bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Behavior, nutrition, and environment drive survival of a large herbivore in the face of extreme winter conditions
Authors: LaSharr Tayler N. , Dwinnell Samantha P. H. , Jakopak Rhiannon P. , Randall Jill , Kaiser Rusty C. , Thonhoff Mark , Scurlock Brandon , Fieseler Troy , Hymas Neil , Hymas Adam , Roberts Nick , Hobbs James , Zornes Mark , Brimeyer Douglas G. , Fralick Gary , Monteith Kevin L. 
Published: July 2023

AbstractFor many species, behavioral modification is an effective strategy to mitigate negative effects of harsh and unpredictable environmental conditions. When behavioral modifications are not sufficient to mitigate extreme environmental conditions, intrinsic factors may be the primary determinant of survival. We investigated how movement behavior, and internal (i.e., nutrition and age) and external (i.e., food availability and snow depth) states affect survival over winter of a long‐lived and highly faithful species (mule deer; Odocoileus hemionus). We first tested whether animals changed their behavior during winter based on internal and external states; we subsequently investigated how behavior and state interacted to influence survival in the face of extraordinary winter conditions. Movement behavior changed minimally as a function of age and nutrition; yet, movement behavior affected survival—animals that exhibited more restricted movements were more likely to succumb to mortality overwinter than animals with less restricted movements. Additionally, nutrition and cumulative snow depth had a strong effect on survival: animals that were exposed to deep snow and began winter with low fat were much less likely to survive. Behavior was an effective tool in securing survival during mild or moderate winters, but nutrition ultimately underpinned survival during harsh winters.
Infrastructure to factorially manipulate the mean and variance of precipitation in the field
Authors: Rudgers Jennifer A. , Luketich Anthony , Bacigalupa Melissa , Baur Lauren E. , Collins Scott L. , Hall Kristofer M. , Hou Enqing , Litvak Marcy E. , Luo Yiqi , Miller Tom E. X. , Newsome Seth D. , Pockman William T. , Richardson Andrew D. , Rinehart Alex , Villatoro‐Castañeda Melissa , Wainwright Brooke E. , Watson Samantha J. , Yogi Purbendra , Zhou Yu 
Published: July 2023

AbstractExtensive ecological research has investigated extreme climate events or long‐term changes in average climate variables, but changes in year‐to‐year (interannual) variability may also cause important biological responses, even if the mean climate is stable. The environmental stochasticity that is a hallmark of climate variability can trigger unexpected biological responses that include tipping points and state transitions, and large differences in weather between consecutive years can also propagate antecedent effects, in which current biological responses depend on responsiveness to past perturbations. However, most studies to date cannot predict ecological responses to rising variance because the study of interannual variance requires empirical platforms that generate long time series. Furthermore, the ecological consequences of increases in climate variance could depend on the mean climate in complex ways; therefore, effective ecological predictions will require determining responses to both nonstationary components of climate distributions: the mean and the variance. We introduce a new design to resolve the relative importance of, and interactions between, a drier mean climate and greater climate variance, which are dual components of ongoing climate change in the southwestern United States. The Mean × Variance Experiment (MVE) adds two novel elements to prior field infrastructure methods: (1) factorial manipulation of variance together with the climate mean and (2) the creation of realistic, stochastic precipitation regimes. Here, we demonstrate the efficacy of the experimental design, including sensor networks and PhenoCams to automate monitoring. We replicated MVE across ecosystem types at the northern edge of the Chihuahuan Desert biome as a central component of the Sevilleta Long‐Term Ecological Research Program. Soil sensors detected significant treatment effects on both the mean and interannual variability in soil moisture, and PhenoCam imagery captured change in vegetation cover. Our design advances field methods to newly compare the sensitivities of populations, communities, and ecosystem processes to climate mean × variance interactions.
Microclimatic buffering in forest, agricultural, and urban landscapes through the lens of a grass‐feeding insect
Authors: Braem Simon , Crucifix Michel , Nieberding Caroline , Van Dyck Hans 
Published: July 2023

