bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Fluorescence lifetime imaging of lignin autofluorescence in normal and compression wood
Authors: DONALDSON L.A. , RADOTIC K. 
Published: June 2013

SummaryWood cell walls fluoresce as a result of UV and visible light excitation due to the presence of lignin. Fluorescence spectroscopy has revealed characteristic spectral differences in various wood types, notably normal and compression wood. In order to extend this method of characterising cell walls we examined the fluorescence lifetime of wood cell walls using TCSPC (Time‐Correlated Single Photon Counting) as a method of potentially detecting differences in lignin composition and measuring the molecular environment within cell walls. The fluorescence decay curves of both normal and compression wood from pine contain three exponential decay components with a mean lifetime of τm = 473 ps in normal wood and 418 ps in compression wood. Lifetimes are spatially resolved to different cell wall layers or cell types where individual lifetimes are shown to have a log‐normal distribution. The differences in fluorescence lifetime observed in pine compression wood compared to normal wood, are associated with known differences in cell wall composition such as increased p‐hydroxyphenyl content in lignin as well as novel deposition of β(1,4)‐Galactan. Our results indicate increased deposition of lignin fluorophores with shorter lifetimes in the outer secondary wall of compression wood. We have demonstrated the usefulness of fluorescence lifetime imaging for characterising wood cell walls, offering some advantages over conventional fluorescence imaging/spectroscopy. For example, we have measured significant changes in fluorescence lifetime resulting from changes to lignin composition as a result of compression wood formation that complement similar changes in fluorescence intensity.
Micro‐community cytometry: sensing changes in cell health and glycoconjugate expression by imaging and flow cytometry
Authors: SMITH PAUL J. , FALCONER ROBERT A. , ERRINGTON RACHEL J. 
Published: June 2013

SummaryDiscerning the extent of biologically relevant heterogeneity presents unique challenges to both microscopy and flow cytometry. Micro‐environmental influences and stochastic changes in cellular behaviour can act to mask the origins of both progression and therapeutic resistance in tumour cell systems. In part the dimensionality of different and frequently metastable states can be assessed by multi‐parameter flow cytometry with unparalleled statistical robustness. Complementary application of imaging can provide valuable insights into the complex temporal changes that can occur in cell micro‐communities either spontaneously or in response to selection pressure. With an extensive range of methodologies for the labelling of cells there are multiple options for tracking cells, defining fate and the re‐construction of provenance and behavioural history. The challenge is highlighted by attempts to identify the critical glycosylation events modifying the function of cell surface proteins. Central to a cytometric approach is the availability of methods that reveal cell health and are compatible with the detection of cell surface changes within dynamic micro‐communities. The review briefly addresses the options for sensing cell health and the co‐application of an antibody mimetic for detection of cell surface glycoconjugate expression accessible for both imaging and flow cytometry.
Acrolein stimulates the synthesis of IL‐6 and C‐reactive protein (CRP) in thrombosis model mice and cultured cells
Authors: Saiki Ryotaro , Hayashi Daisuke , Ikuo Yukiko , Nishimura Kazuhiro , Ishii Itsuko , Kobayashi Kaoru , Chiba Kan , Toida Toshihiko , Kashiwagi Keiko , Igarashi Kazuei 
Published: June 2013

