bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Phylogeny of the highly divergent zoanthid family Microzoanthidae (Anthozoa, Hexacorallia) from the Pacific
Authors: Fujii Takuma , Reimer James Davis 
Published: June 2011

Fujii, T. & Reimer, J. D. (2011). Phylogeny of the highly divergent zoanthid family Microzoanthidae (Anthozoa, Hexacorallia) from the Pacific. —Zoologica Scripta, 40, 418–431.In this study, one new family, one new genus and two new species of zoanthids from rubble zones spanning the temperate, subtropical and tropical Pacific Ocean are described. Two new species are described, Microzoanthus occultus sp. n. and Microzoanthus kagerou sp. n., both belonging to the new genus Microzoanthus and new family Microzoanthidae, and they can be clearly distinguished both morphologically and genetically from each other and other zoanthids by their very small size, reduced or absent stolon, habitat usually on the bottom side of rubble zone rocks, and divergent and distinct DNA (cytochrome oxidase subunit I, mitochondrial 16S ribosomal DNA, internal transcribed spacer region of ribosomal DNA) sequences. The phylogenetic analyses clearly show Microzoanthidae fam. n. to be genetically far different from all other hexacorallians at the order level, but the macrocnemic arrangement of mesenteries and other morphological characters (colonial specimens with narrow stolons, two rows of tentacles sand encrustation) clearly place these specimens within the order Zoantharia. This study demonstrates how it is highly likely the existence of many marine invertebrate taxa remains overlooked, and that widely distributed groups such as Microzoanthidae fam. n. remain to be discovered.
Molecular and morphological phylogeny of Diplazontinae (Hymenoptera, Ichneumonidae)
Authors: Klopfstein Seraina , Quicke Donald L. J. , Kropf Christian , Frick Holger 
Published: June 2011

Klopfstein, S., Quicke, D. L. J., Kropf, C. & Frick, H. (2011) Molecular and morphological phylogeny of Diplazontinae (Hymenoptera, Ichneumonidae). —Zoologica Scripta, 40, 379–402.Parasitoid wasps are among the most species rich and at the same time most understudied of all metazoan taxa. To understand their diversification and test hypotheses about their evolution, we need robust phylogenetic hypotheses. Here, we reconstruct the phylogeny of the subfamily Diplazontinae using four genes and 66 morphological characters both in separate analyses and in a total evidence approach. The resulting phylogeny is highly resolved, with most clades supported by multiple independent data partitions. It contains three highly supported genus groups, for which we suggest morphological and behavioural synapomorphies. The placement of some of the genera, especially Xestopelta Dasch, is unexpected, but also supported by morphology. Most of the genera are retrieved as monophyletic, with the exception of the morphologically diverse genus Syrphoctonus Förster. We split this genus into three genera, including Fossatyloides gen. n., to restore the phylogeny–classification link. Conflict between the morphological and the molecular topology was mostly resolved in favour of the molecular partition in the total evidence approach. We discuss reasons for this finding, and suggest strategies for future taxon and character sampling in Diplazontinae.
Association of a polymorphism of BTN2A1 with Type 2 diabetes mellitus in Japanese individuals
Authors: Hiramatsu M. , Oguri M. , Kato K. , Yoshida T. , Fujimaki T. , Horibe H. , Yokoi K. , Watanabe S. , Satoh K. , Aoyagi Y. , Tanaka M. , Yoshida H. , Shinkai S. , Nozawa Y. , Murohara T. , Yamada Y. 
Published: June 2011

