bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
ARE CONSUMERS MORE LOYAL TO NATIONAL BRANDS THAN TO PRIVATE LABELS?
Authors: Bergès Fabian , Hassan Daniel , Monier‐Dilhan Sylvette 
Published: July 2012

ABSTRACTThe evolution of private labels (PLs) can be understood in terms of a strategy adopted by the retail industry with the aim of competing with national brands (NBs). In the 1990s, this strategy led to the development of ‘me too’ products, which currently represent the largest share of store brand products. Since the early 2000s, retailers have widened the range of their store brands by introducing high‐quality products. The aim of this study was to estimate consumers’ attachment to ‘me‐too’ and niche PLs respectively, as compared to NBs. We captured the degree of maturity of these PLs through their price‐elasticities, computed for three staple goods offered by three mass retail companies. It was found that price sensitivity does not differ much between the ‘me‐too’ PLs and the corresponding NBs. This result confirms that ‘me‐too’ products are now considered reliable quality brands. However, in the high quality segment, consumers remain more sensitive to the price of PLs than to that of NBs, a characteristic which may relate to their recent introduction on the market.
Interests Aren’t Everything: An Exploration of Economic Explanations of Immigration Policy in a New Destination
Authors: Stewart Julie , Jameson Kenneth P. 
Published: July 2012

AbstractCurrent debates around US immigration policy are playing out against a backdrop that has changed significantly in the past 20 years: immigrants have increasingly gravitated towards “new destinations”; a large and growing portion of immigrants are undocumented; and the federal vacuum in responding to the promise and problems of these new immigration trends has devolved policy to the states. As a result, we have seen innovation on the state level as policymakers seek to accommodate, welcome or resist immigration, with varying degrees of success. In this paper, we explore the case of Utah as a new immigration destination, seeking to understand its transformation from a state with very inclusive immigrant policies as late as 1999 to one currently adopting highly restrictive immigrant policies. To explain this trajectory, we test three prominent materialist theories of public policy: instrumentalism, structuralism and strategic‐relational approaches. We draw on a decade’s worth of primary data – including data on state‐level legislation, key economic indicators, public statements concerning immigration from the private business sector and the LDS Church, and the editorial content of the state’s two major newspapers regarding immigration – to examine the policy explanations that grow out of interest‐based theories of the state. Whereas these theories provide robust explanations for a large and diverse array of public policies, we find that they fall short in explaining immigration policy. While conventional wisdom – and extensive scholarly research – suggests that economic interests drive policy, we find that the policies around immigrants challenge this economic reductionism, suggesting the need for more complex and ideational accounts of this important phenomenon.
The spotlight of attention illuminates failed feature‐based expectancies
Authors: Bengson Jesse J. , Lopez‐Calderon Javier , Mangun George R. 
Published: July 2012

AbstractA well‐replicated finding is that visual stimuli presented at an attended location are afforded a processing benefit in the form of speeded reaction times and increased accuracy (Mangun, ; Posner, ). This effect has been described using a spotlight metaphor, in which all stimuli within the focus of spatial attention receive facilitated processing, irrespective of other stimulus parameters. However, the spotlight metaphor has been brought into question by a series of combined expectancy studies that demonstrated that the behavioral benefits of spatial attention are contingent on secondary feature‐based expectancies (Kingstone, ). The present work used an event‐related potential (ERP) approach to reveal that the early neural signature of the spotlight of spatial attention is not sensitive to the validity of secondary feature‐based expectancies.
Chronic exposure to corticosterone enhances the neuroinflammatory and neurotoxic responses to methamphetamine
Authors: Kelly Kimberly A. , Miller Diane B. , Bowyer John F. , O’Callaghan James P. 
Published: July 2012

