bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Marine n-3 fatty acids, atrial fibrillation and QT interval in haemodialysis patients
Authors: Kirkegaard Ellen , Svensson My , Strandhave Charlotte , Schmidt Erik Berg , Jørgensen Kaj Anker , Christensen Jeppe Hagstrup 
Published: July 2011

Patients treated with haemodialysis are at high risk of sudden cardiac death (SCD) often caused by arrhythmias. Atrial fibrillation (AF) is frequent among haemodialysis patients and is associated with increased mortality. Prolonged QTc is a risk marker of ventricular arrhythmia and is thereby associated with SCD. Studies have suggested that n-3 PUFA may have an antiarrhythmic effect, but the exact mechanism is not clear. The aim of this study was to examine whether AF was associated with n-3 PUFA in plasma phospholipids and whether supplementation with n-3 PUFA would shorten the QTc interval in haemodialysis patients compared to placebo. In a double-blinded randomised, placebo-controlled intervention trial 206 haemodialysis patients with CVD were treated with 1·7 g n-3 PUFA or placebo (olive oil) daily for 3 months. Blood samples and electrocardiogram evaluations were carried out at baseline and after 3 months. The QT interval, PQ interval and heart rate were measured in all patients with sinus rhythm (SR). At baseline 13 % of patients had AF. The content of the n-3 PUFA, DHA, was significantly lower (P < 0·05) in serum of patients with AF compared with patients with SR. Thus, the DHA content was independently negatively associated with AF. Supplementation with n-3 PUFA did not shorten the QT interval significantly compared to the placebo group (P = 0·42), although subgroup analysis within the n-3 PUFA group revealed a shortening effects on QTc (P = 0·01). In conclusion, an inverse association was found between the presence of AF and the plasma DHA in haemodialysis patients. Intervention with n-3 PUFA did not shorten the QTc interval compared to placebo.
First description of autumn migration of Sooty FalconFalco concolorfrom the United Arab Emirates to Madagascar using satellite telemetry
Authors: JAVED SÁLIM , DOUGLAS DAVID C. , KHAN SHAHID , SHAH JUNID NAZEER , AL HAMMADI ABDULLAH ALI 
Published: July 2011

SummaryThe movement and migration pattern of the ‘Near Threatened’ Sooty FalconFalco concoloris poorly known. Sooty Falcons breed on the islands of the Arabian Gulf after arriving from their non-breeding areas that are mainly in Madagascar. In the first satellite tracking of the species we fitted a 9.5 g Argos solar powered transmitter on an adult breeding Sooty Falcon off the western coast of Abu Dhabi in the United Arab Emirates. The bird successfully undertook autumn migration to Madagascar, a known wintering area for the species. We document the Sooty Falcon’s autumn migration route and stop-over sites. The adult Sooty Falcon initiated its migration at night and with tailwinds, and travelled mainly during daytime hours for 13 days over an inland route of more than 5,656 km. The three stop-over sites in East Africa were characterised by moderate to sparse shrub cover associated with potential sources of water. We discuss the migration pattern of the tracked bird in relation to importance of non-breeding areas for Sooty Falcons and recent declines in numbers in their breeding range.
The youth and old age of Dapi'chi (the Pleiades): frosts, air carnations, and warriors
Authors: Gómez Cecilia Paula 
Published: July 2011

AbstractAmong the Western Tobas of the province of Formosa, Argentina, the asterism called Dapi'chi (the Pleiades) is highly important. Traditionally, it is related to the start of the annual cycle and it is also a very significant figure in terms of its symbolic meaning. In fact, this celestial representation offers a range of insights connected to winter frosts, a type of air carnation (Tillandsia spp.–Bromeliaceae) and also to the role of the warrior.
The Tomárâho conception of the sky
Authors: Sequera Guillermo , Gangui Alejandro 
Published: July 2011