Diabet. Med. 28, 1381–1387 (2011)AbstractAims  We previously showed that the C→T polymorphism (rs6929846) of BTN2A1 was significantly associated with myocardial infarction in Japanese individuals by a genome‐wide association study. Given that diabetes mellitus is an important risk factor for myocardial infarction, the association of rs6929846 of BTN2A1 with myocardial infarction might be attributable, at least in part, to its effect on susceptibility to diabetes. The purpose of this study was to examine the relation of rs6929846 of BTN2A1 to Type 2 diabetes mellitus.Methods  A total of 8650 Japanese individuals from two independent subject panels were examined: Panel A comprised 1141 individuals with Type 2 diabetes and 3161 control subjects and panel B comprised 1664 individuals with Type 2 diabetes and 2684 control subjects.Results  The chi‐square test revealed that rs6929846 of BTN2A1 was significantly related to the prevalence of Type 2 diabetes in subject panel A (P = 0.0002) and subject panel B (P = 0.006). Multivariable logistic regression analysis with adjustment for age, sex, body mass index and smoking status revealed that rs6929846 was significantly associated with Type 2 diabetes (P = 0.0006; odds ratio 1.25) in all individuals, with the T allele representing a risk factor for this condition. Multiple regression analysis with adjustment for age, sex and body mass index revealed that rs6929846 was significantly (P = 0.04) related to blood glycosylated haemoglobin content in control subjects.Conclusions  BTN2A1 may be a susceptibility gene for Type 2 diabetes in Japanese individuals.
The trait and host plant ecology of aphids and their distribution and abundance in the United Kingdom
Authors: Bell James R. , Taylor Mark S. , Shortall Chris R. , Welham Sue J. , Harrington Richard 
Published: June 2011

ABSTRACTAim We characterized the annual populations of 170 aphid species by their log abundance, site occupancy and site continuity (i.e. the persistence of species in time) and used this information to make predictions about groups of species that displayed characteristic patterns. By doing so, we aimed to identify commonalities in functional traits (host‐alternation; mode of reproduction; life‐cycle plasticity; median body size) and host plant geographic range sizes that may indicate why some species are common and others not.Location The population dynamics of winged aphids at 27 locations in the United Kingdom were studied.Methods The annual numbers of aphids were studied using a dataset comprising over 11 million individuals across 509 site‐years. Traits and host plants were analysed using linear mixed effects models and nonlinear regression models.Results Linear mixed effects models showed that the fixed effects of host alternation and winter host plant area of occupancy were important in predicting log abundance, site occupancy and site continuity. Life‐cycle plasticity was also a significant effect, although not for log abundance. Relationships between site continuity, site occupancy and log abundance were strongly nonlinear. Site continuity always lagged site occupancy, indicating that species were less likely to retain previously occupied sites when abundances were low.Main conclusions Aphid traits are a better paradigm than taxonomic relatedness in explaining macroecological patterns. Host alternation induces an annual flux of migrants that engenders higher annual log abundances, consistent with the theory that species with high local densities tend to confer a much wider distribution than those with low densities. The abundance of aphids is monotonically related to the geographic range size of their winter host, suggestive of a strong bottom‐up effect (i.e. resource controlled). The areas of occupancy (AOO) of winter host plants constrain aphids to low abundances because a greater proportion of hosts are trees and shrubs which tend to have smaller AOO than herbs and grasses, the common summer host types.
The effects of plantation practice on soil properties based on the comparison between natural and planted forests: a meta‐analysis
Authors: Liao Chengzhang , Luo Yiqi , Fang Changming , Chen Jiakuan , Li Bo 
Published: June 2011

ABSTRACTAim  The effects of planted forests on soils are of great concern in the context of the increasing demands for timber production and atmospheric CO2 sequestration. However, the effects of plantations on soil properties have not well been quantified. We determined the effects of plantation practice on soil properties based on a comparison between natural forests and plantations.Locations  All the continents except for Antarctica.Methods  The meta‐analysis approach was used to examine the differences in 14 soil variables in the mineral layer, including pH, bulk density, C, N, P, K, Ca, Mg, Na and Al concentrations, C/N ratio, cation exchangeable capacity, base saturation, and moisture between plantations and their adjacent natural forests from 73 published studies.Results  Plantations did not differ from natural forests in soil pH or soil Na and Al concentrations. Soil bulk density below plantations increased by 12.5%, and soil C and N concentrations decreased by 36.0% and 26.5%, respectively, relative to natural forests. The other eight variables were 8.4–30.6% lower in plantations than in natural forests. The general patterns also held true for planted trees from the genus Pinus and for study regions in China. The patterns for soil bulk density and C and N concentrations were not different between the two groups in relation to various factors: stand age (< 25 years versus ≥ 25 years), leaf form (broadleaved versus coniferous) and leaf seasonality (deciduous versus evergreen), tree species origin (native versus exotic), land‐use history (afforestation versus reforestation) and site preparation for plantations (burnt versus un‐burnt treatment), and biogeographic zone (tropical versus temperate).Main conclusions  Our results suggest that the level of soil fertility in plantations is unlikely to restore to the level in natural forests, implying that the replacement of natural forests by plantations may be a practice best avoided to maintain the ecosystem sustainability.
The potential impacts of ocean acidification: scaling from physiology to fisheries*
Authors: Le Quesne Will J F , Pinnegar John K 
Published: June 2011

