bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Why do hybrids turn down sex?
Authors: Fyon Frédéric , Berbel-Filho Waldir Miron , Schlupp Ingo , Wild Geoff , Úbeda Francisco 
Published: July 2023

AbstractAsexual reproduction is ancestral in prokaryotes; the switch to sexuality in eukaryotes is one of the major transitions in the history of life. The study of the maintenance of sex in eukaryotes has raised considerable interest for decades and is still one of evolutionary biology’s most prominent question. The observation that many asexual species are of hybrid origin has led some to propose that asexuality in hybrids results from sexual processes being disturbed because of incompatibilities between the two parental species’ genomes. However, in some cases, failure to produce asexual F1s in the lab may indicate that this mechanism is not the only road to asexuality in hybrid species. Here, we present a mathematical model and propose an alternative, adaptive route for the evolution of asexuality from previously sexual hybrids. Under some reproductive alterations, we show that asexuality can evolve to rescue hybrids’ reproduction. Importantly, we highlight that when incompatibilities only affect the fusion of sperm and egg’s genomes, the two traits that characterize asexuality, namely unreduced meiosis and the initiation of embryogenesis without the incorporation of the sperm’s pronucleus, can evolve separately, greatly facilitating the overall evolutionary route. Taken together, our results provide an alternative, potentially complementary explanation for the link between asexuality and hybridization.
Spatiotemporal modelling of Greenland halibut maturation across the Northwest Atlantic
Authors: Yan Yuan , Cantoni Eva , Field Chris , Treble Margaret , Benoît Hugues P , Rideout Rick M , Flemming Joanna Mills 
Published: July 2023

AbstractModelling life history trait variation at appropriate spatial and temporal scales is crucial for understanding population dynamics and developing effective fisheries management strategies. However, most efforts to model life history traits ignore spatial correlations and make a priori assumptions about the spatial structuring of populations, potentially clouding the ability to recognize true spatial structure. Here we develop spatiotemporal maturation models for Greenland halibut (Reinhardtius hippoglossoides) in the Northwest Atlantic, a species with large-scale movement patterns that can lead to uncertainty regarding effective stock boundaries. Our analysis using data from three Fisheries and Oceans Canada survey regions, Baffin Bay and Davis Strait in the eastern Canadian Arctic, Newfoundland and Labrador (NL), and the northern Gulf of St. Lawrence (GSL), is the first at such a large spatial scale. We also extend the traditional binary maturity status to a multinomial one that accounts for seasonal changes in maturation. Results show a decreasing temporal trend in size at maturity across the entire area. Spatial results regarding size at maturity provide new insight linking Greenland halibut south of Newfoundland (Northwest Atlantic Fisheries Organization Subdivision 3Ps) to the GSL stock rather than the NL stock. Results also highlight parts of the Davis Strait area, where size at maturity is smaller than in waters both north and south. Multinomial model results identify areas in GSL and Davis Strait that may be important for reproductive development in the summer and fall. Our analyses also reveal constraints on size at maturity that correspond with the well-known positive association between fish length and bottom depth. Broad-scale analyses of high resolution spatial patterns in life history traits, such as those performed here for Greenland halibut maturation, may identify recurrent patterns of association with environmental or habitat characteristics that might not otherwise be evident on a stock- or survey-specific basis.
Talking to the State: Interviewing the Elites about What’s Not to Be Said
Authors: Markiewicz Tadek 
Published: July 2023

