bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Species provenance and traits mediate establishment and performance in an invaded grassland
Authors: Charles Lachlan S. , Maron John L. , Larios Loralee 
Published: April 2022

Abstract

In many invaded grasslands, dominant exotic species can produce large amounts of litter that modify local abiotic conditions and species' interactions. These novel conditions can reduce native species abundance and promote the persistence of exotic species, yet the strength of this disparity may be influenced by how consumer pressure interacts with litter accumulation. Consumers may exacerbate this disparity by preferentially targeting native species or by promoting heterogeneity in microhabitats due to their movement and small‐scale ground disturbances that favours fast growing exotic species. How species respond to litter accumulation and consumer pressure may depend on either evolutionary differences, whereby exotics species may benefit from a lack natural predators, or by functional differences, in which species' physiological traits may confer fitness advantages to low‐light conditions or herbivory or granivory pressure.

We examined the impact of litter presence and small mammal herbivory on the establishment and reproduction of functionally diverse exotic versus native species seeded across sites that naturally vary in resource availability in an annual invaded California grassland. We assessed whether seed mass and leaf nitrogen content (LNC) were predictive of successful establishment and reproduction.

Litter accumulation affected exotic and native species differently, with litter significantly decreasing native recruitment and reproduction, while exotics were largely unaffected. Small mammals had a slight positive effect on the establishment of native species when litter was present but did not influence exotic species. Regardless of species provenance, larger seeded species established at a higher density while species with lower leaf nitrogen content had a higher density of reproductive individuals. Native species that successfully established and reproduced were functionally different in LNC than the resident community, while successful exotic species were functionally more similar to the resident community in LNC.

Our study demonstrates that exotic species outperformed native species regardless of the presence of litter or herbivory pressure. Without the removal or thinning of litter, it is likely that exotic species will continue to dominate, resulting in positive feedback that further favours the persistence of exotic species within this invaded grassland system.

Read the free Plain Language Summary for this article on the Journal blog.
Regulation of open populations of a stream insect through larval density dependence
Authors: McIntosh Angus R. , Greig Hamish S. , Howard Simon 
Published: April 2022

Abstract

In organisms with complex life cycles, the various stages occupy different habitats creating demographically open populations. The dynamics of these populations will depend on the occurrence and timing of stochastic influences relative to demographic density dependence, but understanding of these fundamentals, especially in the face of climate warming, has been hampered by the difficulty of empirical studies.

Using a logically feasible organism, we conducted a replicated density‐perturbation experiment to manipulate late‐instar larvae of nine populations of a stream caddisfly, Zelandopsyche ingens, and measured the resulting abundance over 2 years covering the complete life cycle of one cohort to evaluate influences on dynamics.

Negative density feedback occurred in the larval stage, and was sufficiently strong to counteract variation in abundance due to manipulation of larval density, adult caddis dispersal in the terrestrial environment as well as downstream drift of newly hatched and older larvae in the current. This supports theory indicating regulation of open populations must involve density dependence in local populations sufficient to offset variability associated with dispersal, especially during recruitment, and pinpoints the occurrence to late in the larval life cycle and driven by food resource abundance.

There were large variations in adult, egg mass and early instar abundance that were not related to abundance in the previous stage, or the manipulation, pointing to large stochastic influences. Thus, the results also highlight the complementary nature of stochastic and deterministic influences on open populations. Such density dependence will enhance population persistence in situations where variable dispersal and transitioning between life stages frequently creates mismatches between abundance and the local availability of resources, such as might become more common with climate warming.
Two‐year follow‐up of infant and maternal outcomes after planned early delivery or expectant management for late preterm pre‐eclampsia (PHOENIX): A randomised controlled trial
Authors: Beardmore‐Gray Alice , Greenland Melanie , Linsell Louise , Juszczak Edmund , Hardy Pollyanna , Placzek Anna , Hunter Rachael , Sparkes Jenie , Green Marcus , Shennan Andrew , Marlow Neil , Chappell Lucy C. ,   the PHOENIX Study Group
Published: April 2022