AbstractViews expressed on the potential impact of ocean acidification range from wholesale degradation of marine ecosystems through to no discernable impact with minimal consequences. Constraining this range of predictions is necessary for the development of informed policy and management. The direct biological impacts of acidification occur at the molecular and cellular level; however, it is the expression of these effects at the population and ecosystem level that is of societal concern. Here, we consider the potential impact of ocean acidification on fisheries with particular emphasis on approaches to scaling from physiological responses to population‐ and ecosystem‐level processes. In some instances, impacts of ocean acidification may lead to changes in the relative species composition at a given trophic level without affecting the overall productivity, whilst in other instances, ocean acidification may lead to a reduction in productivity at a given tropic level. Because of the scale at which ecological processes operate, modelling studies are required. Here, ocean acidification is situated within ongoing research into the ecological dynamics of perturbed systems, for which many models have already been developed. Whilst few existing models currently explicitly represent physiological processes sensitive to ocean acidification, some examples of how ocean acidification effects may be emulated within existing models are discussed. Answering the question of how acidification may impact fisheries requires the integration of knowledge across disciplines; this contribution aims to facilitate the inclusion of higher trophic level ecology into this ongoing debate and discussion.
Comparing Lives: Rush Rhees on Humans and Animals
Authors: Pianalto Matthew 
Published: June 2011

AbstractIn several posthumously published writings about the differences between humans and animals, Rush Rhees criticises the view that human lives are more important than (or superior to) animal lives. Rhees' views may seem to be in sympathy with more recent critiques of “speciesism.” However, the most commonly discussed anti‐speciesist moral frameworks – which take the capacity of sentience as the criterion of moral considerability – are inadequate. Rhees' remark that both humans and animals can be loved points towards a different way of accounting for the moral considerability of humans and animals that avoid the problems of the capacity‐based approaches.
THE SUPERIORITY OF MONETARY OVER BARTER EXCHANGE: EXPERIMENTAL RESULTS AND POLICY IMPLICATIONS
Authors: Rötheli Tobias F. 
Published: June 2011

ABSTRACTWilliam Stanley Jevons suggested that monetary exchange is socially superior to barter exchange because agents' optimization is simplified by the use of money. We experimentally study how subjects perform under monetary and barter exchange and find that a majority of subjects achieve a higher utility level in the monetized economy. The individual choices are statistically analyzed in order to track important elements of suboptimal decision making like the tendency to under‐ or over‐react to price signals. Our laboratory findings indicate that, at a minimum, government may have a role in promoting a common unit of account.
SLIP SLIDING AWAY: FURTHER UNION DECLINE IN GERMANY AND BRITAIN
Authors: Addison John T. , Bryson Alex , Teixeira Paulino , Pahnke André 
Published: June 2011