AbstractThe small community of the Tomárâho, an ethnic group culturally derived from the Zamucos, have become known in the South American and world anthropological scenario in recent times. This group, far from the banks of the Paraguay river, remained concealed from organized modern societies for many years. Like any other groups of people in close contact with nature, the Tomárâho developed a profound and rich world-view which parallels other more widely researched aboriginal cultures as well as showing distinctive features of their own. This is also apparent in their imagery of the sky and of the characters that are closely connected with the celestial sphere.This paper is based on the lengthy anthropological studies of G. Sequera. We have recently undertaken a project to carry out a detailed analysis of the different astronomical elements present in the imagined sky of the Tomárâho and other Chamacoco ethnic groups. We will briefly review some aspects of this aboriginal culture: places where they live, regions of influence in the past, their linguistic family, their living habits and how the advancement of civilization affected their culture and survival. We will later mention the fieldwork carried out for decades and some of the existing studies and publications. We will also make a brief description of the methodology of this work and special anthropological practices. Last but not least, we will focus on the Tomárâho conception of the sky and describe the research work we have been doing in recent times.
Watching the sky from the ushnu: the sukanka-like summit temple in Pueblo Viejo–Pucara (Lurin Valley, Peru)
Authors: Makowski Krzysztof , Ruggles Clive L. N. 
Published: July 2011

AbstractSeen from the ‘ushnu’ platform in the palatial complex of Pueblo Viejo–Pucará, near Pachacamac, built by the Huarochirí people, the visual axis extends southwards towards two circular structures of the summit temple. Of these structures rising up from a monumental platform, one contains a sacred rock to which gold, silver andSpondylus princeps.were offered and the other housed ahuanca-idol. These structures, and the ushnu, marked points and directions that are relevant for the organization of sacred geography, but whose location does not correspond to orientations that are astronomically relevant for calendrical calculations, contrary to the initial hypothesis.
Lord of the Maya Creations on his jaguar throne: the eternal return of Elder Brother God L to preside over the 21 December 2012 transformation
Authors: Carlson John B. 
Published: July 2011

AbstractSpeculation about what ancient Maya texts have to say about 2012 is becoming a global phenomenon in popular culture. This speculation, largely apocalyptic, is more often based on acquaintance with historical Western interpretations than on familiarity with the texts themselves and their cultural contexts. This paper approaches the 2012 phenomenon through close readings of Maya texts and images considered within the contexts of historical and contemporary Maya culture and Western scholarship. It focuses on images of mythological events depicted on two Late Classic Maya vessels: the ‘Vase of the Seven Gods’ (Kerr no. 2796) and the ‘Vase of the Eleven Gods’ (Kerr no. 7750). These images are interpreted as representing deities, gathered in ‘cosmogonic conclave’, preparing to re-create the world with their sacrifices at the last completion of a great cycle and the beginning of a new 5,125-year 13-Bakˈtun Maya ‘Long Count’. The rites of passage are presided over by an enigmatic Venus-warrior/sacrificer deity previously known only as God L. God L's principal name and nature had remained undeciphered and his identity obscure until the author's researches resulted in the decipherment and ‘reading’ presented here. This study offers an explication of why God L, whom the author has demonstrated is the Maya god of tobacco among his many aspects, takes the senior role in presiding over these 13-Bakˈtun completion rituals and why it is reasonable to hypothesize that the same entities would be back for the fulfillment of the present cycle in 2012.
The God's Grand Costume Ball: a Classic Maya prophecy for the close of the thirteenth Bakˈtun
Authors: MacLeod Barbara 
Published: July 2011

AbstractIn the favored correlation between the Mayan and Gregorian calendars, a time period of a little over 5125 solar years will be completed on the winter solstice of 2012. While numerous Classic Maya hieroglyphic texts feature the previous closing of this era in 3114 BCE, only one text—Monument Six of Tortuguero, Tabasco, Mexico—mentions the future event. The portion of the monument describing the event is damaged, and previous attempts to decipher this part of the text have been inconclusive. These have inadvertently led to popular and far-flung millenniarian speculations about ancient esoteric knowledge. The whole of Tortuguero Monument Six—an exquisite piece of Classic sculpture and literature—addresses the fundamental relationship between royal charter, warfare, captive sacrifice, appeasement of the gods, the ordering of time, and the stability of society for posterity. The author and her colleagues—employing high-resolution photos and great attention to script detail—have brought to light a more accurate interpretation of the damaged text. The results of this effort suggest a distant future ceremony of investiture for a deity of deep-time transitions whose reflexes can be seen in indigenous community celebrations of highland Guatemala.
The diachronic study of orientations: Mérida, a case study
Authors: González-García A. César , Costa-Ferrer Lourdes 
Published: July 2011

