bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Mediating role of research and development on entrepreneurial activities and growth
Authors: M. Salman Doaa 
Published: September 2014

Purpose– The purpose of this paper is to investigate to what extent the level of human development affects the relationships between entrepreneurial activities (EAs) and total factor productivity (TFP). The paper's objectives are threefold. First, it seeks to examine the effect of EA on TFP. Second, it attempts to test for the moderating effect of human development on the relation between EA and TFP, using the generalized methods of moments (GMM), in a panel data across two groups of countries based on their human development index during the period 2000-2008. Third, it tests the causality between TFP, EA, research and development (R&D), unemployment and inflation across countries.Design/methodology/approach– Cross-countries study using a panel GMM for two groups of countries based on their human development index during the period 2000-2008.Findings– Empirical evidence provides that EA have a positive significant relation across countries on TFP in the higher human development levels. The outcomes point toward the role of policies supporting EA as a vital tool to accelerate development and growth via channels such as: better education levels, enhancing R&D, creating more jobs, and stable monetary policy.Research limitations/implications– From the paper limitation is it focusses only on very high human and high human development countries and not studying medium and low-development countries but this limitation is refereed to source of the entrepreneurship data.Practical implications– This paper provides a comparative analysis of the empirical results and presents prospective explanations for the observed relationships between different groups of countries to study the dynamics of change with relative short time series.Originality/value– The study is of value for policy makers of the important relation between levels of development among countries as engine to growth via EA. Moreover, the findings provide a set of policies for governments to undertake tenable actions to accelerate the effectiveness of the institutional setting.
Human antigen R mediated post‐transcriptional regulation of epithelial‐mesenchymal transition related genes in diabetic nephropathy 人抗原R调节糖尿病肾病中上皮细胞间质转化相关基因的转录后调控
Authors: Yu Che , Xin Wei , Zhen Junhui , Liu Yi , Javed Akhtar , Wang Rong , Wan Qiang 
Published: September 2014

AbstractBackgroundHuman antigen R (HuR) is a ubiquitously expressed RNA‐binding protein that modulates gene expression at the post‐transcriptional level. While cytoplasmic HuR expression was identified as a marker in epithelial‐mesenchymal transition (EMT) process of several types of cancer, its role in diabetic nephropathy (DN) remains unclear.MethodsRenal biopsies from Type 2 diabetic patients and STZ‐induced DN rats were stained for HuR and EMT markers. Redistribution of HuR was detected by immunostaining and western blot in high glucose stimulated cells. RNAi was used to supress HuR expression. The binding affinity for EMT‐related genes was evaluated by immunoprecipitation.ResultsCytoplasmic HuR expression was elevated in human and rat DN specimens along with EMT changes compared to normal controls. HuR shuttling between nucleus and cytoplasm facilitated epithelial to mesenchymal transition in renal epithelial cells. The suppression of HuR partially inhibited EMT of high glucose stimulated HK‐2 cells. Furthermore, HuR bound to 3′‐UTRs of critical cytokines or transcription factors mRNA involved in EMT process.ConclusionAcquired phenotypic traits of EMT were partially through the enhanced HuR‐binding proteins and its post‐transcriptional regulation role in DN.
Radiation exposure to anaesthetists during endovascular procedures
Authors: Arii T. , Uchino S. , Kubo Y. , Kiyama S. , Uezono S. 
Published: September 2014

