bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Fat tissue, aging, and cellular senescence
Authors: Tchkonia Tamara , Morbeck Dean E. , Von Zglinicki Thomas , Van Deursen Jan , Lustgarten Joseph , Scrable Heidi , Khosla Sundeep , Jensen Michael D. , Kirkland James L. 
Published: August 2010

SummaryFat tissue, frequently the largest organ in humans, is at the nexus of mechanisms involved in longevity and age‐related metabolic dysfunction. Fat distribution and function change dramatically throughout life. Obesity is associated with accelerated onset of diseases common in old age, while fat ablation and certain mutations affecting fat increase life span. Fat cells turn over throughout the life span. Fat cell progenitors, preadipocytes, are abundant, closely related to macrophages, and dysdifferentiate in old age, switching into a pro‐inflammatory, tissue‐remodeling, senescent‐like state. Other mesenchymal progenitors also can acquire a pro‐inflammatory, adipocyte‐like phenotype with aging. We propose a hypothetical model in which cellular stress and preadipocyte overutilization with aging induce cellular senescence, leading to impaired adipogenesis, failure to sequester lipotoxic fatty acids, inflammatory cytokine and chemokine generation, and innate and adaptive immune response activation. These pro‐inflammatory processes may amplify each other and have systemic consequences. This model is consistent with recent concepts about cellular senescence as a stress‐responsive, adaptive phenotype that develops through multiple stages, including major metabolic and secretory readjustments, which can spread from cell to cell and can occur at any point during life. Senescence could be an alternative cell fate that develops in response to injury or metabolic dysfunction and might occur in nondividing as well as dividing cells. Consistent with this, a senescent‐like state can develop in preadipocytes and fat cells from young obese individuals. Senescent, pro‐inflammatory cells in fat could have profound clinical consequences because of the large size of the fat organ and its central metabolic role.
Decreased oxidative stress and greater bone anabolism in the aged, when compared to the young, murine skeleton with parathyroid hormone administration
Authors: Jilka Robert L. , Almeida Maria , Ambrogini Elena , Han Li , Roberson Paula K. , Weinstein Robert S. , Manolagas Starros C. 
Published: August 2010

SummaryBecause of recent insights into the pathogenesis of age‐related bone loss, we investigated whether intermittent parathyroid hormone (PTH) administration antagonizes the molecular mechanisms of the adverse effects of aging on bone. Parathyroid hormone produced a greater increase in vertebral trabecular bone mineral density and bone volume as well as a greater expansion of the endocortical bone surface in the femur of 26‐ when compared to 6 ‐month‐old female C57BL/6 mice. Moreover, PTH increased trabecular connectivity in vertebrae, and the toughness of both vertebrae and femora in old, but not young, mice. Parathyroid hormone also increased the rate of bone formation and reduced osteoblast apoptosis to a greater extent in the old mice. Most strikingly, PTH reduced reactive oxygen species, p66Shc phosphorylation, and expression of the lipoxygenase Alox15, and it increased glutathione and stimulated Wnt signaling in bone of old mice. Parathyroid hormone also antagonized the effects of oxidative stress on p66Shc phosphorylation, Forkhead Box O transcriptional activity, osteoblast apoptosis, and Wnt signaling in vitro. In contrast, administration of the antioxidants N‐acetyl cysteine or pegylated catalase reduced osteoblast progenitors and attenuated proliferation and Wnt signaling. These results suggest that PTH has a greater bone anabolic efficacy in old age because in addition to its other positive actions on bone formation, it antagonizes the age‐associated increase in oxidative stress and its adverse effects on the birth and survival of osteoblasts. On the other hand, ordinary antioxidants cannot restore bone mass in old age because they slow remodeling and attenuate osteoblastogenesis by interfering with Wnt signaling.
An analysis of the potential of precision farming in Northern Europe
Authors: Sylvester‐Bradley R. , Lord E. , Sparkes D.L. , Scott R.K. , Wiltshire J.J.J. , Orson J. 
Published: August 2010

