bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
The genetic architecture of a niche: variation and covariation in host use traits in the Colorado potato beetle
Authors: FORISTER M. L. , EHMER A. G. , FUTUYMA D. J.
Published: March 2007

The genetic basis of host plant use by phytophagous insects can provide insight into the evolution of ecological niches, especially phenomena such as specialization and phylogenetic conservatism. We carried out a quantitative genetic analysis of multiple host use traits, estimated on five species of host plants, in the Colorado potato beetle,Leptinotarsa decemlineata(Coleoptera: Chrysomelidae). Mean values of all characters varied among host plants, providing evidence that adaptation to plants may require evolution of both behavioral (preference) and post‐ingestive physiological (performance) characteristics. Significant additive genetic variation was detected for several characters on several hosts, but not in the capacity to use the two major hosts, a pattern that might be caused by directional selection. No negative genetic correlations across hosts were detected for any ‘performance’ traits, i.e. we found no evidence of trade‐offs in fitness on different plants. Larval consumption was positively genetically correlated across host plants, suggesting that diet generalization might evolve as a distinct trait, rather than by independent evolution of feeding responses to each plant species, but several other traits did not show this pattern. We explored genetic correlations among traits expressed on a given plant species, in a first effort to shed light on the number of independent traits that may evolve in response to selection for host–plant utilization. Most traits were not correlated with each other, implying that adaptation to a novel potential host could be a complex, multidimensional ‘character’ that might constrain adaptation and contribute to the pronounced ecological specialization and the phylogenetic niche conservatism that characterize many clades of phytophagous insects.
Food availability affects the maternal transfer of androgens and antibodies into eggs of a colonial seabird
Authors: GASPARINI J. , BOULINIER T. , GILL V. A. , GIL D. , HATCH S. A. , ROULIN A.
Published: March 2007

Mothers can improve the quality of their offspring by increasing the level of certain components in their eggs. To examine whether or not mothers increase deposition of such components in eggs as a function of food availability, we food‐supplemented black‐legged kittiwake females (Rissa tridactyla) before and during egg laying and compared deposition of androgens and antibodies into eggs of first and experimentally induced replacement clutches. Food‐supplemented females transferred lower amounts of androgens and antibodies into eggs of induced replacement clutches than did non‐food‐supplemented mothers, whereas first clutches presented no differences between treatments. Our results suggest that when females are in lower condition, they transfer more androgens and antibodies into eggs to facilitate chick development despite potential long‐term costs for juveniles. Females in prime condition may avoid these potential long‐term costs because they can provide their chicks with more and higher quality resources.
Condition‐dependent expression of red colour differs between stickleback species
Authors: BOUGHMAN J. W.
Published: March 2007

Sexual isolation may arise when male mating traits and female preferences differ between species. Such divergence in mating traits is likely to occur when the strength or targets of sexual selection differ. Therefore, by comparing the traits under sexual selection in closely related species and the nature of preference for those traits, we can gain insight into when sexual selection contributes to sexual isolation and how it does so. Collecting these data is no easy undertaking. To simplify this comparison, I use the presence and extent of condition dependence in traits to determine whether directional sexual selection is acting on them. Condition dependence thus serves as a signature of sexual selection. I investigate differences in sexual selection on red nuptial colour in limnetic–benthic species pairs of three‐spined sticklebacks. I evaluate condition dependence by comparing the strength of the relationship between colour and condition, and the magnitude of variance in red nuptial colour to other colour traits and to nonsexual traits. I find that limnetic males have strong condition‐dependent expression of red nuptial colour whereas benthic males have at most weak condition‐dependent expression. Ancestral anadromous males show no condition dependence. This suggests that colour is under strong directional sexual selection only in limnetics and that this is the derived state. Moreover, I find that the strength of female preference for red is related to the extent of condition dependence. The extent of condition dependence is also associated with the importance of colour differences to mate recognition. These results show that differences between these species in the action of sexual selection underlie their sexual isolation.
Inbreeding depression along a life‐history continuum in the great tit
Authors: SZULKIN M. , GARANT D. , MCCLEERY R. H. , SHELDON B. C.
Published: March 2007

Inbreeding resulting from the mating of two related individuals can reduce the fitness of their progeny. However, quantifying inbreeding depression in wild populations is challenging, requiring large sample sizes, detailed knowledge of life histories and study over many generations. Here we report analyses of the effects of close inbreeding, based on observations of mating between relatives, in a large, free‐living noninsular great tit (Parus major) population monitored over 41 years. Although mating between close relatives (f ≥ 0.125) was rare (1.0–2.6% of matings, depending on data set restrictiveness), we found pronounced inbreeding depression, which translated into reduced hatching success, fledging success, recruitment to the breeding population and production of grand offspring. An inbred mating at f = 0.25 had a 39% reduction in fitness relative to that of an outbred nest, when calculated in terms of recruitment success, and a 55% reduction in the number of fledged grand offspring. Our data show that inbreeding depression acts independently at each life‐history stage in this population, and hence suggest that estimates of the fitness costs of inbreeding must focus on the entire life cycle.
Groundnut ringspot virus: an Emerging Tospovirus Inducing Disease in Peanut Crops
Authors: De Breuil S. , Abad J. A. , Nome C. F. , Giolitti F. J. , Lambertini P. L. , Lenardon S.
Published: March 2007

