bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Cost of depression: effect of adherence and treatment response
Authors: von Knorring L. , Åkerblad A.-C. , Bengtsson F. , Carlsson Å. , Ekselius L.
Published: June 2006

Objectives:

The purpose of the present study has been to assess the societal cost of major depression and the distribution into different cost components. The impact of adherence and treatment response was also explored.

Method:

Data were collected from a randomized controlled trial of patients with major depressive disorder who were treated in a naturalistic primary care setting. Resource use and quality of life were followed during the two-year trial.

Results:

The mean total cost per patient during two years was KSEK 363 (EUR 38 953). Indirect costs were the most important component (87%), whereas the cost of drugs was minor (4.5%). No significant differences in costs or quality of life between treatment arms or between adherent and non-adherent patients were demonstrated. However, treatment responders had 39% lower total costs per patient and experienced a larger increase in quality of life compared to non-responders.

Conclusions:

Major depression has high costs for society, primarily due to indirect costs. Treatment responders have considerably lower costs per patient and higher quality of life than non-responders. This indicates that measures to increase response rates are also important from an economic perspective.
Carotenoid stoichiometry in the LH2 crystal: No spectral evidence for the presence of the second molecule in the α/β‐apoprotein dimer
Authors: Gall Andrew , Gardiner Alastair T. , Cogdell Richard J. , Robert Bruno
Published: June 2006

In this work we have investigated the carotenoid–protein interactions in LH2 complexes ofRhodopseudomonas acidophilaboth in “free in solution” mixed‐micelles and in three‐dimensional crystals by Raman spectroscopy in resonance with the carotenoid (Car) molecules. We show that the Car molecules when bound to their binding pockets show no significant differences when the complexes are “free in solution” or packed in crystalline arrays. Furthermore, there is no significant wavelength dependence in the Raman spectrum of the Car molecules of LH2. This indicates that there is only one Car configuration in LH2 and thus only one molecule per α/β‐heterodimer.
Telomeres and telomerase in Alzheimer's disease: Epiphenomena or a new focus for therapeutic strategy?
Authors: Franco Sonia , Blasco Maria A. , Siedlak Sandra L. , Harris Peggy L.R. , Moreira Paula I. , Perry George , Smith Mark A.
Published: June 2006

New approaches to the elucidation of Alzheimer disease, even those with solid data, are often ignored or dismissed as epiphenomenal when they differ from the mainstream or theoretical expectations. Here we present a new piece to the puzzle, decreases in telomere length, and telomerase expression in neuronal populations known to be vulnerable to degeneration and death in Alzheimer's disease. We can present the answers to the question “what,” but the “why,” “when,” and “how” are not so easily answered. The goal of this report is to prompt discussion and more intensive study of this finding toward a new focus of therapeutic strategy.
Injury of the Dorsal Sensory Branch of the Ulnar Nerve as a Complication of Arthroscopic Repair of the Triangular Fibrocartilage
Authors: CHEN E. TSU-HSIN , WEI J. -D. , HUANG V. W. S.
Published: June 2006

This report presents a case of direct injury to the dorsal sensory branch of the ulnar nerve caused by arthroscopic repair of the triangular fibrocartilage complex. The dorsal sensory branch of the ulnar nerve was strangulated by one of the three pull-out sutures of the joint capsule, just ulnar to the extensor carpi ulnaris tendon. Pain and dysaesthesia of the ulnar side of the wrist was completely relieved after excision of the injured nerve segment. This complication can be avoided by careful exploration of the dorsal sensory branch of the ulnar nerve prior to suturing or passage of instruments during arthroscopy.
Can coseismic stress variability suppress seismicity shadows? Insights from a rate‐and‐state friction model
Authors: Marsan D.
Published: June 2006

The paucity of detectable seismicity shadows in the days/months following a main shock has raised the question as to whether dynamic rather than static triggering could be the main mechanism driving the seismicity at these timescales. The lack of correlation between the stress unloading of the main fault and the typically vigourous aftershock production taking place on it, however, suggests that the spatial heterogeneity of the coseismic stress change could also be a factor in the apparent suppression of seismicity shadows, at least on the main fault. Here we study whether this stress variability can indeed be an important aspect in the stress modeling of earthquake sequences. A rate‐and‐state friction model of seismicity is used, in conjunction with realistic levels of stress heterogeneity at the earthquake nucleation scale (1–10 m, as predicted from these friction laws), based on scale‐invariant models of coseismic slip distribution. In this model, a relatively weak on‐fault quiescence is delayed by months to years because of the high stress heterogeneity. Delayed quiescences due to slip heterogeneity are similarly predicted at distances of up to about half the rupture length away from the fault. We also postulate that off‐fault seismicity can be significantly controlled by stress variability that originates from small‐scale crustal heterogeneity and the complexity in fault geometries. Rather than mapping stress changes by providing a single stress value at every grid point, these results suggest that an estimate of the likely stress variability (acting at the nucleation scale) is also needed, especially when trying to account for the seismicity occurring at relatively short timescales.
Theoretical prediction of liftoff angular velocity distributions of sand particles in windblown sand flux
Authors: Zheng Xiaojing , Xie Li , Zou Xue‐Yong
Published: June 2006