Abstract. Precision farming is the process of adjusting husbandry practices within a field according to measured spatial variability. In this review, we explore the prospects for precision farming using the principles that underly conventional soil management and agronomy.The cost‐effectiveness of precision farming is determined by the cost of defining zones within fields, the stability of zones through time, the difference in treatment between zones in terms of cost, and the responsiveness of the crop in terms of yield and quality to changes in treatment. Cost‐effective precision farming is most likely where prior knowledge indicates large heterogeneity and where treatment zones can be predicted, for example from soil type or field history.Soil related factors are likely to provide the main basis for precision farming because they tend to be stable through time and influence crop performance. In particular, soil mapping may usefully indicate the moisture available for crop growth, organic matter maps may be utilized for precision application of fertilizers and soil acting herbicides, and variation in soil pH can be mapped and used as a basis for variable lime application. However, comprehensive nutrient mapping is less likely to be economic with existing techniques of chemical analysis. The value of yield mapping lies in identifying zones which are sufficiently stable to be of use in determining future practices. Maps of grain quality and nutrient content would significantly augment the value of yield maps in guiding marketing decisions and future agronomy. Interactions between soil differences and seasonal weather are large, so yield maps show considerable differences from season to season. Interpretation of such maps needs to follow a careful, informed, analytical process.Extensive and thorough field experimentation by crop scientists over many years has shown that yield variation arises as a result of a large and complex range of factors. It is highly improbable that simple explanations will be appropriate for much in‐field yield variation. However, the capacity to sense yield variability within fields as opposed to between fields, where there are many confounding differences, provides an opportunity for the industry to improve its understanding of soil‐based effects on crop performance. This should support its decision taking, whether through precision farming or through field‐by‐field agronomy.The main obstacle to the adoption of precision farming is the lack of appropriate sensors. Optimal sensor configurations that will measure the specific needs identified by end‐users need to be developed.The conclusions reached in this paper probably apply to farming throughout northern Europe.
Soil erosion in Guizhou province of China: a case study in Bijie prefecture
Authors: Jianping Zhang 
Published: August 2010

Abstract. Guizhou province has one of the most severe soil erosion problems in China, with 44% of its total area affected. Within the province, Bijie prefecture is the most severely eroded with 63% of the total area affected. In recent decades this erosion is mainly caused by man's agricultural and industrial development. Not only is erosion restricting crop production, it is the cause of disastrous floods which recur with a frequency far greater than in the past. Reduced infiltration of rain has led to a third of the wells and a fifth of the streams running dry, depriving people and livestock of drinking water.This unsustainable use of land can only be corrected by a combination of population control, prevention of slash and burn cultivation and return of steeply sloping land to forest and grassland. Greater appreciation of the need for soil and water conservation is an essential part of this process.
The biological and physical role of mulch in the rehabilitation of crusted soil in the Sahel
Authors: Mando A. , Stroosnijder L. 
Published: August 2010

Abstract.During three consecutive years (1993–1995) a split‐plot design with three replications was used to study the biological and physical role of mulch in the improvement of crusted soil water balance and its productivity in the north of Burkina Faso. The main treatment was the use of an insecticide, to obtain plots with and without soil fauna (SF and NSF). The subsidiary treatment consisted of four mulch types randomly applied on subplots. These were straw ofPennisetum pedicellatumapplied at 3 t ha−1, woody material ofPterocarpus lucensapplied at 6 t ha−1and composite (woody material and straw) treatments applied at 4 t ha−1. In addition there was a control, with no mulch (bare plot). Data on soil faunal activity, runoff, sediment accumulation from wind blown soil, vegetation cover and vegetation dry matter yield were collected on all plots.The biological activity (mainly termites) in mulched plots was the key element in the efficacy of mulching to rehabilitate crusted soil. Water infiltration and dry matter yield were statistically lower on NSF plots than on SF plots and runoff and dry matter yield were not different from the values obtained on bare plots. A significant correlation was found between runoff, all vegetation data and termite‐voids. Sediment accumulation due to the physical barrier of the mulch was not found to be a significant factor in the improvement of vegetation performance and the reduction of runoff.
A survey of the production and use of animal manures in England and Wales. I. Pig manure
Authors: Smith K.A. , Brewer A.J. , Dauven A. , Wilson D.W. 
Published: August 2010

