bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
The favourable effects of long-term selenium supplementation on regression of cervical tissues and metabolic profiles of patients with cervical intraepithelial neoplasia: a randomised, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial
Authors: Karamali Maryam , Nourgostar Sepideh , Zamani Ashraf , Vahedpoor Zahra , Asemi Zatollah 
Published: October 2015

AbstractThis study was conducted to assess the effects of long-term Se administration on the regression and metabolic status of patients with cervical intraepithelial neoplasia grade 1 (CIN1). This randomised, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial was carried out among fifty-eight women diagnosed with CIN1. To diagnose CIN1, we used specific diagnostic procedures of biopsy, pathological diagnosis and colposcopy. Patients were randomly assigned to two groups to receive 200 μg Se supplements as Se yeast (n 28) or placebo (n 28) daily for 6 months. After 6 months of taking Se supplements, a greater percentage of women in the Se group had regressed CIN1 (88·0 v. 56·0 %; P=0·01) compared with those in the placebo group. Long-term Se supplementation, compared with the placebo, resulted in significant decreases in fasting plasma glucose levels (−0·37 (sd 0·32) v. +0·07 (sd 0·63) mmol/l; P=0·002), serum insulin levels (−28·8 (sd 31·2) v. +13·2 (sd 40·2) pmol/l; P<0·001), homeostatic model assessment of insulin resistance values (−1·3 (se 1·3) v. +0·5 (se 1·4); P<0·001) and a significant elevation in quantitative insulin sensitivity check index (+0·03 (sd 0·03) v. −0·01 (sd 0·01); P<0·001). In addition, patients who received Se supplements had significantly decreased serum TAG (−0·14 (sd 0·55) v. +0·15 (sd 0·38) mmol/l; P=0·02) and increased HDL-cholesterol levels (+0·13 (sd 0·21) v. −0·01 (sd 0·15) mmol/l; P=0·003). In addition, compared with the placebo group, there were significant rises in plasma total antioxidant capacity (+186·1 (sd 274·6) v. +42·8 (sd 180·4) mmol/l; P=0·02) and GSH levels (+65·0 (sd 359·8) v. −294·2 (sd 581·8) μmol/l; P=0·007) and a significant decrease in malondialdehyde levels (−1·5 (sd 2·1) v. +0·1 (sd 1·4) μmol/l; P=0·001) among those who took Se supplements. Overall, taking Se supplements among patients with CIN1 led to its regression and had beneficial effects on their metabolic profiles.
Statistical modelling of grapevine phenology in Portuguese wine regions: observed trends and climate change projections
Authors: FRAGA H. , SANTOS J. A. , MOUTINHO-PEREIRA J. , CARLOS C. , SILVESTRE J. , EIRAS-DIAS J. , MOTA T. , MALHEIRO A. C. 
Published: October 2015

SUMMARYPhenological models are considered key tools for the short-term planning of viticultural activities and long-term impact assessment of climate change. In the present study, statistical phenological models were developed for budburst (BUD), flowering (FLO) and veraison (VER) of 16 grapevine varieties (autochthonous and international) from the Portuguese wine-making regions of Douro, Lisbon and Vinhos Verdes. For model calibration, monthly averages of daily minimum (Tmin), maximum (Tmax) and mean (Tmean) temperatures were selected as potential regressors by a stepwise methodology. Significant predictors included Tmin in January–February–March for BUD, Tmax in March–April for FLO, and Tmin, Tmax and Tmean in March–July for VER. Developed models showed a high degree of accuracy after validation, representing 0·71 of total variance for BUD, 0·83 for FLO and 0·78 for VER. Model errors were in most cases < 5 days, outperforming classic growing degree-day models, including models based on optimized temperature thresholds for each variety. Applied to the future scenarios RCP4·5/8·5, projections indicate earlier phenophase onset and shorter interphases for all varieties. These changes may bring significant challenges to the Portuguese wine-making sector, highlighting the need for suitable adaptation/mitigation strategies, to ensure its future sustainability.
INCIDENCE OF, AND RISK FACTORS FOR, MALNUTRITION AMONG CHILDREN AGED 5–7 YEARS IN SOUTH INDIA
Authors: Jeyaseelan Visalakshi , Jeyaseelan Lakshmanan , Yadav Bijesh 
Published: October 2015

