bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Quantifying effect of combined oral contraceptive pill on functional ovarian reserve as measured by serum anti‐Müllerian hormone and small antral follicle count using three‐dimensional ultrasound
Authors: Deb S. , Campbell B. K. , Pincott‐Allen C. , Clewes J. S. , Cumberpatch G. , Raine‐Fenning N. J. 
Published: October 2011

AbstractObjectivesOral contraceptive pills suppress the hypothalomo‐pituitary axis, which can affect the ultrasound and endocrine markers used to examine ovarian reserve. The objective of this study was to quantify the ultrasound and endocrine markers of functional ovarian reserve in women using a combined oral contraceptive pill (COCP) for more than a year.MethodsThis was a prospective case–control study involving healthy volunteers: 34 women using for more than a year a COCP with hormone‐free interval (HFI) were compared to 36 normo‐ovulatory, age‐matched controls who had not used hormonal contraception within the last year. Volunteers using a COCP underwent a 3D ultrasound examination and had a blood sample taken within the first 4 days of active pill ingestion and those in the control group had the scan and blood test in the early follicular phase (days 2–5) of menstrual cycle. The main outcome measure was the difference in antral follicle counts stratified according to size and anti‐Müllerian hormone (AMH), follicle‐stimulating hormone (FSH), luteinizing hormone (LH) and estradiol (E2) levels.ResultsThere were no significant differences in the number of small antral follicles measuring 2–6 mm. The COCP group had significantly fewer antral follicles measuring ≥ 6 mm (P < 0.001) and had significantly smaller ovaries (P < 0.001), which also had lower vascular indices than the control group (P < 0.05). While serum FSH, LH and E2 levels were significantly lower in the COCP group (P < 0.05), there was no significant difference in serum AMH levels between the two groups.ConclusionsProlonged use of COCP suppressed pituitary gonadotropins and antral follicle development beyond 6 mm, but had no effect on levels of serum AMH and number of small antral follicles. Copyright © 2012 ISUOG. Published by John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Left ventricular function and geometry in fetuses with severe tricuspid regurgitation
Authors: Ishii T. , Tworetzky W. , Harrild D. M. , Marcus E. N. , McElhinney D. B. 
Published: October 2011

AbstractObjectiveNeonatal congenital tricuspid valve (TV) dysplasia and/or displacement (Ebstein's malformation) with severe tricuspid regurgitation (TR) is a challenging condition in which outcomes are frequently poor. Little is known about left ventricular (LV) function during the perinatal period in patients with congenital TV disease. The objective of this study was to evaluate LV function in fetuses with congenital TV anomalies associated with significant TR.MethodsSerial fetal echocardiograms in 16 fetuses with congenital TV dysplasia and/or displacement (five neonatal survivors and 11 fetal or neonatal deaths) were reviewed. LV stroke volume, LV end‐diastolic volume (LVEDV), LV end‐diastolic dimension (LVIDd), the LV eccentricity index, thoracic and cardiac areas and the cardiothoracic area ratio (CTAR), the right atrium area index, and LV longitudinal strains were compared according to gestational age and clinical outcome.ResultsThe gestational age‐adjusted LVEDV (Z‐score) was lower in late gestation (−1.2 ± 1.2 at last examination ≥ 28 weeks) than earlier in gestation (0.3 ± 1.5 at last examination < 28 weeks) and LV output was lower than reported late‐gestation normal values. LV short‐axis dimension correlated with LV volume and CTAR. LV mid‐septal strain was lower than the normal average of fetal mid‐septal strain and correlated with the LV eccentricity index. Among these parameters, only the LV eccentricity index differed between survivors and non‐survivors.ConclusionLV function and anatomy are abnormal in fetuses with severe congenital TV anomalies and may be important contributors to outcome. Copyright © 2012 ISUOG. Published by John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
COMMEMORATING HEROES IN WINDHOEK AND EENHANA: MEMORY, CULTURE AND NATIONALISM IN NAMIBIA, 1990–2010
Authors: Becker Heike 
Published: October 2011

