bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Isoflurane Decreases Self-renewal Capacity of Rat Cultured Neural Stem Cells
Authors: Culley Deborah J. , Boyd Justin D. , Palanisamy Arvind , Xie Zhongcong , Kojima Koji , Vacanti Charles A. , Tanzi Rudolph E. , Crosby Gregory 
Published: June 2011

Background
In models, isoflurane produces neural and behavioral deficits in vitro and in vivo. This study tested the hypothesis that neural stem cells are adversely affected by isoflurane such that it inhibits proliferation and kills these cells.

Methods
Sprague-Dawley rat embryonic neural stem cells were plated onto 96-well plates and treated with isoflurane, 0.7, 1.4, or 2.8%, in 21% oxygen for 6 h and fixed either at the end of treatment or 6 or 24 h later. Control plates received 21% oxygen under identical conditions. Cell proliferation was assessed immunocytochemically using 5-ethynyl-2'-deoxyuridine incorporation and death by propidium iodide staining, lactate dehydrogenase release, and nuclear expression of cleaved caspase 3. Data were analyzed at each concentration using an ANOVA; P < 0.05 was considered significant.

Results
Isoflurane did not kill neural stem cells by any measure at any time. Isoflurane, 1.4 and 2.8%, reduced cell proliferation based upon 5-ethynyl-2'-deoxyuridine incorporation, whereas isoflurane, 0.7%, had no effect. At 24 h after treatment, the net effect was a 20-30% decrease in the number of cells in culture.

Conclusions
Isoflurane does not kill neural stem cells in vitro. At concentrations at and above the minimum alveolar concentrations required for general anesthesia (1.4 and 2.8%), isoflurane inhibits proliferation of these cells but has no such effect at a subminimum alveolar concentration (0.7%). These data imply that dosages of isoflurane at and above minimum alveolar concentrations may reduce the pool of neural stem cells in vivo but that lower dosages may be devoid of such effects.
Nucleotide Sequence of the Na+/H+ Exchanger‐8 in Patients With Congenital Sodium Diarrhea
Authors: Baum Michel , Martin Martin G. , Booth Ian W. , Holmberg Christer , Twombley Katherine , Zhang Qiuyu , Gattineni Jyothsna , Moe Orson 
Published: June 2011

ABSTRACTSodium absorption by the intestine is mediated by brush border Na+/H+ exchangers, which include the NHE3 and NHE8 isoforms. We demonstrated a maturational decrease in NHE8 and increase in NHE3 in mouse intestine mRNA abundance and brush border membrane protein abundance, indicating a developmental switch of isoforms. Congenital sodium diarrhea is a rare autosomal recessive disorder characterized by polyhydramnios, hyponatremia, metabolic acidosis, and diarrhea with a high sodium content. Previous studies using intestinal brush border membrane vesicles from patients with this disorder have demonstrated a decrease in Na+/H+ exchanger activity. Because some patients with congenital sodium diarrhea improve with age and knowing the developmental switch from NHE8 to NHE3, NHE8 may be a candidate gene for this disorder. We sequenced NHE8 from 5 patients with this disorder and found no disease‐causing homozygous mutations. Although brush border membrane Na+/H+ exchange activity may be decreased, exonic mutations in NHE8 cannot account for this disorder in these subjects.
Human platelet antigen allele frequencies and new mutations on platelet glycoprotein genes in the Chinese Han population
Authors: Xu X. , Liu Y. , Ying Y. , Tao S. , Hong X. , Zhu F. , Lv H. , Yan L. 
Published: June 2011