AbstractMeasurements of protein‐conjugated acrolein (PC‐Acro), IL‐6, and C‐reactive protein (CRP) in plasma were useful for identifying silent brain infarction with high sensitivity and specificity. The aim of this study was to determine whether acrolein causes increased production of IL‐6 and CRP in thrombosis model mice and cultured cells. In mice with photochemically induced thrombosis, acrolein produced at the locus of infarction increased the level of IL‐6 and then CRP in plasma. This was confirmed in cell culture systems – acrolein stimulated the production of IL‐6 in mouse neuroblastoma Neuro‐2a cells, mouse macrophage‐like J774.1 cells, and human umbilical vein endothelial cells (HUVEC), and IL‐6 in turn stimulated the production of CRP in human hepatocarcinoma cells. The level of IL‐6 mRNA was increased by acrolein through an increase in phosphorylation of the transcription factors, c‐Jun, and NF‐κB p65. Furthermore, CRP stimulated IL‐6 production in mouse macrophage‐like J774.1 cells and HUVEC. IL‐6 functioned as a protective factor against acrolein toxicity in Neuro‐2a cells and HUVEC. These results show that acrolein stimulates the synthesis of IL‐6 and CRP, which function as protecting factors against acrolein toxicity, and that the combined measurement of PC‐Acro, IL‐6, and CRP is effective for identification of silent brain infarction.
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The combined measurements of protein‐conjugated acrolein (PC‐Acro), IL‐6, and C‐reactive protein (CRP) in plasma were useful for identifying silent brain infarction. The aim of this study was to determine whether acrolein causes increased production of IL‐6 and CRP, and indeed acrolein increased IL‐6 synthesis and IL‐6 in turn increased CRP synthesis. Furthermore, IL‐6 decreased acrolein toxicity in several cell lines.
Exit as Governance: An Empirical Analysis
Authors: BHARATH SREEDHAR T. , JAYARAMAN SUDARSHAN , NAGAR VENKY 
Published: June 2013

ABSTRACTRecent theory posits a new governance channel available to blockholders: threat of exit. Threat of exit, as opposed to actual exit, is difficult to measure directly. However, a crucial property is that it is weaker when stock liquidity is lower and vice versa. We use natural experiments of financial crises and decimalization as exogenous shocks to stock liquidity. Firms with larger blockholdings experience greater declines (increases) in firm value during the crises (decimalization), particularly if the manager's wealth is sensitive to the stock price and thus to exit threats. Additional tests suggest exit threats are distinct from blockholder intervention.
The Demography of Resources
Authors: Kim Tai‐Young , Kuilman Jeroen G. 
Published: June 2013

AbstractA longitudinal event‐history analysis using complete data on the aircraft fleets of allBritish airlines over the period 1919 to 1975 was applied to elucidating how a firm's internal resource demography can explain its resource divestiture decisions. The likelihood of divestiture for any particular aircraft was found to depend strongly on its age and size, but also on the age and size heterogeneity of an airline's entire fleet. The results constitute a demonstration of the utility of taking a demographic approach to studying the management of resource portfolios. This approach may also prove fruitful in the study of other types of strategic resources and their management.
Morphology of the crustose coralline alga Pseudolithophyllum muricatum (Corallinales, Rhodophyta) responds to 30 years of ocean acidification in the Northeast Pacific
Authors: McCoy Sophie J. 
Published: June 2013

As the process of ocean acidification alters seawater carbon chemistry, physiological processes such as skeletal accretion are expected to become more difficult for calcifying organisms. The crustose coralline red algae (Corallinales, Rhodophyta) form an important guild of calcifying primary producers in the temperate Northeast Pacific. The morphology of important ecological traits, namely, skeletal density and thallus thickness near the growing edge, was evaluated in Pseudolithophyllum muricatum (Foslie) Steneck & R.T. Paine, the competitively dominant alga within this guild. P. muricatum shows a morphological response to increased ocean acidification in the temperate Northeast Pacific. Comparing historical (1981–1997) and modern (2012) samples from the field, crust thickness near the growing edge was approximately half as thick in modern samples compared with historical samples, while crust calcite density showed no significant change between the two sample groups. Morphological changes at the growing edge have important consequences for mediating competitive interactions within this guild of algae, and may affect the role of crustose coralline algal beds as hosts to infaunal communities and facilitators of recruitment in many invertebrate and macroalgal species.
Soil bacterial community succession during long‐term ecosystem development
Authors: Jangid Kamlesh , Whitman William B. , Condron Leo M. , Turner Benjamin L. , Williams Mark A. 
Published: June 2013