SummaryMedical radiation exposure increases the likelihood of cataract formation. A personal dosimeter was attached to the left temple of 77 anaesthetists during 45 endovascular aortic aneurysm repairs and 32 interventional neuroradiology procedures. Compared with interventional neuroradiology, the median (IQR [range]) total radiation dose emitted by fluoroscopic equipment was significantly lower during endovascular aortic aneurysm repair (4175 (3127–5091 [644–9761]) mGy than interventional neuroradiology (1420 (613–2424 [165–10 840]) mGy, p < 0.001). However, radiation exposure to the anaesthetist's temple was significantly greater during endovascular aortic aneurysm repair (15 (6–41 [1–109]) μSv) than interventional neuroradiology (4 (2–8 [0–67]) μSv, p < 0.001). These data suggest that anaesthetists at our institution would have to deliver anaesthesia for ~1300 endovascular aortic aneurysm repairs and ~5000 interventional neuroradiology cases annually to exceed the general occupational limits, and ~10 000 endovascular aortic aneurysm repairs and ~37 500 interventional neuroradiology cases to exceed the ocular exposure limits recommended by the International Commission on Radiological Protection. Nevertheless, anaesthetists should be aware of the risk of ocular radiation exposure, and reduce this by limiting the time of exposure, increasing the distance from the source of radiation, and shielding.
Breast cancer survival in New Zealand women
Authors: Campbell Ian D. , Scott Nina , Seneviratne Sanjeewa , Kollias James , Walters David , Taylor Corey , Webster Fleur , Zorbas Helen , Roder David M. 
Published: September 2014

AbstractBackgroundThe Quality Audit (BQA) of Breast Surgeons of Australia and New Zealand includes a broad range of data and is the largest New Zealand (NZ) breast cancer (BC) database outside the NZ Cancer Registry. We used BQA data to compare BC survival by ethnicity, deprivation, remoteness, clinical characteristic and case load.MethodsBQA and death data were linked using the National Health Index. Disease‐specific survival for invasive cases was benchmarked against Australian BQA data and NZ population‐based survivals. Validity was explored by comparison with expected survival by risk factor.ResultsCompared with 93% for Australian audit cases, 5‐year survival was 90% for NZ audit cases overall, 87% for Maori, 84% for Pacific and 91% for other.ConclusionsBC survival in NZ appears lower than in Australia, with inequities by ethnicity. Differences may be due to access, timeliness and quality of health services, patient risk profiles, BQA coverage and death‐record methodology.
Clinically relevant aspects of stem cell technologies: current state of play
Authors: Stuart Michael J. , Pattavilakom Ananthababu 
Published: September 2014

AbstractThe emergence of stem cell technologies and their potential applications in regenerative medicine have generated immense interest by both the lay public and clinicians. Unproven and unregulated cell‐based therapies are commercially available both in Australia and internationally, and reports of patient uptake (stem cell tourism) and associated morbidity are increasingly frequent. Clinicians in all fields will require an enhanced understanding of the basic science principles and current state of play in regenerative medicine in order to effectively counsel patients regarding these therapies in the setting of both commercial ventures and clinical trials. This review aims to concisely highlight the key clinically pertinent features of these trials and briefly discuss the specific therapeutic potential, mechanism of action and risks associated with these variables.
2 Tropical Landscapes and the Ancient Maya: Diversity in Time and Space
Authors: Chase Arlen F. , Lucero Lisa J. , Scarborough Vernon L. , Chase Diane Z. , Cobos Rafael , Dunning Nicholas P. , Fedick Scott L. , Fialko Vilma , Gunn Joel D. , Hegmon Michelle , Iannone Gyles , Lentz David L. , Liendo Rodrigo , Prufer Keith , Sabloff Jeremy A. , Tainter Joseph A. , Valdez Fred , van der Leeuw Sander E. 
Published: September 2014

ABSTRACTArchaeologists have begun to understand that many of the challenges facing our technologically sophisticated, resource dependent, urban systems were also destabilizing factors in ancient complex societies. The focus of IHOPE‐Maya is to identify how humans living in the tropical Maya Lowlands in present‐day Central America responded to and impacted their environments over the past three millennia, and to relate knowledge of those processes to modern and future coupled human–environment systems. To better frame variability in ancient lowland Maya development and decline, the area that they once occupied may be subdivided into a series of geographical regions in which the collected archaeological data can be correlated with environmental differences. Although beginning as small agricultural communities occupying a variety of ecological niches in the humid tropics of Mesoamerica, the ancient Maya became an increasingly complex set of societies involved in intensive and extensive resource exploitation. Their development process was not linear, but also involved periods of rapid growth that were punctuated by contractions. Thus, the long‐term development and disintegration of Maya geopolitical institutions presents an excellent vantage from which to study resilience, vulnerability, and the consequences of decision‐making in ancient complex societies.
8 Calakmul: Agent Risk and Sustainability in the Western Maya Lowlands
Authors: Gunn Joel D. , Folan William J. , Isendahl Christian , Carrasco María del Rosario Domínguez , Faust Betty B. , Volta Beniamino 
Published: September 2014

