bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Assessment of feline abdominal adipose tissue using computed tomography
Authors: Lee Hyeyeon , Kim Mieun , Choi Mihyun , Lee Namsoon , Chang Jinhwa , Yoon Junghee , Choi Mincheol
Published: November 2010

Obesity is a common nutritional disorder in cats and it increases the risk factors for various diseases. The aim of this study is to suggest a method for the evaluation of feline obesity using computed tomography. The attenuation range from −156 to −106 was determined as the range of feline abdominal adipose tissue. With this range, total (TAT), visceral (VAT) and subcutaneous (SAT) adipose tissues were measured. The best correlation between the adipose tissue in cross-sectional image and entire abdomen volume was obtained at the L3 and L5 levels. The mean VAT/SAT ratio was 1.18±0.32, which was much higher than in humans. The cats with an overweight body condition had a significantly lower VAT/SAT ratio than cats with an ideal body condition. This technique may contribute to both the clinical diagnosis and the experimental study of feline obesity.
Morbidity of insured Swedish cats during 1999–2006 by age, breed, sex, and diagnosis
Authors: Egenvall Agneta , Bonnett Brenda N. , Häggström Jens , Holst Bodil Ström , Möller Lotta , Nødtvedt Ane
Published: November 2010

The aim of the study was to describe patterns of morbidity, as reflected by reimbursed claims for veterinary care among cats covered by a Swedish insurance company during 1999–2006. The annual incidence rates of having at least one veterinary care event were calculated overall and stratified by sex, age, breed, diagnosis and urban/other location. The total rate was 875 (95% CI 858–892) cats with claims per 10,000 cat-years at risk. The Siamese, Burmese, and the Abyssinians had high rates of claims, compared to the Norwegian Forest cat, the Maine Coon, the European Shorthair and domestic cats. The most common causes for insurance claims were trauma, gastrointestinal and lower urinary tract problems and there was substantial breed, sex and age variation for certain problems. For example, among cats under 9 years of age, the rate for lower urinary tract problems was 2–3 times higher in males than females.
Batfishes from the Eocene of Monte Bolca
Authors: CARNEVALE GIORGIO , PIETSCH THEODORE W.
Published: November 2010

Batfishes of the family Ogcocephalidae are derived lophiiform fishes characterized by having a dorsoventrally depressed body and a distinctive series of morphological features. A new genus and species of batfish,Tarkus squireigen. et sp. nov., is described from the Eocene (Ypresian) limestone of the celebrated locality of Monte Bolca, Italy. It is based on five well-preserved specimens that display a unique combination of characters (body moderately depressed; disk rounded in outline; caudal peduncle thick and stout; frontals with median groove for the illicium; teeth present on jaws and palate; illicial bone pitted and trilobate; body covered with thick slightly overlapping tubercles) that support its recognition as a new genus of the family Ogcocephalidae.Tarkusgen. nov. is also characterized by having distally branched pectoral-fin rays, a condition unique within the family, and by a peculiar structure of the axial skeleton, which possibly represents the plesiomorphic state for the ogcocephalids.Tarkusgen. nov. shows a certain degree of phenetic affinity with the extant shallow-water batfish generaHalieutaeaand (more particularly)Halieutichthys. The specimens of this taxon are the first articulated skeletal remains of the Ogcocephalidae ever recorded as fossils, also representing the oldest members of the family known to date. The general structure of the skeleton ofTarkusgen. nov. provides unambiguous evidence that the existence of the modern ogcocephalid body plan was already established in the early Eocene, and probably originated well before that period. Palaeoenvironmental considerations suggest thatTarkusgen. nov. was a tropical batfish that inhabited the inner-shelf palaeobiotopes of the central-western Tethys.
Intratympanic injection with dexamethasone for sudden sensorineural hearing loss
Authors: Tsai Y-J , Liang J-G , Wu W-B , Ding Y-F , Chiang R P-Y , Wu S-M
Published: November 2010

Objective:

To investigate the efficacy of intratympanic steroid therapy in adults with sudden sensorineural hearing loss, and to analyse the factors associated with treatment outcome.

Design:

Retrospective study of patients undergoing intratympanic steroid injection for sudden sensorineural hearing loss between 1 January 2006 and 30 June 2007 at a teaching hospital in Taipei, Taiwan.

Results:

Patients who received intratympanic steroid therapy within seven days of disease onset achieved a significantly better response rate (76.1 per cent), compared with the delayed treatment group (50 per cent). The total response rate, after four steroid injections, was 68.9 per cent. Patients with low and mid-frequency hearing loss were more responsive to steroid treatment. Vertigo was a negative prognostic factor for recovery. There were no long-term sequelae of intratympanic steroid treatment.

