TRY plant trait database – enhanced coverage and open access - Jens Kattge; Gerhard Bönisch; Sandra Díaz; Sandra Lavorel; Iain Colin Prentice; Paul Leadley; Susanne Tautenhahn; Gijsbert D. A. Werner; Tuomas Aakala; Mehdi Abedi; Alicia T. R. Acosta; George C. Adamidis; et al. (Global Change Biology, 2020)
Plant traits—the morphological, anatomical, physiological, biochemical and phenological characteristics of plants—determine how plants respond to environmental factors, affect other trophic levels, and influence ecosystem properties and their benefits and detriments to people. Plant trait data thus represent the basis for a vast area of research spanning from evolutionary biology, community and functional ecology, to biodiversity conservation, ecosystem and landscape management, restoration, biogeography and earth system modelling. Since its foundation in 2007, the TRY database of plant traits has grown continuously. It now provides unprecedented data coverage under an open access data policy and is the main plant trait database used by the research community worldwide. Increasingly, the TRY database also supports new frontiers of trait‐based plant research, including the identification of data gaps and the subsequent mobilization or measurement of new data. To support this development, in this article we evaluate the extent of the trait data compiled in TRY and analyse emerging patterns of data coverage and representativeness. Best species coverage is achieved for categorical traits—almost complete coverage for ‘plant growth form’. However, most traits relevant for ecology and vegetation modelling are characterized by continuous intraspecific variation and trait–environmental relationships. These traits have to be measured on individual plants in their respective environment. Despite unprecedented data coverage, we observe a humbling lack of completeness and representativeness of these continuous traits in many aspects. We, therefore, conclude that reducing data gaps and biases in the TRY database remains a key challenge and requires a coordinated approach to data mobilization and trait measurements. This can only be achieved in collaboration with other initiatives.

Artificial intelligence supported patient self-care in chronic heart failure: a paradigm shift from reactive to predictive, preventive and personalised care - Matthew Barrett; Josiane Boyne; Julia Brandts; Hans-Peter Brunner-La Rocca; Lieven De Maesschalck; Kurt De Wit; Lana Dixon; Casper Eurlings; Donna Fitzsimons; Olga Golubnitschaja; Arjan Hageman; Frank Heemskerk; et al. (EPMA Journal, 2019)
Heart failure (HF) is one of the most complex chronic disorders with high prevalence, mainly due to the ageing population and better treatment of underlying diseases. Prevalence will continue to rise and is estimated to reach 3% of the population in Western countries by 2025. It is the most important cause of hospitalisation in subjects aged 65 years or more, resulting in high costs and major social impact. The current “one-size-fits-all” approach in the treatment of HF does not result in best outcome for all patients. These facts are an imminent threat to good quality management of patients with HF. An unorthodox approach from a new vision on care is required. We propose a novel predictive, preventive and personalised medicine approach where patients are truly leading their management, supported by an easily accessible online application that takes advantage of artificial intelligence. This strategy paper describes the needs in HF care, the needed paradigm shift and the elements that are required to achieve this shift. Through the inspiring collaboration of clinical and high-tech partners from North-West Europe combining state of the art HF care, artificial intelligence, serious gaming and patient coaching, a virtual doctor is being created. The results are expected to advance and personalise self-care, where standard care tasks are performed by the patients themselves, in principle without involvement of healthcare professionals, the latter being able to focus on complex conditions. This new vision on care will significantly reduce costs per patient while improving outcomes to enable long-term sustainability of top-level HF care.

North American extreme precipitation events and related large-scale meteorological patterns: a review of statistical methods, dynamics, modeling, and trends - Mathew Barlow; William J. Gutowski; John R. Gyakum; Richard W. Katz; Young-Kwon Lim; Russ S. Schumacher; Michael F. Wehner; Laurie Agel; Michael Bosilovich; Allison Collow; Alexander Gershunov; Richard Grotjahn; et al. (Climate Dynamics, 2019)
This paper surveys the current state of knowledge regarding large-scale meteorological patterns (LSMPs) associated with short-duration (less than 1 week) extreme precipitation events over North America. In contrast to teleconnections, which are typically defined based on the characteristic spatial variations of a meteorological field or on the remote circulation response to a known forcing, LSMPs are defined relative to the occurrence of a specific phenomenon—here, extreme precipitation—and with an emphasis on the synoptic scales that have a primary influence in individual events, have medium-range weather predictability, and are well-resolved in both weather and climate models. For the LSMP relationship with extreme precipitation, we consider the previous literature with respect to definitions and data, dynamical mechanisms, model representation, and climate change trends. There is considerable uncertainty in identifying extremes based on existing observational precipitation data and some limitations in analyzing the associated LSMPs in reanalysis data. Many different definitions of “extreme” are in use, making it difficult to directly compare different studies. Dynamically, several types of meteorological systems—extratropical cyclones, tropical cyclones, mesoscale convective systems, and mesohighs—and several mechanisms—fronts, atmospheric rivers, and orographic ascent—have been shown to be important aspects of extreme precipitation LSMPs. The extreme precipitation is often realized through mesoscale processes organized, enhanced, or triggered by the LSMP. Understanding of model representation, trends, and projections for LSMPs is at an early stage, although some promising analysis techniques have been identified and the LSMP perspective is useful for evaluating the model dynamics associated with extremes.

Cardiomyopathy-associated mutations in tropomyosin differently affect actin–myosin interaction at single-molecule and ensemble levels - Galina V. Kopylova; Daniil V. Shchepkin; Salavat R. Nabiev; Alexander M. Matyushenko; Natalia A. Koubassova; Dmitrii I. Levitsky; Sergey Y. Bershitsky (Journal of Muscle Research and Cell Motility, 2019)

Assessing the impacts of the introduced channel catfish Ictalurus punctatus using the comparative functional response approach - Larissa Faria; Mhairi E. Alexander; Jean R. S. Vitule (Fisheries Management and Ecology, 2019)
In the metric “Relative Impact Potential” ( RIP ), the functional response ( FR ) of a non‐native species can be compared with that of a native analogue and combined with the species abundance to predict its environmental impact. Here, using the River Guaraguaçu (Brazil) as a case study, this methodology was implemented to identify the impacts of the non‐native channel catfish Ictalurus punctatus (Rafinesque) compared with a native species Rhamdia quelen (Quoy & Gaimard) towards small prey fish. Both species exhibited Type II FR s, but handling times were lower for I. punctatus , resulting in a greater maximum feeding rate in this species. Consequently, an RIP > 1 was found, indicating that I. punctatus represents a superior impact to prey compared with its native analogue. These results demonstrate that I. punctatus is a potential threat to small endangered fish species; therefore, policies to avoid escapes from aquaculture should be created and the abundance of I. punctatus controlled.

The importance of neutral over niche processes in structuring Ediacaran early animal communities - Emily G. Mitchell; Simon Harris; Charlotte G. Kenchington; Philip Vixseboxse; Lucy Roberts; Catherine Clark; Alexandra Dennis; Alexander G. Liu; Philip R. Wilby (Ecology Letters, 2019)
The relative influence of niche vs. neutral processes in ecosystem dynamics is an on‐going debate, but the extent to which they structured the earliest animal communities is unknown. Some of the oldest known metazoan‐dominated paleocommunities occur in Ediacaran age (~ 565 million years old) strata in Newfoundland, Canada and Charnwood Forest, UK. These comprise large and diverse populations of sessile organisms that are amenable to spatial point process analyses, enabling inference of the most likely underlying niche or neutral processes governing community structure. We mapped seven Ediacaran paleocommunities using LiDAR, photogrammetry and a laser line probe. We found that neutral processes dominate these paleocommunities, with niche processes exerting limited influence, in contrast with the niche‐dominated dynamics of modern marine ecosystems. The dominance of neutral processes suggests that early metazoan diversification may not have been driven by systematic adaptations to the local environment, but instead may have resulted from stochastic demographic differences.

Ecological Role of an Offshore Industry Artificial Structure - Andrew R. Gates; Tammy Horton; Amanda Serpell-Stevens; Chester Chandler; Laura J. Grange; Katleen Robert; Alexander Bevan; Daniel O. B. Jones (Frontiers in Marine Science, 2019)

Transplantation of stem cells from umbilical cord blood as therapy for type I diabetes - Rachel Stiner; Michael Alexander; Guangyang Liu; Wenbin Liao; Yongjun Liu; Jingxia Yu; Egest J. Pone; Weian Zhao; Jonathan R. T. Lakey (Cell and Tissue Research, 2019)

GPS RO precipitable water as a possible proxy for rainfall distribution over tropical South America: qualitative analysis - R. Hierro; P. Llamedo; D. Araneo; A. de la Torre; P. Alexander (Meteorology and Atmospheric Physics, 2019)

Mice expressing the variant rs1143679 allele of ITGAM (CD11b) show impaired DC-mediated T cell proliferation - Justin T. Avery; Rachel V. Jimenez; Joseph L. Blake; Tyler T. Wright; Beatriz Leόn-Ruiz; Trenton R. Schoeb; Alexander J. Szalai; Daniel C. Bullard (Mammalian Genome, 2019)
Genome-wide association studies (GWAS) and functional genomic analyses have implicated several ITGAM (CD11b) single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in the development of SLE and other disorders. ITGAM encodes the α M chain of the β 2 integrin Mac-1, a receptor that plays important roles in myeloid cell functions. The ITGAM SNP rs1143679, which results in an arginine to histidine change at amino acid position 77 of the CD11b protein, has been shown to reduce binding to several ligands and to alter Mac-1-mediated cellular response in vitro. Importantly, however, the potential contribution of this SNP variant to the initiation and/or progression of immune and inflammatory processes in vivo remains unexplored. Herein, we describe for the first time the generation and characterization of a mouse line expressing the 77His variant of CD11b. Surprisingly, we found that 77His did not significantly affect Mac-1-mediated leukocyte migration and activation as assessed using thioglycollate-induced peritonitis and LPS/TNF-α-induced dermal inflammation models. In contrast, expression of this variant did alter T cell immunity, as evidenced by significantly reduced proliferation of ovalbumin (OVA)-specific transgenic T cells in 77His mice immunized with OVA. Reduced antigen-specific T cell proliferation was also observed when either 77His splenic dendritic cells (DCs) or bone marrow-derived DCs were used as antigen-presenting cells (APCs). Although more work is necessary to determine how this alteration might influence the development of SLE or other diseases, these in vivo findings suggest that the 77His variant of CD11b can compromise the ability of DCs to induce antigen-driven T cell proliferation.

Unexplained exertional intolerance associated with impaired systemic oxygen extraction - Kathryn H. Melamed; Mário Santos; Rudolf K. F. Oliveira; Mariana Faria Urbina; Donna Felsenstein; Alexander R. Opotowsky; Aaron B. Waxman; David M. Systrom (European Journal of Applied Physiology, 2019)

Patterns of benthic cover with depth on Caribbean mesophotic reefs - Alexander R. Scott; Timothy A. Battista; James E. Blum; Lara N. Noren; Joseph R. Pawlik (Coral Reefs, 2019)

ICZN Declaration 45: a remedy for the nomenclatural and typification dilemma regarding soft-bodied meiofaunal organisms? - André R. S. Garraffoni; Alexander Kieneke; Małgorzata Kolicka; Paulo H. C. Corgosinho; Jefferson Prado; Silvio S. Nihei; André V. L. Freitas (Marine Biodiversity, 2019)

Towards regulatory endorsement of drug development tools to promote the application of model-informed drug development in Duchenne muscular dystrophy - Daniela J. Conrado; Jane Larkindale; Alexander Berg; Micki Hill; Jackson Burton; Keith R. Abrams; Richard T. Abresch; Abby Bronson; Douglass Chapman; Michael Crowther; Tina Duong; Heather Gordish-Dressman; et al. (Journal of Pharmacokinetics and Pharmacodynamics, 2019)

Environmental heterogeneity and not vicariant biogeographic barriers generate community‐wide population structure in desert‐adapted snakes - Edward A. Myers; Alexander T. Xue; Marcelo Gehara; Christian L. Cox; Alison R. Davis Rabosky; Julio Lemos‐Espinal; Juan E. Martínez‐Gómez; Frank T. Burbrink (Molecular Ecology, 2019)
Genetic structure can be influenced by local adaptation to environmental heterogeneity and biogeographic barriers, resulting in discrete population clusters. Geographic distance among populations, however, can result in continuous clines of genetic divergence that appear as structured populations. Here, we evaluate the relevant importance of these three factors over a landscape characterized by environmental heterogeneity and the presence of a hypothesized biogeographic barrier in producing population genetic structure within 13 codistributed snake species using a genomic data set. We demonstrate that geographic distance and environmental heterogeneity across western North America contribute to population genomic divergence. Surprisingly, landscape features long thought to contribute to biogeographic barriers play little role in divergence community wide. Our results suggest that isolation by environment is the most important contributor to genomic divergence. Furthermore, we show that models of population clustering that incorporate spatial information consistently outperform nonspatial models, demonstrating the importance of considering geographic distances in population clustering. We argue that environmental and geographic distances as drivers of community‐wide divergence should be explored before assuming the role of biogeographic barriers.

Synergies in Operational Oceanography: The Intrinsic Need for Sustained Ocean Observations - Fraser Davidson; Aida Alvera-Azcárate; Alexander Barth; Gary B. Brassington; Eric P. Chassignet; Emanuela Clementi; Pierre De Mey-Frémaux; Prasanth Divakaran; Christopher Harris; Fabrice Hernandez; Patrick Hogan; Lars R. Hole; et al. (Frontiers in Marine Science, 2019)

Cholera toxin perturbs the paracellular barrier in the small intestinal epithelium of rats by affecting claudin-2 and tricellulin - Alexander G. Markov; Olga N. Vishnevskaya; Larisa S. Okorokova; Arina A. Fedorova; Natalia M. Kruglova; Oksana V. Rybalchenko; Jörg R. Aschenbach; Salah Amasheh (Pflügers Archiv - European Journal of Physiology, 2019)

Sequencing of Tuta absoluta genome to develop SNP genotyping assays for species identification - Christine A. Tabuloc; Kyle M. Lewald; William R. Conner; Yoosook Lee; Ernest K. Lee; Alexander B. Cain; Kristine E. Godfrey; Judit Arnó; Nuria Agustí; Clerison R. Perini; Jerson C. Guedes; Frank G. Zalom; et al. (Journal of Pest Science, 2019)

Essential in vitro diagnostics for advanced HIV and serious fungal diseases: international experts’ consensus recommendations - Felix Bongomin; Nelesh P. Govender; Arunaloke Chakrabarti; Florence Robert-Gangneux; David R. Boulware; Afia Zafar; Rita O. Oladele; Malcolm D. Richardson; Jean-Pierre Gangneux; Ana Alastruey-Izquierdo; Joel Bazira; Tom H. Boyles; et al. (European Journal of Clinical Microbiology & Infectious Diseases, 2019)

Recent colonization and expansion through the Lesser Sundas by seven amphibian and reptile species - Sean B. Reilly; Alexander L. Stubbs; Benjamin R. Karin; Evy Arida; Djoko T. Iskandar; Jimmy A. McGuire (Zoologica Scripta, 2019)
The Lesser Sundas Archipelago is comprised of two parallel chains of islands that extend between the Asian continental shelf (Sundaland) and Australo‐Papuan continental shelf (Sahul). These islands have served as stepping stones for taxa dispersing between the Asian and Australo‐Papuan biogeographical realms. While the oceanic barriers have prevented many species from colonizing the archipelago, a number of terrestrial vertebrate species have colonized the islands either by rafting/swimming or by human introduction. Here, we examine phylogeographic structure within the Lesser Sundas for three snake, two lizard and two frog species that each has a Sunda Shelf origin. These species are suspected to have recently colonized the archipelago, though all have inhabited the Lesser Sundas for over 100 years. We sequenced mtDNA from 231 samples to test whether there is sufficiently deep genetic structure within any of these taxa to reject human‐mediated introduction. Additionally, we tested for genetic signatures of population expansion consistent with recent introduction and estimated the ages of Lesser Sundas clades, if any exist. Our results show little to no genetic structure between populations on different islands in five species and moderate structure in two species. Nucleotide diversity is low for all species, and the ages of the most recent common ancestor for species with monophyletic Lesser Sundas lineages date to the Holocene or late Pleistocene. These results support the hypothesis that these species entered the archipelago relatively recently and either naturally colonized or were introduced by humans to most of the larger islands in the archipelago within a short time span.

Effects of predator exposure on baseline and stress‐induced glucocorticoid hormone concentrations in pumpkinseed Lepomis gibbosus - Austin J. Gallagher; Michael J. Lawrence; Sofia M. R. Jain‐Schlaepfer; Kathleen M. Gilmour; Alexander D. M. Wilson; Steven J. Cooke (Journal of Fish Biology, 2019)
We compared baseline and maximal cortisol concentrations between predator exposure and prey blood samples in pumpkinseed Lepomis gibbosus , captured using a standardised fishing event underneath osprey Pandion haliaetus nests and away from osprey nests. We did not detect differences in cortisol or glucose between sites. These findings suggest that predictable sources of predation risk may not confer stress‐related costs in teleosts.

