bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Seasonality of metazoan ectoparasites in marine European flounderPlatichthys flesus(Teleostei: Pleuronectidae)
Authors: CAVALEIRO F. I. , SANTOS M. J. 
Published: May 2009

SUMMARYSeasonal occurrence of metazoan ectoparasites is described for the first time in marine European flounder,Platichthys flesus(L.). The parasitofauna, in this study monitored during 1 year, was found to be similar to that previously recorded for flounder. Moreover, specimens ofCaligussp. Müller, 1785 andLepeophtheirus pectoralis(Copepoda: Caligidae),Acanthochondria cornuta(Copepoda: Chondracanthidae),Holobomolochus confusus(Copepoda: Bomolochidae) andNerocila orbignyi(Isopoda: Cymothoidae), and also, a praniza larva (Isopoda: Gnathiidae), were isolated. From these,L. pectoralisandA. cornutawere the dominant parasites in all samples of flounder, whileCaligussp.,H. confusus,N. orbignyiand the gnathiid praniza seemed to infect the flounder only occasionally. As far as the seasonality of infections is concerned, it differed considerably from that described for estuarine environments. Indeed, both prevalence and abundance ofL. pectoralisandA. cornutareached significant peaks in the summer, whereas the literature identifies the autumn as the season of maximum infection on estuarine flounder. Thus, the former period seems more favourable for the occurrence of epizooties ofL. pectoralisandA. cornutain flounder culturing systems running on seawater and operated in the studied or similar environments.
Seroepidemiology of Toxoplasma infection in a metropolitan region of Brazil
Authors: FERNANDES G. C. V. R. , AZEVEDO R. S. , AMAKU M. , YU A. L. F. , MASSAD E. 
Published: May 2009

SUMMARYSeroprevalence data from a representative population were used to estimate the annual incidence of congenital toxoplasmosis in São Paulo Metropolitan Region (SPMR). Retrospective anti-toxoplasma IgG serological analysis was conducted to determine age-dependent seroprevalence, force of infection, average age of acquisition of infection and curve of decay of maternally derived antibodies. Seroprevalence was used to calculate the number of new infections. Toxoplasmosis in pregnant women was estimated by total number of deliveries in a given year as a proxy for the number of pregnancies per year. Toxoplasma seroprevalence was 64·9% in women of childbearing age. Average age of acquisition of toxoplasmosis was 10·74 years. The estimated annual incidence of congenital toxoplasmosis varied from 9·5 to 10·6/1000 births in the studied period. The toxoplasmosis seroprevalence model allowed a good incidence estimation of congenital disease in SPMR compared to other published data, indicating that this mathematical approach is useful in calculating the potential demand of congenital disease due to Toxoplasma gondii in a given community.
Reducing food insecurity in developing countries through meat production: the potential of the guinea pig (Cavia porcellus)
Authors: Lammers Peter J. , Carlson Sarah L. , Zdorkowski Gretchen A. , Honeyman Mark S. 
Published: May 2009

AbstractGlobal poverty and food insecurity continue to remain critical issues, especially in rural areas. Developing and fostering agricultural systems that not only require low to moderate amounts of economic capital and few external inputs but also maintain and enhance the resource base of production are key features of sustainable agricultural development. Sustainable agricultural development, including diversifying smallholder production to include livestock, is a pragmatic approach to address both rural poverty and food insecurity. Livestock play important roles in the lives of humans as converters, recyclers and banks of nutrients. Smallholders raise a diversity of livestock species and often raise multiple species simultaneously. High fecundity, diet flexibility and adaptability to a wide range of housing and management approaches are critical traits of livestock species well suited for producing meat for home consumption and marketing in the context of rural smallholders. Swine (Sus scrofa) and chicken (Gallus domesticus) meet many of these criteria and are well known livestock species. This paper examines the potential for a less common species of livestock, guinea pig (Cavia porcellus) to enhance food security and increase household income of rural smallholders. Although cultural acceptance of guinea pig as a source of nutrition and income is less ubiquitous than that of swine, chicken and other species, the biological, ecological and economic advantages of guinea pig deserve further examination by those working to alleviate global poverty and food insecurity.
Spatiotemporal regime of climate and streamflow in the U.S. Great Lakes Basin
Authors: Shmagin Boris , Johnston Carol , Krakauer Nir 
Published: May 2009