The liftoff angular velocities, including the rebound ones and the ejected ones, of sand particles in a windblown sand flux have a significant influence on the saltation trajectories and the transport flux and so on. However, they are not easy to determine actually both in field and in a wind tunnel, especially when the sand particles are small and the wind speed is low. A stochastic particle‐bed collision model is developed in this paper to calculate the liftoff angular velocities. Having taken the incident velocity and angle of an incident particle, the impact angle between the incident and the impacted particles in the sand bed and its creep velocity as well as the contact angle between the impacted particle and other particles in the bed as random variables in the collision model, the probability distributions of the liftoff angular velocities for different particle diameters and wind speeds are gained and agree well to the experimental results. The rebound probability distribution function looks like Gumbel distribution with a cusp in the peak, and the ejected one looks like the normal one. The effect of the wind speed and the particle diameter on the probability density functions is discussed in detail.
Hanging valleys in fluvial systems: Controls on occurrence and implications for landscape evolution
Authors: Wobus Cameron W. , Crosby Benjamin T. , Whipple Kelin X.
Published: June 2006

We document and characterize hanging valleys in a fluvially eroded landscape in eastern Taiwan. Our conceptual model for the initiation of hanging valleys builds on a recently proposed model of bedrock incision in which erosion actually becomes less efficient on very steep channel gradients. If a pulse of incision in the main stem outpaces the tributary response, the gradients at tributary mouths may therefore pass a threshold value beyond which erosional efficiency declines, giving rise to a mismatch between trunk and tributary erosion rates. This mismatch is expected at junctions with small tributaries, where a step function decrease in drainage area also leads to sharp contrasts in water and sediment flux between trunk and tributary channels. The occurrence of hanging valleys in actively uplifting fluvial landscapes such as the Central Range of Taiwan suggests that the most common parameterizations of bedrock erosion, which typically assume a monotonic positive correlation between channel gradient and incision rate, may be violated in very steep channels. In addition, hanging valleys could greatly increase the response time of landscapes to tectonic perturbations since catchments above these tributary mouths will be insulated from these perturbations until a new suite of processes (e.g., weathering and rock mass failure) wear through the hanging valley lip. The results of this study underscore the need for a more complete understanding of bedrock erosion processes and the incorporation of process transitions and threshold conditions into landscape evolution models.
Interaction between the bacterium Pseudomonas fluorescens and vermiculite: Effects on chemical, mineralogical, and mechanical properties of vermiculite
Authors: Müller Barbara , Défago Genèvieve
Published: June 2006

On an expanded and crushed vermiculite, changes in chemical, mineralogical, and rheological properties of the mineral affected by microbial activity were investigated. Determination of the water content, grain size, X‐ray diffraction pattern, intercrystalline swelling with glycerol, layer charge, CEC, exchangeable cations, BET surface, and rheology provided the necessary information about the differences between pure vermiculite, vermiculite suspensions containing the nutrient medium, and vermiculite suspensions containing the nutrient medium and the bacterium Pseudomonas fluorescens strain CHA0. The aerobic bacterium Pseudomonas fluorescens causes a decrease in grain size, aggregation of vermiculite grains as evidenced by smaller BET surfaces, and enhanced viscosity of the bacteria containing slurries. Layer charge, intercrystalline swelling, and CEC were not affected by the microbial activity, nor did the bacteria count for the exchange of potassium and magnesium against sodium in the vermiculite. The microbes inhibited this exchange process during the first stage of the experiments; however, increasing run time favors the exchange as well.
Signal distortion on VHF/UHF transionospheric paths: First results from the Wideband Ionospheric Distortion Experiment
Authors: Cannon Paul S. , Groves Keith , Fraser David J. , Donnelly William J. , Perrier Kathleen
Published: June 2006

To the best of our knowledge, we report the first determination of ionospheric distortion, comprising the simultaneous characterization of both multipath and Doppler, on wideband, transionospheric VHF (158 MHz) and UHF (422 MHz) signals. The measurements took place as part of the test phase of the United Kingdom–United States Wideband Ionospheric Distortion Experiment during the evening (∼1000 UT) of 18 January 2005. This characterization has been achieved using the ALTAIR radar at the Ronald Reagan Ballistic Missile Defense Test Site on Kwajalein Atoll (9.395°N, 167.469°E (12.87°N, 237.16°E corrected geomagnetic)) in the Pacific, in conjunction with a low Earth orbiting, constant radar cross‐section, passive satellite (calibration sphere). During the period when the two‐way S4 index was above ∼0.8 on both channels, the median coherency times were 43 and 96 ms at VHF and UHF, respectively (at 1.5σ). The corresponding median coherency bandwidths were 0.8 and 2.1 MHz.
Metastable extension of the sublimation curve and the critical contact point
Authors: Baidakov V. G. , Protsenko S. P.
Published: June 2006

Molecular dynamics methods have been employed in order to calculate the (p,ρ,T)-properties and the internal energy of gas and crystal phases in stable and metastable equilibrium coexistence states for a model system consisting of 2048 Lennard-Jones particles. Thermal and caloric equations of state and the spinodal curves of the vapor and crystal phases have been determined. A new algorithm for the computation of phase equilibrium curves is suggested. Employing this method, the sublimation curve and its metastable extension to temperatures above the triple point have been calculated. It is found that the crystal-gas phase equilibrium terminates on the spinodal of the superheated crystal. The point of contact of the sublimation line and the spinodal is a singular point of the thermodynamic surface of states of a simple system considered.
Wake formation behind positively charged spacecraft in flowing tenuous plasmas
Authors: Engwall E. , Eriksson A. I. , Forest J.
Published: June 2006