CO 2 emissions from an undrained tropical peatland: Interacting influences of temperature, shading and water table depth - Alison M. Hoyt; Laure Gandois; Jangarun Eri; Fuu Ming Kai; Charles F. Harvey; Alexander R. Cobb (Global Change Biology, 2019)
Emission of CO 2 from tropical peatlands is an important component of the global carbon budget. Over days to months, these fluxes are largely controlled by water table depth. However, the diurnal cycle is less well understood, in part, because most measurements have been collected daily at midday. We used an automated chamber system to make hourly measurements of peat surface CO 2 emissions from chambers root‐cut to 30 cm. We then used these data to disentangle the relationship between temperature, water table and heterotrophic respiration (R het ). We made two central observations. First, we found strong diurnal cycles in CO 2 flux and near‐surface peat temperature ( het had a strong linear relationship to the depth of the water table, and under flooded conditions, R het was small and constant. We used this relationship between R het and water table depth to estimate carbon export from both R het and dissolved organic carbon over the course of a year based on water table records. R het dominates annual carbon export, demonstrating the potential for peatland drainage to increase regional CO 2 emissions. Finally, we discuss an apparent incompatibility between hourly and daily average observations of CO 2 flux, water table and temperature: water table and daily average flux data suggest that CO 2 is produced across the entire unsaturated peat profile, whereas temperature and hourly flux data appear to suggest that CO 2 fluxes are controlled by very near surface peat. We explore how temperature‐, moisture‐ and gas transport‐related mechanisms could cause mean CO 2 emissions to increase linearly with water table depth and also have a large diurnal cycle.

Linking drought legacy effects across scales: From leaves to tree rings to ecosystems - Steven A. Kannenberg; Kimberly A. Novick; M. Ross Alexander; Justin T. Maxwell; David J. P. Moore; Richard P. Phillips; William R. L. Anderegg (Global Change Biology, 2019)
Severe drought can cause lagged effects on tree physiology that negatively impact forest functioning for years. These “drought legacy effects” have been widely documented in tree‐ring records and could have important implications for our understanding of broader scale forest carbon cycling. However, legacy effects in tree‐ring increments may be decoupled from ecosystem fluxes due to (a) postdrought alterations in carbon allocation patterns; (b) temporal asynchrony between radial growth and carbon uptake; and (c) dendrochronological sampling biases. In order to link legacy effects from tree rings to whole forests, we leveraged a rich dataset from a Midwestern US forest that was severely impacted by a drought in 2012. At this site, we compiled tree‐ring records, leaf‐level gas exchange, eddy flux measurements, dendrometer band data, and satellite remote sensing estimates of greenness and leaf area before, during, and after the 2012 drought. After accounting for the relative abundance of tree species in the stand, we estimate that legacy effects led to ~10% reductions in tree‐ring width increments in the year following the severe drought. Despite this stand‐scale reduction in radial growth, we found that leaf‐level photosynthesis, gross primary productivity (GPP), and vegetation greenness were not suppressed in the year following the 2012 drought. Neither temporal asynchrony between radial growth and carbon uptake nor sampling biases could explain our observations of legacy effects in tree rings but not in GPP. Instead, elevated leaf‐level photosynthesis co‐occurred with reduced leaf area in early 2013, indicating that resources may have been allocated away from radial growth in conjunction with postdrought upregulation of photosynthesis and repair of canopy damage. Collectively, our results indicate that tree‐ring legacy effects were not observed in other canopy processes, and that postdrought canopy allocation could be an important mechanism that decouples tree‐ring signals from GPP.

Global in situ Observations of Essential Climate and Ocean Variables at the Air–Sea Interface - Luca R. Centurioni; Jon Turton; Rick Lumpkin; Lancelot Braasch; Gary Brassington; Yi Chao; Etienne Charpentier; Zhaohui Chen; Gary Corlett; Kathleen Dohan; Craig Donlon; Champika Gallage; et al. (Frontiers in Marine Science, 2019)

Toward the Integrated Marine Debris Observing System - Nikolai Maximenko; Paolo Corradi; Kara Lavender Law; Erik Van Sebille; Shungudzemwoyo P. Garaba; Richard Stephen Lampitt; Francois Galgani; Victor Martinez-Vicente; Lonneke Goddijn-Murphy; Joana Mira Veiga; Richard C. Thompson; Christophe Maes; et al. (Frontiers in Marine Science, 2019)

Remotely Sensed Winds and Wind Stresses for Marine Forecasting and Ocean Modeling - Mark A. Bourassa; Thomas Meissner; Ivana Cerovecki; Paul S. Chang; Xiaolong Dong; Giovanna De Chiara; Craig Donlon; Dmitry S. Dukhovskoy; Jocelyn Elya; Alexander Fore; Melanie R. Fewings; Ralph C. Foster; et al. (Frontiers in Marine Science, 2019)

Effects of oil sands process water mixtures on the mayfly Hexagenia and field-collected aquatic macroinvertebrate communities - J. R. Howland; A. C. Alexander; D. Milani; J. M. Culp; K. M. Peru (Ecotoxicology, 2019)

Relationships between the distribution and abundance of the invasive faucet snail (Bithynia tentaculata) and environmental factors in Laurentian Great Lakes coastal wetlands - Neil T. Schock; Alexander J. Reisinger; Lindsey S. Reisinger; Matthew J. Cooper; Jan J. H. Cibrowski; Thomas M. Gehring; Ashley H. Moerke; Carl R. Ruetz; Donald G. Uzarski (Biological Invasions, 2019)

Economic and socio-cultural consequences of changing political rule on human and faunal diets in medieval Valencia (c. fifth–fifteenth century AD) as evidenced by stable isotopes - Michelle M. Alexander; Alejandra Gutiérrez; Andrew R. Millard; Michael P. Richards; Christopher M. Gerrard (Archaeological and Anthropological Sciences, 2019)

Life‐history characteristics of an exploited bonefish Albula glossodonta population in a remote South Pacific atoll - Alexander Filous; Robert J. Lennox; Richard R. Coleman; Alan M. Friedlander; Eric E. G. Clua; Andy J. Danylchuk (Journal of Fish Biology, 2019)
Bonefishes Albula spp. are important components of subsistence fisheries and lucrative sport fishing industries throughout their circumtropical distribution. In Oceania, however, Albula spp. have historically been overexploited and there is a growing need to balance the demands of competing fishing sectors, making the description of their life history a regional priority. To this aim, we collected biological samples from Albula spp. of Anaa atoll, French Polynesia, to identify the species that compose the stock and estimate their life‐history parameters including age, growth, reproduction and natural mortality. Our results indicate that Albula glossodonta is the species of bonefish present, with a maximum age that is below the, 20 year longevity of the genus (8 years in males and 10 years in females). Differential growth patterns existed between the two sexes ( L ∞ = 58, 78 cm fork length ( L F ) and K = 0.38, 0.21 for males and females, respectively). Males attained sexual maturity at 43 cm L F ( c . 3 years) whereas females matured at 48 cm L F ( c . 4 years) and oocyte production was significantly related to body mass, with a maximum batch fecundity of 1,133,767 oocytes in a 4406 g (70 cm L F ) female. The gonado‐somatic index of harvested fishes indicated that the spawning season extends from March through September. Based on the observation of a, 20 year bonefish at the proximate Tetiaroa Atoll and several empirical models, estimates of natural mortality ranged from 0.21 to 0.68; however, an estimate of 0.21 was deemed most appropriate. This information facilitated the resurgence of a Rahui (temporary fishing closure) and community‐based management to protect A. glossodonta during a critical portion of their spawning season and in this context our results provide an important demographic baseline in evaluating the recovery of this fishery.

Ocean Reanalyses: Recent Advances and Unsolved Challenges - Andrea Storto; Aida Alvera-Azcárate; Magdalena A. Balmaseda; Alexander Barth; Matthieu Chevallier; Francois Counillon; Catia M. Domingues; Marie Drevillon; Yann Drillet; Gaël Forget; Gilles Garric; Keith Haines; et al. (Frontiers in Marine Science, 2019)

Twenty-three unsolved problems in hydrology (UPH) – a community perspective - Günter Blöschl; Marc F.P. Bierkens; Antonio Chambel; Christophe Cudennec; Georgia Destouni; Aldo Fiori; James W. Kirchner; Jeffrey J. McDonnell; Hubert H.G. Savenije; Murugesu Sivapalan; Christine Stumpp; Elena Toth; et al. (Hydrological Sciences Journal, 2019)

Waves and Swells in High Wind and Extreme Fetches, Measurements in the Southern Ocean - Alexander V. Babanin; W. Erick Rogers; Ricardo de Camargo; Martin Doble; Tom Durrant; Kirill Filchuk; Kevin Ewans; Mark Hemer; Tim Janssen; Boris Kelly-Gerreyn; Keith Machutchon; Peter McComb; et al. (Frontiers in Marine Science, 2019)

Direct formylation of 2-pyridone core of 3- N -methylcytisine via Duff reaction; synthesis of 9-enyl, 9-ynyl and 9-imino derivatives - Polina R. Petrova; Alena V. Koval’skaya; Alexander N. Lobov; Inna P. Tsypysheva (Natural Product Research, 2019)

An End-to-end System for Automatic Characterization of Iba1 Immunopositive Microglia in Whole Slide Imaging - Alexander D. Kyriazis; Shahriar Noroozizadeh; Amir Refaee; Woongcheol Choi; Lap-Tak Chu; Asma Bashir; Wai Hang Cheng; Rachel Zhao; Dhananjay R. Namjoshi; Septimiu E. Salcudean; Cheryl L. Wellington; Guy Nir (Neuroinformatics, 2019)

Taxonomy of the order Mononegavirales: update 2019 - Gaya K. Amarasinghe; María A. Ayllón; Yīmíng Bào; Christopher F. Basler; Sina Bavari; Kim R. Blasdell; Thomas Briese; Paul A. Brown; Alexander Bukreyev; Anne Balkema-Buschmann; Ursula J. Buchholz; Camila Chabi-Jesus; et al. (Archives of Virology, 2019)

Changes in timing of seasonal peak photosynthetic activity in northern ecosystems - Taejin Park; Chi Chen; Marc Macias‐Fauria; Hans Tømmervik; Sungho Choi; Alexander Winkler; Uma S. Bhatt; Donald A. Walker; Shilong Piao; Victor Brovkin; Ramakrishna R. Nemani; Ranga B. Myneni (Global Change Biology, 2019)
Seasonality in photosynthetic activity is a critical component of seasonal carbon, water, and energy cycles in the Earth system. This characteristic is a consequence of plant's adaptive evolutionary processes to a given set of environmental conditions. Changing climate in northern lands (>30°N) alters the state of climatic constraints on plant growth, and therefore, changes in the seasonality and carbon accumulation are anticipated. However, how photosynthetic seasonality evolved to its current state, and what role climatic constraints and their variability played in this process and ultimately in carbon cycle is still poorly understood due to its complexity. Here, we take the “laws of minimum” as a basis and introduce a new framework where the timing (day of year) of peak photosynthetic activity (DOY Pmax ) acts as a proxy for plant's adaptive state to climatic constraints on its growth. Our analyses confirm that spatial variations in DOY Pmax reflect spatial gradients in climatic constraints as well as seasonal maximum and total productivity. We find a widespread warming‐induced advance in DOY Pmax (−1.66 ± 0.30 days/decade, p Pmax are associated with an increase in total gross primary productivity through enhanced carbon assimilation early in the growing season, which leads to an earlier phase shift in land‐atmosphere carbon fluxes and an increase in their amplitude. Such changes are expected to continue in the future based on our analysis of earth system model projections. Our study provides a simplified, yet realistic framework based on first principles for the complex mechanisms by which various climatic factors constrain plant growth in northern ecosystems.

Biofilm formation by Staphylococcus aureus clinical isolates correlates with the infection type - Jakub M. Kwiecinski; Gunnar Jacobsson; Alexander R. Horswill; Elisabet Josefsson; Tao Jin (Infectious Diseases, 2019)

Kinetid structure in larval and adult stages of the demosponges Haliclona aquaeductus (Haplosclerida) and Halichondria panicea (Suberitida) - Agniya M. Sokolova; Igor R. Pozdnyakov; Alexander V. Ereskovsky; Sergey A. Karpov (Zoomorphology, 2019)

A review of the sponge increase hypothesis for Caribbean mesophotic reefs - Alexander R. Scott; Joseph R. Pawlik (Marine Biodiversity, 2019)

Retrieval of Atmospheric Parameters and Surface Reflectance from Visible and Shortwave Infrared Imaging Spectroscopy Data - David R. Thompson; Luis Guanter; Alexander Berk; Bo-Cai Gao; Rudolf Richter; Daniel Schläpfer; Kurtis J. Thome (Surveys in Geophysics, 2019)

Transcription Factor 2I Regulates Neuronal Development via TRPC3 in 7q11.23 Disorder Models - Marielle H. S. Deurloo; Ekaterina Turlova; Wen-Liang Chen; You Wei Lin; Elaine Tam; Nardos G. Tassew; Michael Wu; Ya-Chi Huang; Jacqueline N. Crawley; Philippe P. Monnier; Alexander J. A. Groffen; Hong-Shuo Sun; et al. (Molecular Neurobiology, 2019)

Correction to: Effects of Small-Scale Armoring and Residential Development on the Salt Marsh-Upland Ecotone - Alyssa-Lois M. Gehman; Natalie A. McLenaghan; James E. Byers; Clark R. Alexander; Steven C. Pennings; Merryl Alber (Estuaries and Coasts, 2019)

Correction to: Generalizing Ecological Effects of Shoreline Armoring Across Soft Sediment Environments - J. E. Dugan; K. A. Emery; M. Alber; C. R. Alexander; J. E. Byers; A. M. Gehman; N. McLenaghan; S. E. Sojka (Estuaries and Coasts, 2019)

The pandemic strain of Austropuccinia psidii causes myrtle rust in New Zealand and Singapore - E. du Plessis; G. M. Granados; I. Barnes; W. H. Ho; B. J. R. Alexander; J. Roux; A. R. McTaggart (Australasian Plant Pathology, 2019)

Improving Representation of Human Well-Being and Cultural Importance in Conceptualizing the West Hawai‘i Ecosystem - Kirsten M. Leong; Supin Wongbusarakum; Rebecca J. Ingram; Alexander Mawyer; Melissa R. Poe (Frontiers in Marine Science, 2019)

Taxonomy of the order Mononegavirales: second update 2018 - Piet Maes; Gaya K. Amarasinghe; María A. Ayllón; Christopher F. Basler; Sina Bavari; Kim R. Blasdell; Thomas Briese; Paul A. Brown; Alexander Bukreyev; Anne Balkema-Buschmann; Ursula J. Buchholz; Kartik Chandran; et al. (Archives of Virology, 2019)

Leap‐frog dispersal and mitochondrial introgression: Phylogenomics and biogeography of Limnonectes fanged frogs in the Lesser Sundas Archipelago of Wallacea - Sean B. Reilly; Alexander L. Stubbs; Benjamin R. Karin; Ke Bi; Evy Arida; Djoko T. Iskandar; Jimmy A. McGuire (Journal of Biogeography, 2019)
Aim The Lesser Sunda Islands are situated between the Sunda and Sahul Shelves, with a linear arrangement that has functioned as a two‐way filter for taxa dispersing between the Asian and Australo‐Papuan biogeographical realms. Distributional patterns of many terrestrial vertebrates suggest a stepping‐stone model of island colonization. Here we investigate the timing and sequence of island colonization in Asian‐origin fanged frogs from the volcanic Sunda Arc islands with the goal of testing the stepping‐stone model of island colonization. Location The Indonesian islands of Java, Lombok, Sumbawa, Flores and Lembata. Taxon Limnonectes dammermani and L. kadarsani (Family: Dicroglossidae) Methods Mitochondrial DNA was sequenced from 153 frogs to identify major lineages and to select samples for an exon‐capture experiment. We designed probes to capture sequence data from 974 exonic loci (1,235,981 bp) from 48 frogs including the outgroup species, L. microdiscus . The resulting data were analysed using phylogenetic, population genetic and biogeographical model testing methods. Results The mt DNA phylogeny finds L. kadarsani paraphyletic with respect to L. dammermani , with a pectinate topology consistent with the stepping‐stone model. Phylogenomic analyses of 974 exons recovered the two species as monophyletic sister taxa that diverged ~7.6 Ma with no detectable contemporary gene flow, suggesting introgression of the L. dammermani mitochondrion into L. kadarsani on Lombok resulting from an isolated ancient hybridization event ~4 Ma. Within L. kadarsani, the Lombok lineage diverged first while the Sumbawa and Lembata lineages are nested within a Flores assemblage composed of two parapatrically distributed lineages meeting in central Flores. Biogeographical model comparison found strict stepping‐stone dispersal to be less likely than models involving leap‐frog dispersal events. Main conclusions These results suggest that the currently accepted stepping‐stone model of island colonization might not best explain the current patterns of diversity in the archipelago. The high degree of genetic structure, large divergence times, and absent or low levels of migration between lineages suggests that L. kadarsani represents five distinct species.