J. Neurochem. (2012) 122, 995–1009.AbstractUp‐regulation of proinflammatory cytokines and chemokines in brain (“neuroinflammation”) accompanies neurological disease and neurotoxicity. Previously, we documented a striatal neuroinflammatory response to acute administration of a neurotoxic dose of methamphetamine (METH), i.e. one associated with evidence of dopaminergic terminal damage and activation of microglia and astroglia. When we used minocycline to suppress METH‐induced neuroinflammation, indices of dopaminergic neurotoxicity were not affected, but suppression of neuroinflammation was incomplete. Here, we administered the classic anti‐inflammatory glucocorticoid, corticosterone (CORT), in an attempt to completely suppress METH‐related neuroinflammation. METH alone caused large increases in striatal proinflammatory cytokine/chemokine mRNA and subsequent astrocytic hypertrophy, microglial activation, and dopaminergic nerve terminal damage. Pre‐treatment of mice with acute CORT failed to prevent neuroinflammatory responses to METH. Surprisingly, when mice were pre‐treated with chronic CORT in the drinking water, an enhanced striatal neuroinflammatory response to METH was observed, an effect that was accompanied by enhanced METH‐induced astrogliosis and dopaminergic neurotoxicity. Chronic CORT pre‐treatment also sensitized frontal cortex and hippocampus to mount a neuroinflammatory response to METH. Because the levels of chronic CORT used are associated with high physiological stress, our data suggest that chronic CORT therapy or sustained physiological stress may sensitize the neuroinflammatory and neurotoxicity responses to METH.
Morphometric differentiation across House Sparrow Passer domesticus populations in Finland in comparison with the neutral expectation for divergence
Authors: Kekkonen Jaana , Jensen Henrik , Brommer Jon E. 
Published: July 2012

To understand the biology of organisms it is important to take into account the evolutionary forces that have acted on their constituent populations. Neutral genetic variation is often assumed to reflect variation in quantitative traits under selection, though with even low neutral divergence there can be substantial differentiation in quantitative genetic variation associated with locally adapted phenotypes. To study the relative roles of natural selection and genetic drift in shaping phenotypic variation, the levels of quantitative divergence based on phenotypes (PST) and neutral genetic divergence (FST) can be compared. Such a comparison was made between 10 populations of Finnish House Sparrows (n = 238 individuals) collected in 2009 across the whole country. Phenotypic variation in tarsus‐length, wing‐length, bill‐depth, bill‐length and body mass were considered and 13 polymorphic microsatellite loci were analysed to quantify neutral genetic variation. Calculations of PST were based on Markov‐Chain Monte Carlo Bayesian estimates of phenotypic variances across and within populations. The robustness of the conclusions of the PST–FST comparison was evaluated by varying the proportion of variation due to additive genetic effects within and across populations. Our results suggest that body mass is under directional selection, whereas the divergence in other traits does not differ from neutral expectations. These findings suggest candidate traits for considering gene‐based studies of local adaptation. The recognition of locally adapted populations may be of value in the conservation of this declining species.
Ions, equations and electrons: the evolving role of computer simulations in cardiac electrophysiology safety evaluations
Authors: Gintant Gary 
Published: July 2012

Reliable preclinical cardiac safety evaluations of drug candidates are essential for selecting the best therapeutic agents. Advanced automated patch clamp technologies now allow for characterizing drug effects on multiple cardiac currents, enabling subsequent simulations of integrated electrophysiological responses on cellular, tissue and organ levels. In this issue, Mirams et al. summarize the strengths and limitations of models and simulations predicting drug‐induced electrophysiological responses, emphasizing delayed repolarization and Torsades de Pointes pro‐arrhythmia. The utility of computational approaches is contingent upon realistic models of ventricular electrophysiology, robust characterization of drug‐channel interactions and an understanding of channel‐myocyte interactions and pro‐arrhythmic mechanisms. Simulations evaluating effects on repolarization (hazard identification) should aid in selecting safer drug candidates early in drug discovery, while simulations evaluating risk of Torsades de Pointes (incorporating known risk factors) should quantify pro‐arrhythmic risk and reduce the need for costly clinical QT studies later in development. The wider adoption of realistic models and simulation studies will depend on simulation performance compared with ‘gold standard’ clinical findings.LINKED ARTICLE This article is a commentary on Mirams et al., pp. 932–945 of this issue. To view this paper visit http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.1476‐5381.2012.02020.x
Molecular phylogeny and divergence time of the water penny genus Eubrianax (Coleoptera: Psephenidae) in Japan
Authors: HAYASHI Masakazu , SONG Simon D. , SOTA Teiji 
Published: July 2012