Abstract
How can researchers conduct interviews about sensitive topics the interlocutors are unwilling to discuss? This article contributes to the ongoing debates on interviewing. While we are observing a growing interest in this research method among international relations scholars, we lack formalized advanced practices for overcoming interview-related challenges. Drawing on elite interviews conducted in Israel and the UK, the article introduces two research techniques particularly useful in discussing controversial or sensitive matters: in-situ texts and adaptable self-presentation practices. It first presents the types of challenges I faced seeking answers as to why secure and powerful states like the UK and Israel employ narratives of vulnerability in wartime public communication. Then it analyses how the use of in-situ texts during interviews assists in introducing sensitive topics into the interview. I illustrate how they allow me to quickly establish the importance of the research phenomenon as well as to facilitate more open conversations. Finally, I show the benefits of the adaptable self-presentation technique. The goal of this practice is to conduct a responsive interview. One in which the researcher builds trust with the participant by bringing out its own biographical aspects that emphasize either its outsider or insider status.
Relationships between body- and udder-related type traits with somatic cell counts and potential use for an early selection method for water buffaloes (Bubalus bubalis)
Authors: Zhang Xinxin , Niu Kaifeng , Wang Wei , Shaukat Aftab , Zhao Xuhong , Yao Zhiqiu , Liang Aixin , Yang Liguo 
Published: July 2023

Abstract
Water buffalo milk is a reliable source of high-quality nutrients; however, the susceptibility of mastitis in buffaloes must be taken into consideration. An animal with somatic cell count (SCC) of greater than 250,000 cells/mL is reported to be likely to have mastitis which has serious adverse effects on animal health, reproduction, milk yield, and milk quality. Type traits (TTs) of water buffalo can affect SCC in animal milk to some extent, but few reports on the correlation between SCC and TTs are available. In this study, a total of 1908 records collected from 678 water buffaloes were investigated. The general linear model was used to identify factors associated with phenotypic variation of the somatic cell score (SCS) trait, including parity, lactation length, calving year, and calving season as fixed effects. Using PROC CORR analysis method, taking calving year and lactation length as covariates, the correlation co-efficient between TT and SCS was obtained. Our results showed that correlation co-efficients between the 45 TTs with SCS ranged from 0.003 to 0.443 (degree of correlation). The correlation between udder traits and SCS was greater than that between body structure traits and SCS. Among udder traits, distance between teats (including front and rear teat distance [r = 0.308], front teat distance [r = 0.211], and teat crossing distance [r = 0.412]) and teat circumference (r = 0.443) had the highest correlation with SCS, followed by the leg traits including rear leg height (r = −0.354) and hock bend angle (r = −0.170). Animal with high rear legs (&gt;48 cm) and short teat crossing distance (&lt;17 cm), and narrow teat circumference (&lt;11 cm) exhibited low SCS. Using four nonlinear models (Von Bertalanffy, Brody, Logistic, and Gompertz), the optimal growth curves of the TTs highly correlated with the SCS (rear leg height and teat crossing distance) were fitted, and the correction co-efficients of these two TTs rear leg height and teat crossing distance of animal from young age (2 mo old) to first lactation (35 mo old) were attained for establishment of early selection method for water buffaloes with low SCS. This study provides theoretical support for early selection of low-SCS water buffaloes and lays a foundation for improving milk quality and promoting healthy development of water buffalo’s dairy industry.
Weak evidence base for bee protective pesticide mitigation measures
Authors: Straw Edward A , Stanley Dara A 
Published: July 2023

Abstract
Pesticides help produce food for humanity’s growing population, yet they have negative impacts on the environment. Limiting these impacts, while maintaining food supply, is a crucial challenge for modern agriculture. Mitigation measures are actions taken by pesticide users, which modify the risk of the application to nontarget organisms, such as bees. Through these, the impacts of pesticides can be reduced, with minimal impacts on the efficacy of the pesticide. Here we collate the scientific evidence behind mitigation measures designed to reduce pesticide impacts on bees using a systematic review methodology. We included all publications which tested the effects of any pesticide mitigation measure (using a very loose definition) on bees, at any scale (from individual through to population level), so long as they presented evidence on the efficacy of the measure. We found 34 publications with direct evidence on the topic, covering a range of available mitigation measures. No currently used mitigation measures were thoroughly tested, and some entirely lacked empirical support, showing a weak evidence base for current recommendations and policy. We found mitigation measure research predominantly focuses on managed bees, potentially failing to protect wild bees. We also found that label-recommended mitigation measures, which are the mitigation measures most often applied, specifically are seldom tested empirically. Ultimately, we recommend that more, and stronger, scientific evidence is required to justify existing mitigation measures to help reduce the impacts of pesticides on bees while maintaining crop protection.
Exploring the proteins and metabolites associated with male antennae responses to female exposure of Antheraea pernyi (Lepidoptera: Saturniidae) moths
Authors: Wang Guobao , Ji Xiang , Nie Lei , Xu Ruirui 
Published: July 2023