Better Regional Ocean Observing Through Cross-National Cooperation: A Case Study From the Northeast Pacific - John A. Barth; Susan E. Allen; Edward P. Dever; Richard K. Dewey; Wiley Evans; Richard A. Feely; Jennifer L. Fisher; Jonathan P. Fram; Burke Hales; Debby Ianson; Jennifer Jackson; Kim Juniper; et al. (Frontiers in Marine Science, 2019)

Is Hyalella azteca a Suitable Model Leaf-Shredding Benthic Crustacean for Testing the Toxicity of Sediment-Associated Metals in Europe? - Jochen P. Zubrod; Dominic Englert; Alexander Feckler; Ricki R. Rosenfeldt; Hendrik Pasternack; Henner Hollert; Thomas-Benjamin Seiler; Ralf Schulz; Mirco Bundschuh (Bulletin of Environmental Contamination and Toxicology, 2019)

Recasting the Cancer Stem Cell Hypothesis: Unification Using a Continuum Model of Microenvironmental Forces - Jacob G. Scott; Andrew Dhawan; Anita Hjelmeland; Justin Lathia; Anastasia Chumakova; Masahiro Hitomi; Alexander G. Fletcher; Philip K. Maini; Alexander R. A. Anderson (Current Stem Cell Reports, 2019)

Taxonomy of the order Bunyavirales: second update 2018 - Piet Maes; Scott Adkins; Sergey V. Alkhovsky; Tatjana Avšič-Županc; Matthew J. Ballinger; Dennis A. Bente; Martin Beer; Éric Bergeron; Carol D. Blair; Thomas Briese; Michael J. Buchmeier; Felicity J. Burt; et al. (Archives of Virology, 2019)

Additional changes to taxonomy ratified in a special vote by the International Committee on Taxonomy of Viruses (October 2018) - Stuart G. Siddell; Peter J. Walker; Elliot J. Lefkowitz; Arcady R. Mushegian; Michael J. Adams; Bas E. Dutilh; Alexander E. Gorbalenya; Balázs Harrach; Robert L. Harrison; Sandra Junglen; Nick J. Knowles; Andrew M. Kropinski; et al. (Archives of Virology, 2019)

Purification and characterization of exo-β-1,4-glucosaminidase produced by chitosan-degrading fungus, Penicillium sp. IB-37-2A - Gleb E. Aktuganov; Nailya F. Galimzianova; Elena A. Gilvanova; Elena A. Pudova; Lyudmila Yu. Kuzmina; Alexander I. Melentiev; Violetta R. Safina (World Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology, 2019)

Mesenchymal stem cell dysfunction in diabetes - Arman Fijany; Lohrasb R. Sayadi; Nima Khoshab; Derek A. Banyard; Ashkaun Shaterian; Michael Alexander; Johnathan R. T. Lakey; Keyianoosh Z. Paydar; Gregory R. D. Evans; Alan D. Widgerow (Molecular Biology Reports, 2019)

First report on B chromosome content in a reptilian species: the case of Anolis carolinensis - Ilya G. Kichigin; Artem P. Lisachov; Massimo Giovannotti; Alex I. Makunin; Marsel R. Kabilov; Patricia C. M. O’Brien; Malcolm A. Ferguson-Smith; Alexander S. Graphodatsky; Vladimir A. Trifonov (Molecular Genetics and Genomics, 2019)

Association of longitudinal white matter degeneration and cerebrospinal fluid biomarkers of neurodegeneration, inflammation and Alzheimer’s disease in late-middle-aged adults - Annie M. Racine; Andrew P. Merluzzi; Nagesh Adluru; Derek Norton; Rebecca L. Koscik; Lindsay R. Clark; Sara E. Berman; Christopher R. Nicholas; Sanjay Asthana; Andrew L. Alexander; Kaj Blennow; Henrik Zetterberg; et al. (Brain Imaging and Behavior, 2019)

The challenge and potential of photosynthesis: unique considerations for metabolic flux measurements in photosynthetic microorganisms - Cara L. Sake; Alexander J. Metcalf; Nanette R. Boyle (Biotechnology Letters, 2019)

Local extinctions of insular avifauna on the most remote inhabited island in the world - Alexander L. Bond; Colin J. Carlson; Kevin R. Burgio (Journal of Ornithology, 2019)

Stream metabolism increases with drainage area and peaks asynchronously across a stream network - Francine H. Mejia; Alexander K. Fremier; Joseph R. Benjamin; J. Ryan Bellmore; Adrianne Z. Grimm; Grace A. Watson; Michael Newsom (Aquatic Sciences, 2019)

Disturbance, nutrients, and antecedent flow conditions affect macroinvertebrate community structure and productivity in an Arctic river - Michael R. Kendrick; Anne E. Hershey; Alexander D. Huryn (Limnology and Oceanography, 2019)
Climate change is expected to alter disturbance regimes and biogeochemical cycles that underlie the structure and function of ecosystems worldwide. In the Arctic, rapid warming is already affecting these processes via changes in precipitation and thawing permafrost. We assessed how anticipated changes in disturbance regimes and nutrient availability may affect an arctic river ecosystem (Kuparuk River, Alaska) by analyzing temporal patterns of biofilm chlorophyll mass and macroinvertebrate community structure and productivity. Our study incorporated an upstream reach (sampled 2001–2012) and a downstream reach (sampled 2011–2012) to which phosphorus (P) was added to simulate increases in nutrient supply that are anticipated as permafrost thaws. Greater hydrologic disturbance during the open‐water season correlated with reduced algal biomass and invertebrate secondary production (range ∼ 2–7 g DM m −2 yr −1 ) in the following spring and summer. Bed disturbing flows also altered macroinvertebrate community structure with distinct “high‐flow” and “base‐flow” assemblages documented. Recovery time was shorter for chlorophyll mass and macroinvertebrate production (∼ 1 yr) than community structure (∼ 3 yr). Experimental P‐addition increased algal biomass and invertebrate production, but also resulted in a third macroinvertebrate assemblage dominated by mobile grazers rather than filter‐feeders. Our results suggest that a decrease in the return interval for bed disturbing floods to

Nishinoshima volcano in the Ogasawara Arc: New continent from the ocean? - Yoshihiko Tamura; Osamu Ishizuka; Tomoki Sato; Alexander R. L. Nichols (Island Arc, 2019)
Nishinoshima, a submarine volcano in the Ogasawara Arc, approximately 1 000 km south of Tokyo, Japan, suddenly erupted in November 2013, after 40 years of dormancy. Olivine‐bearing phenocryst‐poor andesites found in older submarine lavas from the flanks of the volcano have been used to develop a model for the genesis of andesitic lavas from Nishinoshima. In this model, primary andesite magmas originate directly from the mantle as a result of shallow and hydrous melting of plagioclase peridotites. Thus, it only operates beneath Nishinoshima and submarine volcanoes in the Ogasawara Arc and other oceanic arcs, where the crust is thin. The primary magma compositions have changed from basalt, produced at considerable depth, to andesite, produced beneath the existing thinner crust at this location in the arc. This reflects the thermal and mechanical evolution of the mantle wedge and the overlying lithosphere. It is suggested that continental crust‐like andesitic magma builds up beneath submarine volcanoes on thin arc lithosphere today, and has built up beneath such volcanoes in the past. Andesites produced by this shallow and hydrous melting of the mantle could accumulate through collisions of plates to generate continental crust.

Compositional response of Amazon forests to climate change - Adriane Esquivel‐Muelbert; Timothy R. Baker; Kyle G. Dexter; Simon L. Lewis; Roel J. W. Brienen; Ted R. Feldpausch; Jon Lloyd; Abel Monteagudo‐Mendoza; Luzmila Arroyo; Esteban Álvarez-Dávila; Niro Higuchi; Beatriz S. Marimon; et al. (Global Change Biology, 2019)
Most of the planet's diversity is concentrated in the tropics, which includes many regions undergoing rapid climate change. Yet, while climate‐induced biodiversity changes are widely documented elsewhere, few studies have addressed this issue for lowland tropical ecosystems. Here we investigate whether the floristic and functional composition of intact lowland Amazonian forests have been changing by evaluating records from 106 long‐term inventory plots spanning 30 years. We analyse three traits that have been hypothesized to respond to different environmental drivers (increase in moisture stress and atmospheric CO 2 concentrations): maximum tree size, biogeographic water‐deficit affiliation and wood density. Tree communities have become increasingly dominated by large‐statured taxa, but to date there has been no detectable change in mean wood density or water deficit affiliation at the community level, despite most forest plots having experienced an intensification of the dry season. However, among newly recruited trees, dry‐affiliated genera have become more abundant, while the mortality of wet‐affiliated genera has increased in those plots where the dry season has intensified most. Thus, a slow shift to a more dry‐affiliated Amazonia is underway, with changes in compositional dynamics (recruits and mortality) consistent with climate‐change drivers, but yet to significantly impact whole‐community composition. The Amazon observational record suggests that the increase in atmospheric CO 2 is driving a shift within tree communities to large‐statured species and that climate changes to date will impact forest composition, but long generation times of tropical trees mean that biodiversity change is lagging behind climate change.

Near- and Offshore Macrofauna Communities and Their Physical Environment in a South-Eastern North Sea Sandy Beach System - Ingrid Kröncke; Lydia R. Becker; Thomas H. Badewien; Alexander Bartholomä; Anne-Christin Schulz; Oliver Zielinski (Frontiers in Marine Science, 2018)

Molecular and morphological phylogenetics of the digitate-tubered clade within subtribe Orchidinae s.s. (Orchidaceae: Orchideae) - Richard M. Bateman; Alexander R. M. Murphy; Peter M. Hollingsworth; Michelle L. Hart; Ian Denholm; Paula J. Rudall (Kew Bulletin, 2018)

Multiple Aneurysms AnaTomy CHallenge 2018 (MATCH): Phase I: Segmentation - Philipp Berg; Samuel Voß; Sylvia Saalfeld; Gábor Janiga; Aslak W. Bergersen; Kristian Valen-Sendstad; Jan Bruening; Leonid Goubergrits; Andreas Spuler; Nicole M. Cancelliere; David A. Steinman; Vitor M. Pereira; et al. (Cardiovascular Engineering and Technology, 2018)

A combined banding method that allows the reliable identification of chromosomes as well as differentiation of AT- and GC-rich heterochromatin - Natalya A. Lemskaya; Anastasia I. Kulemzina; Violetta R. Beklemisheva; Larisa S. Biltueva; Anastasia A. Proskuryakova; John M. Hallenbeck; Polina L. Perelman; Alexander S. Graphodatsky (Chromosome Research, 2018)

Tundra Trait Team: A database of plant traits spanning the tundra biome - Anne D. Bjorkman; Isla H. Myers‐Smith; Sarah C. Elmendorf; Signe Normand; Haydn J. D. Thomas; Juha M. Alatalo; Heather Alexander; Alba Anadon‐Rosell; Sandra Angers‐Blondin; Yang Bai; Gaurav Baruah; Mariska te Beest; et al. (Global Ecology and Biogeography, 2018)
Motivation The Tundra Trait Team (TTT) database includes field‐based measurements of key traits related to plant form and function at multiple sites across the tundra biome. This dataset can be used to address theoretical questions about plant strategy and trade‐offs, trait–environment relationships and environmental filtering, and trait variation across spatial scales, to validate satellite data, and to inform Earth system model parameters. Main types of variable contained The database contains 91,970 measurements of 18 plant traits. The most frequently measured traits (> 1,000 observations each) include plant height, leaf area, specific leaf area, leaf fresh and dry mass, leaf dry matter content, leaf nitrogen, carbon and phosphorus content, leaf C:N and N:P, seed mass, and stem specific density. Spatial location and grain Measurements were collected in tundra habitats in both the Northern and Southern Hemispheres, including Arctic sites in Alaska, Canada, Greenland, Fennoscandia and Siberia, alpine sites in the European Alps, Colorado Rockies, Caucasus, Ural Mountains, Pyrenees, Australian Alps, and Central Otago Mountains (New Zealand), and sub‐Antarctic Marion Island. More than 99% of observations are georeferenced. Time period and grain All data were collected between 1964 and 2018. A small number of sites have repeated trait measurements at two or more time periods. Major taxa and level of measurement Trait measurements were made on 978 terrestrial vascular plant species growing in tundra habitats. Most observations are on individuals (86%), while the remainder represent plot or site means or maximums per species. Software format csv file and GitHub repository with data cleaning scripts in R; contribution to TRY plant trait database ( www.try-db.org ) to be included in the next version release.

Linking permafrost thaw to shifting biogeochemistry and food web resources in an arctic river - Michael R. Kendrick; Alexander D. Huryn; William B. Bowden; Linda A. Deegan; Robert H. Findlay; Anne E. Hershey; Bruce J. Peterson; Joshua P. Beneš; Elissa B. Schuett (Global Change Biology, 2018)
Rapidly, increasing air temperatures across the Arctic are thawing permafrost and exposing vast quantities of organic carbon, nitrogen, and phosphorus to microbial processing. Shifts in the absolute and relative supplies of these elements will likely alter patterns of ecosystem productivity and change the way carbon and nutrients are delivered from upland areas to surface waters such as rivers and lakes. The ultra‐oligotrophic nature of surface waters across the Arctic renders these ecosystems particularly susceptible to changes in productivity and food web dynamics as permafrost thaw alters terrestrial‐aquatic linkages. The objectives of this study were to evaluate decadal‐scale patterns in surface water chemistry and assess potential implications of changing water chemistry to benthic organic matter and aquatic food webs. Data were collected from the upper Kuparuk River on the North Slope of Alaska by the U.S. National Science Foundation's Long‐Term Ecological Research program during 1978–2014. Analyses of these data show increases in stream water alkalinity and cation concentrations consistent with signatures of permafrost thaw. Changes are also documented for discharge‐corrected nitrate concentrations (+), discharge‐corrected dissolved organic carbon concentrations (−), total phosphorus concentrations (−), and δ 13 C isotope values of aquatic invertebrate consumers (−). These changes show that warming temperatures and thawing permafrost in the upland environment are leading to shifts in the supply of carbon and nutrients available to surface waters and consequently changing resources that support aquatic food webs. This demonstrates that physical, geochemical, and biological changes associated with warming permafrost are fundamentally altering linkages between upland and aquatic ecosystems in rapidly changing arctic environments.

Second rate or a second chance? Assessing biomass and biodiversity recovery in regenerating Amazonian forests - Gareth D. Lennox; Toby A. Gardner; James R. Thomson; Joice Ferreira; Erika Berenguer; Alexander C. Lees; Ralph Mac Nally; Luiz E. O. C. Aragão; Silvio F. B. Ferraz; Julio Louzada; Nárgila G. Moura; Victor H. F. Oliveira; et al. (Global Change Biology, 2018)
Secondary forests (SFs) regenerating on previously deforested land account for large, expanding areas of tropical forest cover. Given that tropical forests rank among Earth’s most important reservoirs of carbon and biodiversity, SFs play an increasingly pivotal role in the carbon cycle and as potential habitat for forest biota. Nevertheless, their capacity to regain the biotic attributes of undisturbed primary forests (UPFs) remains poorly understood. Here, we provide a comprehensive assessment of SF recovery, using extensive tropical biodiversity, biomass, and environmental datasets. These data, collected in 59 naturally regenerating SFs and 30 co‐located UPFs in the eastern Amazon, cover >1,600 large‐ and small‐stemmed plant, bird, and dung beetles species and a suite of forest structure, landscape context, and topoedaphic predictors. After up to 40 years of regeneration, the SFs we surveyed showed a high degree of biodiversity resilience, recovering, on average among taxa, 88% and 85% mean UPF species richness and composition, respectively. Across the first 20 years of succession, the period for which we have accurate SF age data, biomass recovered at 1.2% per year, equivalent to a carbon uptake rate of 2.25 Mg/ha per year, while, on average, species richness and composition recovered at 2.6% and 2.3% per year, respectively. For all taxonomic groups, biomass was strongly associated with SF species distributions. However, other variables describing habitat complexity—canopy cover and understory stem density—were equally important occurrence predictors for most taxa. Species responses to biomass revealed a successional transition at approximately 75 Mg/ha, marking the influx of high‐conservation‐value forest species. Overall, our results show that naturally regenerating SFs can accumulate substantial amounts of carbon and support many forest species. However, given that the surveyed SFs failed to return to a typical UPF state, SFs are not substitutes for UPFs.

Extrusion 3D Printing of Paracetamol Tablets from a Single Formulation with Tunable Release Profiles Through Control of Tablet Geometry - Shaban A. Khaled; Morgan R. Alexander; Derek J. Irvine; Ricky D. Wildman; Martin J. Wallace; Sonja Sharpe; Jae Yoo; Clive J. Roberts (AAPS PharmSciTech, 2018)
An extrusion-based 3D printer was used to fabricate paracetamol tablets with different geometries (mesh, ring and solid) from a single paste-based formulation formed from standard pharmaceutical ingredients. The tablets demonstrate that tunable drug release profiles can be achieved from this single formulation even with high drug loading (> 80% w / w ). The tablets were evaluated for drug release using a USP dissolution testing type I apparatus. The tablets showed well-defined release profiles (from immediate to sustained release) controlled by their different geometries. The dissolution results showed dependency of drug release on the surface area/volume (SA/V) ratio and the SA of the different tablets. The tablets with larger SA/V ratios and SA had faster drug release. The 3D printed tablets were also evaluated for physical and mechanical properties including tablet dimension, drug content, weight variation and breaking force and were within acceptable range as defined by the international standards stated in the US Pharmacopoeia. X-ray powder diffraction, differential scanning calorimetry and attenuated total reflectance Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy were used to identify the physical form of the active and to assess possible drug-excipient interactions. These data again showed that the tablets meet USP requirement. These results clearly demonstrate the potential of 3D printing to create unique pharmaceutical manufacturing, and potentially clinical, opportunities. The ability to use a single unmodified formulation to achieve defined release profiles could allow, for example, relatively straightforward personalization of medicines for individuals with different metabolism rates for certain drugs and hence could offer significant development and clinical opportunities.

