bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Scale-invariant optical flow in tracking using a pan-tilt-zoom camera
Authors: Dhou Salam , Motai Yuichi 
Published: December 2014

SUMMARYAn efficient method for tracking a target using a single Pan-Tilt-Zoom (PTZ) camera is proposed. The proposed Scale-Invariant Optical Flow (SIOF) method estimates the motion of the target and rotates the camera accordingly to keep the target at the center of the image. Also, SIOF estimates the scale of the target and changes the focal length relatively to adjust the Field of View (FoV) and keep the target appear in the same size in all captured frames. SIOF is a feature-based tracking method. Feature points used are extracted and tracked using Optical Flow (OF) and Scale-Invariant Feature Transform (SIFT). They are combined in groups and used to achieve robust tracking. The feature points in these groups are used within a twist model to recover the 3D free motion of the target. The merits of this proposed method are (i) building an efficient scale-invariant tracking method that tracks the target and keep it in the FoV of the camera with the same size, and (ii) using tracking with prediction and correction to speed up the PTZ control and achieve smooth camera control. Experimental results were performed on online video streams and validated the efficiency of the proposed method SIOF, comparing with OF, SIFT, and other tracking methods. The proposed SIOF has around 36% less average tracking error and around 70% less tracking overshoot than OF.
Reassessing Disparity in Access to Higher Education in Contemporary China
Authors: Hu Anning 
Published: December 2014

AbstractIn this commentary on the research note by Wang Xiaobing, Chengfang Liu, Linxiu Zhang, Yaojiang Shi and Scott Rozelle, “College is a rich, Han, urban, male club: research notes from a census survey of four tier one colleges in China,” I address several caveats in using the relative disparity index in assessing the extent of inequality in access to higher education. Based on these discussions, I point out the potential limitations existing in the empirical study of Wang and colleagues, and reassess the extent of disparity in college education opportunities in contemporary China using data from the 2010 Chinese General Social Survey. Although the descriptive patterns consolidate the study of Wang and colleagues, only household registration status is significantly associated with the likelihood of attending college. These findings indicate that disparities per gender, economic status, and ethnicity based on a limited number of colleges are likely to be subject to sampling errors. Finally, no interaction effects between socio-demographic factors are detected. I offer some reflections on the disproportionality approach in the research of education inequality.
Explaining Trade Agreements: The Practitioners' Story and the Standard Model
Authors: REGAN DONALD H. 
Published: December 2014

AbstractThere are two widely accepted explanations of why politically motivated governments make trade agreements. There is aninformalexplanation, which I shall call the ‘practitioners' story’, even though it is most economists' informal view as well. And there is aformalexplanation in the economics literature, which I shall call the ‘standard model’, referring to the basic structure shared by the Bagwell–Staiger and Grossman–Helpman models. Unfortunately, the practitioners' story and the standard model contradict each other at every crucial point. For example, in the practitioners' story, trade agreements are about reducing politically motivated protectionism; and getting an agreement depends on political support from exporters. But in the standard model, trade agreementsneverreduce such protectionism; and politics plays no role in securing an agreement. This paper expounds the contradictions between the practitioners' story and the standard model, which have gone largely unremarked. It refutes suggestions by defenders of the standard model that the contradictions are illusory. It identifies the different assumptions made by the two explanations that generate the contradictions. It gives reasons for skepticism about the standard model. And it discusses why all of this matters.
Two perspectives on trading in radio spectrum usage rights: Coase and Commons compared
Authors: LEMSTRA WOLTER , GROENEWEGEN JOHN , DE VRIES PIET , AKALU RAJEN 
Published: December 2014

AbstractIn this contribution, we address the introduction of private property rights and market trades in the use of the radio frequency spectrum. We discuss the UK case being inspired by the ideas of Coase. We discuss how an appropriate design of property rights and a secondary market would look like and how the developments after the introduction of property rights could be interpreted. Subsequently we present the alternative perspective of Commons to illuminate the implications of a Coasean perspective. It is shown how Coase's focus is on efficiency, whereas in the world of Commons, the societal value is central. We discuss how the two perspectives can contribute to the understanding of the governance of the radio spectrum and conclude with policy recommendations.
Responses to social and environmental stress are attenuated by strong male bonds in wild macaques
Authors: Young Christopher , Majolo Bonaventura , Heistermann Michael , Schülke Oliver , Ostner Julia 
Published: December 2014