Conclusion:

Intratympanic steroid injection may be a simple and effective treatment for patients with sudden sensorineural hearing loss.
OLIVER CROMWELL AND THE PROTECTORATE
Authors: Worden Blair
Published: November 2010

It is often said that if Oliver Cromwell had lived longer the Puritan Revolution could have survived. The monarchical component of protectoral rule, and the protector's endeavours to broaden the base of his regime, are taken to have signalled a return towards normality and thus towards stability. That mood has been contrasted with the self-destruction of the revolution in the two years after Cromwell's death, a period of twilit anarchy which only the restoration of the Stuarts could end. That interpretation has its points but is misleadingly one-sided. The protectorate had frailties which it never overcame. It failed to live down its origins in the military coups of 1653. Those episodes affronted principles of civilian rule and parliamentary supremacy which commanded widespread support but which have been obscured by the ‘revisionist’ trend of parliamentary history. Though he aimed at ‘healing and settling’, the protector healed little and settled nothing. His attempts to woo mainstream opinion were unsuccessful. In so far as he won its compliance or tolerance, the achievement was conditional upon his readiness to submit to the principles of rule which his seizure of power had broken. It was a condition he could not or would not meet. By the end of his life, military obstruction to civilian and parliamentary rule had reduced his regime to paralysis, and had deepened the divisions between civilian and military aspirations that would soon bring down his successor and would destroy each of the fleeting regimes that followed.
THE INSTITUTIONALISATION OF ART IN EARLY VICTORIAN ENGLAND
Authors: Smith Charles Saumarez
Published: November 2010

This article explores the political and intellectual circumstances which led to the efflorescence of cultural institutions between the foundation of the National Gallery in 1824 and the National Portrait Gallery in 1856: the transformation of institutions of public culture from haphazard and rather amateurish institutions to ones which were well organised, with a strong sense of social mission, and professionally managed. This transformation was in part owing to a group of exceptionally talented individuals, including Charles Eastlake, Henry Cole and George Scharf, accepting appointment in institutions to foster the public understanding of art. But it was not simply a matter of individual agency, but also of coordinated action by parliament, led by a group of MPs, including the Philosophical Radicals. It was much influenced by the example of Germany, filtered through extensive translation of German art historical writings and visits by writers and politicians to Berlin and Munich. It was also closely related to the philosophy of the utilitarians, who had a strong belief in the political and social benefits of the study of art. Only the Royal Academy refused the embrace of state control.
‘FACTS NOTORIOUS TO THE WHOLE COUNTRY’: THE POLITICAL BATTLE OVER IRISH POOR LAW REFORM IN THE 1860s
Authors: Crossman Virginia
Published: November 2010

This paper focuses on the campaign to reform the Irish poor law in the 1860s. Debate on poor law reform highlighted fundamental divisions over the principles underlying the New Poor Law as well as widespread dissatisfaction with the poor law system in Ireland particularly within the Catholic community. Led by the leading Catholic cleric, Archbishop Paul Cullen, critics of the Irish poor law sought to lessen reliance on the institution of the workhouse and to expand outdoor relief thus bringing the system closer to its English model. The poor law authorities supported by the Irish landed elite fought successfully to maintain the limited and restrictive nature of the system fearful of the consequences of extending local discretion. The paper reveals the contested nature of poor relief both in principle and in practice, and the centrality of social issues to Irish political debate in decades after the Great Famine.
Religious Faith as Experiencing-As
Authors: Hick John
Published: November 2010

The particular sense or use of the word ‘faith’ that I am seeking to understand is that which occurs when the religious man, and more specifically the Christian believer, speaks of ‘knowing God’ and goes on to explain that this is a knowing of God by faith. Or again, when asked how he professes to know that God, as spoken about in Christianity, is real, his answer is ‘by faith’. Our question is: what does ‘faith’ mean in these contexts? And what I should like to be able to do is to make a descriptive (or if you like phenomenological) analysis that could be acceptable to both believers and non-believers. A Christian and an atheist or agnostic should equally be able to say, Yes, that is what, phenomenologically, faith is – though they would of course then go on to say radically different things about its value.
Suicide
Authors: Holland R. F.
Published: November 2010

I am concerned with the subject as an ethico-religious problem. Is suicide all right or isn't it; and if it isn't, why not?

The question should not be assumed to be susceptible of an answer in the way the question whether arsenic is poisonous is susceptible of an answer (which would be the answer to the question). Moreover in the case of arsenic the question what it is, and the question whether it is poisonous, are separable questions: you can know that arsenic is poisonous without having analysed its nature. But to know or believe that suicide is objectionable is to have analysed its nature or construed its significance in one way rather than another.
Old Wine in New Bottles? Tillich and Spinoza
Authors: de Deugd Cornelius
Published: November 2010

I Shall begin by making a brief comparison between Spinoza and Tillich and then, in the second half of my paper, ask a few questions, and discuss some details, with regard to the nature of the type of thinking they exhibit which, in the broadest sense of the word, is metaphysical. My interest is not purely historical, although I believe that historical comparisons can throw light on what very many of our contemporaries have in mind. In fact, this is in part my justification for this paper, and it is perhaps as well, at the outset, to make clear the point of view from which I propose to look into the matter.
The Person God Is
Authors: Bertocci Peter A.
Published: November 2010

Since my childhood I have given up several conceptions of God. Each time there was quite a wrench, for, in my own limited way, I had been walking with my ‘living’ God. In my philosophical and theological studies, I have been impressed by the fact that one deep-souled thinker found the living God of another ‘dead’. And then I realised that a God is ‘living’ or ‘dead’ insofar as ‘He’ answers questions that are vital to the given believer.
Locke, Steiner and Understanding
Authors: Stewart M. A.
Published: November 2010

Professor Parkinson in his lecture on ‘The Translation Theory of Understanding’ (pp. 1–19 above) discusses two stages in the development of a false but influential tradition which he finds common to Locke's Essay Concerning Human Understanding and Professor George Steiner's After Babel. He is not, of course, alleging any direct historical influence of the one on the other; neither is he principally addressing Steiner's book as a whole, but rather the account of understanding upon which it appears to be founded. I should like to take his paper as the starting-point for my own, but begin from a somewhat broader view than he does of the legacy of Locke. With Parkinson's constructive position I have no quarrel, and I shall not address myself directly to it.
On Talking Philosophy with Children
Authors: Matthews Gareth B.
Published: November 2010

When our oldest daughter, Sarah, was four years old the family kitten, Fluffy, contracted fleas. There ensued a primitive ritual of flea extermination that touched off the following discussion:

Sarah: ‘Daddy, how did Fluffy get fleas?’

