bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
How health care regionalisation in Italy is widening the North–South gap
Authors: Toth Federico 
Published: February 2014

AbstractThe Italian National Health Service began experimenting with a significant regionalisation process during the 1990s. The purpose of this article is to assess the effects that this regionalisation process is having on the rift between the north and the south of the country. Has the gap between the health care systems of the northern and southern regions been increasing or decreasing during the 1999–2009 decade? Three indicators will be utilised to answer this question: (1) the level of satisfaction expressed by the citizens towards the regional hospital system; (2) the mobility of the patients among regions; (3) the health care deficit accumulated by the individual regions. On the basis of these three indicators, there is evidence to conclude that, during the decade under study, the gap between the North and the South, already significant, has increased further.
Smoking outside: the effect of the Irish workplace smoking ban on smoking prevalence among the employed
Authors: Savage Michael 
Published: February 2014

AbstractIn March 2004, Ireland became the first country to introduce a nationwide workplace smoking ban. The primary aim of the ban was to reduce people’s exposure to second-hand smoke. A 95% compliance rate among employers suggests this aim was achieved. By prohibiting smoking in the majority of indoor working places, an effect of the ban was to increase the non-monetary cost of smoking. The aim of this paper is to examine whether the extra non-monetary cost of smoking was concentrated on the employed. A difference-in-differences approach is used to measure changes in smoking behaviour among the employed relative to the non-working population following the introduction of the workplace smoking ban. The research finds that the workplace smoking ban did not induce a greater reduction in smoking prevalence among the employed population compared with the non-working population. In fact, the evidence suggests a significantly larger decrease in smoking prevalence among the non-workers relative to the employed. Changes in the real price of cigarettes and changes in attitudes to risk are discussed as possible causes for the pattern observed.
Cueing God: Religious Cues and Voter Support
Authors: McLaughlin Bryan , Wise David 
Published: February 2014

AbstractScholars contend that correctly applying religious cues is crucial to winning political elections. This article examines the effect of general religious cues by conducting an experiment on a national sample (N = 520). Through the use of a fictitious congressional candidate's webpage, we examine how subtle and overt religious cues interact with citizen religiosity to affect political evaluations. The findings demonstrate that politicians who use overt religious cues run the risk of alienating a large portion of potential voters. Religious cues do, however, appear to become more effective as citizens become more religious. We also find some evidence that overt religious cues are more polarizing than subtle religious cues. This article provides a foundation from which to more thoroughly consider how general religious cues can affect political outcomes and how these cues may interact with other factors.
‘Globalization, Constitutionalism, and Sovereignty’1
Authors: SCHEUERMAN WILLIAM E 
Published: February 2014

AbstractJean L Cohen’s impressive new volume argues that the existing global order’s own internal attributes point the way to the possibility of attractive as well as realistic institutional reforms. Global dualism, she argues, suggests the advantages of constructing non-statist global federations, in which sovereign states would cooperate in far-reaching ways to tackle common problems, in conjunction with a ‘low-intensity’ – yet potentially path-breaking – constitutionalization of global governance. If properly achieved, such reforms could produce a global order better able to preserve legality, protect rights, and allow for far-reaching political autonomy. This review chiefly focuses on the author’s attempt to link her normative and political ideas, and especially her ideas about constitutional pluralism and global federations, to her analysis of the existing global order. Despite the many virtues of her reform ideas, they sometimes embody unfairly hostile views of cosmopolitan political and legal aims. Unfortunately, Cohen has not sufficiently responded to political and institutional cosmopolitans who seek potentially more far-reaching alterations to our global order than she deems desirable.
Piercing the veil of state sovereignty: How China’s censorship regime into fragmented international law can lead to a butterfly effect
Authors: CHEN GE 
Published: February 2014

AbstractThis article seeks to address China’s entrenched censorship regime in the constitutionalist dimension of international law. First, the article probes into China’s censorship regime and the way it is linked to the country’s foreign policies. Second, the article explores the tension between China’s national censorship regime and international law. Such tension is rendered sharper than ever in the context of fragmented international law, as exemplified by two UPRs of China and two WTO rulings. Finally, the article advances a constitutionalist premise that eventually China’s self-motivated step into the fragmented domain of international law could boomerang against China’s censorship regime. As the international standards of freedom of expression are evolving into a fundamental right with constitutional status, the functional interrelatedness between different subsystems of international law gives rise to the accountability of state actors, which in turn compels them to comply with universal rules.
All Solution-processed Stable White Quantum Dot Light-emitting Diodes with Hybrid ZnO@TiO2 as Blue Emitters
Authors: Chen Jing , Zhao Dewei , Li Chi , Xu Feng , Lei Wei , Sun Litao , Nathan Arokia , Sun Xiao Wei 
Published: February 2014