ABSTRACTIn post-colonial Namibia public memory of the liberation war prioritizes the armed struggle from exile. This master narrative of national liberation, having become the new nation's foundation myth, legitimizes the power of the post-colonial SWAPO elite as the sole, heroic liberators from apartheid and colonialism. It has not remained uncontested, however. The article develops the complex transfigurations of liberation war memory, culture and nationalism in post-colonial Namibia around a discussion of two memory sites. The National Heroes’ Acre near Windhoek, inaugurated in 2002, appears as the cast-in-stone nationalist master narrative, aimed at homogenizing the multi-faceted agencies during the liberation war, whereas the Heroes’ Memorial Shrine at Eenhana, constructed in 2007, expressly recognizes the heterogeneity of war-time experiences. The Eenhana site further gives visual expression to recent Namibian unity-in-diversity discourses, which have followed, and partly been running alongside, a period of ideational emphasis on nation building, based on a national culture supposedly forged through the nation's joint struggle against oppression and colonialism. I argue that the social processes of remembering and forgetting political resistance, on the one hand, and those of cultural reinvention in the new nation on the other, are entangled, and that both registers of imagining the Namibian nation have shifted since the country's independence in 1990.
Insight into the structure of compound words among speakers of Chinese and English
Authors: ZHANG JIE , ANDERSON RICHARD C. , WANG QIUYING , PACKARD JEROME , WU XINCHUN , TANG SHAN , KE XIAOLING 
Published: October 2011

ABSTRACTKnowledge of compound word structures in Chinese and English was investigated, comparing 435 Chinese and 258 Americans, including second, fourth, and sixth graders, and college undergraduates. As anticipated, the results revealed that Chinese speakers performed better on a word structure analogy task than their English-speaking counterparts. Also, as anticipated, speakers of both languages performed better on noun + noun and verb + particle compounds, which are more productive in their respective languages than noun + verb and verb + noun compounds, which are less productive. Both Chinese and English speakers performed significantly better on novel compounds than on familiar compounds, most likely because familiar compounds are lexicalized and do not invite decomposition into constituents.
Syllabic patterns in the early vocalizations of Quichua children
Authors: GILDERSLEEVE-NEUMANN CHRISTINA E. , DAVIS BARBARA L. , MACNEILAGE PETER F. 
Published: October 2011

ABSTRACTTo understand the interactions between production patterns common to children regardless of language environment and the early appearance of production effects based on perceptual learning from the ambient language requires the study of languages with diverse phonological properties. Few studies have evaluated early phonological acquisition patterns of children in non-Indo-European language environments. In the current study, across- and within-syllable consonant–vowel co-occurrence patterns in babbling were analyzed for a 6-month period for seven Ecuadorean Quichua learning children who were between 9 and 17 months of age at study onset. Their babbling utterances were compared to the babbling of six English-learning children between 9 and 22 months of age. Child patterns for both languages were compared with Quichua and English ambient language patterns. Babbling output was highly similar for the child groups: Quichua and English children's babbling demonstrated similar predicted within-syllable (coronal-front vowel, labial-central vowel, dorsal-back vowel) patterns, and across-syllable manner variegation patterns for consonants. These patterns were observed at significantly greater rates in the child groups than in the respective adult language input patterns, suggesting production system influences common to children across languages rather than ambient language perceptual learning effects during these children's babbling period.
Processing words and Short Message Service shortcuts in sentential contexts: An eye movement study
Authors: GANUSHCHAK LESYA Y. , KROTT ANDREA , FRISSON STEVEN , MEYER ANTJE S. 
Published: October 2011

ABSTRACTThe present study investigated whether Short Message Service shortcuts are more difficult to process in sentence context than the spelled-out word equivalent and, if so, how any additional processing difficulty arises. Twenty-four student participants read 37 Short Message Service shortcuts and word equivalents embedded in semantically plausible and implausible contexts (e.g., He left/drank u/you a note) while their eye movements were recorded. There were effects of plausibility and spelling on early measures of processing difficulty (first fixation durations, gaze durations, skipping, and first-pass regression rates for the targets), but there were no interactions of plausibility and spelling. Late measures of processing difficulty (second run gaze duration and total fixation duration) were only affected by plausibility but not by spelling. These results suggest that shortcuts are harder to recognize, but that, once recognized, they are integrated into the sentence context as easily as ordinary words.
Psychotherapie bei Abhängigkeits- erkrankungen und Posttraumatischer Belastungsstörung
Authors: Schäfer Ingo , Schulze Claudia , Stubenvoll Martina 
Published: October 2011