SignificanceMale macaques form social bonds similar to human friendships that buffer them against day-to-day stressors. If male primates live in multimale groups they usually fight fiercely over access to females, but males can develop friendly relationships with a few group mates. The strength of these “friendships” has now been shown to buffer against the negative effects of social and environmental stressors, a phenomenon that was previously only described for females and pair-living animals. Long-term glucocorticoid (stress hormone) elevation can increase susceptibility to disease and mortality. This study shows that variation in everyday stressors such as the amount of aggression received or cold stress can cause such long-term elevated glucocorticoid levels but that keeping a few close male associates will avoid that.
Acute Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) Syndrome After Nonadherence to Antiretroviral Therapy in a Patient With Chronic HIV Infection: A Case Report
Authors: Choi Seong K. , Graber Christopher J. 
Published: December 2014

Abstract
We report a rare case of acute human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) syndrome in a patient with chronic HIV infection with acute illness indistinguishable from acute retroviral syndrome. The patient presented with an acute febrile mononucleosis-like illness after increasing nonadherence to antiretroviral therapy. A marked increase in HIV RNA level of 1 220 000 copies/mL from less than 20 copies/mL occurred within 3 weeks. The diagnosis of acute HIV syndrome was made after alternative causes of illness were ruled out.
Feeding Soy Protein Isolate and n‐3 PUFA Affects Polycystic Liver Disease Progression in a PCK Rat Model of Autosomal Polycystic Kidney Disease
Authors: Maditz Kaitlin H. , Benedito Vagner A. , Oldaker Chris , Nanda Nainika , Lateef Sundus S. , Livengood Ryan , Tou Janet C. 
Published: December 2014

ABSTRACTObjective:In polycystic liver disease (PCLD), multiple cysts cause liver enlargement, structural damage, and loss of function. Soy protein and dietary ω‐3 polyunsaturated fatty acids (n‐3 PUFAs) have been found to decrease cyst proliferation and inflammation in polycystic kidney disease. Therefore, the aim of the study was to investigate whether soy protein and n‐3 PUFA supplementation attenuates PCLD.Methods:Young (age 28 days) female PCK rats were fed (n = 12 per group) either casein + corn oil (casein + CO), casein + soybean oil (casein + SO), soy protein isolate + soybean oil (SPI + SO), or SPI + 1:1 soybean/salmon oil blend (SPI + SB) diet for 12 weeks. Liver histology, gene expression by real‐time quantitative polymerase chain reaction, and serum markers of liver injury were determined.Results:Diet had no effect on PCLD progression as indicated by no significant differences in liver weight and hepatic proliferation gene expression between diet groups. PCK rats fed SPI + SB diet, however, had the greatest (P < 0.05) histological evidence of hepatic cyst obstruction, portal inflammation, steatosis, and upregulation (P = 0.03) of fibrosis‐related genes. Rats fed SPI + SB diet also had the lowest (P < 0.001) serum cholesterol and higher (P < 0.05) serum alkaline phosphatase and bilirubin concentrations.Conclusions:Feeding young female PCK rats SPI and n‐3 PUFA failed to attenuate PCLD progression. Furthermore, feeding SPI + SB diet resulted in complications of hepatic steatosis attributable to cysts obstruction of bile duct and hepatic vein. Based on the results, it was concluded that diet intervention alone was not effective at attenuating PCLD associated with autosomal recessive polycystic kidney disease.
The genomic signature of social interactions regulating honey bee caste development
Authors: Vojvodic Svjetlana , Johnson Brian R. , Harpur Brock , Kent Clement , Zayed Amro , Anderson Kirk E. , Linksvayer Timothy A. 
Published: December 2014