Abstract
Detection of sex pheromones of insects relies on the antennae. The female pheromone signal transmission in the male antennae ultimately initiates the courtship and mating behaviors of males. To investigate the proteins and metabolites involved in this neural transduction, integrative proteomics and metabolomics analysis including tandem mass tag (TMT) proteomic quantification and liquid chromatography tandem mass spectrometry (LC/MS)-based metabolomics was adopted for comparing proteomic and metabolic changes between the antennae of male moths following stimulation by females and the non-stimulated males of Antheraea pernyi (Guérin-Méneville, Lepidoptera: Saturniidae) in this study. A total of 92 differentially expressed proteins (DEPs) containing 52 upregulated and 40 downregulated proteins and 545 differentially expressed metabolites (DEMs) including 218 upregulated and 327 downregulated metabolites were identified from the antennae of female-stimulated male moths based on the proteome and metabolome data, respectively. Bioinformatics analysis was performed for the 45 DEPs and 160 DEMs, including Gene Ontology (GO), Clusters of Orthologous Groups (COG), and Kyoto Encylopaedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) enrichment analysis and Human Metabolome Database (HMDB) annotation. A number of DEPs and DEMs related to neural transmission of female pheromone signals in the male antennae of A. pernyi were screened, including tyrosine hydroxylase, cryptochrome-1, tachykinin, arylalkylamine N-acetyltransferase, cadherin-23, glutathione S-transferase delta 3, tyramine, tryptamine, n-oleoyl dopamine, n-stearoyl dopamine, and n-stearoyl tyrosine. The altered expression levels of those proteins or metabolites were speculated involved in regulating the neuron activity for enhanced transmission of neural impulses and continuous perception, reception, and transduction of female pheromone signals. Our findings yielded novel insights into the potential mechanisms in the antennae of male A. pernyi responding to female attraction.
Crossing experiments detect partial reproductive isolation among populations ofTriatoma longipennis(Hemiptera: Reduviidae: Triatominae)
Authors: Martínez-Ibarra José Alejandro , Nogueda-Torres Benjamín , Meraz-Medina Tzintli , Goicochea del Rosal Gumercindo 
Published: July 2023

AbstractChagas disease is an important vector-borne disease endemic in Mexico. Of the 33 triatomine species found in Mexico, Triatoma longipennis (Usinger) is considered among the most important because of its infection indices, capacity for transmitting Trypanosoma cruzi (Chagas), and its distribution areas. Here, we describe the results of a reproductive isolation analysis among 5 populations of T. longipennis collected from representative areas of Mexico. Fertility and segregation of morphological characteristics were examined in two generations of hybrids. The percentage of pairs with (fertile) offspring varied from 30% to 100% in the parental crosses, while these values varied from 0 to 100% in the intersite crosses. Our results indicate partial reproductive isolation among these populations. These findings shed light on the potential presence of a cryptic species complex of T. longipennis in Mexico.
Prediction sets adaptive to unknown covariate shift
Authors: Qiu Hongxiang , Dobriban Edgar , Tchetgen Tchetgen Eric 
Published: July 2023

