bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Evolutionary assembly rules for fish life histories
Authors: Charnov Eric L , Gislason Henrik , Pope John G 
Published: April 2012

AbstractWe revisit the empirical equation of Gislasonet al.(2010,Fish and Fisheries11:149–158) for predicting natural mortality (M, year−1) of marine fish. We show it to be equivalent to, whereL∞(cm) andK(year−1) are the von Bertalanffy growth equation (VBGE) parameters, andL(cm) is fish length along the growth trajectory within the species. We then interpretKin terms of the VBGE in mass, and show that the previous equation is itself equivalent to a −⅓ power function rule betweenMand the mass at first reproduction (Wα); this new −⅓ power function emerges directly from the life history that maximizes Darwinian fitness in non‐growing populations. We merge thisM,Wαpower function with other power functions to produce general across‐species scaling rules for yearly reproductive allocation, reproductive effort and age at first reproduction in fish. We then suggest a new way to classify habitats (or lifestyles) as to the life histories they should contain, and we contrast our scheme with the widely used Winemiller–Rose fish lifestyle classification.
Pedagogical challenges of spoken English learning in the Second Life virtual world: A case study
Authors: Zhang Haisen 
Published: April 2012

AbstractAs one of the emerging technologies, the Second Life virtual world provides learners of English as a Foreign Language with a unique opportunity of learning authentic language with native and non‐native speakers of English in a virtual environment. It enables them to learn the target language in a real‐life‐like social communication environment. To date, numerous studies have focused more on the benefits and affordances of learning in such an environment. Little has been done in terms of an empirical exploration into the barriers that impede effective spoken English learning. This study was intended to reduce the gap through investigating a group of Chinese students' experience when they carried out spoken English learning activities in Second Life. A qualitative research method was employed to unveil the challenges of Spoken English learning in this virtual world. Participant observation was made both during the training sessions and in the process of their performing learning tasks. The participants were later interviewed. The study concluded that the success of enabling effective spoken English leaning requires a timely elimination of technical problems and a systemic optimization of learning environments from both pedagogical and administrative perspectives. Limitations of this study and directions for future research were also discussed.Practitioner NotesWhat is already known about this topic
The potential of the Second Life virtual world for educational purposes.
Pedagogical affordances of the virtual world.
Pedagogical applications of the virtual world to the fields of science and humanities.
What this paper adds
Pedagogical exploration of spoken English teaching and learning in the virtual world.
Identification of pedagogical challenges in learning and teaching of spoken English skills.
Countermeasures for fighting off the challenges.
Implications for practice and/or policy
Development of instructors' computer literacy and virtual world literacy skills.
Essentiality of administrative support for ensuring pedagogical success.
Instructors' awareness of increasing workload.
Firm Size and Employment Dynamics: Estimations of Labor Demand Elasticities Using a Fractional Panel Probit Model
Authors: Kölling Arnd 
Published: April 2012

AbstractThis paper examines the comprehensive discussion on the relationship between job creation, or destruction and firm size. More specifically, the study will determine whether the argument about small‐ and medium‐sized enterprises (SMEs) showing higher employment dynamics is confirmed or not. As such, the following work applies elasticities from a standard labor demand model derived from the estimations of fractional probit models for panel data, as process recommended in Papke and Wooldridge [2008; Journal of Econometrics 145(1–2): 121–133]. Elasticities are a useful measure of employment dynamics, if it is assumed that SMEs act on the same markets. The elasticity results from German establishment data illustrate that firm size does matter for the increase or decrease of employment. SMEs with less than 10 workers exhibit a higher employment dynamic, compared with other entities, at each respective percentile in the distribution of the wage share. Additionally, the outcome of the analysis weakly confirms the hypothesis that smaller firms are more restricted to capital markets, compared with large entities. The results also illustrate that firm size only explains one aspect of job creation and destruction. As stated in the well‐known Hicks–Marshall rules for elasticities of factor demand, the results illustrate that the reaction of labor demand on economic changes increases with the share of labor. Firms with a high share of labor also have larger elasticities, compared with firms with a strong use of capital. Both effects, the size effect and the effect of the proportion of labor, would blend in reality, and therefore, possibly lead to controversial results for the relationship between firm size and employment dynamics. In addition, a model with a negative relationship among both variables is too simple to explain the behavior of firms.
Applying the ICF‐CY to identify children's everyday life situations: A step towards participation‐focused code sets
Authors: Adolfsson Margareta 
Published: April 2012

