bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Physiological integration ameliorates effects of serpentine soils in the clonal herb Fragaria vesca
Authors: Roiloa Sergio R. , Retuerto Rubén
Published: November 2006

Small‐scale heterogeneity in soil characteristics and the facility of clonal systems to spread may lead to situations where parent ramets in favourable microhabitats are connected to offspring in stressful conditions. Clonal plants are physiologically integrated if connections among ramets allow transport of resources. Thus, ramets in favourable habitats may provide support to developing or stressed ramets. We examined effects of integration in Fragaria vesca growing in patches of contrasting quality (potting compost vs serpentine soil). Serpentine soil was used to create unfavourable growing conditions. We assessed whether survival, biomass and photosynthetic efficiency (estimated by fluorescence and reflectance) of parents and offspring were affected by integration and soil quality. Integration increased photochemical efficiencies of parents but more consistently in parents with offspring growing in serpentine soils. We suggest that the assimilate demand from offspring enhanced the photosynthetic efficiency of parents by a mechanism of feedback regulation. This result extends the concept of physiological integration in clonal plants to include photochemical responses. Connected parents also showed significantly higher biomass than disconnected parents. In our system, integration did not entail costs for the whole clone in terms of biomass. Integration also improves the survival, growth and photochemical efficiency of developing ramets, suggesting that integration represents a mechanism for increasing survival in stressful habitats, as the serpentine soils.
The plant mitochondrial proteome and the challenge of defining the posttranslational modifications responsible for signalling and stress effects on respiratory functions
Authors: Ito Jun , Heazlewood Joshua L , Millar A. Harvey
Published: November 2006

The mitochondrion is the principle organelle in plant aerobic respiration, where the oxidation of organic acids to CO2 and H2O, combined with the coupling of electron transfer to O2 via the respiratory electron transport chain to adenosine triphosphate synthesis, takes place. Plant mitochondria also have important secondary roles, such as the synthesis of nucleotides, amino acids, lipids, prosthetic groups and vitamins. They also interact with chloroplasts and peroxisomes through a series of primary metabolic pathways. By using proteomic tools such as polyacrylamide gel‐based and mass spectrometry‐based methods, over 400 proteins, including 30 proteins from the tricarboxylic acid cycle, 78 proteins from the electron transport chain and more than 20 proteins from amino acid metabolism pathways have been identified in mitochondria of the model plant, Arabidopsis thaliana. Beyond the mitochondrial proteome, there is growing evidence for reversible protein phosphorylation and oxidative posttranslational modifications (PTMs) that could affect functions of individual plant mitochondrial proteins or protein complexes. This review will discuss the progress in defining the PTMs that have the potential to regulate plant mitochondrial functions, with references to studies in plants, yeast and mammalian mitochondria and the development of various proteomic and affinity purification methods to study them.
Energy, range dynamics and global species richness patterns: reconciling mid‐domain effects and environmental determinants of avian diversity
Authors: Storch David , Davies Richard G. , Zajíček Samuel , Orme C. David L. , Olson Valerie , Thomas Gavin H. , Ding Tzung‐Su , Rasmussen Pamela C. , Ridgely Robert S. , Bennett Peter M. , Blackburn Tim M. , Owens Ian P. F. , Gaston Kevin J.
Published: November 2006

Spatial patterns of species richness follow climatic and environmental variation, but could reflect random dynamics of species ranges (the mid‐domain effect, MDE). Using data on the global distribution of birds, we compared predictions based on energy availability (actual evapotranspiration, AET, the best single correlate of avian richness) with those of range dynamics models. MDE operating within the global terrestrial area provides a poor prediction of richness variation, but if it operates separately within traditional biogeographic realms, it explains more global variation in richness than AET. The best predictions, however, are given by a model of global range dynamics modulated by AET, such that the probability of a range spreading into an area is proportional to its AET. This model also accurately predicts the latitudinal variation in species richness and variation of species richness both within and between realms, thus representing a compelling mechanism for the major trends in global biodiversity.
Thermal range predicts bird population resilience to extreme high temperatures
Authors: Jiguet Frédéric , Julliard Romain , Thomas Chris D. , Dehorter Olivier , Newson Stuart E. , Couvet Denis
Published: November 2006

The identification of the characteristics of species that make them susceptible or resilient to climate change has been elusive because non‐climatic influences may dominate short‐ and medium‐term changes in population and distribution sizes. Here we studied the 2003 French heat wave, during which other confounding variables remained essentially unchanged, with a correlational approach. We tested the relationship between population resilience and thermal range by analysing the responses of 71 bird species to a 6‐month heat wave. Species with small thermal ranges showed the sharpest decreases in population growth rate between 2003 and 2004 in locations with the highest temperature anomalies. Thermal range explained the resilience of birds to the heat wave independently of other potential predictors, although it correlated with nest location and broad habitat type used by species. The geographically deduced thermal range appears to be a reliable predictor of the resilience of these endothermic species to extreme temperatures.
Achieving relationship harmony in groups and its consequence for group performance
Authors: Lun Vivian Miu‐Chi , Bond Michael Harris
Published: November 2006