Peanut (Arachis hypogaea L.) plants showing Tospovirus‐like symptoms were observed in Córdoba province (central Argentina). Peanut plants were collected and tested to identify the causal agent. Tospovirus‐like particles were observed by electron microscopy and Groundnut ringspot virus (GRSV) was identified by double antibody sandwich‐enzyme‐linked immunosorbent assay (DAS‐ELISA) and reverse transcription‐polymerase chain reaction (RT‐PCR). Partial nucleotide and deduced amino acid sequences of the nucleocapsid (N) gene indicated a high degree of identity with other GRSV sequences. This is the first report of the GRSV occurrence on peanuts in Argentina.
First Report of Tomato Yellow Leaf Curl Virus‐Israel Species Infecting Tomato, Pepper and Bean in Tunisia
Authors: Gharsallah Chouchane S. , Gorsane F. , Nakhla M. K. , Maxwell D. P. , Marrakchi M. , Fakhfakh H.
Published: March 2007

Tomato yellow leaf curl virus disease (TYLCVD) has been observed in Tunisia for more than 20 years. Until year 2004, only the Tomato yellow leaf curl Sardinia virus‐Sicily (TYLCSV‐[Sic]) was detected in tomato, pepper and bean crops. In the Sahel region, some tomato samples showing severe TYLCVD symptoms were collected from greenhouses in 2004 and 2005. Typing of these isolates revealed for the first time the presence of the TYLCV Israel in Tunisia. This result was confirmed by using several sets of specific primers and by sequencing. This species has also been detected on pepper and bean collected from fields in the same region. The sequencing of a tomato and a bean isolate showed that they both share more than 97% of sequence identity with the TYLCV from Dominican Republic (AF024715). The TYLCV has been found in single and mixed infection with the TYLCSV‐[Sic].
Working in a training garden: Experiences of patients with neurological damage
Authors: Jonasson Inger , Marklund Bertil , Hildingh Cathrine
Published: March 2007

Aim:  The aim of this study was to describe patients’ experiences of working in a training garden after neurological damage.

Methods:  The study employs a qualitative method with a phenomenographic approach. Interviews with 14 patients attending outpatient rehabilitation were conducted. The interview consisted of open‐ended questions based on an interview guide covering: the activity, the training, its value and the environment.

Results:  The study revealed that activities in a training garden were experienced as beneficial, productive, voluntary and complicated. Certain conditions are necessary for performance and for drawing benefit from the activities.

Conclusions:  The results of this study may be of benefit in clinical work and may also apply to other groups of patients. Further research is needed on training gardens to enhance knowledge of suitable activities for different groups of patients to be used in the design of intervention programs.
Caring relationship in a context: Fieldwork in a medical ward
Authors: Berg Linda , Skott Carola , Danielson Ella
Published: March 2007

The aim of this study was to investigate how the caring relationship is formed in a medical context. The data were collected using participant observation with field notes and analysed by an interpretive phenomenological method. The context circumstances in a medical milieu demanded exacting efficiency and risks to oppress the caring relationship, subsequently causing demands in nursing practice. Three themes of the caring relationship were identified as respect for each other and for themselves, responsibility to reach out to each other and engagement. Patients' and nurses' awareness in encounters drove the forming of a caring relationship that went beyond the individual nurse and patient. This study implicates the importance of an understanding of how context circumstances create the foundation of the caring relationship.
Feminist‐informed participatory action research: A methodology of choice for examining critical nursing issues
Authors: Corbett Andrea M , Francis Karen , Chapman Ysanne
Published: March 2007

Identifying a methodology to guide a study that aims to enhance service delivery can be challenging. Participatory action research offers a solution to this challenge as it both informs and is informed by critical social theory. In addition, using a feminist lens helps acquiesce this approach as a suitable methodology for changing practice. This methodology embraces empowerment self‐determination and the facilitation of agreed change as central tenets that guide the research process. Encouraged by the work of Foucault, Friere, Habermas, and Maguire, this paper explicates the philosophical assumptions underpinning critical social theory and outlines how feminist influences are complimentary in exploring the processes and applications of nursing research that seeks to embrace change.
Children's perceptions on the implementation of methods for their postoperative pain alleviation: An interview study
Authors: He Hong‐Gu , Vehviläinen‐Julkunen Katri , Pölkki Tarja , Pietilä Anna‐Maija
Published: March 2007

The purpose of this study was to reveal the 8–12‐year‐old children's perceptions on the use of methods for pediatric postoperative pain alleviation by themselves, their parents and nurses. Face‐to‐face structured interviews were conducted with 59 subjects who had undergone surgical procedures in three provincial hospitals in Fujian Province, China in 2004. Content analysis and descriptive statistics were used to analyse the data. According to the children's perceptions, they commonly used rest/sleeping, a physical method (positioning) and a strategy of emotional support (requiring presence of their parents); their parents frequently used helping with daily activities and all strategies of emotional support; the nurses mostly used a strategy of emotional support (comforting) and a physical method (positioning). Children's suggestions mainly concerned the application of non‐pharmacological methods, especially presence of caregivers. In conclusion, pain‐relieving methods were not sufficiently used although children suffered from intense postoperative pain, which calls for health‐care providers' future attention.
Revisiting the evaluation of clinical practice
Authors: Leach Matthew J
Published: March 2007