Pan‐tropical prediction of forest structure from the largest trees - Jean‐François Bastin; Ervan Rutishauser; James R. Kellner; Sassan Saatchi; Raphael Pélissier; Bruno Hérault; Ferry Slik; Jan Bogaert; Charles De Cannière; Andrew R. Marshall; John Poulsen; Patricia Alvarez‐Loyayza; et al. (Global Ecology and Biogeography, 2018)
Aim Large tropical trees form the interface between ground and airborne observations, offering a unique opportunity to capture forest properties remotely and to investigate their variations on broad scales. However, despite rapid development of metrics to characterize the forest canopy from remotely sensed data, a gap remains between aerial and field inventories. To close this gap, we propose a new pan‐tropical model to predict plot‐level forest structure properties and biomass from only the largest trees. Location Pan‐tropical. Time period Early 21st century. Major taxa studied Woody plants. Methods Using a dataset of 867 plots distributed among 118 sites across the tropics, we tested the prediction of the quadratic mean diameter, basal area, Lorey's height, community wood density and aboveground biomass (AGB) from the i th largest trees. Results Measuring the largest trees in tropical forests enables unbiased predictions of plot‐ and site‐level forest structure. The 20 largest trees per hectare predicted quadratic mean diameter, basal area, Lorey's height, community wood density and AGB with 12, 16, 4, 4 and 17.7% of relative error, respectively. Most of the remaining error in biomass prediction is driven by differences in the proportion of total biomass held in medium‐sized trees (50–70 cm diameter at breast height), which shows some continental dependency, with American tropical forests presenting the highest proportion of total biomass in these intermediate‐diameter classes relative to other continents. Main conclusions Our approach provides new information on tropical forest structure and can be used to generate accurate field estimates of tropical forest carbon stocks to support the calibration and validation of current and forthcoming space missions. It will reduce the cost of field inventories and contribute to scientific understanding of tropical forest ecosystems and response to climate change.

Desert leaf litter decay: Coupling of microbial respiration, water‐soluble fractions and photodegradation - Thomas A. Day; Michael S. Bliss; Alexander R. Tomes; Christopher T. Ruhland; René Guénon (Global Change Biology, 2018)
The mechanisms of plant litter decay in drylands are poorly understood, limiting the accuracy of nutrient‐cycling models for these systems. We monitored the decay of 12 leaf litter types on the soil surface of the Sonoran Desert for 34 months and assessed what traits predicted mass loss and how exposure to different wavebands of sunlight influenced mass loss. Mass loss varied considerably among litter types, ranging from 42%–96% after 34 months in full sunlight. Traditional indices of litter quality (e.g., initial C:N or lignin:N ratios) failed to predict differences in mass loss among litter types. The strongest predictor of mass loss was the microbial respiration rate of initial litter, which explained 45%–54% of the variation in loss among litter types. Microbial respiration rates were not correlated with traditional indices of litter quality, but were positively correlated with the water‐soluble fraction in litter and concentrations of dissolved organic C in this fraction. Traditional indices of litter quality failed to predict decay likely because they did a poor job of predicting microbial degradability of litter, not because microbial degradation was a minor driver of decay. In all radiation‐exposure treatments, water‐soluble fractions and respiration rates increased through decay and were several times higher after 34 months than initially. Hence, labile pools and microbial degradability of litter increased through decay in contrast to traditional views that labile pools decline and constrain microbes. Litter exposed to UV or UV through blue radiation wavelengths, lost on average 1.3 times or 1.5 times more mass, respectively, than litter not exposed to these wavebands. The magnitude of this photodegradation was greater in litter types that had higher initial concentrations of hemicellulose and cellulose per unit surface area. Litter exposed to full sun had higher water‐soluble fractions and usually had higher respiration rates, illustrating that sunlight accelerated microbial degradation by increasing labile pools. The processes driving litter decay appeared to differ appreciably from mesic systems and involved strong couplings between abiotic and biotic drivers.

Production of membrane proteins for characterisation of their pheromone-sensing and antimicrobial resistance functions - Aalishaa A. Azam; Jean M. Kinder; G. Nasir Khan; Ade Alase; Pikyee Ma; Yang Liu; James R. Ault; Peter J. F. Henderson; Babur Z. Chowdhry; Bruce D. Alexander; Stephen E. Harding; Mary K. Phillips-Jones (European Biophysics Journal, 2018)

Optimized bio-oil yield from Swietenia macrophylla seeds via ultrasonic cavitation through response surface methodology - Rey P. Gumaling; Jay R E. Agusan; Neil Ven Cent R. Ellacer; Gretel Mary T. Abi Abi; Jasmin Roxatte P. Pajaron; Jose Rey Q. Joyno; Cherry Q. Joyno; Alexander L. Ido; Renato O. Arazo (Energy, Ecology and Environment, 2018)

Reevaluating sighting models and moving beyond them to test and contextualize the extinction of the thylacine - Colin J. Carlson; Alexander L. Bond; Kevin R. Burgio (Conservation Biology, 2018)
Article impact statement : All available models suggest the thylacine remains extinct until rediscovered; hope remains for other species.

Methamphetamine Induces Apoptosis of Microglia via the Intrinsic Mitochondrial-Dependent Pathway - Anna V. Sharikova; Elizabeth Quaye; Jun Yong Park; Maxwell C. Maloney; Habben Desta; Ramkumar Thiyagarajan; Kenneth L. Seldeen; Neil U. Parikh; Parteet Sandhu; Alexander Khmaladze; Bruce R. Troen; Stanley A. Schwartz; et al. (Journal of Neuroimmune Pharmacology, 2018)

Using Simple Dilution Models to Predict New Zealand Estuarine Water Quality - David R. Plew; John R. Zeldis; Ude Shankar; Alexander H. Elliott (Estuaries and Coasts, 2018)

Effects of Small-Scale Armoring and Residential Development on the Salt Marsh-Upland Ecotone - Alyssa-Lois M. Gehman; Natalie A. McLenaghan; James E. Byers; Clark R. Alexander; Steven C. Pennings; Merryl Alber (Estuaries and Coasts, 2018)
Small-scale armoring placed near the marsh-upland interface to protect single-family homes is widespread but understudied. Using a nested, spatially blocked sampling design on the coast of Georgia, USA, we compared the biota and environmental characteristics of 60 marshes adjacent to either a bulkhead, a residential backyard with no armoring, or an intact forest. We found that marshes adjacent to bulkheads were at lower tidal elevations and had features typical of lower elevation marsh habitats: high coverage of the marsh grass Spartina alterniflora , high density of crab burrows, and muddy sediments. Marshes adjacent to unarmored residential sites had higher soil water content and lower porewater salinities than the armored or forested sites, suggesting that there may be increased freshwater input to the marsh at these sites. Deposition of Spartina wrack on the marsh-upland ecotone was negatively related to elevation at armored sites and positively related at unarmored residential and forested sites. Armored and unarmored residential sites had reduced densities of the high marsh crab Armases cinereum , a species that moves readily across the ecotone at forested sites, using both upland and high marsh habitats. Distance from the upland to the nearest creek was longest at forested sites. The effects observed here were subtle, perhaps because of the small-scale, scattered nature of development. Continued installation of bulkheads in the southeast could lead to greater impacts such as those reported in more densely armored areas like the northeastern USA. Moreover, bulkheads provide a barrier to inland marsh migration in the face of sea level rise. Retaining some forest vegetation at the marsh-upland interface and discouraging armoring except in cases of demonstrated need could minimize these impacts.

Generalizing Ecological Effects of Shoreline Armoring Across Soft Sediment Environments - J. E. Dugan; K. A. Emery; M. Alber; C. R. Alexander; J. E. Byers; A. M. Gehman; N. McLenaghan; S. E. Sojka (Estuaries and Coasts, 2018)
Despite its widespread use, the ecological effects of shoreline armoring are poorly synthesized and difficult to generalize across soft sediment environments and structure types. We developed a conceptual model that scales predicted ecological effects of shore-parallel armoring based on two axes: engineering purpose of structure (reduce/slow velocities or prevent/stop flow of waves and currents) and hydrodynamic energy (e.g., tides, currents, waves) of soft sediment environments. We predicted greater ecological impacts for structures intended to stop as opposed to slow water flow and with increasing hydrodynamic energy of the environment. We evaluated our predictions with a literature review of effects of shoreline armoring for six possible ecological responses (habitat distribution, species assemblages, trophic structure, nutrient cycling, productivity, and connectivity). The majority of studies were in low-energy environments (51 of 88), and a preponderance addressed changes in two ecological responses associated with armoring: habitat distribution and species assemblages. Across the 207 armoring effects studied, 71% were significantly negative, 22% were significantly positive, and 7% reported no significant difference. Ecological responses varied with engineering purpose of structures, with a higher frequency of negative responses for structures designed to stop water flow within a given hydrodynamic energy level. Comparisons across the hydrodynamic energy axis were less clear-cut, but negative responses prevailed (>78%) in high-energy environments. These results suggest that generalizations of ecological responses to armoring across a range of environmental contexts are possible and that the proposed conceptual model is useful for generating predictions of the direction and relative ecological impacts of shoreline armoring in soft sediment ecosystems.

Oxygen consumption of desert pupfish at ecologically relevant temperatures suggests a significant role for anaerobic metabolism - Matt Heuton; Luis Ayala; Aldo Morante; Kyle Dayton; Alexander C. Jones; Joseph R. Hunt; Austin McKenna; Frank van Breukelen; Stanley Hillyard (Journal of Comparative Physiology B, 2018)

Changes to taxonomy and the International Code of Virus Classification and Nomenclature ratified by the International Committee on Taxonomy of Viruses (2018) - Andrew M. Q. King; Elliot J. Lefkowitz; Arcady R. Mushegian; Michael J. Adams; Bas E. Dutilh; Alexander E. Gorbalenya; Balázs Harrach; Robert L. Harrison; Sandra Junglen; Nick J. Knowles; Andrew M. Kropinski; Mart Krupovic; et al. (Archives of Virology, 2018)

Parasite rearing and infection temperatures jointly influence disease transmission and shape seasonality of epidemics - Marta S. Shocket; Daniela Vergara; Andrew J. Sickbert; Jason M. Walsman; Alexander T. Strauss; Jessica L. Hite; Meghan A. Duffy; Carla E. Cáceres; Spencer R. Hall (Ecology, 2018)
Seasonal epidemics erupt commonly in nature and are driven by numerous mechanisms. Here, we suggest a new mechanism that could determine the size and timing of seasonal epidemics: rearing environment changes the performance of parasites. This mechanism arises when the environmental conditions in which a parasite is produced impact its performance—independently from the current environment. To illustrate the potential for “rearing effects”, we show how temperature influences infection risk (transmission rate) in a Daphnia ‐fungus disease system through both parasite rearing temperature and infection temperature. During autumnal epidemics, zooplankton hosts contact (eat) fungal parasites (spores) reared in a gradually cooling environment. To delineate the effect of rearing temperature from temperature at exposure and infection, we used lab experiments to parameterize a mechanistic model of transmission rate. We also evaluated the rearing effect using spores collected from epidemics in cooling lakes. We found that fungal spores were more infectious when reared at warmer temperatures (in the lab and in two of three lakes). Additionally, the exposure (foraging) rate of hosts increased with warmer infection temperatures. Thus, both mechanisms cause transmission rate to drop as temperature decreases over the autumnal epidemic season (from summer to winter). Simulations show how these temperature‐driven changes in transmission rate can induce waning of epidemics as lakes cool. Furthermore, via thermally dependent transmission, variation in environmental cooling patterns can alter the size and shape of epidemics. Thus, the thermal environment drives seasonal epidemics through effects on hosts (exposure rate) and the infectivity of parasites (a rearing effect). Presently, the generality of parasite rearing effects remains unknown. Our results suggest that they may provide an important but underappreciated mechanism linking temperature to the seasonality of epidemics.

Considerations for the Use of Polysorbates in Biopharmaceuticals - Michael T. Jones; Hanns-Christian Mahler; Sandeep Yadav; Dilbir Bindra; Vincent Corvari; R. Matthew Fesinmeyer; Kapil Gupta; Alexander M. Harmon; Kenneth D. Hinds; Atanas Koulov; Wei Liu; Kevin Maloney; et al. (Pharmaceutical Research, 2018)

Recruiting Endometrial Cancer Survivors to Studies Examining Lifestyle Behaviors and Quality of Life: Challenges Faced and Lessons Learned - Alexander R. Lucas; Brian C. Focht; David E. Cohn; Maryanna D. Klatt; Janet Buckworth (Journal of Cancer Education, 2018)

Drying and rewetting of forest floors: dynamics of soluble phosphorus, microbial biomass-phosphorus, and the composition of microbial communities - Mai-Van Dinh; Alexander Guhr; Alfons R. Weig; Egbert Matzner (Biology and Fertility of Soils, 2018)

Aliens are moving to the Arctic frontiers: an integrative approach reveals selective expansion of androgenic hybrid Corbicula lineages towards the North of Russia - Yulia V. Bespalaya; Ivan N. Bolotov; Olga V. Aksenova; Alexander V. Kondakov; Mikhail Yu. Gofarov; Tatyana M. Laenko; Svetlana E. Sokolova; Alexander R. Shevchenko; Oksana V. Travina (Biological Invasions, 2018)

Taxonomy of the family Arenaviridae and the order Bunyavirales: update 2018 - Piet Maes; Sergey V. Alkhovsky; Yīmíng Bào; Martin Beer; Monica Birkhead; Thomas Briese; Michael J. Buchmeier; Charles H. Calisher; Rémi N. Charrel; Il Ryong Choi; Christopher S. Clegg; Juan Carlos de la Torre; et al. (Archives of Virology, 2018)

Taxonomy of the order Mononegavirales: update 2018 - Gaya K. Amarasinghe; Nidia G. Aréchiga Ceballos; Ashley C. Banyard; Christopher F. Basler; Sina Bavari; Andrew J. Bennett; Kim R. Blasdell; Thomas Briese; Alexander Bukreyev; Yíngyún Caì; Charles H. Calisher; Cristine Campos Lawson; et al. (Archives of Virology, 2018)

Prediction of enteric methane production, yield, and intensity in dairy cattle using an intercontinental database - Mutian Niu; Ermias Kebreab; Alexander N. Hristov; Joonpyo Oh; Claudia Arndt; André Bannink; Ali R. Bayat; André F. Brito; Tommy Boland; David Casper; Les A. Crompton; Jan Dijkstra; et al. (Global Change Biology, 2018)
Enteric methane ( CH 4 ) production from cattle contributes to global greenhouse gas emissions. Measurement of enteric CH 4 is complex, expensive, and impractical at large scales; therefore, models are commonly used to predict CH 4 production. However, building robust prediction models requires extensive data from animals under different management systems worldwide. The objectives of this study were to (1) collate a global database of enteric CH 4 production from individual lactating dairy cattle; (2) determine the availability of key variables for predicting enteric CH 4 production (g/day per cow), yield [g/kg dry matter intake ( DMI )], and intensity (g/kg energy corrected milk) and their respective relationships; (3) develop intercontinental and regional models and cross‐validate their performance; and (4) assess the trade‐off between availability of on‐farm inputs and CH 4 prediction accuracy. The intercontinental database covered Europe ( EU ), the United States ( US ), and Australia ( AU ). A sequential approach was taken by incrementally adding key variables to develop models with increasing complexity. Methane emissions were predicted by fitting linear mixed models. Within model categories, an intercontinental model with the most available independent variables performed best with root mean square prediction error ( RMSPE ) as a percentage of mean observed value of 16.6%, 14.7%, and 19.8% for intercontinental, EU , and United States regions, respectively. Less complex models requiring only DMI had predictive ability comparable to complex models. Enteric CH 4 production, yield, and intensity prediction models developed on an intercontinental basis had similar performance across regions, however, intercepts and slopes were different with implications for prediction. Revised CH 4 emission conversion factors for specific regions are required to improve CH 4 production estimates in national inventories. In conclusion, information on DMI is required for good prediction, and other factors such as dietary neutral detergent fiber ( NDF ) concentration, improve the prediction. For enteric CH 4 yield and intensity prediction, information on milk yield and composition is required for better estimation.

The iron‐stress activated RNA 1 (IsaR1) coordinates osmotic acclimation and iron starvation responses in the cyanobacterium Synechocystis sp. PCC 6803 - Henriette Rübsam; Friedrich Kirsch; Viktoria Reimann; Alexander Erban; Joachim Kopka; Martin Hagemann; Wolfgang R. Hess; Stephan Klähn (Environmental Microbiology, 2018)
Summary In nature, microorganisms are exposed to multiple stress factors in parallel. Here, we investigated the response of the model cyanobacterium Synechocystis sp. PCC 6803 to simultaneous iron limitation and osmotic stresses. Iron is a major limiting factor for bacterial and phytoplankton growth in most environments. Thus, bacterial iron homeostasis is tightly regulated. In Synechocystis , it is mediated mainly by the transcriptional regulator FurA and the i ron‐ s tress a ctivated R NA 1 (IsaR1). IsaR1 is an important riboregulator that affects the acclimation of the photosynthetic apparatus to iron starvation in multiple ways. Upon increases in salinity, Synechocystis responds by accumulating the compatible solute glucosylglycerol (GG). We show that IsaR1 overexpression causes a reduction in the de novo GG synthesis rate upon salt shock. We verified the direct interaction between IsaR1 and the 5′UTR of the ggpS mRNA, which in turn drastically reduced the de novo synthesis of the key enzyme for GG synthesis, g lucosyl g lycerol p hosphate s ynthase (GgpS). Thus, IsaR1 specifically interferes with the salt acclimation process in Synechocystis , in addition to its primary regulatory function. Moreover, the salt‐stimulated GgpS production became reduced under parallel iron limitation in WT – an effect which is, however, attenuated in an isaR1 deletion strain. Hence, IsaR1 is involved in the integration of the responses to different environmental perturbations and slows the osmotic adaptation process in cells suffering from parallel iron starvation.