Background and Objectives: The frequencies of human platelet antigens (HPAs) vary between different populations. In this study, we determined the HPA allele frequencies in the Chinese Han population and identified situation of incompatibility possibly leading to alloimmunisation.Methods: A total of 750 volunteer blood donors of the Chinese Han population were genotyped for HPA‐1 to ‐17w systems. HPA genotyping was determined by polymerase chain reaction sequence‐based typing.Results: Among the 17 HPA systems, the allele frequency is different from other populations. We noted the absence of HPA‐7bw to HPA‐14bw, HPA‐16bw and HPA‐17bw alleles in the population. The estimated incompatibility probabilities regarding platelet antigens 1 to 6w and 15 systems after transfusion of random donor platelet were from 0·004 to 0·373. Thirteen glycoprotein alleles were observed in the population. In addition, we identified 16 novel mutations on the glycoprotein genes separated from HPA polymorphisms, including GP1BA (517‐525delAAC), ITGA2B (2722C>T and IVS26+85T>C), ITGA2 (1521C>T, 2474T>G and IVS20+10 G>C), ITGB3 (1476G>A, IVS10+19C>A, 1813G>A, IVS11+21G>A, IVS11+152A>G and IVS11‐104T>C), GP1BB (IVS1‐79G>A, IVS1‐27C>T and 129G>A) and CD109 (2139A>G). Five of them could lead to amino acid deletion, substitution or premature stop codon in corresponding glycoprotein.Conclusions: There was a high degree of polymorphism of the membrane glycoprotein genes related to human platelet alloantigen‐1 to ‐17w systems in the Chinese Han population. These data could have some impact on the diagnosis, prevention and treatment of alloimmune thrombocytopenia.
Gonads of males and females of the mangrove tree crab Aratus pisonii (Grapsidae: Brachyura: Decapoda): a histological and histochemical view
Authors: Nicolau Cristiane F. , Nascimento Aparecida A. , Machado‐Santos Clarice , Sales Armando , Oshiro Lidia M.Y. 
Published: June 2011

AbstractNicolau, C.F., Nascimento, A.A., Machado‐Santos, C., Sales, A. and Oshiro, L.M.Y. 2011. Gonads of males and females of the mangrove tree crab Aratus pisonii (Grapsidae: Brachyura: Decapoda): a histological and histochemical view. —Acta Zoologica (Stockholm) 00:1–9.This study describes the microscopic anatomy of the male and female gonads and the spermatogenesis and oogenesis of the mangrove tree crab Aratus pisonii. Males and females were captured in a mangrove marsh in Guaratiba (23°04′S, 44°10′W), Rio de Janeiro State, Brazil. The testes are composed of spermatogonia I (7.82 ± 0.84 μm), spermatogonia II (6.12 ± 0.72 μm), spermatocytes I (5.62 ± 0.71 μm), spermatocytes II (5.00 ± 0.42 μm), spermatids (4.01 ± 0.33 μm), and spermatozoa (2.58 ± 0.18 μm). The spermatozoids are sent to the vas deferens, which is divided into three regions: anterior vas deferens, middle vas deferens and posterior vas deferens. There are no indications of development as the production of male gametes was continuous throughout the study period. In the females, there are four ovary development stages: previtellogenesis, early‐stage vitellogenesis, mature vitellogenesis, and postspawning. Five types of cells were found in the gonads: oogonia (5.23 ± 1.31 μm), oocytes in early development (19.84 ± 5.16 μm), previtellogenic oocytes (49.49 ± 6.87 μm), vitellogenic oocytes (87.51 ± 10.23 μm), and mature oocytes (174.78 ± 29.46 μm). The findings of this study indicate that A. pisonii females lay eggs on multiple occasions throughout the study period.
Differences in the implications of maternal lipids on fetal metabolism and growth between gestational diabetes mellitus and control pregnancies
Authors: Schaefer‐Graf U. M. , Meitzner K. , Ortega‐Senovilla H. , Graf K. , Vetter K. , Abou‐Dakn M. , Herrera E. 
Published: June 2011