AbstractThe study of orientations is a key ingredient in most archaeoastronomical research. Typically, a number of synchronistic monuments belonging to a given culture or cultural horizon are measured and studied in order to see if they share a similar orientation. If an astronomical orientation appears, we may apply other archaeoastronomical procedures to justify further conclusions.On a few occasions we perform studies that compare, for a given site, monuments of different periods. At most two or three periods are usually compared to verify persistence or to check for evolution in customs of orientation. We argue here that it would also be interesting to study orientations from a diachronic point of view, in order to investigate the persistence/evolution of this particular conception of space through time.Mérida (Extremadura, Spain) and the neighbouring areas present a rich and highly interesting monumental heritage spanning from the Neolithic to the present, with monuments belonging to several different periods and cultures.In the present study we will review the orientation of the monuments in that area. We will present some conclusions on the evolution/persistence of customs of orientation and value the applicability of this method to other areas.
Effect of suspended periodic defect structures near a planar microwave ring resonator
Authors: Giri Tulika , Daya K. S. 
Published: July 2011

This paper reports the effect of suspended periodic defect structure in switching the frequency of ring resonator. It has been observed in simulations and experiments that this non-intrusive method can switch the frequency by 31 MHz for square lattice of suspended periodic defect and by 124 MHz for a triangular lattice of suspended periodic defect structure.
Integrating genomics, transcriptomics, proteomics, and metabolomics into environmental enzymology: the next frontier or fool's gold?
Authors: Wallenstein Matthew 
Published: July 2011

AbstractExtracellular enzymes are widely measured as indices of microbial activity, resource allocation, and substrate availability. However, interpretation of enzyme activities is hampered by a limited understanding of controls on enzyme production, turnover, and in-situ activity. In part, this is the consequence of methodological limitations, which require artificial substrates and are conducted under conditions that differ from in situ conditions. Recently, new tools have emerged that have potential to provide new insights into microbial enzymology. Will these methods open a new frontier in enzymology research, or will they only result in the discovery of fool’s gold? I will highlight how genomic, transcriptomic, proteomic, and metabolomic tools might be used to gain new insights into the controls on enzyme production, turnover, and in-situ activity. I will also discuss the potential for significant advancements even without the use of emerging tools. Each of these techniques offers the potential to provide new pieces to the puzzle of environmental enzymology, but progress is most likely through a multi-faceted approach.
Flexibility of the C-terminal, or CII, ring of KaiC governs the rhythm of the circadian clock of cyanobacteria
Authors: Chang Yong-Gang , Kuo Nai-Wei , Tseng Roger , LiWang Andy 
Published: July 2011

In the cyanobacterial circadian oscillator, KaiA and KaiB alternately stimulate autophosphorylation and autodephosphorylation of KaiC with a periodicity of approximately 24 h. KaiA activates autophosphorylation by selectively capturing the A loops of KaiC in their exposed positions. The A loops and sites of phosphorylation, residues S431 and T432, are located in the CII ring of KaiC. We find that the flexibility of the CII ring governs the rhythm of KaiC autophosphorylation and autodephosphorylation and is an example of dynamics-driven protein allostery. KaiA-induced autophosphorylation requires flexibility of the CII ring. In contrast, rigidity is required for KaiC-KaiB binding, which induces a conformational change in KaiB that enables it to sequester KaiA by binding to KaiA’s linker. Autophosphorylation of the S431 residues around the CII ring stabilizes the CII ring, making it rigid. In contrast, autophosphorylation of the T432 residues offsets phospho-S431-induced rigidity to some extent. In the presence of KaiA and KaiB, the dynamic states of the CII ring of KaiC executes the following circadian rhythm:

. Apparently, these dynamic states govern the pattern of phosphorylation, ST → SpT → pSpT → pST → ST. CII-CI ring-on-ring stacking is observed when the CII ring is rigid, suggesting a mechanism through which the ATPase activity of the CI ring is rhythmically controlled. SasA, a circadian clock-output protein, binds to the CI ring. Thus, rhythmic ring stacking may also control clock-output pathways.
RNAG: a new Gibbs sampler for predicting RNA secondary structure for unaligned sequences
Authors: Wei Donglai , Alpert Lauren V. , Lawrence Charles E. 
Published: July 2011