Adolfsson M. Applying the ICF‐CY to identify children's everyday life situations: a step towards participation‐focused code setsWith the long‐term goal to create an interdisciplinary screening tool with code sets focusing on children's participation in everyday life situations (ELS), the purpose of the present study was to identify ELS for children 0–17 years. The views of professionals and parents in Sweden, South Africa and the USA were integrated based on ICF‐CY1 linkages. The chapters Self‐care and Major life areas seemed most obvious to include in ELS. At the 2nd ICF‐CY level, 11 categories emerged as ELS, with Hygiene and Recreation as the most obvious. Two sets of ELS were identified for infants/preschoolers and school‐aged children/adolescents. Professionals and parents agreed on ELS for the older age group. Findings suggest that ELS differ in context specificity depending on maturity and growing autonomy. The study has implications for the future screening tool that is intended to support children with disabilities in describing what matters most to them in intervention planning.Key Practitioner Message: •Children and parents need opportunities to express their opinions during intervention processes, but a structured family–professional collaboration model is lacking; •Using ICF‐CY‐based models, including holistic views of participation in everyday life situations, increases professionals' focus on family perspectives; •Models to connect interventions to participation in everyday life situations enhance children's motivation and support interdisciplinary assessment.
Habitat relationships among biodiversity indicators and co‐occurring species in a freshwater fish community
Authors: Wesner J. S. , Belk M. C. 
Published: April 2012

AbstractIt is often assumed that indicator species can act as surrogates for conservation of other taxa because the habitat characteristics that limit the distribution of indicators should also affect multiple co‐occurring native species. However, this assumption is rarely explicitly tested. Here, we test whether four fish species are potential indicators of overall fish diversity in the Bear River drainage (UT and WY, USA). We then examine whether biodiversity indicator relationships are driven by shared habitat associations among species by examining species‐habitat models. We use these models to test for correlations between indicator species and common co‐occurring species in predicted occurrence and density. Fish diversity was higher at sites with potential indicators than sites without, indicating that conservation aimed at any of these species is likely to affect a broad number of co‐occurring taxa. However, with minor exceptions, habitat correlations were inconsistent between indicator and co‐occurring species. Instead, most species showed idiosyncratic habitat relationships. Thus, while conservation of habitats containing indicator species is likely to positively affect the distribution of a minority of co‐occurring taxa, they may have neutral (or even negative) effects on the distribution or abundance of a majority of other native taxa that are common to the region. These data suggest that reliance on indicator taxa in conservation can be misleading because they obscure important ecological information about affected non‐target species.
CAMBODIAN PATIENTS' AND HEALTH PROFESSIONALS' VIEWS REGARDING THE ALLOCATION OF ANTIRETROVIRAL DRUGS
Authors: NANN STEPHANIE , DOUSSET JEAN‐PHLIPPE , SOK CHANTHY , KHIM PISEY , Y SOPHEAP , SORUM PAUL , MULLET ETIENNE 
Published: April 2012

ABSTRACTThe way Cambodian patients and health professionals judge the priority of HIV‐infected patients in relation to the allocation of antiretroviral drugs was examined. Participants were either HIV‐infected patients attending the HIV/AIDS Care and Support Centre for People Living with HIV/AIDS in Phnom Penh (29 females and 21 males) or members of the staff (9 physicians, 6 pharmacists and 15 health counsellors and health educators). They were presented with stories of a few lines depicting a patient's situation and were instructed to judge the extent to which the patient should be given priority for HIV drugs. The stories were composed according to a four within‐subject factor design: (a) the patient's family responsibilities, (b) the severity of infection, (c) the time elapsed since the first consultation, and (d) the financial difficulties of the family. Most patients expressed the view that the drugs should be used for the patients who are most important from a familial point of view, namely, when the family contains small children and/or is already in a precarious financial condition.
Characterisation of the dissimilatory reduction of Fe(III)‐oxyhydroxide at the microbe – mineral interface: the application of STXM–XMCD
Authors: COKER V. S. , BYRNE J. M. , TELLING N. D. , VAN DER LAAN G. , LLOYD J. R. , HITCHCOCK A. P. , WANG J. , PATTRICK R. A. D. 
Published: April 2012