SummaryProtein–energy malnutrition is a major health problem contributing to the burden of disease in developing countries. The aim of this study was to assess the incidence of, and risk factors for, malnutrition among school-going children in south India. A total of 2496 children aged 5–7 years from rural and urban areas of south India were recruited in 1982 and followed up for malnutrition over a period of 9 years. Their body heights and weights were measured every six months and socio-demographic factors such as mother’s education and father’s education and relevant household characteristics and hygiene practices collected. Body mass index and height-for-age z-scores were used to determine children’s levels of underweight and stunting, respectively, classified as normal, mild/moderate or severe. Risk factor analysis was done for pre-pubertal ages only using Generalized Estimating Equations with cumulative odds assumption. There was a significant difference between male and female children in the incidence of severe underweight and stunting (6.4% and 4.2% respectively). Children in households with no separate kitchen had 1.3 (1.0–1.6) times higher odds of being severely underweight (p=0.044) compared with those with a kitchen. Children without a toilet facility had significantly higher odds of severe underweight compared with those who did. Children with illiterate parents had higher odds of severe stunting than those with literate parents. In conclusion, the prevalence of malnutrition among these south Indian children has not changed over the years, and the incidence of severe malnutrition was highest in children when they were at pubertal age. The risk factors for stunting were mostly poverty-related, and those for underweight were mostly hygiene-related. Adolescent children in south India should be screened periodically at school for malnutrition and provided with nutritional intervention if necessary.
Biodiversity offsetting and conservation: reframing nature to save it
Authors: Apostolopoulou Evangelia , Adams William M. 
Published: October 2015

AbstractBiodiversity offsetting involves the balancing of biodiversity loss in one place (and at one time) by an equivalent biodiversity gain elsewhere (an outcome referred to as No Net Loss). The conservation science literature has chiefly addressed the extent to which biodiversity offsets can serve as a conservation tool, focusing on the technical challenges of its implementation. However, offsetting has more profound implications than this technical approach suggests. In this paper we introduce the concept of policy frames, and use it to identify four ways in which non-human nature and its conservation are reframed by offsetting. Firstly, offsetting reframes nature in terms of isolated biodiversity units that can be simply defined, measured and exchanged across time and space to achieve equivalence between ecological losses and gains. Secondly, it reframes biodiversity as lacking locational specificity, ignoring broader dimensions of place and deepening a nature–culture and nature–society divide. Thirdly, it reframes conservation as an exchange of credits implying that the value of non-human nature can be set by price. Fourthly, it ties conservation to land development and economic growth, foreshadowing and bypassing an oppositional position. We conclude that by presenting offsetting as a technical issue, the problem of biodiversity loss due to development is depoliticized. As a result the possibility of opposing and challenging environmental destruction is foreclosed, and a dystopian future of continued biodiversity loss is presented as the only alternative.
Fasciola hepatica mucin-encoding gene: expression, variability and its potential relevance in host–parasite relationship
Authors: CANCELA MARTÍN , SANTOS GUILHERME B. , CARMONA CARLOS , FERREIRA HENRIQUE B. , TORT JOSÉ FRANCISCO , ZAHA ARNALDO 
Published: October 2015

SUMMARYFasciola hepatica is the causative agent of fasciolosis, a zoonosis with significant impact both in human and animal health. Understanding the basic processes of parasite biology, especially those related to interactions with its host, will contribute to control F. hepatica infections and hence liver pathology. Mucins have been described as important mediators for parasite establishment within its host, due to their key roles in immune evasion. In F. hepatica, mucin expression is upregulated in the mammalian invasive newly excysted juvenile (NEJ) stage in comparison with the adult stage. Here, we performed sequencing of mucin cDNAs prepared from NEJ RNA, resulting in six different cDNAs clusters. The differences are due to the presence of a tandem repeated sequence of 66 bp encoded by different exons. Two groups of apomucins one with three and the other with four repeats, with 459 and 393 bp respectively, were identified. These cDNAs have open reading frames encoding Ser-Thr enriched proteins with an N-terminal signal peptide, characteristic of apomucin backbone. We cloned a 4470 bp gene comprising eight exons and seven introns that encodes all the cDNA variants identified in NEJs. By real time polymerase chain reaction and high-resolution melting approaches of individual flukes we infer that fhemuc-1 is a single-copy gene, with at least two different alleles. Our data suggest that both gene polymorphism and alternative splicing might account for apomucin variability in the fhemuc-1 gene that is upregulated in NEJ invasive stage. The relevance of this variation in host–parasite interplay is discussed.
Northward ho! Obama, Diefenbaker and the North American Arctic
Authors: Dodds Klaus J. 
Published: October 2015