ABSTRACTGreat attention has been focused on the southern trade routes across the Yucatan Peninsula through Tikal but little to the potential for crossing through Calakmul further to the north. This chapter shows that a combination of topography and politics make the Calakmul corridor the more efficient transit route. The political turmoil generated by Teotihuacan's involvement in Lowland trade following C.E. 378 cascaded into centuries of conflict between cities along the Tikal corridor and inhabitants of alternative routes. We trace the evolution of this conflict as influenced by landscape and climate, and decisions of the ambulatory Kaan Dynasty of El Mirador, Dzibanche, Calakmul and finally Calkini. The conflict seems to have played out in the elevated interior of the peninsula, the bone of contention perhaps being control of the Calakmul corridor through the Candelaria River. We suggest there are sufficient parallels between the Calakmul and European Rhône River corridors to draw a productive analogy between two, including that they both fall under the same synoptic climate system. Because the post‐Columbian world economic system rose indirectly from the Rhône corridor, the two systems make a good test bed for thinking about the future evolution of the world system. The scale of comparison is rendered feasible by viewing the systems in terms of the scale of information transfer in which they were embedded. We offer three brief examples of how rise and decline of the Calakmul hegemony suggests ways of thinking about the future of the world economic system: warfare, sustainable design, and climate engineering.
Impact of average household income and damage exposure on post‐earthquake distress and functioning: A community study following the February 2011 Christchurch earthquake
Authors: Dorahy Martin J. , Rowlands Amy , Renouf Charlotte , Hanna Donncha , Britt Eileen , Carter Janet D. 
Published: September 2014

Post‐traumatic stress, depression and anxiety symptoms are common outcomes following earthquakes, and may persist for months and years. This study systematically examined the impact of neighbourhood damage exposure and average household income on psychological distress and functioning in 600 residents of Christchurch, New Zealand, 4–6 months after the fatal February, 2011 earthquake. Participants were from highly affected and relatively unaffected suburbs in low, medium and high average household income areas. The assessment battery included the Acute Stress Disorder Scale, the depression module of the Patient Health Questionnaire (PHQ‐9), and the Generalized Anxiety Disorder Scale (GAD‐7), along with single item measures of substance use, earthquake damage and impact, and disruptions in daily life and relationship functioning. Controlling for age, gender and social isolation, participants from low income areas were more likely to meet diagnostic cut‐offs for depression and anxiety, and have more severe anxiety symptoms. Higher probabilities of acute stress, depression and anxiety diagnoses were evident in affected versus unaffected areas, and those in affected areas had more severe acute stress, depression and anxiety symptoms. An interaction between income and earthquake effect was found for depression, with those from the low and medium income affected suburbs more depressed. Those from low income areas were more likely, post‐earthquake, to start psychiatric medication and increase smoking. There was a uniform increase in alcohol use across participants. Those from the low income affected suburb had greater general and relationship disruption post‐quake. Average household income and damage exposure made unique contributions to earthquake‐related distress and dysfunction.
Correlation of the incretin effect with first‐ and second‐phase insulin secretions in Koreans with various glucose tolerance statuses
Authors: Oh Tae Jung , Park Kyong Soo , Cho Young Min 
Published: September 2014