Abstract
Motivation: RNA secondary structure plays an important role in the function of many RNAs, and structural features are often key to their interaction with other cellular components. Thus, there has been considerable interest in the prediction of secondary structures for RNA families. In this article, we present a new global structural alignment algorithm, RNAG, to predict consensus secondary structures for unaligned sequences. It uses a blocked Gibbs sampling algorithm, which has a theoretical advantage in convergence time. This algorithm iteratively samples from the conditional probability distributions P(Structure | Alignment) and P(Alignment | Structure). Not surprisingly, there is considerable uncertainly in the high-dimensional space of this difficult problem, which has so far received limited attention in this field. We show how the samples drawn from this algorithm can be used to more fully characterize the posterior space and to assess the uncertainty of predictions.
Results: Our analysis of three publically available datasets showed a substantial improvement in RNA structure prediction by RNAG over extant prediction methods. Additionally, our analysis of 17 RNA families showed that the RNAG sampled structures were generally compact around their ensemble centroids, and at least 11 families had at least two well-separated clusters of predicted structures. In general, the distance between a reference structure and our predicted structure was large relative to the variation among structures within an ensemble.
Availability: The Perl implementation of the RNAG algorithm and the data necessary to reproduce the results described in Sections 3.1 and 3.2 are available at http://ccmbweb.ccv.brown.edu/rnag.html
Contact: charles_lawrence@brown.edu
Supplementary information: Supplementary data are available at Bioinformatics online.
Homoarginine, heart failure, and sudden cardiac death in haemodialysis patients
Authors: Drechsler Christiane , Meinitzer Andreas , Pilz Stefan , Krane Vera , Tomaschitz Andreas , Ritz Eberhard , März Winfried , Wanner Christoph 
Published: July 2011

AimsSudden cardiac death (SCD) is a major contributor to the excess mortality of patients on maintenance dialysis. Homoarginine deficiency may lead to decreased nitric oxide availability and endothelial dysfunction. Based on this rationale we assessed whether homoarginine deficiency is a risk factor for SCD in dialysis patients.Methods and resultsThis study examined the association of homoarginine with cardiovascular outcomes in 1255 diabetic haemodialysis patients from the German diabetes and dialysis study. During a median of 4 years of follow‐up, hazard ratios (HR) (95% CI) for reaching the following pre‐specified, adjudicated endpoints were determined: SCD, myocardial infarction, stroke, death due to heart failure, and combined cardiovascular events. There was a strong association of low homoarginine concentrations with the presence of congestive heart failure and left ventricular hypertrophy as well as increased levels of brain natriuretic peptide. Per unit decrease in homoarginine, the risk of SCD increased three‐fold (HR 3.1, 95% CI 2.0–4.9), attenuating slightly in multivariate models (HR 2.4; 95% CI 1.5–3.9). Patients in the lowest homoarginine quintile experienced a more than two‐fold increased risk of SCD, and more than three‐fold increased risk of heart failure death than patients in the highest quintile, which accounted for the high incidence of combined cardiovascular events. Low homoarginine showed a trend towards increased risk of stroke, however, myocardial infarction was not meaningfully affected.ConclusionLow homoarginine is a strong risk factor for SCD and death due to heart failure in haemodialysis patients. Further studies are needed to elucidate the underlying mechanisms, offering the potential to develop new interventional strategies.
First Report of Root Rot Caused by Fusarium proliferatum on Blueberry in Argentina
Authors: Pérez B. A. , Berretta M. F. , Carrión E. , Wright E. R. 
Published: July 2011