AbstractA combination of scanning transmission X‐ray microscopy and X‐ray magnetic circular dichroism was used to spatially resolve the distribution of different carbon and iron species associated with Shewanella oneidensis MR‐1 cells. S. oneidensis MR‐1 couples the reduction of Fe(III)‐oxyhydroxides to the oxidation of organic matter in order to conserve energy for growth. Several potential mechanisms may be used by S. oneidensis MR‐1 to facilitate Fe(III)‐reduction. These include direct contact between the cell and mineral surface, secretion of either exogenous electron shuttles or Fe‐chelating agents and the production of conductive ‘nanowires’. In this study, the protein/lipid signature of the bacterial cells was associated with areas of magnetite (Fe3O4), the product of dissimilatory Fe(III) reduction, which was oversaturated with Fe(II) (compared to stoichiometric magnetite). However, areas of the sample rich in polysaccharides, most likely associated with extracellular polymeric matrix and not in direct contact with the cell surface, were undersaturated with Fe(II), forming maghemite‐like (γ‐Fe2O3) phases compared to stoichiometric magnetite. The reduced form of magnetite will be much more effective in environmental remediation such as the immobilisation of toxic metals. These findings suggest a dominant role for surface contact‐mediated electron transfer in this study and also the inhomogeneity of magnetite species on the submicron scale present in microbial reactions. This study also illustrates the applicability of this new synchrotron‐based technique for high‐resolution characterisation of the microbe–mineral interface, which is pivotal in controlling the chemistry of the Earth’s critical zone.
Regional LV deformation in healthy individuals during isovolumetric contraction and ejection phases assessed by 2D speckle tracking echocardiography
Authors: Hodt Anders , Stugaard Marie , Hisdal Jonny , Stranden Einar , Atar Dan , Steine Kjetil 
Published: April 2012

SummaryPurposeThe main purpose of the this human study was by speckle tracking imaging to characterize the regional and temporal distribution of normal left ventricular (LV) deformation and the LV geometry during isovolumetric contraction (IVC) and the ejection phase.MethodsTwelve healthy young men [22 (2·3) years] were included. Longitudinal and circumferential strain and local twist angle were measured at four LV short‐axis levels: basal, papillary, subpapillary and apical level during IVC and ejection phases. In addition, LV length from apex to the atrio‐ventricular level, two diameters at LV basal short‐axis level and atrio‐ventricular plane displacement (AVPD) were measured to characterize LV shape during IVC.ResultsDuring IVC, longitudinal and circumferential shortening was demonstrated at all four short‐axis levels from base to apex, while the LV made a basal counterclockwise and apical clockwise rotation representing untwist. In addition, there was a reduction in LV length and changes in short‐axis diameters at basal level and AVPD from end‐diastole to end‐IVC, reflecting that the LV changed from an oval to a more spherical shape. At end‐systole, longitudinal and circumferential shortening and local twist angle were significantly increased towards apex (P<0·05).ConclusionThis study demonstrated that the IVC in healthy humans is characterized by regional longitudinal and circumferential shortening and LV untwist, which occurs parallel to geometric changes of the LV into a spherical shape. During ejection, increased regional gradients of LV deformation towards apex in LV longitudinal and circumferential shortening and local and net twist angle were demonstrated.
Blockade of β‐adrenoceptors restores the GRK2‐mediated adrenal α2‐adrenoceptor–catecholamine production axis in heart failure
Authors: Rengo G , Lymperopoulos A , Zincarelli C , Femminella GD , Liccardo D , Pagano G , de Lucia C , Cannavo A , Gargiulo P , Ferrara N , Perrone Filardi P , Koch WJ , Leosco D 
Published: April 2012