President Barrack Obama became, in September 2015, the first US president to travel north of the Arctic Circle. Having started his Alaskan itinerary in Anchorage, attending and speaking at a conference involving Secretary of State John Kerry and invited guests, the president travelled north to the small town of Kotzebue, a community of some 3000 people with the majority of inhabitants identifying as native American. Delivered to an audience in the local high school numbering around 1000, the 41st US president placed his visit within a longer presidential tradition of northern visitation:I did have my team look into what other Presidents have done when they visited Alaska. I’m not the first President to come to Alaska.Warren Harding spent more than two weeks here – which I would love to do. But I can't leave Congress alone that long. (Laughter.) Something might happen. When FDR visited – Franklin Delano Roosevelt – his opponents started a rumor that he left his dog, Fala, on the Aleutian Islands – and spent 20 million taxpayer dollars to send a destroyer to pick him up. Now, I’m astonished that anybody would make something up about a President. (Laughter.) But FDR did not take it lying down. He said, “I don't resent attacks, and my family doesn't resent attacks – but Fala does resent attacks. He's not been the same dog since.” (Laughter.) President Carter did some fishing when he visited. And I wouldn't mind coming back to Alaska to do some fly-fishing someday. You cannot see Alaska in three days. It's too big. It's too vast. It's too diverse. (Applause.) So I’m going to have to come back. I may not be President anymore, but hopefully I’d still get a pretty good reception. (Applause.) And just in case, I’ll bring Michelle, who I know will get a good reception. (Applause.) . . .. But there's one thing no American President has done before – and that's travel above the Arctic Circle. (Applause.) So I couldn't be prouder to be the first, and to spend some time with all of you (Obama 2015a).
The ‘Old Arctics’: notices of Franklin Search expedition veterans in the British press, 1876–1934
Authors: McCorristine Shane , Herrmann Victoria 
Published: October 2015

ABSTRACTThe lives of the commanders and officers associated with the British naval searches for the lost John Franklin northwest passage expedition in the 1850s are well-known through their own writings or those of later biographers. The post-Arctic careers of ordinary crew members, on the other hand, are barely known at all. Following digital searches of nineteenth and early-twentieth century British newspapers, we have compiled a list of some notices, obituaries, and reminiscences that shed light on the later years of the ‘Old Arctics’.
The influential child: How children affect their environment and influence their own risk and resilience
Authors: Davidov Maayan , Knafo-Noam Ariel , Serbin Lisa A. , Moss Ellen 
Published: October 2015

AbstractViews regarding children's influence on their environment and their own development have undergone considerable changes over the years. Following Bell's (1968) seminal paper, the notion of children's influence and the view of socialization as a bidirectional process have gradually gained wide acceptance. However, empirical research implementing this theoretical advancement has lagged behind. This Special Section compiles a collection of new empirical works addressing multiple forms of influential child processes, with special attention to their consequences for children's and others’ positive functioning, risk and resilience. By addressing a wide variety of child influences, this Special Section seeks to advance integration of influential child processes into myriad future studies on development and psychopathology and to promote the translation of such work into preventive interventions.
(Positive) power to the child: The role of children's willing stance toward parents in developmental cascades from toddler age to early preadolescence
Authors: Kochanska Grazyna , Kim Sanghag , Boldt Lea J. 
Published: October 2015