Spacecraft in tenuous plasmas become positively charged because of photoelectron emission. If the plasma is supersonically drifting with respect to the spacecraft, a wake forms behind it. When the kinetic energy of the positive ions in the plasma is not sufficient to overcome the electrostatic barrier of the spacecraft potential, they scatter on the potential structure from the spacecraft rather than get absorbed or scattered by the spacecraft body. For tenuous plasmas with Debye lengths much exceeding the spacecraft size, the potential structure extends far from the spacecraft, and consequently in this case the wake is of transverse dimensions much larger than the spacecraft. This enhanced wake formation process is demonstrated by theoretical analysis and computer simulations. Comparison to observations from the Cluster satellites shows good agreement.
Effects of shock waves on Rayleigh-Taylor instability
Authors: Zhang Yong-Tao , Shu Chi-Wang , Zhou Ye
Published: June 2006

A numerical simulation of two-dimensional compressible Navier-Stokes equations using a high-order weighted essentially nonoscillatory finite difference shock capturing scheme is carried out in this paper, to study the effect of shock waves on the development of Rayleigh-Taylor instability. Shocks with different Mach numbers are introduced ahead or behind the Rayleigh-Taylor interface, and their effect on the transition to instability is demonstrated and compared. It is observed that shock waves can speed up the transition to instability for the Rayleigh-Taylor interface significantly. Stronger shocks are more effective in this speed-up process.
Optical switching in graded plasmonic waveguides
Authors: Xiao J. J. , Yakubo K. , Yu K. W.
Published: June 2006

A mechanism of longitudinal confinement of optical energy via coupled plasmon modes is proposed in chains of noble metal nanoparticles embedded in a graded dielectric medium, which is analogous to the confinement of electrons in semiconductor quantum wells. In these systems, one can control the transmission of optical energy by varying the graded refractive index of the host medium or the separation between the nanoparticles to realize the photonic analog of electronic transistors. Possible passband tunability by nanoparticle spacing and modulation of the refractive index in the host medium have been presented explicitly and compared favorably with numerical calculations.
Drift-Alfvén wave mediated particle transport in an elongated density depression
Authors: Vincena Stephen , Gekelman Walter
Published: June 2006

Cross-field particle transport due to drift-Alfvén waves is measured in an elongated density depression within an otherwise uniform, magnetized helium plasma column. The depression is formed by drawing an electron current to a biased copper plate with cross-field dimensions of 28×0.24 ion sound-gyroradii ρs=cs∕ωci. The process of density depletion and replenishment via particle flux repeats in a quasiperiodic fashion for the duration of the current collection. The mode structure of the wave density fluctuations in the plane perpendicular to the background magnetic field is revealed using a two-probe correlation technique. The particle flux as a function of frequency is measured using a linear array of Langmuir probes and the only significant transport occurs for waves with frequencies between 15%–25% of the ion cyclotron frequency (measured in the laboratory frame) and with perpendicular wavelengths k⊥ρs∼0.7. The frequency-integrated particle flux is in rough agreement with observed increases in density in the center of the depletion as a function of time. The experiments are carried out in the Large Plasma Device (LAPD) [Gekelman et al., Rev. Sci. Instrum. 62, 2875 (1991)] at the Basic Plasma Science Facility located at the University of California, Los Angeles.
Charge injection in polymer light-emitting diodes based on poly[(9,9-dioctylfluorenyl-2,7-diyl)-co-(1,4-phenylene)]
Authors: Yusoff A. , Hassan Z. , Abu Hassan H.
Published: June 2006

In this letter, the electrical properties of polymer light-emitting diodes based on polyfluorene derivative, named poly[(9,9-dioctylfluorenyl-2,7-diyl)-co-(1,4-phenylene)] (F8P), were studied. Indium tin oxide (ITO)/polymer/metal [magnesium (Mg) and calcium (Ca)] structures were used to study the effect of the barrier height on the charge injection at the polymer/metal (anode) interfaces. For ITO/F8P/Mg devices, strong temperature influence on the dc conductivity was observed in the forward direction, and afterwards, in the reverse direction, the conductivity was totally temperature independent. On the other hand, ITO/F8P/Ca devices presented temperature-dependent conductivities for both polarities.
Design of Cu8Zr5-based bulk metallic glasses
Authors: Yang L. , Xia J. H. , Wang Q. , Dong C. , Chen L. Y. , Ou X. , Liu J. F. , Jiang J. Z. , Klementiev K. , Saksl K. , Franz H. , Schneider J. R. , Gerward L.
Published: June 2006

