bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Next-generation sequencing reveals cryptic mtDNA diversity of Plasmodium relictum in the Hawaiian Islands
Authors: JARVI S. I. , FARIAS M. E. , LAPOINTE D. A. , BELCAID M. , ATKINSON C. T. 
Published: August 2013

SUMMARYNext-generation 454 sequencing techniques were used to re-examine diversity of mitochondrial cytochrome b lineages of avian malaria (Plasmodium relictum) in Hawaii. We document a minimum of 23 variant lineages of the parasite based on single nucleotide transitional changes, in addition to the previously reported single lineage (GRW4). A new, publicly available portal (Integroomer) was developed for initial parsing of 454 datasets. Mean variant prevalence and frequency was higher in low elevation Hawaii Amakihi (Hemignathus virens) with Avipoxvirus-like lesions (P = 0·001), suggesting that the variants may be biologically distinct. By contrast, variant prevalence and frequency did not differ significantly among mid-elevation Apapane (Himatione sanguinea) with or without lesions (P = 0·691). The low frequency and the lack of detection of variants independent of GRW4 suggest that multiple independent introductions of P. relictum to Hawaii are unlikely. Multiple variants may have been introduced in heteroplasmy with GRW4 or exist within the tandem repeat structure of the mitochondrial genome. The discovery of multiple mitochondrial lineages of P. relictum in Hawaii provides a measure of genetic diversity within a geographically isolated population of this parasite and suggests the origins and evolution of parasite diversity may be more complicated than previously recognized.
Echinococcus species from red foxes, corsac foxes, and wolves in Mongolia
Authors: ITO AKIRA , CHULUUNBAATAR GANTIGMAA , YANAGIDA TETSUYA , DAVAASUREN ANU , SUMIYA BATTULGA , ASAKAWA MITSUHIKO , KI TOSHIAKI , NAKAYA KAZUHIRO , DAVAAJAV ABMED , DORJSUREN TEMUULEN , NAKAO MINORU , SAKO YASUHITO 
Published: August 2013

SUMMARYThe small intestines of 420 wild canids (111 corsac foxes, 191 red foxes and 118 wolves) from Mongolia, were examined for adult worms of the genus Echinococcus. The Mongolian genotype of Echinococcus multilocularis was found in fifteen red foxes and four wolves, whereas two genotypes (G6/7 and G10) of Echinococcus canadensis were found in two and three wolves, respectively. No adult Echinococcus worms were found in the corsac foxes examined. The genotypes of E. multilocularis and E. canadensis are discussed in terms of host specificity and distribution in Mongolia. The importance of wolves in the completion of the life cycle of Echinococcus spp. is also discussed.
Plasmodium falciparumgametocytes: with a view to a kill
Authors: BUTTERWORTH ALICE S. , SKINNER-ADAMS TINA S. , GARDINER DON L. , TRENHOLME KATHARINE R. 
Published: August 2013

SUMMARYDrugs that kill or inhibit the sexual stages ofPlasmodiumin order to prevent transmission are important components of malaria control programmes. Reducing gametocyte carriage is central to the control ofPlasmodium falciparumtransmission as infection can result in extended periods of gametocytaemia. Unfortunately the number of drugs with activity against gametocytes is limited. Primaquine is currently the only licensed drug with activity against the sexual stages of malaria parasites and its use is hampered by safety concerns. This shortcoming is likely the result of the technical challenges associated with gametocyte studies together with the focus of previous drug discovery campaigns on asexual parasite stages. However recent emphasis on malaria eradication has resulted in an upsurge of interest in identifying compounds with activity against gametocytes. This review examines the gametocytocidal properties of currently available drugs as well as those in the development pipeline and examines the prospects for discovery of new anti-gametocyte compounds.
Extraction of social information from gait in schizophrenia
Authors: Peterman J. S. , Christensen A. , Giese M. A. , Park S. 
Published: August 2013