Abstract. A survey was undertaken in 1996, by postal questionnaire sent to a stratified sample of 1500 pig producers in England and Wales; 576 (37%) responded. The survey provided data on manure production, manure storage and application strategies (timing, techniques and nutrient recycling to crops).Total pig manure production, in England and Wales is estimated to be at about 10.03 m t per year, with about 45% as slurry and 55% as FYM, according to this survey, where calculations have been based on undiluted outputs of excreta. About 45% of slurry is stored in above‐ground tanks or earth‐banked lagoons. Above‐ground tanks most commonly held an amount of slurry equivalent to 3–6 months production, but earth‐banked lagoons were more variable in capacity and over 20% could hold more than 9 months production of slurry.Annual statistics on fertilizer use indicate that farmers make little allowance for the nutrient content of manures. However, the results of this survey suggest that farmers generally make a genuine effort to allow for the nutrients applied, but that they currently fail to be assured by the advice available to them or their confidence is lacking for other technical reasons. Autumn represents the peak period for spreading, with 30% of slurry and 50% of FYM applied at that time.
Estimation of net N mineralization from short‐term C evolution in a plant residue‐amended soil: is the accuracy of estimation time‐dependent?
Authors: Vahdat E. , Nourbakhsh F. , Basiri M. 
Published: August 2010

AbstractEstimating N mineralization is important both environmentally and economically. Chemical and biological tests have been used for many years in an attempt to predict the N‐supplying capacity of soil. Simple methods are needed to predict N mineralization as a means to guide N management in rangeland ecosystems dependent on the natural N‐supplying capacity of soils. A short‐term C mineralization assay may provide a routine and rapid procedure to attain this goal. The objective of this study was to investigate the association of C and N mineralization in a calcareous soil. A calcareous soil was amended with eight range plant materials and incubated under aerobic condition (50% water holding capacity) at 25 °C. The potentially mineralizable C (C0) values ranged from 2232 mg C/kg soil with a decomposition rate constant (k) of 0.058/day forHordeum bulbosumL. to 2834.2 mg C/kg soil with a k value of 0.115/day forMedicago sativaL. treatment. The k value forMedicago sativaL. treatment (0.115/day) was about two times greater than that ofHordeum bulbosumL. (0.058/day). The product of k and C0(kC0) was highly correlated (r = 0.96,P < 0.001) with N mineralization/immobilisation (Nm). Moreover, Nmwas more strongly correlated (r = 0.95,P < 0.001) with cumulative CO2‐C evolved during the first 6 days of incubation than other incubation periods. Overall, the quantities of Nmwere closely associated with kC0and short‐term CO2‐C evolution. The degree of association between C and N mineralization is time‐dependent.
Medicare Payments for Common Inpatient Procedures: Implications for Episode‐Based Payment Bundling
Authors: Birkmeyer John D. , Gust Cathryn , Baser Onur , Dimick Justin B. , Sutherland Jason M. , Skinner Jonathan S. 
Published: August 2010

Background. Aiming to align provider incentives toward improving quality and efficiency, the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services is considering broader bundling of hospital and physician payments around episodes of inpatient surgery. Decisions about bundled payments would benefit from better information about how payments are currently distributed among providers of different perioperative services and how payments vary across hospitals.Study Design. Using the national Medicare database, we identified patients undergoing one of four inpatient procedures in 2005 (coronary artery bypass [CABG], hip fracture repair, back surgery, and colectomy). For each procedure, price‐standardized Medicare payments from the date of admission for the index procedure to 30 days postdischarge were assessed and categorized by payment type (hospital, physician, and postacute care) and subtype.Results. Average total payments for inpatient surgery episodes varied from U.S.$26,515 for back surgery to U.S.$45,358 for CABG. Hospital payments accounted for the largest share of total payments (60–80 percent, depending on procedure), followed by physician payments (13–19 percent) and postacute care (7–27 percent). Overall episode payments for hospitals in the lowest and highest payment quartiles differed by U.S.$16,668 for CABG, U.S.$18,762 for back surgery, U.S.$10,615 for hip fracture repair, and U.S.$12,988 for colectomy. Payments to hospitals accounted for the largest share of variation in payments. Among specific types of payments, those associated with 30‐day readmissions and postacute care varied most substantially across hospitals.Conclusions. Fully bundled payments for inpatient surgical episodes would need to be dispersed among many different types of providers. Hospital payments—both overall and for specific services—vary considerably and might be reduced by incentives for hospitals and physicians to improve quality and efficiency.
A new preclinical biomarker for risk of Torsades de Pointes: drug‐induced reduction of the cardiac electromechanical window
Authors: Vargas Hugo M 
Published: August 2010