ABSTRACTThis paper presents the first comparative analysis of the decline in collective bargaining in two European countries where that decline has been among the most pronounced. Using establishment‐level data and a common model, we present decompositions of changes in collective bargaining in the private sector in Germany and Britain over the period 1998–2004. In both countries, within‐effects dominate compositional changes as the source of the recent decline in unionism. Overall, the decline in collective bargaining is more pronounced in Britain than in Germany, thus continuing a trend apparent since the 1980s. Although establishment characteristics differ markedly across the two countries, assuming counterfactual values of these characteristics makes little difference to unionization levels. Expressed differently, the German dummy looms large.
INTERACTIONS BETWEEN FINANCIAL DEVELOPMENT AND TRADE OPENNESS
Authors: Kim Dong‐Hyeon , Lin Shu‐Chin , Suen Yu‐Bo 
Published: June 2011

ABSTRACTThis paper empirically investigates the interaction between financial development and trade openness through simultaneous‐equation systems. The identification and estimation of the systems rely on the methodology of identification through heteroskedasticity proposed by Rigobon (2003). Using a panel consisting of 70 countries over the period 1960–2007, we find a two‐way causal relationship between financial development and trade openness. A better‐developed financial sector induces higher openness to trade, while higher openness in goods market stymies financial development. And such findings hold well for low‐income, high‐inflation, or low‐governance countries.
New tools for an old trade: a socio‐technical appraisal of how electronic decision support is used by primary care practitioners
Authors: Peiris David , Usherwood Tim , Weeramanthri Tarun , Cass Alan , Patel Anushka 
Published: June 2011

AbstractThis article explores Australian general practitioners’ (GPs) views on a novel electronic decision support (EDS) tool being developed for cardiovascular disease management. We use Timmermans and Berg’s technology‐in‐practice approach to examine how technologies influence and are influenced by the social networks in which they are placed. In all, 21 general practitioners who piloted the tool were interviewed. The tool occupied an ill‐defined middle ground in a dialectical relationship between GPs’ routine care and factors promoting best practice. Drawing on Lipsky’s concept of ‘street‐level bureaucrats’, the tool’s ability to process workloads expeditiously was of greatest appeal to GPs. This feature of the tool gave it the potential to alter the structure, process and content of healthcare encounters. The credibility of EDS tools appears to be mediated by fluid notions of best practice, based on an expert scrutiny of the evidence, synthesis via authoritative guidelines and dissemination through trusted and often informal networks. Balanced against this is the importance of ‘soft’ forms of knowledge such as intuition and timing in everyday decision‐making. This resonates with Aristotle’s theory of phronesis (practical wisdom) and may render EDS tools inconsequential if they merely process biomedical data. While EDS tools show promise in improving health practitioner performance, the socio‐technical dimensions of their implementation warrant careful consideration.
Exploring the Metropolitan Trap: The Case of Montreal
Authors: TOMÀS MARIONA 
Published: June 2011

AbstractThis article analyses the normative dimension of metropolitan governance in the case of Montreal. According to the main schools of thought (the reform school, the public choice school, new regionalism and the rescaling approach), there is an ideal scale at which to achieve specific goals such as equality, efficiency, democracy and economic competitiveness. These ideologically oriented conceptions of metropolitan governance are assumed by actors and used as symbolic resources to build their own strategies, i.e. to support or contest institutional reforms — what we call the metropolitan trap. The case of Montreal, which underwent two successive institutional reforms between 2000 and 2006, provides empirical evidence for this idea. Our analysis reveals that the Government of Quebec and local elected councils of Greater Montreal are trapped by these normative conceptions, especially the old regionalisms. However, scalar strategies do not compete equally, as the institutional context legitimates specific approaches to metropolitan governance.RésuméCet article analyse la dimension normative de la gouvernance métropolitaine dans le cas de Montréal. Les principales écoles théoriques (de la réforme, des choix publics, du nouveau régionalisme et du redimensionnement) estiment qu'il existe un échelon idéal pour la réussite d'objectifs particuliers, tels que l'égalité, l'efficacité, la démocratie et la compétitivitééconomique. Orientées idéologiquement, ces conceptions de la gouvernance métropolitaine servent de ressources symboliques aux acteurs qui les adoptent afin de bâtir leurs propres stratégies, pour ou contre les réformes institutionnelles, d'où ce qui est appelé ici le ‘piège métropolitain’. À cet égard, Montréal, qui a connu deux réformes institutionnelles successives entre 2000 et 2006, apporte des éléments empiriques. L'analyse révèle que le gouvernement du Québec et les conseils d'élus locaux qui administrent le Grand Montréal sont piégés par ces conceptions normatives, notamment par les anciens régionalismes. Par ailleurs, les stratégies d'échelle ne rivalisent pas sur un pied d'égalité puisque le contexte institutionnel ne légitime que certaines approches de gouvernance métropolitaine.
Comparative axial morphology in pinnipeds and its correlation with aquatic locomotory behaviour
Authors: Pierce S. E. , Clack J. A. , Hutchinson J. R. 
Published: June 2011