The evaluation of patient care is an ongoing process that is aimed at improving clinical outcomes, as well as advancing clinical practice. However, a number of elements need to be taken into account when evaluating clinical practice, including social, structural and process factors. Consideration of these factors, together with comprehensive and holistic assessment, clinical expertise, reflective thinking, and valid and reliable instrumentation, will allow practitioners to better evaluate clinical care, and in effect, improve client outcomes.
Viability of ecological processes in small Afromontane forest patches in South Africa
Authors: KOTZE D. JOHAN , LAWES MICHAEL J.
Published: March 2007

Abstract  The conservation of biodiversity is dependent on protecting ecosystem‐level processes. We investigated the effects of fragment size and habitat edge on the relative functioning of three ecological processes – decomposition, predation and regeneration of trees – in small Afromontane forests in KwaZulu‐Natal, South Africa. Ten sampling stations were placed in each of four forest categories: the interior of three large indigenous forest fragments (100 m from the edge), the edges of these large fragments, 10 small indigenous fragments (<1 ha) and 10 small exotic woodlands (<0.5 ha). Fragment size and edge effects did not affect the abundance of the amphipod Talitriator africana, a litter decomposer, and overall dung beetle abundance and species richness significantly. Bird egg predation was marginally greater at large patch edges compared with the other forest categories, while seed predation did not differ among forest categories. Tree seedling assemblage composition did not differ significantly among large patch interiors and edges, and small indigenous fragments. Sapling and canopy assemblage composition each differed significantly among these three indigenous forest categories. Thus, while tree recruitment was not negatively affected by patch size or distance from the edge, conditions in small fragments and at edges appear to affect the composition of advanced tree regeneration. These ecological processes in Afromontane forests appear to be resilient to fragmentation effects. We speculate that this is because the organisms in these forests have evolved under fragmented conditions. Repeated extreme changes in climate and vegetation over the Pleistocene have acted as significant distribution and ecological extinction filters on these southern hemisphere forest biota, resulting in fauna and flora that are potentially resilient to contemporary fragmentation effects. We argue that because small patches and habitat edges appear to be ecologically viable they should be included in future conservation decisions.
Use of a geographic information system to explore spatial variation in pathogen virulence and the implications for biological control of locusts and grasshoppers
Authors: Klass Justine I. , Blanford Simon , Thomas Matthew B.
Published: March 2007

1 In a previous study, we developed a model to predict the effects of temperature on performance of a fungus‐based biopesticide for controlling locusts and grasshoppers. Currently, the model is limited to predicting rate of mortality after a spray application at site‐specific locations. The aim of the present study is to enhance the utility of this model by linking it with meteorological station data in a geographic information system (GIS) framework to investigate the spatial variation in the performance of the biopesticide.

2 The model provides maps that define spatial variation in pathogen virulence (measured as LT90 for a treated population) across different regions. The model was used to explore the variation in biopesticide performance against four economically important pest species: Moroccan locust Dociostaurus maroccanus in Spain; brown locust Locustana pardalina in South Africa; red locust Nomadacris septemfasciata in Zambia and; Senegalese grasshopper Oedaleus senegalensis in Niger.

3 Model outputs for the different species were partially validated against data from field trials. The models provided good estimates of time to 90% mortality for five out of six independent comparisons. There was also good agreement between the spatial model and equivalent output from the site‐specific model.

4 Simulations of virulence against N. septemfasciata in Zambia indicated very uniform, rapid mortality with LT90 throughout the country generally less than 11 days. Pathogen‐induced mortality of O. senegalensis in Niger was predicted to be slightly slower and more variable with mortality fastest in the southern regions (< 15 days) and slowing to the north of the country (16–20 days). For both L. pardalina in South Africa and D. maroccanus in Spain, the model revealed highly variable patterns of mortality with LT90 ranging from < 15 days in some areas to > 30 days in others.

5 The implications of these different patterns of variability for the development of optimum use strategies for the various species and the basic understanding of the ecology and evolution of insect–pathogen interactions are discussed.
Metagenomic approach to the study of halophages: the environmental halophage 1
Authors: Santos Fernando , Meyerdierks Anke , Peña Arantxa , Rosselló‐Mora Ramon , Amann Rudolf , Antón Josefa
Published: March 2007