AbstractWhite quantum dot light-emitting diodes (QD-LEDs) have been a promising candidate for high-efficiency and color-saturated displays. However, it is challenging to integrate various QD emitters into one device and also to obtain efficient blue QDs. Here, we report a simply solution-processed white QD-LED using a hybrid ZnO@TiO2 as electron injection layer and ZnCdSeS QD emitters. The white emission is obtained by integrating the yellow emission from QD emitters and the blue emission generated from hybrid ZnO@TiO2 layer. We show that the performance of white QD-LEDs can be adjusted by controlling the driving force for hole transport and electroluminescence recombination region via varying the thickness of hole transport layer. The device is demonstrated with a maximum luminance of 730 cd/m2 and power efficiency of 1.7 lm/W, exhibiting the Commission Internationale de l’Enclairage (CIE) coordinates of (0.33, 0.33). The unencapsulated white QD-LED has a long lifetime of 96 h at its initial luminance of 730 cd/m2, primarily due to the fact that the device with hybrid ZnO@TiO2 has low leakage current and is insensitive to the oxygen and the moisture. These results indicate that hybrid ZnO@TiO2 provides an alternate and effective approach to achieve high-performance white QD-LEDs and also other optoelectronic devices.
Structure of a myosin•adaptor complex and pairing by cargo
Authors: Shi Hang , Singh Nimisha , Esselborn Filipp , Blobel Günter 
Published: February 2014

Significance
To navigate large cargo through the viscous cytoplasm, cells use a variety of energy-consuming machines that, akin to ropewalkers, move on intracellular “tracks” in a stepwise “bipedal” fashion. To prevent waste of energy by futile walking, several control mechanisms have evolved. In the case described here for one group of yeast myosins, crystallographic and biophysical analyses revealed that a single myosin molecule associates with an intertwined middle region of two “adaptor” molecules. The adaptor also contains distinct binding sites for cargo. Only when cargo is attached to the myosin-bound adaptor are two of the myosin–adaptor complexes joined into a pair, akin to converting a uniped (unable to walk) into a biped (able to walk).
First Report of Fusarium succisae Causing Flower Rot on Thread-leaf Coreopsis
Authors: Choi H.-W. , Hong S. K. , Lee Y. K. , Kim W. G. 
Published: February 2014

In July 2010, flower rot of thread-leaf coreopsis (Coreopsis verticillata) was found in a garden in the Icheon City, Korea. The disease affected about 20 to 50% of a 100 m2 area. The disease was characterized by the appearance of pinkish mycelia on the stigmata and inflorescences of flowers. In some cases, flowers failed to bloom or turned brown before opening fully. Fragments (each 5 × 5 mm) of the symptomatic tissue were surface-sterilized with 1% NaOCl for 1 min, and then rinsed twice in sterilized distilled water. The tissue pieces were placed on water agar (WA) and incubated at 25°C for 4 to 6 days. Twenty-two isolates of Fusarium species were obtained from the diseased flowers. All isolates were identified as Fusarium succisae based on their morphological characteristics on carnation leaf agar (CLA) medium and DNA sequences of the translation elongation factor 1-alpha gene (1). Macroconidia and sporodochia were sparsely produced on CLA medium. Microconidia were abundant, borne in false heads, oval or allantoid and sometimes pyriform, and measured 4.2 to 13 × 2.2 to 5.4 μm. Chlamydospores were absent. The EF-1α gene was amplified from three isolates by PCR assay and the amplification products were sequenced (2). The nucleotide sequences obtained were deposited in GenBank with accession numbers KF514658, KF514659, and KF514660. BLASTn analysis showed 99% homology with the EF-1α sequence of F. succisae NRRL13613 (GenBank Accession No. AF160291). Pathogenicity tests were conducted with inoculation of flowers on Coreopsis verticillata. Spore suspension was prepared by flooding 7-day-old cultures on potato dextrose agar with sterilized 2% (w/v) sugar solution. When the plants started to have buds, the isolates were inoculated by placing one drop (20 μl) of spore suspension (1 × 106 spores ml−1) into the buds. Fifteen buds of the plants were arranged into three replications. The control was treated with sterilized 2% sugar solution. Inoculated plants were kept in a greenhouse at 25/20°C (12 h/12 h). Three weeks after inoculation, the symptoms were observed on buds with mycelial production. Control plants had no mycelia on buds. F. succisae was re-isolated from the inoculated flowers. To our knowledge, this is the first report of flower rot of thread-leaf coreopsis caused by F. succisae. References: (1) J. F. Leslie and B. A. Summerell. The Fusarium Laboratory Manual. Blackwell Publishing, Ames, IA, 2006. (2) K. O'Donnell et al. Proc. Nat. Acad. Sci. 95:2044, 1998.
Patterns of Opioid Utilization in Pregnancy in a Large Cohort of Commercial Insurance Beneficiaries in the United States
Authors: Bateman Brian T. , Hernandez-Diaz Sonia , Rathmell James P. , Seeger John D. , Doherty Michael , Fischer Michael A. , Huybrechts Krista F. 
Published: February 2014

Abstract

Background:
There are few data regarding the utilization of opioids during pregnancy. The objective of this study was to define the prevalence and patterns of opioid use in a large cohort of pregnant women who were commercial insurance beneficiaries.