AbstractRegional variation in the axial skeleton of pinnipeds (seals and walruses) and its correlation with aquatic locomotory behaviour is examined using vertebral functional profiles. The results demonstrate clear morpho‐functional differences in the thoracolumbar region of modern pinnipeds (Phocidae, Otariidae, Odobenus) that can be strongly linked to swimming style. Phocid seals have a rigid thoracic region attached to a highly flexible lumbar region with long muscular lever arms providing the necessary mobility and leverage to perform pelvic oscillations. Conversely, otariid seals have extremely flexible inter‐vertebral joints along the length of the column which should enhance manoeuvrability and turning performance. They also have greater muscular leverage in the anterior thoracic region to support pectoral oscillations. Odobenus (walrus) shows vertebral characteristics most similar to phocids, but with some otariid qualities, consistent with an intermediate or mixed form of aquatic locomotion, with pelvic oscillation dominating over pectoral oscillation. Comparison of the vertebral functional profiles in the fossil taxon Allodesmus kernensis with those of modern pinniped clades reveals that this extinct pinniped may also have used a combination of pectoral and pelvic oscillatory movements during swimming, but in a manner opposite to that of Odobenus, with pectoral oscillatory movements dominating. This study raises questions about the evolution and diversification of pinniped locomotory behaviours, but also provides the necessary framework to begin to examine axial mechanics and locomotory stages in other fossil pinnipedimorphs and their relatives in more detail.
First‐trimester ductus venosus screening for cardiac defects: a meta‐analysis
Authors: Papatheodorou SI , Evangelou E , Makrydimas G , Ioannidis JPA 
Published: June 2011

Please cite this paper as: Papatheodorou S, Evangelou E, Makrydimas G, Ioannidis J. First‐trimester ductus venosus screening for cardiac defects: a meta‐analysis. BJOG 2011;118:1438–1445.Background Heart defects are the most common congenital abnormalities.Objective  We aimed to evaluate in a meta‐analysis the screening performance of abnormal ductus venosus (DV) Doppler waveform for detection of congenital heart disease (CHD) in chromosomally normal fetuses.Search strategy  Studies were retrieved from a search of MEDLINE, ISI, SCOPUS and EMBASE (from 1999 to March 2011) using the keywords ‘ductus venosus’, ‘DV’, ‘chromosomal abnormalities’, ‘congenital heart disease’ and ‘nuchal translucency’.Selection criteria  We considered all studies that examined the diagnostic performance of DV in the first trimester for CHD in chromosomally normal fetuses. We included studies that were limited to fetuses with increased nuchal translucency (NT), normal NT, and studies that examined fetuses regardless of NT status.Data collection and analysis  Seven studies (n = 50 354) regardless of the NT status, nine studies (n = 2908) with increased NT and seven studies (n = 47 610) with normal NT were included in the meta‐analysis. We drew hierarchical summary receiver operating characteristic (HSROC) curves using the parameters of the fitted models.Main results  In populations including participants regardless of NT status, the summary sensitivity and specificity of DV for detecting CHD were 50 and 93%, respectively. In participants with increased NT, the summary sensitivity and specificity were 83 and 80%, and in those with normal NT, they were 19 and 96%, respectively.Authors’ conclusions  The estimated performance of DV assessment for detection of CHD in chromosomally normal fetuses can be considered in evaluating the potential use and limitations of this screening test.