bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Androgen response element of the glycine N-methyltransferase gene is located in the coding region of its first exon
Authors: Lee Cheng-Ming , Yen Chia-Hung , Tzeng Tsai-Yu , Huang Yu-Zen , Chou Kuan-Hsien , Chang Tai-Jay , Arthur Chen Yi-Ming 
Published: July 2013

Androgen plays an important role in the pathogenesis of PCa (prostate cancer). Previously, we identified GNMT (glycine N-methyltransferase) as a tumour susceptibility gene and characterized its promoter region. Besides, its enzymatic product-sarcosine has been recognized as a marker for prognosis of PCa. The goals of this study were to determine whether GNMT is regulated by androgen and to map its AREs (androgen response elements). Real-time PCR analyses showed that R1881, a synthetic AR (androgen receptor) agonist induced GNMT expression in AR-positive LNCaP cells, but not in AR-negative DU145 cells. In silico prediction showed that there are four putative AREs in GNMT-ARE1, ARE2 and ARE3 are located in the intron 1 and ARE4 is in the intron 2. Consensus ARE motif deduced from published AREs was used to identify the fifth ARE-ARE5 in the coding region of exon 1. Luciferase reporter assay found that only ARE5 mediated the transcriptional activation of R1881. ARE3 overlaps with a YY1 [Yin and Yang 1 (motif (CaCCATGTT, +1118/+1126)] that was further confirmed by antibody supershift and ChIP (chromatin immunoprecipitation) assays. EMSA (electrophoretic mobility shift assay) and ChIP assay confirmed that AR interacts with ARE5 in vitro and in vivo. In summary, GNMT is an AR-targeted gene with its functional ARE located at +19/+33 of the first exon. These results are valuable for the study of the influence of androgen on the gene expression of GNMT especially in the pathogenesis of cancer.
Are Some Parents' Interaction Styles Associated With Richer Grammatical Input?
Authors: Fitzgerald Colleen E. , Hadley Pamela A. , Rispoli Matthew 
Published: July 2013

PurposeEvidence for tense marking in child-directed speech varies both across languages (Guasti, 2002; Legate & Yang, 2007) and across speakers of a single language (Hadley, Rispoli, Fitzgerald, & Bahnsen, 2011). The purpose of this study was to understand how parent interaction styles and register use overlap with the tense-marking properties of child-directed speech. This study investigated how parent interaction style, measured by utterance function, and parent register use when asking questions interacted with verb forms in child-directed input to identify interaction styles associated with the richest grammatical input.MethodParticipants were 15 parent–toddler dyads. The communicative function of parent utterances and the form of their questions were coded from language samples of parent–child play when children were 21 months of age. Verbs were coded for linguistic form (e.g., imperative, modal, copula).ResultsDirectives and reduced questions were both negatively related to input informativeness (i.e., the proportion of unambiguous evidence for tense). Other-focused descriptives were positively related to input informativeness.ConclusionPredictable overlap existed between the characteristics of parents' interaction styles and register use and their input informativeness. An other-focused descriptive style most strongly related to richer evidence for the +Tense grammar of English.
Factors That Enhance English-Speaking Speech-Language Pathologists' Transcription of Cantonese-Speaking Children's Consonants
Authors: Lockart Rebekah , McLeod Sharynne 
Published: July 2013

Purpose
To investigate speech-language pathology students' ability to identify errors and transcribe typical and atypical speech in Cantonese, a nonnative language.

Method
Thirty-three English-speaking speech-language pathology students completed 3 tasks in an experimental within-subjects design.

