgE allowed the production of a fully functional human monoclonal IgE antibody specific for Phl p 5. Recombinant human IgE antibodies of defined specificity represent useful tools to investigate mechanisms underlying IgE‐mediated allergies.
Success in controlling a major outbreak of malaria because of Plasmodium falciparum in Jamaica
Authors: Webster‐Kerr Karen , Peter Figueroa J. , Weir Pauline L. , Lewis‐Bell Karen , Baker Everton , Horner‐Bryce Jeannette , Lewis‐Fuller Eva , Bullock DuCasse Marion , Carter Keith H. , Campbell‐Forrester Sheila 
Published: December 2010

SummaryIn 2006, after 44 years of eradication of malaria, Jamaica had an outbreak of Plasmodium falciparum: 406 confirmed cases between September 2006 and December 2009 with a peak of the epidemic in December 2006. In response to the outbreak, the Ministry of Health launched an emergency response through early detection and prompt treatment of cases, vector control, public education and intersectoral collaboration. Ninety percent (361) of cases were residents of Kingston, and 63.6% were identified through house to house surveillance visits. For 56% of the confirmed cases, treatment with chloroquine was initiated within a week of onset of symptoms. Only one (0.3%) of 358 cases who had a post‐treatment smear on day 7 had a persistent asexual parasitaemia, while none of the 149 persons who had a follow‐up smear on day 28 was positive. The outbreak highlighted the need for increased institutional capacity for surveillance, confirmation and treatment of malaria as well as effective prevention and control of outbreaks which can occur after elimination. Jamaica appears to have successfully eliminated malaria after its reintroduction.
Prognostic value of depressive symptoms on mortality, morbidity and nursing home admission in older people
Authors: Miu Doris KY , Chan Carol KM 
Published: December 2010

Aim:  Depression is frequently encountered in hospitalized elderly persons. Studies have found an independent association between depressive symptoms, mortality and functional decline. Only a few studies look specifically at other potential effects of depressive symptoms, such as subsequent hospital readmission or nursing home admission. In this study, we aim to investigate the association between the presence of depressive symptoms and nursing home placement, hospital admission and mortality in a group of geriatric outpatients receiving rehabilitation.Methods:  All community dwelling elderly patients with no history of depression or cognitive impairment who were new attendances of a geriatric day hospital of a regional hospital in Hong Kong were recruited. Baseline demographic data, medical comorbidities, functional status and presence of depressive symptoms defined as a Geriatric Depression Scale score of more than 8 were recorded. Outcome variables were mortality, nursing home admission and unplanned hospital admission rate at 1 year.Results:  Two hundred and nine subjects were included with a mean age of 77.4 years (standard deviation, 7.6). There was no statistically significant difference on mortality at 1 year and nursing home admission. However, depressed subjects were found to have increased risk of hospital admission (odds ratio = 2.67, 95% confidence interval = 1.31, 5.32) and have more episodes of unplanned hospital admission (odds ratio = 1.52, 95% confidence interval = 1.1, 2.12).Conclusion:  Elderly patients with depressive symptoms are associated with increased risk of hospital admission and greater inpatient service utilization, independent of their functional status. These results emphasize the need to improve the management of depressive symptoms and heighten the recognition and treatment of depression in the elderly population. Geriatr Gerontol Int 2011; 11: 174–179.
The fictionalist paradigm
Authors: Paley John 
Published: December 2010

AbstractThe fictionalist paradigm is introduced, and differentiated from other paradigms, using the Lincoln & Guba template. Following an initial overview, the axioms of fictionalism are delineated by reference to standard metaphysical categories: the nature of reality, the relationship between knower and known, the possibility of generalization, the possibility of causal linkages, and the role of values in inquiry. Although a paradigm's ‘basic beliefs’ are arbitrary and can be assumed for any reason, in this paper the fictionalist axioms are supported with philosophical considerations, and the key differences between fictionalism, positivism, and constructivism are briefly explained. Paradigm characteristics are then derived, focusing particularly on the methodological consequences. Towards the end of the paper, various objections and misunderstandings are discussed.