bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Late Quaternary paleoecology from fossil beetle communities in the Awatere Valley, South Island, New Zealand
Authors: Marra Maureen , Leschen Richard A. B. 
Published: October 2010

AbstractAim  The research aim is to reconstruct last glacial maximum (LGM) and Holocene vegetation history and ecology from fossil beetle assemblages.Location  The LGM and Holocene sites are located in the Awatere Valley, which lies in the tectonically active Marlborough Region in the north east of the South Island of New Zealand.Methods  Beetle fossils were extracted from silty organic sediment using the standard kerosene flotation method. Fossils were identified by comparisons made to modern species based on morphology and surface features. The ecology and distribution of modern analogues are extrapolated to reconstruct the fossil environment.Results  One hundred and forty‐five beetle species belonging to 33 families were identified. The LGM fossil fauna showed the local vegetation was characterized by a forest patch surrounded by an open tussock/grassland landscape. This Nothofagus (southern beech) forest persisted at the site until mid‐Holocene when it was replaced by a podocarp forest that contained high beetle diversity. Herbivores dominate in the early stage of this zone, indicating a relatively new forest environment. Later in the Holocene, the fauna is dominated by detritivores indicating an older more established forest. The late Holocene is characterized by low diversity and the absence of forest species. This fauna indicates that by 500 years ago, the forest was absent and is associated with an almost compete loss of beetle biodiversity.Main conclusions  The fossil beetles provide a unique perspective into the past environment in the Awatere Valley on a local scale. The reconstruction supports regional pollen interpretations of Holocene vegetation by identifying a specific forest patch. Fossil beetles are thus a valuable local proxy for vegetation reconstructions.
Trends in butterfly species richness in response to the peninsular effect in South Korea
Authors: Choi Sei‐Woong 
Published: October 2010

AbstractAim  The Korean peninsula is elongated in shape and is connected to the Asian continent on the north. The peninsular effect – a decline in species density or richness as a function of distance from the mainland base (towards the distal tip) of a peninsula – was evaluated for plants and animals in different peninsulas. The aims of the present study were to describe the pattern of butterfly species diversity and to determine what factors may be responsible for this pattern along the Korean peninsula. The distribution pattern of butterfly species in South Korea before and after the Korean War was also investigated.Location  South Korea (34–38° N, 126–129° E).Methods  Forty‐three quadrats, each 1/2° latitude by 1/2° longitude, and three data sets – butterfly distribution data from 1938 to 1950, butterfly distribution data from 1976 to 1999, and the combined data – were analysed. The influence of four variables – latitude, longitude, area and maximum altitude – on each quadrat was investigated using multiple regression analysis.Results and conclusion  The analyses revealed a marked peninsular effect: there was a significant positive correlation between butterfly species richness and latitude. Additionally, habitat diversity, expressed as maximum altitude, was significantly correlated with butterfly species richness. I conclude that both the geographical orientation and habitat diversity contribute to butterfly species diversity across South Korea. Comparison of ranges between the older and recent data sets suggests that geographical distributions of several species are dramatically reduced in size. These species may be used for future conservation activities in South Korea.
The uncertain blitzkrieg of Pleistocene megafauna
Authors: Brook Barry W. , Bowman David M. J. S. 
Published: October 2010