AbstractWe analyzed interannual and seasonal regimes of river runoff, precipitation, and air temperature for three nested regions: (1) the Upper Peninsula of Michigan, (2) the U.S. portion of the Great Lakes Basin, and (3) glaciated portions of the northeastern U.S. spanning from the Dakotas to New England. Data sources included historical records of 50 to 105 years duration from 45 USGS gauging stations and 198 U.S. National Climate Network stations, and satellite-derived estimates of global monthly precipitation gridded at 2.5 resolution for 1979-2008 (partly data about precipitations were collected and passed for analysis by Glenn Hodgkins from USGS). We examined the spatiotemporal variability of climate characteristics for these regions as a multidimensional structure obtained from empirical data using factor analysis. The structure consisted of a few (2 to 7) centers of variability for each characteristic, and reflected the diversity of landscapes within the regions examined. Trends and regime shifts for mutual time intervals of river runoff, precipitation and temperature showed different direction of changes. The results obtained at the three scales were generally in agreement.
Syntactic Frames in Fast Mapping Verbs: Effect of Age, Dialect, and Clinical Status
Authors: Johnson Valerie E. , de Villiers Jill G. 
Published: May 2009

Purpose
To investigate children’s performance on a fast mapping task. Possible effects across age, dialect group, and clinical status were explored.

Method
Participants between the ages of 4 and 9 saw a series of pictured events and heard novel verbs. The novel verbs were in intransitive, transitive, dative, and complement syntactic frames or argument structures. The children then had to answer questions about the novel verbs that revealed what meaning they had attached to them. The field-testing of a new assessment instrument provided the data for typically developing children and children with language impairment from 2 linguistic communities: (a) mainstream American English speaking and (b) African American English speaking. Strict criteria were used for the 529 participants that defined both their clinical and dialect status.

Results
There were significant effects of age and clinical status on the participants' ability to fast map a novel verb from its argument structure, but no significant effects for dialect.

Conclusions
Regardless of dialect, children with specific language impairment have difficulty using syntactic frames to identify a likely meaning of a novel verb. In addition, the syntactic frames are differentially difficult, with complement structures being particularly hard.
Short-Term Memory (STM) Constraints in Children With Specific Language Impairment (SLI): Are There Differences Between Receptive and Expressive SLI?
Authors: Nickisch Andreas , von Kries Rüdiger 
Published: May 2009

Purpose
Specific language impairment (SLI) is assumed to be causally related to deficits in auditory short-term memory (STM). Although verbal STM deficits have been consistently found in SLI, the results of visual STM tests are inconsistent. Do these inconsistencies reflect different study populations of expressive SLI (ELI) and receptive–expressive SLI (R/ELI)?

Method
Twenty-one children (ages 6–11) with ELI, 21 with R/ELI, and 21 controls (CG) matched on age and nonverbal intelligence were retrospectively compared with regard to their visual and auditory STM.

Results
ELI children and R/ELI children performed significantly poorer than the CG in auditory-verbal STM tests. On tests for visual STM (symbol sequences), the R/ELI children performed significantly poorer than the CG. For hand movements, children with R/ELI scored slightly poorer compared to both other groups but without reaching statistical significance. Correlation analyses showed significant associations between symbol sequences and receptive language measures. Regression analysis found that the scores of symbol sequences and digit sequences together accounted for 39% of the variance of the receptive language measures, whereas the scores for nonsense syllables accounted for 24% of the variance of the expressive language measures.