Bacterial interactions during sequential degradation of cyanobacterial necromass in a sulfidic arctic marine sediment - Albert L. Müller; Claus Pelikan; Julia R. de Rezende; Kenneth Wasmund; Martina Putz; Clemens Glombitza; Kasper U. Kjeldsen; Bo Barker Jørgensen; Alexander Loy (Environmental Microbiology, 2018)
Summary Seafloor microorganisms impact global carbon cycling by mineralizing vast quantities of organic matter (OM) from pelagic primary production, which is predicted to increase in the Arctic because of diminishing sea ice cover. We studied microbial interspecies‐carbon‐flow during anaerobic OM degradation in arctic marine sediment using stable isotope probing. We supplemented sediment incubations with 13 C‐labeled cyanobacterial necromass (spirulina), mimicking fresh OM input, or acetate, an important OM degradation intermediate and monitored sulfate reduction rates and concentrations of volatile fatty acids (VFAs) during substrate degradation. Sequential 16S rRNA gene and transcript amplicon sequencing and fluorescence in situ hybridization combined with Raman microspectroscopy revealed that only few bacterial species were the main degraders of 13 C‐spirulina necromass. Psychrilyobacter, Psychromonas, Marinifilum, Colwellia, Marinilabiaceae and Clostridiales species were likely involved in the primary hydrolysis and fermentation of spirulina. VFAs, mainly acetate, produced from spirulina degradation were mineralized by sulfate‐reducing bacteria and an Arcobacter species. Cellular activity of Desulfobacteraceae and Desulfobulbaceae species during acetoclastic sulfate reduction was largely decoupled from relative 16S rRNA gene abundance shifts. Our findings provide new insights into the identities and physiological constraints that determine the population dynamics of key microorganisms during complex OM degradation in arctic marine sediments.© 2018 Society for Applied Microbiology and John Wiley & Sons Ltd

MRI Verification of a 10–20 Targeting Protocol Used During Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation Sessions for Tinnitus - Sarah M. Theodoroff; Alexander A. Stevens; Garnett McMillan; David R. Pettersson; William Woodward; Robert L. Folmer (Brain Topography, 2018)

Large-Scale Traveling Waves in EEG Activity Following Eye Movement - Marcello Giannini; David M. Alexander; Andrey R. Nikolaev; Cees van Leeuwen (Brain Topography, 2018)

Correction to: Investigation of brain structure in the 1-month infant - Douglas C. Dean; E. M. Planalp; W. Wooten; C. K. Schmidt; S. R. Kecskemeti; C. Frye; N. L. Schmidt; H. H. Goldsmith; A. L. Alexander; R. J. Davidson (Brain Structure and Function, 2018)

Climate Change Impacts on Seagrass Meadows and Macroalgal Forests: An Integrative Perspective on Acclimation and Adaptation Potential - Bernardo Duarte; Irene Martins; Rui Rosa; Ana R. Matos; Michael Y. Roleda; Thorsten B. H. Reusch; Aschwin H. Engelen; Ester A. Serrão; Gareth A. Pearson; João C. Marques; Isabel Caçador; Carlos M. Duarte; et al. (Frontiers in Marine Science, 2018)

Litho-, bio-, and sequence stratigraphy of the Boyle-Portwood Succession (Middle Devonian, Central Kentucky, USA) - Carlton E. Brett; James J. Zambito; Gordon C. Baird; Z. Sarah Aboussalam; R. Thomas Becker; Alexander J. Bartholomew (Palaeobiodiversity and Palaeoenvironments, 2018)

Burly1 is a mouse QTL for lean body mass that maps to a 0.8-Mb region of chromosome 2 - Cailu Lin; Brad D. Fesi; Michael Marquis; Natalia P. Bosak; Anna Lysenko; Mohammed Amin Koshnevisan; Fujiko F. Duke; Maria L. Theodorides; Theodore M. Nelson; Amanda H. McDaniel; Mauricio Avigdor; Charles J. Arayata; et al. (Mammalian Genome, 2018)

Referred cramping phantom hand pain elicited in the face and eliminated by peripheral nerve block - Caroline Dietrich; Sandra Nehrdich; Annette Zimmer; Alexander Ritter; Gunther O. Hofmann; Wolfgang H. R. Miltner; Thomas Weiss (Experimental Brain Research, 2018)

Diffusion MRI-based cortical connectome reconstruction: dependency on tractography procedures and neuroanatomical characteristics - Michel R. T. Sinke; Willem M. Otte; Daan Christiaens; Oliver Schmitt; Alexander Leemans; Annette van der Toorn; R. Angela Sarabdjitsingh; Marian Joëls; Rick M. Dijkhuizen (Brain Structure and Function, 2018)

Interaction of preservation methods and radiation sterilization in human skin processing, with particular insight on the impact of the final water content and collagen disruption. Part I: process validation, water activity and collagen changes in tissues cryopreserved or processed using 50, 85 or 98% glycerol solutions - M. R. Herson; K. Hamilton; J. White; D. Alexander; S. Poniatowski; A. J. O’Connor; J. A. Werkmeister (Cell and Tissue Banking, 2018)

Demography or selection on linked cultural traits or genes? Investigating the driver of low mtDNA diversity in the sperm whale using complementary mitochondrial and nuclear genome analyses - Phillip A. Morin; Andrew D. Foote; Charles Scott Baker; Brittany L. Hancock‐Hanser; Kristin Kaschner; Bruce R. Mate; Sarah L. Mesnick; Victoria L. Pease; Patricia E. Rosel; Alana Alexander (Molecular Ecology, 2018)
Mitochondrial DNA has been heavily utilized in phylogeography studies for several decades. However, underlying patterns of demography and phylogeography may be misrepresented due to coalescence stochasticity, selection, variation in mutation rates and cultural hitchhiking (linkage of genetic variation to culturally‐transmitted traits affecting fitness). Cultural hitchhiking has been suggested as an explanation for low genetic diversity in species with strong social structures, counteracting even high mobility, abundance and limited barriers to dispersal. One such species is the sperm whale, which shows very limited phylogeographic structure and low mtDNA diversity despite a worldwide distribution and large population. Here, we use analyses of 175 globally distributed mitogenomes and three nuclear genomes to evaluate hypotheses of a population bottleneck/expansion vs. a selective sweep due to cultural hitchhiking or selection on mtDNA as the mechanism contributing to low worldwide mitochondrial diversity in sperm whales. In contrast to mtDNA control region (CR) data, mitogenome haplotypes are largely ocean‐specific, with only one of 80 shared between the Atlantic and Pacific. Demographic analyses of nuclear genomes suggest low mtDNA diversity is consistent with a global reduction in population size that ended approximately 125,000 years ago, correlated with the Eemian interglacial. Phylogeographic analysis suggests that extant sperm whales descend from maternal lineages endemic to the Pacific during the period of reduced abundance and have subsequently colonized the Atlantic several times. Results highlight the apparent impact of past climate change, and suggest selection and hitchhiking are not the sole processes responsible for low mtDNA diversity in this highly social species.

Spatio‐temporal November and March snowfall trends in the Lake Michigan region - Craig A. Clark; Bharath Ganesh‐Babu; Travis J. Elless; Anthony W. Lyza; Dana M. Koning; Alexander R. Carne; Holly A. Boney; Amanda M. Sink; Justin M. Barrick (International Journal of Climatology, 2018)
This study has investigated the spatio‐temporal variability of November and March Lake Michigan snowfall for the period 1950–2013. Snowfall characteristics were assessed using time series analysis, geographic information systems, and visualization. Results indicate significant temporal decreases of November and March snowfall, peak inter‐annual variability within the lake‐effect belt, modest concurrent and lagged sensitivity to teleconnection indices, and strong dependence of snowfall on temperature. The decreased snowfall is in contrast to December–February snowfall and associated with a decreasing fraction of November and March precipitation days occurring as snow days, rather than changes in precipitation frequency. The decreasing fraction of precipitation days occurs as snowfall is consistent with synoptic‐scale disturbances producing rain rather than snow and lake‐effect rain falling in lieu of snow.

Heat wave probability in the changing climate of the Southwest US - Kristen Guirguis; Alexander Gershunov; Daniel R. Cayan; David W. Pierce (Climate Dynamics, 2018)

Investigation of brain structure in the 1-month infant - Douglas C. Dean; E. M. Planalp; W. Wooten; C. K. Schmidt; S. R. Kecskemeti; C. Frye; N. L. Schmidt; H. H. Goldsmith; A. L. Alexander; R. J. Davidson (Brain Structure and Function, 2018)

Biofilm formation and potential for iron cycling in serpentinization-influenced groundwater of the Zambales and Coast Range ophiolites - D’Arcy R. Meyer-Dombard; Caitlin P. Casar; Alexander G. Simon; Dawn Cardace; Matthew O. Schrenk; Carlo A. Arcilla (Extremophiles, 2018)

Conservation genomics of desert dwelling California voles (Microtus californicus) and implications for management of endangered Amargosa voles (Microtus californicus scirpensis) - Alexander R. Krohn; Chris J. Conroy; Risa Pesapane; Ke Bi; Janet E. Foley; Erica Bree Rosenblum (Conservation Genetics, 2018)

Rice ecosystem services in South-east Asia - Josef Settele; Kong Luen Heong; Ingolf Kühn; Stefan Klotz; Joachim H. Spangenberg; Gertrudo Arida; Alexis Beaurepaire; Silke Beck; Erwin Bergmeier; Benjamin Burkhard; Roland Brandl; Jesus Victor Bustamante; et al. (Paddy and Water Environment, 2018)

Out of the pot and into the fire: Explaining the vulnerability of an endangered small headwater stream fish to black‐bass Micropterus spp. invasion - B. R. Ellender; O. L. F. Weyl; M. E. Alexander; A. M. Luger; L. A. J. Nagelkerke; D. J. Woodford (Journal of Fish Biology, 2018)
Introduced predatory fishes have had consistently severe consequences for native fishes in stream environments around the world, although the drivers of these effects are often unclear. In the Swartkops River headwaters in South Africa, native Eastern Cape redfin Pseudobarbus afer were always absent from sites occupied by non‐native black basses Micropterus salmoides and Micropterus dolomieu , but generally co‐occurred with the native predators Anguilla marmorata and Anguilla mossambica . A natural experiment provided by flood‐mediated recolonization of black‐bass occupied sites by P. afer demonstrated depletion in black‐bass invaded sites. Field behavioural observations of P. afer indicated that they foraged among benthic cover during the day, but suspended in open water at night. As the nocturnal A. marmorata and A. mossambica foraged actively within structural cover at night and M. dolomieu and M. salmoides are diurnal or crepuscular predators, P .afer is thus optimized to avoid predation by native anguillid predators and not the functionally unique predatory black basses. The integration of distributional, temporal population dynamics and behavioural data suggests that the severe effects of Micropterus spp. are probably a consequence of prey naïveté and behaviour evolved to evade native predators.

Extreme streams: species persistence and genomic change in montane insect populations across a flooding gradient - N. LeRoy Poff; Erin I. Larson; Patricia E. Salerno; Scott G. Morton; Boris C. Kondratieff; Alexander S. Flecker; Kelly R. Zamudio; W. Chris Funk (Ecology Letters, 2018)
The ecological and evolutionary consequences of extreme events are poorly understood. Here, we tested predictions about species persistence and population genomic change in aquatic insects in 14 Colorado mountain streams across a hydrological disturbance gradient caused by a one in 500‐year rainfall event. Taxa persistence ranged from 39 to 77% across sites and declined with increasing disturbance in relation to species' resistance and resilience traits. For taxa with mobile larvae and terrestrial adult stages present at the time of the flood, average persistence was 84% compared to 25% for immobile taxa that lacked terrestrial adults. For two of six species analysed, genomic diversity (allelic richness) declined after the event. For one species it greatly expanded, suggesting resilience via re‐colonisation from upstream populations. Thus, while resistance and resilience traits can explain species persistence to extreme disturbance, population genomic change varies among species, challenging generalisations about evolutionary responses to extreme events at landscape scales.

Estimating the extinction date of the thylacine with mixed certainty data - Colin J. Carlson; Alexander L. Bond; Kevin R. Burgio (Conservation Biology, 2018)
The thylacine ( Thylacinus cynocephalus ), one of Australia's most characteristic megafauna, was the largest marsupial carnivore until hunting, and potentially disease, drove it to extinction in 1936. Although thylacines were restricted to Tasmania for 2 millennia prior to their extinction, recent so‐called plausible sightings on the Cape York Peninsula in northern Queensland have emerged, leading some to speculate the species may have persisted undetected. We compiled a data set that included physical evidence, expert‐validated sightings, and unconfirmed sightings up to the present day and implemented a range of extinction models (focusing on a Bayesian approach that incorporates all 3 types of data by modeling valid and invalid sightings as independent processes) to evaluate the likelihood of the thylacine's persistence. Although the last captive individual died in September 1936, our results suggested that the most likely extinction date would be 1940. Our other extinction models estimated the thylacine's extinction date between 1936 and 1943, and the most optimistic scenario indicated that the species did not persist beyond 1956. The search for the thylacine, much like similar efforts to rediscover other recently extinct charismatic taxa, is likely to be fruitless, especially given that persistence on Tasmania would have been no guarantee the species could reappear in regions that had been unoccupied for millennia. The search for the thylacine may become a rallying point for conservation and wildlife biology and could indirectly help fund and support critical research in understudied areas such as Cape York. However, our results suggest that attempts to rediscover the thylacine will be unsuccessful and that the continued survival of the thylacine is entirely implausible based on most current mathematical theories of extinction.

PARP1 protects from benzo[a]pyrene diol epoxide-induced replication stress and mutagenicity - Jan M. F. Fischer; Tabea Zubel; Kirsten Jander; Jelena Fix; Irmela R. E. A. Trussina; Daniel Gebhard; Jörg Bergemann; Alexander Bürkle; Aswin Mangerich (Archives of Toxicology, 2018)

Increased resource use efficiency amplifies positive response of aquatic primary production to experimental warming - James M. Hood; Jonathan P. Benstead; Wyatt F. Cross; Alexander D. Huryn; Philip W. Johnson; Gísli M. Gíslason; James R. Junker; Daniel Nelson; Jón S. Ólafsson; Chau Tran (Global Change Biology, 2018)
Climate warming is affecting the structure and function of river ecosystems, including their role in transforming and transporting carbon (C), nitrogen (N), and phosphorus (P). Predicting how river ecosystems respond to warming has been hindered by a dearth of information about how otherwise well‐studied physiological responses to temperature scale from organismal to ecosystem levels. We conducted an ecosystem‐level temperature manipulation to quantify how coupling of stream ecosystem metabolism and nutrient uptake responded to a realistic warming scenario. A ~3.3°C increase in mean water temperature altered coupling of C, N, and P fluxes in ways inconsistent with single‐species laboratory experiments. Net primary production tripled during the year of experimental warming, while whole‐stream N and P uptake rates did not change, resulting in 289% and 281% increases in autotrophic dissolved inorganic N and P use efficiency ( UE ), respectively. Increased ecosystem production was a product of unexpectedly large increases in mass‐specific net primary production and autotroph biomass, supported by (i) combined increases in resource availability (via N mineralization and N 2 fixation) and (ii) elevated resource use efficiency, the latter associated with changes in community structure. These large changes in C and nutrient cycling could not have been predicted from the physiological effects of temperature alone. Our experiment provides clear ecosystem‐level evidence that warming can shift the balance between C and nutrient cycling in rivers, demonstrating that warming will alter the important role of in‐stream processes in C, N, and P transformations. Moreover, our results reveal a key role for nutrient supply and use efficiency in mediating responses of primary producers to climate warming.