In 2009, a highbush blueberry (Vaccinium corymbosum L. ‘O'Neal’) field located in Rojas, Buenos Aires Province showed 30% of plants with dry or dead branches. Disinfected root pieces were placed on water agar and incubated at 24°C. A fungal colony was obtained and purified by successive transfers of an individual hyphal tip from a sparsely growing colony. Colony color and growth rate were evaluated in potato dextrose agar where the fungus produced white-to-pale pink colonies and grew 3.5 cm after 5 days. The fungus was studied on Spezieller Nährstoffarmer agar (2), carnation leaf-piece agar, and KCl agar where it produced abundant single-celled hyaline microconidia in moderate-length chains and in false heads originated from monophialides and polyphialides. Microconidia measured 6 to 12 × 2 to 3 μm (average 8 × 2.3 μm). On KCl, chains of microconidia and tan-to-light cream sporodochia with 3- to 5-septate, slender, relatively straight macroconidia were easily observed after 4 and 10 days, respectively. Macroconidia measured 38 to 48 × 3.5 to 4 μm (average 43.9 × 3.9 μm). Chlamydospores and sclerotia were not present. Data coincided with the description for Fusarium proliferatum (Matsush.) Niremberg ex Gerlach & Niremberg. The isolate was deposited in the IMYZA Microbial Collection as INTA-IMC 144. The fungus was cultured in 100 ml of Czapek-Dox supplemented with sucrose, peptone, yeast extract, sodium nitrate, and vitamins for 4 days. Genomic DNA was obtained with a DNA extraction kit, PCR amplified with primers ITS1 and ITS4 for the internal transcribed spacer (ITS) region of ribosomal genes, and sequenced. The nucleotide sequence (Accession No JF913468) was compared with GenBank records. The sequence shared 99% identity with Accession No HQ113948 for F. proliferatum. Pathogenicity was confirmed in 1-year-old ‘O'Neal’ plants. A 10-ml suspension (2.4 × 106 conidia/ml in sterile distilled water) was applied to six potted plants grown in sterilized potting mix. Roots were superficially wounded with a needle. Control plants were treated with sterile distilled water. Plants were incubated at 24°C and a 12-h photoperiod. After 90 days, plants showed root rot, leaf chlorosis, and branch necrosis followed by plant death. Control plants remained healthy. F. proliferatum was reisolated from diseased roots of inoculated plants. This fungus was previously cited in Argentina on asparagus (1), corn (1,3), and oat (4). To our knowledge, this is the first report of F. proliferatum as a root pathogen of highbush blueberry in Argentina. References: (1) G. Lori et al. Plant Dis. 82:1405, 1998. (2) H. I. Nirenberg. Releases Fed. Biol. Res. Ctr. Agric. For. (Berlin-Dahlem) 169:1, 1976. (3) D. A. Sampietro et al. Fung. Biol. 114:74, 2010. (4) S. A. Stenglein et al. Plant Dis. 94:783, 2010.
The determinants of periorbital skin ageing in participants of a melanoma case–control study in the U.K.
Authors: Suppa M. , Elliott F. , Mikeljevic J.S. , Mukasa Y. , Chan M. , Leake S. , Karpavicius B. , Haynes S. , Bakker E. , Peris K. , Barrett J.H. , Bishop D.T. , Newton Bishop J.A. 
Published: July 2011

Summary
Background Skin ageing is said to be caused by multiple factors. The relationship with sun exposure is of particular interest because the detrimental cutaneous effects of the sun may be a strong motivator to sun protection. We report a study of skin ageing in participants of an epidemiological study of melanoma.
Objectives To determine the predictors of periorbital cutaneous ageing and whether it could be used as an objective marker of sun exposure.
Methods Photographs of the periorbital skin in 1341 participants were graded for wrinkles, degree of vascularity and blotchy pigmentation and the resultant data assessed in relation to reported sun exposure, sunscreen use, body mass index (BMI), smoking and the melanocortin 1 receptor (MC1R) gene status. Data were analysed using proportional odds regression.
Results Wrinkling was associated with age and heavy smoking. Use of higher sun-protection factor sunscreen was protective (P =0·01). Age, male sex, MC1R variants (‘r’, P =0·01; ‘R’, P =0·02), higher reported daily sun exposure (P =0·02), increased BMI (P =0·01) and smoking (P =0·02) were risk factors for hypervascularity. Blotchy pigmentation was associated with age, male sex, higher education and higher weekday sun exposure (P =0·03). More frequent sunscreen use (P =0·02) and MC1R variants (‘r’, P =0·03; ‘R’, P =0·001) were protective.
Conclusions Periorbital wrinkling is a poor biomarker of reported sun exposure. Vascularity is a better biomarker as is blotchy pigmentation, the latter in darker-skinned individuals. In summary, male sex, sun exposure, smoking, obesity and MC1R variants were associated with measures of cutaneous ageing. Sunscreen use showed some evidence of being protective.