Hypersaline environments, such as crystallizer ponds of solar salterns, show one of the highest concentration of viruses reported for aquatic systems. All the halophages characterized so far are isolates obtained by cultivation from described haloarchaeal species that have only low abundance in the environment. We employed a culture‐independent metagenomic approach to analyse for the first time complete genomes in the halophage community and explored the in situ diversity by transmission electron microscopy and pulsed‐field gel electrophoresis. We report the genomic sequence of a not yet isolated halophage (named as environmental halophage 1 ‘EHP‐1′) whose DNA was obtained from crystallizer samples with a salinity of 31%. The sequenced genome has a size of 35 kb and a G + C content around 51%. The G + C content is lower than that of previously characterized halophages. However, G + C content and codon usage in EHP‐1 are similar to the recently cultivated and sequenced Haloquadratum walsbyi, the major prokaryotic component in solar salterns around the world. Forty open reading frames have been predicted, including genes that putatively code for proteins involved in DNA replication (ribonucleotide reductases, thymidylate kinase) normally found in lytic viruses.
Distribution, genetic richness and phage sensitivity of Vibrio spp. from coastal British Columbia
Authors: Comeau André M. , Suttle Curtis A.
Published: March 2007

This study examined the distribution, susceptibility to viral infection and genetic diversity of Vibrio spp. in the coastal waters and sediments of British Columbia during summer (July and August). Abundances of presumptive Vibrio spp. ranged from 1.5 to 346 ml−1 within the water column (1–291 m); whereas, abundances at the water–sediment interface were much higher (up to ∼3 × 104Vibrio spp. cc−1), and decreased with sediment depth (down to 30 cm). The genetic diversity of Vibrio spp. isolates was not tied to the location from which they originated and was only influenced in a minor way by the type of environment. However, the environment had a greater effect on phage‐typing patterns. Vibrio parahaemolyticus isolates from environments with high abundances of cells (sediments and oysters) were generally more susceptible to viral infection than those from the water column which were highly resistant. Therefore, although Vibrio spp. were widespread in the areas investigated, the results show that there is segregation of bacterial host strains in different environments, under differing selection pressures, which ultimately will affect in situ phage production.
Effects of insulin vs. glibenclamide in recently diagnosed patients with type 2 diabetes: a 4‐year follow‐up
Authors: Alvarsson M. , Sundkvist G. , Lager I. , Berntorp K. , Fernqvist‐Forbes E. , Steen L. , Örn T. , Holberg M. A. , Kirksæther N. , Grill V.
Published: March 2007

Aim:  To compare effects of early insulin vs. glibenclamide treatment on beta‐cell function, metabolic control and quality of life (QL) in recently diagnosed patients with type 2 diabetes.

Methods:  Forty‐nine patients with type 2 diabetes diagnosed 0–2 years before inclusion were randomized to two daily injections of premixed 30% soluble and 70% NPH insulin or glibenclamide at six diabetic clinics in Sweden. C‐peptide–glucagon tests were performed yearly after 3 days of withdrawal of treatment.

Results:  Thirty‐four patients completed 4 years of study. Daily dose of insulin was increased from 20.4 ± 1.8 U at year 1 to 26.1 ± 2.9 U at year 4 (p = 0.005). Glibenclamide dosage increased from 2.7 ± 0.4 mg at year 1 to 4.5 ± 0.8 mg at year 4 (p = 0.02). Weight increased more in insulin than in glibenclamide treated (+4.4 ± 0.8 vs. +0.3 ± 1.0 kg, p < 0.005). Following short‐term withdrawal of treatment, the C‐peptide responses to glucagon were significantly higher in the insulin vs. glibenclamide group at years 1 (p < 0.01) and 2 (p < 0.02). HbA1c improved identical during the first year but thereafter deteriorated in the glibenclamide group (p < 0.005 for difference at year 4). Ratios of proinsulin to insulin were higher during treatment in glibenclamide‐ vs. insulin‐treated patients after year 2. QL after 4 years as measured by the MOS 36‐item Short‐Form Health Survey (SF‐36) form was not significantly altered.

Conclusions:  In a 4‐year perspective, beta‐cell function deteriorated in both groups. However, deterioration occurred faster in the glibenclamide group, indicating that alleviating demands on secretion by insulin treatment is beneficial.
Rosiglitazone is more effective than metformin in improving fasting indexes of glucose metabolism in severely obese, non‐diabetic patients
Authors: Brunani A. , Caumo A. , Graci S. , Castagna G. , Viberti G. , Liuzzi A.
Published: March 2007

Aim:  In obese patients, the diet‐induced weight loss markedly improves glucose tolerance with an increase in insulin sensitivity and a partial reduction of insulin secretion. The association with metformin treatment might potentiate the effect of diet alone.

Methods:  From patients admitted to our Nutritional Division for diet programme, we selected obese, non‐diabetic, uncomplicated patients with age 18–65 years and body mass index 35–50 kg/m2 and studied the effects of a 6‐month pharmacological treatment with either metformin (850 mg twice daily) or rosiglitazone (4 mg twice daily) on possible changes in body weight, fat mass, glucose and lipids metabolism.

