bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Randomized clinical trial of laparoscopic gastric bypass versus laparoscopic duodenal switch for superobesity
Authors: Søvik T T , Taha O , Aasheim E T , Engström M , Kristinsson J , Björkman S , Schou C F , Lönroth H , Mala T , Olbers T 
Published: December 2009

Abstract

Background
Laparoscopic Roux-en- gastric bypass (LRYGB) and laparoscopic biliopancreatic diversion with duodenal switch (LDS) are surgical options for superobesity. A randomized trial was conducted to evaluate perioperative (30-day) safety and 1-year results.

Methods
Sixty patients with a body mass index (BMI) of 50–60 kg/m2 were randomized to LRYGB or LDS. BMI, percentage of excess BMI lost, complications and readmissions were compared between groups.

Results
Patient characteristics were similar in the two groups. Mean operating time was 91 min for LRYGB and 206 min for LDS (P &lt; 0·001). One LDS was converted to open surgery. Early complications occurred in four patients undergoing LRYGB and seven having LDS (P = 0·327), with no deaths. Median stay was 2 days after LRYGB and 4 days after LDS (P &lt; 0·001). Four and nine patients respectively had late complications (P = 0·121). Mean BMI at 1 year decreased from 54·8 to 38·5 kg/m2 after LRYGB and from 55·2 to 32·5 kg/m2 after LDS; percentage of excess BMI lost was greater after LDS (74·8 versus 54·4 per cent; P &lt; 0·001).

Conclusion
LRYGB and LDS can be performed with comparable perioperative safety in superobese patients. LDS provides greater weight loss in the first year. Registration number: NCT00327912 (http://www.clinicaltrials.gov).
Impact of atmospheric moisture in a rainfall downscaling framework for catchment‐scale climate change impact assessment
Authors: Mehrotra R. , Sharma A. 
Published: December 2009

AbstractThree formulations of a non‐parametric stochastic downscaling framework for simulation of daily rainfall at multiple point locations for catchment‐scale climate change impact assessment under enhanced greenhouse conditions are evaluated. In the first case, rainfall is downscaled using a system of variables that combine atmospheric circulation indicators (geo‐potential height, pressure and derived variables) with time‐lagged wetness indicators reflecting a continuous rainfall state. In the second and third cases, the above system of variables is augmented using indicators of atmospheric moisture found relevant in defining the downscaling relationship. The downscaling framework is specified using 43 years of daily rainfall observations at 30 locations near Sydney, Australia, with reanalysis data being used to represent observed atmospheric variables. A single ensemble member of the CSIRO Mark 3 general circulation model (GCM) (corresponding to the SRES A2 emission scenario) is used for comparison of downscaled rainfall for current and future (year 2070) conditions. While all the downscaling formulations show an overall similarity in the downscaled rainfall for the current climate, variations for some rainfall attributes are observed for year 2070 conditions. A variable convergence score (VCS) is employed to assess the relative skill of atmospheric predictors used in the different formulations. The VCS indicates use of temperature depression (difference of dew point and atmospheric temperatures) as an indicator of atmospheric moisture to obtain more realistic estimates of rainfall for year 2070. In general, a decrease in winter and spring and an increase in summer in the frequency of wet days with a decrease in the winter rainfall amount in the year 2070 is projected. Also, inland stations are found to be more sensitive to the expected future climate changes in comparison to the coastal ones. Copyright © 2009 Royal Meteorological Society
Low‐orderH∞controller design on the frequency domain by partial optimization
Authors: Saeki Masami , Ogawa Masashi , Wada Nobutaka 
Published: December 2009

AbstractIn this paper, an optimization method of low‐order multivariable controllers forH∞control is proposed. Starting from a low‐order stabilizing controller, our method gives a sequence of controllers for which theH∞norm performance index is monotonically non‐increasing by tuning the numerator coefficient matrices of the low‐order controller. This controller class includes multivariable PID controllers. The proposed method is a descent method where the feasible direction is calculated by solving a linear matrix inequality that represents a sufficient condition for theH∞criterion for each frequency. Usefulness is shown by two numerical examples. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Nonlinear responses of wolverine populations to declining winter snowpack
Authors: Brodie Jedediah F. , Post Eric 
Published: December 2009