Methods:
Data for the study were derived from a deidentified research database of women from across the United States who had both medical and prescription benefits. By using diagnostic codes, the authors defined a cohort of 534,500 women with completed pregnancies who were enrolled in a commercial insurance plan from 6 months before pregnancy through delivery.

Results:
Overall, 76,742 women (14.4%) were dispensed an opioid at some point during pregnancy. There were 30,566 women (5.7%) dispensed an opioid during the first trimester, 30,434 women (5.7%) during the second trimester, and 34,906 women (6.5%) during the third trimester. Of these, 11,747 women (2.2%) were dispensed opioids three or more times during pregnancy. The most commonly dispensed opioids during pregnancy were hydrocodone (6.8%), codeine (6.1%), and oxycodone (2.0%). The prevalence of exposure at anytime during pregnancy decreased slightly during the study period from 14.9% for pregnancies that delivered in 2005 to 12.9% in 2011. The prevalence of exposure varied significantly by region and was lowest in the Northeast and highest in the South.

Conclusions:
This study demonstrates that opioids are very common exposures during pregnancy. Given the small and inconsistent body of literature on their safety in pregnancy, these findings suggest a need for research in this area.
Metabolic composition of anode community predicts electrical power in microbial fuel cells
Authors: Grüning André , Beecroft Nelli J. , Avignone-Rossa Claudio 
Published: February 2014

AbstractMicrobial Fuel Cells (MFCs) are a promising technology for organic waste treatment and sustainable bioelectricity production. Inoculated with natural communities, they present a complex microbial ecosystem with syntrophic interactions between microbes with different metabolic capabilities. From this point of view, they are similar to anaerobic digesters, however with methanogenesis replaced by anaerobic respiration with the anode as terminal electron acceptor. Bio-electrochemically they are similar to classical fuel cells where however the electrogenic redox reaction is part of the microbial metabolism rather than mediated by an inorganic catalyst.In this paper, we analyse how electric power production in MFCs depends on the composition of the anodic biofilm in terms of metabolic capabilities of identified sets of species. MFCs were started with a natural inoculum and continuously fed with sucrose, a fermentable carbohydrate. The composition of the community, power and other environmental data were sampled over a period of a few weeks during the maturation of the anodic biofilm, and the community composition was determined down to the species level including relevant metabolic capabilities.Our results support the hypothesis that an MFCs with natural inoculum and fermentable feedstock is essentially a two stage system with fermentation followed by anode-respiration. Our results also show that under identical starting and operating conditions, MFCs with comparable power output can develop different anodic communities with no particular species dominant across all replicas. It is only important for good power production that all cells contain a sufficient fraction of low-potential anaerobic respirators, that is respirators that can use terminal electron acceptors with a low redox potential. We conclude with a number of hypotheses and recommendations for the operation of MFCs to ensure good electric yield.
The roles of standing genetic variation and evolutionary history in determining the evolvability of anti-predator strategies
Authors: O’Donnell Daniel R , Fish Jordan A , Parigi Abhijna , Dworkin Ian , Wagner Aaron P 
Published: February 2014

AbstractStanding genetic variation and the historical environment in which that variation arises (evolutionary history) are both potentially significant determinants of a population’s capacity for evolutionary response to a changing environment. We evaluated the relative importance of these two factors in influencing the evolutionary trajectories in the face of sudden environmental change. We used the open-ended digital evolution software Avida to examine how historic exposure to predation pressures, different levels of genetic variation, and combinations of the two, impact anti-predator strategies and competitive abilities evolved in the face of threats from new, invasive, predator populations. We show that while standing genetic variation plays some role in determining evolutionary responses, evolutionary history has the greater influence on a population’s capacity to evolve effective anti-predator traits. This adaptability likely reflects the relative ease of repurposing existing, relevant genes and traits, and the broader potential value of the generation and maintenance of adaptively flexible traits in evolving populations.
Within the fortress: A specialized parasite of ants is not evicted
Authors: Gracia Emilia S. , de Bekker Charissa , Russell Jim , Manlove Kezia , Hanks Ephraim , Hughes David P. 
Published: February 2014