Results
Task 1 (baseline) involved transcribing English words. In Task 2, students transcribed 25 words spoken by a Cantonese adult. An average of 59.1% consonants was transcribed correctly (72.9% when Cantonese–English transfer patterns were allowed). There was higher accuracy on shared English and Cantonese syllable-initial consonants /m,n,f,s,h,j,w,l/ and syllable-final consonants. In Task 3, students identified consonant errors and transcribed 100 words spoken by Cantonese-speaking children under 4 additive conditions: (1) baseline, (2) +adult model, (3) +information about Cantonese phonology, and (4) all variables (2 and 3 were counterbalanced). There was a significant improvement in the students' identification and transcription scores for conditions 2, 3, and 4, with a moderate effect size. Increased skill was not based on listeners' proficiency in speaking another language, perceived transcription skill, musicality, or confidence with multilingual clients.

Conclusion
Speech-language pathology students, with no exposure to or specific training in Cantonese, have some skills to identify errors and transcribe Cantonese. Provision of a Cantonese-adult model and information about Cantonese phonology increased students' accuracy in transcribing Cantonese speech.
Lexical Diversity and Omission Errors as Predictors of Language Ability in the Narratives of Sequential Spanish–English Bilinguals: A Cross-Language Comparison
Authors: Jacobson Peggy F. , Walden Patrick R. 
Published: July 2013

Purpose
This study explored the utility of language sample analysis for evaluating language ability in school-age Spanish–English sequential bilingual children. Specifically, the relative potential of lexical diversity and word/morpheme omission as predictors of typical or atypical language status was evaluated.

Method
Narrative samples were obtained from 48 bilingual children in both of their languages using the suggested narrative retell protocol and coding conventions as per Systematic Analysis of Language Transcripts (SALT; Miller & Iglesias, 2008) software. An additional lexical diversity measure, VocD, was also calculated. A series of logistical hierarchical regressions explored the utility of the number of different words, VocD statistic, and word and morpheme omissions in each language for predicting language status.

Results
Omission errors turned out to be the best predictors of bilingual language impairment at all ages, and this held true across languages. Although lexical diversity measures did not predict typical or atypical language status, the measures were significantly related to oral language proficiency in English and Spanish.

Conclusion
The results underscore the significance of omission errors in bilingual language impairment while simultaneously revealing the limitations of lexical diversity measures as indicators of impairment. The relationship between lexical diversity and oral language proficiency highlights the importance of considering relative language proficiency in bilingual assessment.
Nasalance Scores of Children With Repaired Cleft Palate Who Exhibit Normal Velopharyngeal Closure During Aerodynamic Testing
Authors: Zajac David J. 
Published: July 2013

Purpose
To determine if children with repaired cleft palate and normal velopharyngeal (VP) closure as determined by aerodynamic testing exhibit greater acoustic nasalance than control children without cleft palate.

Method

Pressure-flow procedures were used to identify 2 groups of children based on VP closure during the production of /p/ in the word
hamper
: (a) children with repaired cleft palate and normal VP closure (
n
= 23) and (b) controls without cleft palate and with normal VP closure (
n
= 16). Acoustic nasalance scores were obtained for all children during the production of syllables with high-pressure consonants and sentences with low-pressure consonants (i.e., low-pressure sentences).

Results

Nasalance scores were generally higher for children with repaired cleft palate and normal VP function as compared to controls; however, a significant difference occurred only for low-pressure sentences (
p
= .005).

Conclusion
Results partially support a pressure-sensitive theory of VP function in that some children with repaired cleft palate may achieve VP closure during the production of high-pressure consonants but fail to do so during the production of vowels and low-pressure consonants. Clinical implications are discussed.
Microscale Environments along the Seaward Migration Route of Stocked Chum Salmon Fry
Authors: Hasegawa Koh , Takahashi Satoru 
Published: July 2013

AbstractThe microscale environment (e.g., current velocity) along the migratory route of aquatic organisms may directly affect their performance (e.g., migration speed or survival). We used minnow traps to evaluate how stocked Chum Salmon Oncorhynchus keta fry use stream velocity to optimize seaward migration. We found that fry were primarily captured at night and the number of fry collected was higher in traps with faster velocity water at the entrance to the trap. We interpreted this to mean that the fry were optimizing their migration efficiency by using faster velocity areas, which promote more rapid downstream migration.
Under pressure: how a Mediterranean high‐mountain forb coordinates growth and hydraulic xylem anatomy in response to temperature and water constraints
Authors: Olano Jose Miguel , Almería Iván , Eugenio Màrcia , von Arx Georg 
Published: July 2013

Summary

Plant growth in Mediterranean high mountains is limited by the double climatic stress of low winter temperatures and summer drought. Elevational shifts in response to climate change may be complex for species whose distribution is constrained by several climatic factors.