AbstractWe investigated, using meta‐analysis of empirical data and population modelling, plausible scenarios for the cause of late Pleistocene global mammal extinctions. We also considered the rate at which these extinctions may have occurred, providing a test of the so‐called ‘blitzkrieg’ hypothesis, which postulates a rapid, anthropogenically driven, extinction event. The empirical foundation for this work was a comprehensive data base of estimated body masses of mammals, comprising 198 extinct and 433 surviving species > 5 kg, which we compiled through an extensive literature search. We used mechanistic population modelling to simulate the role of human hunting efficiency, meat off‐take, relative naivety of prey to invading humans, variation in reproductive fitness of prey and deterioration of habitat quality (due to either anthropogenic landscape burning or climate change), and explored the capacity of different modelling scenarios to recover the observed empirical relationship between body mass and extinction proneness. For the best‐fitting scenarios, we calculated the rate at which the extinction event would have occurred. All of the modelling was based on sampling randomly from a plausible range of parameters (and their interactions), which affect human and animal population demographics. Our analyses of the empirical data base revealed that the relationship between body mass and extinction risk relationship increases continuously from small‐ to large‐sized animals, with no clear ‘megafaunal’ threshold. A logistic ancova model incorporating body mass and geography (continent) explains 92% of the variation in the observed extinctions. Population modelling demonstrates that there were many plausible mechanistic scenarios capable of reproducing the empirical body mass–extinction risk relationship, such as specific targeting of large animals by humans, or various combinations of habitat change and opportunistic hunting. Yet, given the current imperfect knowledge base, it is equally impossible to use modelling to isolate definitively any single scenario to explain the observed extinctions. However, one universal prediction, which applied in all scenarios in which the empirical distribution was correctly predicted, was for the extinctions to be rapid following human arrival and for surviving fauna to be suppressed below their pre‐‘blitzkrieg’ densities. In sum, human colonization in the late Pleistocene almost certainly triggered a ‘blitzkrieg’ of the ‘megafauna’, but the operational details remain elusive.
Use of arboreal and terrestrial space by a small mammal community in a tropical rain forest in Borneo, Malaysia
Authors: Wells Konstans , Pfeiffer Martin , Lakim Maklarin B. , Linsenmair K. Eduard 
Published: October 2010

AbstractAim  Small mammals were live‐trapped in a primary rain forest to evaluate the relative distribution of species to each other and to microhabitat properties on the ground and in the canopy.Location  Kinabalu National Park in Borneo, Sabah, Malaysia.Methods  Seven trapping sessions were conducted along two grids with 31 trap points at distances of 20 m on the ground and in the lower canopy at an average height of 13.5 m.Results  Species diversity and abundance of small mammals proved to be high: 20 species of the families Muridae, Sciuridae, Tupaiidae, Hystricidae, Viverridae and Lorisidae were trapped, with murids being dominant in both habitat layers. The terrestrial community was significantly more diverse with 16 captured species (Shannon–Wiener's diversity index  = 2.47), while 11 species were trapped in the canopy ( = 1.59). The Whitehead's rat, Maxomys whiteheadi, and the red spiny rat, Maxomys surifer, dominated the terrestrial community whereas the large pencil‐tailed tree mouse, Chiropodomys major, was by far the most abundant species in the canopy. Other abundant species of the canopy community, the dark‐tailed tree rat, Niviventer cremoriventer, and the lesser treeshrew, Tupaia minor, were also abundant on the ground, and there was no clear boundary between arboreal and terrestrial species occurrences.Main conclusions  As most species were not confined to specific microhabitats or habitat layers, species seemed to rely on resources not necessarily restricted to certain microhabitats or habitat layers, and separation of species probably resulted mainly from a species’ concentrated activity in a preferred microhabitat rather than from principal adaptations to certain habitats. Ecological segregation was stronger in the more diverse terrestrial community, though microhabitat selection was generally not sufficient to explain the co‐occurrences of species and the variability between local species assemblages. Constraints on small mammal foraging efficiency in the three‐dimensional more complex canopy may be responsible for the similarity of microhabitat use of all common arboreal species. Community composition was characterized by mobile species with low persistence rates, resulting in a high degree of variability in local species assemblages with similar turnover rates in both habitats.
Expression of G protein α subunits in the lateral wall of the rat cochlea
Authors: Khan Khalid M. , Sarfaraz Noorjehan , Siddiqui Sammer , Malik Zainab A. , Salim Zeenat 
Published: October 2010