AbstractThe phylogenetic relationships among the Japanese members of the genus Eubrianax (Coleoptera: Psephenidae) were examined using the mitochondrial cytochrome oxidase subunit I (COI) gene and nuclear 28S rRNA gene sequences. Based on the molecular phylogeny as well as morphological features, the species status of Eubrianax brunneicornisNakane, 1952 was proposed. The phylogenetic analyses recovered monophyly of the previously proposed pellucidus species group with four Japanese species, whereas a single Japanese species of the granicollis group was included in the lineage of the ramicornis group with five Japanese species. The divergence times of the species were estimated by dating the phylogenetic tree against the fossil record and a molecular clock based on the COI gene. The divergence of the Japanese species was inferred to have occurred during the Pliocene epoch.
Restoring Perennial Warm‐Season Grasses as a Means of Reversing Mesophication of Oak Woodlands in Northern Mississippi
Authors: Maynard Erynn E. , Brewer J. Stephen 
Published: July 2012

AbstractFire suppression has removed an important ecological force previously responsible for shaping many plant communities throughout the world. Upland areas of north‐central Mississippi that have been protected from fire are now closed‐canopy forests including species known to be uncommon as bearing/witness trees in upland portions of the landscape (historically off‐site species) and sparse ground cover vegetation. Anecdotal evidence suggests that warm‐season grasses were prevalent in the understory of these communities, which could have provided more consistent fuel. We corroborate the historic presence of these grasses by looking at their natural co‐occurrence with oak regeneration (a requisite of self‐replacing stands of oaks found historically). Restoration of these communities has typically focused on burning and off‐site tree thinning. Utilizing a restoration experiment implementing these treatments, we found significantly reduced understory leaf litter in treatment areas. To test which variables associated with restoration treatments were most important for the survival of these grasses, we measured the effect of leaf litter removal and its interaction with environmental conditions on the survival of transplanted shoots. Survival of little bluestem increased with decreasing canopy density and decreasing leaf litter. Leaf‐litter removal did not increase survival, nor did it interact with either pre‐treatment leaf litter depth or canopy density. These results show that little bluestem benefits from conditions expected historically: increased light and possibly fire.
Recovery of the Bird Community after a Mine Spill and Landscape Restoration of a Mediterranean River
Authors: Ontiveros Diego , Márquez‐Ferrando Rocío , Fernández‐Cardenete Juan R. , Santos Xavier , Caro Jesús , Pleguezuelos Juan M. 
Published: July 2012

AbstractIn Mediterranean areas, river systems are key for maintaining regional biodiversity by providing a high diversity of habitats. We studied bird community recovery for 9 years (2001–2009) during landscape restoration and Guadiamar Green Corridor establishment in the area affected by the Aznalcóllar mine spill (SW Spain, 1998). One year following plant restoration (3 years after the spill), values for α‐ and β‐bird species diversity were high, sooner than reported for similar restoration processes elsewhere. Species richness, ecological diversity, and abundance increased only slightly in the following 8 years. Overlap between communities in sequential years, measured by similarity indexes, increased throughout the study period to about 70% during final survey years, and most breeding bird species present before the accident again inhabit the area. Only 5 years after the mine accident, bird communities in the restored site were similar in species richness, abundance, and diversity to an unaffected reference site; redundancy analysis demonstrated that bird communities were also similar between the reference river and the Guadiamar. Despite the severity of the mine accident, our results suggest a swift recovery of the bird community. We attribute this success to the rapid restoration of habitat availability and the resilience of the birds. This long‐term study contributes to our limited knowledge of bird species response to habitat restoration following toxic spills in Mediterranean habitats.
Population Response of Giant Galápagos Tortoises to Feral Goat Removal
Authors: Márquez Cruz , Gibbs James P. , Carrión Victor , Naranjo Sixto , Llerena Alizon 
Published: July 2012