Basic polyhedral clusters have been derived from intermetallic compounds at near-eutectic composition by considering a dense packing and random arrangement of atoms at shell sites. Using such building units, bulk metallic glasses can be formed. This strategy was verified in the Cu–Zr binary system, where we have demonstrated the existence of Cu8Zr5 icosahedral clusters in Cu61.8Zr38.2, Cu64Zr36, and Cu64.5Zr35.5 amorphous alloys. Furthermore, ternary bulk metallic glasses can be developed by doping the basic Cu–Zr alloy with a minority element. This hypothesis was confirmed in systems (Cu0.618Zr0.382)100−xNbx, where x=1.5 and 2.5at.%, and (Cu0.618Zr0.382)98Sn2. The present results may open a route to prepare amorphous alloys with improved glass forming ability.
Positive and negative magnetocapacitance in magnetic nanoparticle systems
Authors: Lawes G. , Tackett R. , Adhikary B. , Naik R. , Masala O. , Seshadri R.
Published: June 2006

The dielectric properties of MnFe2O4 and γ-Fe2O3 magnetic nanoparticles embedded in insulating matrices were investigated. The samples showed frequency dependent dielectric anomalies coincident with the magnetic blocking temperature and significant magnetocapacitance above this blocking temperature, as large as 0.4% at H=10kOe. For both samples the magnetic field induced change in dielectric constant at high temperatures was proportional to the square of the sample magnetization. These measurements suggest that the dielectric properties of magnetic nanoparticles are closely related to the disposition of magnetic moments in the system. This magnetodielectric coupling is believed to arise from extrinsic effects, which are discussed in light of recent work relating magnetoresistive and magnetocapacitive behaviors.
Modeling of annealing kinetics for hydrogenated-amorphous-silicon-based solar cells using two-component metastable defects
Authors: Myong Seung Yeop , Lim Koeng Su
Published: June 2006

We propose a kinetic model for the annealing in p-i-n-type hydrogenated-amorphous-silicon (a-Si:H)-based solar cells using a combination of the fill factor and “fast” and “slow” metastable defect states in their absorbers. Reported annealing data are simulated on p-i-n-type a-Si:H-based solar cells using the proposed model in order to confirm its validity. The recovery kinetic dependence on the thermal annealing temperature, biased voltage, and phase of the absorber controlled by the hydrogen dilution ratio during deposition are reviewed. Furthermore, we suggest a recovery mechanism for the solar cells based on long range hydrogen diffusion.
Spatial and temporal variation in algal-assemblage structure in isolated dryland river waterholes, Cooper Creek and Warrego River, Australia
Authors: McGregor Glenn B. , Marshall Jonathan C. , Thoms Martin C.
Published: June 2006

The scale at which algal biodiversity is partitioned across the landscape, and the biophysical processes and biotic interactions which shape these communities in dryland river refugia was studied on two occasions from 30 sites in two Australian dryland rivers. Despite the waterholes studied having characteristically high levels of abiogenic turbidity, a total of 186 planktonic microalgae, 253 benthic diatom and 62 macroalgal species were recorded. The phytoplankton communities were dominated by flagellated cryptophytes, euglenophytes and chlorophytes, the diatom communities by cosmopolitan taxa known to tolerate wide environmental conditions, and the macroalgal communities by filamentous cyanobacteria. All algal communities showed significant differences between catchments and sampling times, with a suite of between 5 and 12 taxa responsible for ~50% of the observed change. In general, algal assemblage patterns were poorly correlated with the measured environmental variables. Phytoplankton and diatom assemblage patterns were weakly correlated with several waterhole geomorphic measures, whereas macroalgal assemblage patterns showed some association with variability in ionic concentration.
Effects of Sabella spallanzanii physical structure on soft sediment macrofaunal assemblages
Authors: O'Brien Allyson L. , Ross D. Jeff , Keough Michael J.
Published: June 2006

Effective management of introduced species requires an understanding of their effects on native species and the processes that structure the habitat. The introduced European polychaete Sabella spallanzanii dominates epifaunal assemblages in south-eastern Australia, yet little is known about how it affects the structure of the surrounding assemblages. The present study investigated the differences between infaunal assemblages in the presence and absence of S. spallanzanii using clumps of real and mimic polychaetes. Both the real and mimic clumps had the same effect on an existing assemblage with fewer numbers of small crustaceans in the sediment under the clumps. The effects of S. spallanzanii on infaunal colonisation and larval abundances above and below the S. spallanzanii canopy were also investigated. Larval effects varied among taxa, depending on position (above and below the canopy) for bivalve larvae and presence/absence of S. spallanzanii for gastropod larvae. There was no effect of the S. spallanzanii clumps on infaunal colonisation. These results suggest that the effects of S. spallanzanii on larval abundances and colonisation may not be as significant as the effects on post-colonisation processes that structure macrofaunal assemblages in soft sediment habitats.
Why did modern human populations disperse from Africa
ca.
60,000 years ago? A new model
Authors: Mellars Paul
Published: June 2006