AbstractSocial evolution theory posits the existence of genes expressed in one individual that affect the traits and fitness of social partners. The archetypal example of reproductive altruism, honey bee reproductive caste, involves strict social regulation of larval caste fate by care-giving nurses. However, the contribution of nurse-expressed genes, which are prime socially-acting candidate genes, to the caste developmental program and to caste evolution remains mostly unknown. We experimentally induced new queen production by removing the current colony queen, and we used RNA sequencing to study the gene expression profiles of both developing larvae and their care-giving nurses before and after queen removal. By comparing the gene expression profiles between both queen-destined larvae and their nurses to worker-destined larvae and their nurses in queen-present and queen-absent conditions, we identified larval and nurse genes associated with larval caste development and with queen presence. Of 950 differentially-expressed genes associated with larval caste development, 82% were expressed in larvae and 18% were expressed in nurses. Behavioral and physiological evidence suggests that nurses may specialize in the short term feeding queen- versus worker-destined larvae. Estimated selection coefficients indicated that both nurse and larval genes associated with caste are rapidly evolving, especially those genes associated with worker development. Of the 1863 differentially-expressed genes associated with queen presence, 90% were expressed in nurses. Altogether, our results suggest that socially-acting genes play important roles in both the expression and evolution of socially-influenced traits like caste.
Genetic relateness ofHaemophilus parasuisamong reference strains and Chinese epidemic isolates
Authors: Yue Min , Chen Huanchun 
Published: December 2014

AbstractHaemophilus parasuisis the causative agent of Glässer’s disease and a commensal coloniser of the porcine upper respiratory tract. Multiple complex factors, including the early weaning of piglets and the management of high health status farms, make it a re-emerging agent, responsible for a recent increase in the prevalence and severity of disease in pigs in China. However, little genetic information is known about Chinese epidemic isolates. In this study, a phylogenetic method for genotyping theH. parasuispopulation with available Chinese epidemic isolates and reference strains from different origins is presented. Phylogenetic analysis confirmed that there are at least two different genotypes inH. parasuispopulation and a unique Chinese lineage with virulence results in the previous epidemics.
Granulomatous cheilitis with intralymphatic histiocytosis possibly associated with calcium deposition caused by chronic inflammation owing to dental metals and periodontitis
Authors: Kano Shinya , Kurimoto Shingo , Ito Ayako , Yoshida Yuichi , Yamamoto Osamu 
Published: December 2014

AbstractGranulomatous cheilitis (GC) is an uncommon disease and the pathogenesis of GC has not been clear. Here, we present two cases of GC associated with calcium deposition caused by chronic inflammation owing to dental metal allergy and periodontitis. Histopathologically, intralymphatic histiocytosis (IH) in addition to non‐caseating granulomas was seen in both cases. The results of a patch test were positive for some dental metals. Qualitative analyses by energy‐dispersive X‐ray spectroscopy detected calcium from biopsy specimens. We considered that partial destruction of teeth by chronic inflammation induced reactive proliferation of histiocytes, resulting in IH. Our study suggests that GC and IH is a consequence of chronic inflammatory diseases caused by dental metals and periodontitis. Dental care is necessary for treatment of GC.
Case of cutaneous phaeohyphomycosis caused by Phaeoacremonium sp. in a renal transplant recipient
Authors: Sakata Yuichi , Kitayama Asuka , Yoshimura Rieko , Anzawa Kazushi , Fujii Toshiki , Fujimoto Keiji , Yokoyama Hitoshi , Mochizuki Takashi 
Published: December 2014

AbstractWe describe a case of cutaneous phaeohyphomycosis in a 61‐year‐old man receiving re‐dialysis treatment for renal failure of a transplanted kidney. He was immunocompromised with steroid and cyclosporin A at onset of an asymptomatic abscess on his right forearm. The abscess arose at the site of a skin injury approximately 1 year prior. Grayish molds isolated from the lesion were morphologically compatible with Phaeoacremonium sp. but nucleotide sequence data of internal transcribed spacer regions of ribosomal RNA gene, actin and β‐tubulin genes were unlike those of any described species. He was successfully treated with a total of 3 weeks of liposomal amphotericin B, but died of pneumonia approximately 3 months after cure of phaeohyphomycosis.
Efficacy of the combined use of a facial cleanser and moisturizers for the care of mild acne patients with sensitive skin
Authors: Isoda Kenichi , Seki Tsuyoshi , Inoue Yosuke , Umeda Koji , Nishizaka Takahiro , Tanabe Hisateru , Takagi Yutaka , Ishida Koichi , Mizutani Hitoshi 
Published: December 2014