Me: ‘Oh, I suspect she was playing with a cat that already had fleas. The fleas on that cat jumped off on to Fluffy.’

Sarah (after a moment's reflection): ‘And how did that cat get fleas?’

Me (warming to the regress): ‘Oh, probably from another cat.’

Sarah (impatiently now): ‘But, Daddy, it can't go on and on like that forever. The only thing that goes on and on like that forever is numbers.’
Symbols
Authors: Britton K. W.
Published: November 2010

I wish to discuss symbols concerned with the way we feel about the world and the way we conduct our lives in consequence of those feelings. Our conduct is guided by commands and instructions which for some reason we have to obey. We are guided by our knowledge of the world. The symbols I wish to discuss express and excite desires and preferences and that is how they affect our conduct.
Mind and Brain: The Identity Hypothesis
Authors: Hirst R. J.
Published: November 2010

Life Science Library now claims to examine ‘the most complex of all biological organs: the human mind’, and scientists quite commonly make no distinction between mind and brain — they delight in talking about the brain classifying, decoding, perceiving, deciding or giving orders. And while resisting the conceptual muddle involved in talking of the brain doing what persons do, the identity hypothesis tries to provide a philosophically respectable basis for the equation of mind and brain, maintaining that ‘mind’ is just a term for a group of activities and dispositions, and that these in turn are in some sense to be identified with brain activities or traces. On the other hand, from the point of view of religion and traditional philosophy the suggestion is completely unplausible — creative or inventive thought, and aesthetic, moral or religious experiences seem so far removed from mechanical or physiological processes that a good deal of softening up is necessary if any kind of identity theory is to get a fair hearing. This softening up is best carried out by considering the difficulties in the main rival philosophical view, interactionism.
Ethics and Language
Authors: Warnock G. J.
Published: November 2010

In a broadcast talk delivered in 1956, the late J. L. Austin began by outlining to his listeners his now well-known concept of ‘the performative utterance and its infelicities’; and at the end of that first section of his talk he made this comment: ‘That equips us, we may suppose, with two shining new tools to crack the crib of reality maybe. It also equips us – it always does – with two shining new skids under our metaphysical feet’. In this talk I intend to illustrate a particular respect in which, in moral philosophy, the partial pessimism of Austin's comment has proved abundantly justified. I shall try to show how in this field one shining new tool has led in fact to the skidding of moral philosophers' feet – how one bright idea (an idea, as it happens, very closely akin to that which Austin himself was discussing) has led some influential theorists off in the wrong direction, and the rest of us back in the end, with rather little gained, to a position not far from that of our predecessors of about a hundred years ago. This dismal story, I should in justice make clear at the outset, is not that of the whole of moral philosophy, not even of moral philosophy in English; I shall be tracing only one out of several concurrent lines of thought, but the line which I shall trace will be, I think, readily recognised as having been, and perhaps as still being, more conspicuous than most.
Expression
Authors: Wollheim Richard
Published: November 2010

Whether the word ‘passion’, as indicating the suffering or affection from without of a soul, is by now no more than a dead metaphor, surviving from an antique conception of the mind; whether, indeed, there is any way open to us of determining the passivity or otherwise of our inner life, apart, that is, from how it strikes us, from how we are prompted to describe it, are not questions that I can take up this evening. It is enough for my purpose that for much of the time our feelings, our emotions, our inclinations are as fluctuating or as imperious as if they were not totally under our control. We are elated: we are dejected: we get angry, and then our anger gives place to a feeling of absurdity: we remain in love with someone who is lost to us but whom we cannot renounce: we are interested in something, and suddenly we are bored, or frightened that we will be bored: we see a stranger, someone who is nothing to us, who is poor or crippled, and we feel guilt: someone does something wrong or foolish, and we are unaccountably transported by laughter, by ‘sudden glory’ as Hobbes called it, knowing what it was about, and then, as unaccountably, we are thrown down. Man is, in Montaigne's famous phrase, une chose ondoyante, a creature of inner change and fickleness.
Proficiency with tense and aspect concordance: children with SLI and their typically developing peers
Authors: OWEN AMANDA J.
Published: November 2010

Children with SLI have difficulty with tense and agreement morphology. This study examined the proficiency of these children and their typically developing peers with the coordination of tense and aspect markers in two-clause sentences. Scenarios designed to elicit past tense were presented to five- to eight-year-old children with SLI (n=14) and their normally developing age- and MLU-matched peers (n=24) to examine the omission of tense markers in complex sentences (Owen, 2010). Responses with overt tense/aspect morphology in both clauses were recoded for how similar the use of tense and aspect was across the two clauses. Tense and aspect concordance was high across both sentence types, but aspect-only mismatches were more common than tense mismatches. The three groups of children did not differ from each other on any comparisons. Coordination of temporal information in sentences with more than one time marker does not appear to be especially difficult for these children.
Faith and Goodness
Authors: Stump Eleonore
Published: November 2010