Relationships are formed to meet individual goals, and one consequence of this joint effort towards mutual goal fulfillment will be a level of relationship harmony achieved between the interaction partners. The present study investigated the personality correlates associated with the achievement of relationship harmony in a group setting and its consequences for group performance. Students from a social psychology course formed groups for completing task assignments. After a 3‐month collaboration, each student evaluated his or her level of relationship harmony attained with each of his or her other group members. It was found that a member’s agreeableness positively predicted his or her achievement of relationship harmony in the group, but that conscientiousness and openness to experience had detrimental effects on the relationship harmony achieved with other group members. A group whose members attained higher relationship harmony performed better on its group assignments, suggesting that relationship harmony among members of a group might have beneficial effects on group processes like performance focus and shared exchange at least in a collectivist, Chinese culture.
Role of social value orientation in the endowment effect
Authors: Lin Chien‐Huang , Lin Hung‐Ming
Published: November 2006

The purpose of the present research was to explore the role of social value orientation in the endowment effect. The study gathered 190 participants from university students in Taiwan: 74 of these were classified as individualists, 44 as competitors and 56 as prosocials, with 16 being unclassified. Results from an experimental study indicated that the individualists’ and competitors’ average selling prices were significantly higher than the average buying prices for a commodity; thus the endowment effect was observed in these two orientations. The endowment effect was not observed in those having a prosocial orientation, however.
Contract theory and agricultural policy analysis: a discussion and survey of recent developments*
Authors: Wu Steven Y.
Published: November 2006

This paper surveys some recent developments in contract theory and illustrates how this theory might be useful for conceptualising policy issues related to vertical coordination and contracting in the agro‐food industry. The article begins by surveying contract theory to identify key economic distortions that can potentially justify government involvement. Next, the general ingredients of agricultural contracts that are most likely to create inefficiencies are discussed. Finally, controversial aspects of real‐world agricultural contracts are highlighted and lessons from the theory are used to determine whether government intervention is justified. Actual legislation that has been proposed in the USA is analysed where appropriate and topics that await further research are also discussed.
Emotion Situation Knowledge in Elementary School: Models of Longitudinal Growth and Preschool Correlates
Authors: Fine Sarah E. , Izard Carroll E. , Trentacosta Christopher J.
Published: October 2006

We examined individual differences in developmental trajectories of emotion situation knowledge (ESK), at three time points throughout elementary school in a sample of children from economically disadvantaged families. Results showed that ESK and the subscales of joy, fear, anger, shame and interest exhibited positive growth from the first to the fifth grade, whereas scores on the sad subscale declined slightly. Preschool verbal ability predicted first grade scores for joy, fear, and anger, and growth in scores for shame across time. Preschool negative emotional intensity predicted slower growth in overall ESK and the anger and shame subscales. Taken together, these results broaden our basic knowledge of how children's use of situational cues to infer others' emotions develops in middle and late childhood.
Keeping up Appearances: Aesthetic Labour in the Fashion Modelling Industries of London and New York
Authors: Entwistle Joanne , Wissinger Elizabeth
Published: November 2006

This paper addresses itself to literature on ‘aesthetic labour’ in order to extend understanding of embodied labour practices. Through a case study of fashion modelling in New York and London we argue for an extension of the concept to address what we see as problematic absences and limitations. Thus, we seek to extend its range, both in terms of occupations it can be applied to, not just interactive service work and organizational workers, and its conceptual scope, beyond the current concern with superficial appearances at work and within organizations. First, we attend to the ways in which these freelancers have to adapt to fluctuating aesthetic trends and different clients and commodify themselves in the absence of a corporate aesthetic. The successful models are usually the ones who take on the responsibility of managing their bodies, becoming ‘enterprising’ with respect to all aspects of their embodied self. Secondly, unlike Dean (2005) who similarly extends aesthetic labour to female actors, we see conceptual problems with the term that need addressing. We argue that the main proponents of aesthetic labour have a poorly conceived notion of embodiment and that current conceptualizations produce a reductive account of the aesthetic labourer as a ‘cardboard cut-out’, and aesthetic labour as superficial work on the body's surface. In contrast, drawing on phenomenology, we examine how aesthetic labour involves the entire embodied self, or ‘body/self’, and analyse how the effort to keep up appearances, while physical, has an emotional content to it. Besides the physical and emotional effort of body maintenance, the imperative to project ‘personality’ requires many of the skills in emotional labour described by Hochschild (1983) . Thirdly, aesthetic labour entails on-going production of the body/self, not merely a superficial performance at work. The enduring nature of this labour is evidenced by the degree of body maintenance required to conform to the fashion model aesthetic (dieting, for example) and is heightened by the emphasis placed on social networking in freelancing labour, which demands workers who are ‘always on’. In this way, unlike corporate workers, we suggest that the freelance aesthetic labourer cannot walk away from their product, which is their entire embodied self. Thus, in these ways we see aesthetic labour adding to, or extending, rather than supplanting emotional labour, as Witz et al. (2003) would have it.
Collective Belonging and Mass Media Consumption: Unraveling how Technological Medium and Cultural Genre Shape the National Imaginings of Australians
Authors: Smith Philip , Phillips Tim
Published: November 2006

