Plant functional trait change across a warming tundra biome.

The tundra is warming more rapidly than any other biome on Earth, and the potential ramifications are far-reaching because of global feedback effects between vegetation and climate. A better understanding of how environmental factors shape plant structure and function is crucial for predicting the consequences of environmental change for ecosystem functioning. Here we explore the biome-wide relationships between temperature, moisture and seven key plant functional traits both across space and over three decades of warming at 117 tundra locations.

Social Withdrawal and Social Surrogacy in Emerging Adulthood.

Shyness has been well established as a hindrance to social adjustment and may be problematic for emerging adults attending university, given the high social expectations placed upon students. Previous studies suggest emerging adults high in shyness recruit their friends to act as social surrogates in order to help reduce the stress of entering social interactions; yet, whether other less studied forms of social withdrawal (i.e.

Kinship influences sperm whale social organization within, but generally not among, social units.

Sperm whales have a multi-level social structure based upon long-term, cooperative social units. What role kinship plays in structuring this society is poorly understood. We combined extensive association data (518 days, during 2005-2016) and genetic data (18 microsatellites and 346 bp mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) control region sequences) for 65 individuals from 12 social units from the Eastern Caribbean to examine patterns of kinship and social behaviour.

Fast molecular outflow from a dusty star-forming galaxy in the early Universe.

Galaxies grow inefficiently, with only a small percentage of the available gas converted into stars each free-fall time. Feedback processes, such as outflowing winds driven by radiation pressure, supernovae, or supermassive black hole accretion, can act to halt star formation if they heat or expel the gas supply. We report a molecular outflow launched from a dust-rich star-forming galaxy at redshift 5.

Retraction Note: Losing control: Mostly incongruent lists postpone, but do not eliminate, the Stroop effect.

This article has been retracted at the request of all authors. In Experiments 3 and 4 an honest error in the experimental script pointed to the wrong stimulus file on 6.25% of trials, resulting in inaccurate output for each participant.

Analysis of the FGFR spatiotemporal expression pattern within the chicken scleral ossicle system.

Fibroblast Growth Factors (FGFs) play several important roles during organ morphogenesis and act as multi-functional growth factors that bind to their membrane bound receptors (FGFRs) and activate further downstream signalling pathways. Several studies have investigated the function and expression of FGF/FGFRs in endochondral bone development, however, we know little about their role in the development of neural crest derived intramembranous bones. Here, we investigate the expression of 'b' and c' isoforms of FGFRs 1-3 during the development of the scleral ossicles, a ring of neural crest derived intramembranous bones in the chicken eye.

The influence of biological affinity and sex on morphometric parameters of the clavicle in a South African sample.

Objectives: The present study aims to investigate the influence of environmental and functional factors associated with biological affinity and musculature on sexual dimorphism of the clavicle, and to develop population-specific methods of sex estimation from the clavicle.

Methods: The maximum length of the clavicle (MAXL), the sagittal diameter of the clavicle (SAGD), and the vertical diameter of the clavicle (VERD) were measured. The left clavicles of 198 South African coloured individuals (108 males and 90 females) were examined.

U.S. medical students who engage in self-care report less stress and higher quality of life.

Background: Research on student wellness has highlighted the importance of self-care for medical students; however, scholars have yet to identify the extent to which self-reported engagement in self-care behaviors is associated with attenuation of the negative relationship between stress and quality of life during the initial years of medical education.

Methods: Using a self-report survey designed to measure self-care, perceived stress, and quality of life, we hypothesized that self-care would moderate the relationship between stress and psychological quality of life in medical students, as well as stress and physical quality of life. An online questionnaire was completed by 871 medical students representing 49 allopathic medical colleges throughout the U.

Development of an electrochemical surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopy (EC-SERS) fabric-based plasmonic sensor for point-of-care diagnostics.

Early disease diagnosis is crucial for timely and effective healthcare monitoring and treatment. Demand for modern point-of-care (POC) technologies has increased during the past decade. Continuous monitoring of patient health status can be achieved through wearable sensors which can be incorporated into clothing and other wearables.

Phylogenetic diversity and plant trait composition predict multiple ecosystem functions in green roofs.

Plant selection and diversity can influence the provision of key ecosystem services in extensive green roofs. While species richness does predict ecosystem services, functional and phylogenetic community structure may provide a stronger mechanistic link to such services than species richness alone. In this study, we assessed the relationship between community-weighted trait values from four key leaf and canopy functional traits (plant height, leaf area, specific leaf area, dry leaf matter content), functional diversity, and phylogenetic diversity to ten different green roof functions, including ecosystem multifunctionality, in experimental polycultures.

Lessons in Membrane Engineering for Octanoic Acid Production from Environmental Escherichia coli Isolates.