AbstractAcne is a common skin disease that involves the seborrheic area of the face and results from the obstruction of hair follicles followed by inflammation. Careful face washing helps to improve and prevent acne; however, intensive washing has a risk of inducing skin barrier impairment and dry skin, especially in sensitive skin. We hypothesized that skin care combining mild skin cleansing and intensive moisturizing (“combination skin care”) may be effective in the care of acne in subjects with dry skin and/or sensitive skin. We developed a combination skin care with a weakly acidic foaming facial skin cleanser based on a mild detergent, an aqueous lotion with eucalyptus extract and a moisturizing gel containing pseudo‐ceramide and eucalyptus extract. To optimize an ideal facial skin care system for mild acne on sensitive skin, we performed a 4‐week clinical trial with 29 post‐adolescent Japanese women with mild acne with dry and sensitive skin. The acne significantly decreased after this trial accompanied by the improvement of dry skin, a significantly increased endogenous ceramide level in the stratum corneum and an elongated alkyl chain length of the non‐hydroxy acyl sphingosine type ceramide. No adverse events due to the test samples were observed. Based on diagnosis by a dermatologist, 97% of the subjects found the combination skin care to be “useful” or “slightly useful”. Based on these findings, the combined use of a facial skin cleanser and moisturizers is safe and effective for the care of acne in post‐adolescent Japanese women with sensitive skin.
Retrieval of super‐virtual refraction by cross‐correlation
Authors: Qiao Baoping , Guo Ping , Wang Pu , Hu Tianyue 
Published: December 2014

ABSTRACTTopography and severe variations of near‐surface layers lead to travel‐time perturbations for the events in seismic exploration. Usually, these perturbations could be estimated and eliminated by refraction technology. The virtual refraction method is a relatively new technique for retrieval of refraction information from seismic records contaminated by noise. Based on the virtual refraction, this paper proposes super‐virtual refraction interferometry by cross‐correlation to retrieve refraction wavefields by summing the cross‐correlation of raw refraction wavefields and virtual refraction wavefields over all receivers located outside the retrieved source and receiver pair. This method can enhance refraction signal gradually as the source–receiver offset decreases. For further enhancement of refracted waves, a scheme of hybrid virtual refraction wavefields is applied by stacking of correlation‐type and convolution‐type super‐virtual refractions. Our new method does not need any information about the near‐surface velocity model, which can solve the problem of directly unmeasured virtual refraction energy from the virtual source at the surface, and extend the acquisition aperture to its maximum extent in raw seismic records. It can also reduce random noise influence in raw seismic records effectively and improve refracted waves’ signal‐to‐noise ratio by a factor proportional to the square root of the number of receivers positioned at stationary‐phase points, based on the improvement of virtual refraction's signal‐to‐noise ratio. Using results from synthetic and field data, we show that our new method is effective to retrieve refraction information from raw seismic records and improve the accuracy of first‐arrival picks.
Predicting rates of isotopic turnover across the animal kingdom: a synthesis of existing data
Authors: Thomas Stephen M. , Crowther Thomas W. 
Published: December 2014

Summary

The stable isotopes of carbon (12C, 13C) and nitrogen (14N, 15N) represent powerful tools in food web ecology, providing a wide range of dietary information in animal consumers. However, identifying the temporal window over which a consumer's isotopic signature reflects its diet requires an understanding of elemental incorporation, a process that varies from days to years across species and tissue types.

Though theory predicts body size and temperature are likely to control incorporation rates, this has not been tested empirically across a morphologically and phylogenetically diverse range of taxa. Readily available estimates of this relationship would, however, aid in the design of stable isotope food web investigations and improve the interpretation of isotopic data collected from natural systems.

Using literature‐derived turnover estimates from animal species ranging in size from 1 mg to 2000 kg, we develop a predictive tool for stable isotope ecologists, allowing for estimation of incorporation rates in the structural tissues of entirely novel taxa.