AbstractUnderstanding the population‐level impacts of climate change is critical for effectively managing ecosystems. Predators are important components of many systems because they provide top−down control of community structure. Ecological theory suggests that these species could be particularly susceptible to climate change because they generally occur at low densities and have resource‐limited populations. Yet, our understanding of climate‐change impacts on predators is hindered by the difficulty in assessing complex, nonlinear dynamics over the large spatial scales necessary to depict a species’ general response to abiotic forcing. Here we use fur‐return data to characterize population dynamics of a snow‐adapted carnivore, the wolverine, across most of its North American range. Using novel modeling techniques, we simultaneously measured the impact of winter snowpack on wolverine dynamics across critical thresholds in snowpack depth and two domains of population growth. Winter snowpack declined from 1970 to 2004 in nearly the entire region studied, concordant with increases in Northern Hemisphere temperature anomalies. Fur returns have declined in many areas; our models show that snowpack has strong, nonlinear effects on wolverine population dynamics. Importantly, wolverine harvests dropped the fastest in areas where snowpack declined most rapidly and also where snowpack had the greatest effect on population dynamics. Moreover, declining snow cover appears to drive trends in wolverine population synchrony, with important implications for overall persistence. These results illustrate the vulnerability and complex responses of predator populations to climate change. We also suggest that declining snowpack may be an important and hitherto little‐analyzed mechanism through which climate change alters high‐latitude ecosystems.
High Dietary Fat Exacerbates Weight Gain and Obesity in Female Liver Fatty Acid Binding Protein Gene‐Ablated Mice
Authors: Atshaves Barbara P. , McIntosh Avery L. , Storey Stephen M. , Landrock Kerstin K. , Kier Ann B. , Schroeder Friedhelm 
Published: December 2009

AbstractSince liver fatty acid binding protein (L‐FABP) facilitates uptake/oxidation of long‐chain fatty acids in cultured transfected cells and primary hepatocytes, loss of L‐FABP was expected to exacerbate weight gain and/or obesity in response to high dietary fat. Male and female wild‐type (WT) and L‐FABP gene‐ablated mice, pair‐fed a defined isocaloric control or high fat diet for 12 weeks, consumed equal amounts of food by weight and kcal. Male WT mice gained weight faster than their female WT counterparts regardless of diet. L‐FABP gene ablation enhanced weight gain more in female than male mice—an effect exacerbated by high fat diet. Dual emission X‐ray absorptiometry revealed high‐fat fed male and female WT mice gained mostly fat tissue mass (FTM). L‐FABP gene ablation increased FTM in female, but not male, mice—an effect also exacerbated by high fat diet. Concomitantly, L‐FABP gene ablation decreased serum β‐hydroxybutyrate in male and female mice fed the control diet and, even more so, on the high‐fat diet. Thus, L‐FABP gene ablation decreased fat oxidation and sensitized all mice to weight gain as whole body FTM and LTM—with the most gain observed in FTM of control vs high‐fat fed female L‐FABP null mice. Taken together, these results indicate loss of L‐FABP exacerbates weight gain and/or obesity in response to high dietary fat.
Bovine colostrum supplementation attenuates the decrease of salivary lysozyme and enhances the recovery of neutrophil function after prolonged exercise
Authors: Davison Glen , Diment Bethany C. 
Published: December 2009