SummaryObjectiveTo examine the relationship between beta‐cell function and the incretin effect.DesignWe performed a 180‐min hyperglycaemic clamp study with oral glucose administration at 60 min in Korean subjects with normal glucose tolerance (NGT, n = 9), impaired fasting glucose (IFG, n = 6) and type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM, n = 6).MeasurementsFirst‐ and second‐phase insulin secretions were measured during the first 60 min. The insulin response to intravenous glucose during the 60‐ to 120‐min interval (Insiv) was calculated using a prediction method. The insulin response to oral glucose (Insoral) was calculated by subtracting the Insiv from the overall insulin response during the 60‐ to 120‐min interval (Insoverall). The incretin effect under the hyperglycaemic clamp condition (IEclamp) was calculated by the equation: 100 × [(Insoverall − Insiv)/Insoverall].ResultsThe IEclamp was comparable among the three groups (46·3 ± 6·4%, 35·7 ± 8·8% and 51·4 ± 7·4% for the NGT, IFG and T2DM group, respectively, P = 0·327) and was not correlated with the first‐ and second‐phase insulin secretions. However, the Insoral (mU/l 60 min) was significantly different between the NGT, IFG and T2DM groups (5199 ± 1185, 2164 ± 956 and 1034 ± 355, respectively; P = 0·010) and was well correlated with the first‐ and second‐phase insulin secretions.ConclusionsThe incretin effect measured by the hyperglycaemic clamp with oral glucose loading was neither correlated with beta‐cell function nor different between NGT, IFG and T2DM groups in Koreans.
Novel optical coherence tomography classification of torpedo maculopathy
Authors: Wong Evan N , Fraser‐Bell Samantha , Hunyor Alex P , Chen Fred K 
Published: September 2014

AbstractBackgroundTorpedo maculopathy is a rare condition with a twofold clinical significance. Firstly, it is a differential of atypical congenital hypertrophy of the retinal pigment epithelium. Secondly, visual field loss has been reported. We demonstrate the spectrum of structural abnormality of torpedo maculopathy as seen on optical coherence tomography, and correlate this with age of presentation, fundus autofluorescence, retinal sensitivity loss and visual field abnormality.DesignA retrospective, observational case series.ParticipantsFive Australian patients seen between 2008 and 2013.MethodsFundus photography, optical coherence tomography, fundus autofluorescence and visual field analysis. One patient underwent fluorescein angiography.Main Outcome MeasuresLesion appearance on each imaging modality, and visual field analysis.ResultsWe consistently observed a flat, hypopigmented lesion located in the temporal macula, with a distinctive tip pointing toward the fovea. Optical coherence tomography demonstrated variable retinochoroidal features ranging from mild outer retinal disturbance (type 1) to outer retinal cavitation (type 2). Lesion appearance on short‐wave autofluorescence showed varying degrees of hypo‐autofluorescence. Near‐infrared autofluorescence was performed in two patients and showed a well‐defined region of hypo‐autofluorescence. Microperimetry showed normal sensitivity over the lesion in one patient and a dense paracentral scotoma over the temporal portion of the lesion in another. On Humphrey field analysis, only one of two patients tested had a paracentral scotoma.ConclusionTwo types of torpedo maculopathy lesions are described here with unique optical coherence tomography, demographic, fundus autofluorescence and retinal sensitivity features. These may represent different stages of the same disease that evolve over several decades.
Ecological genomics meets community‐level modelling of biodiversity: mapping the genomic landscape of current and future environmental adaptation
Authors: Fitzpatrick Matthew C. , Keller Stephen R. 
Published: September 2014

AbstractLocal adaptation is a central feature of most species occupying spatially heterogeneous environments, and may factor critically in responses to environmental change. However, most efforts to model the response of species to climate change ignore intraspecific variation due to local adaptation. Here, we present a new perspective on spatial modelling of organism–environment relationships that combines genomic data and community‐level modelling to develop scenarios regarding the geographic distribution of genomic variation in response to environmental change. Rather than modelling species within communities, we use these techniques to model large numbers of loci across genomes. Using balsam poplar (Populus balsamifera) as a case study, we demonstrate how our framework can accommodate nonlinear responses of loci to environmental gradients. We identify a threshold response to temperature in the circadian clock gene GIGANTEA‐5 (GI5), suggesting that this gene has experienced strong local adaptation to temperature. We also demonstrate how these methods can map ecological adaptation from genomic data, including the identification of predicted differences in the genetic composition of populations under current and future climates. Community‐level modelling of genomic variation represents an important advance in landscape genomics and spatial modelling of biodiversity that moves beyond species‐level assessments of climate change vulnerability.
Highly Repetitive Object Play in a Cichlid Fish (Tropheus duboisi)
Authors: Burghardt Gordon M. , Dinets Vladimir , Murphy James B. 
Published: September 2014