Sociological literature lacks a firm evidentiary base with respect to how mass media usage works to forge patterns of collective attachment among socially diverse individuals within contemporary societies. This paper seeks to engage with this absence by examining the detailed ways in which complexities of media consumptions are linked with divergent popular visions of national belongingness and identity. Focusing in particular on variations in cultural genre and delivery technology, the study aims to help clarify extant disciplinary discussions about if and how media consumption interconnects with the substance of individual national imaginings in an era of cultural globalization. Using data from a large social survey of changing visions of national identity among contemporary Australians, the study shows that established media technologies and the consumption of lowbrow genres harden individual attachment to a traditional imagining of the nation. By contrast use of the Internet and highbrow genres foster a more inclusive vision of nation identity. In terms of sustaining these different national identity configurations, cultural genre is revealed to be of greater consequence than technological medium. Furthermore, and in a more general way, the findings suggest that notwithstanding the complexity of effects, mass media usage stands up alongside a more established concern with individual social structural background as a highly salient factor in shaping contemporary formations of national attachment.
DIGGING WELLS WHILE HOUSES BURN? WRITING HISTORIES OF HINDUISM IN A TIME OF IDENTITY POLITICS
Authors: WHITE DAVID GORDON
Published: November 2006

Over the past fifty years, a number of approaches to the recovery of the multiple pasts of Hinduism have held the field. these include that of the discipline of History of religions as it is constituted in north america as well as those of the Hindu nationalists, the colonial and post‐colonial historians, and the subaltern studies school. None of these approaches have proven satisfactory because, for methodological or ideological reasons, none have adequately addressed human agency or historical change in their accounts of the pasts out of which modern‐day Hinduism has emerged. the Hindu nationalist historians hark back to an extended Vedic golden age in which religious practice remained unchanged until the corruptions spawned by the Turkish invasions of the eleventh century. Many Western indologists and historians of religion specializing in Hinduism never leave the unalterable ideal worlds of the scriptures they interpret to investigate the changing real‐world contexts out of which those texts emerged. The colonial and postcolonial historians focus on the past two hundred years as the period in which all of the categories through which India continues to interpret itself—including Hinduism—were imposed upon it from without. Adducing examples of Hindu practitioners and thinkers from the colonial period, subaltern theorists and others argue that historical thought is itself alien to the authentic Indian mind. This article suggests a number of interpretive strategies for retrieving the multiple Hinduisms of the past and of the medieval period in particular as that time out of which most modern‐day practices of Hinduism emerged. These include an increased emphasis on non‐scriptural sources and a focus on regional traditions.
The rise and fall of social partnership in postsocialist Europe: the Commonwealth of Independent States
Authors: Borisov Vadim , Clarke Simon
Published: November 2006

Traditional trade unions throughout the postsocialist world embraced ‘social partnership’ as a means to secure their institutional survival in a radically changed economic and political environment. The commitment of national governments to social partnership ebbed and flowed through the 1990s, but it was confirmed, at least rhetorically, in Central and Eastern Europe by the prospect and requirements of accession to the European Union. This article explores the fate of social partnership in the ‘other half’ of Europe, the countries of the Commonwealth of Independent States, where social dialogue has largely been abandoned and trade unions alternatively marginalised or subordinated to the state apparatus.
The Year of Workers’ Mobility
Authors: Ingham Mike , Ingham Hilary
Published: November 2006

The year 2006 is the European Year of Workers’ Mobility. This article seeks to assess how effective such a designation might be in the context of the problems that currently confront the EU. While it finds that the underlying potential is significant, the reality is that the year has been framed more with political than with social and economic goals to the fore and the result is a disappointment.
Practitioner Review: Psychosocial interventions for children with selective mutism: a critical evaluation of the literature from 1990–2005
Authors: Cohan Sharon L. , Chavira Denise A. , Stein Murray B.
Published: November 2006

Background:  There have been several reports of successful psychosocial interventions for children with selective mutism (SM), a disorder in which a child consistently fails to speak in one or more social settings (e.g., school) despite speaking normally in other settings (e.g., home). The present literature review was undertaken in order to provide an up‐to‐date summary and critique of the SM treatment literature published in the past fifteen years.

Methods:  PubMed, PsycINFO, and Web of Science databases were searched to identify SM treatment studies published in peer‐reviewed journals between 1990 and 2005.

Results:  A total of 23 studies were included in the present review. Of these, ten used a behavioral/cognitive behavioral approach, one used a behavioral language training approach, one used a family systems approach, five used a psychodynamic approach, and six used multimodal approaches to SM treatment.