BackgroundThe human face and body are rich sources of socio-emotional cues. Accurate recognition of these cues is central to adaptive social functioning. Past studies indicate that individuals with schizophrenia (SZ) show deficits in the perception of emotion from facial cues but the contribution of bodily cues to social perception in schizophrenia is undetermined. The present study examined the detection of social cues from human gait patterns presented by computer-generated volumetric walking figures.MethodA total of 22 SZ and 20 age-matched healthy control participants (CO) viewed 1 s movies of a ‘digital’ walker's gait and subsequently made a forced-choice decision on the emotional state (angry or happy) or the gender of the walker presented at three intensity levels. Overall sensitivity to the social cues and bias were computed. For SZ, symptom severity was assessed.ResultsSZ were less sensitive than CO on both emotion and gender discrimination, regardless of intensity. While impaired overall, greater signal intensity did improve performance of SZ. Neither group differed in their response bias in either condition. The discrimination sensitivity of SZ was unrelated to their social functioning or symptoms but a bias toward perceiving gait as happy was associated with better social functioning.ConclusionsThese results suggest that SZ are impaired in extracting social information from gait but SZ benefited from increased signal intensity of social cues. Inaccurate perception of social cues in others may hinder adequate preparation for social interactions.
An experience sampling study of worry and rumination in psychosis
Authors: Hartley S. , Haddock G. , Vasconcelos e Sa D. , Emsley R. , Barrowclough C. 
Published: August 2013

BackgroundIncreasing research effort is being dedicated to investigating the links between emotional processes and psychosis, despite the traditional demarcation between the two. Particular focus has alighted upon two specific anxious and depressive processes, worry and rumination, given the potential for links with aspects of delusions and auditory hallucinations. This study rigorously explored the nature of these links in the context of the daily life of people currently experiencing psychosis.MethodExperience sampling methodology (ESM) was used to assess the momentary links between worry and rumination on the one hand, and persecutory delusional ideation and auditory hallucinations on the other. Twenty-seven participants completed the 6-day experience sampling period, which required repeated self-reports on thought processes and experiences. Multilevel modelling was used to examine the links within the clustered data.ResultsWe found that antecedent worry and rumination predicted delusional and hallucinatory experience, and the distress they elicited. Using interaction terms, we have shown that the links with momentary symptom severity were moderated by participants' trait beliefs about worry/rumination, such that they were reduced when negative beliefs about worry/rumination (meta-cognitions) were high.ConclusionsThe current findings offer an ecologically valid insight into the influence of worry and rumination on the experience of psychotic symptoms, and highlight possible avenues for future intervention strategies.
On the classification of mapping class actions on Thurston's asymmetric metric
Authors: LIU L. , PAPADOPOULOS A. , SU W. , THÉRET G. 
Published: August 2013

AbstractWe study the action of the elements of the mapping class group of a surface of finite type on the Teichmüller space of that surface equipped with Thurston's asymmetric metric. We classify such actions as elliptic, parabolic, hyperbolic and pseudo-hyperbolic, depending on whether the translation distance of such an element is zero or positive and whether the value of this translation distance is attained or not, and we relate these four types to Thurston's classification of mapping class elements. The study is parallel to the one made by Bers in the setting of Teichmüller space equipped with Teichmüller's metric, and to the one made by Daskalopoulos and Wentworth in the setting of Teichmüller space equipped with the Weil–Petersson metric.
The Rise of a Chinese House Church: The Organizational Weapon
Authors: Koesel Karrie J. 
Published: August 2013

AbstractThis article investigates the similarities between the organizational innovation of one underground Protestant house church in China and the rise of early communist parties. Much like the spread of communism, the organizational tactics of the church are designed to protect it in a hostile political environment. The different levels are insulated from each other, with limited knowledge of the members above and below. In this way, if anyone is raided by the authorities, the others can continue to function with little interruption. Thus, the highly touted “organizational weapon” developed by the Bolsheviks and recycled, for example, by the Chinese Communist Party in their struggle for power, has resurfaced many years later. However, this time it has been adopted by a religious “vanguard.”
Phylogenetic analysis and victim contact tracing of rabies virus from humans and dogs in Bali, Indonesia
Authors: MAHARDIKA G. N. K. , DIBIA N. , BUDAYANTI N. S. , SUSILAWATHI N. M. , SUBRATA K. , DARWINATA A. E. , WIGNALL F. S. , RICHT J. A. , VALDIVIA-GRANDA W. A. , SUDEWI A. A. R. 
Published: August 2013

