bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Pleistocene fragmentation of Amazon species’ ranges
Authors: Bonaccorso Elisa , Koch Ingrid , Peterson A. Townsend 
Published: February 2006

ABSTRACTHistorical patterns of connection and isolation of the impressive biological diversity of the Amazon Basin have been the subject of extensive debate, based on evidence drawn from distributional patterns of endemic species, vegetation histories from palynological studies, and geological studies. We develop species‐specific ecological niche models based on current occurrence patterns of 17 species of birds and woody plants, which we project onto modelled Pleistocene (Last Glacial Maximum) climatic patterns to reconstruct past potential distributions of each species. Forest species’ distributions showed fragmentation at Last Glacial Maximum and these fragments were coincident spatially, whereas savanna species showed no clear trends. Our results suggest that past climate changes fragmented forest species’ ranges within a matrix of uncertain composition.
Environmental and geographical factors affecting the Iberian distribution of flightlessJekeliusspecies (Coleoptera: Geotrupidae)
Authors: Lobo J. M. , Verdú J. R. , Numa C. 
Published: February 2006

ABSTRACTThe degree of influence of environment, location and geography on the distribution of closely‐relatedJekelius nitidusandJekelius hernandezi, coleopteran species endemic to the Iberian Peninsula, was examined. Niche envelope model predictions of probable absence points were based on available presence information. Presence–absence information for each of the two species was logistic‐regressed against climate, altitude, lithology, spatial and river basin variables from each of 100 km2UTM Iberian Peninsula squares. Models predict that environmental conditions are suitable for both species in an area larger than that in which they have been found. The best‐fitting environment model forJ. nitidus, based on summer precipitation, area underlain by siliceous rocks, area with siliceous sediments and aridity index, explains more than 81% of total deviance. The final model, which includes spatial and river basin variables, accounts for nearly of 89% of total deviance. The best‐fitting environment model forJ. hernandezi,based on the area underlain by calcareous rocks, summer precipitation, aridity index, altitude and minimum annual temperature, explains 63% of total deviance. The final model based on both spatial and river basin variables accounts for nearly 70% of total deviance. Our results suggest that climate influences the distribution of both species similarly and that the acidic or basic nature of the substrate is the environment variable that most influences the occurrence of both species. The major degree of influence of river basin variables, together with lithologic variables, on the current distribution of both species may be due to the limited mobility of these flightless species.
Relationships between species richness of vascular plants and terrestrial vertebrates in China: analyses based on data of nature reserves
Authors: Zhao Shuqing , Fang Jingyun , Peng Changhui , Tang Zhiyao 
Published: February 2006

ABSTRACTThe relationship between plant diversity and animal diversity on a broadscale and its mechanisms are uncertain. In this study, we explored this relationship and its possible mechanisms using data from 186 nature reserves across China on species richness of vascular plants and terrestrial vertebrates, and climatic and topographical variables. We found significant positive correlations between species richness in almost all taxa of vascular plants and terrestrial vertebrates. Multiple regression analyses indicated that plant richness was a significant predictor of richness patterns for terrestrial vertebrates (except birds), suggesting that a causal association may exist between plant diversity and vertebrate diversity in China. The mechanisms for the relationships between species richness of plants and animals are probably dependent on vertebrate groups. For mammals (endothermic vertebrates), this relationship probably represents the integrated effects of plants on animals through trophic links (i.e. providing foods) and non‐trophic interactions (i.e. supplying habitats), whereas for amphibians and reptiles (ectothermic vertebrates), this may be a result of the non‐trophic links, such as the effects of plants on the resources that amphibians and reptiles require.
Strong requirements for weak diversities
Authors: Ricotta Carlo 
Published: February 2006

ABSTRACTWeikard et al. (Diversity and Distributions, 12, 215–217) show that the taxonomic diversity measure proposed by Ricotta (2004) violates ‘weak species monotonicity’. This condition requires that the addition of a species to a given species set should always increase diversity if abundances change only marginally. They further propose a new taxonomic diversity index that overcomes this drawback. In this paper, some statistical properties of this new diversity index are briefly analysed.
Diversity measurement combining relative abundances and taxonomic distinctiveness of species
Authors: Weikard Hans‐Peter , Punt Maarten , Wesseler Justus 
Published: February 2006

ABSTRACTWe discuss a diversity measure combining information of relative abundances and taxonomic distinctiveness suggested by Ricotta (2004). We show that Ricotta's measure violates weak species monotonicity, a condition that requires that the addition of a species should always increase a diversity index if abundances change only marginally. We suggest an alternative index satisfying weak species monotonicity and apply it to the ‘Zeesserveld’ forest reserve in the Netherlands.
How well do Important Bird Areas represent species and minimize conservation conflict in the tropical Andes?
Authors: O'Dea Niall , Araújo Miguel B. , Whittaker Robert J. 
Published: February 2006