Recent research has provided increasing support for the origins of anatomically and genetically “modern” human populations in Africa between 150,000 and 200,000 years ago, followed by a major dispersal of these populations to both Asia and Europe sometime after
ca.
65,000 before present (B.P.). However, the central question of why it took these populations ≈100,000 years to disperse from Africa to other regions of the world has never been clearly resolved. It is suggested here that the answer may lie partly in the results of recent DNA studies of present-day African populations, combined with a spate of new archaeological discoveries in Africa. Studies of both the mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) mismatch patterns in modern African populations and related mtDNA lineage-analysis patterns point to a major demographic expansion centered broadly within the time range from 80,000 to 60,000 B.P., probably deriving from a small geographical region of Africa. Recent archaeological discoveries in southern and eastern Africa suggest that, at approximately the same time, there was a major increase in the complexity of the technological, economic, social, and cognitive behavior of certain African groups, which could have led to a major demographic expansion of these groups in competition with other, adjacent groups. It is suggested that this complex of behavioral changes (possibly triggered by the rapid environmental changes around the transition from oxygen isotope stage 5 to stage 4) could have led not only to the expansion of the L2 and L3 mitochondrial lineages over the whole of Africa but also to the ensuing dispersal of these modern populations over most regions of Asia, Australasia, and Europe, and their replacement (with or without interbreeding) of the preceding “archaic” populations in these regions.
Cockayne syndrome group B protein (CSB) plays a general role in chromatin maintenance and remodeling
Authors: Newman John C. , Bailey Arnold D. , Weiner Alan M.
Published: June 2006

Cockayne syndrome (CS) is an inherited neurodevelopmental disorder with progeroid features. Although the genes responsible for CS have been implicated in a variety of DNA repair- and transcription-related pathways, the nature of the molecular defect in CS remains mysterious. Using expression microarrays and a unique method for comparative expression analysis called L2L, we sought to define this defect in cells lacking a functional CS group B (CSB) protein, the SWI/SNF-like ATPase responsible for most cases of CS. Remarkably, many of the genes regulated by CSB are also affected by inhibitors of histone deacetylase and DNA methylation, as well as by defects in poly(ADP-ribose)-polymerase function and RNA polymerase II elongation. Moreover, consistent with these microarray expression data, CSB-null cells are sensitive to inhibitors of histone deacetylase or poly(ADP-ribose)-polymerase. Our data indicate a general role for CSB protein in maintenance and remodeling of chromatin structure and suggest that CS is a disease of transcriptional deregulation caused by misexpression of growth-suppressive, inflammatory, and proapoptotic pathways.
Nanoscale detection of organic signatures in carbonate microbialites
Authors: Benzerara Karim , Menguy Nicolas , López-García Purificación , Yoon Tae-Hyun , Kazmierczak Józef , Tyliszczak Tolek , Guyot François , Brown Gordon E.
Published: June 2006

Microbialites are sedimentary deposits associated with microbial mat communities and are thought to be evidence of some of the oldest life on Earth. Despite extensive studies of such deposits, little is known about the role of microorganisms in their formation. In addition, unambiguous criteria proving their biogenicity have yet to be established. In this study, we characterize modern calcareous microbialites from the alkaline Lake Van, Turkey, at the nanometer scale by combining x-ray and electron microscopies. We describe a simple way to locate microorganisms entombed in calcium carbonate precipitates by probing aromatic carbon functional groups and peptide bonds. Near-edge x-ray absorption fine structure spectra at the C and N K-edges provide unique signatures for microbes. Aragonite crystals, which range in size from 30 to 100 nm, comprise the largest part of the microbialites. These crystals are surrounded by a 10-nm-thick amorphous calcium carbonate layer containing organic molecules and are embedded in an organic matrix, likely consisting of polysaccharides, which helps explain the unusual sizes and shapes of these crystals. These results provide biosignatures for these deposits and suggest that microbial organisms significantly impacted the mineralogy of Lake Van carbonates.
A redox-regulated chloroplast protein phosphatase binds to starch diurnally and functions in its accumulation
Authors: Sokolov Lubomir N. , Dominguez-Solis Jose R. , Allary Anne-Laure , Buchanan Bob B. , Luan Sheng
Published: June 2006

Starch is the ultimate storage molecule formed in the photosynthetic fixation of carbon dioxide by chloroplasts. Starch accumulates during the day and is degraded at night to intermediates that are exported to heterotrophic organs. The mechanism by which diurnal cycles control the transitory biosynthesis and degradation of chloroplast starch has long remained a mystery. We now report evidence that a dual-specificity protein phosphatase, DSP4, binds to starch granules during the day and dissociates at night. Disruption of the DSP4 gene resulted in a dramatic increase in the level of starch in mutant
Arabidopsis
plants. Moreover, although composition was apparently unchanged, the morphology of the starch granule was significantly altered compared to the wild type counterpart. Two regulatory factors linked to light (i.e., pH and redox status) changed both the activity and the starch-binding capacity of DSP4. The results further revealed that DSP4 represents a major fraction of granule-bound phosphatase activity during the day but not at night. Our study suggests that DSP4 acts as a bridge between light-induced redox changes and protein phosphorylation in the regulation of starch accumulation.
A randomized trial of lifestyle intervention in primary healthcare for the modification of cardiovascular risk factors The Björknäs study
Authors: Eriksson K. Margareta , Westborg Carl-Johan , Eliasson Mats C.E.
Published: June 2006