SUMMARYThe emergence of human and animal rabies in Bali since November 2008 has attracted local, national and international interest. The potential origin and time of introduction of rabies virus to Bali is described. The nucleoprotein (N) gene of rabies virus from dog brain and human clinical specimens was sequenced using an automated DNA sequencer. Phylogenetic inference with Bayesian Markov Chain Monte Carlo (MCMC) analysis using the Bayesian Evolutionary Analysis by Sampling Trees (BEAST) v. 1.7.5 software confirmed that the outbreak of rabies in Bali was caused by an Indonesian lineage virus following a single introduction. The ancestor of Bali viruses was the descendant of a virus from Kalimantan. Contact tracing showed that the event most likely occurred in early 2008. The introduction of rabies into a large unvaccinated dog population in Bali clearly demonstrates the risk of disease transmission for government agencies and should lead to an increased preparedness and efforts for sustained risk reduction to prevent such events from occurring in future.
Variants of formal nearby cycles
Authors: Mieda Yoichi 
Published: August 2013

AbstractIn this paper, we introduce variants of formal nearby cycles for a locally noetherian formal scheme over a complete discrete valuation ring. If the formal scheme is locally algebraizable, then our nearby cycle gives a generalization of Berkovich’s formal nearby cycle. Our construction is entirely scheme theoretic, and does not require rigid geometry. Our theory is intended for applications to the local study of the cohomology of Rapoport–Zink spaces.
Agroecosystem resilience and farmers’ perceptions of climate change impacts on cocoa farms in Alto Beni, Bolivia
Authors: Jacobi Johanna , Schneider Monika , Bottazzi Patrick , Pillco Maria , Calizaya Patricia , Rist Stephan 
Published: August 2013

AbstractCocoa-based small-scale agriculture is the most important source of income for most farming families in the region of Alto Beni in the sub-humid foothills of the Andes. Cocoa is grown in cultivation systems of varying ecological complexity. The plantations are highly susceptible to climate change impacts. Local cocoa producers mention heat waves, droughts, floods and plant diseases as the main impacts affecting plants and working conditions, and they associate these impacts with global climate change. From a sustainable regional development point of view, cocoa farms need to become more resilient in order to cope with the climate change related effects that are putting cocoa-based livelihoods at risk. This study assesses agroecosystem resilience under three different cocoa cultivation systems (successional agroforestry, simple agroforestry and common practice monocultures). In a first step, farmers’ perceptions of climate change impacts were assessed and eight indicators of agroecological resilience were derived in a transdisciplinary process (focus groups and workshop) based on farmers’ and scientists’ knowledge. These indicators (soil organic matter, depth of Ah horizon, soil bulk density, tree species diversity, crop varieties diversity, ant species diversity, cocoa yields and infestation of cocoa trees with Moniliophthora perniciosa) were then surveyed on 15 cocoa farms and compared for the three different cultivation systems. Parts of the socio-economic aspects of resilience were covered by evaluating the role of cocoa cooperatives and organic certification in transitioning to more resilient cocoa farms (interviews with 15 cocoa farmers combined with five expert interviews). Agroecosystem resilience was higher under the two agroforestry systems than under common practice monoculture, especially under successional agroforestry. Both agroforestry systems achieved higher cocoa yields than common practice monoculture due to agroforestry farmers’ enhanced knowledge regarding cocoa cultivation. Knowledge sharing was promoted by local organizations facilitating organic certification. These organizations were thus found to enhance the social process of farmers’ integration into cooperatives and their reorientation toward organic principles and diversified agroforestry.
Health care cost containment in Denmark and Norway: a question of relative professional status?
Authors: Andersen Lotte B. 
Published: August 2013