AbstractEvery level of biological organization from cells to societies require that composing units come together to form parts of a bigger unit (1). Our knowledge of how behavioral manipulating parasites change social interactions between social hosts is limited. Here we use an endoparasite to observe changes in social interactions between infected and healthy ants, using trophallaxis (liquid food exchange) and spatial data as proxies for food sharing and social segregation. We found no change in trophallaxis (p-value = 0.5156). By using K-function and nearest neighbor analyses we did see a significant difference in spatial segregation on day 3 (less than 8 millimeters; p-value < 0.05). These results suggest healthy individuals are unable to detect the parasite within the host.
Upregulation of interleukin‐33 in the epidermis of two Japanese patients with Netherton syndrome
Authors: Konishi Tomoko , Tsuda Tatsuya , Sakaguchi Yoshiko , Imai Yasutomo , Ito Takashi , Hirota Seiichi , Yamanishi Kiyofumi 
Published: February 2014

AbstractNetherton syndrome (NS) is a rare autosomal recessive disorder which is caused by mutations in the SPINK5 gene encoding the serine‐protease inhibitor LEKTI. Characteristic symptoms of NS include erythroderma with diffuse desquamation, hair abnormalities and atopic manifestations. Here, we report two Japanese patients with NS, one of whom had a novel mutation in the SPINK5 gene which leads to p.C367Lfs*3. The upregulation of interleukin‐33 (IL‐33) was evident in basal and thickened lower spinous layers of the epidermis in those cases. This suggests that IL‐33 may be involved in the pathophysiology of NS as well as in atopic dermatitis.
Individual and sex‐specific differences in intrinsic growth rate covary with consistent individual differences in behaviour
Authors: Biro Peter A. , Adriaenssens Bart , Sampson Portia 
Published: February 2014

Summary

The evolutionary causes of consistent individual differences in behaviour are currently a source of debate. A recent hypothesis suggests that consistent individual differences in life‐history productivity (growth and/or fecundity) may covary with behavioural traits that contribute to growth‐mortality trade‐offs, such as risk‐proneness (boldness) and foraging activity (voraciousness). It remains unclear, however, to what extent individual behavioural and life‐history profiles are set early in life, or are a more flexible result of specific environmental or developmental contexts that allow bold and active individuals to acquire more resources.

Longitudinal studies of individually housed animals under controlled conditions can shed light on this question. Since growth and behaviour can both vary within individuals (they are labile), studying between‐individual correlations in behaviour and growth rate requires repeated scoring for both variables over an extended period of time. However, such a study has not yet been done.

Here, we repeatedly measured individual mass seven times each, boldness 40 times each and voracity eight times each during the first 4 months of life on 90 individually housed crayfish (Cherax destructor). Animals were fed ad libitum, generating a context where individuals can express their intrinsic growth rate (i.e. growth capacity), but in which bold and voracious behaviour is not necessary for high resource acquisition (crayfish can and do hoard food back to their burrow).

We show that individuals that were consistently bold over time during the day were also bolder at night, were more voracious and maintained higher growth rates over time than shy individuals. Independent of individual differences, we also observed that males were faster‐growing, bolder and more voracious than females.

Our findings imply that associations between bold behaviour and fast growth can occur in unlimited food contexts where there is no necessary link between bold behaviour and resource acquisition – offering support for the ‘personality–productivity’ hypothesis. We suggest future research should study links between consistent individual differences in behaviour and life history under a wider range of contexts, in order to shed light on the role of biotic and abiotic conditions in the strength, direction and stability of their covariance.
Comparison of the Vaginal environment of Macaca mulatta and Macaca nemestrina Throughout the Menstrual Cycle
Authors: Hadzic Sarah V. , Wang Xiaolei , Dufour Jason , Doyle Lara , Marx Preston A. , Lackner Andrew A. , Paulsen Daniel B. , Veazey Ronald S. 
Published: February 2014

ProblemPigtail macaques, Macaca nemestrina (PT), are more susceptible to vaginal transmission of simian immunodeficiency virus (SIV) and other sexually transmitted diseases (STD) than rhesus macaques (RM). However, comparative studies to explore the reasons for these differences are lacking.Method of StudyHere, we compared differences in hormone levels and vaginal mucosal anatomy and thickness of RM and PT through different stages of the menstrual cycle. Concentrations of plasma estradiol (E2) and progesterone (P4) were determined weekly, and vaginal biopsies examined at days 0 and 14 of the menstrual cycle.ResultsConsistent changes in vaginal epithelial thickness occurred at different stages of the menstrual cycle. In both species, the vaginal epithelium was significantly thicker in the follicular than in luteal phase. Keratinized epithelium was strikingly much more prominent in RM, especially during the luteal phase. Further, the vaginal epithelium was significantly thinner, and the P4:E2 ratio was higher in PT during luteal phase than RM.ConclusionsStriking anatomic differences in the vaginal epithelium between rhesus and pigtail macaques combined with differences in P4:E2 ratio support the hypothesis that thinning and less keratinization of the vaginal epithelium may be involved in the greater susceptibility of pigtail macaques to vaginal transmission of SIV or other STD.