Recent work on the subject of faith has tended to focus on the epistemology of religious belief, considering such issues as whether beliefs held in faith are rational and how they may be justified. Richard Swinburne, for example, has developed an intricate explanation of the relationship between the propositions of faith and the evidence for them. Alvin Plantinga, on the other hand, has maintained that belief in God may be properly basic, that is, that a belief that God exists can be part of the foundation of a rational noetic structure. This sort of work has been useful in drawing attention to significant issues in the epistemology of religion, but these approaches to faith seem to me also to deepen some long-standing perplexities about traditional Christian views of faith.
LINEAR ORTHOGONALITY PRESERVERS OF HILBERT BUNDLES
Authors: LEUNG CHI-WAI , NG CHI-KEUNG , WONG NGAI-CHING
Published: November 2010

A ℂ-linear map θ (not necessarily bounded) between two Hilbert C*-modules is said to be ‘orthogonality preserving’ if 〈θ(x),θ(y)〉=0 whenever 〈x,y〉=0. We prove that if θ is an orthogonality preserving map from a full Hilbert C0(Ω)-module E into another Hilbert C0(Ω) -module F that satisfies a weaker notion of C0 (Ω) -linearity (called ‘localness’), then θ is bounded and there exists ϕ∈Cb (Ω)+ such that 〈θ(x),θ(y)〉=ϕ⋅〈x,y〉 for all x,y∈E.
Cyclic ground tilt associated with the 2004–2008 eruption of Mount St. Helens
Authors: Anderson K. , Lisowski M. , Segall P.
Published: November 2010

The long‐term behavior of the 2004–2008 effusive eruption of Mount St. Helens was characterized by a gradual decline in the rates of seismicity, dome growth, and broad‐scale ground deformation, but shallow near‐periodic “drumbeat” earthquakes over timescales of minutes indicated episodic short‐term behavior. In part to better characterize this behavior and any associated ground deformation, a network of tiltmeters was installed and recorded thousands of cyclic tilt events within the crater. The duration of these events, from minutes to hours, was too long for them to be directly caused by the drumbeat seismicity. Tilt events were characterized by a recoverable, asymmetric pattern of rapid tilt away from the vent followed by a more gradual reversal, were highly correlated between different tiltmeters in the crater, sometimes occurred in association with volcanic seismicity, and ceased at the end of the eruption. Tilt vectors converged on a point just south of the center of the preexisting 1980s lava dome, and the absence of detectable tilt outside the crater suggests a shallow source (<1 km). We examine several models, including cycles of conduit pressurization and plug slip or gas loss and stick‐slip behavior on the interface between the ascending plug and the 1980s lava dome. The small number of stations within the crater prevents a unique determination of source type or geometry, but results are consistent with a mechanism involving extrusion of the semisolid dacite plug and/or cycles of conduit pressurization.
Convective and wave signatures in ozone profiles over the equatorial Americas: Views from TC4 2007 and SHADOZ
Authors: Thompson Anne M. , MacFarlane Alaina M. , Morris Gary A. , Yorks John E. , Miller Sonya K. , Taubman Brett F. , Verver Gé , Vömel Holger , Avery Melody A. , Hair Johnathan W. , Diskin Glenn S. , Browell Edward V. , Canossa Jéssica Valverde , Kucsera Tom L. , Klich Christopher A. , Hlavka Dennis L.
Published: November 2010

During the TC4 (Tropical Composition, Clouds, and Climate Coupling) campaign in July–August 2007, daily ozonesondes were launched over coastal Las Tablas, Panamá (7.8°N, 80°W) and several times per week at Alajuela, Costa Rica (10°N, 84°W). Wave activity, detected most prominently in 100–300 m thick ozone laminae in the tropical tropopause layer, occurred in 50% (Las Tablas) and 40% (Alajuela) of the soundings. These layers, associated with vertical displacements and classified as gravity waves (GW, possibly Kelvin waves) by laminar identification, occur with similar structure and frequency over the Paramaribo (5.8°N, 55°W) and San Cristóbal (0.92°S, 90°W) Southern Hemisphere Additional Ozonesondes (SHADOZ) sites. GW‐labeled laminae in individual soundings correspond to cloud outflow as indicated by DC‐8 tracers and other aircraft data, confirming convective initiation of equatorial waves. Layers representing quasi‐horizontal displacements, referred to as Rossby waves by the laminar technique, are robust features in soundings from 23 July to 5 August. The features associated with Rossby waves correspond to extratropical influence, possibly stratospheric, and sometimes to pollution transport. Comparison of Las Tablas and Alajuela ozone budgets with 1999–2007 Paramaribo and San Cristóbal soundings shows that TC4 is typical of climatology for the equatorial Americas. Overall during TC4, convection and associated waves appear to dominate ozone transport in the tropical tropopause layer; intrusions from the extratropics occur throughout the free troposphere.
Non adiabatic electron behavior through a supercritical perpendicular collisionless shock: Impact of the shock front turbulence
Authors: Savoini P. , Lembege B.
Published: November 2010