Diabet. Med. 28, 1053–1059 (2011)AbstractAims  To evaluate the potential contribution of maternal glucose and lipids to fetal metabolic variables and growth in pregnancies with normal glucose tolerance in comparison with pregnancies with well‐controlled gestational diabetes previously reported by us.Methods  In 190 pregnancies with normal oral glucose tolerance tests (controls), insulin, glucose and lipid components were determined in maternal and arterial cord blood serum. Birthweight and neonatal fat mass were obtained after delivery. Values were adjusted for maternal pre‐pregnancy BMI, Caesarean section and gestational age. Measurements were compared with those of gestational diabetes previously reported.Results  Maternal serum glucose, triacylglycerol, free fatty acid and cholesterol levels did not differ between control pregnancies and those with gestational diabetes, whereas insulin, homeostasis model assessment and glycerol values were significantly lower in the former (2.6 vs. 5.6 μmol/l and 176 vs. 193 μmol/l, respectively). In contrast, cord blood glucose and free fatty acids were significantly lower in control pregnancies than in those with gestational diabetes (3.9 vs. 4.4 mmol/l and 80.7 vs. 137 μmol/l, respectively); the same was valid for insulin (0.03 vs. 0.05 nmol/l) and homeostasis model assessment (1.0 vs. 1.87). In control pregnancies, maternal serum glucose, free fatty acids and glycerol correlated with those in cord blood, but not with neonatal weight and fat mass, as seen for free fatty acids in those with gestational diabetes. The negative correlation between cord blood triacylglycerols and neonatal weight or fat mass previously reported in gestational diabetes could not be confirmed in control pregnancies, where all fetal lipids showed a positive correlation to neonatal anthropometrics.Conclusion  In normal pregnancies, in contrast to those with gestational diabetes, maternal lipids do not influence neonatal weight. Similar levels of maternal lipids in pregnancies with gestational diabetes and control pregnancies, but higher free fatty acids in the cord blood of those with gestational diabetes, indicate their enhanced placental transport and/or enhanced lipolysis as a result of decreased fetal insulin responsiveness.
SUCCESSFUL MIXING? EFFECTS OF URBAN RESTRUCTURING POLICIES IN DUTCH NEIGHBOURHOODS
Authors: BOLT GIDEON , VAN KEMPEN RONALD 
Published: June 2011

ABSTRACTConcentrations of poverty in urban neighbourhoods are generally unwanted, because of all kinds of presumed negative consequences for the social mobility and the quality of life of the residents. Because of these negative associations, policies in Western European countries are often aimed at breaking up these poverty concentrations by mixing the population composition through changing the housing stock. However, whether these policies are successful remains to be seen. We asked residents of urban restructuring areas in six Dutch cities about the consequences of mixing policies. The number of residents who perceive improvements in the neighbourhood in the past few years is substantially outnumbered by the residents who report a decline in neighbourhood quality. However, many residents have high hopes for their neighbourhood's future. This finding indicates that social mixing policies have not matched the policy‐makers' expectations yet – but may do so in the course of time.
Regulation Fair Disclosure's Effect on the Information Content of Bond Rating Changes
Authors: Poon Winnie P. H. , Evans Dorla A. 
Published: June 2011

AbstractThe SEC implemented Regulation Fair Disclosure (Reg FD) in 2000. Reg FD requires firms to release material information to everyone simultaneously, thereby reducing information asymmetry between favoured stock analysts and others. Bond rating agencies were exempt from Reg FD in order to continue receiving the private firm information necessary for accurate credit default assessments. The exemption, if valuable to the bond market, should have resulted in an increase in the relative importance of bond rating changes on bond yield premia when Reg FD was implemented. In the first empirical study on the impact of Reg FD on the bond markets, we explore this hypothesis by measuring bond yield premia reactions to bond rating changes around the implementation of Reg FD.For downgrades, we find the impact of Reg FD is related to firm size. The smallest firms experienced a significantly weaker bond yield premia response. The evidence for the relevance of Reg FD for upgrades is weak. Contrary to concerns from the Bond Market Association, it appears Reg FD lessened the impact of downgrades on the smallest firms, and did not affect speculative‐grade bonds or bonds with higher debt levels.
Georeferencing performance of THEOS satellite imagery
Authors: Liu Shijie , Fraser Clive S. , Zhang Chunsun , Ravanbakhsh Mehdi , Tong Xiaohua 
Published: June 2011

AbstractThis paper reports on the application of a generic physical sensor orientation model for evaluation of the georeferencing performance of 2 m resolution imagery from the Thailand Earth Observation System (THEOS) satellite. Within the generic sensor orientation model, orbit and attitude data are employed to describe the satellite trajectory, which is further modelled by splines. The satellite orbit and sensor attitude errors are then compensated via sensor orientation adjustment using a modest number of ground control points (GCPs), resulting in improved georeferencing. The generic sensor model and the integration of the THEOS orientation parameters into the model are first described. The presence of errors in the satellite line‐of‐sight data, which result in imprecise sensor interior orientation are then discussed. Such errors can be effectively accounted for through modelling via a cubic polynomial, leading to sub‐pixel georeferencing accuracy. An account is then given of an experimental evaluation of THEOS georeferencing conducted in a well‐established testfield near Melbourne, Australia. The results demonstrate that sub‐pixel 2D geopositioning accuracy is readily achievable with single THEOS images and within strips of up to three images, with as few as six GCPs to effect an orbit adjustment. However, accuracy decreases to near the 2‐pixel level over a strip length of five images.
Photogrammetric processing of low‐altitude images acquired by unpiloted aerial vehicles
Authors: Zhang Yongjun , Xiong Jinxin , Hao Lijuan 
Published: June 2011