AbstractFor small ectotherm species, dealing with microclimatic variation during sensitive stages of their development is a critical component of their ecological interactions within and among different landscape settings. However, it is often unknown whether the use of habitats in different landscape settings may affect microclimatic conditions at the level of microhabitats (e.g., at host plants for herbivorous insects). As opposed to standard ecological monitoring experiments, we aim to identify the microclimatic variables that accurately represent the environment in which a small arthropod spends most of its life. As a case study, we selected grassy sites that corresponded to the microhabitat of grass‐feeding insects in general, and larvae of the butterfly Pararge aegeria in particular, as this insect recently expanded its habitat use from forest (edges) to agricultural and urban environments. We tested the extent to which local microclimates and microclimatic buffering capacity differed between tufts of grass in forest and in two anthropogenic (i.e., agricultural and urban) landscape settings by measuring microclimatic variables with sensors at the level of the grasses. We compared temperature, relative humidity, and vapor pressure deficit (VPD) during an exceptionally warm and dry summer period with parallel data from weather stations and tested for differences between microclimatic profiles among the three landscape settings. Microclimatic conditions correspond only partly to variables based on weather station data. Differences are particularly significant for relative humidity and VPD, but not for day and night temperatures. Effects of canopy openness on the variability of microclimatic variables are landscape‐specific. Host plants in agricultural settings experience strong microclimatic fluctuations and low short‐term variability in VPD. In urban settings, urban heat island effects increase night temperature but also show microclimatic buffering effects similar to the ones in forest settings. Our findings stress the functional implications of landscape‐specific microclimatic profiles at the appropriate organism‐centered scale. We discuss the significance of such microclimatic profiles for ecological studies dealing with ectotherms under climate and land use change.
Mammalian resistance to megafire in western U.S. woodland savannas
Authors: Calhoun Kendall L. , Goldstein Benjamin R. , Gaynor Kaitlyn M. , McInturff Alex , Solorio Leonel , Brashares Justin S. 
Published: July 2023

AbstractIncreasingly frequent megafires are dramatically altering landscapes and critical habitats around the world. Across the western United States, megafires have become an almost annual occurrence, but the implication of these fires for the conservation of native wildlife remains relatively unknown. Woodland savannas are among the world's most biodiverse ecosystems and provide important food and structural resources to a variety of wildlife, but they are threatened by megafires. Despite this, the great majority of fire impact studies have only been conducted in coniferous forests. Understanding the resistance and resilience of wildlife assemblages following these extreme perturbations can help inform future management interventions that limit biodiversity loss due to megafire. We assessed the resistance of a woodland savanna mammal community to the short‐term impacts of megafire using camera trap data collected before, during, and after the fire. Specifically, we utilized a 5‐year camera trap data set (2016–2020) from the Hopland Research and Extension Center to examine the impacts of the 2018 Mendocino Complex Fire, California's largest recorded wildfire at the time, on the distributions of eight observed mammal species. We used a multispecies occupancy model to quantify the effects of megafire on species' space use, to assess the impact on species size and diet groups, and to create robust estimates of fire's impacts on species diversity across space and time. Megafire had a negative effect on the detection of certain mammal species, but overall, most species showed high resistance to the disturbance and returned to detection and site use levels comparable to unburned sites by the end of the study period. Following megafire, species richness was higher in burned areas that retained higher canopy cover relative to unburned and burned sites with low canopy cover. Fire management that prevents large‐scale canopy loss is critical to providing refugia for vulnerable species immediately following fire in oak woodlands, and likely other mixed‐forest landscapes.
Synchronous long‐term trends in abundance and compositional variability of butterflies in Central Europe
Authors: Ulrich Werner , Schmitt Thomas , Gros Patrick , Trusch Robert , Habel Jan Christian 
Published: July 2023