Oral supplementation with bovine colostrum (COL) has been shown to enhance immunity in human subjects. However, there is limited research on the use of bovine COL supplementation to counter exercise-induced immunodepression, as a model of stress-induced immunodepression, and previous research has focused primarily on salivary IgA. The aim of the present study was to determine the effects of bovine COL supplementation on exercise-induced changes in innate immunity (neutrophil function and salivary lysozyme) in addition to salivary IgA. Twenty healthy, active men cycled for 2 h at approximately 64 % maximal oxygen uptake after 4 weeks of daily bovine COL (n10) or placebo (PLA,n10) supplementation. Blood and saliva samples were obtained before and after supplementation, before and after exercise. Exercise induced significant increases in markers of physiological stress and stress to the immune system (circulating neutrophils, neutrophil:lymphocyte ratio, immature granulocytes, atypical lymphocytes and plasma cortisol), but there were no differences between the COL and PLA groups. Significant group × time interactions (two-way mixed model ANOVA) were observed for neutrophil function (stimulated degranulation) and salivary lysozyme concentration and release (P < 0·05). Significant exercise-induced decreases were observed in these parameters, and bovine COL supplementation either speeded the recovery (neutrophil function) or prevented the decrease (salivary lysozyme) in these measures of innate immunity. These results suggest that 4 weeks of bovine COL supplementation limits the immunodepressive effects induced by an acute prolonged physical stressor, such as exercise, which may confer some benefits to host defence.
Biogeography of soil archaea and bacteria along a steep precipitation gradient
Authors: Angel Roey , Soares M Ines M , Ungar Eugene D , Gillor Osnat 
Published: December 2009

Abstract
For centuries, biodiversity has spellbound biologists focusing mainly on macroorganism's diversity and almost neglecting the geographic mediated dynamics of microbial communities. We surveyed the diversity of soil bacteria and archaea along a steep precipitation gradient ranging from the Negev Desert in the south of Israel (&lt;100 mm annual rain) to the Mediterranean forests in the north (&gt;900 mm annual rain). Soil samples were retrieved from triplicate plots at five long-term ecological research stations, collected from two types of patches: plant interspaces and underneath the predominant perennial at each site. The molecular fingerprint of each soil sample was taken using terminal restriction length polymorphism of the 16S rRNA gene to evaluate the bacterial and archaeal community composition and diversity within and across sites. The difference in community compositions was not statistically significant within sites (P=0.33 and 0.77 for bacteria and archaea, respectively), but it differed profoundly by ecosystem type. These differences could largely be explained by the precipitation gradient combined with the vegetation cover: the archaeal and bacterial operational taxonomic units were unique to each climatic region, that is, arid, semiarid and Mediterranean (P=0.0001, for both domains), as well as patch type (P=0.009 and 0.02 for bacteria and archaea, respectively). Our results suggest that unlike macroorganisms that are more diverse in the Mediterranean ecosystems compared with the desert sites, archaeal and bacterial diversities are not constrained by precipitation. However, the community composition is unique to the climate and vegetation cover that delineates each ecosystem.
Effects of freeze–thaw cycles on anaerobic microbial processes in an Arctic intertidal mud flat
Authors: Sawicka Joanna E , Robador Alberto , Hubert Casey , Jørgensen Bo Barker , Brüchert Volker 
Published: December 2009

Abstract
Insight into the effects of repeated freezing and thawing on microbial processes in sediments and soils is important for understanding sediment carbon cycling at high latitudes acutely affected by global warming. Microbial responses to repeated freeze–thaw conditions were studied in three complementary experiments using arctic sediment collected from an intertidal flat that is exposed to seasonal freeze–thaw conditions (Ymerbukta, Svalbard, Arctic Ocean). The sediment was subjected to oscillating freeze–thaw incubations, either gradual, from −5 to 4 °C, or abrupt, from −20 to 10 °C. Concentrations of low-molecular weight carboxylic acids (volatile fatty acids) were measured and sulfate reduction was assessed by measuring 35S sulfate reduction rates (SRRs). Gradual freeze–thaw incubation decreased microbial activity in the frozen state to 0.25 % of initial levels at 4 °C, but activity resumed rapidly reaching &gt;60 % of initial activity in the thawed state. Exposure of sediments to successive large temperature changes (−20 versus 10 °C) decreased SRR by 80% of the initial activity, suggesting that a fraction of the bacterial community recovered rapidly from extreme temperature fluctuations. This is supported by 16S rRNA gene-based denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis profiles that revealed persistence of the dominant microbial taxa under repeated freeze–thaw cycles. The fast recovery of the SRRs suggests that carbon mineralization in thawing arctic sediment can resume without delay or substantial growth of microbial populations.
emPAI Calc—for the estimation of protein abundance from large-scale identification data by liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry
Authors: Shinoda Kosaku , Tomita Masaru , Ishihama Yasushi 
Published: December 2009