AbstractExpression of five G protein α subunits was investigated in the rat cochlea by reverse transcription‐polymerase chain reaction (RT‐PCR) in order to understand their role in the cochlear signal transduction mechanisms. Immunohistochemical techniques were employed to study their distribution in the lateral wall of the cochlea. Total RNA was extracted with guanidine thiocyanate from cochleas and brains of 14–21‐day‐old rats. The extract was treated with DNase to degrade genomic DNA. After RT, the resulting cDNA was amplified by PCR using primers specific for the nucleotide sequences representing α subunits of heterotrimeric G proteins. The results indicated that mRNA for all five α subunits was expressed in the brain and cochlear samples. For immunohistochemical localization, temporal bones of 6‐week‐old rats were fixed in 4% paraformaldehyde and 0.1% glutaraldehyde and processed for embedding in paraffin wax. The dewaxed, midmodiolar sections of the cochlea were incubated with subunit‐specific polyclonal antibodies. The pattern of immunoreactivity varied for the five G protein α subunits studied in the stria vascularis and spiral ligament. The significance of these findings and the role of G protein α subunits in cochlear fluid homeostasis are discussed.
Muscle fibre breakdown in venom‐induced muscle degeneration
Authors: Harris J. B. , Vater R. , Wilson M. , Cullen M. J. 
Published: October 2010

AbstractWe studied the early stages of the degeneration of skeletal muscles using the venom of Notechis scutatus as the myotoxic agent. The venom was used at a dose equivalent to the LD50 in the mouse. There was no mortality amongst the rats. Electron microscopy was used to show the progressive hypercontraction of sarcomeres and the loss of alignment of myofibrils in individual muscle fibres. Between areas of hypercontraction sarcomeres were torn, shedding loosened myofilaments into the cytosol. Western blotting and Coomassie staining were used to compare the respective rates of loss of desmin, titin, actin, myosin and dystrophin. We showed that desmin and titin were the first proteins to be degraded with a time to 50% loss of approximately 1 h and 3 h, respectively. The loss of major contractile proteins, myosin and actin, was rather slower. The loss of dystrophin was also slower than the loss of desmin and titin. Early damage to the plasma membrane of the muscle fibre caused the cells to depolarize, probably promoting the hypercontraction of the sarcomeres, but actual loss of membrane was incomplete even at 24 h. We suggest that the early degradation of desmin and titin was responsible for the disaggregation of the sarcomeres; the liberated contractile proteins myosin and actin were shed into the cytosol, where they were degraded. Phagocytic cells that had invaded the degenerating muscle fibres were primarily involved in the clearance of damaged mitochondria.
Pollical oblique ligament in humans and non‐human primates
Authors: Shrewsbury Marvin 
Published: October 2010

AbstractA morphological study of the oblique ligament in the thumb is presented. The ligament was consistently described in human specimens and compared with dissections of non‐human primates from different species. The oblique ligament was found in some, but not all, specimens in each of the following species examined: chimpanzee, orang‐utan, gibbon, anubis baboon, hamadryas baboon, squirrel monkey, lemur and marmoset. A revised identity of the oblique ligament is proposed as a reinforced distal border of a fibro‐osseous annular pollical flexor sheath and whose function is not independent of the flexor sheath. The constant presence and tendinous trait of the pollical oblique ligament in humans, when compared with non‐human primates, supports the notion that the oblique ligament strengthens the pollical flexor sheath in humans for restraint of the flexor pollicis longus tendon during forceful precision pinching. A derivation of the pollical oblique ligament is considered as representing a vestigial radial limb of a flexor pollicis superficialis tendon in the thumb.
Abstracts of the 8th Meeting of the Italian Peripheral Nerve Study Group: 64
Authors: Bellone E , Di Maria E , Balestra P , Cassandrini D , Ribizzi G , Schenone A , Ajmar F , Mandich P 
Published: October 2010