AbstractThe physicochemical and biological gradients of soil and vegetative succession along the Franz Josef chronosequence in New Zealand were used to test whether bacterial communities show patterns of change associated with long‐term ecosystem development. Pyrosequencing was conducted on soil‐derived 16S rRNA genes at nine stages of ecosystem progression and retrogression, ranging in age from 60 to c. 120 000 years since glacial retreat. Bray–Curtis ordination indicated that the bacterial communities showed clear patterns of change that were closely aligned with ecosystem development, pedogenesis and vegetative succession (Mantel test; r = 0.58; P < 0.001). Eighty per cent (80%) of the explained variability in bacterial community structure was observed during the first c. 1000 years of development, when bacterial richness (Simpson's 1/D) declined from 130 to 30. The relatively high turnover of soil bacterial communities corresponded with an integrative ‘plant–microbial successional feedback’ model that predicts primarily negative feedbacks between plants and soil bacterial communities during progression and early pedogenesis. Positive feedbacks, similar to those of the plant community, could explain the long periods of community stability during later retrogressive stages of ecosystem development. This hypothesized model provides a consistent description linking belowground communities to ecosystem development and succession. The research, using deep sequencing technology, provides the first evidence for soil bacterial community change associated with the process of long‐term ecosystem development. How these bacterial community changes are linked to the processes of primary ecosystem succession is not known and needs further investigation.
Understanding the Components of Quality Improvement Collaboratives: A Systematic Literature Review
Authors: NADEEM ERUM , OLIN S. SERENE , HILL LAURA CAMPBELL , HOAGWOOD KIMBERLY EATON , HORWITZ SARAH McCUE 
Published: June 2013

ContextIn response to national efforts to improve quality of care, policymakers and health care leaders have increasingly turned to quality improvement collaboratives (QICs) as an efficient approach to improving provider practices and patient outcomes through the dissemination of evidence‐based practices. This article presents findings from a systematic review of the literature on QICs, focusing on the identification of common components of QICs in health care and exploring, when possible, relations between QIC components and outcomes at the patient or provider level.MethodsA systematic search of five major health care databases generated 294 unique articles, twenty‐four of which met our criteria for inclusion in our final analysis. These articles pertained to either randomized controlled trials or quasi‐experimental studies with comparison groups, and they reported the findings from twenty different studies of QICs in health care. We coded the articles to identify the components reported for each collaborative.FindingsWe found fourteen crosscutting components as common ingredients in health care QICs (e.g., in‐person learning sessions, phone meetings, data reporting, leadership involvement, and training in QI methods). The collaboratives reported included, on average, six to seven of these components. The most common were in‐person learning sessions, plan‐do‐study‐act (PDSA) cycles, multidisciplinary QI teams, and data collection for QI. The outcomes data from these studies indicate the greatest impact of QICs at the provider level; patient‐level findings were less robust.ConclusionsReporting on specific components of the collaborative was imprecise across articles, rendering it impossible to identify active QIC ingredients linked to improved care. Although QICs appear to have some promise in improving the process of care, there is great need for further controlled research examining the core components of these collaboratives related to patient‐ and provider‐level outcomes.
Rewarding Healthy Food Choices in SNAP: Behavioral Economic Applications
Authors: RICHARDS MICHAEL R. , SINDELAR JODY L. 
Published: June 2013

ContextAmerican obesity rates continue to escalate, but an effective policy response remains elusive. Specific changes to the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) have been proposed as one way to improve nutrition and combat obesity among lower‐income populations. While current SNAP proposals hold promise, some important challenges still remain.MethodsWe discuss the four most common recommendations for changes to SNAP and their benefits and limitations. We then propose three new delivery options for SNAP that take advantage of behavioral economic insights and encourage the selection of healthy foods.FindingsAlthough the existing proposals could help SNAP recipients, they often do not address some important behavioral impediments to buying healthy foods. We believe that behavioral economics can be used to design alternative policies with several advantages, although we recognize and discuss some of their limitations. The first proposal rewards healthy purchases with more SNAP funds and provides an additional incentive to maintain healthier shopping patterns. The second proposal uses the opportunity to win prizes to reward healthy food choices, and the prizes further support healthier habits. The final proposal simplifies healthy food purchases by allowing individuals to commit their SNAP benefits to more nutritious selections in advance.ConclusionsReforming the delivery structure of SNAP's benefits could help improve nutrition, weight, and overall health of lower‐income individuals. We advocate for more and diverse SNAP proposals, which should be tested and, possibly, combined. Their implementation, however, would require political will, administrative capacity, and funding.
Mutation by DNA shuffling of 5‐enolpyruvylshikimate‐3‐phosphate synthase from Malus domestica for improved glyphosate resistance
Authors: Tian Yong‐Sheng , Xu Jing , Peng Ri‐He , Xiong Ai‐Sheng , Xu Hu , Zhao Wei , Fu Xiao‐Yan , Han Hong‐Juan , Yao Quan‐Hong 
Published: June 2013