ABSTRACTWhere high species richness and high human population density coincide, potential exists for conflict between the imperatives of species conservation and human development. We examine the coincidence of at‐risk bird species richness and human population in the countries of the tropical Andes. We then compare the performance of the expert‐driven Important Bird Areas (IBA) scheme against a hypothetical protected‐areas network identified with a systematic reserve selection algorithm seeking to maximize at‐risk bird species representation. Our aim is to assess the degree to which: IBAs contain a higher richness of at‐risk species than would be expected by chance, IBAs contain more people than would be expected by chance, and IBAs are congruent with complementary areas that maximize species representation with an equivalent number of sites. While the correlation of richness and population was low for the region as a whole, representation of all at‐risk bird species required many sites to be located in areas of high human population density. IBA sites contained higher human population densities than expected by chance (P < 0.05) and were markedly less efficient in representing at‐risk bird species of the region than sites selected using the reserve selection algorithm. Moreover, overlap between IBAs and these latter sites was very limited. Expert‐driven selection procedures may better reflect existing sociopolitical forces, including land ownership and management regimes, but are limited in their ability to develop an efficient, integrated network of sites to represent priority species. Reserve selection algorithms may serve this end by optimizing complementarity in species representation among selected sites, whether these sites are adopted independently or as a supplement to the existing reserve network. As tools of site selection, they may be particularly useful in areas such as the tropical Andes where complex patterns of species disjunction and co‐occurrence make the development of representative reserve networks particularly difficult. Furthermore, they facilitate making spatially explicit choices about how reserve sites are located in relation to human populations. We advocate their use not in replacement of approaches such as the IBA initiative but as an additional, complementary tool in ensuring that such reserve networks are developed as efficiently as practically possible.
Rothia dentocariosa sepsis in a pediatric renal transplant recipient having post‐transplant lymphoproliferative disorders
Authors: Wiesmayr Silke , Stelzmueller Ingrid , Berger Natalie , Jungraithmayr Therese C. , Fille Manfred , Eller Miriam , Zimmerhackl Lothar Bernd , Margreiter Raimund , Bonatti Hugo 
Published: February 2006

Abstract: Background: Rothia dentocariosa (RD) is a Gram‐positive rod that colonizes the human oral cavity and can cause infective endocarditis.Result: We report on a six‐yr‐old boy who underwent renal transplantation for polycystic kidney disease at the age of eight months. He developed post‐transplant lymphoproliferative disorders after four yr and progressive graft failure. Following chemotherapy, the patient presented with neutropenia and sepsis. RD was isolated from blood and treatment with piperacillin/tazobactam was initiated; however, the child died because of multiorgan failure.Discussion: To the best of our knowledge, this is the first case of RD sepsis in a pediatric solid organ transplant recipient.
Buccal mucosal cell immunohistochemistry: a simple method of determining the ABH phenotype of baboons, monkeys, and pigs
Authors: Busch Jamie , Specht Susan , Ezzelarab Mohamed , Cooper David K. C. 
Published: February 2006

Abstract: Background: Baboons and monkeys fail to express ABH antigens on red blood cells (RBCs), and the A or H antigens are expressed only weakly on the surface of pig RBCs. Baboons and monkeys have been previously blood typed by detection of ABH antigens in the saliva after administration of pilocarpine. A reliable method to ABH type pigs is by immunohistochemical staining of renal distal tubules in kidney biopsies. We describe a simple and efficient method to blood type baboons, monkeys, and pigs.Methods: Baboons (n=14) and cynomolgus monkeys (n=8) were blood typed by staining of buccal mucosal smears and by determining the presence of serum anti‐A or B antibodies following human type O adsorption. Pigs (n=11) were tested for ABH type by immunohistochemistry for the presence of A, B, and H antigens using monoclonal antibodies on (i) renal biopsies, (ii) RBCs, and (iii) buccal mucosal smears, without pilocarpine administration, in addition, (iv) after adsorption on human type O RBCs to remove anti‐human antibodies, the pig sera were typed by hemagglutination assay for the presence of anti‐A or B antibodies using human A and B RBCs.Results and conclusions: There was complete consistency among the results obtained using all of the above methods, except that no determination could be made from staining of RBCs in one pig. Staining of buccal mucosal cells proved to be the preferred method in all three species because: (i) expression of A or H antigen is weak on pig RBCs, making an accurate blood type determination difficult, and A, B, and H expression is non‐existent on baboon and monkey RBCs, (ii) neither venepuncture nor organ biopsy is necessary, (iii) time‐consuming adsorption of anti‐human antibodies from the sera of the test animal is not required, and (iv) it proved a quick method of evaluation.
Phenotypic and functional characterization of human T cell clones indirectly activated against adult pig islet cells
Authors: Lindeborg Ellinor , Kumagai‐Braesch Makiko , Möller Erna 
Published: February 2006