Fragestellung: Die Posttraumatische Belastungsstörung (PTBS) gehört mit einer Punktprävalenz von 15 – 41 % zu den häufigsten komorbiden Störungen bei Personen mit Abhängigkeitserkrankungen. Erst in den letzten Jahren wurde verstärkt damit begonnen, traumatherapeutische Interventionen an diese Patientengruppe zu adaptieren. Die vorliegende Arbeit soll einen Überblick über den aktuellen Stand dieser Entwicklung geben, mit einem Schwerpunkt auf empirisch überprüften Therapieverfahren. Ergebnisse: Im klinischen Alltag werden alle Interventionen, die sich im Rahmen der Traumatherapie bewährt haben, auch bei Suchtkranken erfolgreich eingesetzt. Dabei steht inzwischen fest, dass Ansätze aus beiden Bereichen von Beginn der Therapie an miteinander kombiniert werden sollten. Die existierenden randomisierten kontrollierten Studien beziehen sich sämtlich auf ein stabilisierendes Therapieprogramm („Sicherheit finden“), dessen Effektivität inzwischen als belegt gelten kann. Schlussfolgerungen: Insgesamt hat sich die Behandlung Suchtkranker mit komorbider PTBS in den letzten Jahren stark entwickelt. Allerdings liegen zur Trauma-Exposition bei dieser Patientengruppe bislang kaum systematischen Befunde vor. Weitere Evaluationsstudien sollten folgen, um das gesamte Spektrum traumaspezifischer Interventionen bei Suchtkranken angemessen bewerten zu können.
Ectopic expression of Hmgn2 antagonizes mouse erythroid differentiation in vitro
Authors: Kulkeaw Kasem , Inoue Tomoko , Mizuochi Chiyo , Horio Yuka , Ishihama Yasushi , Sugiyama Daisuke 
Published: October 2011

AbstractHmgn2 (high mobility group nucleosomal 2), a ubiquitous nucleosome‐binding protein that unfolds chromatin fibres and enhances DNA replication, reportedly regulates differentiation of epithelial and mesenchymal cells. To investigate how Hmgn2 regulates HC (haemopoietic cell) differentiation, we quantified Hmgn2 expression in HCs of mouse FL (fetal liver) during erythroid differentiation. Hmgn2 expression levels were >10‐fold higher in immature erythroid progenitors than in mature erythroid cells, suggesting that Hmgn2 antagonizes erythroid differentiation. To address this issue, Hmgn2 were transfected into both Friend erythroleukaemia cells and FL HCs. There was a 3.3‐fold decrease in relatively mature c‐Kit+/CD71+ erythroid cells, a 2.9‐fold increase in immature c‐Kit+/CD71− erythroid cells in transfected Friend cells, a 1.1‐fold decrease in relatively mature CD71+/Ter119+ erythroid cells, and a 1.7‐fold increase in relatively immature c‐Kit+/CD71+ erythroid cells in FL HCs accompanied by down‐regulation of genes encoding the erythroid transcription factors, Gata1 and Klf1. Two days after Hmgn2 transfection of Friend erythroleukaemia cells, the number of S‐phase cells increased, whereas the number of cells in G1 decreased, while that of mitotic cells remained unchanged. We conclude that ectopic expression of Hmgn2 antagonizes mouse erythroid differentiation in vitro, which may be due to enhancement of DNA replication and/or blocking entry of mitosis at S‐phase.
Scaling of lunge‐feeding performance in rorqual whales: mass‐specific energy expenditure increases with body size and progressively limits diving capacity
Authors: Goldbogen Jeremy A. , Calambokidis John , Croll Donald A. , McKenna Megan F. , Oleson Erin , Potvin Jean , Pyenson Nicholas D. , Schorr Greg , Shadwick Robert E. , Tershy Bernie R. 
Published: October 2011