SummaryA new 5‐enolpyruvylshikimate‐3‐phosphate synthase (EPSPS) gene from Malus domestica (MdEPSPS) was cloned and characterized by rapid amplification of cDNA ends to identify an EPSPS gene appropriate for the development of transgenic glyphosate‐tolerant plants. However, wild‐type MdEPSPS is not suitable for the development of transgenic glyphosate‐tolerant plants because of its poor glyphosate resistance. Thus, we performed DNA shuffling on MdEPSPS, and one highly glyphosate‐resistant mutant with mutations in eight amino acids (N63D, N86S, T101A, A187T, D230G, H317R, Y399R and C413A.) was identified after five rounds of DNA shuffling and screening. Among the eight amino acid substitutions on this mutant, only two residue changes (T101A and A187T) were identified by site‐directed mutagenesis as essential and additive in altering glyphosate resistance, which was further confirmed by kinetic analyses. The single‐site A187T mutation has also never been previously reported as an important residue for glyphosate resistance. Furthermore, transgenic rice was used to confirm the potential of MdEPSPS mutant in developing glyphosate‐resistant crops.
The potato R10 resistance specificity to late blight is conferred by both a single dominant R gene and quantitative trait loci
Authors: Xu Jianfei , Wang Jiajia , Pang Wanfu , Bian Chunsong , Duan Shaoguang , Liu Jie , Huang Sanwen , Jin Liping , Qu Dongyu 
Published: June 2013

AbstractThe R10 late blight differential of potato, 3681ad1, exhibits good field resistance. Progeny from the cross between 3681ad1 and the susceptible cultivar ‘Katahdin’ were assessed for late blight resistance to three Phytophthora infestans isolates, using a detached leaf assay. Progeny differed in response to the three isolates. Resistance to isolates IPO‐0 and 99018 was controlled by quantitative trait loci (QTL), whereas resistance to isolate 89148‐9 was inherited as a dominant R gene, designated as R10 in this study. Statistical analysis revealed that one of the resistance QTLs to isolates IPO‐0 and 99018 is linked to the R10 gene, which maps to chromosome 11 in a region where a complex late blight resistance locus has been reported previously. A high‐resolution map of R10 was constructed using a large segregating population, and the gene was delimited to a genetic interval of 0.26 cM. The clustering of the qualitative gene R10 with resistance QTLs could explain the field resistance observed with 3681ad1.
Involvement of respiratory processes in the transient knockout of net CO2 uptake in Mimosa pudica upon heat stimulation
Authors: LAUTNER SILKE , STUMMER MICHAELA , MATYSSEK RAINER , FROMM JÖRG , GRAMS THORSTEN E. E. 
Published: June 2013