Abstract: Background: Xenotransplanted patients produce xenospecific IgG1 antibodies directed against epitopes other than Galα1,3Gal. IgG1 antibody production is believed to be dependent upon T cell help. Therefore, as a natural continuation of our work aimed at characterizing the xenoimmune antibody response against pig islet cells, we have also examined the T cell response. T cell reactivity against islet cells is believed to result from indirect antigen presentation, and our in vitro study was designed to mimic the response in vivo. The main purpose of this study was to characterize the phenotype, the immunological specificity and the functional capacity of indirectly activated T cell clones, reactive against pig islet cell antigens.Materials and methods: Human T cell clones, activated against pig islet cells in the presence of autologous antigen‐presenting cells, were produced from limiting dilutions of bulk cultures. Clonality was investigated by T cell receptor Vβ (TcRVβ) expression analysis. Clonal specificity was studied in proliferation assays using different pig cells as stimulators. ELISpot experiments were performed to detect cytokine production patterns. The cytotoxic capacity of the clones was assessed using standard cell‐mediated lysis tests and different porcine and human target cells. Several long‐term bulk cultures of human lymphocytes, indirectly activated against pig islet cells, maintained for up to 60 days, were used as a control for possible bias in the selection of the clones.Results: Nineteen CD4+ TcRVαβ+ T cell clones were recovered. No activation of natural killer T cells or γδ‐T cells was recorded. There was no bias in the TcRVβ‐usage. The immunological specificity differed between clones; some were specifically reactive against pig islet cell antigens, while others were reactive with antigens present on a variety of pig cells. All clones produced a broad spectrum of cytokines, e.g. interferon (IFN)‐γ, tumor necrosis factor (TNF)‐α, interleukin (IL)5, IL10 and IL13, with no evidence of bias for a particular phenotype. None of the T cell clones were cytotoxic against pig islet cells, but two clones were cytotoxic against pig phytohemagglutinin (PHA)‐blasts.Conclusion: The analysis of several, indirectly activated, human CD4+ T cell clones shows that the response against pig islet cells is heterogeneous both with regard to immunological specificity and functional characteristics. This heterogeneity was further confirmed by analysis of the long‐term bulk cultures of human lymphocytes, indirectly activated against pig islet cells.
Effects of SZ1677, a new non‐depolarizing steroidal neuromuscular blocking drug, and rocuronium on two laryngeal muscles and the anterior tibial muscle in guinea pigs
Authors: Michalek‐Sauberer A. , Nicolakis E. M. , Vizi E. S. , Gilly H. 
Published: February 2006

Background:  SZ1677 is a new neuromuscular blocking drug structurally related to rocuronium. We compared the effect of an ED90 of SZ1677 (25 μg/kg) with that of rocuronium (100 μg/kg) in guinea pig laryngeal and peripheral muscles.Methods:  Electromyography was used to quantify neuromusc‐ular blockade at the posterior cricoarytenoid muscle, the thyroarytenoid muscle and the anterior tibial muscle after SZ1677 (n = 10) and rocuronium (n = 9).Results:  Maximum neuromuscular blockade was similar after SZ1677 and rocuronium (83 ± 11% vs. 89 ± 11%; thyroarytenoid muscle: 91 ± 8% vs. 97 ± 3%; anterior tibial muscle: 91 ± 15% vs. 96 ± 3%, respectively). Onset time of neuromuscular blockade at the laryngeal muscles was similar for the two neuromuscular blocking drugs; it was shorter at the thyroarytenoid muscle (67 ± 32 s vs. 42 ± 40 s) than at the posterior cricoarytenoid muscle (101 ± 26 s vs. 102 ± 108 s). Onset time at the anterior tibial muscle was longer after SZ1677 (114 ± 34 s) than after rocuronium (68 ± 46 s); P < 0.05. Neuromuscular recovery was faster after SZ1677 (interval 25%−75%: posterior cricoarytenoid muscle: 222 ± 66 s; thyroarytenoid muscle: 192 ± 92 s; tibial muscle 149 ± 55 s) than after rocuronium (450 ± 148 and 464 ± 183 s, 292 ± 86 s, respectively); P < 0.05.Conclusions:  In guinea pigs, SZ1677 offers a rapid onset of neuromuscular blockade at a laryngeal adductor muscle with a shorter duration than rocuronium. Regardless of the drug used, the course of neuromuscular blockade differs not only between peripheral muscles and the larynx but also between antagonistic laryngeal muscles. The differences seem to be species specific.
The influence of the weather and the phase of the moon on post‐operative nausea and vomiting
Authors: Kredel M. , Goepfert C. , Bassi D. , Roewer N. , Apfel C. C. 
Published: February 2006