AbstractThe demand for publicly subsidised health care services is insatiable, but the costs can be contained in different ways: formal rules can limit access to and the number of subsidised services, demand and supply can be regulated through the price mechanism, the relevant profession can contain the costs through state-sanctioned self-regulation, and other professions can contain the costs (e.g. through referrals). The use of these cost containment measures varies between countries, depending on demand and supply factors, but the relative professional status of the health professions may help explain why different countries use cost containment measures differently for different services. This article compares cost containment measures in Denmark and Norway because these countries vary with regard to the professional status of the medical profession relative to other health care providers, while other relevant variables are approximately similar. The investigation is based on formal agreements and rules, historical documents, existing analyses and an analysis of 360 newspaper articles. It shows that high relative professional status seems to help professions to avoid user fees, steer clear of regulation from other professions and regulate the services produced by others. This implies that relative professional status should be taken into consideration in analyses of health care cost containment.
Concurrent dual-band envelope tracking GaN PA design and its 2D shaping function characterization
Authors: Cidronali Alessandro , Giovannelli Niccolò , Mercanti Massimiliano , Maddio Stefano , Manes Gianfranco 
Published: August 2013

This paper presents the design of a high-power dual-band power amplifier (PA) for envelope tracking (ET) operation and its characterization in concurrent dual-band ET operation modes. The design approach relies on the specific actual signal probability distribution and the prototype was conceived for the WCDMA 3GPP DL signals. The paper discusses the impact of the ET-shaping function influence on the linearity versus mean efficiency trade-off, for both single and concurrent dual-band cases. The technique was applied to a concurrent 870 and 2140 MHz ET-PA designed around a GaN HEMT device. The ET friendly design method led to performance very close to those observed at each single band. Over a bandwidth of 100 MHz and for PAR = 6.5 dB, the measured results reported a mean DE better than 71 and 54%, with a peak power higher than 55 and 54 dBm, at the two frequency bands, respectively. When evaluated in concurrent dual-band mode with two WDCMA signals at 6.5 dB PAR each, the ET-PA exhibited an estimated average total power of 49.5 dBm with 57.1% average drain efficiency.
Video‐based traffic data collection system for multiple vehicle types
Authors: Li Shuguang , Yu Hongkai , Zhang Jingru , Yang Kaixin , Bin Ran 
Published: August 2013

Traffic data of multiple vehicle types are important for pavement design, traffic operations and traffic control. A new video‐based traffic data collection system for multiple vehicle types is developed. By tracking and classifying every passing vehicle under mixed traffic conditions, the type and speed of every passing vehicle are recognised. Finally, the flows and mean speeds of multiple vehicle types are output. A colour image‐based adaptive background subtraction is proposed to obtain more accurate vehicle objects, and a series of processes like shadow removal and setting road detection region are used to improve the system robustness. In order to improve the accuracy of vehicle counting, the cross‐lane vehicles are detected and repeated counting for one vehicle is avoided. In order to reduce the classification errors, the space ratio of the blob and data fusion are used to reduce the classification errors caused by vehicle occlusions. This system was tested under four different weather conditions. The accuracy of vehicle counting was 97.4% and the error of vehicle classification was 8.3%. The correlation coefficient of speeds detected by this system and radar gun was 0.898 and the mean absolute error of speed detection by this system was only 2.3 km/h.
Speed impacts of an icy curve warning system
Authors: Veneziano David , Ye Zhirui , Turnbull Ian 
Published: August 2013