We used herb‐chronology, that is, the analysis of annual rings in the secondary root xylem of perennial forbs, to evaluate life‐long factors constraining secondary growth and xylem hydraulic anatomy along an elevational gradient from the upper to the lower distribution limits of the alpine forb Silene ciliata at its southernmost distribution range.

Generalized additive models (GAM) showed that annual ring width (RW) in S. ciliata was greatest at intermediate elevations and smallest at the upper and lower limits of its elevational range. In contrast, maximal vessel area (MVA) was greatest at lower elevations. RW responded to climatic conditions in early spring and late summer, suggesting the presence of a bimodal xylogenesis. Structural equation modelling (SEM) indicated a positive influence of MVA on RW in the same year; improved hydraulic efficiency seemed to promote higher secondary growth.

The observed greatest secondary growth (RW) and maximal vessel area (MVA) at intermediate and intermediate‐low elevations, respectively, contrasts with previous evidence of an improvement in plant reproduction and recruitment with increasing elevation for S. ciliata. However, our results are in agreement with other indicators suggesting that best conditions occur at intermediate elevations, such as better seed quality or larger genome size.

This study reinforces the evidence that the response of high‐mountain plants to climatic change under simultaneous temperature and drought stress is complex and that models that simply assume an increase in elevation as a response to higher temperatures may fail to predict future responses to climate change.
Numerical analysis of seismoelectric wave propagation in spatially confined geological units
Authors: Kröger Bernd , Yaramanci Ugur , Kemna Andreas 
Published: July 2013

ABSTRACTUsing numerical modelling, we investigate the evolution of seismoelectric effects induced by seismic excitation in spatially confined lithological units. Typical geometries represent clay lenses embedded in an aquifer or petroleum deposits in a host rock. In fluid‐saturated rocks, seismic waves can generate electromagnetic fields due to electrokinetic coupling mechanisms associated with such processes in the vicinity of the fluid‐mineral interface. Two seismoelectric phenomena are investigated: (1) the co‐seismic field associated with the seismic displacement at each point in a subsurface and (2) the interface response generated at layer boundaries. Our modelling uses a simplified time‐domain formulation of the coupled problem and an efficient 2D finite‐element implementation. To gain insight into the morphogenetic field behaviour of the seismoelectric effects, several numerical simulations for various target geometries were treated. Accordingly, we varied both the thickness of the confined units and the value of the electrical bulk conductivity in porous media. Analysis of these effects shows differences between interface responses for electrically conductive versus resistive units. So the pertinent contrast in electrical bulk conductivity controls the shape and structure of these seismoelectric conversion patterns. Moreover, the seismoelectric interface response captures both the petrophysical and geometrical characteristics of the geological unit. These models demonstrate the value of using seismoelectric interface response for reservoir characterization in either hydrogeological or hydrocarbon exploration studies.
The evolution of the nutrient composition of mammalian milks
Authors: Skibiel Amy L. , Downing Lauren M. , Orr Teri J. , Hood Wendy R. 
Published: July 2013