Fermentative production of many attractive biorenewable fuels and chemicals is limited by product toxicity in the form of damage to the microbial cell membrane. Metabolic engineering of the production organism can help mitigate this problem, but there is a need for identification and prioritization of the most effective engineering targets. Here, we use a set of previously characterized environmental isolates with high tolerance and production of octanoic acid, a model membrane-damaging biorenewable product, as a case study for identifying and prioritizing membrane engineering strategies.

Coordination, reactivity, and structural properties of electron-rich ethoxy- and dimethylamino-substituted 1,3-diketiminate ligands and their complexes.

In this paper we describe the synthesis, characterization, and X-ray crystal structures of two ligands, diethyl-N,N'-bis(p-tolyl)malonimidate and 1,3-bis(dimethylamino)-N,N'-bis(p-tolyl)propanediimidate. Their corresponding rhodium(i) dicarbonyl, dimethylaluminium, and bis-ligated zinc complexes have also been prepared and characterized. The donor properties of the ligands have been studied and have been compared to those of the traditional anionic N,N'-chelating ligand nacnac.

Global Study of Social Odor Awareness.

Olfaction plays an important role in human social communication, including multiple domains in which people often rely on their sense of smell in the social context. The importance of the sense of smell and its role can however vary inter-individually and culturally. Despite the growing body of literature on differences in olfactory performance or hedonic preferences across the globe, the aspects of a given culture as well as culturally universal individual differences affecting odor awareness in human social life remain unknown.

Author Correction: A massive core for a cluster of galaxies at a redshift of 4.3.

Change history: In this Letter, the Acknowledgements section should have included the following sentence: "The National Radio Astronomy Observatory is a facility of the National Science Foundation operated under cooperative agreement by Associated Universities, Inc.". This omission has been corrected online.

Development and Validation of the LEADS Scale.

LEADS in a Caring Environment has been adopted as the primary leadership framework by the Canadian Health Leadership Network. This study developed and validated a 20-item behaviourally anchored rating scale to assess the twenty LEADS capabilities. Canadian healthcare employees and support staff (N = 156) were asked to rate their managers using the scale and also completed measures of transformational leadership, job-related affective well-being, and intent to stay for validation purposes.

Ultrastructure of tendon rupture depends on strain rate and tendon type.

Previous research has shown that both the mechanics and elongation mechanisms of tendon and ligament vary with strain rate during tensile loading. In this study, we sought to determine if the ultrastructural damage created during tendon rupture also varies with strain rate. A bovine forelimb model was used, allowing two anatomically proximate but physiologically distinct tendons to be studies: the positional common digital extensor tendon, and the energy storing superficial digital flexor tendon.

Multi-tiered approach utilizing microbial source tracking and human associated-IMS/ATP for surveillance of human fecal contamination in Baja California, Mexico.

As both the need for reuse of reclaimed wastewater and the burden placed on existing wastewater treatment plants increase, so does the need for methods that can reliably, rapidly and economically identify human-associated contamination. A survey of surface water quality was conducted in Baja California, Mexico where inadequate infrastructure or its inefficient operation leads to poor water quality. The HF183 and Bacteroides thetaiotaomicron (B.

New species and emendations of Orphella: taxonomic and phylogenetic reassessment of the genus to establish the Orphellales, for stonefly gut fungi with a twist.

We consolidate and present data for the sexual stages of five North American species of Orphella, fungal members of trichomycetes previously classified within Harpellales. Three species emendations accommodate the newly recognized characters, including not only the coiled zygospores and accompanying cells but also other morphological traits not provided in the original descriptions for O. avalonensis, O.

Cervical cancer screening among HIV-infected women in an urban, United States safety-net healthcare system.

Objective: Little is known about cervical cancer screening and results patterns among HIV-infected (HIV+) women in real-world healthcare settings. We characterized two periods of screening opportunity.

Design: Retrospective cohort.

Strong Neutron Pairing in core+4n Nuclei.

The emission of neutron pairs from the neutron-rich N=12 isotones ^{18}C and ^{20}O has been studied by high-energy nucleon knockout from ^{19}N and ^{21}O secondary beams, populating unbound states of the two isotones up to 15 MeV above their two-neutron emission thresholds. The analysis of triple fragment-n-n correlations shows that the decay ^{19}N(-1p)^{18}C^{*}→^{16}C+n+n is clearly dominated by direct pair emission. The two-neutron correlation strength, the largest ever observed, suggests the predominance of a ^{14}C core surrounded by four valence neutrons arranged in strongly correlated pairs.

Mercury Concentrations in Double-Crested Cormorant Chicks Across Canada.

Mercury (Hg) biomagnifies in aquatic food chains and can reach high concentrations in fish-eating birds. Spatial patterns of Hg have been found in freshwater ecosystems across Canada for many taxa, including fish and birds. However, it often is challenging to sample a representative population size of adult birds to monitor concentrations of contaminants over a large spatial scale.