Summary1. Diving capacity generally increases with body size both within and among taxanomic groups because of the differential scaling between body oxygen stores and metabolic rate.2. Despite being some of the largest animals of all time, rorqual whales exhibit very short dive times relative to other large divers because of the high energetic costs incurred during lunge feeding. This mode of filter feeding requires high drag for the engulfment of large volumes of prey‐laden water, and the magnitude of both drag and engulfment volume is largely determined by the size and shape of the skull.3. The positive allometry of rorqual skulls increases mass‐specific engulfment capacity in larger whales, but the energetic requirements of feeding are also predicted to increase and thus further limit diving capacity.4. To test the hypothesis that the energetic cost of a lunge is disproportionately higher in larger rorquals, we compared diving and lunge‐feeding performance among three different‐sized species (blue, fin and humpback whales) foraging on krill.5. Our hydrodynamic analyses indicate that the mass‐specific energy expenditure will increase with body size if rorquals lunge at length‐specific speeds (in body lengths per second) that are independent of body size, a condition that is supported by tag data.6. Although the absolute time required to filter each volume of water increased with body size, maximum dive duration and depth were not significantly different among species. As a consequence, the maximum number of lunges executed per dive decreased with body size.7. These data suggest that, unlike all other true divers, adult rorqual species do not exhibit a positive relationship between body size and diving capacity. Larger rorquals forfeit diving capacity for greater engulfment capacity, a trade‐off that favours the efficient exploitation of patchily dense prey aggregations. Such a trade‐off may underlie different foraging strategies associated with resource partitioning, life history and ecological niche.
Wood density explains architectural differentiation across 145 co‐occurring tropical tree species
Authors: Iida Yoshiko , Poorter Lourens , Sterck Frank J. , Kassim Abd R. , Kubo Takuya , Potts Matthew D. , Kohyama Takashi S. 
Published: October 2011

Summary1.Because of its mechanical properties, wood density may affect the way that trees expand their stem and crown to exploit favourable light conditions in a mechanically stable way. From engineering theory and wood density properties, it is predicted that in terms of biomass investment, low‐density wood is more efficient for vertical stem expansion, while high‐density wood is more efficient for horizontal branch expansion. So far, these predictions have rarely been tested by empirical studies.2.We tested these predictions for 145 co‐occurring tree species in a Malaysian tropical rainforest. For each species, we selected trees across a broad size range and measured architectural dimensions (stem diameter, height of the lowest foliage and crown width). We used a hierarchical Bayesian model to estimate species‐specific allometric relationships between architectural dimensions including estimated stem biomass. Then, we examined correlations between species wood density and estimated architectural variables at standardized heights.3.When species were compared at standardized tree heights, wood density correlated negatively with stem diameter and positively with stem biomass at most reference heights. This indicates that species with low wood density produce thicker stems but at lower biomass costs. Wood density correlated positively with crown width and negatively with height of the lowest foliage, which indicates that high wood density species have wider and deeper crowns than low wood density species. These relationships were maintained at most reference heights. However, the relationship with crown width was nonsignificant above 18 m height. This may reflect large plastic response of lateral crown expansion to a local condition.4. Wood density explains the trade‐off between effective vertical stem expansion and horizontal crown expansion across co‐occurring tropical tree species. Such mechanical constraints characterize the difference in tree architecture between low wood density species that show an efficient height expansion to attain better light conditions in the exposed canopy and high wood density species that show an efficient horizontal crown expansion to enhance current light interception and persistence in the shaded forest understorey. Our study thus suggests that the mechanical constraints set by wood density contribute to the co‐existence of species differing in architecture and light capture strategy.
Sleep structure and feeding pattern changes induced by the liver’s thermal status in the rat
Authors: EL HAJJAJI FATIM‐ZOHRA , PELLETIER AMANDINE , DELANAUD STÉPHANE , LIBERT JEAN‐PIERRE , BACH VÉRONIQUE , LOOS NATHALIE 
Published: October 2011