Icy pavements can impair the ability of drivers to operate their vehicles safely. The California Department of Transportation has deployed an icy curve warning system (ICWS) on a five‐mile segment of SR 36 in Lassen County. This section of roadway has a history as a high‐crash location with fatal crashes, the vast majority of which occurred during icy pavement. The objective of this study was to evaluate operational effects of the ICWS, specifically on speeds during various conditions. The results of statistical analysis found that mean speeds were significantly different by greater than 5 mph when the system was on against off in general, as well as when examined by day and night. Mean speeds were significantly reduced by greater than 5 mph during wet weather (during day and night). The real interest of the evaluation was the system's impacts on reducing speeds during conditions when ice was present but unexpected (called clear, cold and not dry in this work). Statistical analysis found that mean speed reductions were significant by greater than 3 mph (but less than 5 mph) when the system was on both during the day and at night. Consequently, the ICWS appears to reduce speeds by approximately 3 mph in conditions where icy roads are unexpected.
Velocity difference control based on dynamic tracking of safe following distance in the process of vehicle following
Authors: Pan Deng , Zheng Yingping 
Published: August 2013

To improve the quality of vehicular following behaviour in safety and efficiency, a new method, which combines the velocity difference control with the dynamic tracking of safe following distance closely, is presented to realise the dynamic optimisation of the following vehicle's behaviour and the spatial interval between the preceding and following vehicles. The corresponding mathematical model is given in this study, as well as control system design and the control algorithms for the following vehicle to adjust its own behaviour scientifically. Different from other vehicle following models, the fitting function is used to calculate dynamic safe following distance, which should be kept by the following vehicle from the preceding vehicle. The safe following distance can be obtained in real time by the following vehicle at any velocity from 0 to 500 km/h for the evaluation and the scientific adjustment of its own behaviour. The simulation verifies the feasibility and validity of this method, which can ensure the safe, efficient and smooth (comfort) operation of the following vehicle in its following process.
ZebraBAN: a heterogeneous high‐performance energy efficient wireless body sensor network
Authors: Lu Xiyu , Chen Xinlei , Li Yong , Jin Depeng , Zeng Lieguang , Rashvand Habib F. 
Published: August 2013

Recently, there are much research on wireless body sensor network (WBSN) as the growing demands of pervasive health and personal entertainment. Supporting high‐speed data transmission becomes a challenge in development of WBSN in medical and entertainment applications. In this study, the authors present ZebraBAN, a high‐speed low‐power WBSN based on single‐carrier ultra‐wideband (SC‐UWB) and IEEE 802.15.4. The heterogeneous network combines the strengths of SC‐UWB and IEEE 802.15.4 technologies while offsetting their weakness. Like SC‐UWB, the system achieves medium to high data rate and reduces radiation and power consumption at a low cost. Like IEEE 802.15.4, ZebraBAN achieves low data rate and low latency under low contention. In ZebraBAN, the authors introduce the idea of control plane and data plane for controlling multiple PHYs and MACs according to energy and data rate balance. Experimental results based on the prototype system are presented to evaluated the network performance. The result demonstrates that high reliability transmission for every sensor data stream within 4 m around the person, with a low‐power consumption for fabricated application specific integrated circuits (ASIC) about 8.2 mW when it works on transmitting one channel video. The network has a peak capacity of 100 Mbps that could support multiple sensor nodes, including four channel video stream and multiple low‐speed sensor datas.
Normal spinel CoCr2O4 and CoCr2O4/TiO2 nanocomposite as novel photocatalysts, for degradation of dyes
Authors: Shojaei Abdollah Fallah , Tabari Atefeh Roshan , Loghmani Mohammad Hassan 
Published: August 2013

For the first time, CoCr2O4/TiO2 nanocomposite as a novel photocatalyst with different TiO2 contents have been prepared by the sol–gel method. The techniques of X‐ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy and transmission electron microscopy (TEM) have been employed to characterise the synthesised nanocatalysts. The XRD and TEM results indicated that CoCr2O4 has a cubic normal spinel structure and the particle size of CoCr2O4 is about 30 nm. As the first report, degradation of methylene blue and methyl orange is performed by CoCr2O4 and CoCr2O4/TiO2 nanocomposite under ultraviolet irradiation. The results showed that the rate of degradation of dyes with CoCr2O4/TiO2 is much higher compared with that of CoCr2O4 and TiO2. The photocatalytic activities were carried out under varying parameters such as irradiation time, the pH of the solution, the catalyst amount and substrate concentration.