Results:  A significant weight loss and reduction of fat mass was demonstrated with metformin (−9.7 ± 1.8 kg and −6.6 ± 1.1 kg) and also with rosiglitazone (−11.0 ± 1.9 kg and −7.2 ± 1.8 kg), without fluid retention in either treatment group. Rosiglitazone administration induced a significant decrease in glucose concentration (4.7 ± 0.1 vs. 4.4 ± 0.1 mmol/l, p < 0.005) and insulin‐circulating level (13.6 ± 1.5 vs. 8.0 ± 0.,7 μU/ml, p < 0.005), an increase in insulin sensitivity as measured by homeostatic model assessment (HOMA) of insulin sensitivity (68.9 ± 8.8 vs. 109.9 ± 10.3, p < 0.005) with a concomitant decrease in β‐cell function as measured by HOMA of β‐cell function (163.2 ± 16.1 vs. 127.4 ± 8.4, p < 0.005). In contrast, metformin did not produce any significant effect on blood glucose concentration, insulin level and HOMA2 indexes. No adverse events were registered with pharmacological treatments.

Conclusion:  Our study shows that in severely obese, non‐diabetic, hyperinsulinaemic patients undergoing a nutritional programme, rosiglitazone is more effective than metformin in producing favourable changes in fasting‐based indexes of glucose metabolism, with a reduction of both insulin resistance and hyperinsulinaemia. In spite of previous studies reporting rosiglitazone‐induced body weight gain, in our study the joint treatment with diet and rosiglitazone was accompanied by weight loss and fat mass reduction.
Fluid circulation related to post‐Messinian extension, Thassos Island, North Aegean
Authors: BOULVAIS P. , BRUN J.‐P. , SOKOUTIS D.
Published: March 2007

In the North Aegean Domain, Thassos Island contains a Plio‐Pleistocene basin controlled by a large‐scale flat‐ramp extensional system with a potential décollement located at depth within a marble unit. Numerous mineralizations associated with normal faults of Plio‐Pleistocene age are the sign of fluid circulation during extension. Two main generations of fluid flow are recognized, related to Plio‐Pleistocene extension. A first circulation under high‐temperature conditions (about 100–200°C) resulted in dolomitization of marbles near the base of the Plio‐Pleistocene basin. The dolomites are characterized by low δ18O values (down to 11‰ versus Standard Mean Ocean Water). Some cataclastic deformation affected the dolomites. Hydrothermal quartz that crystallized in extension veins above a blind ramp also has low δ18O values (about 13‰). This shows that high‐temperature fluids moved up from the décollement level toward the surface. A second downward circulation of continental waters at near‐surface temperature is documented by calcite veins in fault zones and at the base of the Plio‐Pleistocene basin. These veins have O isotope values relatively constant at about 23–25‰ and C isotope values intermediate between the high δ13C value of the carbonate host rock (about 1–3‰ versus Peedee Belemnite) and the low δ13C value of soil‐derived carbon (−10‰). The calcites associated with the oxidative remobilization of primary sulphide Zn–Pb mineralization of Thassos carbonates have comparable O and C isotope compositions. Hot fluids, within the 100–200°C temperature range, have likely contributed to the weakening of the lower marble unit of Thassos and, thus, to the process of décollement.
Revascularization and remodelling of pancreatic islets grafted under the kidney capsule
Authors: Morini Sergio , Brown Melissa L. , Cicalese Luca , Elias George , Carotti Simone , Gaudio Eugenio , Rastellini Cristiana
Published: March 2007

The revascularization and the structural changes resulting from interactions between the graft and the host were investigated in transplanted pancreatic islets under the kidney capsule. Islets were isolated from mice pancreata and transplanted in syngeneic diabetic animals. Graft‐bearing kidneys were collected on different days post‐transplant and processed for light microscopy, immunohistochemistry and transmission electron microscopy. A numerical analysis was performed in order to compare the percentage number of the different types of cells in native islets and at different time points after the transplant. Recipient animals reversed diabetes within 4 days. An intraperitoneal glucose tolerance test was performed to determine islet functionality under stressful conditions. During the initial few days post‐transplant, the islets showed peculiar shapes and the graft tended to aggregate along the vessels. Starting at days 4–7 post‐transplant, islets were revascularized from vessels connected to both the cortical and the capsular vascular network of the kidney. From day 7–14 post‐transplant, the vessels progressively appeared more similar in features and size to those of in situ pancreatic islets. Both the percentage number of the different cell types and the distribution of Alpha, Beta and Delta cells inside the graft were significantly different as compared with intact islets, demonstrating quantitative and structural changes after the engraftment. No concomitant proliferation of Beta cells was detected using a bromodeoxyuridin staining method. Despite the fact that quick revascularization preserved a large mass of tissue, the remodelling process of the graft and the newly formed vascularization led to a different organization of the endocrine tissue as compared with intact in situ islets. This constitutes the morphological basis for alterations of the normal intercellular interactions and may explain the altered secretory cell function often observed in transplant.
Neuronal preconditioning with the antianginal drug, bepridil
Authors: Gáspár Tamás , Kis Béla , Snipes James A. , Lenzsér Gábor , Mayanagi Keita , Bari Ferenc , Busija David W.
Published: March 2007