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE Sympathetic nervous system (SNS) hyperactivity is characteristic of chronic heart failure (HF) and significantly worsens prognosis. The success of β‐adrenoceptor antagonist (β‐blockers) therapy in HF is primarily attributed to protection of the heart from the noxious effects of augmented catecholamine levels. β‐Blockers have been shown to reduce SNS hyperactivity in HF, but the underlying molecular mechanisms are not understood. The GPCR kinase‐2 (GRK2)–α2adrenoceptor–catecholamine production axis is up‐regulated in the adrenal medulla during HF causing α2‐adrenoceptor dysfunction and elevated catecholamine levels. Here, we sought to investigate if β‐blocker treatment in HF could lower SNS activation by directly altering adrenal GRK2 levels.EXPERIMENTAL APPROACH Four weeks after myocardial infarction‐induced HF, adult rats were randomized to 10‐week treatment with vehicle (HF/C) or bisoprolol (HF/B). Cardiac function and dimensions were measured. In heart and adrenal gland, GRK2 levels were assessed by RT‐PCR and Western blotting and adrenoceptors studied with radioligand binding. Catecholamines and α2adrenoceptors in adrenal medulla chromaffin cell cultures were also measured.KEY RESULTS Bisoprolol treatment ameliorated HF‐related adverse cardiac remodelling and reduced plasma catecholamine levels, compared with HF/C rats. Bisoprolol also attenuated adrenal GRK2 overexpression as observed in HF/C rats and increased α2adrenoceptor density. In cultures of adrenal medulla chromaffin cells from all study groups, bisoprolol reversed HF‐related α2adrenoceptor dysfunction. This effect was reversed by GRK2 overexpression.CONCLUSION AND IMPLICATIONS Blockade of β‐adrenoceptors normalized the adrenal α2adrenoceptor‐catecholamine production axis by reducing GRK2 levels. This effect may contribute significantly to the decrease of HF‐related sympathetic overdrive by β−blockers.
Modulation of PAR1 signalling by benzimidazole compounds
Authors: Asteriti S , Daniele S , Porchia F , Dell'Anno MT , Fazzini A , Pugliesi I , Trincavelli ML , Taliani S , Martini C , Mazzoni MR , Gilchrist A 
Published: April 2012

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSERecently, a small molecule (Q94) was reported to selectively block PAR1/Gαq interaction and signalling. Here, we describe the pharmacological properties of Q94 and two analogues that share its benzimidazole scaffold (Q109, Q89). Q109 presents a modest variation from Q94 in the substituent group at the 2‐position, while Q89 has quite different groups at the 1‐ and 2‐positions.EXPERIMENTAL APPROACHUsing human microvascular endothelial cells, we examined intracellular Ca2+ mobilization and inositol 1,4,5‐trisphosphate accumulation as well as isoprenaline‐ or forskolin‐stimulated cAMP production in response to thrombin.KEY RESULTSQ89 (10 µM) produced a leftward shift in the thrombin‐mediated intracellular Ca2+ mobilization concentration–response curve while having no effect on the Emax. Both Q94 (10 µM) and Q109 (10 µM) reduced intracellular Ca2+ mobilization, leading to a decrease in Emax and an increase in EC50 values. Experiments utilizing receptor‐specific activating peptides confirmed that Q94 and Q109 were selective for PAR1 as they did not alter the Ca2+ response mediated by a PAR2 activating peptide. Consistent with our Ca2+ results, micromolar concentrations of either Q94 or Q109 significantly reduced thrombin‐induced inositol 1,4,5‐trisphosphate production. Neither Q94 nor Q109 diminished the inhibitory effects of thrombin on cAMP production, indicating they inhibit signalling selectively through the Gq pathway. Our results also suggest the 1,2‐disubstituted benzimidazole derivatives act as ‘allosteric agonists’ of PAR1.CONCLUSIONS AND IMPLICATIONSThe Q94 and Q109 benzimidazole derivatives represent a novel scaffold for the development of new PAR1 inhibitors and provide a starting point to develop dual signalling pathway‐selective positive/negative modulators of PAR1.
The solute carrier 6 family of transporters
Authors: Bröer Stefan , Gether Ulrik 
Published: April 2012