Adiabatic and nonadiabatic electrons transmitted through a supercritical perpendicular shock wave are analyzed with the help of test particle simulations based on field components issued from 2 − D full‐particle simulation. A previous analysis (Savoini et al., 2005) based on 1 − D shock profile, including mainly a ramp (no apparent foot) and defined at a fixed time, has identified three distinct electron populations: adiabatic, overadiabatic, and underadiabatic, respectively, identified by μds/μus ≈ 1, >1 and <1, where μus and μds are the magnetic momenta in the upstream and downstream regions. Presently, this study is extended by investigating the impact of the time evolution of 2 − D shock front dynamics on these three populations. Analysis of individual time particle trajectories is performed and completed by statistics based on the use of different upstream velocity distributions (spherical shell of radius vshell and a Maxwellian with thermal velocity vthe). In all statistics, the three electron populations are clearly recovered. Two types of shock front nonstationarity are analyzed. First, the impact of the nonstationarity along the shock normal (due to the front self‐reformation only) strongly depends on the values of vshell or vthe. For low values, the percentages of adiabatic and overadiabatic electrons are almost comparable but become anticorrelated under the filtering impact of the self‐reformation; the percentage of the underadiabatic population remains almost unchanged. In contrast, for large values, this impact becomes negligible and the adiabatic population alone becomes dominant. Second, when 2 − D nonstationarity effects along the shock front (moving rippling) are fully included, all three populations are strongly diffused, leading to a larger heating; the overadiabatic population becomes largely dominant (and even larger than the adiabatic one) and mainly contributes to the energy spectrum.
Role of p38 MAPK pathway in BMP4-mediated Smad-dependent premature senescence in lung cancer cells
Authors: Su Dongmei , Peng Xiue , Zhu Shan , Huang Ying , Dong Zhixiong , Zhang Yu , Zhang Jianchao , Liang Qian , Lu Jun , Huang Baiqu
Published: November 2010

BMP4 (bone morphogenetic protein 4) is a multifunctional cytokine known to exert its biological effects through a variety of signalling pathways. The diverse function of BMP4 appears to be due to multiple pathways activated by BMP4 itself. Our previous studies have demonstrated that BMP4 is able to drive lung cancer cells into a process of premature senescence; however, the signalling pathways, as well their interplays and roles associated with this process, are not well understood. To address these questions, in the present study we investigated the signalling and molecular mechanisms underlying the BMP4-induced senescence, and our data demonstrated that p38 MAPK (mitogen-activated protein kinase) and Smad pathways were necessary for this process. Meanwhile, the ERK1/2 (extracellular-signal-regulated kinase 1/2) pathway, which is required for senescence, was not activated by BMP4 in the lung cancer cell line NCI-H460. We also showed that the BMP4-responsive R-Smads (receptor-regulated Smads), i.e. Smad1 and Smad5, were necessary for the up-regulation of p16INK4a and p21WAF1/cip1 and for the induction of premature senescence. Furthermore, we found that activation of the p38 MAPK pathway by BMP4 was essential for the full activation of transcription potential of Smad1/5. Overall, the results of the present study implicate a complex co-operation between p38 MAPK and Smad pathways in BMP4-mediated premature senescence.
Thermodynamic structure of a grass fire plume
Authors: Clements Craig B.
Published: November 2010

High-frequency thermocouple measurements were made during an experimental grass fire conducted during ideal weather with overcast and windy conditions. Analysis of the thermodynamic structure of the fire plume showed that a maximum plume temperature of 295.2°C was measured directly above the combustion zone. Plume heating rates were on the order of 26–45 kW m–2 and occurred in the region just above the combustion zone between 10 and 15 m above ground level and were followed by cooling of approximately –37 and –44 kW m–2. The observed cooling was caused by strong entrainment that occurred behind the fire front and plume. The rapid heating and subsequent cooling indicate that the heating caused by a fire front is limited to a small volume around the flaming front and that the rates of heat gain occur for a short duration. The short duration of plume heating is due to the fast rate of spread of the fire front and ambient wind.
Post-fire regeneration strategies and flammability traits of California chaparral shrubs
Authors: Cowan Peter D. , Ackerly David D.
Published: November 2010

Fire behaviour is strongly influenced by fuel load and structure; however, efforts to describe fuel patterns have largely ignored differences among species or post‐fire regeneration strategies. In California chaparral, evergreen shrubs can be grouped into three post‐fire regeneration strategies that correlate with a wide variety of physiological and demographic characteristics including seasonal water status and the timing of reproduction in response to fire. To test if regeneration strategy is also associated with flammability, we compared the fuel loads and structure of two post‐fire seeders, Adenostoma fasciculatum and Ceanothus cuneatus, and two obligate resprouters, Heteromeles arbutifolia and Prunus ilicifolia. Species and post‐fire regeneration strategies did not differ in total fuel per area, or bulk density. The proportion of fuels smaller than 6 mm in diameter differed among species, but not consistently with regeneration strategy. However, species with a post‐fire seeding regeneration strategy had higher proportions of dead branches. We discuss how this difference could have arisen from evolutionary, demographic, or physiological processes.
Lantibiotic-related research and the application thereof.
Authors: Healy B. , O'Mahony J. , Hill C. , Cotter P. D. , Ross R. P.
Published: November 2010