AbstractWhether play occurs in fishes has long been a contentious issue, but recent observations document that social, object, and locomotor play can all be found in some species of teleosts. However, quantitative studies and those documenting individual differences are rare. We recorded hundreds of occurrences of an unusual behavior in three male Tropheus duboisi. The target behavior of attacking and deflecting an object that rapidly returned to its upright position not only fit the criteria for play behavior, but differed quantitatively and qualitatively among the individuals. This behavior has not been observed in other species of cichlids and other kinds of fishes. The presence or absence of food or other fish either within the aquarium or visible in an adjacent aquarium had no marked or consistent effect on the occurrence of the behavior. Various explanations for the origin and function of the behavior are discussed.
Long‐term leptin fluctuations in female donkeys
Authors: Čebulj‐Kadunc N. , Škibin A. , Kosec M. 
Published: September 2014

SummaryReasons for performing studyThe interest in donkeys is growing due to their integration in the systems of ecological farming, among other reasons.ObjectivesDue to limited reports on leptin concentrations in donkeys, the aim of the present study was to examine age‐dependent and seasonal changes in the circulating leptin concentration in female donkeys (jennies) and thus contribute to knowledge about the physiological characteristics of this species.Study designProspective longitudinal study.MethodsThe study was performed over a year (September 2008 to September 2009) on 20 yearling and young adult (pregnant, lactating or barren) jennies aged 1–5 years at the onset of the study; the animals were kept on pasture from May to September and stabled for the rest of the year. Blood samples were taken monthly and analysed for serum leptin concentrations by a commercial radioimmunoassay kit.ResultsCirculating leptin concentrations in studied jennies were lower than those reported for donkeys and horses. Despite the tendency for lower values in yearling vs. young adult jennies, the age range of the examined animals was insufficient to confirm any age‐related leptin variations. Significant seasonal leptin fluctuations with peak levels in late spring and the lowest levels in autumn months, correlated with photoperiod, were detected in yearling, barren as well as pregnant jennies. Therefore, it was impossible to identify any effects of gestation or lactation on leptin concentrations of jennies.ConclusionsThe results of this study cannot be used as evidence of a causal relationship between the photoperiod and seasonal circulating leptin fluctuations in donkeys, but could reflect changes induced by various external or internal factors enabling adaptations of grazing animals in variable submediterranean environments.
Grassland to shrubland state transitions enhance carbon sequestration in the northern Chihuahuan Desert
Authors: Petrie M. D. , Collins S. L. , Swann A. M. , Ford P. L. , Litvak M.E. 
Published: September 2014

AbstractThe replacement of native C4‐dominated grassland by C3‐dominated shrubland is considered an ecological state transition where different ecological communities can exist under similar environmental conditions. These state transitions are occurring globally, and may be exacerbated by climate change. One consequence of the global increase in woody vegetation may be enhanced ecosystem carbon sequestration, although the responses of arid and semiarid ecosystems may be highly variable. During a drier than average period from 2007 to 2011 in the northern Chihuahuan Desert, we found established shrubland to sequester 49 g C m−2 yr−1 on average, while nearby native C4 grassland was a net source of 31 g C m−2 yr−1 over this same period. Differences in C exchange between these ecosystems were pronounced – grassland had similar productivity compared to shrubland but experienced higher C efflux via ecosystem respiration, while shrubland was a consistent C sink because of a longer growing season and lower ecosystem respiration. At daily timescales, rates of carbon exchange were more sensitive to soil moisture variation in grassland than shrubland, such that grassland had a net uptake of C when wet but lost C when dry. Thus, even under unfavorable, drier than average climate conditions, the state transition from grassland to shrubland resulted in a substantial increase in terrestrial C sequestration. These results illustrate the inherent tradeoffs in quantifying ecosystem services that result from ecological state transitions, such as shrub encroachment. In this case, the deleterious changes to ecosystem services often linked to grassland to shrubland state transitions may at least be partially offset by increased ecosystem carbon sequestration.