AbstractLeaf photosynthesis of the sensitive plant Mimosa pudica displays a transient knockout in response to electrical signals induced by heat stimulation. This study aims at clarifying the underlying mechanisms, in particular, the involvement of respiration. To this end, leaf gas exchange and light reactions of photosynthesis were assessed under atmospheric conditions largely eliminating photorespiration by either elevated atmospheric CO2 or lowered O2 concentration (i.e. 2000 μmol mol−1 or 1%, respectively). In addition, leaf gas exchange was studied in the absence of light. Under darkness, heat stimulation caused a transient increase of respiratory CO2 release simultaneously with stomatal opening, hence reflecting direct involvement of respiratory stimulation in the drop of the net CO2 uptake rate. However, persistence of the transient decline in net CO2 uptake rate under illumination and elevated CO2 or 1% O2 makes it unlikely that photorespiration is the metabolic origin of the respiratory CO2 release.In conclusion, the transient knockout of net CO2 uptake is at least partially attributed to an increased CO2 release through mitochondrial respiration as stimulated by electrical signals. Putative CO2 limitation of Rubisco due to decreased activity of carbonic anhydrase was ruled out as the photosynthesis effect was not prevented by elevated CO2.
Associations among work‐related stress, cortisol, inflammation, and metabolic syndrome
Authors: Almadi Tawfiq , Cathers Ian , Chow Chin Moi 
Published: June 2013

AbstractThis cross‐sectional study examined the relationship between work‐related stress, cortisol, and C‐reactive protein (CRP) in predicting metabolic syndrome (MtS). Self‐reported work stress measured by the effort reward imbalance ratio (ERI), anthropometric data, CRP, and saliva cortisol were collected from 204 healthy Jordanian male workers. ERI and cortisol were significantly associated with the presence of MtS (OR = 4.74, 95% CI: 2.13–10.55; OR = 3.03, 95% CI: 2.08–4.40; OR = 11.50, 95% CI: 2.16–59.14, respectively). The odds of MtS in men with high ERI and high cortisol were significantly higher than that of men with low ERI and low cortisol (OR = 11.50, 95% CI: 2.16–59.14). CRP was significantly associated with MtS (OR = 2.51, 95% CI: 1.50–4.20). The odds of MtS were significantly higher in centrally obese men with both high ERI and CRP level. Thus, high ERI along with high cortisol or high CRP increases the risk for MtS, especially among centrally obese men.
A Model of Language Processing as Hierarchic Sequential Prediction
Authors: van Schijndel Marten , Exley Andy , Schuler William 
Published: June 2013

AbstractComputational models of memory are often expressed as hierarchic sequence models, but the hierarchies in these models are typically fairly shallow, reflecting the tendency for memories of superordinate sequence states to become increasingly conflated. This article describes a broad‐coverage probabilistic sentence processing model that uses a variant of a left‐corner parsing strategy to flatten sentence processing operations in parsing into a similarly shallow hierarchy of learned sequences. The main result of this article is that a broad‐coverage model with constraints on hierarchy depth can process large newspaper corpora with the same accuracy as a state‐of‐the‐art parser not defined in terms of sequential working memory operations.
Transfusion‐related lung injury in children: a case series and review of the literature
Authors: Lieberman Lani , Petraszko Tanya , Yi Qi‐long , Hannach Barbara , Skeate Robert 
Published: June 2013

BackgroundTransfusion‐related acute lung injury (TRALI) is the leading cause of transfusion‐related mortality. The majority of the literature involves adult patients. The main objective of this study was to characterize the demographic features, clinical presentation, patient outcomes, and antibody profiles of TRALI patients reported to the Canadian Blood Service (CBS) and to assess similarities and differences between adult and pediatric TRALI cases.Study Design and MethodsA retrospective review of cases of TRALI submitted to the CBS from 2001 to 2011 was performed. Information collected included recipient demographics, event details, blood component transfused, morbidity and mortality data, and donor antibody results.ResultsA total of 284 cases of definite, possible, or probable TRALI were reported. Six percent (n = 17) occurred in children. There were no significant differences between pediatric or adult patients with TRALI. Most of the children who presented with TRALI were either teenagers or less than 1 year of age. The incident rate of reported TRALI cases in Canada per 100,000 red blood cell transfusions was estimated at 5.58 for children and 3.75 for adults.ConclusionsThis study is the largest case series of reported TRALI cases in children. Crude modeling suggests that the incidence of TRALI in children is similar to that of adults. Although the numbers are small, there do not appear to be differences in presentation or outcome between adults and children with TRALI. TRALI is associated with significant morbidity and mortality and pediatricians need to consider this diagnosis in children who experience respiratory distress after transfusions.