Abstract
Predicting sets of outcomes—instead of unique outcomes—is a promising solution to uncertainty quantification in statistical learning. Despite a rich literature on constructing prediction sets with statistical guarantees, adapting to unknown covariate shift—a prevalent issue in practice—poses a serious unsolved challenge. In this article, we show that prediction sets with finite-sample coverage guarantee are uninformative and propose a novel flexible distribution-free method, PredSet-1Step, to efficiently construct prediction sets with an asymptotic coverage guarantee under unknown covariate shift. We formally show that our method is asymptotically probably approximately correct, having well-calibrated coverage error with high confidence for large samples. We illustrate that it achieves nominal coverage in a number of experiments and a data set concerning HIV risk prediction in a South African cohort study. Our theory hinges on a new bound for the convergence rate of the coverage of Wald confidence intervals based on general asymptotically linear estimators.
Cohabitant protection on relationship breakdown in Ireland: A lesson in illusory justice?
Authors: O’Sullivan Kathryn 
Published: July 2023

Abstract
The issue of how best to respond to the needs of cohabitants on relationship breakdown continues to generate significant discussion. Law reform and parliamentary bodies in jurisdictions as disparate as England and Wales, Scotland, New Zealand, and Alberta, Canada have each recently reflected on their laws in this regard, advancing proposals for reform. Almost all of these international bodies considered the statutory cohabitation scheme adopted in Ireland. However, despite being in place for over a decade, there has been no thorough examination of emerging case law under its Civil Partnership and Certain Rights and Obligations of Cohabitants Act 2010 nor any investigation into the effectiveness of the system in protecting vulnerable cohabitants on relationship breakdown. Relying on the latest jurisprudence and available data, this article takes the first step in addressing this lacuna in the literature. Having identified serious limitations in the regime, particularly its stringent eligibility requirements, it presents the first meaningful research to tease out how the Irish scheme could be improved and presents a proposal for reform.
Applying Appreciative Education to Undergraduate Music Therapy Supervision
Authors: Ravaglioli Raquel C 
Published: July 2023

Abstract
Music therapy is by nature an interdisciplinary profession, focusing on the triangulation of the client, the therapist, and the music. This complex relationship creates the necessity for specialized supervision practices. As part of the training for this profession, it is required that students are supervised by board-certified music therapists during practicum placements. Music therapy supervision has incorporated theories grounded in the field of psychology to inform supervision practices. However, recent work in the field suggests Appreciative Education theory may be a more useful approach for supervision. Appreciative education is “a framework that provides an intentional and positive approach to bettering educational enterprises by focusing on the strengths and potential of individuals and organizations to accomplish co-created goals” (Bloom, J., Hutson, B., He, Y., & Konkle, E. 2013). Appreciative education. New Directions for Student Services, 143, 5–6). This paper discusses examples of the appreciative education approach and how to best integrate these practices within the context of undergraduate music therapy supervision. For this article, the primary approach discussed will be the 6D framework developed (Bloom, J. L., Hutson, B. L., & He, Y. (2008). The appreciative advising revolution. Stipes Publishing). The purpose of this practical application is for music therapy supervisors to integrate this framework into their supervisory practices.
Intramuscular and abdominal fat measured by computed tomography and mortality of hemodialysis patients
Authors: Kojima Sho , Usui Naoto , Shigetake Masato , Uehata Akimi , Inatsu Akihito , Ando Shuji , Matsuzawa Ryota , Suzuki Yusuke , Nakata Junichiro , Tsuchiya Takahiko , Hisadome Hideki , Mawatari Takayuki , Tsubaki Atsuhiro 
Published: July 2023

ABSTRACT

Background
In hemodialysis patients, high body mass index is associated with low mortality while abdominal obesity relates to increased mortality. We aimed to investigate the association between muscle mass, intramuscular fat and abdominal fat measured by abdominal computed tomography (CT), and mortality in this patients population.