AbstractObjectiveWe evaluated the best time to initiate delivery in late preterm pre‐eclampsia in order to optimise long‐term infant and maternal outcomes.DesignParallel‐group, non‐masked, randomised controlled trial.SettingForty‐six maternity units in the UK.PopulationWomen with pre‐eclampsia between 34+0 and 36+6 weeks of gestation, without severe disease, were randomised to planned delivery or expectant management.Main outcome measuresInfant neurodevelopmental outcome at 2 years of age, using the Parent Report of Children’s Abilities – Revised (PARCA‐R) composite score.ResultsBetween 29 September 2014 and 10 December 2018, 901 women were enrolled in the trial, with 450 women allocated to planned delivery and 451 women allocated to expectant management. At the 2‐year follow‐up, the intention‐to‐treat analysis population included 276 women (290 infants) allocated to planned delivery and 251 women (256 infants) allocated to expectant management. The mean composite standardised PARCA‐R scores were 89.5 (SD 18.2) in the planned delivery group and 91.9 (SD 18.4) in the expectant management group, with an adjusted mean difference of −2.4 points (95% CI −5.4 to 0.5 points).ConclusionsIn infants of women with late preterm pre‐eclampsia, the average neurodevelopmental assessment at 2 years lies within the normal range, regardless of whether planned delivery or expectant management was pursued. With the lower than anticipated follow‐up rate there was limited power to demonstrate that these scores did not differ, but the small between‐group difference in PARCA‐R scores is unlikely to be clinically important.
Uncooperative society, uncooperative politics or both? Trust, polarization, populism and COVID‐19 deaths across European regions
Authors: CHARRON NICHOLAS , LAPUENTE VICTOR , RODRÍGUEZ‐POSE ANDRÉS 
Published: April 2022

AbstractWhy have some territories performed better than others in the fight against COVID‐19? This paper uses a novel dataset on excess mortality, trust and political polarization for 165 European regions to explore the role of social and political divisions in the remarkable regional differences in excess mortality during the first wave of the COVID‐19 pandemic. First, we investigate whether regions characterized by a low social and political trust witnessed a higher excess mortality. Second, we argue that it is not only levels, but also polarization in trust among citizens – in particular, between government supporters and non‐supporters – that matters for understanding why people in some regions have adopted more pro‐healthy behaviour. Third, we explore the partisan make‐up of regional parliaments and the relationship between political division – or what we refer to as ‘uncooperative politics’. We hypothesize that the ideological positioning – in particular those that lean more populist – and ideological polarization among political parties is also linked to higher mortality. Accounting for a host of potential confounders, we find robust support that regions with lower levels of both social and political trust are associated with higher excess mortality, along with citizen polarization in institutional trust in some models. On the ideological make‐up of regional parliaments, we find that, ceteris paribus, those that lean more ‘tan’ on the ‘GAL‐TAN’ spectrum yielded higher excess mortality. Moreover, although we find limited evidence of elite polarization driving excess deaths on the left‐right or GAL‐TAN spectrums, partisan differences on the attitudes towards the European Union demonstrated significantly higher deaths, which we argue proxies for (anti)populism. Overall, we find that both lower citizen‐level trust and populist elite‐level ideological characteristics of regional parliaments are associated with higher excess mortality in European regions during the first wave of the pandemic.
Fragmented landscape generator (flsgen): A neutral landscape generator with control of landscape structure and fragmentation indices
Authors: Justeau‐Allaire Dimitri , Blanchard Grégoire , Ibanez Thomas , Lorca Xavier , Vieilledent Ghislain , Birnbaum Philippe 
Published: April 2022

Abstract

Neutral landscape models have many applications in ecology, such as supporting spatially explicit simulations, developing and evaluating landscape indices. However, current approaches provide few options to produce large landscapes with controlled composition and fragmentation indices.