Conclusion
R/ELI children appear to have more complex STM deficits, as they showed visual STM constraints in addition to auditory STM constraints.
Treevolution: visual analysis of phylogenetic trees
Authors: Santamaría Rodrigo , Therón Roberto 
Published: May 2009

Abstract
Summary: Treevolution is a tool for the representation and exploration of phylogenetic trees that facilitates visual analysis. There are several useful tools to visualize phylogenetic trees, but their level of interaction is usually low, especially in the case of radial representations. Highly interactive visualizations can improve the exploration and understanding of phylogenetic trees. Treevolution implements strategies to interact with phylogenetic trees in order to allow a more thorough analysis by users.
Availability: Treevolution is available at http://vis.usal.es/treevolution. Additional figures, a user's guide, a video demo and some examples are available at the same site.
Contact: rodri@usal.es
Supplementary information: Supplementary data are available at Bioinformatics online.
CORAL: aligning conserved core regions across domain families
Authors: Fong Jessica H. , Marchler-Bauer Aron 
Published: May 2009

Abstract
Motivation: Homologous protein families share highly conserved sequence and structure regions that are frequent targets for comparative analysis of related proteins and families. Many protein families, such as the curated domain families in the Conserved Domain Database (CDD), exhibit similar structural cores. To improve accuracy in aligning such protein families, we propose a profile–profile method CORAL that aligns individual core regions as gap-free units.
Results: CORAL computes optimal local alignment of two profiles with heuristics to preserve continuity within core regions. We benchmarked its performance on curated domains in CDD, which have pre-defined core regions, against COMPASS, HHalign and PSI-BLAST, using structure superpositions and comprehensive curator-optimized alignments as standards of truth. CORAL improves alignment accuracy on core regions over general profile methods, returning a balanced score of 0.57 for over 80% of all domain families in CDD, compared with the highest balanced score of 0.45 from other methods. Further, CORAL provides E-values to aid in detecting homologous protein families and, by respecting block boundaries, produces alignments with improved ‘readability’ that facilitate manual refinement.
Availability: CORAL will be included in future versions of the NCBI Cn3D/CDTree software, which can be downloaded at http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/Structure/cdtree/cdtree.shtml.
Contact: fongj@ncbi.nlm.nih.gov.
Supplementary information: Supplementary data are available at Bioinformatics online.
Changes in soil organic matter composition are associated with forest encroachment into grassland with long‐term fire history
Authors: Dümig A. , Knicker H. , Schad P. , Rumpel C. , Dignac M.‐F. , Kögel‐Knabner I. 
Published: May 2009

SummaryThis study investigates if Araucaria forest (C3 metabolism) expansion on frequently burnt grassland (C4 metabolism) in the southern Brazilian highland is linked to the chemical composition of soil organic matter (SOM) in non‐allophanic Andosols. We used the 13C/12C isotopic signature to group heavy organo‐mineral fractions according to source vegetation and 13C NMR spectroscopy, lignin analyses (CuO oxidation) and measurement of soil colour lightness to characterize their chemical compositions. Large proportions of aromatic carbon (C) combined with small contents of lignin‐derived phenols in the heavy fractions of grassland soils and grass‐derived lower horizons of Araucaria forest soils indicate the presence of charred grass residues in SOM. The contribution of this material may have led to the unusual increase in C/N ratios with depth in burnt grassland soils and to the differentiation of C3‐ and C4‐derived SOM, because heavy fractions from unburnt Araucaria forest and shrubland soils have smaller proportions of aromatic C, smaller C/N ratios and are paler compared with those with C4 signatures. We found that lignins are not applicable as biomarkers for plant origin in these soils with small contents of strongly degraded and modified lignins as the plant‐specific lignin patterns are absent in heavy fractions. In contrast, the characteristic contents of alkyl C and O/N‐alkyl C of C3 trees or shrubs and C4 grasses are reflected in the heavy fractions. They show consistent changes of the (alkyl C)/(O/N‐alkyl C) ratio and the 13C/12C isotopic signature with soil depth, indicating their association with C4 and C3 vegetation origin. This study demonstrates that soils may preserve organic matter components from earlier vegetation and land‐use, indicating that the knowledge of past vegetation covers is necessary to interpret SOM composition.
The importance of scent and nectar filters in a specialized wasp‐pollination system
Authors: Shuttleworth Adam , Johnson Steven D. 
Published: May 2009