Abstract
Summary: emPAI Calc is an open-source web application for the estimation of protein abundance. It uses the correlation between the number of identified peptides and protein abundance in mass spectrometry-based proteomic experiments. The program is the first implementation of our previously reported emPAI algorithm; it calculates the emPAI from the protein identification results obtained by database search engines such as Mascot.™
Availability: http://empai.iab.keio.ac.jp/; http://empai.iab.keio.ac.jp/supplement.php Source codes are available under Mozilla Public License.
Contact: y-ishi@ttck.keio.ac.jp
Supplementary Information: Supplementary data are available at Bioinformatics online.
Vasohibin‐1 as a potential predictor of aggressive behavior of ductal carcinoma in situ of the breast
Authors: Tamaki Kentaro , Sasano Hironobu , Maruo Yohei , Takahashi Yayoi , Miyashita Minoru , Moriya Takuya , Sato Yasufumi , Hirakawa Hisashi , Tamaki Nobumitsu , Watanabe Mika , Ishida Takanori , Ohuchi Noriaki 
Published: December 2009

Vasohibin‐1 is a recently identified negative feedback regulator of angiogenesis induced by VEGF‐A and bFGF. In this study, we first evaluated mRNA expression of vasohibin‐1 and CD31 in 39 Japanese female breast carcinoma specimens including 22 invasive ductal carcinoma (IDC) and 17 ductal carcinoma in situ (DCIS) using a real‐time quantitative RT‐PCR (QRT‐PCR) with LightCycler system. In addition, we also immunolocalized vasohibin‐1 and CD31 and compared their immunoreactivity to nuclear grades and histological grades of 100 carcinoma cases (50 IDC and 50 DCIS). There were no statistically significant differences of CD31 mRNA expression and the number of CD31 positive vessels between DCIS and IDC (P = 0.250 and P = 0.191, respectively), whereas there was a statistically significant difference in vasohibin‐1 mRNA expression and the number of vasohibin‐1 positive vessels in DCIS and IDC (P = 0.022 and P ≤ 0.001, respectively). There was a significant positive correlation between vasohibin‐1 mRNA level and Ki‐67 labeling index in DCIS (r2 = 0.293, P ≤ 0.001). In addition, vasohibin‐1 mRNA expression was correlated with high nuclear and histological grades in DCIS cases and a significant positive correlation was detected between the number of vasohibin‐1 positive vessels and Ki‐67 labeling index or nuclear grade or Van Nuys classification of carcinoma cells (P ≤ 0.001, respectively). These results all indicate the possible correlation between aggressive biological features in DCIS including increased tumor cell proliferation and the status of neovascularization determined by vasohibin‐1 immunoreactivity.(Cancer Sci 2010; 101: 1051–1058)
Idiosyncrasy and overdominance in the structure of natural communities of arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi: is there a role for stochastic processes?
Authors: Dumbrell Alex J. , Nelson Michaela , Helgason Thorunn , Dytham Calvin , Fitter Alastair H. 
Published: December 2009