Conclusions:  Although much of this literature is limited by methodological weaknesses, the existing research provides support for the use of behavioral and cognitive‐behavioral interventions. Multimodal treatments also appear promising, but the essential components of these interventions have yet to be established. An outline of a cognitive‐behavioral treatment package for a typical SM child is provided and the review concludes with suggestions for future research.
Are correlations among foliar traits in ferns consistent with those in the seed plants?
Authors: Karst Amanda L. , Lechowicz Martin J.
Published: November 2006

Broad‐based studies of gymnosperms and angiosperms reveal consistent and functionally significant correlations among foliar traits such as leaf mass per area (LMA), maximum photosynthetic rate (Aarea), foliar nitrogen (Narea), foliar chlorophyll (Chl) and leaf longevity.

To assess the generality of these relationships, we studied 20 fern species growing in the understorey of a temperate deciduous forest.

We found that foliar Narea increases with LMA, and that foliar Narea and Aarea are positively correlated with one another, as are foliar Narea and Chl. The ferns in general have very low LMA compared with most seed plants; Aarea, Narea and Chl are below median values for seed plants but are not extreme. Species with overwintering fronds have significantly higher LMA than species with fronds that senesce at the end of the growing season, as well as a significantly higher C : N ratio in frond tissue and relatively high foliar N on an areal basis.

Correlations among foliar traits associated with gas exchange in these forest understorey ferns are in accordance with patterns reported for seed plants, suggesting a high degree of functional constraint on the interrelationships among key elements in foliar design.
Mercury concentration and fish consumption in Taiwanese pregnant women
Authors: Hsu C‐S , Liu P‐L , Chien L‐C , Chou S‐Y , Han B‐C
Published: November 2006

Objective  The aim of this study was to assess the relationship between fish consumption and total mercury concentration in maternal blood, umbilical cord blood, and placenta tissue of pregnant women in Taiwan.

Design  Cross‐sectional study.

Setting  A medical centre in Taipei, Taiwan.

Sample  Sixty‐five pregnant women delivered between July 2004 and March 2005.

Methods  We administered a questionnaire to each woman in the third trimester and collected blood samples and placenta tissue after delivery. Mercury concentrations in the maternal blood, cord blood and placenta tissue were measured using mercury analyser (Hiranuma HG‐310, Hitachi, Japan). A dietitian calculated the quantity of fish consumed from the questionnaire.

Main outcome measures  The total mercury concentration in maternal blood, cord blood and placenta tissue.

Results  The mean total mercury concentration in maternal blood, cord blood and placenta tissue was 9.1 ± 0.40 microgram/l, 10.0 ± 0.55 microgram/l and 19.2 ± 1.8 ng/g, respectively. Eighty‐nine percent of the maternal blood mercury concentrations exceeded the US National Research Council recommended value of 5.8 microgram/l. Fish consumption while pregnant correlated significantly with maternal blood and cord blood mercury concentrations.

Conclusions  Total mercury concentrations of maternal blood, cord blood and placenta tissue commonly exceeded recommended values, and were higher in women who ate fish more than three times a week while pregnant.
Including children with special educational needs in mainstream classrooms: implications for pedagogy from a systematic review
Authors: Nind Melanie , Wearmouth Janice
Published: November 2006

This paper reports on the outcomes of the first in a series of three systematic literature reviews in inclusive education. The aims include establishing what research has been undertaken in the area of effective pedagogical approaches to enable children with special educational needs to be included in mainstream classrooms, synthesising themes in a purposive sample of the literature and examining how this research might inform practice. One outcome of this first literature review was an overview of the various ways that teachers are effectively including children with special educational needs. In this paper, using the literature, we share some of the characteristics of the teaching approaches that have been shown to lead to positive outcomes in the areas of academic attainment, social involvement and improved behaviour. We discuss how these approaches, particularly those involving peer group interactions, might be used by teachers to support all learners.
Growing Talent for Inclusion: using an appreciative inquiry approach into investigating classroom dynamics
Authors: Doveston Mary , Keenaghan Marian
Published: November 2006

This paper reports on an Appreciative Inquiry project called ‘Growing Talent for Inclusion’ which has been running since 2002. The project grew out the authors’ work in a Local Authority Support Service assisting schools to meet the needs of pupils with a range of additional educational needs. Faced with a large number of individual referrals, many relating to the emotional, social and behavioural needs of pupils, it was considered that an eco – systemic approach was required and that a priority was to support pupils and teachers in developing more effective and satisfying interpersonal relationships in the classroom.

‘Growing Talent for Inclusion’ uses Appreciative Inquiry to investigate a management change process which has been used within large organisations and communities but less commonly at classroom level. It is a type of action research which is solution not problem focused and therefore lends itself well to a research focus of improving classroom dynamics.

The paper introduces a 4‐D Cycle of Appreciative Inquiry: discovery, dream, design and deliver, as advocated by Cooperrider and Srivastva, 1987, which guides the identification, acknowledgment and amplification of skills pertinent to improving social dynamics within the classroom and discusses the methodological issues which arise from this collaborative, participative form of inquiry.