Hereditary neuropathy with liability to pressure palsies (HNPP) is an autosomal dominant, demyelinating peripheral neuropathy. HNPP is a genetically homogeneous disease with a single disease locus at chromosome 17p11.2‐p12. The major cause of HNPP is a 1.5 Mb deletion containing the PMP22 gene, which causes a dosage effect of peripheral myelin protein 22. The deletion is found in 85% of patients with HNPP. A few HNPP patients show smaller deletions, still containing the PMP22 gene. Point mutations in the PMP22 gene are rare cause of HNPP. To date, nine point mutations were reported and all these mutations most likely cause a loss of function of PMP22. We describe a HNPP patient who at the age of 20 years developed muscle weakness and paresthesias. The neurophysiological examination showed a sensory motor demyelinating polyneuropathy at four limbs. The sural nerve biopsy showed signs of a demyelinating neuropathy with abundance of classical tomacula and mild inflammatory reaction in endo‐ and epineurial tissues. The CMT1A duplication and HNPP deletion of the region 17p11.2 was excluded by Southern blot analysis and pulse field gel electrophoresis. The PMP22 gene was screened for mutations by single strand conformation polymorphism (SSCP) analysis. An altered SSCP fragment was observed in the exon 2. Direct sequencing demonstrated a nucleotide substitution in the exon 2‐intron 2 junction (c.179 + 1G?C). To define the molecular consequences of this splice site mutation, RT‐PCR experiments on the sural nerve biopsy are in progress. The pathophysiological role of this mutation will be discussed in the light of the clinical, neurophysiological and pathological features.Partially supported by grants MURST 2000 to F.A. and Ministero della Sanità to P.M.
Structural basis for recognition of arginine methylated Piwi proteins by the extended Tudor domain
Authors: Liu Ke , Chen Chen , Guo Yahong , Lam Robert , Bian Chuanbing , Xu Chao , Zhao Dorothy Y. , Jin Jing , MacKenzie Farrell , Pawson Tony , Min Jinrong 
Published: October 2010

Arginine methylation modulates diverse cellular processes and represents a molecular signature of germ-line-specific Piwi family proteins. A subset of Tudor domains recognize arginine methylation modifications, but the binding mechanism has been lacking. Here we establish that, like other germ-line Tudor proteins, the ancestral staphylococcal nuclease domain-containing 1 (SND1) polypeptide is expressed and associates with PIWIL1/Miwi in germ cells. We find that human SND1 binds PIWIL1 in an arginine methylation-dependent manner with a preference for symmetrically dimethylated arginine. The entire Tudor domain and a bifurcated SN domain are required for this binding activity, whereas the canonical Tudor domain alone is insufficient for methylarginine ligand binding. Crystal structures show that the intact SND1 extended Tudor domain forms a wide and negatively charged binding groove, which can accommodate distinct symmetrically dimethylated arginine peptides from PIWIL1 in different orientations. This analysis explains how SND1 preferentially recognizes symmetrical dimethylarginine via an aromatic cage and conserved hydrogen bonds, and provides a general paradigm for the binding mechanisms of methylarginine-containing peptides by extended Tudor domains.
The Pleasures and Lessons of Academic Mythbusting: An Interview with Scott Lilienfeld
Authors: Zinn Tracy E. 
Published: October 2010