Since the 1925 discovery that strains of Escherichia coli can retard the growth of neighbouring bacteria, the study of bacteriocins has continuously evolved. During the intervening period, a large and heterogeneous collection of these antimicrobial peptides has been isolated from a myriad of sources and numerous investigations have been carried out with a view to harnessing their potency. The most thoroughly investigated class of bacteriocins, the lantibiotics, is the main focus of this review. These antimicrobial peptides inhibit many human and animal pathogens. They have been the focus of considerable efforts to maximize the potential of existing lantibiotics, identify new and better lantibiotics from nature and utilize bioengineering-based approaches to further improve upon existing well-characterized compounds.
Antimicrobial peptides in plants.
Authors: Kaas Q. , Westermann J. C. , Henriques S. T. , Craik D. J.
Published: November 2010

This chapter provides an overview of plant antimicrobial peptides. It mainly focuses on one particular class of plant defence peptides, namely the cyclotides, which have been discovered over the last decade in plants from the Rubiaceae, Violaceae and Cucurbitaceae families. Cyclotides have a head-to-tail cyclized peptide backbone and a cystine knot motif formed from their six conserved cysteine residues, which makes them exceptionally stable. This chapter describes their isolation and characterization, structure and biosynthesis, and applications. The structural stability of cyclotides makes them excellent scaffolds for the engineering of novel therapeutic proteins. Advances in methods for the production of cyclotides and their potential clinical applications are also described.
Non-membrane targets of antimicrobial peptides: novel therapeutic opportunities?
Authors: Cho JuHyun Cho JuHyun , Kim SunChang Kim SunChang
Published: November 2010

The emergence and rapid spread of multiresistant bacteria necessitates every effort to develop new classes of antibiotics with novel targets and modes of action. One potential source of novel antibiotics is the cationic antimicrobial peptides (AMPs), which constitute an important component of the innate immune system in a variety of organisms. Most AMPs exert their activity by interacting with bacterial membranes, thus perturbing their permeability. However, an increasing number of peptides are being described that translocate across the bacterial membranes and act on intracellular targets in bacteria. These non-membrane-active AMPs have been shown to bind and inactivate intracellular biopolymers such as nucleic acids and proteins without destroying or remaining attached to the bacterial membranes. As such, they have emerged as viable candidates for the treatment of human infections. In this chapter, we focus on the six well-characterized, non-membrane-active AMPs (buforin II, PR-39, indolicidin, apidaecin, drosocin and pyrrhocoricin) and discuss whether binding of these peptides to their intracellular targets correlates with bacterial cell death. The potential exploitation of these peptides as human therapeutics is also discussed.
Tribological properties of nanostripe surface structures—a design concept for improving tribological properties
Authors: Miyake K , Nakano M , Korenaga A , Mano H , Ando Y
Published: November 2010

The tribological properties of nanostripe surface structures were investigated using a pin-on-plate tribometer in order to propose a design concept for improving the tribological properties. The authors used four kinds of nanostripe structures consisting of different combinations of materials (Fe–Au, C–SiC, Al–Al2O3 and Al–Pt) fabricated by a process they had previously proposed. The frictional properties of the nanostripe structures depended on the materials that constituted the nanostripes. When the sliding direction in friction tests was parallel to the microgrooves, nanostripe structures remained on all surfaces even after friction tests. Based on the friction test results, the authors considered a design concept for nanostripe structures in tribological applications.
Quantum dynamics of a three-spin-qubit system
Authors: Nguyen Van Hop
Published: November 2010

The quantum dynamics of a system of three interacting identical spin-qubits with the XY Heisenberg exchange interaction between two nearest-neighbour spin-qubits is studied in the Markovian approximation with respect to the interaction between this system and the environment. A Lindblad formula with two physical mechanisms of the decoherence is used. Two different cases are considered simultaneously: three spin-qubits interact with three district baths of excitations or with one and the same common bath of excitations. The systems of rate equations are solved in the first-order approximation with respect to the small constants of decoherence.
Microstructural evolution and some mechanical properties of nanosized yttrium oxide dispersion strengthened 13Cr steel*
Authors: Nguyen Van Tich , Doan Dinh Phuong , Tran Tran BaoTrung , Luong Van Duong , Nguyen Van An , Phan Anh Tu
Published: November 2010

Oxide dispersion strengthened (ODS) steels, manufactured by a mechanical alloying method, during the past few years, appear to be promising candidates for structural applications in nuclear power plants. The purpose of this work is to elaborate the manufacturing processes of ODS 13Cr steel with the addition of 1.0 wt% yttrium oxide through the powder metallurgy route using the high energy ball mill. Microstructural analysis by scanning electron microscopy (SEM), x-ray diffraction (XRD) and hardness testing have been used to optimize the technological parameters of milling, hot isostatic pressing and heat-treatment processes. The steel hardness increases with decreasing particle size of 13Cr ODS steel. The best hardness was obtained from more than 70 h of milling in the two tanks planetary ball mill or 30 h of milling in the one tank planetary ball mill and hot isostatic pressing at 1150 °C . The particle size of the steel is less than 100 nm, and the density and hardness are about 7.3 g 
cm
−3 and 490 HB, respectively.
CdS sensitized ZnO electrodes in photoelectrochemical cells*
Authors: Dang Tran Chien , Pham Duy Long , Nguyen Huu Lam , Pham Van Hoi
Published: November 2010