A combination of qualitative and quantitative methods has been used to identify and track the development of attributes for improving working relationships in four different primary and secondary classrooms in three schools. 76 pupils and four teachers have been involved in the project since its inception in 2002 with classes in a further three primary schools using the approach during the academic year 2005–2006.

Findings from the project show an increase in the number of pupils with whom other pupils are happy to work, a reduction in the number of pupils identified as socially excluded at the beginning of the project and enhanced capacity of the group in terms of the talents identified for growth. Feedback from staff and students also suggests that the process of noticing and acknowledging strengths has contributed to improvements in working relationships.
THE INFORMATIONAL ROLE OF BANK LOAN RATINGS
Authors: Yi Ha‐Chin , Mullineaux Donald J.
Published: November 2006

We analyze the relatively new phenomenon of credit ratings on syndicated loans, asking first whether they convey information to the capital markets. Our event studies show that initial loan ratings and upgrades are not informative, but downgrades are. The market anticipates downgrades to some extent, however. We also examine whether public information reflecting borrower default characteristics explains cross‐sectional variation in loan ratings and find that ratings are only partially predictable. Our evidence suggests that loan and bond ratings are not determined by the same model. Finally, we estimate a credit spread model incorporating bank loan ratings and other factors reflecting default risk, information asymmetry, and agency problems. We find that ratings are related to loan rates, given the effect of other influences on yields, suggesting that ratings provide information not reflected in financial information. Ratings may capture idiosyncratic information about recovery rates, as each of the agencies claims, or information about default prospects not available to the market.
Parties, Institutional Control, and Trust in Government*
Authors: Gershtenson Joseph , Ladewig Jeffrey , Plane Dennis L.
Published: October 2006

Objectives. Partisanship should affect evaluations of Congress just as it affects evaluations of the president, and these institutional evaluations should affect political trust. We argue that the relationship between partisanship and trust is dependent on partisan control of Congress and that much of party identification's influence on trust occurs indirectly through approval of governmental institutions.

Methods. Using data collected before and after the 2002 congressional elections by the Center for Survey Research and Analysis at the University of Connecticut, we examine changes in frequency distributions and mean values for trust and institutional approval. We use multivariate regression models and a path model to estimate the causes of political trust and self‐perceived change in trust.

Results. We find evidence that party control of government and party identification are important in explaining trust and institutional approval. The Republican takeover of the Senate led Republicans to evaluate the Senate more favorably and to become more trusting of the government, while having the opposite effect on Democrats.

Conclusions. The changes in approval and trust resulting from the 2002 elections suggest that at least some segment of the population is cognizant of changes in the political environment and updates its views of government when the political environment changes.
Can health workers diagnose dementia in the community?
Authors: Jacob K. S. , Senthil Kumar P. , Gayathri K. , Abraham S. , Prince M. J.
Published: November 2006

Objective:  This study attempted to evaluate sensitivity, specificity and predictive values of the diagnosis of dementia made by trained community health workers.

Method:  A total of 1000 subjects over the age of 65 years were recruited for the study. The community health workers identified nine subjects as having dementia. This was compared against an education adjusted diagnosis of dementia made in accordance with the 10/66 dementia research group protocol.

Results:  The sensitivity and specificity of the community health worker diagnosis was 3.8% and 99.4% respectively. The false positive rate and positive predictive values were 55.6% and 44.4%, respectively. The false negative rate and negative predictive value were 10.3% and 89.7% respectively. Similar values were obtained against a DSM IV diagnosis. Subjects with dementia who were correctly diagnosed by the community health workers and those whose condition was missed did not differ significantly on socio‐demographic and clinical variables.

Conclusion:  Informal screening by community health workers resulted in low sensitivity and positive predictive values. Screening strategies in situations of low prevalence are not effective.
‘To repair or not to repair – no longer a question’: repair of mitochondrial DNA shielding against age and cancer
Authors: Berneburg Mark , Kamenisch York , Krutmann Jean , Röcken Martin
Published: November 2006

Abstract:  The role of mitochondria in energy production and apoptosis is well known. The role of mitochondria and particularly the role of the mitochondria's own genome, mitochondrial (mt) DNA, in the process of ageing were postulated decades ago. However, this was discussed, debated and more or less disposed of. Recent data from elegant mouse models now confirm that mutations of mtDNA do indeed play a central and pivotal role in the ageing process. Newer reports also indicate a possible role of mtDNA mutations in the carcinogenesis of several organs. But is damaged mtDNA repaired, or is it simply degraded and discarded? This question appears to be answered now. According to recent data, mitochondria possess functional repair mechanisms such as base excision repair, double‐strand break repair and mismatch repair, yet nucleotide excision repair has so far not been detected.
Biology of the wool follicle: an excursion into a unique tissue interaction system waiting to be re‐discovered
Authors: Rogers George E.
Published: November 2006