Aims: To evaluate the effects of a lifestyle intervention programme in primary healthcare, targeted to patients with moderate to high risk of cardiovascular disease in terms of cardiovascular risk factors, physical activity, and quality of life. Method: Randomized controlled trial with one-year follow-up, carried out in a primary healthcare centre in Northern Sweden. A total of 151 middle-aged men and women, with hypertension, dyslipidemia, type 2 diabetes, or obesity were enrolled. The subjects were randomized to either the intervention (n=75) or the control group (n=76). A total of 123 subjects completed the one-year follow-up. Interventions: Exercise: supervised endurance and circuit training in groups three times a week for three months. Diet: five group sessions of diet counselling with a dietitian. Follow- up meetings with a physiotherapist were conducted monthly thereafter. Primary outcomes were changes in anthropometry, maximal oxygen uptake, health-related quality of life, and self-reported physical activity. The secondary outcomes were changes in blood pressure and metabolic variables. Results: After one year the intervention group significantly increased maximal oxygen uptake, physical activity, and quality of life and significantly decreased body weight, waist and hip circumference, body mass index, waist—hip ratio, systolic and diastolic blood pressure, triglycerides, and glycosylated haemoglobin. There were significant differences between groups, mean changes (and their 95% confidence intervals, CI) in waist circumference -1.9 cm (-2.80 to -0.90; p<0.001), in waist—hip ratio -0.01 (-.02 to -0.004; p<0.01) and in diastolic blood pressure -2.3 mmHg (-4.04 to -0.51; p<0.05). Conclusion: A prevention programme in primary healthcare with a focus on physical activity and diet counselling followed by structured follow-up meetings can favourably influence several risk factors for cardiovascular diseases and quality of life in high-risk subjects for at least one year.
Transplantation and multiplier theorems for Fourier-Bessel expansions
Authors: Ciaurri Óscar , Stempak Krzysztof
Published: June 2006

Proved are weighted transplantation inequalities for Fourier-Bessel expansions. These extend known results on this subject by considering the largest possible range of parameters, allowing more weights and admitting a shift. The results are then used to produce a fairly general multiplier theorem with power weights for considered expansions. Also fractional integral results and conjugate function norm inequalities for these expansions are proved.
The effects of photosynthetically raised pH and light on some ciliated Protozoa in a eutrophic pond
Authors: GOULDER R.
Published: June 2006

Some ciliated Protozoa (e.g. Loxodes magnus, L. striatus, Spirostomum teres, S. ambiguum and Frontonia leucas) are abundant during summer in the hypolimnion of a eutrophic pond in north‐west England but are absent from the epilimnion. The work described in this paper was begun with the aim of investigating the suggestion that high pH values caused by phytoplankton photosynthesis contributed to the exclusion of these ciliates from the epilimnion. In July 1973, phytoplankton photosynthesis and high pH were found only in the epilimnion, hence conditions were compatible with the above suggestion. Ciliates were, therefore, kept in the laboratory in hypolimnion water and were exposed to phytoplankton photosynthesis, both with and without pH increase. It was found that Loxodes died under both treatments hence there is no evidence that high pH is lethal to Loxodes. It seemed possible, therefore, that either light or toxins released by algae during photosynthesis are lethal to Loxodes. L. magnus was, therefore, exposed to light in the absence of phytoplankton (in filtered hypolimnion water) both in the laboratory and in the pond and it was found that light was lethal. High light intensities might, therefore, contribute to the exclusion of at least Loxodes species from the surface water of the pond, although other adverse factors are probably operative since Loxodes species do not migrate into the epilimnion at night.
Physical and chemical aspects of Chew Valley and Blagdon Lakes, two eutrophic reservoirs in North Somerset, England
Authors: WILSON R. S. , SLEIGH M. A. , MAXWELL T. R. A. , MANCE G. , MILNE R. A.
Published: June 2006

Chew Valley and Blagdon Lakes are two shallow, hard‐water, lowland eutrophic reservoirs, situated near Bristol in the south‐west of England.

Chew Lake is more turbid and richer in plankton but poorer in macrophytes than Blagdon, and is more exposed to wind action. Both lakes show evidence of transient stratification in the summer coupled to deoxygenation of the bottom water, which has led to release of nutrients from the sediments.

Severe algal blooms in Chew Lake in 1968 and the consequent filtration difficulties led to the establishment of a collaborative research programme between the University of Bristol and the Bristol Waterworks Company, to define the present biological status of the lakes, and to predict their possible future development. The work covers a wide range of measurements and observations on the limnological conditions of the lakes, which form an elegantly contrasted pair, and this paper describes their general physical and chemical features.
Serological detection of spore balls of Spongospora subterranea and quantification in soil
Authors: WALSH J. A. , MERZ U. , HARRISON G.
Published: June 2006

A polyclonal antiserum produced against spore balls of Spongospora subterranca f.sp. subterranea prepared from potato tubers was able to detect as little as 0·02 spore balls in an enzyme‐linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). In spiked soil samples, the antiserum detected 100 spore balls per g soil. However, the different spore ball contamination levels were discriminated better in ELISA tests al concentrations above 2000 spore balls per g soil than at lower concentrations. In contrast, a bioassay test based on baiting soils with tomato seedlings gave good discrimination of spore ball contamination levels in spiked soils containing <1000 spore balls per g soil and poor discrimination of levels in spiked soils containing >2000 spore balls per g soil. Tests on a limited number of field soils suggested ELISA may be capable of predicting disease levels on tubers group in such soils better than the bioassay. The antiserum did not react with 30 other micro‐organisms tested, including many that are saprophytes or pathogens on potatoes and resting spores of the taxonomically related Plasmodiophora brassicae. It detected spore balls of different cultivar origin equally well. It also detected spores from different geographical origins. An attempt to improve the sensitivity of the serological detection through concentrating spore balls from held soils by sieving was unsuccessful. Cross‐absorption of the antiserum with uncontaminated field soil increased the sensitivity of detection of spore balls in spiked soil samples four‐fold. The ability of the antiserum to discriminate contaminated field soils from an uncontaminated soil was much improved by using the gamma‐globulin fraction or cross‐absorbed serum. Western blot analysis revealed that the antiserum detected a member of different proteins the most distinct of which had a molecular weight of slightly less than 6.5 kDa. A technique was developed to suppress autofluorescence of spore balls, allowing immunofluorescence studies to be carried out. Using this technique in conjunction with indirect FITC immunofluorescence discrete bright fluorescent spots were visualized using the specific serum. With the non‐specific serum, only a very dull background fluorescence was evident.
Isolation and identification of hypovirulent Rhizoctonia spp. from soil
Authors: JUAN‐ABGONA R. VILLA , KATSUNO N. , KAGEYAMA K. , HYAKUMACHI M.
Published: June 2006