In this work, ZnO nanocrystalline thin films were obtained by evaporating Zn films using a thermal evaporation technique and then thermal treatment. The results show that after annealing at 300, 350, 400 and 450 °C for 6 h, the obtained ZnO thin films have macro-structures. The results show that at an annealing temperature of 450 °C, the ZnO thin film has the best optical properties for photo-electrodes. The incorporation of cadmium sulfide (CdS) into ZnO macro-structure thin films was investigated. A CdS thin film was vacuum-deposited onto the pre-deposited ZnO film by the thermal evaporation technique. The obtained ZnO and ZnO/CdS bilayer films were characterized by x-ray diffraction (XRD) and field emission scanning electron microscopy (FE-SEM). The ZnO/CdS bilayer film was used in a photoelectrochemical (PEC) cell as a working electrode and a platinum electrode as a counter electrode. The electrolyte solution contained 1 M KCl and 0.1 M
Na
2
S. The results show that the cell with the ZnO/CdS bilayer electrode had significantly improved photoelectric properties in comparison with that of the pure ZnO thin films. The best thickness of the CdS thin film deposited on ITO/ZnO substrates was around 70 nm.
Chemical synthesis and characterization of palladium nanoparticles
Authors: Nguyen Viet Long , Nguyen Duc Chien , Hirata Hirohito , Ohtaki Michitaka , Hayakawa Tomokatsu , Nogami Masayuki
Published: November 2010

This work presents the results of the successful preparation of Pd nanoparticles by the polyol method and the proposed techniques of controlling their size and shape. Polyvinylpyrrolidone (PVP) stabilized Pd nanoparticles of various shapes with the largest sizes in the forms of octahedrons (24 nm), tetrahedrons (22 nm) and cubes (20 nm) have been obtained by alcohol reduction in ethanol with the addition of a hydrochloric acid catalyst. Moreover, PVP–Pd nanoparticles of well-controlled spherical shapes have also been prepared by a modified polyol method. PVP–Pd nanoparticles of cubic, octahedral, tetrahedral and spherical shapes with well-controlled size achieved by using ethylene glycol (EG) as reductant and various inorganic species were also fabricated. In particular, Pd nanorods with sizes of 47 nm and 16 nm formed due to the anisotropic growth mechanism of Pd nanoparticles were found. At the same time, tetrahedral particles of sharp shapes of 120 nm and 70 nm sizes have been observed. A high concentration of inorganic species was used to control the size and shape of the Pd nanoparticles, leading to the appearance of various irregular sizes and shapes. There was evidence of the very sharp corners and edges of tetrahedral and octahedral Pd nanoparticles or others that were formed in the clustering and combination of the seeds of smaller particles.
Left ventricular reverse remodelling, long‐term clinical outcome, and mode of death after cardiac resynchronization therapy
Authors: Foley Paul W.X. , Chalil Shajil , Khadjooi Kayvan , Irwin Nick , Smith Russell E.A. , Leyva Francisco
Published: November 2010

Aims

To determine whether reverse left ventricular (LV) remodelling relates to long‐term outcome, major adverse cardiovascular events (MACE), mode of death, and symptomatic response after cardiac resynchronization therapy (CRT).

Methods and results

Three hundred and twenty‐two patients with heart failure (HF) [age 69.2 ± 10.7years (mean ± standard deviation)] underwent a clinical assessment and echocardiography before and at a maximum of 9.1 years (median: 36.2 months) after CRT device implantation. Left ventricular reverse remodelling (≥15% reduction in LV end‐systolic volume) predicted survival from cardiovascular death (HR: 0.57, P = 0.0066), death from any cause (HR: 0.59, P = 0.0064), death from any cause/hospitalizations for MACE (HR: 0.67, P = 0.0158), and death from pump failure (HR: 0.45, P = 0.0024), independent of beta‐blocker use, HF aetiology, gender, baseline NYHA class, and atrial rhythm. Left ventricular reverse remodelling did not predict sudden cardiac death. At 1 year, the symptomatic response rate (improvement by ≥1 NYHA classes or ≥25% increase in walking distance) was 86% in survivors and 76% in non‐survivors (P = NS). Left ventricular reverse remodelling did not predict symptomatic response and the symptomatic response did not predict clinical outcome.

Conclusion

Left ventricular reverse remodelling is an independent predictor of clinical outcome for up to 5 years after CRT device implantation. Pump failure, rather than sudden cardiac death, is primarily responsible for this association. Left ventricular reverse remodelling, however, does not predict a symptomatic response. There is discordance between the symptomatic response to and the survival benefit of CRT.
Mutation of tagO reveals an essential role for wall teichoic acids in Staphylococcus epidermidis biofilm development
Authors: Holland Linda M. , Conlon Brian , O'Gara James P.
Published: November 2010