Abstract:  Wool fibres are hairs and the term ‘wool’ is usually restricted to describe the fine curly hairs that constitute the fleece produced by sheep. In a broader sense, it can be used to describe the fleeces produced by related species such as goat or yak. Research into the biology of wool growth and the structure of the wool fibre has been driven by the demands of the wool industry to improve both the efficiency of growing wool and the quality of the product. Well beyond this very applied perspective however, the wool follicle is a unique basic research model for the life sciences in general. These unique features include, to name just a few selected examples, accessibility for studying the molecular controls involved in branching of secondary epithelial‐mesenchymal structures, the photoperiod‐dependence of regenerating tissue interaction systems, the origin of fibre curliness and follicle wave pattern formation, and the effect of alterations in nutrient supply on epithelial growth and fibre structure. In this review, investigation of growth processes in the formation of the wool fibre is broadly surveyed. The relevance and potential for practical outcomes through characterization of wool follicle genes are discussed and particular features of the wool follicle contributing to our knowledge of the biology of hair growth are highlighted. The practical potential of gene discovery in wool research is the provision of molecular markers for selective breeding and for altering wool growth and wool structure by other biological pathways such as sheep transgenesis that could lead to novel wool properties. In this background, the current review attempts to revive general interest in the fascinating biology of the wool follicle which is not only of profound economic and practical importance but offers an exquisite, highly instructive research model for addressing key questions of modern biology.
Truncus endurance, hip and ankle mobility and aerobic fitness in 15‐year‐old Norwegian adolescents in 1968 and 1997
Authors: Sjolie A. N. , Mønness E.
Published: November 2006

This study compared the physical performance of adolescents in 1997 and 1968. The material included 1329 15‐year‐old Norwegian adolescents in Akershus county in Norway in 1968, and 1105 15‐year‐old adolescents in the same region in 1997. The investigations were supervised by the same conductor on both occasions, and used identical physical tests. The test battery included dynamic endurance of abdominal and low back muscles, hip flexion, ankle dorsiflexion and aerobic fitness. Compared with 1968, low back extension endurance in 1997 was almost 10% lower in both genders, the endurance of the abdominal muscles was 4.8% poorer among boys and 8.1% higher among girls and the ratio between abdominal and low back extension endurance was 11.8% higher among boys and 26.4% higher in girls. Compared with 1968, hip flexion in 1997 was 8.3% higher in girls, while ankle dorsiflexion and aerobic fitness in boys were 15% and 13.4% poorer, and 4.8% poorer and 2.5% higher in girls, respectively. The data indicate a general decline during one generation in physical performance among boys, a decline in low back endurance, truncus balance and ankle mobility among girls and in a higher abdominal endurance among girls.
Pain and negative mood during rehabilitation after anterior cruciate ligament reconstruction: a daily process analysis
Authors: Brewer B. W. , Cornelius A. E. , Sklar J. H. , Van Raalte J. L. , Tennen H. , Armeli S. , Corsetti J. R. , Brickner J. C.
Published: November 2006

Daily diary methods were used to examine changes in pain and negative mood over the first 6 weeks of rehabilitation after surgical reconstruction of the anterior cruciate ligament (ACL). Participants (58 men and 33 women) completed measures of personal factors (i.e., age, athletic identity, neuroticism, optimism) before surgery and indices of daily pain, negative mood, and stress for 42 days after surgery. Multilevel modeling revealed that, as would be expected, daily pain ratings decreased significantly over the course of the study and that the rate of decline in pain ratings decreased over time. Age and daily negative mood were positively associated with daily pain ratings. Daily negative mood also decreased significantly over the course of the study and was positively associated with neuroticism, daily pain, and daily stress. Athletic identity and optimism interacted with time since surgery in predicting daily negative mood such that participants with high levels of athletic identity and low levels of optimism reported greater decreases in daily negative mood over time. Overall, the findings reveal a pattern of improved psychological functioning over the early stages of post‐operative ACL rehabilitation.
Plasma levels of interleukin‐6 and C‐reactive protein are associated with physical inactivity independent of obesity
Authors: Fischer C. P. , Berntsen A. , Perstrup L. B. , Eskildsen P. , Pedersen B. K.
Published: November 2006