We introduce flsgen (Fragmented Landscape Generator), a new neutral landscape generator that addresses this limitation by providing a high level of control over 14 landscape indices. The main novelty of flsgen is the decomposition of landscape generation into two steps: the solving of a constraint satisfaction problem and the generation of a landscape raster with a stochastic algorithm. The latter relies on a continuous environmental gradient that influences the landscape's spatial configuration.

flsgen can generate fine‐grained artificial landscapes in small amounts of time, which makes it suited to produce large landscape series systematically. We demonstrate the features of flsgen through three illustrative use cases.

flsgen is a practical and efficient tool that expands the current possibilities of neutral landscape models and widens their potential applications. To facilitate its uptake, flsgen is available as free and open‐source software through a Java API, a command‐line interface or an R package.
Sonic matters: Singing as method and the epistemology of singing across Bengali esoteric lineages
Authors: Lorea Carola 
Published: April 2022

Abstract“Songs are knowledge” (gāne jñān) is a recurrent saying among Bauls, Fakirs, Sahajiyas, and other Bengali esoteric and heterodox communities. The sonic dimension of songs is related to cosmogonic vibration, seed, food, and feminine bodily fluids. Singing, requiring breath control and concentration, is associated with yoga. How is the performance of songs simultaneously an embodied way of knowing and an act of indigenous scholarship? Can the epistemology of singing coexist with hegemonic sensory epistemologies in a postcolonial South Asia? This article draws upon a ten‐year ethnographic engagement with Bengali‐speaking gurus and performers to discuss how singing provides a transformative and anthropopoietic knowledge, rooted in bodily experience and exchanged among performers‐listeners to build togetherness in ways that subvert dominant ideologies of relatedness. This article also adopts Bengali understandings of ensounded knowledge to question the ocularcentric and scriptist epistemologies that underlie modern academia. Taking songs seriously as ways of knowing in their own right, I suggest singing as method and using the feelingful body as a research tool, not only for an ethnography that reflects the sensory epistemology of the communities I work with but also as a promising way to decolonize anthropology's epistemic ethnocentrism.
Comparison of visual outcomes of polypoidal choroidal vasculopathy and typical neovascular age‐related macular degeneration—up to 10 years of follow‐up
Authors: Park Jun Young , Park Young Joo , Park Sang Jun , Park Kyu Hyung , Yeo Joon Hyung , Kim June‐Gone , Yoon Young Hee , Lee Joo Yong , Woo Se Joon 
Published: April 2022

AbstractPurposeTo investigate long‐term visual outcomes of patients with polypoidal choroidal vasculopathy (PCV) and typical neovascular age‐related macular degeneration (nAMD) in the real‐world setting.MethodsRetrospective, multicenter, noninterventional consecutive cohort study. Two hundred eighty‐five eyes of 261 patients with PCV and 902 eyes of 877 patients with typical nAMD, who could be followed up 1 year or longer from 2005 to 2018, were included. Mean changes in best‐corrected visual acuity (BCVA) from baseline in the PCV and the typical nAMD groups were compared.ResultsMean follow‐up period of total patients was 4.3 ± 2.8 (1–10) years. Baseline BCVA was better in the PCV group than that in the typical nAMD group (0.59 ± 0.52 versus 0.79 ± 0.63 logMAR, p < 0.001). The mean changes in BCVA from baseline in the PCV and nAMD group were +2.1 and −0.1 letters at 1 year, −0.2 and −3.7 letters at 3 years, −3.9 and −10.5 letters at 5 years and − 8.7 and − 12.1 letters at 7 years, respectively. Before 2006, the initial BCVA was sustained for approximately 1 year in eyes with PCV and for less than half year in eyes with typical nAMD. However, after 2007, when anti‐VEGF agents were available, the initial BCVA was sustained for 4 years in eyes with PCV, while it was sustained for 1 year in eyes with typical nAMD.ConclusionIn the real‐world, long‐term BCVA deteriorated in both PCV and typical nAMD groups, but the PCV group showed better visual outcomes than the typical nAMD group.
Osteonecrosis in paediatric acute lymphoblastic leukaemia: Incidence, risk factors, radiological patterns and evolution in a single‐centre cohort
Authors: Brivio Erica , Cossio Andrea , Borra Davide , Silvestri Daniela , Prunotto Giulia , Colombini Antonella , Verna Marta , Rizzari Carmelo , Biondi Andrea , Conter Valentino , Valsecchi Maria Grazia , Balduzzi Adriana 
Published: April 2022