AbstractLow‐altitude images acquired by unpiloted aerial vehicles have the advantages of high overlap, multiple viewing angles and very high ground resolution. These kinds of images can be used in various applications that need high accuracy or fine texture. A novel approach is proposed for parallel processing of low‐altitude images acquired by unpiloted aerial vehicles, which can automatically fly according to predefined flight routes under the control of an autopilot system. The general overlap and relative rotation angles between two adjacent images are estimated by overall matching with an improved scale‐invariant feature transform (SIFT) operator. Precise conjugate points and relative orientation parameters are determined by a pyramid‐based least squares image matching strategy and the relative orientation process. Bundle adjustment is performed with automatically matched conjugate points and interactively measured ground control points. After this aerial triangulation process the high‐resolution images can be used to advantage in obtaining precise spatial information products such as digital surface models, digital orthophotomaps and 3D city models. A parallel processing strategy is introduced in this paper to improve the computational time of the photogrammetric process. Experimental results show that the proposed approaches are effective for processing low‐altitude images, and have high potential for the acquisition of spatial information at large mapping scales, with rapid response and precise modelling in three dimensions.
Causality, Criticality, and Reading Words: Distinct Sources of Fractal Scaling in Behavioral Sequences
Authors: Moscoso del Prado Martín Fermín 
Published: June 2011

AbstractThe finding of fractal scaling (FS) in behavioral sequences has raised a debate on whether FS is a pervasive property of the cognitive system or is the result of specific processes. Inferences about the origins of properties in time sequences are causal. That is, as opposed to correlational inferences reflecting instantaneous symmetrical relations, causal inferences concern asymmetric relations lagged in time. Here, I integrate Granger‐causality with inferences about FS. Four simulations illustrate that causal analyses can isolate distinct FS sources, whereas correlational techniques cannot. I then analyze three simultaneous sequences of responses from a database of word‐naming trials. I find that two, or perhaps three, distinct sources account for the presence of FS in these sequences, but FS is not a general property of the system. This suggests that FS arises due to the properties of a limited number of identifiable psychological and/or neural processes. Finally, I reanalyze a previously published dataset of acoustic frequency spectra using the new tools. The causality/criticality combination introduced here offers a new important perspective in the study of cognition.
Regulation of Vps4 During MVB Sorting and Cytokinesis
Authors: Babst Markus , Davies Brian A. , Katzmann David J. 
Published: June 2011

Multivesicular body (MVB) formation is the result of invagination and budding of the endosomal limiting membrane into its intralumenal space. These intralumenal vesicles (ILVs) contain a subset of endosomal transmembrane cargoes destined for degradation within the lysosome, the result of active selection during MVB sorting. Membrane bending and scission during ILV formation is topologically similar to cytokinesis in that both events require the abscission of a membrane neck that is oriented away from the cytoplasm. The endosomal sorting complexes required for transport (ESCRTs) represent cellular machinery whose function makes essential contributions to both of these processes. In particular, the AAA‐ATPase Vps4 and its substrate ESCRT‐III are key components that seem to execute the membrane abscission reaction. This review summarizes current knowledge about the Vps4‐ESCRT‐III system and discusses a model for how the recruitment of Vps4 to the different sites of function might be regulated.image
EXTREME VALUE AT RISK: A SCENARIO FOR RISK MANAGEMENT
Authors: KABUNDI ALAIN , MUTEBA JOHN MWAMBA 
Published: June 2011