It has recently been shown that the antianginal drug bepridil (BEP) activates mitochondrial ATP‐sensitive potassium (mitoKATP) channels and thus confers cardioprotection. Our aim was to investigate whether BEP could induce preconditioning in cultured rat cortical neurons. Although BEP depolarized isolated and in situ mitochondria and increased reactive oxygen species generation, no acute protection was observed. However, a 3‐day BEP‐treatment elicited dose‐dependent delayed neuroprotection against 180 min of oxygen–glucose deprivation (cell viability: untreated, 52.5 ± 0.85%; BEP 1 μmol/L, 59.6 ± 1.53%*; BEP 2.5 μmol/L, 71.9 ± 1.23%*; BEP 5 μmol/L, 95.3 ± 0.89%*; mean ± SEM; *p < 0.05 vs. untreated) and 60 min of glutamate excitotoxicity (200 μmol/L; cell viability: untreated, 54.1 ± 0.69%; BEP 1 μmol/L, 61.2 ± 1.19%*; BEP 2.5 μmol/L, 78.1 ± 1.67%*; BEP 5 μmol/L, 91.2 ± 1.20%*; mean ± SEM; *p < 0.05 vs. untreated), and inhibited the reactive oxygen species surge upon glutamate exposure. The protection was antagonized with co‐application of the superoxide dismutase mimetic M40401, but not with reduced glutathione, catalase, or with the mitoKATP blocker 5‐hydroxydecanoate. Furthermore, BEP treatment resulted in increased levels of phosphorylated protein kinase C, manganese‐dependent superoxide dismutase, glutathione peroxidase, and Bcl‐2. Our results indicate that BEP induces delayed neuronal preconditioning which is dependent on superoxide generation but perhaps not on direct mitoKATP activation.
Minimal role for caspase 12 in the unfolded protein response in oligodendrocytes in vivo
Authors: Sharma Ramaswamy , Gow Alexander
Published: March 2007

The unfolded protein response (UPR) is implicated in many neurodegenerative disorders including Alzheimer, Parkinson and prion diseases, and the leukodystrophy, Pelizaeus–Merzbacher disease (PMD). Critical features of degeneration in several of these diseases involve activation of cell death pathways in various neural cell populations, and the initiator caspase 12 has been proposed to play a central role. Accordingly, pharmacological strategies to inhibit caspase 12 activity have received remarkable attention in anticipation of effecting disease amelioration. Our investigation in animal models of PMD demonstrates that caspase 12 is activated following accumulation of mutant proteins in oligodendrocytes; however, eliminating caspase 12 activity does not alter pathophysiology with respect to levels of apoptosis, oligodendrocyte function, disease severity or life span. We conclude that caspase 12 activation by UPR signaling is an epiphenomenon that plays little discernable role in the loss of oligodendrocytes in vivo and may portend the inconsequence of caspase 12 to the pathophysiology of other protein conformational diseases.
Personnel in cadaveric organ transplant‐related hospital units faced with living liver donation: an attitudinal study in a Spanish hospital with a cadaveric and living liver transplant programme
Authors: Ríos A. , Ramírez P. , Rodríguez M. M. , Martínez L. , Montoya M. J. , Lucas D. , Parrilla P.
Published: March 2007

Introduction: The attitude of health‐care personnel is fundamental for the procurement of transplant organs, especially in those services that are related to transplantation. The objective of this study is to find out the attitude towards living liver donation among personnel who work in transplant‐related services in a hospital with a cadaveric and living organ transplant programme.

Materials and Methods: A random sample was taken and stratified by type of service and job category (N=330), in services related to transplantation (procurement units, transplant units and follow‐up units). Attitude was evaluated using a validated psychosocial questionnaire. Control group: a random sample of personnel in clinical services that do not have any direct contact with solid organ transplantation. Student's t‐test and the χ2 test complemented by a logistical regression analysis were applied in the statistical analysis.

Results: The questionnaire completion rate was 94% (N=309). Only 10% (N=31) of respondents are in favour of living liver donation if it is unrelated, but another 67% (N=207) are in favour if donation were for a relative. Of the rest, 11% (N=33) do not agree with living liver donation and the remaining 12% (N=38) are undecided. In the control group, attitude towards living liver donation is favourable in 82% (N=344) (P=0.0908). An analysis of the variables that influence attitude shows that the following factors are significantly related: (1) age (P=0.037); (2) a respondent's belief that he or she may need a transplant in the future (P=0.013); and (3) if it were necessary, a willingness to receive a donated living liver organ (P=0.000). Of the variables that have the most influence on attitude towards living liver donation in the bivariate analysis, there are two variables that are statistically significant in the multivariate analysis: (1) age and (2) willingness to accept a donated living liver organ from a relative if it were needed (OR=14.19). There is also a close relationship between attitude towards living liver donation and attitude towards living kidney donation (P=0.000)

Conclusions: There is a favourable attitude towards living liver donation among personnel in units related to the transplantation and donation process, although it is less favourable than expected. Therefore, it will be necessary to increase this level of acceptance and to improve information about the matter if we want to encourage living liver donation. The youngest workers in these units are those who are most in favour, which leads us to believe that there is a hopeful future for this type of liver donation that is so necessary given the cadaveric organ deficit.
Profound suppression of chronic hepatitis C following superinfection with hepatitis B virus
Authors: Coffin Carla S. , Mulrooney‐Cousins Patricia M. , Lee Samuel S. , Michalak Tomasz I. , Swain Mark G.
Published: March 2007

Background: Hepatitis B virus (HBV) and hepatitis C virus (HCV) share similar transmission routes; thus, coinfection is frequent. The consequences of acute HBV infection in patients with chronic hepatitis C are unknown.