Relative influences of multiple sources of uncertainty on cumulative and incremental tree-ring-derived aboveground biomass estimates - M. Ross Alexander; Christine R. Rollinson; Flurin Babst; Valerie Trouet; David J. P. Moore (Trees, 2018)

Acetylcholinesterase activity and time after a peak pesticide-use period among Ecuadorian children - Jose Ricardo Suarez-Lopez; Cheyenne R. Butcher; Sheila Gahagan; Harvey Checkoway; Bruce H. Alexander; Wael K. Al-Delaimy (International Archives of Occupational and Environmental Health, 2018)

Pharmacologic ascorbate (P-AscH−) suppresses hypoxia-inducible Factor-1α (HIF-1α) in pancreatic adenocarcinoma - Justin G. Wilkes; Brianne R. O’Leary; Juan Du; Adrienne R. Klinger; Zita A. Sibenaller; Claire M. Doskey; Katherine N. Gibson-Corley; Matthew S. Alexander; Susan Tsai; Garry R. Buettner; Joseph J. Cullen (Clinical & Experimental Metastasis, 2018)

Unexpected phenotypic effects of a transgene integration causing a knockout of the endogenous Contactin-5 gene in mice - Alexander V. Smirnov; Galina V. Kontsevaya; Natalia A. Feofanova; Margarita V. Anisimova; Irina A. Serova; Lyudmila A. Gerlinskaya; Nariman R. Battulin; Mikhail P. Moshkin; Oleg L. Serov (Transgenic Research, 2018)

Brain cortical characteristics of lifetime cognitive ageing - Simon R. Cox; Mark E. Bastin; Stuart J. Ritchie; David Alexander Dickie; Dave C. Liewald; Susana Muñoz Maniega; Paul Redmond; Natalie A. Royle; Alison Pattie; Maria Valdés Hernández; Janie Corley; Benjamin S. Aribisala; et al. (Brain Structure and Function, 2018)

Patterns, biases and prospects in the distribution and diversity of Neotropical snakes - Thaís B. Guedes; Ricardo J. Sawaya; Alexander Zizka; Shawn Laffan; Søren Faurby; R. Alexander Pyron; Renato S. Bérnils; Martin Jansen; Paulo Passos; Ana L. C. Prudente; Diego F. Cisneros‐Heredia; Henrique B. Braz; et al. (Global Ecology and Biogeography, 2018)
Motivation We generated a novel database of Neotropical snakes (one of the world's richest herpetofauna) combining the most comprehensive, manually compiled distribution dataset with publicly available data. We assess, for the first time, the diversity patterns for all Neotropical snakes as well as sampling density and sampling biases. Main types of variables contained We compiled three databases of species occurrences: a dataset downloaded from the Global Biodiversity Information Facility (GBIF), a verified dataset built through taxonomic work and specialized literature, and a combined dataset comprising a cleaned version of the GBIF dataset merged with the verified dataset. Spatial location and grain Neotropics, Behrmann projection equivalent to 1° × 1°. Time period Specimens housed in museums during the last 150 years. Major taxa studied Squamata: Serpentes. Software format Geographical information system (GIS). Results The combined dataset provides the most comprehensive distribution database for Neotropical snakes to date. It contains 147,515 records for 886 species across 12 families, representing 74% of all species of snakes, spanning 27 countries in the Americas. Species richness and phylogenetic diversity show overall similar patterns. Amazonia is the least sampled Neotropical region, whereas most well‐sampled sites are located near large universities and scientific collections. We provide a list and updated maps of geographical distribution of all snake species surveyed. Main conclusions The biodiversity metrics of Neotropical snakes reflect patterns previously documented for other vertebrates, suggesting that similar factors may determine the diversity of both ectothermic and endothermic animals. We suggest conservation strategies for high‐diversity areas and sampling efforts be directed towards Amazonia and poorly known species.

Chaenothecopsis schefflerae (Ascomycota: Mycocaliciales): a widespread fungus on semi‐hardened exudates of endemic New Zealand Araliaceae - Christina Beimforde; Hanna Tuovila; Alexander R. Schmidt; William G. Lee; Matthias Gube; Jouko Rikkinen (New Zealand Journal of Botany, 2017)
Ascomycetes specialised to live on hardened plant exudates occur worldwide, but the number of species so far described is relatively small (c.30). Particularly within the genus Chaenothecopsis (Ascomycota: Mycocaliciales), many species produce their ascomata on hardened but still relatively fresh outpourings of conifer resin or angiosperm exudate. Temperate rainforests of New Zealand provide habitat for several endemic Chaenothecopsis species, including Chaenothecopsis schefflerae , which was previously known from a single sample collected from the exudate of Schefflera digitata (Araliaceae) in the early 1980s. Here we show that C. schefflerae is neither lost nor very rare, but occurs sporadically throughout New Zealand. The fungus does not primarily grow on Schefflera but on exudate of several species of Pseudopanax (Araliaceae), also endemic to the region. We compare the morphology of the new specimens to the type specimen of C. schefflerae and provide a detailed description of the new material. Phylogenetic analyses based on nuclear ITS and LSU rDNA place C. schefflerae together with other morphologically similar Chaenothecopsis species growing on angiosperm exudates.

Biogeography of mutualistic fungi cultivated by leafcutter ants - Ulrich G. Mueller; Heather D. Ishak; Sofia M. Bruschi; Chad C. Smith; Jacob J. Herman; Scott E. Solomon; Alexander S. Mikheyev; Christian Rabeling; Jarrod J. Scott; Michael Cooper; Andre Rodrigues; Adriana Ortiz; et al. (Molecular Ecology, 2017)
Leafcutter ants propagate co‐evolving fungi for food. The nearly 50 species of leafcutter ants ( Atta , Acromyrmex ) range from Argentina to the United States, with the greatest species diversity in southern South America. We elucidate the biogeography of fungi cultivated by leafcutter ants using DNA sequence and microsatellite‐marker analyses of 474 cultivars collected across the leafcutter range. Fungal cultivars belong to two clades (Clade‐A and Clade‐B). The dominant and widespread Clade‐A cultivars form three genotype clusters, with their relative prevalence corresponding to southern South America, northern South America, Central and North America. Admixture between Clade‐A populations supports genetic exchange within a single species, Leucocoprinus gongylophorus . Some leafcutter species that cut grass as fungicultural substrate are specialized to cultivate Clade‐B fungi, whereas leafcutters preferring dicot plants appear specialized on Clade‐A fungi. Cultivar sharing between sympatric leafcutter species occurs frequently such that cultivars of Atta are not distinct from those of Acromyrmex . Leafcutters specialized on Clade‐B fungi occur only in South America. Diversity of Clade‐A fungi is greatest in South America, but minimal in Central and North America. Maximum cultivar diversity in South America is predicted by the Kusnezov–Fowler hypothesis that leafcutter ants originated in subtropical South America and only dicot‐specialized leafcutter ants migrated out of South America, but the cultivar diversity becomes also compatible with a recently proposed hypothesis of a Central American origin by postulating that leafcutter ants acquired novel cultivars many times from other nonleafcutter fungus‐growing ants during their migrations from Central America across South America. We evaluate these biogeographic hypotheses in the light of estimated dates for the origins of leafcutter ants and their cultivars.

Assessing trait‐based scaling theory in tropical forests spanning a broad temperature gradient - Brian J. Enquist; Lisa Patrick Bentley; Alexander Shenkin; Brian Maitner; Van Savage; Sean Michaletz; Benjamin Blonder; Vanessa Buzzard; Tatiana Erika Boza Espinoza; William Farfan‐Rios; Christopher E. Doughty; Gregory R. Goldsmith; et al. (Global Ecology and Biogeography, 2017)
Aim Tropical elevation gradients are natural laboratories to assess how changing climate can influence tropical forests. However, there is a need for theory and integrated data collection to scale from traits to ecosystems. We assess predictions of a novel trait‐based scaling theory, including whether observed shifts in forest traits across a broad tropical temperature gradient are consistent with local phenotypic optima and adaptive compensation for temperature. Location An elevation gradient spanning 3,300 m and consisting of thousands of tropical tree trait measures taken from 16 1‐ha tropical forest plots in southern Perú, where gross and net primary productivity (GPP and NPP) were measured. Time period April to November 2013. Major taxa studied Plants; tropical trees. Methods We developed theory to scale from traits to communities and ecosystems and tested several predictions. We assessed the covariation between climate, traits, biomass and GPP and NPP. We measured multiple traits linked to variation in tree growth and assessed their frequency distributions within and across the elevation gradient. We paired these trait measures across individuals within 16 forests with simultaneous measures of ecosystem net and gross primary productivity. Results Consistent with theory, variation in forest NPP and GPP primarily scaled with forest biomass, but the secondary effect of temperature on productivity was much less than expected. This weak temperature dependence appears to reflect directional shifts in several mean community traits that underlie tree growth with decreases in site temperature. Main conclusions The observed shift in traits of trees that dominate in more cold environments is consistent with an ‘adaptive/acclimatory’ compensation for the kinetic effects of temperature on leaf photosynthesis and tree growth. Forest trait distributions across the gradient showed overly peaked and skewed distributions, consistent with the importance of local filtering of optimal growth traits and recent shifts in species composition and dominance attributable to warming from climate change. Trait‐based scaling theory provides a basis to predict how shifts in climate have and will influence the trait composition and ecosystem functioning of tropical forests.

Drivers of nitrogen transfer in stream food webs across continents - Beth C. Norman; Matt R. Whiles; Sarah M. Collins; Alexander S. Flecker; Steve K. Hamilton; Sherri L. Johnson; Emma J. Rosi; Linda R. Ashkenas; William B. Bowden; Chelsea L. Crenshaw; Todd Crowl; Walter K. Dodds; et al. (Ecology, 2017)
Studies of trophic‐level material and energy transfers are central to ecology. The use of isotopic tracers has now made it possible to measure trophic transfer efficiencies of important nutrients and to better understand how these materials move through food webs. We analyzed data from thirteen 15 N‐ammonium tracer addition experiments to quantify N transfer from basal resources to animals in headwater streams with varying physical, chemical, and biological features. N transfer efficiencies from primary uptake compartments (PUCs; heterotrophic microorganisms and primary producers) to primary consumers was lower (mean 11.5%, range 100%). Total N transferred (as a rate) was greater in streams with open compared to closed canopies and overall N transfer efficiency generally followed a similar pattern, although was not statistically significant. We used principal component analysis to condense a suite of site characteristics into two environmental components. Total N uptake rates among trophic levels were best predicted by the component that was correlated with latitude, DIN:SRP, GPP:ER, and percent canopy cover. N transfer efficiency did not respond consistently to environmental variables. Our results suggest that canopy cover influences N movement through stream food webs because light availability and primary production facilitate N transfer to higher trophic levels.

Erratum to: A multi-stage genome-wide association study of uterine fibroids in African Americans - Jacklyn N. Hellwege; Janina M. Jeff; Lauren A. Wise; C. Scott Gallagher; Melissa Wellons; Katherine E. Hartmann; Sarah F. Jones; Eric S. Torstenson; Scott Dickinson; Edward A. Ruiz-Narváez; Nadin Rohland; Alexander Allen; et al. (Human Genetics, 2017)

Risk and protective factors for structural brain ageing in the eighth decade of life - Stuart J. Ritchie; Elliot M. Tucker-Drob; Simon R. Cox; David Alexander Dickie; Maria del C. Valdés Hernández; Janie Corley; Natalie A. Royle; Paul Redmond; Susana Muñoz Maniega; Alison Pattie; Benjamin S. Aribisala; Adele M. Taylor; et al. (Brain Structure and Function, 2017)

Spittlebugs (Hemiptera: Cercopidae) and their host plants: a strategy for pasture diversification - R. Alvarenga; Alexander M. Auad; Jair C. Moraes; Sandra E. B. Silva; Brunno S. Rodrigues; Giani B. Silva (Applied Entomology and Zoology, 2017)

Effect of auxin producing and phosphate solubilizing bacteria on mobility of soil phosphorus, growth rate, and P acquisition by wheat plants - Guzel R. Kudoyarova; Lidiya B. Vysotskaya; Tatiana N. Arkhipova; Ludmila Yu. Kuzmina; Nailya F. Galimsyanova; Ludmila V. Sidorova; Ilusa M. Gabbasova; Alexander I. Melentiev; Stanislav Yu. Veselov (Acta Physiologiae Plantarum, 2017)

Allocation, not male resistance, increases male frequency during epidemics: a case study in facultatively sexual hosts - Jessica L. Hite; Rachel M. Penczykowski; Marta S. Shocket; Katherine A. Griebel; Alexander T. Strauss; Meghan A. Duffy; Carla E. Cáceres; Spencer R. Hall (Ecology, 2017)
Why do natural populations vary in the frequency of sexual reproduction? Virulent parasites may help explain why sex is favored during disease epidemics. To illustrate, we show a higher frequency of males and sexually produced offspring in natural populations of a facultative parthenogenetic host during fungal epidemics. In a multi‐year survey of 32 lakes, the frequency of males (an index of sex) was higher in populations of zooplankton hosts with larger epidemics. A lake mesocosm experiment established causality: experimental epidemics produced a higher frequency of males relative to disease‐free controls. One common explanation for such a pattern involves Red Queen ( RQ ) dynamics. However, this particular system lacks key genetic specificity mechanisms required for the RQ , so we evaluated two other hypotheses. First, individual females, when stressed by infection, could increase production of male offspring vs. female offspring (a tenant of the “Abandon Ship” theory). Data from a life table experiment supports this mechanism. Second, higher male frequency during epidemics could reflect a purely demographic process (illustrated with a demographic model): males could resist infection more than females (via size‐based differences in resistance and mortality). However, we found no support for this resistance mechanism. A size‐based model of resistance, parameterized with data, revealed why: higher male susceptibility negated the lower exposure (a size‐based advantage) of males. These results suggest that parasite‐mediated increases in allocation to sex by individual females, rather than male resistance, increased the frequency of sex during larger disease epidemics.

The missing half of the subduction factory: shipboard results from the Izu rear arc, IODP Expedition 350 - Cathy J. Busby; Yoshihiko Tamura; Peter Blum; Gilles Guèrin; Graham D. M. Andrews; Abigail K. Barker; Julien L. R. Berger; Everton M. Bongiolo; Manuela Bordiga; Susan M. DeBari; James B. Gill; Cedric Hamelin; et al. (International Geology Review, 2017)

Bimetallic blends and chitosan nanocomposites: novel antifungal agents against cotton seedling damping-off - Kamel A. Abd-Elsalam; Alexander Yu. Vasil’kov; Ernest E. Said-Galiev; Margarita S. Rubina; Alexei R. Khokhlov; Alexander V. Naumkin; Eleonora V. Shtykova; Mousa A. Alghuthaymi (European Journal of Plant Pathology, 2017)

‘MN1606SP’ by ‘Spencer’ filial soybean population reveals novel quantitative trait loci and interactions among loci conditioning SDS resistance - Alexander S. Luckew; Sivakumar Swaminathan; Leonor F. Leandro; James H. Orf; Silvia R. Cianzio (Theoretical and Applied Genetics, 2017)

A multi-stage genome-wide association study of uterine fibroids in African Americans - Jacklyn N. Hellwege; Janina M. Jeff; Lauren A. Wise; C. Scott Gallagher; Melissa Wellons; Katherine E. Hartmann; Sarah F. Jones; Eric S. Torstenson; Scott Dickinson; Edward A. Ruiz-Narváez; Nadin Rohland; Alexander Allen; et al. (Human Genetics, 2017)
Uterine fibroids are benign tumors of the uterus affecting up to 77% of women by menopause. They are the leading indication for hysterectomy, and account for $34 billion annually in the United States. Race/ethnicity and age are the strongest known risk factors. African American (AA) women have higher prevalence, earlier onset, and larger and more numerous fibroids than European American women. We conducted a multi-stage genome-wide association study (GWAS) of fibroid risk among AA women followed by in silico genetically predicted gene expression profiling of top hits. In Stage 1, cases and controls were confirmed by pelvic imaging, genotyped and imputed to 1000 Genomes. Stage 2 used self-reported fibroid and GWAS data from 23andMe, Inc. and the Black Women’s Health Study. Associations with fibroid risk were modeled using logistic regression adjusted for principal components, followed by meta-analysis of results. We observed a significant association among 3399 AA cases and 4764 AA controls at rs739187 (risk-allele frequency = 0.27) in CYTH4 (OR (95% confidence interval) = 1.23 (1.16–1.30), p value = 7.82 × 10 −9 ). Evaluation of the genetic association results with MetaXcan identified lower predicted gene expression of CYTH4 in thyroid tissue as significantly associated with fibroid risk ( p value = 5.86 × 10 −8 ). In this first multi-stage GWAS for fibroids among AA women, we identified a novel risk locus for fibroids within CYTH4 that impacts gene expression in thyroid and has potential biological relevance for fibroids.

Tissue-specific transcription of the neuronal gene Lim3 affects Drosophila melanogaster lifespan and locomotion - Olga Y. Rybina; Svetlana V. Sarantseva; Ekaterina R. Veselkina; Olga I. Bolschakova; Alexander V. Symonenko; Anna V. Krementsova; Elena V. Ryabova; Natalia V. Roshina; Elena G. Pasyukova (Biogerontology, 2017)

Association of Potato Psyllid (Bactericera cockerelli; Hemiptera: Triozidae) with Lycium spp. (Solanaceae) in Potato Growing Regions of Washington, Idaho, and Oregon - Jenita Thinakaran; David R. Horton; W. Rodney Cooper; Andrew S. Jensen; Carrie H. Wohleb; Jennifer Dahan; Tariq Mustafa; Alexander V. Karasev; Joseph E. Munyaneza (American Journal of Potato Research, 2017)

Genomic variation across two barn swallow hybrid zones reveals traits associated with divergence in sympatry and allopatry - Elizabeth S. C. Scordato; Matthew R. Wilkins; Georgy Semenov; Alexander S. Rubtsov; Nolan C. Kane; Rebecca J. Safran (Molecular Ecology, 2017)
Hybrid zones are geographic regions where isolating barriers between divergent populations are challenged by admixture. Identifying factors that facilitate or inhibit hybridization in sympatry can illuminate the processes that maintain those reproductive barriers. We analysed patterns of hybridization and phenotypic variation across two newly discovered hybrid zones between three subspecies of barn swallow ( Hirundo rustica ). These subspecies differ in ventral coloration and wing length, traits that are targets of sexual and natural selection, respectively, and are associated with genome‐wide differentiation in allopatry. We tested the hypothesis that the degree of divergence in these traits is associated with the extent of hybridization in secondary contact. We applied measures of population structure based on >23,000 SNP s to confirm that named subspecies correspond to distinct genomic clusters, and assessed coincidence between geographic clines for ancestry and phenotype. Although gene flow was ongoing across both hybrid zones and pairwise F ST between subspecies was extremely low, we found striking differences in the extent of hybridization. In the more phenotypically differentiated subspecies pair, clines for ancestry, wing length and ventral coloration were steep and coincident, suggestive of strong isolation and, potentially, selection associated with phenotype. In the less phenotypically differentiated pair, gene flow and phenotypic variation occurred over a wide geographic span, indicative of weaker isolation. Traits associated with genome‐wide differentiation in allopatry may thus also contribute to isolation in sympatry. We discuss potentially important additional roles for evolutionary history and ecology in shaping variation in the extent hybridization between closely related pairs of subspecies.