In keeping with metabolic scaling theory, we show that isotopic turnover rates of carbon and nitrogen in whole organisms and muscle tissue scale allometrically with body mass raised approximately to the power −0·19, an effect modulated by body temperature. This relationship did not, however, apply to incorporation rates in splanchnic tissues, which were instead dependent on the thermoregulation tactic employed by an organism, being considerably faster in endotherms than ectotherms.

We believe the predictive turnover equations we provide can improve the design of experiments and interpretation of results obtained in future stable isotopic food web studies.
Relative density and dispersion pattern of two southern African Asteraceae affect fecundity through heterospecific interference and mate availability, not pollinator visitation rate
Authors: de Waal Caroli , Anderson Bruce , Ellis Allan G. 
Published: December 2014

SummarySince co‐flowering plants often share pollinators, their fecundity is likely affected by pollen transfer within and among plant species. Changes in pollinator visitation rates (e.g. through facilitation or competition for pollinators) are usually thought to exert the predominant influence on plant fecundity. However, the transfer of conspecific relative to heterospecific pollen between individuals may also play an important role. Indeed, the relative importance of these determinants of fecundity is expected to depend on the density, relative abundance and spatial arrangement of con‐ and heterospecifics.We investigated the effects of con‐ and heterospecific density and spatial distribution pattern on pollinator visitation and plant fecundity within and between two annual, self‐incompatible co‐flowering species [Dimorphotheca pinnataandUrsinia cakilefolia(Asteraceae)] by manipulating their relative abundance, overall patch density and dispersion patterns in experimental arrays in Namaqualand, South Africa. We quantified pollinator visitation rates and fruit set in arrays of varying density and aggregation. This enabled us to determine which mechanism(s) were driving variation of fecundity, particularly through their influence on visitation rates, mate availability and heterospecific pollen interference. To test whether autogamy offers reproductive assurance when individuals are scattered among a dense population of heterospecifics, we included an autogamous species (U. anthemoides) in a separate experiment.We found that increased fecundity with increasing conspecific density was not the result of higher visitation rates, but rather increased mate availability. Furthermore, increased spatial aggregation of conspecifics at low density significantly increased fecundity through reduced heterospecific interference.In contrast to results for self‐incompatible species, fruit set inU. anthemoideswas consistently high and unaffected by scattered distribution patterns. This suggests that autogamy may offer reproductive assurance when mates are limited and the potential for interspecific pollen transfer (IPT) is high.Synthesis. In this study of annual daisies, variation in fruit set is primarily driven by factors that affect the transfer of conspecific relative to heterospecific pollen, independent of pollinator visitation rate. Our findings demonstrate that mate limitation andIPTnegatively affect fruit set and that these effects can be mitigated by intraspecific aggregation and the ability to autonomously self‐pollinate.
Canavanine induces insulin release via activation of imidazoline I3 receptors
Authors: Yang Ting‐Ting , Niu Ho‐Shan , Chen Li‐Jen , Ku Po‐Ming , Lin Kao‐Chang , Cheng Juei‐Tang 
Published: December 2014

SummaryThe aim of the present study was to identify the effect of canavanine on the imidazoline receptor because canavanine is a guanidinium derivative that has a similar structure to imidazoline receptor ligands. Transfected Chinese hamster ovary‐K1 cells expressing imidazoline receptors (nischarin (NISCH)‐CHO‐K1 cells) were used to elucidate the direct effects of canavanine on imidazoline receptors. In addition, the imidazoline I3 receptor has been implicated in stimulation of insulin secretion from pancreatic β‐cells. Wistar rats were used to investigate the effects of canavanine (0.1, 1 and 2.5 mg/kg, i.v.) on insulin secretion. In addition the a specific I3 receptor antagonist KU14R (4 or 8 mg/kg, i.v.) was used to block I3 receptors. Canavanine decreased blood glucose by increasing plasma insulin in rats. In addition, canavanine increased calcium influx into NISCH‐CHO‐K1 cells in a manner similar to agmatine, the endogenous ligand of imidazoline receptors. Moreover, KU12R dose‐dependently attenuated canavanine‐induced insulin secretion in HIT‐T15 pancreatic β‐cells and in the plasma of rats. The data suggest that canavanine is an agonist of I3 receptors both in vivo and in vitro. Thus, canavanine would be a useful tool in imidazoline receptor research.