Two‐hundred and forty‐eight isolates of Rhizoctonia spp, were obtained from 13 locations in Gifu Prefecture in Japan using the plant debris particles isolation, colonization of bait tissue, and soil‐clump plating methods. Of the isolates, 143 were binucleate Rhizoctonia spp., 60 were R. solani and 45 were R. zeae. Three isolates of R. solani and 54 of binucleate Rhizoctonia spp, were hypovirulent on radish, whilst all isolates of R. zeae were highly virulent, Hypovirulent strains were isolated most frequently by the plant debris particles isolation method, Hypovirulent isolates of R. solani belonged to anastomosis group 4, whilst the hypovirulent binucleate Rhizoctonia isolates belonged to AG A, AG Ba, AG G, and AG O.

Thirty‐two isolates of Rhizoctotria spp, selected for hypovirulence on radish were tested on cucumber in vitro. Only five binucleate Rhizoctonia isolates and one R. solani isolate were hypovirulent on both species, and these isolates were also hypovirulent on seven other crop species. Cucumber showed wide variation in disease susceptibility to different isolates but hypovirulent isolates exhibited a consistent reaction on five different host cultivars, Pathogenicity tests using cucumber grown in soil also showed consistent reactions with isolates selected either for hypovirulence or virulence. The results support the use of cucumber in bioassays for identifying hypovirulent isolates of binucleate Rhizoctonia spp.
Differentiation of Trichoderma taxa associated with mushroom production
Authors: SEABY D. A.
Published: June 2006

A major epidemic of green mould in mushroom compost in Northern Ireland lasting for 6 months was caused by a single taxon of Trichoderma harzianum (Th2). This has continued to be the principal taxon causing losses in Ireland over a 9‐year period. A separate taxon, Th4, is responsible for a more recent epidemic in North America. Cultural methods are described which aid rapid differentiation of four distinct taxa of T. harzianum and five other species from the mushroom environment. After developing a standard cultural method, isolates were grouped visually by features such as growth rate at 27°C, amount of aerial mycelium, and the effect of light on sporulation form and timing. Most of these groups of isolates had significantly different growth rate ratios from each other at 27°C/17°C. Furthermore isolates within groups which had been separated by culture features alone were closely homologous as regards their microscopic morphological features such as phialides and phialospores. Two factors underlining the importance of using a standard cultural method in aiding identification were that culture morphology was shown to vary widely on different media and spore size was found to vary significantly with incubation temperature. Some difficulties are discussed concerning differentiation of Trichoderma spp. using classical microscopic features alone.
The early development of disease caused by Phytophthora cinnamomi in Eucalyptus marginata and Eucalyptus calophylla grooving in rehabilitated bauxite mined areas
Authors: HARDY G. E. ST J. , COLQUHOUN I. J. , NIELSEN P.
Published: June 2006

The soil‐borne plant pathogen Phytophthora cinnamomi is widely distributed in the jarrah (Eucalyptus marginata) forest of Western Australia. Infested areas of the forest are mined for bauxite and the presence of the pathogen could after the survival of trees re‐established after mining. Monitoring of 21 revegetated bauxite mined areas found that survival of jarrah and marri (Eucalyptus calophylla) trees was high (85–92% and 93–99%, respectively) after 5–7 years but P. cinnamomi was recovered from dead trees. To identify trees for more detailed study, plant symptoms of stress such as suppressed growth, wilting, yellowing of crown, coppice and epicormic growth and visible stem lesions were used. Over a period of 15 months, 30 E. marginata and 28 E. calophylla were carefully excavated and examined for lesions and the presence of P. cinnamomi. P. cinnamomi was consistently isolated from the lignotuber and collar regions of both hosts but never from the roots alone, except in one instance from E. calophylla where it was isolated from a non‐lesioned root. In E. calophylla, the lignotuber appears to be very susceptible to invasion by P. cinnamomi in contrast to the roots which appear resistant. The invasion of the pathogen into the lignotuber and collar regions of both species was consistently associated with ponding of water around the plants. This ponding persists for many hours to days after rain and appears to provide an infection court for P. cinnamomi. Development of rehabilitation procedures to reduce this ponding will minimize the risk of tree deaths caused by this pathogen.
EVAPORITE TYPE DOLOMITE IN SALT FLATS OF WESTERN UTAH
Authors: BISSELL H. J. , CHILINGAR G. V.
Published: June 2006