AbstractAnnual insect abundances are determined by short‐term population fluctuations and long‐term trends in community composition. Any assessment of this temporal variability needs long‐term quantitative data on abundances. Here we use museum data (1940–2017) of butterflies and burnet moths from southwestern Germany and central Austria comprising 220,758 records from 155 species, and 55,641 records from 170 species, respectively. We ask whether population fluctuations and long‐term population trends are spatially synchronized across larger spatial distances (>300 km) according to the Moran effect, and whether common trends in community composition and stability exist? Population fluctuations of 85.5% of species jointly occurring in both study regions were positively correlated (mean r = 0.30 ± 0.03). Comparing different time windows, we found different sets of species being in spatial synchrony reflecting temporal changes in butterfly community composition. Mesophilic, habitat generalist, and dispersive species were significantly more synchronized than xerothermophilic, habitat specialist, and sedentary species. Long‐distance travelers were particularly synchronized. In both study regions, species rank orders became less even with time. Stability in community composition increased with time with an ongoing trend to faunal homogenization, but not to species loss. Our study points to global and not to local drivers behind trends in butterfly population fluctuations and compositional stability, in the present case to altered land use and urbanization as major drivers toward synchrony and homogenization. Finally, our data have implications for conservation strategies as they strongly indicate that natural landscape structures are associated with higher faunal compositional variability in comparison to agricultural and urban landscapes.
Application of SNPs with low minor allele frequencies in missing person identification (MPI) through kinship analysis of DNA mixtures
Authors: Zhang Nan , Shi Shanshan , Lin Shaobin , Bai Zhaochen , Ling Xiaohua , Gao Jun , Yan Ruiling , Ou Xueling 
Published: July 2023

AbstractThe need to identify a missing person (MP) through kinship analysis of DNA samples found at a crime scene has become increasingly prevalent. DNA samples from MPs can be severely degraded, contain little DNA and mixed with other contributors, which often makes it difficult to apply conventional methods in practice. This study developed a massively parallel sequencing–based panel that contains 1661 single‐nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) with low minor allele frequencies (MAFs) (averaged at 0.0613) in the Chinese Han population, and the strategy for relationship inference from DNA mixtures comprising different numbers of contributors (NOCs) and of varying allele dropout probabilities. Based on the simulated dataset and genotyping results of 42 artificial DNA mixtures (NOC = 2–4), it was observed that the present SNP panel was sufficient for balanced mixtures when referenced to the closest relatives (parents/offspring and full siblings). When the mixture profiles suffered from dropout, incorrect assignments were markedly associated with relatedness, NOC and the dropout level. We, therefore, indicate that SNPs with low MAFs could be reliably interpreted for MP identification through the kinship analysis of complex DNA mixtures. Further studies should be extended to more possible scenarios to test the feasibility of this present approach.
The effect of spirulina sauce on glycemic index, lipid profile, and oxidative stress in type 2 diabetic patients: A randomized double‐blind clinical trial
Authors: Rezaiyan Mojtaba , Sasani Najmeh , Kazemi Asma , Mohsenpour Mohammad Ali , Babajafari Siavash , Mazloomi Seyed Mohammad , Clark Cain C. T. , Hematyar Javad , Ghaem Far Zohreh , Azadian Mohsen , Zareifard Alireza 
Published: July 2023

AbstractWe aimed to evaluate the effect of spirulina sauce on glycemic indices, lipid profile, oxidative stress markers, and anthropometric measurement in type 2 diabetic patients. Forty patients were randomly assigned to receive 20 g/day spirulina sauce (containing 2 g of spirulina) or placebo for 2 months. Anthropometric and biochemical indices were measured at the beginning and end of the intervention. Fasting blood glucose (mean difference (MD): −15.3 mg/dL, 95% confidence (CI): −44.2 to 13.60, p = .26), HbA1c (MD: 0.13%, 95% CI: −0.83 to 0.57, p = .75), insulin (MD: −1.46 μIU/mL, 95% CI: −4.0 to 1.09, p = .28), and HOMA‐IR (MD: −0.35, 95% CI: −2.0 to 1.32, p = .68) did not change significantly between groups. QUICKI increased significantly (MD: 0.025, 95% CI: 0.006 to 0.045, p = .03). Among the lipid profile, triglyceride (TG) (MD: −68.6 mg/dL, 95% CI: −107.21 to −29.98, p < .001), total cholesterol (MD: −29.55 mg/dL, 95% CI: −55.28 to −3.81, p = .02), and LDL (MD: −17.7 mg/dL, 95% CI: −33.24 to −2.15, p = .01) were significantly decreased in the spirulina group compared to the control; whereas, the change in HDL was non‐significant. No significant change was observed in body composition and anthropometric measurements, except waist circumference, which was reduced (MD: −2.65 cm, 95% CI: −3.91 to −1.38, p = .001). Hunger index significantly decreased and fullness increased marginally significantly. Although malondialdehyde was significantly reduced, no change was observed in total antioxidant capacity (TAC). Spirulina sauce was not effective for glycemic control in type 2 diabetes; however, could be useful for controlling appetite and ameliorating lipid profile.
Recent updates in the indolent lymphomas: Update on marginal zone lymphoma and Waldenström's macroglobulinemia
Authors: Amaador Karima , Thieblemont Catherine , Trotman Judith , Minnema Monique C. 
Published: July 2023