Data quality problems undermine analyses of endotherm upper critical temperatures - Andrew E. McKechnie; Brittney H. Coe; Alexander R. Gerson; Blair O. Wolf (Journal of Biogeography, 2017)
In an analysis of avian and mammalian thermal tolerances recently published in this journal, Khaliq et al . ( ) reported that endotherm thermal niches are phylogenetically conserved in tropical, but not temperate, regions. However, closer examination of the data upon which this analysis was based reveals that many of the upper critical temperature (UCT) data are not valid. Approximately 55% and 42% of avian and mammalian UCT data, respectively, originated from studies in which animals were not exposed to air temperatures high enough to elicit an increase in metabolic rate above minimum levels; the cited UCT values are merely the highest air temperatures at which measurements took place. An additional 18% and 25% of avian and mammalian UCT data, respectively, represent values based on just one individual per species and/or measurements at too few air temperatures above the thermoneutral zone (TNZ) to reliably estimate the UCT.

Impacts of Antarctic fast dynamics on sea-level projections and coastal flood defense - Tony E. Wong; Alexander M. R. Bakker; Klaus Keller (Climatic Change, 2017)

CpG oligonucleotide-mediated co-stimulation of mouse invariant natural killer T cells negatively regulates their activation status - Raveendra R. Kulkarni; Alexander Ian Villanueva; Leah R. Read; Jennifer T. Brisbin; Siddhartha Kumar Bhaumik; Jonathan LaMarre; Kaja Murali-Krishna; Shayan Sharif (Cell and Tissue Research, 2017)

The Significant Surface-Water Connectivity of “Geographically Isolated Wetlands” - Aram J. K. Calhoun; David M. Mushet; Laurie C. Alexander; Edward S. DeKeyser; Laurie Fowler; Charles R. Lane; Megan W. Lang; Mark C. Rains; Stephen C. Richter; Susan C. Walls (Wetlands, 2017)

Preclinical Development of a Prophylactic Neuroprotective Therapy for the Preventive Treatment of Anticipated Ischemia-Reperfusion Injury - Frances Rena Bahjat; G. Alexander West; Steven G. Kohama; Christine Glynn; Henryk F. Urbanski; Theodore R. Hobbs; Eric Earl; Susan L. Stevens; Mary P. Stenzel-Poore (Translational Stroke Research, 2017)

A globally deployable strategy for co-development of adaptation preferences to sea-level rise: the public participation case of Santos, Brazil - Jose A. Marengo; Luci H. Nunes; Celia R. G. Souza; Joseph Harari; Frank Muller-Karger; Roberto Greco; Eduardo K. Hosokawa; Ernesto K. Tabuchi; Samuel B. Merrill; Catherine J. Reynolds; Mark Pelling; Lincoln M. Alves; et al. (Natural Hazards, 2017)

Contrasting definitions for the term ‘karst aquifer’ - Stephen R. H. Worthington; Pierre-Yves Jeannin; E. Calvin Alexander; Gareth J. Davies; Geary M. Schindel (Hydrogeology Journal, 2017)

Health risk assessment of potentially harmful elements and dietary minerals from vegetables irrigated with untreated wastewater, Pakistan - Munir H. Zia; Michael J. Watts; Abid Niaz; Daniel R. S. Middleton; Alexander. W. Kim (Environmental Geochemistry and Health, 2017)

9-Phenanthrol modulates postinhibitory rebound and afterhyperpolarizing potentials in an excitatory motor neuron of the medicinal leech - James D. Angstadt; Joshua R. Giordano; Alexander J. Goncalves (Journal of Comparative Physiology A, 2017)

Sedimentary processes and products in a mesotidal salt marsh environment: insights from Groves Creek, Georgia - C. R. Alexander; J. Y. S. Hodgson; J. A. Brandes (Geo-Marine Letters, 2017)

Parasitaxus parasitized: novel infestation of Parasitaxus usta (Podocarpaceae) - Leyla J. Seyfullah; Christina Beimforde; Vincent Perrichot; Jouko Rikkinen; Alexander R. Schmidt (Arthropod-Plant Interactions, 2017)

Resin exudation and resinicolous communities on Araucaria humboldtensis in New Caledonia - Christina Beimforde; Leyla J. Seyfullah; Vincent Perrichot; Kerstin Schmidt; Jouko Rikkinen; Alexander R. Schmidt (Arthropod-Plant Interactions, 2017)

Complete nucleotide sequence and annotation of the temperate corynephage ϕ16 genome - Juliya S. Lobanova; Evgueni R. Gak; Irina G. Andreeva; Konstantin V. Rybak; Alexander A. Krylov; Sergey V. Mashko (Archives of Virology, 2017)

Changes to taxonomy and the International Code of Virus Classification and Nomenclature ratified by the International Committee on Taxonomy of Viruses (2017) - Michael J. Adams; Elliot J. Lefkowitz; Andrew M. Q. King; Balázs Harrach; Robert L. Harrison; Nick J. Knowles; Andrew M. Kropinski; Mart Krupovic; Jens H. Kuhn; Arcady R. Mushegian; Max Nibert; Sead Sabanadzovic; et al. (Archives of Virology, 2017)

Taxonomy of the order Mononegavirales: update 2017 - Gaya K. Amarasinghe; Yīmíng Bào; Christopher F. Basler; Sina Bavari; Martin Beer; Nicolás Bejerman; Kim R. Blasdell; Alisa Bochnowski; Thomas Briese; Alexander Bukreyev; Charles H. Calisher; Kartik Chandran; et al. (Archives of Virology, 2017)

Human disturbance amplifies Amazonian El Niño–Southern Oscillation signal - Mark B. Bush; Alexander Correa‐Metrio; Robert van Woesik; Courtney R. Shadik; Crystal N. H. McMichael (Global Change Biology, 2017)
The long‐term interaction between human activity and climate is subject to increasing scrutiny. Humans homogenize landscapes through deforestation, agriculture, and burning and thereby might reduce the capacity of landscapes to provide archives of climate change. Alternatively, land‐use change might overwhelm natural buffering and amplify latent climate signals, rendering them detectable. Here we examine a sub‐annually resolved sedimentary record from Lake Sauce in the western Amazonian lowlands that spans 6900 years. Finely‐laminated sediments were deposited from ca. 5000 years ago until the present, and human activity in the watershed was revealed through the presence of charcoal and maize agriculture. The laminations, analyzed for color content and bandwidth, showed distinctive changes that were coupled to more frequent occurrence of fossil maize pollen. As agricultural activity intensified ca. 2200 cal. BP , the 2‐ to 8‐year periodicity characteristic of El Niño–Southern Oscillation became evident in the record. These agricultural activities appeared to have amplified an existing, but subtle climatic signal that was previously absorbed by natural vegetation. When agricultural activity slowed, or land use around Lake Sauce changed at ca. 800 cal. BP , the signal of El Niño–Southern Oscillation ( ENSO ) activity became erratic.

Tissue distribution and elimination of deoxynivalenol and ochratoxin A in dietary-exposed Atlantic salmon ( Salmo salar ) - Aksel Bernhoft; Helga R. Høgåsen; Grethe Rosenlund; Lada Ivanova; Marc H. G. Berntssen; Jan Alexander; Gunnar Sundstøl Eriksen; Christiane Kruse Fæste (Food Additives & Contaminants: Part A, 2017)

Engaging rural communities in genetic research: challenges and opportunities - Caress Dean; Amanda J. Fogleman; Whitney E. Zahnd; Alexander E. Lipka; Ripan Singh Malhi; Kristin R. Delfino; Wiley D. Jenkins (Journal of Community Genetics, 2017)

Mapping of the Asian longhorned beetle’s time to maturity and risk to invasion at contiguous United States extent - Alexander P. Kappel; R. Talbot Trotter; Melody A. Keena; John Rogan; Christopher A. Williams (Biological Invasions, 2017)

Experimental whole‐stream warming alters community size structure - Daniel Nelson; Jonathan P. Benstead; Alexander D. Huryn; Wyatt F. Cross; James M. Hood; Philip W. Johnson; James R. Junker; Gísli M. Gíslason; Jón S. Ólafsson (Global Change Biology, 2017)
How ecological communities respond to predicted increases in temperature will determine the extent to which Earth's biodiversity and ecosystem functioning can be maintained into a warmer future. Warming is predicted to alter the structure of natural communities, but robust tests of such predictions require appropriate large‐scale manipulations of intact, natural habitat that is open to dispersal processes via exchange with regional species pools. Here, we report results of a two‐year whole‐stream warming experiment that shifted invertebrate assemblage structure via unanticipated mechanisms, while still conforming to community‐level metabolic theory. While warming by 3.8 °C decreased invertebrate abundance in the experimental stream by 60% relative to a reference stream, total invertebrate biomass was unchanged. Associated shifts in invertebrate assemblage structure were driven by the arrival of new taxa and a higher proportion of large, warm‐adapted species (i.e., snails and predatory dipterans) relative to small‐bodied, cold‐adapted taxa (e.g., chironomids and oligochaetes). Experimental warming consequently shifted assemblage size spectra in ways that were unexpected, but consistent with thermal optima of taxa in the regional species pool. Higher temperatures increased community‐level energy demand, which was presumably satisfied by higher primary production after warming. Our experiment demonstrates how warming reassembles communities within the constraints of energy supply via regional exchange of species that differ in thermal physiological traits. Similar responses will likely mediate impacts of anthropogenic warming on biodiversity and ecosystem function across all ecological communities.

Shifts in community size structure drive temperature invariance of secondary production in a stream‐warming experiment - Daniel Nelson; Jonathan P. Benstead; Alexander D. Huryn; Wyatt F. Cross; James M. Hood; Philip W. Johnson; James R. Junker; Gísli M. Gíslason; Jón S. Ólafsson (Ecology, 2017)
A central question at the interface of food‐web and climate change research is how secondary production, or the formation of heterotroph biomass over time, will respond to rising temperatures. The metabolic theory of ecology ( MTE ) hypothesizes the temperature‐invariance of secondary production, driven by matched and opposed forces that reduce biomass of heterotrophs while increasing their biomass turnover rate (production : biomass, or P : B ) with warming. To test this prediction at the whole community level, we used a geothermal heat exchanger to experimentally warm a stream in southwest Iceland by 3.8°C for two years. We quantified invertebrate community biomass, production, and P : B in the experimental stream and a reference stream for one year prior to warming and two years during warming. As predicted, warming had a neutral effect on community production, but this result was not driven by opposing effects on community biomass and P : B . Instead, warming had a positive effect on both the biomass and production of larger‐bodied, slower‐growing taxa (e.g., larval black flies, dipteran predators, snails) and a negative effect on small‐bodied taxa with relatively high growth rates (e.g., ostracods, larval chironomids). We attribute these divergent responses to differences in thermal preference between small‐ vs. large‐bodied taxa. Although metabolic demand vs. resource supply must ultimately constrain community production, our results highlight the potential for idiosyncratic community responses to warming, driven by variation in thermal preference and body size within regional species pools.

Patterns and drivers for wetland connections in the Prairie Pothole Region, United States - Melanie K. Vanderhoof; Jay R. Christensen; Laurie C. Alexander (Wetlands Ecology and Management, 2017)

Harnessing the Potential of Human Pluripotent Stem Cells and Gene Editing for the Treatment of Retinal Degeneration - Patrick Ovando-Roche; Anastasios Georgiadis; Alexander J. Smith; Rachael A. Pearson; Robin R. Ali (Current Stem Cell Reports, 2017)

Synthesis and in vitro cytotoxicity evaluation of some N-substituted α-amino acid derivatives containing a hexahydropyrimidine moiety - Dilara R. Latypova; Alexander G. Badamshin; Natalya N. Gibadullina; Nailya S. Khusnutdinova; Liana F. Zainullina; Yulia V. Vakhitova; Yury V. Tomilov; Vladimir A. Dokichev (Medicinal Chemistry Research, 2017)

NHA2 is expressed in distal nephron and regulated by dietary sodium - Kalyan C. Kondapalli; R. Todd Alexander; Jennifer L Pluznick; Rajini Rao (Journal of Physiology and Biochemistry, 2017)

The Cognitive Role of the Globus Pallidus interna; Insights from Disease States - M. J. Gillies; J. A. Hyam; A. R. Weiss; C. A. Antoniades; R. Bogacz; J. J. Fitzgerald; T. Z. Aziz; M. A. Whittington; Alexander L. Green (Experimental Brain Research, 2017)

Eye movements show similar adaptations in temporal coordination to movement planning conditions in both people with and without cerebral palsy - Alexander R. Payne; Beryl Plimmer; Andrew McDaid; T. Claire Davies (Experimental Brain Research, 2017)

50 years of the International Committee on Taxonomy of Viruses: progress and prospects - Michael J. Adams; Elliot J. Lefkowitz; Andrew M. Q. King; Balázs Harrach; Robert L. Harrison; Nick J. Knowles; Andrew M. Kropinski; Mart Krupovic; Jens H. Kuhn; Arcady R. Mushegian; Max L. Nibert; Sead Sabanadzovic; et al. (Archives of Virology, 2017)

A global database of nitrogen and phosphorus excretion rates of aquatic animals - Michael J. Vanni; Peter B. McIntyre; Dennis Allen; Diane L. Arnott; Jonathan P. Benstead; David J. Berg; Åge Brabrand; Sébastien Brosse; Paul A. Bukaveckas; Adriano Caliman; Krista A. Capps; Luciana S. Carneiro; et al. (Ecology, 2017)
Animals can be important in modulating ecosystem‐level nutrient cycling, although their importance varies greatly among species and ecosystems. Nutrient cycling rates of individual animals represent valuable data for testing the predictions of important frameworks such as the Metabolic Theory of Ecology ( MTE ) and ecological stoichiometry ( ES ). They also represent an important set of functional traits that may reflect both environmental and phylogenetic influences. Over the past two decades, studies of animal‐mediated nutrient cycling have increased dramatically, especially in aquatic ecosystems. Here we present a global compilation of aquatic animal nutrient excretion rates. The dataset includes 10,534 observations from freshwater and marine animals of N and/or P excretion rates. These observations represent 491 species, including most aquatic phyla. Coverage varies greatly among phyla and other taxonomic levels. The dataset includes information on animal body size, ambient temperature, taxonomic affiliations, and animal body N:P. This data set was used to test predictions of MTE and ES , as described in Vanni and McIntyre (2016; Ecology DOI : 10.1002/ecy.1582 ).

Predicting trait‐environment relationships for venation networks along an Andes‐Amazon elevation gradient - Benjamin Blonder; Norma Salinas; Lisa Patrick Bentley; Alexander Shenkin; Percy O. Chambi Porroa; Yolvi Valdez Tejeira; Cyrille Violle; Nikolaos M. Fyllas; Gregory R. Goldsmith; Roberta E. Martin; Gregory P. Asner; Sandra Díaz; et al. (Ecology, 2017)
Understanding functional trait‐environment relationships ( TER s) may improve predictions of community assembly. However, many empirical TER s have been weak or lacking conceptual foundation. TER s based on leaf venation networks may better link individuals and communities via hydraulic constraints. We report measurements of vein density, vein radius, and leaf thickness for more than 100 dominant species occurring in ten forest communities spanning a 3,300 m Andes‐Amazon elevation gradient in Peru. We use these data to measure the strength of TER s at community scale and to determine whether observed TER s are similar to those predicted by physiological theory. We found strong support for TER s between all traits and temperature, as well weaker support for a predicted TER between maximum abundance‐weighted leaf transpiration rate and maximum potential evapotranspiration. These results provide one approach for developing a more mechanistic trait‐based community assembly theory.