SummaryOsteonecrosis (ON) is a well‐known sequela of paediatric acute lymphoblastic leukaemia (ALL) treatment. Incidence differs substantially among studies and the clinical significance of radiological findings is not fully established. We analysed 256 consecutive patients with ALL treated in our Institution between October 2010 and December 2016. Within the cohort, 41 developed ON, with a mean 5‐year cumulative incidence of 18.5 (standard error, SE, 5.7)% overall. The mean (SE) 5‐year cumulative incidence of ON was 12.7 (2.1)% after censoring upon stem cell transplantation (SCT) and/or relapse. Patients aged ≥10 years and patients allocated to the high‐risk stratum had a 10‐fold and fivefold higher risk of ON respectively. The risk of ON was more than double in relapsed patients, whereas no significant impact of gender, immunophenotype and SCT was demonstrated. Multiple lesions (median four joints involved per patient) were detected by magnetic resonance imaging in all but one patient, with the knee being the most affected joint. Lesions affecting convex joint surfaces experienced the worst evolution, whereas most lesions on diaphyses and concave surfaces remained radiologically stable or disappeared during follow‐up. ON has a high prevalence in paediatric ALL, presenting with multiple lesions. Lesions involving convex surfaces were at higher risk of radiological deterioration.
A phase II trial to evaluate the combination of pixantrone and obinutuzumab for patients with relapsed aggressive lymphoma: Final results of the prospective, multicentre GOAL trial
Authors: Hess Georg , Hüttmann Andreas , Witzens‐Harig Mathias , Dreyling Martin H. , Keller Ulrich , Marks Reinhard , Ernst Thomas , Pott Christiane , Viardot Andreas , Frontzek Fabian , Trautmann Marcel , Ruckes Christian , Deuster Oliver , Rosenwald Andreas , Theobald Matthias , Lenz Georg 
Published: April 2022

SummaryThe prognosis of patients with relapsed diffuse large B‐cell lymphoma (DLBCL) remains poor with current options. Here we prospectively evaluated the combination of pixantrone with obinutuzumab for up to six cycles for patients with relapsed or refractory DLBCL. Overall response rate (ORR) was the primary end‐point. Sixty‐eight patients were evaluated, median age was 75 years, median number of prior lines was three (range 1–10), 52 patients (76.5%) were diagnosed with DLBCL and 16 (23.5%) patients had transformed indolent lymphoma or follicular lymphoma (FL) IIIB. ORR was 35.3% for all and 40% for evaluable patients (16.6% complete response), median progression‐free survival (PFS) and overall survival (OS) were 2.8 months and 8 months, respectively. Analysis of the cell of origin revealed a superior course for patients with non‐GCB (germinal centre B‐cell‐like) phenotype [median OS not reached (n.r.) vs 5.2 months]. Patients with one prior line had an improved outcome over patients treated in later lines (PFS n.r. vs 2.5 months). Disease progression was the main reason for premature termination. Adverse events were mainly haematologic. The combination treatment revealed no unexpected adverse events. Most relevant non‐haematologic toxicity was infection in 28% of patients. In summary, pixantrone–obinutuzumab showed clinical activity with sometimes long‐term remission; however, the trial failed to meet its primary end‐point.
Management of children and adults with all stages of nodular lymphocyte predominant Hodgkin lymphoma — All StAGEs: A consensus‐based position paper from the Hodgkin lymphoma subgroup of the UK National Cancer Research Institute
Authors: Shankar Ananth , Hall Georgina W. , McKay Pam , Gallop‐Evans Eve , Fielding Patrick , Collins Graham P. 
Published: April 2022

SummaryA consensus statement for the management for patients of all ages with all stages of nodular lymphocyte predominant Hodgkin lymphoma (NLPHL) — All StAGEs — is proposed by representatives of the UK National Cancer Research Institute (NCRI) Hodgkin lymphoma study group and the Children's Cancer & Leukaemia Group. Based on current practices and published evidence, a consensus has been reached regarding diagnosis, staging and risk‐ik7 stratified management which includes active surveillance, low‐ and standard‐dose immunochemotherapy and radiotherapy.
Darwin’s Hawkmoth (Xanthopan praedicta) responds to bat ultrasound at sonar‐jamming rates
Authors: Rubin Juliette J. 
Published: April 2022