AbstractMarginal Zone Lymphoma (MZL) and Waldenström's Macroglobulinemia (WM) are indolent lymphomas that both arise from post germinal center lymphocytes. Both can secrete a monoclonal protein but high levels are mostly only seen in WM. The MYD88 L256P somatic mutation that is present in an estimated 95% of patients with WM has helped greatly in differentiating the two lymphomas. Several large clinical studies with new drugs have been performed that have provided new treatment options for both MZL and WM patients. In this short review we will discuss the recent literature published and provide some recommendations.
Direct ink writing of metal‐based electrocatalysts for Li–S batteries with efficient polysulfide conversion
Authors: Meng Ting , Geng Zeyu , Ma Fei , Wang Xiaohan , Zhang Haifeng , Guan Cao 
Published: July 2023

AbstractThanks to the significantly higher energy density compared with universal commercialized Li‐ion batteries, lithium–sulfur (Li–S) batteries are being investigated for use in prospective energy storage devices. However, the inadequate electrochemical kinetics of reactants and intermediates hinder commercial utilization. This limitation results in substantial capacity degradation and short battery lifespans, thereby impeding the battery's power export. Meanwhile, the capacity attenuation induced by the undesirable shuttle effect further hinders their industrialization. Considerable effort has been invested in developing electrocatalysts to fix lithium polysulfides and boost their conversion effectively. In the conventional process, the planar electrodes are prepared by slurry‐casting, which limits the electron and ion transfer paths, especially when the thickness of the electrodes is relatively large. Compared with traditional manufacturing methods, direct ink writing (DIW) technology offers unique advantages in both geometry shaping and rapid prototyping, and even complex three‐dimensional structures with high sulfur loading. Hence, this review presents a detailed description of the current developments in terms of Li–S batteries in DIW of metal‐based electrocatalysts. A thorough exploration of the behavior chemistry of electrocatalysis is provided, and the adhibition of metal‐based catalysts used for Li–S batteries is summarized from the aspect of material usage and performance enhancement. Then, the working principle of DIW technology and the requirements of used inks are presented, with a detailed focus on the latest advancements in DIW of metal‐based catalysts in Li–S battery systems. Their challenges and prospects are discussed to guide their future development.
Ramucirumab beyond progression plus TAS‐102 in patients with advanced or metastatic esophagogastric adenocarcinoma, after treatment failure on a ramucirumab‐based therapy
Authors: Goetze Thorsten Oliver , Stein Alexander , Lorenzen Sylvie , Habibzada Timorshah , Goekkurt Eray , Herhaus Peter , Loose Maria , Sookthai Disorn , Brulin Tanita , Ihrig Kristina , Pauligk Claudia , Al‐Batran Salah‐Eddin 
Published: July 2023