AbstractEfforts to eradicate nonnative mammals to restore oceanic island ecosystems have become increasingly successful but parallel tracking of response by native species for which control efforts are intended to benefit has been rare. A major campaign to eradicate nonnative goats and burros was initiated in 1995 on Alcedo Volcano in the Galápagos Archipelago that ultimately removed 62,868 goats and eliminated them by 2006. Planners of the eradication program had the foresight to invest in intensive monitoring of the status of the volcano's giant tortoise (Chelonoidis nigra) population whose welfare was a primary motivation for the eradication effort. Monitoring revealed an increase in the proportion of juveniles among all tortoises as well as increased growth rates of individual tortoises on Alcedo Volcano from earlier to later phases of the eradication campaign. Over the same time frame in a control population on nearby Santa Cruz Island (where goats and donkeys were not removed) juvenile fraction and individual growth rates remained unchanged. Although goat removal coincided with occurrence of a rare climatic event that simultaneously boosted forage availability for tortoises, failure to observe a comparable improvement in the control population implies that removal of goats and burros was the primary causative factor of improving population status of tortoises on Alcedo Volcano.
ASSESSING THE ROLE OF CASPASE ACTIVITY AND METACASPASE EXPRESSION ON VIRAL SUSCEPTIBILITY OF THE COCCOLITHOPHORE, EMILIANIA HUXLEYI (HAPTOPHYTA)
Authors: Bidle Kay D. , Kwityn Clifford J. 
Published: July 2012

As part of their strategy to infect the globally important coccolithophore,
Emiliania huxleyi (Lohmann) W.W. Hay & H.P. Mohler, Coccolithoviruses trigger and regulate the host's programmed cell death (PCD) machinery during lytic infection. The induction and recruitment of host metacaspases, specialized, ancestral death proteases that facilitate viral lysis, suggests they may be important subcellular determinants to infection. We examined the “basal” levels and patterns of caspase activity and metacaspase expression in exponentially growing resistant and sensitive
E. huxleyi strains and linked them with susceptibility to
E. huxleyi virus 1 (EhV1). Resistant
E. huxleyi strains were consistently characterized by low caspase specific activity and a relatively simple metacaspase expression profile. In contrast, sensitive
E. huxleyi strains had markedly elevated caspase specific activity and consistently expressed more diverse metacaspase proteins. Using pooled data sets from triplicate experiments, we observed statistically significant linear correlations between infectivity, caspase activity, and metacaspase expression, with each strain forming distinct clusters, within a gradient in viral susceptibility. At the same time, we observed positive correlations between the expression of a subset of metacaspase proteins and lower susceptibility, suggestive of potential protective roles. Our findings implicate the importance of subtle differences in the basal physiological regulation of the PCD machinery to viral resistance or sensitivity and cell fate.
Cross‐Cultural Adaptation to the Dutch Language of the PainDETECT‐Questionnaire
Authors: Timmerman Hans , Wolff André P. , Schreyer Tobias , Outermans Jacqueline , Evers Andrea W. M. , Freynhagen Rainer , Wilder‐Smith Oliver H. G. , van Zundert Jan , Vissers Kris. C. P. 
Published: July 2012

AbstractBackground:  The PainDETECT‐Questionnaire (PDQ) helps to identify neuropathic components in patients suffering from pain. It can be used by clinicians in daily practice and in clinical trials.Aim:  The aim of this study is to perform a translation and cross‐cultural adaptation of the PDQ for use in the Netherlands and Belgium.Methods:  The first phase was to translate and cross‐culturally adapt the PDQ to Dutch. The second phase was to assess the face validity in the Netherlands and Belgium using qualitative and quantitative data collection.Results:  The length, the readability, and the clarity of the questionnaire were good for all patients. The questionnaire was judged to have a good layout and to be clearly organized.Conclusion:  The PDQ Dutch language Version is a well translated and cross‐culturally adapted questionnaire, which might be useful for screening for neuropathic components of pain in the Netherlands and Belgium.▪
Accelerated Junctional Rhythm and Nonalternans Repolarization Lability Precede Ventricular Tachycardia in Casq2−/− Mice
Authors: MEZU URE L. , SINGH PRABHPREET , SHUSTERMAN VLADIMIR , HWANG HYUN‐SEOK , KNOLLMANN BJORN C. , NĚMEC JAN 
Published: July 2012