The solute carrier 6 (SLC6) family of the human genome comprises transporters for neurotransmitters, amino acids, osmolytes and energy metabolites. Members of this family play critical roles in neurotransmission, cellular and whole body homeostasis. Malfunction or altered expression of these transporters is associated with a variety of diseases. Pharmacological inhibition of the neurotransmitter transporters in this family is an important strategy in the management of neurological and psychiatric disorders. This review provides an overview of the biochemical and pharmacological properties of the SLC6 family transporters.LINKED ARTICLES BJP published a themed section on Transporters in 2011. To view articles in this section visit http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/bph.2011.164.issue‐7/issuetoc
Involvement of redox‐signalling in endogenous hydrogen sulfide production
Authors: Gallyas Ferenc 
Published: April 2012

Recently, cystathionine‐γ‐lyase (CSE) was found to provide the major physiological pathway for H2S, the third member of the gasotransmitter family. In various pathophysiological conditions, H2S exerted protective effects based on its antioxidant, anti‐inflammatory, anti‐hypertensive and other regulatory functions. Interestingly, CSE expression had been only poorly studied and only in relation with inflammatory processes. Therefore, the study by Hassan et al. in this issue of the BJP, provides a considerable advance by furnishing direct experimental evidence for the involvement of redox signalling in the regulation of CSE gene expression. They found that PDGF up‐regulated CSE expression and activity that was abolished by antioxidants and by deletion of the transcription factor nuclear erythroid‐2‐related factor‐2 (Nrf2). Furthermore, PDGF induced Nrf2 binding to its consensus sequence that was again reversed by antioxidants. As Nrf2 also governs CO biosynthesis, and PDGF inversely affects H2S and NO production, these data could indicate a concerted regulation of the three gasotransmitters by redox signalling.LINKED ARTICLE This article is a commentary on Hassan et al., pp. 2231–2242 of this issue. To view this paper visit http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.1476‐5381.2012.01949.x
Feasibility of implementing magnesium sulphate for neuroprotection in a tertiary obstetric unit
Authors: Ow Lin L. , Kennedy Amber , McCarthy Elizabeth A. , Walker Sue P. 
Published: April 2012

BackgroundIt is important to establish whether research recommendations regarding magnesium sulphate for neuroprotection can be readily translated into clinical practice and achieve the dual objectives of good coverage of the target group, while minimising unnecessary or prolonged exposure to treatment.MethodsThis retrospective cohort study included all women admitted to a tertiary obstetric centre at 23–32 weeks gestation in the first 12 months following implementation of the guideline ‘Magnesium sulphate for the prevention of cerebral palsy’. We determined the number triaged to receive magnesium sulphate, the proportion of infants who received magnesium sulphate prior to delivery and the total number of doses administered.ResultsA total of 330 women were admitted at a mean gestational age of 28.2 weeks, and 132/330 (40%) were prescribed magnesium sulphate, of whom 123/132 (93%) delivered.142/191 (74%) infants born at <32 weeks' gestation received magnesium sulphate prior to delivery, with no significant differences seen by plurality or gestational age. Of the 145 doses administered, only 13 women received more than one dose, and only nine of 145 (7%) doses proved to be unnecessary. The median treatment duration was 3 h 58 min. The infusion was discontinued as result of side effects in 2% of women.ConclusionResearch recommendations regarding administration of magnesium sulphate with neuroprotective intent can be successfully translated into clinical practice. Appropriate triaging of women at high risk of imminent preterm birth is feasible, enabling a high level of magnesium sulphate coverage for infants that deliver prior to 32 weeks gestation, with minimal toxicity and a low rate of unnecessary maternal exposure.