SummaryIn mammals, nutrient allocation during lactation is a critical component of maternal care as milk intake promotes juvenile growth and survival, and hence maternal and offspring fitness.Milk composition varies widely across mammals and is hypothesized to have arisen via selection pressures associated with environment, diet and life history. These hypotheses have been proposed based on observations and/or cross‐species comparisons that did not standardize for stage of lactation and did not consider evolutionary history of the species in analyses.We conducted the largest comparative analysis of milk composition to date accounting for phylogenetic relationships among species in order to understand the selective advantage of producing milk with specific nutritional profiles. We examined four milk constituents in association with species ecology while incorporating phylogeny in analyses.Phylogenetic signal was apparent for all milk constituents examined. After controlling for phylogeny, diet and relative lactation length explained the greatest amount of variation in milk composition. Several aspects of species' ecologies, including adaptation to arid environments, reproductive output and maternal body mass were not associated with milk composition after accounting for phylogeny.Our results suggest that milk composition is largely a function of evolutionary history, maternal nutrient intake and duration of milk production. Arriving at these conclusions was made possible by including the evolutionary relationships among species.
Snake co‐occurrence patterns are best explained by habitat and hypothesized effects of interspecific interactions
Authors: Steen David A. , McClure Christopher J. W. , Brock Jean C. , Craig Rudolph D. , Pierce Josh B. , Lee James R. , Jeffrey Humphries W. , Gregory Beau B. , Sutton William B. , Smith Lora L. , Baxley Danna L. , Stevenson Dirk J. , Guyer Craig 
Published: July 2013

Summary

Snakes often occur in species‐rich assemblages, and sympatry is thought to be facilitated primarily by low diet overlap, not interspecific interactions.

We selected, a priori, three species pairs consisting of species that are morphologically and taxonomically similar and may therefore be likely to engage in interspecific, consumptive competition. We then examined a large‐scale database of snake detection/nondetection data and used occupancy modelling to determine whether these species occur together more or less frequently than expected by chance while accounting for variation in detection probability among species and incorporating important habitat categories in the models.

For some snakes, we obtained evidence that the probabilities that habitat patches are used are influenced by the presence of potentially competing congeneric species. Specifically, timber rattlesnakes (Crotalus horridus) were less likely than expected by chance to use areas that also contained eastern diamond‐backed rattlesnakes (Crotalus adamanteus) when the proportion of evergreen forest was relatively high. Otherwise, they occurred together more often than expected by chance. Complex relationships were revealed between habitat use, detection probabilities and occupancy probabilities of North American racers (Coluber constrictor) and coachwhips (Coluber flagellum) that indicated the probability of competitive exclusion increased with increasing area of grassland habitat, although there was some model uncertainty. Cornsnakes (Pantherophis guttatus or Pantherophis slowinskii) and ratsnakes (Pantherophis alleghaniensis, Pantherophis spiloides, or Pantherophis obsoletus) exhibited differences in habitat selection, but we obtained no evidence that patterns of use for this species pair were influenced by current interspecific interactions.

Overall, our results are consistent with the hypothesis that competitive interactions influence snake assemblage composition; the strength of these effects was affected by landscape‐scale habitat features. Furthermore, we suggest that current interspecific interactions may influence snake occupancy, challenging the paradigm that contemporary patterns of snake co‐occurrence are largely a function of diet partitioning that arose over evolutionary time.
Trophic cascades from wolves to grizzly bears in Yellowstone
Authors: Ripple William J. , Beschta Robert L. , Fortin Jennifer K. , Robbins Charles T. 
Published: July 2013

Summary

We explored multiple linkages among grey wolves (Canis lupus), elk (Cervus elaphus), berry‐producing shrubs and grizzly bears (Ursus arctos) in Yellowstone National Park.

We hypothesized competition between elk and grizzly bears whereby, in the absence of wolves, increases in elk numbers would increase browsing on berry‐producing shrubs and decrease fruit availability to grizzly bears. After wolves were reintroduced and with a reduced elk population, we hypothesized there would be an increase in the establishment of berry‐producing shrubs, such as serviceberry (Amelanchier alnifolia), which is a major berry‐producing plant. We also hypothesized that the percentage fruit in the grizzly bear diet would be greater after than before wolf reintroduction.

We compared the frequency of fruit in grizzly bear scats to elk densities prior to wolf reintroduction during a time of increasing elk densities (1968–1987). For a period after wolf reintroduction, we calculated the percentage fruit in grizzly bear scat by month based on scats collected in 2007–2009 (n = 778 scats) and compared these results to scat data collected before wolf reintroduction. Additionally, we developed an age structure for serviceberry showing the origination year of stems in a northern range study area.