AbstractIn a change from the once-dominant view of children as passive in the parent-led process of socialization, children are now seen as active agents who can considerably influence that process. However, these newer perspectives typically focus on the child's antagonistic influence, due either to a difficult temperament or aversive, resistant, negative behaviors that elicit adversarial responses from the parent and lead to future coercive cascades in the relationship. Children's capacity to act as receptive, willing, even enthusiastic, active socialization agents is largely overlooked. Informed by attachment theory and other relational perspectives, we depict children as able to adopt an active willing stance and to exert robust positive influence in the mutually cooperative socialization enterprise. A longitudinal study of 100 community families (mothers, fathers, and children) demonstrates that willing stance (a) is a latent construct, observable in diverse parent–child contexts, parallel at 38, 52, and 67 months and longitudinally stable; (b) originates within an early secure parent–child relationship at 25 months; and (c) promotes a positive future cascade toward adaptive outcomes at age 10. The outcomes include the parent's observed and child-reported positive, responsive behavior, as well as child-reported internal obligation to obey the parent and parent-reported low level of child behavior problems. The construct of willing stance has implications for basic research in typical socialization and in developmental psychopathology as well as for prevention and intervention.
Child effects and child care: Implications for risk and adjustment
Authors: Snell Emily K. , Hindman Annemarie H. , Belsky Jay 
Published: October 2015

AbstractEvocative effects of child characteristics on the quality and quantity of child care were assessed in two studies using longitudinal data from the NICHD Study of Early Child Care. We focus on the influence of child characteristics on two important aspects of the child care experience: language stimulation provided by caregivers and quantity of care. In Study 1, associations between the developmental status of children aged 15 to 54 months and the language stimulation provided by their caregivers were examined using path models, and longitudinal child effects were detected across the earliest time points of the study. In Study 2, the associations among child behavior, temperament, development, and time in care were examined. Little evidence was found for such child effects on time in care. The results are discussed in terms of the effects of child care on child development and implications for developmental processes, particularly for children at greatest risk for developmental delay or psychopathology.
The association of temperament and maternal empathy with individual differences in infants’ neural responses to emotional body expressions
Authors: Rajhans Purva , Missana Manuela , Krol Kathleen M. , Grossmann Tobias 
Published: October 2015

AbstractWe examined the role of infant temperament and maternal dispositional empathy in the neural processing of happy and fearful emotional body expressions in 8-month-old infants by measuring event-related brain potentials. Our results revealed that infants’ tendency to approach novel objects and people was positively correlated with the neural sensitivity (attention allocation) to fearful expressions, while infant fearfulness was negatively correlated to the neural sensitivity to fearful expressions. Maternal empathic concern was associated with infants’ neural discrimination between happy and fearful expression, with infants of more empathetically concerned mothers showing greater neural sensitivity (attention allocation) to fearful compared to happy expressions. It is critical that our results also revealed that individual differences in the sensitivity to emotional information are explained by an interaction between infant temperament and maternal empathic concern. Specifically, maternal empathy appears to impact infants’ neural responses to emotional body expressions, depending on infant fearfulness. These findings support the notion that the way in which infants respond to emotional signals in the environment is fundamentally linked to their temperament and maternal empathic traits. This adds an early developmental neuroscience dimension to existing accounts of social–emotional functioning, suggesting a complex and integrative picture of why and how infants’ emotional sensitivity varies.
Physiological responses of grapevines to biodynamic management
Authors: Botelho Renato Vasconcelos , Roberti Roberta , Tessarin Paola , Garcia-Mina José María , Rombolà Adamo Domenico 
Published: October 2015