It is recognized that the path from physical inactivity and obesity to lifestyle‐related diseases involves low‐grade inflammation, indicated by elevated plasma levels of inflammatory markers. Interestingly, contracting skeletal muscle is a major source of circulating interleukin‐6 (IL‐6) in response to acute exercise, but with a markedly lower response in trained subjects. As C‐reactive protein (CRP) is induced by IL‐6, we hypothesized that basal levels of IL‐6 and CRP reflect the degree of regular physical activity when compared with other markers of inflammation associated with lifestyle‐related morbidity. Fasting plasma/serum levels of IL‐6, IL‐18, CRP, tumur necrosis factor‐α (TNF‐α), soluble TNF receptor II (sTNF‐RII), and adiponectin were measured in healthy non‐diabetic men and women (n=84). The amount of leisure‐time physical activity (LTPA) was assessed by interview. Obesity was associated with elevated insulin, C‐peptide, triglycerides, low‐density lipoprotein, IL‐6, CRP, and adiponectin (all P<0.05). Importantly, physical inactivity was associated with elevated C‐peptide (P=0.036), IL‐6 (P=0.014), and CRP (P=0.007) independent of obesity, age, gender, and smoking. Furthermore, the LTPA score was inversely associated with IL‐6 (P=0.017) and CRP (P=0.005), but with neither of the other markers. The results indicate that low levels of IL‐6 and CRP – not IL‐18, TNF‐α, sTNF‐RII, or adiponectin – reflect regular physical activity.
Bone Healing around Titanium and Titanium Nitride‐Coated Dental Implants with Three Surfaces: An Experimental Study in Rats
Authors: Scarano Antonio , Piattelli Maurizio , Vrespa Giuseppe , Petrone Giovanna , Iezzi Giovanna , Piattelli Adriano
Published: October 2006

Background: Titanium nitride (TiN) has been used in many fields as a coating of surgical instruments, with the purpose of creating materials more resistant to wear and corrosion and also reducing adhesion.

Purpose: The aim of this study was to evaluate the biocompatibility of TiN‐coated dental implants.

Materials and Methods: Forty‐five rats were used in this study. One hundred eighty 2 mm 2 mm implants (P.H.I., San Vittore Olona, Milano, Italy) were used. The implants were divided into the following three groups:

Group 1 (n= 60):30 machined and 30 machined coated with TiN

Group 2(n= 60):30 sandblasted and 30 sandblasted coated with TiN

Group 3 (n= 60):30 titanium plasma sprayed, 30 titanium plasma sprayed and coated with TiN

Four implants were placed in each rat, two implants coated with TiN on the right tibia and two uncoated implants on the left. The animals were killed after 5, 10, 20, 30, or 60 days. Another 18 implants were used for surface roughness analysis.

Results: The present study showed that the healing around the TiN‐coated implants was similar to that observed around the uncoated surfaces.

Conclusions: TiN coating demonstrated a good biocompatibility, did not have untoward effects on the periimplant bone formation, and did not change the surface roughness values.
Three‐Dimensional Topographic and Metrologic Evaluation of Dental Implants by Confocal Laser Scanning Microscopy
Authors: Al‐Nawas Bila , Götz Hermann
Published: October 2006

Background: Surface topography of dental implants has changed during the past few years; however, the last systematic study on this topic is dated 1993.

Purpose: The aim of this study was to correlate dental implants by surface analysis.

Materials and Methods: A microtopographic analysis of 35 dental implants was performed using confocal laser scanning microscopy. Roughness value (Sa) and developed surface area (ratio, Sdr) were calculated. Implants were grouped according to their surface treatment: “minimally rough” with no further surface treatment (n= 2); ablative structured using etching or blasting (n= 17); titanium plasma spray coated (TPS; n= 9); coated with hydroxyapatite (HA; n ‐ 7).

Results: Most implants (n= 16) showed Sa values between 3.0 and 5.0 um. The developed surface area has a mean value of 13.5 and an SD of 6.52. Minimally rough implant surfaces show the lowest Sa values (mean 0.5 um). Implants with ablative surface treatment have mean Sa values of 3.1 m. Both groups with additive surface treatment (TPS and HA) present similar roughness values with a mean of 6.0 um and 5.8 um, respectively. Ratio Sdr ranges from 3.1 for the minimally rough implants to 11.4 for the ablative treated implants and 14.3 for TPS‐coated and 18.4 for HA‐coated implants. There is a significant difference between the roughness and ratio values of the different groups. The topographic images show a typical surface according to the underlying surface treatment.

Conclusions: We can confirm the “classic” grouping of dental implants by type of surface treatment into the groups minimally rough, ablative, TPS coated, and HA coated as these treatments lead to different ascending Sas; however, the additional value of the ratio Sdr including both spatial and amplitude aspects of the surface could not be confirmed in this study. Functional parameters describing the topographic differences are still lacking.
One‐Stage Surgery and Early Loading of Three Implants for Maxillary Overdentures: A 1‐Year Report
Authors: Payne Alan G. T. , Tawse‐Smith Andrew Andrew , Thomson W. Murray W. Murray , Duncan Warwick D. Warwick D. , Kumara Rohana Rohana
Published: October 2006

Background:

Maxillary implant overdentures opposing mandibular two‐implant overdentures are an underused treatment option for edentulous patients. Fewer implants, simple surgery, and short healing periods may increase patients' acceptance of this treatment concept.

Purpose:

To determine implant success, after overdenture loading, of three narrow‐diameter roughened‐surface implants placed in edentulous maxillas, using a one‐stage surgical procedure, a 12‐week healing period, and opposing mandibular two‐implant overdentures.