Summary 1. Most studies of species abundance patterns focus on conspicuous macroorganisms while microbial communities remain relatively understudied. This bias is a concern given the functional importance and high diversity of microbes. 2. We determine whether a common species abundance distribution (SAD) is observed in communities of a widespread group of soil microbes, the Glomeromycota or arbuscular mycorrhizal (AM) fungi. Using molecular techniques, we intensively sampled the AM fungal community of a woodland–grassland ecotone in Yorkshire, UK. Observed species abundances were compared to theoretical models describing SADs. We also reanalysed 32 previously published data sets in a similar manner. 3. Species abundance distributions in all the AM fungal communities fitted both lognormal and broken‐stick models. However, these models consistently and significantly underpredicted the abundance of the most abundant AM fungal taxon. We found that AM fungal communities are typically dominated by a single taxon; representing on average 40% of total abundance within the community. Phylogenetic analysis of the most abundant taxa across data sets showed that the dominant AM fungal type in each community was different and not a widespread generalist. 4. We conclude that a common community structure is present in AM fungal communities from different habitats. The fit to log‐normal and broken‐stick models suggests the influence of niche differentiation structuring these communities. However, the consistently observed overdominance indicates that local adaptation and stochastic processes may also play important roles in structuring these communities, and we propose a mechanism to explain overdominance in AM fungal communities. 5. Synthesis. This paper applies ecological models derived from studies on larger organisms to microbial communities. Results from this study suggest that a common log‐normal SAD is likely to be observed across both microbial and macro taxa. However, due to the distinctive features of microbial biology, some noticeable differences, such as heavy overdominance, may lead to unique structures in microbial communities. This research not only highlights that, to a first approximation, microbial communities follow similar processes and have similar patterns to those of macroorganisms, but also the need for large‐scale microbial data sets, if we are to understand the patterns and processes regulating global biodiversity.
Therapeutic Approaches to Pregnancy Loss of Non‐infectious Cause During the Late Embryonic/Early Foetal Period in Dairy Cattle. A Review
Authors: Bech‐Sàbat G , García‐Ispierto I , Yániz J , López‐Gatius F 
Published: December 2009

ContentsThe problem of pregnancy loss during the late embryonic/early foetal period due to non‐infectious causes in dairy cattle is on the rise, especially in high milk producing cows. This review discusses recent therapeutic approaches designed to reduce the incidence of early foetal loss. These strategies are based on the fact that low plasma concentrations of progesterone are commonly related to foetal loss. Progesterone supplementation during the late embryonic/early foetal period has proven useful in curtailing losses, mainly in single pregnancies, whereas a more positive effect of treatment with GnRH than progesterone has been found in twin pregnancies. Therapeutics is not necessary in cows with an additional corpus luteum. In practical terms, suggestions include recording the number of embryos and corpora lutea on first pregnancy diagnosis and checking for normal pregnancy progression on day 60 post‐insemination.
Corporate Governance in China: a Step Forward
Authors: Cheung Yan‐Leung , Jiang Ping , Limpaphayom Piman , Lu Tong 
Published: December 2009

Abstract Recently, the presumed benefits of corporate governance have become one of the most contentious issues especially for emerging markets in Asia where institutional settings are quite different from other parts of the world. Using an internationally accepted benchmark (OECD's Principles of Corporate Governance, OECD, 2004), this study evaluates the progress of corporate governance practice of Chinese listed companies. A corporate governance index (CGI) is constructed to measure the quality of corporate governance practices of the 100 largest listed firms in China during 2004‐2006. The results show that Chinese companies have been making progress in the corporate governance reform. The findings also show a positive relation between market valuation and overall corporate governance practices, as measured by the CGI, among these Chinese listed companies. Additional investigation reveals that the rights of shareholders are the main driver in the relationship.
One Standard Fits All? The Pros and Cons of Performance Standard Adjustments
Authors: Barnow Burt S. , Heinrich Carolyn J. 
Published: December 2009

Despite the wide‐ranging use of performance measures within the public sector and the growing use of performance bonuses to recognize performance achievements, the use of formal performance standards adjustment procedures in public performance measurement systems is relatively rare. Burt S. Barnow of Johns Hopkins University and Carolyn J. Heinrich of the University of Wisconsin–Madison set forth the basic arguments in favor of and against the use of formal or informal procedures for adjusting performance expectations. They describe how performance standards adjustments processes are currently (or have been) in use, review the evidence of their effectiveness or problems encountered in their application, and explore the consequences of the inadequacy of performance standards adjustments. The authors offer recommendations for the improvement of public sector performance measurement systems and conclude why this area remains fruitful for future research experimentation.The nice thing about standards is that there are so many of them to choose from.—Andrew S. Tannenbaum