Repolarization Lability in Casq2−/− Mice.
Background:
Calsequestrin‐2 (CASQ2) is a Ca2+ buffering protein of myocardial sarcoplasmic reticulum. CASQ2 mutations underlie a form of catecholaminergic polymorphic ventricular tachycardia (CPVT). The CPVT phenotype is recapitulated in Casq2 −/− mice. Repolarization lability (RL)—beat‐to‐beat variability in the T wave morphology—has been reported in long‐QT syndrome, but has not been evaluated in CPVT.
Methods and Results:
ECG from Casq2 −/− mice was evaluated with respect to heart rate (HR) and RL changes prior to onset of ventricular tachycardia (VT) to gain insight into arrhythmogenesis in CPVT. Telemetry from unrestrained mice (3‐month‐old males, 5 animals of each genotype) and ECG before and after isoproterenol administration in anesthetized mice was analyzed. Average HR in sinus rhythm (SR), occurrence of nonsinus rhythm and RL were quantified. HR was slower in Casq2 −/− animals. Accelerated junctional rhythm (JR) occurred more frequently in Casq2 −/− mice and often preceded VT. In Casq2 −/− mice, HR increased prior to VT onset, prior to onset of JR and on transition from JR to VT. RL increased during progression from SR to VT and after isoproterenol administration in Casq2 −/−, but not in Casq2+/+ animals. Isoproterenol did not increase repolarization alternans in either genotype.
Conclusions:
Accelerated JR, likely caused by triggered activity in His/Purkinje system, occurs frequently in Casq2 −/− mice. The absence of CASQ2 results in increased RL. The increase in HR and in RL precede onset of arrhythmias in this CPVT model. Nonalternans RL precedes ventricular arrhythmia in wider range of conditions than previously appreciated. (J Cardiovasc Electrophysiol, Vol. 23, pp. 1355‐1363, December 2012)
Erythrocyte‐derived ATP and Perfusion Distribution: Role of Intracellular and Intercellular Communication
Authors: SPRAGUE RANDY S. , ELLSWORTH MARY L. 
Published: July 2012

Please cite this paper as: Sprague RS, Ellsworth ML. Erythrocyte‐derived ATP and perfusion distribution: role of intracellular and intercellular communication. Microcirculation 19: 430–439, 2012.AbstractIn complex organisms, both intracellular and intercellular communication are critical for the appropriate regulation of the distribution of perfusion to assure optimal O2 delivery and organ function. The mobile erythrocyte is in a unique position in the circulation as it both senses and responds to a reduction in O2 tension in its environment. When erythrocytes enter a region of the microcirculation in which O2 tension is reduced, they release both O2 and the vasodilator, ATP, via activation of a specific and dedicated signaling pathway that requires increases in cAMP, which are regulated by PDE3B. The ATP released initiates a conducted vasodilation that results in alterations in the distribution of perfusion to meet the tissue’s metabolic needs. This delivery mechanism is modulated by both positive and negative feedback regulators. Importantly, defects in low O2‐induced ATP release from erythrocytes have been observed in several human disease states in which impaired vascular function is present. Understanding of the role of erythrocytes in controlling perfusion distribution and the signaling pathways that are responsible for ATP release from these cells makes the erythrocyte a novel therapeutic target for the development of new approaches for the treatment of vascular dysfunction.
Metastatic small cell neuroendocrine carcinoma of the breast
Authors: Boyd Alan S. , Hayes Benjamin B. 
Published: July 2012

Cutaneous metastases from internal malignancies in women overwhelmingly emanate from the breast and typically exhibit features of an adenocarcinoma, although other histopathologic patterns may also be seen. Neuroendocrine breast carcinoma represents an uncommon variant of mammary carcinoma with fewer than 40 cases of the small cell subcategory reported. As with other small cell carcinomas, they may exhibit Merkel cell‐like features and appropriate diagnosis of these tumor deposits often turns on clinical history and an appropriate immunohistochemical profile. Herein, we report the first known patient with cutaneous metastases from a small cell neuroendocrine breast carcinoma.