AbstractThis paper reveals that Xanthopan praedicta (Lepidoptera: Sphingidae) is part of the bat–moth coevolutionary dynamic. I played recordings of bat echolocation to live X. praedicta and found that males respond with such dense ultrasound they can likely jam bat sonar. Female X. praedicta and two other sphingid species do not produce ultrasonic responses.Abstract in French is available with online material.
Wind dispersal and 1‐year survival of Vataireopsis iglesiasii (Fabaceae) seedlings in a Neotropical lowland rain forest
Authors: Queenborough Simon A. , Alvia Pablo , Valencia Renato 
Published: April 2022

AbstractPopulations of many tropical tree species are regulated by negative distance‐ and density‐dependent processes (NDD), yet most studies on the effects of conspecific seedling and adult neighbors on seedling survival have focused on animal‐dispersed species. Species with seeds dispersed by wind may not be moved as far on average as seeds dispersed by animals, but some seeds may be dispersed a lot further, suggesting that knowledge of dispersal mechanism may help in our understanding of NDD. In this study, we took advantage of a high‐fecundity reproductive event that occurred for an individual isolated canopy tree of Vataireopsis iglesiasii in a tropical lowland rain forest site in Amazonian Ecuador to document seed dispersal and seedling survival to 1‐year post‐dispersal. Most seeds did not disperse far: 86% of germinated seedlings were found within 100 m. Mortality was high: only 49 of the 1732 monitored seedlings survived one year and only five survived a further four years. We found a significant negative effect of conspecific seedling density (but no effect of distance from the parent tree) on 1‐year survival. Rare long‐distance dispersal events may increase the probability of a seed reaching specific habitats, such as high‐light patches, and surviving beyond one year, thereby shifting the population recruitment curve outwards away from adult trees and maintaining diversity in species‐rich forests.Abstract in Spanish is available with online material.
Inhibition of EGFR and MEK surmounts entrectinib resistance in a brain metastasis model of NTRK1‐rearranged tumor cells
Authors: Suzuki Chiaki , Nishiyama Akihiro , Arai Sachiko , Tange Shoichiro , Tajima Atsushi , Tanimoto Azusa , Fukuda Koji , Takumi Yohei , Kotani Hiroshi , Takeuchi Shinji , Yanagimura Naohiro , Ohtsubo Koushiro , Yamamoto Norio , Omori Koichi , Yano Seiji 
Published: April 2022

AbstractTropomyosin receptor kinase (TRK) inhibitors have demonstrated histology‐agnostic efficacy in patients with neurotrophic receptor tyrosine kinase (NTRK) gene fusion. Although responses to TRK inhibitors can be dramatic and durable, duration of response may eventually be limited by acquired resistance via several mechanisms, including resistance mutations such as NTRK1‐G595R. Repotrectinib is a second‐generation TRK inhibitor, which is active against NTRK1‐G595R. However, its efficacy against entrectinib‐resistant tumors has not been fully elucidated. In the present study, we established entrectinib‐resistant tumor cells (M3B) in a brain metastasis model inoculated with NTRK1‐rearranged KM12SM cells and examined the sensitivity of M3B cells to repotrectinib. While M3B cells harbored the NTRK1‐G595R mutation, they were unexpectedly resistant to repotrectinib. The resistance was due to extracellular signal–regulated kinase (ERK) reactivation partially mediated by epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) activation. We further demonstrate that the triplet combination of repotrectinib, EGFR inhibitor, and MEK inhibitor could sensitize M3B cells in vitro as well as in a brain metastasis model. These results indicate that resistant mutations, such as NTRK1‐G595R, and alternative pathway activation, such as ERK activation, could simultaneously occur in entrectinib‐resistant tumors, thereby causing resistance to second‐generation inhibitor repotrectinib. These findings highlight the importance of intensive examinations to identify resistance mechanisms and application of the appropriate combination treatment to circumvent the resistance.