Summary 1. Plants with open flowers and exposed nectar should attract a wide diversity of flower visitors, yet, for reasons that are not yet well understood, some plants with these ‘generalist’ floral traits have highly specialized pollination systems. 2. We investigated this problem in the African milkweed Pachycarpus grandiflorus which has open flowers that produce copious amounts of exposed and concentrated nectar, yet is visited almost exclusively by spider‐hunting wasps in the genus Hemipepsis. 3. These wasps were the only visitors found to consistently carry pollinaria and a cage experiment showed that they are capable of successfully pollinating this plant. Furthermore, experimental hand‐pollinations showed that P. grandiflorus is genetically self‐incompatible and thus reliant on pollinators for seed set. 4. We investigated the roles of chemical (nectar and floral scent) and spectral properties in the selective attraction of wasps and the filtering out of other potential flower visitors. Nectar palatability experiments showed that the nectar is unpalatable to honeybees but palatable to the wasps. Choice experiments conducted in the field and using a Y‐maze in the laboratory showed that wasps are attracted primarily by scent rather than visual cues. Analysis of scent using Gas Chromatography‐Mass Spectrometry showed that these inflorescences produce 36 different compounds, mostly monoterpenes and aliphatics. Analysis of spectral reflectance showed that flowers have similar colouring to the background vegetation. 5. We conclude that P. grandiflorus is specialized for pollination by Hemipepsis wasps, and in the absence of morphological filters, achieves specialization through unpalatable nectar, cryptic colouring and scent as a selective pollinator attractant. 6. This study demonstrates that plants whose flowers are not morphologically adapted to exclude particular floral visitors can achieve specialization through non‐morphological filters.
Methane hydrates in controlled‐source electromagnetic surveys – analysis of a recent data example
Authors: Zach J. J. , Brauti K. 
Published: May 2009

ABSTRACTData from a recently acquired sea‐bed logging deep‐water survey are analysed for resistive bodies at depths below mudline shallower than about 300 m. A model consistent with known methane hydrate properties is found to explain near‐offset structures over an offset scale of a few hundred metres observed in the data. The lateral near‐seabed resolution of the sea‐bed logging method was determined to less than 100 m for source frequencies of up to 10 Hz. The importance of accurate hydrate maps to improve data processing is demonstrated by placing synthetic reservoirs below hydrates and observing their effects on reference model processing. The phase is shown to be less perturbed by shallow resistors than the amplitude, which is an important quality control of standard anomaly maps. While patchy shallow resistors can generally be mapped with simple normalized magnitude‐versus‐offset and phase‐versus‐offset difference analyses, large area distributions of hydrates over kilometres are hard to distinguish from deeper structures using controlled‐source electromagnetic data only, short of conducting a full 3D inversion of a sufficiently large survey. Beyond, the study confirms the applicability of controlled‐source electromagnetic techniques in general to map shallow resistive structures for drilling hazards and possible future exploration of methane hydrates as an energy source.
Very early mortality in patients starting antiretroviral treatment at primary health centres in rural Malawi
Authors: Zachariah Rony , Harries Katie , Moses Massaquoi , Manzi Marcel , Line Arnould , Mwagomba Beatrice , Harries Anthony D. 
Published: May 2009

SummaryObjectves  To report on the cumulative proportion of deaths occurring within 3 months of starting antiretroviral treatment (ART) and to identify factors associated with such deaths, among adults at primary health centres in a rural district of Malawi.Methods  Retrospective cohort study: from June 2006 to April 2008, deaths occurring over a 3‐month period were determined and risk factors examined.Results  A total of 2316 adults (706 men and 1610 women; median age 35 years) were included in the analysis and followed up for a total of 1588 person‐years (PY); 277 (12%) people died, of whom 206 (74%) people died within 3 months of initiating ART (cumulative incidence: 13.0; 95% confidence interval: 11.3–14.8 per 100 PY of follow‐up). Significant risk factors associated with early deaths included male sex, WHO stage 4 disease, oesophageal or persistent oral candidiasis and unexplained presumed or measured weight loss >10%. One in every 3 patients who either died or was lost to follow up had unexplained weight loss >10%, and survival in this group was significantly different from patients without this condition.Conclusions  Seven in 10 individuals initiating ART at primary health centres die early. Specific groups of patients are at higher risk of such mortality and should receive priority attention, care and support.
Performance‐based financing for better quality of services in Rwandan health centres: 3‐year experience
Authors: Rusa Louis , Ngirabega Jean de Dieu , Janssen Willy , Van Bastelaere Stefaan , Porignon Denis , Vandenbulcke Werner 
Published: May 2009