Scott O. Lilienfeld is a professor of psychology at Emory University, in Atlanta, Georgia. Dr. Lilienfeld is founder and editor of the journal, Scientific Review of Mental Health Practice, and is past president of the Society for a Science of Clinical Psychology. He has been a member of 11 journal editorial boards, including the Journal of Abnormal Psychology and Clinical Psychology Review. Dr. Lilienfeld has published more than 200 articles, book chapters, and books on personality disorders, personality assessment, anxiety disorders, psychiatric classification and diagnosis, pseudoscience in psychology, and evidence-based practices in clinical psychology. His most recent book, coauthored with Steven Jay Lynn, John Ruscio, and Barry Beyerstein, is 50 Great Myths of Popular Psychology: Shattering Widespread Misconceptions About Human Behavior (Wiley-Blackwell, 2010). Tracy E. Zinn is an associate professor of psychology at James Madison University. She earned a PhD in industrial/organizational psychology from Auburn University in 2002. In 2005, Tracy received the Early Career Award from the Society for the Teaching of Psychology. She has published several articles and book chapters on the topic of effective teaching practices. Tracy currently serves as the program coordinator for the APS-STP Teaching Institute at the Association for Psychological Sciences annual convention.
Plant traits that predict resistance to herbivores
Authors: Carmona Diego , Lajeunesse Marc J. , Johnson Marc T.J. 
Published: October 2010

Summary1. Although secondary metabolites are recognized as fundamental to the defence of plants against insect and mammalian herbivores, their relative importance compared to other potential defensive plant traits (e.g. physical resistance, gross morphology, life‐history, primary chemistry and physiology) are not well understood.2. We conducted a meta‐analysis to answer the question: What types of genetically variable plant traits most strongly predict resistance against herbivores? We performed a comprehensive literature search and obtained 499 separate measurements of the strength of covariation (measured as genetic correlations) between plant traits and herbivore susceptibility – these were extracted from 72 studies involving 19 plant families.3. Surprisingly, we found no overall association between the concentrations of secondary metabolites and herbivore susceptibility – plant traits other than secondary metabolites most strongly predicted herbivore susceptibility. Specifically, genetic variation in life‐history traits (e.g. flowering time, growth rate) consistently exhibited the strongest genetic correlations with susceptibility. Genetic variation in gross morphological traits (e.g. no. branches, plant size) and physical resistance traits (e.g. latex, trichomes) were also frequently correlated with variation in herbivore susceptibility, but these relationships depended on attributes of the herbivores (e.g. feeding guild) and plants (e.g. longevity).4. These results call into question the conventional wisdom that secondary metabolites are the most important anti‐herbivore defence of plants. We propose the hypothesis that herbivores select most strongly on genetic variation in life‐history, morphological and physical resistance traits, but the greater pleiotropic effects of genes controlling these traits impose strong constraints on their evolution. Meanwhile, secondary metabolites could have evolved to be important defensive mechanisms not because they have the largest effect on herbivores, but because the constraints on their evolution are the weakest.
Do dichogamy and herkogamy reduce sexual interference in a self‐incompatible species?
Authors: Dai Can , Galloway Laura F. 
Published: October 2010

Summary 1. Dichogamy and herkogamy respectively represent the temporal and spatial separation of male and female reproductive functions. They are regarded as mechanisms to avoid selfing, to promote outcrossing and, particularly in self‐incompatible plants, to reduce sexual interference. However, little is known about the extent to which these mechanisms reduce sexual interference, and whether this reduction impacts fitness. 2. We studied patterns of dichogamy and herkogamy, their influence on sexual interference, and the fitness outcome in self‐incompatible Passiflora incarnata. We manipulated flowers to be adichogamous or unisexual to evaluate fruit production under increased and decreased sexual interference. 3. Incomplete protandry guaranteed that almost half of the pollen could be successfully exported without interfering with the stigmas, indicating dichogamy may facilitate male pollination success. We found no difference in pollen deposition between natural and emasculated flowers, suggesting that herkogamy does not decrease self pollination. Increased herkogamy resulted in reduced pollen deposition and lower probability of setting fruits, however, a higher seed number. No difference in female fitness was detected under experimentally increased or decreased sexual interference. 4. Taken together, our results suggest that dichogamy is mostly driven by the advantage to male fitness and herkogamy is chiefly determined by female fitness. The lack of difference in female fitness under varied levels of sexual interference indicates that male function is more likely to play a role in shaping floral traits that reduce sexual interference.