We found that over a 19‐year period, the percentage frequency of fruit in the grizzly diet (6231 scats) was inversely correlated (P < 0·001) with elk population size. The average percentage fruit in grizzly bear scats was higher after wolf reintroduction in July (0·3% vs. 5·9%) and August (7·8% vs. 14·6%) than before. All measured serviceberry stems accessible to ungulates originated since wolf reintroduction, while protected serviceberry growing in a nearby ungulate exclosure originated both before and after wolf reintroduction. Moreover, in recent years, browsing of serviceberry outside of the exclosure decreased while their heights increased.

Overall, these results are consistent with a trophic cascade involving increased predation by wolves and other large carnivores on elk, a reduced and redistributed elk population, decreased herbivory and increased production of plant‐based foods that may aid threatened grizzly bears.
Does Coordination of Welfare Services Delivery Make a Difference for Extremely Disadvantaged Jobseekers? Evidence from the ‘YP4’ Trial
Authors: Borland Jeff , Tseng Yi‐Ping , Wilkins Roger 
Published: July 2013

Fragmented welfare service delivery has been identified as a significant barrier to improving outcomes for highly disadvantaged populations. The YP4 trial, conducted from 2005 to 2009, sought to evaluate, by randomised control method, an approach proposed by Campbell et al. (2003) for integrating delivery of employment, housing, health and other services for young homeless jobseekers. Rather than providing extra access to services or utilisation of different services, the YP4 trial involved assignment of a case manager to tailor and coordinate available services to reflect the specific circumstances of young homeless jobseekers. We find that the YP4 program did not have a significant effect on economic or psychological well‐being, a finding that is robust to application of experimental and quasi‐experimental methods. It is argued that our study contributes to knowledge on programme design, particularly in relation to the importance of the scale of intervention and programme administration.
Sevoflurane causes neuronal apoptosis and adaptability changes of neonatal rats
Authors: ZHENG S. Q. , AN L. X. , CHENG X. , WANG Y. J. 
Published: July 2013

BackgroundNeonatal exposure to sevoflurane can induce neurodegeneration and learning deficits in developing brain. We hypothesised that with the increase in the concentration and duration of sevoflurane, neurodegeneration of neonatal rats aggravates and causes behaviour changes as the rats grow.MethodsTwenty‐one post‐natal day (P)7 Wistar rats were randomly divided into seven groups. Blood analysis was performed after anaesthesia. According to the results, 120 P7 Wistar rats were randomly divided into five groups: Con sham anaesthesia; Sevo 1%‐2 h: exposed to 1% sevoflurane for 2 h; Sevo 1%‐4 h, Sevo 2%‐2 h and Sevo 2%‐4 h. Caspase‐3 positive cells in brain were detected by immunohistochemistry at 6 h after the end of anaesthesia. The cleaved poly(ADP‐ribose) polymerase (c‐PARP‐1) in cortex and hippocampus was detected by Western blot analysis. Behavioural tests such as Morris water maze and Open‐field Test were performed when the rats were 5‐week old, 8‐week old, and 14‐week old.ResultsThree per cent sevoflurane induced carbon dioxide accumulation. The level of c‐PARP‐1 in hippocampus area was significantly increased in Group 2%‐4h. The number of caspase‐3 positive cells in Group Sevo 1%‐2h, Group Sevo 2%‐2h and Group Sevo 2%‐4h was greater than that in Group Con. Rats exposed to sevoflurane had longer travel distance and time in open field when they were 5 weeks old. Animals from different groups had similar performance in Morris water maze.ConclusionExposure to 2% sevoflurane causes neuronal apoptosis of neonatal rats, and long‐time exposure aggravates that. The adaptability in new environment is transiently decreased when the anaesthesia rats are 5 weeks old.