TheicaADBC-encoded polysaccharide intercellular adhesin (PIA) and wall teichoic acids (WTA) are structural components ofStaphylococcus epidermidisbiofilms. Deletion oftagO,which encodes the first enzymic step in WTA biosynthesis, had pleiotropic effects, including enhanced intercellular aggregation and autolytic activity, and impaired biofilm production. The biofilm-negative phenotype of thetagOmutant, named TAGO1, was associated with increased cell surface hydrophobicity, lower rates of primary attachment to polystyrene, and reducedicaADBCoperon and PIA expression. Mild acid stress induced by growth in BHI glucose media reduced rates of stationary phase autolysis and enhanced aggregation by TAGO1, leading to formation of a pellicle, which unlike a biofilm was only loosely attached to the polystyrene surface. TAGO1 pellicles were dispersed by proteinase K and DNase I but not sodium metaperiodate, implicating protein and extracellular DNA (eDNA) and not PIA in this phenotype. Substantially increased levels of eDNA were recovered from TAGO1 culture supernatants compared with the wild-type. These data indicate that WTA are essential for the primary attachment and accumulation phases of theS. epidermidisbiofilm phenotype. Furthermore, in the absence of WTA, proteins and eDNA can promote cell aggregation and pellicle formation, which also appear to limit interactions with artificial surfaces.
Exposure to norepinephrine enhances Brachyspira pilosicoli growth, attraction to mucin and attachment to Caco-2 cells
Authors: Naresh Ram , Hampson David J.
Published: November 2010

Brachyspira pilosicoli is an anaerobic intestinal spirochaete that colonizes the large intestine of a variety of species of birds and mammals, including human beings. Colonization may result in a mild colitis and diarrhoea in a condition known as ‘intestinal spirochaetosis’. The catecholamine norepinephrine (NE), which is known to influence the behaviour of many bacterial species, may be present in the colon. The purpose of the current study was to determine whether exposure of B. pilosicoli to NE would influence its in vitro behaviour in assays that may reflect in vivo colonization potential. B. pilosicoli strain 95/1000 was used in all the assays. Addition of NE at a concentration of 0.05 mM to B. pilosicoli growing in anaerobic broth significantly increased spirochaete numbers after 4 days incubation. The effect of higher concentrations of NE was not significant. Exposure to 0.05 mM NE, but not to higher concentrations, also resulted in significantly more spirochaete cells entering capillary tubes containing 4 % porcine gastric mucin than occurred with untreated cultures. When NE was added to chemotaxis buffer in capillary tubes, significantly more spirochaetes were attracted to the buffer containing NE at 0.1, 0.5 and 1.0 mM than to buffer containing 0.05 mM NE, or when no NE was added. Exposure of B. pilosicoli cultures to 0.05 mM NE prior to incubation with Caco-2 monolayers resulted in more attachment to the monolayer than occurred with non-exposed cultures. These results show that at higher concentrations, NE acts as a chemoattractant for B. pilosicoli, and at 0.05 mM it increases the spirochaete's growth rate, attraction to mucin and rate of attachment to cultured enterocytes. These activities are likely to enhance the ability of B. pilosicoli to colonize, and may be induced by conditions that increase NE concentrations in the intestinal tract, such as the stresses associated with crowding.
A recombination hotspot leads to sequence variability within a novel gene (AK005651) and contributes to type 1 diabetes susceptibility
Authors: Tan Iris K.L. , Mackin Leanne , Wang Nancy , Papenfuss Anthony T. , Elso Colleen M. , Ashton Michelle P. , Quirk Fiona , Phipson Belinda , Bahlo Melanie , Speed Terence P. , Smyth Gordon K. , Morahan Grant , Brodnicki Thomas C.
Published: November 2010

More than 25 loci have been linked to type 1 diabetes (T1D) in the nonobese diabetic (NOD) mouse, but identification of the underlying genes remains challenging. We describe here the positional cloning of a T1D susceptibility locus, Idd11, located on mouse chromosome 4. Sequence analysis of a series of congenic NOD mouse strains over a critical 6.9-kb interval in these mice and in 25 inbred strains identified several haplotypes, including a unique NOD haplotype, associated with varying levels of T1D susceptibility. Haplotype diversity within this interval between congenic NOD mouse strains was due to a recombination hotspot that generated four crossover breakpoints, including one with a complex conversion tract. The Idd11 haplotype and recombination hotspot are located within a predicted gene of unknown function, which exhibits decreased expression in relevant tissues of NOD mice. Notably, it was the recombination hotspot that aided our mapping of Idd11 and confirms that recombination hotspots can create genetic variation affecting a common polygenic disease. This finding has implications for human genetic association studies, which may be affected by the approximately 33,000 estimated hotspots in the genome.
Missing saiga on the taiga
Authors: KUHN TYLER S. , MOOERS ARNE Ø.
Published: November 2010

Conservation biologists understand that linking demographic histories of species at risk with causal biotic and abiotic events should help us predict the effects of ongoing biotic and abiotic change. In parallel, researchers have started to use ancient genetic information (aDNA) to explore the demographic histories of a number of species present in the Pleistocene fossil record (see, e.g. Shapiro et al. 2004). However, aDNA studies have primarily focused on identifying long‐term population trends, linked to climate variability and the role of early human activity. Population trends over more recent time, e.g. during the Holocene, have been poorly explored, partly owing to analytical limitations. In this issue, Campos et al. (2010a) highlight the potential of aDNA to investigate demographic patterns over such recent time periods for the compelling and endangered saiga antelope Saiga tatarica (Fig. 1). The time may come when past and current demography can be combined to produce a seamless record.

 The critically endangered saiga antelope (Saiga tatarica). (a) Photo courtesy of B. Buuveibaatar and the Wildlife Conservation Society. (b) Photo courtesy of Pavel Sorokin.

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