Early life-history processes and their implications for the invasion of the barnacle Balanus glandula - Tamara B. Robinson; Haley R. Pope; Mhairi E. Alexander (Marine Biology Research, 2017)

Rhizopalmoxylon nypoides – a new palm root from the Deccan Intertrappean beds of Sagar, Madhya Pradesh, India - P K Kathal; Rashmi Srivastava; R C Mehrotra; P O Alexander (Journal of Earth System Science, 2017)

Cooperativity of myosin interaction with thin filaments is enhanced by stabilizing substitutions in tropomyosin - Daniil V. Shchepkin; Salavat R. Nabiev; Galina V. Kopylova; Alexander M. Matyushenko; Dmitrii I. Levitsky; Sergey Y. Bershitsky; Andrey K. Tsaturyan (Journal of Muscle Research and Cell Motility, 2017)

Conditioned Medium Derived from Neural Progenitor Cells Induces Long-term Post-ischemic Neuroprotection, Sustained Neurological Recovery, Neurogenesis, and Angiogenesis - Thorsten R. Doeppner; Viktorija Traut; Alexander Heidenreich; Britta Kaltwasser; Bert Bosche; Mathias Bähr; Dirk M. Hermann (Molecular Neurobiology, 2017)

Potential emigration of Siberian cattle germplasm on Chirikof Island, Alaska - M. D. MACNEIL; L. J. ALEXANDER; J. KANTANEN; I. A. AMMOSOV; Z. I. IVANOVA; R. G. POPOV; M. OZEROV; A. MILLBROOKE; M. A. CRONIN (Journal of Genetics, 2017)

Mesophotic Coral Ecosystems: A Geoacoustically Derived Proxy for Habitat and Relative Diversity for the Leeward Shelf of Bonaire, Dutch Caribbean - Arthur C. Trembanis; Alexander L. Forrest; Bryan M. Keller; Mark R. Patterson (Frontiers in Marine Science, 2017)

Denial of long‐term issues with agriculture on tropical peatlands will have devastating consequences - Lahiru S. Wijedasa; Jyrki Jauhiainen; Mari Könönen; Maija Lampela; Harri Vasander; Marie‐Claire Leblanc; Stephanie Evers; Thomas E. L. Smith; Catherine M. Yule; Helena Varkkey; Massimo Lupascu; Faizal Parish; et al. (Global Change Biology, 2017)

Valuing increased zinc (Zn) fertiliser-use in Pakistan - Edward J. M. Joy; Waqar Ahmad; Munir H. Zia; Diriba B. Kumssa; Scott D. Young; E. Louise Ander; Michael J. Watts; Alexander J. Stein; Martin R. Broadley (Plant and Soil, 2017)

Sources and implications of deep uncertainties surrounding sea-level projections - Alexander M. R. Bakker; Domitille Louchard; Klaus Keller (Climatic Change, 2017)

The effects of time-varying observation errors on semi-empirical sea-level projections - Kelsey L. Ruckert; Yawen Guan; Alexander M. R. Bakker; Chris E. Forest; Klaus Keller (Climatic Change, 2017)

AVP dynamically increases paracellular Na+ permeability and transcellular NaCl transport in the medullary thick ascending limb of Henle’s loop - Nina Himmerkus; Allein Plain; Rita D. Marques; Svenja R. Sonntag; Alexander Paliege; Jens Leipziger; Markus Bleich (Pflügers Archiv - European Journal of Physiology, 2017)

Connectivity between the central nucleus of the amygdala and the bed nucleus of the stria terminalis in the non-human primate: neuronal tract tracing and developmental neuroimaging studies - Jonathan A. Oler; Do P. M. Tromp; Andrew S. Fox; Rothem Kovner; Richard J. Davidson; Andrew L. Alexander; Daniel R. McFarlin; Rasmus M. Birn; Benjamin E. Berg; Danielle M. deCampo; Ned H. Kalin; Julie L. Fudge (Brain Structure and Function, 2017)

Genetic structure of the beaked whale genus Berardius in the North Pacific, with genetic evidence for a new species - Phillip A. Morin; C. Scott Baker; Reid S. Brewer; Alexander M. Burdin; Merel L. Dalebout; James P. Dines; Ivan Fedutin; Olga Filatova; Erich Hoyt; Jean‐Luc Jung; Morgane Lauf; Charles W. Potter; et al. (Marine Mammal Science, 2017)
There are two recognized species in the genus Berardius , Baird's and Arnoux's beaked whales. In Japan, whalers have traditionally recognized two forms of Baird's beaked whales, the common “slate‐gray” form and a smaller, rare “black” form. Previous comparison of mt DNA control region sequences from three black specimens to gray specimens around Japan indicated that the two forms comprise different stocks and potentially different species. We have expanded sampling to include control region haplotypes of 178 Baird's beaked whales from across their range in the North Pacific. We identified five additional specimens of the black form from the Aleutian Islands and Bering Sea, for a total of eight “black” specimens. The divergence between mt DNA haplotypes of the black and gray forms of Baird's beaked whale was greater than their divergence from the congeneric Arnoux's beaked whale found in the Southern Ocean, and similar to that observed among other congeneric beaked whale species. Taken together, genetic evidence from specimens in Japan and across the North Pacific, combined with evidence of smaller adult body size, indicate presence of an unnamed species of Berardius in the North Pacific.

Removal Performance, Antibacterial Effects, and Toxicity Assessment of Ciprofloxacin Treated by the Electrocoagulation Process - Fernando R. Espinoza-Quiñones; Ariádine R. C. de Souza; Aparecido N. Módenes; Daniela E. G. Trigueros; Aline R. de Pauli; Patrícia S. C. de Souza; Alexander D. Kroumov (Water, Air, & Soil Pollution, 2016)

Origin of REE-rich ferrocarbonatites in southern Siberia (Russia): implications based on melt and fluid inclusions - Ilya R. Prokopyev; Alexander S. Borisenko; Andrey A. Borovikov; Galina G. Pavlova (Mineralogy and Petrology, 2016)

Validating niche-construction theory through path analysis - William A. Brock; Michael J. O’Brien; R. Alexander Bentley (Archaeological and Anthropological Sciences, 2016)

RNA viruses as major contributors to Antarctic virioplankton - Jaclyn A. Miranda; Alexander I. Culley; Christopher R. Schvarcz; Grieg F. Steward (Environmental Microbiology, 2016)
Summary Early work on marine algal viruses focused exclusively on those having DNA genomes, but recent studies suggest that RNA viruses, especially those with positive‐sense, single‐stranded RNA (+ssRNA) genomes, are abundant in tropical and temperate coastal seawater. To test whether this was also true of polar waters, we estimated the relative abundances of RNA and DNA viruses using a mass ratio approach and conducted shotgun metagenomics on purified viral samples collected from a coastal site near Palmer Station, Antarctica on six occasions throughout a summer phytoplankton bloom (November–March). Our data suggest that RNA viruses contributed up to 65% of the total virioplankton (8–65%), and that, as observed previously in warmer waters, the majority of RNA viruses in these Antarctic RNA virus metagenomes had +ssRNA genomes most closely related to viruses in the order Picornavirales . Assembly of the metagenomic reads resulted in five novel, nearly complete genomes, three of which had features similar to diatom‐infecting viruses. Our data are consistent with the hypothesis that RNA viruses influence diatom bloom dynamics in Antarctic waters.

Evolutionary dynamics of Anolis sex chromosomes revealed by sequencing of flow sorting-derived microchromosome-specific DNA - Ilya G. Kichigin; Massimo Giovannotti; Alex I. Makunin; Bee L. Ng; Marsel R. Kabilov; Alexey E. Tupikin; Vincenzo Caputo Barucchi; Andrea Splendiani; Paolo Ruggeri; Willem Rens; Patricia C. M. O’Brien; Malcolm A. Ferguson-Smith; et al. (Molecular Genetics and Genomics, 2016)

Can captive populations function as sources of genetic variation for reintroductions into the wild? A case study of the Arabian oryx from the Phoenix Zoo and the Shaumari Wildlife Reserve, Jordan - Alexander Ochoa; Stuart A. Wells; Gary West; Ma’en Al-Smadi; Sergio A. Redondo; Sydnee R. Sexton; Melanie Culver (Conservation Genetics, 2016)

Ratification vote on taxonomic proposals to the International Committee on Taxonomy of Viruses (2016) - Michael J. Adams; Elliot J. Lefkowitz; Andrew M. Q. King; Balázs Harrach; Robert L. Harrison; Nick J. Knowles; Andrew M. Kropinski; Mart Krupovic; Jens H. Kuhn; Arcady R. Mushegian; Max Nibert; Sead Sabanadzovic; et al. (Archives of Virology, 2016)

Confronting the HIV, Tuberculosis, Addiction, and Incarceration Syndemic in Southeast Asia: Lessons Learned from Malaysia - Gabriel J. Culbert; Veena Pillai; Joseph Bick; Haider A. Al-Darraji; Jeffrey A. Wickersham; Martin P. Wegman; Alexander R. Bazazi; Enrico Ferro; Michael Copenhaver; Adeeba Kamarulzaman; Frederick L. Altice (Journal of Neuroimmune Pharmacology, 2016)

Cortical thinning in former professional soccer players - Inga K. Koerte; Michael Mayinger; Marc Muehlmann; David Kaufmann; Alexander P. Lin; Denise Steffinger; Barbara Fisch; Boris-Stephan Rauchmann; Stefanie Immler; Susanne Karch; Florian R. Heinen; Birgit Ertl-Wagner; et al. (Brain Imaging and Behavior, 2016)

Brackish Marsh Plant Community Responses to Regional Precipitation and Relative sea-Level Rise - Elizabeth R. Jarrell; Alexander S. Kolker; Cassandra Campbell; Michael J. Blum (Wetlands, 2016)

Taxonomy of the order Mononegavirales: update 2016 - Claudio L. Afonso; Gaya K. Amarasinghe; Krisztián Bányai; Yīmíng Bào; Christopher F. Basler; Sina Bavari; Nicolás Bejerman; Kim R. Blasdell; François-Xavier Briand; Thomas Briese; Alexander Bukreyev; Charles H. Calisher; et al. (Archives of Virology, 2016)

Assessing the genetic architecture of epithelial ovarian cancer histological subtypes - Gabriel Cuellar-Partida; Yi Lu; Suzanne C. Dixon; Peter A. Fasching; Alexander Hein; Stefanie Burghaus; Matthias W. Beckmann; Diether Lambrechts; Els Van Nieuwenhuysen; Ignace Vergote; Adriaan Vanderstichele; Jennifer Anne Doherty; et al. (Human Genetics, 2016)

Multiplexed Fluid Flow Device to Study Cellular Response to Tunable Shear Stress Gradients - Maggie A. Ostrowski; Eva Y. Huang; Vinay N. Surya; Charlotte Poplawski; Joseph M. Barakat; Gigi L. Lin; Gerald G. Fuller; Alexander R. Dunn (Annals of Biomedical Engineering, 2016)

Genetic isolation between coastal and fishery‐impacted, offshore bottlenose dolphin ( Tursiops spp.) populations - Simon J. Allen; Kate A. Bryant; Robert H. S. Kraus; Neil R. Loneragan; Anna M. Kopps; Alexander M. Brown; Livia Gerber; Michael Krützen (Molecular Ecology, 2016)
The identification of species and population boundaries is important in both evolutionary and conservation biology. In recent years, new population genetic and computational methods for estimating population parameters and testing hypotheses in a quantitative manner have emerged. Using a Bayesian framework and a quantitative model‐testing approach, we evaluated the species status and genetic connectedness of bottlenose dolphin ( Tursiops spp.) populations off remote northwestern Australia, with a focus on pelagic ‘offshore’ dolphins subject to incidental capture in a trawl fishery. We analysed 71 dolphin samples from three sites beyond the 50 m depth contour (the inshore boundary of the fishery) and up to 170 km offshore, including incidentally caught and free‐ranging individuals associating with trawl vessels, and 273 dolphins sampled at 12 coastal sites inshore of the 50 m depth contour and within 10 km of the coast. Results from 19 nuclear microsatellite markers showed significant population structure between dolphins from within the fishery and coastal sites, but also among dolphins from coastal sites, identifying three coastal populations. Moreover, we found no current or historic gene flow into the offshore population in the region of the fishery, indicating a complete lack of recruitment from coastal sites. Mitochondrial DNA corroborated our findings of genetic isolation between dolphins from the offshore population and coastal sites. Most offshore individuals formed a monophyletic clade with common bottlenose dolphins ( T. truncatus ), while all 273 individuals sampled coastally formed a well‐supported clade of Indo‐Pacific bottlenose dolphins ( T. aduncus ). By including a quantitative modelling approach, our study explicitly took evolutionary processes into account for informing the conservation and management of protected species. As such, it may serve as a template for other, similarly inaccessible study populations.

Warming alters coupled carbon and nutrient cycles in experimental streams - Tanner J. Williamson; Wyatt F. Cross; Jonathan P. Benstead; Gísli M. Gíslason; James M. Hood; Alexander D. Huryn; Philip W. Johnson; Jill R. Welter (Global Change Biology, 2016)
Although much effort has been devoted to quantifying how warming alters carbon cycling across diverse ecosystems, less is known about how these changes are linked to the cycling of bioavailable nitrogen and phosphorus. In freshwater ecosystems, benthic biofilms (i.e. thin films of algae, bacteria, fungi, and detrital matter) act as biogeochemical hotspots by controlling important fluxes of energy and material. Understanding how biofilms respond to warming is thus critical for predicting responses of coupled elemental cycles in freshwater systems. We developed biofilm communities in experimental streamside channels along a gradient of mean water temperatures (7.5–23.6 °C), while closely maintaining natural diel and seasonal temperature variation with a common water and propagule source. Both structural (i.e. biomass, stoichiometry, assemblage structure) and functional (i.e. metabolism, N 2 ‐fixation, nutrient uptake) attributes of biofilms were measured on multiple dates to link changes in carbon flow explicitly to the dynamics of nitrogen and phosphorus. Temperature had strong positive effects on biofilm biomass (2.8‐ to 24‐fold variation) and net ecosystem productivity (44‐ to 317‐fold variation), despite extremely low concentrations of limiting dissolved nitrogen. Temperature had surprisingly minimal effects on biofilm stoichiometry: carbon:nitrogen (C:N) ratios were temperature‐invariant, while carbon:phosphorus (C:P) ratios declined slightly with increasing temperature. Biofilm communities were dominated by cyanobacteria at all temperatures (>91% of total biovolume) and N 2 ‐fixation rates increased up to 120‐fold between the coldest and warmest treatments. Although ammonium‐N uptake increased with temperature (2.8‐ to 6.8‐fold variation), the much higher N 2 ‐fixation rates supplied the majority of N to the ecosystem at higher temperatures. Our results demonstrate that temperature can alter how carbon is cycled and coupled to nitrogen and phosphorus. The uncoupling of C fixation from dissolved inorganic nitrogen supply produced large unexpected changes in biofilm development, elemental cycling, and likely downstream exports of nutrients and organic matter.

Functional interactions of archaea, bacteria and viruses in a hypersaline endolithic community - Alexander Crits‐Christoph; Diego R. Gelsinger; Bing Ma; Jacek Wierzchos; Jacques Ravel; Alfonso Davila; M. Cristina Casero; Jocelyne DiRuggiero (Environmental Microbiology, 2016)
Summary Halite endoliths in the Atacama Desert represent one of the most extreme ecosystems on Earth. Cultivation‐independent methods were used to examine the functional adaptations of the microbial consortia inhabiting halite nodules. The community was dominated by haloarchaea and functional analysis attributed most of the autotrophic CO 2 fixation to one unique cyanobacterium. The assembled 1.1 Mbp genome of a novel nanohaloarchaeon, Candidatus Nanopetramus SG9, revealed a photoheterotrophic life style and a low median isoelectric point (pI) for all predicted proteins, suggesting a ‘salt‐in’ strategy for osmotic balance. Predicted proteins of the algae identified in the community also had pI distributions similar to ‘salt‐in’ strategists. The Nanopetramus genome contained a unique CRISPR/Cas system with a spacer that matched a partial viral genome from the metagenome. A combination of reference‐independent methods identified over 30 complete or near complete viral or proviral genomes with diverse genome structure, genome size, gene content and hosts. Putative hosts included Halobacteriaceae , Nanohaloarchaea and Cyanobacteria . Despite the dependence of the halite community on deliquescence for liquid water availability, this study exposed an ecosystem spanning three phylogenetic domains, containing a large diversity of viruses and predominance of a ‘salt‐in’ strategy to balance the high osmotic pressure of the environment.

Biochemistry and cell ultrastructure changes during senescence of Beta vulgaris L. leaf - Alla K. Romanova; Galina A. Semenova; Alexander R. Ignat’ev; Natalia S. Novichkova; Irina R. Fomina (Protoplasma, 2016)

Hybridization of downregulated-COMT transgenic switchgrass lines with field-selected switchgrass for improved biomass traits - Holly L. Baxter; Lisa W. Alexander; Mitra Mazarei; Ellen Haynes; Geoffrey B. Turner; Robert W. Sykes; Stephen R. Decker; Mark F. Davis; Richard A. Dixon; Zeng-Yu Wang; C. Neal Stewart (Euphytica, 2016)

Kisspeptin signaling in the amygdala modulates reproductive hormone secretion - Alexander N. Comninos; Jelena Anastasovska; Meliz Sahuri-Arisoylu; Xiaofeng Li; Shengyun Li; Minghan Hu; Channa N. Jayasena; Mohammad A. Ghatei; Stephen R. Bloom; Paul M. Matthews; Kevin T. O’Byrne; Jimmy D. Bell; et al. (Brain Structure and Function, 2016)

Increased endothelial microparticles and oxidative stress at extreme altitude - Jacqueline Pichler Hefti; Alexander Leichtle; Monika Stutz; Urs Hefti; Thomas Geiser; Andreas R. Huber; Tobias M. Merz (European Journal of Applied Physiology, 2016)

Same time, same place: analyzing temporal and spatial trends in urban metabolism using proximate counties in the North Carolina Triangle - Alexander E. Metzger; Melissa R. McHale; George R. Hess; Toddi A. Steelman (Urban Ecosystems, 2016)

Idiosyncratic responses of Amazonian birds to primary forest disturbance - Nárgila G. Moura; Alexander C. Lees; Alexandre Aleixo; Jos Barlow; Erika Berenguer; Joice Ferreira; Ralph Mac Nally; James R. Thomson; Toby A. Gardner (Oecologia, 2016)