AbstractA 3-year (2011–2013) field trial was carried out in a mature vineyard (Vitis viniferaL., cv. Sangiovese), planted in 2003, to assess physiological responses of grapevines to biodynamic management. Starting in 2007, the vineyard was managed with organic production protocols in accordance with EC Regulations (834/2007). In 2008, the vineyard (2 ha) was divided in two large plots, with each plot having similar soil physico-chemical properties. One of the plots was managed with organic protocols per EC Regulations and the other with biodynamic practices, consisting of spray application of preparations 500, 500 K, fladen and 501. During the 2011–2013 season, the biodynamic preparations were used at least twice per year, with the exception of 501 that was applied only once in 2013. Concentration of hormones and mineral elements in biodynamic preparations were determined. Biodynamically managed vines showed lower stomatal conductance in all years and lower leaf water potential in 2012. Leaf photosynthetic activity was not influenced by cultivation method. Biodynamic management led to an increase in leaf enzymatic activities of endochitinase (EC 3.2.1.14), exochitinase (β-N-acetylhexosaminidase, EC 3.2.1.52 and chitin 1,4-β-chitobiosidase) and β-1,3-glucanase (EC 3.2.1.39), which are typically correlated with plant biotic and abiotic stresses and associated with induced plant resistance. Year effects were observed with 1,3-β-glucanase, whose activity in 2012 was 4.1-fold higher than in 2013. Disease incidence and grape yields were not different between organic and biodynamic treatments. This study provided a strong indication of a stimulation of natural defense compounds in grapes grown under biodynamic cultivation, but subsequent effects on plant protection and productivity require further evaluation.
Measuring fast stochastic displacements of bio-membranes with dynamic optical displacement spectroscopy
Authors: Monzel C. , Schmidt D. , Kleusch C. , Kirchenbüchler D. , Seifert U. , Smith A-S , Sengupta K. , Merkel R. 
Published: October 2015

AbstractStochastic displacements or fluctuations of biological membranes are increasingly recognized as an important aspect of many physiological processes, but hitherto their precise quantification in living cells was limited due to a lack of tools to accurately record them. Here we introduce a novel technique—dynamic optical displacement spectroscopy (DODS), to measure stochastic displacements of membranes with unprecedented combined spatiotemporal resolution of 20 nm and 10 μs. The technique was validated by measuring bending fluctuations of model membranes. DODS was then used to explore the fluctuations in human red blood cells, which showed an ATP-induced enhancement of non-Gaussian behaviour. Plasma membrane fluctuations of human macrophages were quantified to this accuracy for the first time. Stimulation with a cytokine enhanced non-Gaussian contributions to these fluctuations. Simplicity of implementation, and high accuracy make DODS a promising tool for comprehensive understanding of stochastic membrane processes.
Pronounced polarization-induced energy level shifts at boundaries of organic semiconductor nanostructures
Authors: Cochrane K. A. , Schiffrin A. , Roussy T. S. , Capsoni M. , Burke S. A. 
Published: October 2015

AbstractOrganic semiconductor devices rely on the movement of charge at and near interfaces, making an understanding of energy level alignment at these boundaries an essential element of optimizing materials for electronic and optoelectronic applications. Here we employ low temperature scanning tunneling microscopy and spectroscopy to investigate a model system: two-dimensional nanostructures of the prototypical organic semiconductor, PTCDA (3,4,9,10-perylenetetracarboxylic dianhydride) adsorbed on NaCl (2 ML)/Ag(111). Pixel-by-pixel scanning tunneling spectroscopy allows mapping of occupied and unoccupied electronic states across these nanoislands with sub-molecular spatial resolution, revealing strong electronic differences between molecules at the edges and those in the centre, with energy level shifts of up to 400 meV. We attribute this to the change in electrostatic environment at the boundaries of clusters, namely via polarization of neighbouring molecules. The observation of these strong shifts illustrates a crucial issue: interfacial energy level alignment can differ substantially from the bulk electronic structure in organic materials.
Hydrodynamic schooling of flapping swimmers
Authors: Becker Alexander D. , Masoud Hassan , Newbolt Joel W. , Shelley Michael , Ristroph Leif 
Published: October 2015

AbstractFish schools and bird flocks are fascinating examples of collective behaviours in which many individuals generate and interact with complex flows. Motivated by animal groups on the move, here we explore how the locomotion of many bodies emerges from their flow-mediated interactions. Through experiments and simulations of arrays of flapping wings that propel within a collective wake, we discover distinct modes characterized by the group swimming speed and the spatial phase shift between trajectories of neighbouring wings. For identical flapping motions, slow and fast modes coexist and correspond to constructive and destructive wing–wake interactions. Simulations show that swimming in a group can enhance speed and save power, and we capture the key phenomena in a mathematical model based on memory or the storage and recollection of information in the flow field. These results also show that fluid dynamic interactions alone are sufficient to generate coherent collective locomotion, and thus might suggest new ways to characterize the role of flows in animal groups.