SummaryIn 2005, the Ministry of Health in Rwanda, with the support of the Belgian Technical Cooperation, launched a strategy of performance‐based financing (PBF) in a group of 74 health centres (HCs), covering 2‐m inhabitants. In 2006, PBF was extended to an additional group of 85 HCs, thus reaching 3.8‐m inhabitants. This study evaluates the effect of PBF on HC performance from 2005 to 2007. Composite indicators for measuring quantity and quality of services were developed and evaluated through monthly formative supervisions by qualified and well‐trained district supervisors. The strategy was based on a fixed fee per quality‐approved service. The entire budget spent on the implementation of PBF amounted to $0.25/cap/year, of which $0.20/cap/year for subsidies and an estimated $0.05/cap/year for administration, supervision and training. A positive effect on utilization rates was only seen for activities that were previously less well organized; in this case, growth monitoring services and institutional deliveries. The quality of services, defined as the compliance rate with national and international norms, rose considerably for all services in both groups. A sustained level of quality between 80% and 95% was reached within 18 months in the first group. A similar result was reached in the second group in 8 months.
Self‐harm and self‐poisoning in southern India: choice of poisoning agents and treatment
Authors: Bose Anuradha , Sandal Sejbaek Camilla , Suganthy Pearline , Raghava Venkata , Alex Reginald , Muliyil Jayaprakash , Konradsen Flemming 
Published: May 2009

SummaryObjective  To record cases of suicide and attempted suicide among a population of 108 000 people living in a primarily rural area of southern India, with the aim of guiding policies and strategies to restrict access to poisonous compounds at community level.Method  Community‐based surveillance over a period of 2 years.Results and conclusion  The overall suicide rate was 71.4 per 100 000 population; the highest burden was among men. Most people died through hanging (81, 54%) and self‐poisoning (46, 31%). Of the 46 who died from self‐poisoning, 78.3% had taken pesticides and 19.7% had eaten poisonous plants. Eighty per cent of the self‐poisoning cases obtained the poisonous substance in or in close proximity to the home, highlighting the importance of safe storage in the domestic environment. Of the 110 fatal and non‐fatal self‐poisoning cases, 87 (57.5%) were taken for treatment; 50 (57.4%) went to government hospitals and 37 (42.5%) to private facilities. This indicates the importance of including the private sector in the efforts to improve case management. Furthermore, the fact that 31 (67%) of the self‐poisoning patients, who eventually died, were alive after 4 h provides an incentive to focus on improved case management and access to health services.
Integration of insecticide‐treated net distribution into routine immunization services in Malawi: a pilot study
Authors: Mathanga Don P. , Luman Elizabeth T. , Campbell Carl H. , Silwimba Chimwemwe , Malenga Grace 
Published: May 2009

SummaryObjectives  To determine the feasibility of distributing insecticide‐treated nets (ITNs) through routine immunization services, to increase ownership and use of ITNs among high‐risk groups, whereas maintaining or improving timely completion of routine vaccinations.Methods  Free ITNs were provided with timely completion of routine vaccinations in two intervention districts in southern Malawi for 15 months. Cross‐sectional baseline and follow‐up household surveys were conducted in the two intervention districts and one control district.Results  Insecticide‐treated nets utilization among children aged 12–23 months roughly doubled in the two intervention districts and did not change in the control district. Timely vaccination coverage increased in all three districts. The percentage of children aged 12–23 months who were both fully vaccinated by 12 months and slept under an ITN the night prior to the interview increased from 10–14% at baseline to 40–44% at follow‐up in the intervention districts (P < 0.001), but did not change significantly in the control district.Conclusions  This study is the first to evaluate the provision of free ITNs at completion of a child’s primary vaccination series, demonstrating that such a linkage is both feasible and can result in improved coverage with the combined services. Additional studies are needed to determine whether such a model is effective in other countries, and whether integration of other health services with immunization delivery could also be synergistic.