Background:  Post‐operative nausea and vomiting (PONV) is believed and previously reported to be influenced by the weather and the phase of the moon. We therefore determined the effects of specific and general weather patterns as well as the lunar phase on PONV in adults undergoing balanced inhalation anaesthesia.Methods:  The incidence of PONV was prospectively evaluated in 1801 patients undergoing elective surgical, urologic and head and neck procedures. Air temperature, barometric pressure, air water vapour pressure and the general weather situation were obtained from the National Weather Institute in Germany on the days of surgery. Corresponding categories of temperature, pressure, vapour pressure and their day‐to‐day changes, the general weather situation and the phase of the moon were used to group the patient data. The differences between the proportion of patients having PONV and the proportion predicted to have PONV according to their calculated risk were determined for each category. Further, bivariate and multivariate testing was applied.Results:  Within 24 h after anaesthesia, PONV occurred in 555 of the patients (31%). There was no correlation between weather conditions and PONV occurrence or between the phase of the moon and PONV occurrence. Even when corrected for the patients' risk and other potentially confounding factors in multivariate logistic regression analysis, no statistically significant impact of the hypothesized factors could be detected.Conclusion:  These data suggest that neither the weather nor the phases of the moon have any clinically relevant effect on the incidence of PONV after general anaesthesia.
Sexually antagonistic coevolution in insects is associated with only limited morphological diversity
Authors: Eberhard W. 
Published: February 2006

AbstractMorphological traits involved in male–female sexual interactions, such as male genitalia, often show rapid divergent evolution. This widespread evolutionary pattern could result from sustained sexually antagonistic coevolution, or from other types of selection such as female choice or selection for species isolation. I reviewed the extensive but under-utilized taxonomic literature on a selected subset of insects, in which male–female conflict has apparently resulted in antagonistic coevolution in males and females. I checked the sexual morphology of groups comprising 500–1000 species in six orders for three evolutionary trends predicted by the sexually antagonistic coevolution hypothesis: males with species-specific differences and elaborate morphology in structures that grasp or perforate females in sexual contexts; corresponding female structures with apparently coevolved species-specific morphology; and potentially defensive designs of female morphology. The expectation was that the predictions were especially likely to be fulfilled in these groups. A largely qualitative overview revealed several surprising patterns: sexually antagonistic coevolution is associated with frequent, relatively weak species-specific differences in males, but male designs are usually relatively simple and conservative (in contrast to the diverse and elaborate designs common in male structures specialized to contact and hold females in other species, and also in weapons such as horns and pincers used in intra-specific battles); coevolutionary divergence of females is not common; and defensive female divergence is very uncommon. No cases were found of female defensive devices that can be facultatively deployed. Coevolutionary morphological races may have occurred between males and females of some bugs with traumatic insemination, but apparently as a result of female attempts to control fertilization, rather than to reduce the physical damage and infections resulting from insertion of the male's hypodermic genitalia. In sum, the sexually antagonistic coevolution that probably occurs in these groups has generally not resulted in rapid, sustained evolutionary divergence in male and female external sexual morphology. Several limitations of this study, and directions for further analyses are discussed.
Lowering sample size in comparative analyses can indicate a correlation where there is none: example from Rensch's rule in primates
Authors: Lindenfors P. , Tullberg B. S. 
Published: February 2006

Abstract
The fact that characters may co-vary in organism groups because of shared ancestry and not always because of functional correlations was the initial rationale for developing phylogenetic comparative methods. Here we point out a case where similarity due to shared ancestry can produce an undesired effect when conducting an independent contrasts analysis. Under special circumstances, using a low sample size will produce results indicating an evolutionary correlation between characters where an analysis of the same pattern utilizing a larger sample size will show that this correlation does not exist. This is the opposite effect of increased sample size to that expected; normally an increased sample size increases the chance of finding a correlation. The situation where the problem occurs is when co-variation between the two continuous characters analysed is clumped in clades; e.g. when some phylogenetically conservative factors affect both characters simultaneously. In such a case, the correlation between the two characters becomes contingent on the number of clades sharing this conservative factor that are included in the analysis, in relation to the number of species contained within these clades. Removing species scattered evenly over the phylogeny will in this case remove the exact variation that diffuses the evolutionary correlation between the two characters – the variation contained within the clades sharing the conservative factor. We exemplify this problem by discussing a parallel in nature where the described problem may be of importance. This concerns the question of the presence or absence of Rensch's rule in primates.