AbstractBased on results of prior trials (TAGS, REGARD, RAINBOW), the combination of ramucirumab beyond progression with TAS‐102 (trifluridine/tipiracil) seems to be promising in advanced esophagogastric adenocarcinoma (EGA). In this multicenter, non‐randomized, open‐label, investigator‐initiated pilot trial, ramucirumab‐pretreated patients with metastatic EGA received a maximum of 4 cycles of ramucirumab (8 mg/kg i.v. on day 1 and 15, Q2W) plus TAS‐102 (35 mg/m2 p.o. bid on day 1‐5 and day 8‐12; Q2W). Primary endpoint was tolerability and toxicity, defining a positive trial if the SAE rate according to CTCAE 5.0 will increase <30% (up to 55%) compared to historical results from TAGS trial (SAE rate 43%). Secondary endpoints were further evaluation of safety and assessment of efficacy according to tumor response and overall and progression‐free survival (OS/PFS). Twenty patients, 20% gastric and 80% GEJ cancers and 55% with ECOG 0 were enrolled. In total, nine SAEs were reported in 25% [95% CI: 8.7‐49.1] of the patients, all without relationship to the systemic therapy. The median OS and PFS were 9.1 months [5.4‐10.1] and 2.9 months [1.7‐4.8], respectively. In addition, a disease control rate of 45% was obtained. The trial showed a favorable safety profile with a numerically lower incidence of SAEs for the combination of ramucirumab with TAS‐102 compared to historical TAGS trial. Furthermore, the combination demonstrated efficacy in the beyond progression setting and therefore warrants further evaluation in a randomized trial compared to TAS‐102 alone.
Corporate risk disclosure and cost of capital: Does measurement matter?
Authors: Ibrahim Awad Elsayed Awad , Aboud Ahmed 
Published: July 2023

AbstractThis study argues that different definitions/perceptions of risk information could affect investors' decisions differently. Using a sample of 328 non‐financial UK firms and departing from existing literature, this study measures corporate risk disclosure (RD) via computerized content analysis to capture four different perspectives of defining RD. This study investigates (i) the effects of these RD measures on the Cost of Capital (COC), (ii) the influence of analysts' coverage on the relationship between RD and COC, and (iii) whether the RD nature (favourable/unfavourable) might affect COC differently. Lenders and equity holders are found not to consider any risk information expressed as a variation around a target, while only lenders consider risk information that reveals negative outcomes. However, lenders and equity holders consider risk information that expresses negative and positive outcomes together. Besides, firms that disclose extra risk information and have a large analyst following suffer from a higher Cost of Equity (COE) compared with those with fewer analysts following. Additionally, lenders impose a lower interest rate on firms with a higher unfavourable RD, while equity holders ask for lower returns from the firms with a higher favourable RD. The study has significant implications for capital market participants, researchers, and policymakers.
The impact of the war in Ukraine on the reproductive health of female military personnel
Authors: Serbeniuk Anastasia , Kaminskiy Viacheslav , Kumpanenko Yana , Vash‐Margita Alla , Malysheva Iryna 
Published: July 2023

AbstractObjectiveTo explore the link between mental health, physical well‐being, and reproductive system pathology in females who suffered war‐related concussions.MethodsA study was conducted at the Kyiv Center of Reproductive and Perinatal Medicine with 715 participants. The group included 457 female military personnel with concussions (211 with post‐concussive syndrome (PCS), 246 without), 208 women from occupied/deoccupied areas (103 with PCS, 105 without), and 50 civilians from safe zones. Average deployment time (mean ± standard deviation) was 60.26 ± 42.21 months, and trauma occurred 18.81 ± 9.221 months ago. Medical history and physical examinations were performed.ResultsFemale soldiers with PCS had a 1.3 times higher likelihood (P < 0.015) of experiencing longer menstrual periods. Painful menstruation was 1.47 times more frequent (P < 0.001), and heavy periods were 1.64 times more common (P < 0.003). Infertility duration in concussed women was 5.36 ± 0.13 years, whereas those with PCS experienced 1.29 times longer duration (6.02 ± 0.21 years) (P < 0.001) compared with women without PCS (4.69 ± 0.13 years). Among concussed soldiers, 69.27% had endometrial structural pathology, with PCS occurring 1.64 times more often (P < 0.001).ConclusionsThe health decline in female veterans and active‐duty personnel extends beyond medical implications and has social significance. The well‐being of these Ukrainian women affects the country's defense, demographic patterns, socio‐political landscape, and social stability.