Methods
This two-center retrospective cohort study included hemodialysis patients who underwent abdominal CT between January 2013 and December 2018. Skeletal muscle mass index (SMI), muscle radiation attenuation (MRA) as an index of intramuscular fat, and visceral fat to subcutaneous fat ratio (VSR) were calculated using CT images at the third lumbar vertebral level. Multivariate Cox proportional hazards model was used to determine the independent predictors of all-cause, cardiovascular and non-cardiovascular mortalities.

Results
The study included 344 patients (median age 71.0 years; female 33.7%), among whom 145 died during a median follow-up of 4.9 years—46 and 99 from cardiovascular and non-cardiovascular causes, respectively. Lower MRA [hazard ratio (HR) 0.71, 95% confidence interval (CI) 0.58–0.87, P = .001] and higher VSR (HR 1.17, 95% CI 1.01–1.37, P = .04) were independently associated with higher all-cause mortality but not with lower SMI (HR 0.87, 95% CI 0.68–1.11, P = .26). Lower MRA (HR 0.51, 95% CI 0.35–0.73, P &lt; .001) and higher VSR (HR 1.29, 95% CI 1.09–1.54, P = .003) were also associated with cardiovascular and non-cardiovascular mortality, respectively.

Conclusions
Intramuscular fat and abdominal fat as measured using abdominal CT in hemodialysis patients are stronger independent predictors of mortality than muscle mass.
Prevalence and diversity of malaria parasites (genus Plasmodium) in the imperiled Saltmarsh Sparrow are greater at northern sites
Authors: Neuhaus Alyssa P , Lane Oksana P , Kovach Adrienne I , Conway Meaghan , Kneeland Michelle R , Martinsen Ellen S 
Published: July 2023

Abstract
Malaria parasites (genus Plasmodium) are important agents of infectious disease in birds and multiple factors, including warming temperatures and environmental contamination, may act to increase their geographic and host ranges. Here, we examined the role of geographical variation and environmental mercury exposure in malaria parasite infection dynamics in an imperiled songbird species with high mercury exposition, the Saltmarsh Sparrow (Ammospiza caudacutus). Using polymerase chain reaction (PCR) methods, we screened 280 Saltmarsh Sparrows from across their breeding range for malaria parasite infection. We detected malaria parasites in 17% of sampled birds and a total of 6 Plasmodium lineages. Prevalence of infection and diversity of parasite lineages varied across the breeding range of the Saltmarsh Sparrow and increased at more northern latitudes. Although mercury is a known immunosuppressant and has been documented to alter an individual’s susceptibility to pathogens, we did not find a significant difference in blood mercury levels between infected and not infected birds, perhaps due to sampling methods and/or small sample sizes. As a specialist of coastal wetlands, the Saltmarsh Sparrow is an excellent indicator species for ecological health, and the patterns of malaria parasite infection with host distribution and mercury suggest that birds at northern latitudes are at greater risk of disease and should be priorities for conservation, habitat, and pathogen monitoring.
Mobilizing the Shy and Closed-Minded into Politics: The Mediating Role of Political Trust for Conventional Participation in the Americas
Authors: Cawvey Matthew 
Published: July 2023

Abstract
Political participants tend to be extraverted and open to experience, but we know virtually nothing about the exceptions to the rule. Why do individuals low in extraversion and openness sometimes engage in public affairs? The answer to this question has implications for political equity in the expression and representation of public opinion, regardless of personality traits. To address my query, I turn to political trust as a mediator of the relationship between personality and political participation. I argue that extraverts often feel disappointed about the impersonal nature of public affairs and thus possess a lower level of political trust than introverts; meanwhile, people high in openness value progress and ideals, likely perceive a disconnect between their political preferences and political reality, and thus may be more likely to distrust government than the closed-minded. For the trust–participation link, I contend that trusting citizens will be inclined to perpetuate the status quo through conventional behaviors such as voting, attending government meetings, and contacting government officials. Using mediation analysis of AmericasBarometer survey data from North America, Latin America, and the Caribbean, I find that introverted and closed-minded individuals tend to be more politically engaged—through their higher levels of political trust.