AbstractThis paper uses the generalised extreme value (GEV) distribution to model the extreme losses that are likely to occur during market crashes, in the case of an investor who has long positions in stocks and currencies. The null hypothesis – which tests for normality of asset returns – is rejected due to asymmetry of these returns. We assume that the asymmetric behaviour and volatility of the returns are captured by the shape and scale parameters, respectively, of a GEV distribution. The data set includes stock indices for the United States, Japan, the United Kingdom, Germany, France and South Africa, and the South African rand exchange rates against the US dollar observed from 3 January 2005 to 30 December 2009. In addition, we divide this sample period into two periods: the pre‐crisis period, from 3 January 2005 to 31 December 2007 and the crisis period, from 1 January 2008 to 30 December 2009. We compared the estimates of value at risk (VaR) using an extreme value theory (EVT) model, with the estimates derived from the traditional variance–covariance method and found that during the crisis the 99% extreme VaR estimates are more reliable as they lie within the Basel II green zone. These results suggest that, at higher quintiles, the VaR estimates based on EVT are reliable and more accurate than estimates from the traditional method.
ECONOMIC ANALYSIS ON THE URBAN–RURAL DISPARITY IN HUMAN CAPITAL IN CHINA
Authors: LI XIAOCHUN , QIAN XIAOYING 
Published: June 2011

AbstractWith China's economic development and capital accumulation in the industrial sectors, the human capital level of the labours moving from the rural areas could no longer meet the demand of the industrial sectors. Therefore, “structural shortage of technical labour” emerged in the labour market as a result of excess of demand for high‐skilled workers. Previous literature mostly focused on the relationship between rural human‐capital level and labour movement, income change and economic growth, but in this article, the authors focus on the study of the relative disparity of urban and rural human capital and labour movement, as well as the effect of the change of urban–rural human capital gap on industrial output, profit and social welfare. This article shows that bridging the urban–rural gap in respect of human capital level could not only improve the situation of the “structural shortage of technical labour,” but also have a positive effect on the general social welfare.
Intermittent African Easterly Wave Activity in a Dry Atmospheric Model: Influence of the Extratropics
Authors: Leroux Stephanie , Hall Nicholas M. J. , Kiladis George N. 
Published: June 2011

Abstract
A dynamical model is constructed of the northern summertime global circulation, maintained by empirically derived forcing, based on the same dynamical code that has recently been used to study African easterly waves (AEWs) as convectively triggered perturbations (Thorncroft et al.; Leroux and Hall). In the configuration used here, the model faithfully simulates the observed mean distributions of jets and transient disturbances, and explicitly represents the interactions between them. This simple GCM is used to investigate the origin and intraseasonal intermittency of AEWs in an artificially dry (no convection) context. A long integration of the model produces a summertime climatology that includes a realistic African easterly jet and westward-propagating 3–5-day disturbances over West Africa. These simulated waves display intraseasonal intermittency as the observed AEWs also do. Further experiments designed to discern the source of this intermittency in the model show that the simulated waves are mainly triggered by dynamical precursors coming from the North Atlantic storm track. The model is at least as sensitive to this remote influence as it is to local triggering by convective heating.
Modeling the Flash Rate of Thunderstorms. Part I: Framework
Authors: Dahl Johannes M. L. , Höller Hartmut , Schumann Ulrich 
Published: June 2011

Abstract
In this study a straightforward theoretical approach to determining the flash rate in thunderstorms is presented. A two-plate capacitor represents the basic dipole charge structure of a thunderstorm, which is charged by the generator current and discharged by lightning. If the geometry of the capacitor plates, the generator-current density, and the lightning charge are known, and if charging and discharging are in equilibrium, then the flash rate is uniquely determined.
To diagnose the flash rate of real-world thunderstorms using this framework, estimates of the required relationships between the predictor variables and observable cloud properties are provided. With these estimates, the flash rate can be parameterized.
In previous approaches, the lightning rate has been set linearly proportional to the electrification rate (such as the storm’s generator power or generator current), which implies a constant amount of neutralization by lightning discharges (such as lightning energy or lightning charge). This leads to inconsistencies between these approaches. Within the new framework proposed here, the discharge strength is allowed to vary with storm geometry, which remedies the physical inconsistencies of the previous approaches.
The new parameterization is compared with observations using polarimetric radar data and measurements from the lightning detection network, LINET. The flash rates of a broad spectrum of discrete thunderstorm cells are accurately diagnosed by the new approach, while the flash rates of mesoscale convective systems are overestimated.