Materials and Methods:

Forty edentulous participants with mandibular two‐implant overdentures were allocated to two groups with similar implant systems. Each group had three narrow‐diameter roughened‐surface implants placed into their edentulous maxillas in a one‐stage surgical procedure. Standardized intraoral radiography and implant stability tests were performed sequentially at surgery, at 12 weeks (prior to loading), and at 64 weeks (after 1 year of loading with maxillary overdentures).

Results:

One hundred seventeen implants were placed in 39 participants. After 1 year of loading, 15 implants had failed in 11 patients, 4 implants have been “put to sleep” in 3 patients, and 1 patient has died. Data on marginal bone loss and resonance frequency analysis showed no significant differences between the implant systems. The mean marginal bone loss was 1.30 mm (± 0.44 mm) from surgery to 12 weeks and 0.32 mm (± 0.48 mm) between 12 and 64 weeks with loading. The mean implant stability quotient and resonance frequency values showed a statistically significant improvement over time, at 56.05 (5,891 Hz), 57.54 (5,981 Hz), and 60.88 (6,167 Hz) at surgery, 12 weeks, and 64 weeks, respectively. The overall success rate for all implants combined was 81%, and the cumulative survival rate was 84.61%.

Conclusion:

In patients with mandibular two‐implant overdentures, three narrow‐diameter roughened‐surface implants can be placed in the edentulous maxilla, using a one‐stage surgical procedure, and can be loaded within 12 weeks with overdentures for 1 year.
Review of the CIE System of Colorimetry and Its Use in Dentistry
Authors: WESTLAND STEPHEN
Published: October 2006

When we observe the light reflected from surfaces in a scene or look directly at light emitted by light sources, we experience the sensation of color. Color is just one attribute of a complex and not fully understood set of properties that define the appearance of our surroundings. To measure or specify the color of an object, we need to take into account the nature of the light under which the object is viewed, the spectral reflectance properties of the surface, and the properties of the human color vision system.

CLINICAL SIGNIFICANCE

In this article the CIE system of colorimetry is briefly reviewed and its limitations are described.
Digital Photography and the Assessment of Therapeutic Results after Bleaching Procedures
Authors: BENGEL WOLFGANG M.
Published: October 2006

The therapeutic outcome of tooth‐bleaching procedures can be assessed by different methods, one of them being digital photography. However, none of the methods seems to be perfect. In this overview factors are discussed that have an influence on color rendition and image brightness in (digital) photography. A photographic procedure is proposed that results in comparable images.

Beginning with a short description of some digital cameras currently used in dental photography, the article discusses the influence of light and camera technology on image brightness and color rendition in detail. Even if a highly standardized procedure is performed, there remain factors that affect color and brightness that cannot be excluded completely. Therefore, a photographic procedure is proposed that includes a piece of gray card in the picture as a neutral reference object. In this way, color casts can be eliminated and image brightness can be fine tuned using a standard image‐editing program (Adobe Photoshop®, Adobe Systems Incorporated, San Jose, CA, USA) before the relevant color values are metered by the same software.

CLINICAL SIGNIFICANCE

A photographic procedure using digital cameras is proposed that is relatively simple and sufficiently precise to allow the assessment of the therapeutic outcome of tooth‐bleaching procedures.
Tooth Color Measurement Using Chroma Meter: Techniques, Advantages, and Disadvantages
Authors: YIMING L.I.
Published: October 2006

Tooth whitening has become a popular and routine dental procedure, and its efficacy and safety have been well documented. However, the measurement of tooth color, particularly in the evaluation of the efficacy of a system intended to enhance tooth whiteness, remains a challenge. One of the instruments used for assessing tooth color in clinical whitening studies is the Minolta Chroma Meter CR‐321 (Minolta Corporation USA, Ramsey, NJ, USA). This article describes the instrument and discusses various measuring procedures and the Chroma Meter's advantages, limitations, and disadvantages. The available information indicates that, although Minolta Chroma Meter CR‐321 provides quantitative and objective measurements of tooth color, it can be tedious to use with a custom alignment device. The Chroma Meter data are inconsistent with the commonly used visual instruments such as Vitapan Classical Shade Guide (Vita Zahnfabrik, Bad Säckingen, Germany), although in many cases the general trends are similar. It is also questionable whether the small area measured adequately represents the color of the whole tooth. A more critical challenge is the lack of methods for interpreting the Chroma Meter data regarding tooth color change in studies evaluating the efficacy of whitening systems. Consequently, at present the Chroma Meter data alone do not appear to be adequate for determining tooth color change in whitening research, although the quantitative measurements may be useful as supplemental or supportive data. Research is needed to develop and improve the instrument and technique for quantitative measurement of tooth color and interpretation of the data for evaluating tooth color change.

CLINICAL SIGNIFICANCE

This paper will help readers to understand the advantages and limitations of the Minolta Chroma Meter used for evaluating the efficacy of tooth‐whitening systems so that proper judgment can be made in the interpretation of the results of clinical studies.