SummaryGiven the liver’s importance in controlling metabolic homeostasis in mammals, we sought to establish (i) whether the thermal status of this organ was involved in the link between sleep, thermoregulation and food intake and (ii) how the hypothalamic structures affect the functional interactions between processes involved in regulation of the body’s energy balance. In 10 freely moving rats, the liver was heated artificially to and maintained at set‐point temperatures of 39.5, 40.0 and 40.5 °C for 4 h. Each animal’s feeding activity, cortical temperature and brown adipose tissue (TBAT) temperature were measured continuously. Sleep organization and wakefulness were scored from electroencephalograms. Each animal served as its own control. Heating the liver induced a decrease in food intake and TBAT, corresponding to the development of a hypometabolic hypothermic status. The total amounts of wakefulness and rapid eye movement sleep fell, whereas the total amount of slow wave sleep increased accordingly. Our findings show that the liver is involved significantly in the body’s thermodynamic equilibrium. The organ’s thermal status can induce well‐coordinated behavioural and autonomic adaptive responses involved in the control of food intake and in the maintenance of body homeothermia. Our study provides indirect evidence of the existence of hepatic thermosensors afferent to feeding and sleeping hypothalamic integrating centres that can be stimulated by physiological increases in liver temperature.
A multi‐repeat adhesin of the phytopathogen, Pectobacterium atrosepticum, is secreted by a Type I pathway and is subject to complex regulation involving a non‐canonical diguanylate cyclase
Authors: Pérez‐Mendoza Daniel , Coulthurst Sarah J. , Humphris Sonia , Campbell Emma , Welch Martin , Toth Ian K. , Salmond George P. C. 
Published: October 2011

SummaryCyclic diguanylate (c‐di‐GMP) is a second messenger controlling many important bacterial processes. The phytopathogen Pectobacterium atrosepticum SCRI1043 (Pba1043) possesses a Type I secretion system (T1SS) essential for the secretion of a proteinaceous multi‐repeat adhesin (MRP) required for binding to the host plant. The genes encoding the MRP and the T1SS are tightly linked to genes encoding several putative c‐di‐GMP regulatory components. We show that c‐di‐GMP regulates secreted MRP levels in Pba1043 through the action of two genes encoding predicted diguanylate cyclase (DGC) and phosphodiesterase proteins (ECA3270 and ECA3271). Phenotypic analyses and quantification of c‐di‐GMP levels demonstrated that ECA3270 and ECA3271 regulate secreted MRP levels by increasing and decreasing, respectively, the intracellular levels of c‐di‐GMP. Moreover, ECA3270 represents the first active DGC reported to have an alternative active‐site motif from the ‘canonical’ GG[D/E]EF. ECA3270 has an A‐site motif of SGDEF and analysis of single amino acid replacements demonstrated that the first position of this motif can tolerate functional substitution. Serine in position one of the A‐site is also observed in many other DGCs. Finally, another T1SS‐linked regulator (ECA3265) also plays an important role in regulating secreted MRP, with an altered localization of MRP observed in an ECA3265 mutant background. Mutants defective in these three T1SS‐linked regulators exhibit a reduction in root binding and virulence, confirming that this complex, finely tuned regulation system is crucial in the interaction with host plants.
Disruption and complementation of the selenocysteine biosynthesis pathway reveals a hierarchy of selenoprotein gene expression in the archaeon Methanococcus maripaludis
Authors: Stock Tilmann , Selzer Mirjam , Connery Sarah , Seyhan Deniz , Resch Armin , Rother Michael 
Published: October 2011

SummaryProteins containing selenocysteine are found in members of all three domains of life, Bacteria, Eukarya and Archaea. A dedicated tRNA (tRNAsec) serves as a scaffold for selenocysteine synthesis. However, sequence and secondary structures differ in tRNAsec from the different domains. An Escherichia coli strain lacking the gene for tRNAsec could only be complemented with the homologue from Methanococcus maripaludis when a single base in the anticodon loop was exchanged demonstrating that this base is a crucial determinant for archaeal tRNAsec to function in E. coli. Complementation in trans of M. maripaludis JJ mutants lacking tRNAsec, O‐phosphoseryl‐tRNAsec kinase or O‐phosphoseryl‐tRNAsec:selenocysteine synthase with the corresponding genes from M. maripaludis S2 restored the mutant's ability to synthesize selenoproteins. However, only partial restoration of the wild‐type selenoproteome was observed as only selenocysteine‐containing formate dehydrogenase was synthesized. Quantification of transcripts showed that disrupting the pathway of selenocysteine synthesis leads to downregulation of selenoprotein gene expression, concomitant with upregulation of a selenium‐independent backup system, which is not re‐adjusted upon complementation. This transcriptional arrest was independent of selenophosphate but depended on the ‘history’ of the mutants and was inheritable, which suggests that a stable genetic switch may cause the resulting hierarchy of selenoproteins synthesized.