Methods: We describe a 47‐year‐old male with chronic hepatitis C who acquired HBV and then spontaneously and apparently completely cleared HCV but developed chronic hepatitis B. Five serum samples collected over 14 months and lymphoid cells obtained after acquiring HBV were tested for HCV and HBV by both standard assays and ultra‐sensitive polymerase chain reaction/nucleic acid hybridization (PCR/NAH) (sensitivity ∼2 IU/ml).

Results: After superinfection with HBV, HBV surface antigen‐positive chronic hepatitis developed with readily detectable HBV DNA. All sera collected after acquisition of HBV, which tested negative for HCV RNA by standard laboratory assay, were positive for HCV genomes when analysed by PCR/NAH. Peripheral lymphoid cells carried HBV DNA and covalently closed circular DNA, but were negative for HCV.

Conclusions: This is the first reported case of profound suppression of chronic hepatitis C after superinfection with HBV and establishment of chronic hepatitis B. It is hypothesized that HBV infection precipitated generalized and/or virus‐specific cellular immune responses that profoundly suppressed HCV replication and yet failed to inhibit progression to chronic hepatitis B.
The Bounded Rationality Bias in Managerial Valuation of Real Options: Theory and Evidence from IT Projects*
Authors: Tiwana Amrit , Wang Jijie , Keil Mark , Ahluwalia Punit
Published: March 2007

Although real options theory normatively suggests that managers should associate real options with project value, little field research has been conducted to test whether they suffer from systematic biases in doing so. We draw on the notion of bounded rationality in managerial decision making to explore this understudied phenomenon. Using data collected from managers in 88 firms, we show that managers exhibit what we label the bounded rationality bias in their assessments: They associate real options with value only when a project's easily quantifiable benefits are low, but fail to do so when they are high. The study also contributes the first set of empirical measures for all six types of real options. The study contributes to managerial practice by identifying the conditions under which managers must be vigilant about inadvertently neglecting real options and by providing a simple approach for assessing real options in technology development projects.
Dynamic Financial Analysis: Classification, Conception, and Implementation
Authors: Eling Martin , Parnitzke Thomas
Published: March 2007

Abstract

Dynamic financial analysis (DFA) models an insurance company's cash flow in order to forecast assets, liabilities, and ruin probabilities, as well as full balance sheets for different scenarios. In the past years DFA has become an important tool for the analysis of an insurance company's financial situation. In particular, it is a valuable instrument for solvency control, which is now becoming important as regulators encourage insurance companies to determine risk‐based capital using internal risk management models. This article considers three aspects: First, we discuss the reasons why DFA is of special importance today. Second, we classify DFA in the context of asset liability management and analyze its fundamental concepts. As a result, we identify several implementation problems that have not yet been adequately considered in the literature, and therefore our third aspect is a discussion of these areas. In particular we consider the generation of random numbers and the modeling of nonlinear dependences in a DFA framework.
Social Security Bonds and the Concept of Reciprocal Responsibility
Authors: Holahan William L. , Kroncke Charles O.
Published: March 2007

Abstract

The current debate and parallel monologues about Social Security suffer from a failure to distinguish between money and bonds. Consequently, it is impossible to discuss intelligently the solvency or affordability of the Social Security system. In this article, we present a new graph that clarifies this crucial distinction. Bonds are evidence of loans to be repaid on a schedule. These loans can be strictly monetary, as in the private sector, or a mix of monetary and moral, as in the intergenerational reciprocity of obligations. To treat public sector bonds as strictly monetary is economic error as fundamental as denying the existence of public goods.
The Problem of Asymmetric Information: A Simulation of How Insurance Markets Can Be Inefficient
Authors: Eckles David L. , Halek Martin
Published: March 2007

Abstract

The concept of adverse selection is discussed in virtually all academic insurance textbooks. However, undergraduate students have rarely had the experience of purchasing insurance which may limit their ability to fully comprehend the market inefficiencies created by asymmetric information. We provide a classroom simulation of an insurance market that highlights the concept of adverse selection and its impact on the insurance industry. Participants are asked to make insurance decisions in pursuit of their own interests under different market conditions. In the absence of perfect information, participants actively observe that a socially optimal outcome does not occur.
In situ Transmission Electron Microscopy Observation of Multiple Phase Transition in BaGd2Mn2O7
Authors: Nakano Hiromi , Ishizawa Nobuo , Kamegashira Naoki , Yashima Masatomo
Published: March 2007