Beds of fairly pure to impure dolomite, varying in thickness from 1 mm to 1 ft., occur widely throughout a large part of the Salt Flats of the Great Salt Lake Desert in Western Utah. Most of the sediments studied evidently formed within the past few tens of thousands of years (as dated by C14 methods), during late Lake Bonneville and Recent time. Alternating dark and light layers of dolomite, carbonate‐bearing clays, and clays make up the upper few feet of sediment that was sampled. Dark layers however, are significantly higher in silicates plus SiO2, content and have approximately twice as much Mg2+ as the light layers. The writers suggest that the process of dolomite‐formation was hastened by elevated temperatures, occasioned by solar absorption through a saltcrust “window” over the salt pans. Results of this study indicate that the dolomite is possibly of secondary origin (replacement type). Enough information is not available at this time in order to determine the duration of diagenetic dolomitization in terms of days, weeks or years, nor is it known if the diagenetic alteration of calcite to dolomite occurred at the sediment‐water interface or after burial (or both at different times).
PETROLOGY AND PALEOGEOGRAPHY OF THE WARRENSBURG CHANNEL SANDSTONE, WESTERN MISSOURI
Authors: DOTY ROBERT W. , HUBERT JOHN F.
Published: June 2006

The approximately 100‐foot thick Warrensburg sandstone (Nowata formation, Marmaton group, Pennsylvanian Desmoinesian Series, western Missouri) fills a valley‐shaped erosional channel. The rapidly lensing fluvial sediments are sandstones (45%) and siltstones and shales (50%), with subordinate basal conglomerate and coal. Sediment transport was southward, parallel to the north‐south channel. These fluvial sediments formed in a stream channel previously cut across a low coastal plain during a temporary retreat of the sea.

The Warrensburg sandstone samples are a homogeneous group of fine‐grained to medium‐grained quartzose graywackes and micaceous quartzites. The grains, omitting 10% clayey matrix and 10% iron‐oxide and silica cements, average 47% common quartz, 34% metamorphic detritus (slate, phyllite, schist, highly undulose unit quartz, schistose and pressure metaquartzites, and mica), 14% plutonic detritus (feldspar and vein quartz), and 5% sedimentary grains (“second‐cycle” rounded quartz and chert). The accessory heavy mineral assemblage also reflects a mixture of metamorphic and plutonic detritus with subordinate “second‐cycle” grains (21% rounded zircon and tourmaline among the detrital, transparent, non‐micaceous grains). The distant sources of detritus in the Warrensburg and other Desmoinesian channel sandstones of Missouri are typified by metamorphic and subordinate feldspathic crystalline rocks.

The average 10% feldspar (largely K‐feldspar) among the grains and 8% garnet among the detrital, transparent, non‐micaceous heavy minerals in the Warrensburg sandstone, in contrast to the near absence of these minerals in Desmoinesian channel sandstones of western Pennsylvanian, suggests that the principal sources were the Transcontinental Arch and Canadian Shield to the north and northeast. The Appalachian metamorphic belt is not as important a source area for the Western Interior Basin as previously generally thought.
UNTERSUCHUNGEN ZUR KALKFÄLLUNG UND KALKLÖSUNG AM WESTRAND DER GREAT BAHAMA BANK
Authors: SEIBOLD EUGEN
Published: June 2006

In the summer of 1959, temperature, Eh, pH, chlorinity and alkalinity of sea and interstitial water were measured in the westernmost part of Great Bahama Bank and in Florida Bay (Fig. 1).

Boring organisms, especially algae, grazing snails and inorganic processes are deepening solution basins there (Fig. 2, 3, 5, 6). Carbonate balance in the Bimini lagoon is influenced by the activity of grass (Fig. 8), algae and animals with carbonate tests and shells, and physicochemical differences between day and night, high and low water. Inorganic precipitation of calcium carbonate seems to be small compared with the losses due to incorporation into organisms. In Florida Bay saturation is partly influenced by plants also. Supersaturation can be high and wind action stirs up countless small carbonate particles (Fig. 7). This suggests that inorganic precipitation must occur. Calcium carbonate precipitation as outlined by Smith (1940) was observed on Great Bahama Bank even in the mixed waters of the westernmost parts and in the interstitial water of moving oolitic sand.
CHANNELS FROM THE UPPER CARBONIFEROUS COAL MEASURES OF SOUTH WALES
Authors: BLUCK BRIAN J. , KELLING GILBERT
Published: June 2006

Sandstone‐filled channels occur widely in the Upper Carboniferous (Westphalian) rocks of South Wales. Subsurface and outcrop studies of channels and associated structures in three formations within the Westphalian sequence reveal significant regional variations in orientation, transverse profile, geometry and lithology of fill. The pattern of channel‐orientation in each formation is consistent with the system of palaeocurrents derived from independent studies of cross‐bedding and indicates that in the lowest Westphalian (Basal Coal Measures) derivation was principally from the north and east, with intermittent supply from the south, whereas in the Upper Westphalian material was derived mainly from the south and east but with substantial contributions from the north.

Formation of the channels is ascribed to fluvial erosion and filling. The mutually consistent regional variations in channel‐parameters are compared with the conspic‐ uous changes in lithofacies and interpreted as indicating diRerences in Auviohydraulic locale within the original basin of sedimentation.