In situ transmission electron microscopy observation revealed that BaGd2Mn2O7 undergoes several phase transitions upon heating. The orthorhombic Pnnm phase (I) at room temperature was transformed into a tetragonal P42/mnm (II) at around 420 K via an intermediate phase. On further heating, the other phase (III) nucleated in the phase II matrix at 623 K and grew until covering the whole inspected region by 723 K. Phase III has a 1.5% lattice mismatch along c compared with phase II, and presumably has a monoclinic symmetry. The transition between II and III was of the first order.
Structural and Electric Properties of Sol–Gel‐Derived Ba0.9Sr0.1TiO3 Multilayers
Authors: Hong X. K. , Hu G. J. , Chen J. , Chu J. H. , Dai N.
Published: March 2007

Crack‐free Ba0.9Sr0.1TiO3 (BST) and Mn‐doped Ba0.9Sr0.1TiO3 (BSTM) multilayers with thickness over 2 μm have been prepared by chemical solution deposition based on one single precursor. Both multilayers exhibit good performance as Bragg reflectors. Mn doping tends to suppress the leakage current in BST multilayers effectively by smoothing the layers and the reduction of the charge carries. The Mn‐doped BST multilayer displays an excellent ferroelectric property, with an average remnant polarization (Pr+–Pr−)/2 of 12.69 μC/cm2 and an average coercive field (E+–E−)/2 of about 72.95 kV/cm under an applied field of 440 kV/cm.
Synthesis of Nanocrystalline KTiOPO4 Powder by Chemical Method
Authors: Biswas Soumya Kanti , Pathak Amita , Pramanik Panchanan
Published: March 2007

Nanocrystalline potassium titanyl phosphate (KTiOPO4, KTP) powder with average particle size of 25–50 nm has been synthesized from aqueous solution of titanyl chloride through coprecipitation method, using aqueous solution of potassium dihydrogen phosphate and potassium carbonate in the presence of triethanolamine (TEA) as a capping agent. In the presence of tetrapotassium pyrophosphate as a capping agent it produces the particles having average size around 70–80 nm. The same sample with average particle size ∼250 nm has also been synthesized without any capping agent. Initial amorphous phase after precipitation requires heat treatment at 500–550°C for 2 h to generate nanocrystalline powders of KTP. Formation of the KTP phase in the heat‐treated samples has been confirmed through X‐ray powder diffraction, thermogravimetric and differential thermal analysis, 31P Magic angle spinning‐nuclear magnetic resonance and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy studies, and surface area measurements.
Rapid Densification of Nano‐Grained Alumina by High Temperature and Pressure with a Very High Heating Rate
Authors: Meng Fancheng , Fu Zhengyi , Zhang Jinyong , Wang Hao , Wang Weimin , Wang Yucheng , Zhang Qingjie
Published: March 2007

A novel method for producing full‐dense nano‐grained alumina was reported. The heat generated by the combustion reaction (or self‐propagating high‐temperature synthesis (SHS)) was applied to act as a heating source. An alumina compact was loaded inside the combustion reactants. After reaction, the temperature of the alumina compact was increased at a heating rate of 1600°C/min. A large mechanical pressure was applied, when the temperature reached the maximum. Two kinds of α‐Al2O3 powders (200 and 600 nm) were used as the raw materials. The rapid densification process was performed within 2 min. Microstructure analysis indicated that the grains had no significant growth.
History, Emotion, and the Body: Mourning in Post‐9/11 Fiction
Authors: Bird Benjamin
Published: March 2007

This article examines the way in which a number of US fiction writers have responded to the political challenge of 9/11 in ways that counter the militaristic response of their government and insist on the necessity for a process of mourning and self‐examination that military action is intended to displace. The fictions I examine emphasize the need for the contemporary US to sharpen its sense of history, in particular, to develop greater understanding of the prehistory of 9/11 and reconsider the past in light of the Al‐Qaeda attacks. They insist on the need for reflection on the body, both as a site of trauma and as a palimpsest‐like history of the human subject, which may be examined for clues to the interrelation of past and present. Moreover, they insist on the need to consider the close connection between American corporations and violence, especially that which is abetted or provoked by corporations in the wider culture. I include discussion of four prose works: ‘Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close’, by Jonathan Safran Foer; ‘The Good Life’, by Jay McInerney; ‘Cosmopolis’, by Don DeLillo, and ‘The Suffering Channel’, by David Foster Wallace, a novella‐length piece from his last collection of stories ‘Oblivion’.
‘Where Sydney Cove Her Lucid Bosom Swells’: The Songs of an Imagined ‘Nation’, 1786–1789
Authors: Garvey Nathan
Published: March 2007

This essay won the 2006 Literature Compass Graduate Essay Prize, Eighteenth Century Section.

In the years between the mooting of the Botany Bay scheme (1786), and the news of the founding of the New South Wales penal colony reaching England (1789), a number of songs were written which envisaged the Botany Bay colony as a new ‘nation’. While the survival of many of these pieces in broadside ballad form have led to their being placed within the Australian ‘transportation ballad’ tradition, they were not folk ballads but popular songs which generally used the themes of transportation and the penal colony to make satirical or comic comment on contemporary English politics and society. This article examines the contexts and meanings of these songs, examining their reception, audiences and publishing history, in an effort to question their placement within the Australian ballad tradition, to interrogate the views expressed on nation‐building and on the structure of eighteenth‐century British society, and to examine the connections between Georgian elite and popular cultures.