Evaluation of new therapeutic agents for their potential to cause QT interval prolongation and drug‐induced ventricular arrhythmia, like Torsades de Pointes (TdP), is a critical activity during drug development. The QT interval has been used as a surrogate biomarker to assess ventricular repolarization effects caused by drug‐induced blockade of cardiac repolarizing currents, mainly IKr, but is imperfect in predicting proarrhythmia. Evidence suggests that left ventricular mechanical dysfunction may also contribute to ventricular arrhythmias; thus, electrical and mechanical alterations may have a role in drug‐induced TdP. The electromechanical window (EMw) represents the time difference between the end of electrical systole (i.e. the QT interval) and the completion of ventricular relaxation (i.e. the QLVPend interval), and appears to be a new potential biomarker for TdP risk. A reduction in the EMw (to negative values) has now been shown to be associated with the onset of TdP in an anaesthetized dog model of long QT1 syndrome. Therefore, the EMw represents a novel indicator of TdP risk that may add predictive value beyond assay of drug‐induced QT interval prolongation.LINKED ARTICLE This article is a commentary on van der Linde et al., pp. 1444–1454 of this issue. To view this paper visit http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.1476‐5381.2010.00934.x
Effect of experimental hyperlipidaemia on the electrocardiographic effects of repeated doses of halofantrine in rats
Authors: Patel Jigar P , Brocks Dion R 
Published: August 2010

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSEHalofantrine can cause a prolongation of the cardiac QT interval, leading to serious ventricular arrhythmias. Hyperlipidaemia elevates plasma concentration of halofantrine and may influence its tissue uptake. The present study examined the effect of experimental hyperlipidaemia on QT interval prolongation induced by halofantrine in rats.EXPERIMENTAL APPROACHNormolipidaemic and hyperlipidaemic rats (induced with poloxamer 407) were given 4 doses of halofantrine (i.v., 4–40 mg·kg−1·d−1) or vehicle every 12 h. Under brief anaesthesia, ECGs were recorded before administration of the vehicle or drug and 12 h after the first and last doses. Blood samples were taken at the same time after the first and last dose of halofantrine. Hearts were also collected 12 h after the last dose. Plasma and heart samples were assayed for drug and desbutylhalofantrine using a stereospecific method.KEY RESULTSIn the vehicle group, hyperlipidaemia by itself did not affect the ECG. Compared to baseline, QT intervals were significantly higher in both normolipidaemic and hyperlipidaemic rats after halofantrine. In hyperlipidaemic rats, plasma but not heart concentrations of the halofantrine enantiomers were significantly higher compared to those in normolipidaemic rats. Despite the lack of difference in the concentrations of halofantrine in heart, QT intervals were significantly higher in hyperlipidaemic compared to those in normolipidaemic rats.CONCLUSIONS AND IMPLICATIONSThe unbound fraction of halofantrine appeared to be the controlling factor for drug uptake by the heart. Our data suggested a greater vulnerability to halofantrine‐induced QT interval prolongation in the hyperlipidaemic state.
Thinking Historically about Medieval Emotions
Authors: Rosenwein Barbara H. 
Published: August 2010

AbstractThe recent focus on emotions in history raises numerous methodological questions. How are historians to approach texts that include emotions? This essay summarizes three dominant interpretative paradigms for interpreting medieval emotions. In the first, these emotions are seen as the uninhibited release of affect. In the second, they are viewed as well‐understood modes of communication in a society that used gesture as often as it used words. In the third, they are understood as norms within an emotional community. Arguing that the latter two interpretations are fruitful, the author concludes by suggesting some methodological tools to help historians more rigorously assess and work with the emotions in the texts of the past.
An Orientation to the Sources and Study of Early Islamic Egypt (641–868ce)
Authors: Mikhail Maged S. A. 
Published: August 2010

AbstractThis article surveys the most important Christian (Coptic and Melkite) and Islamic sources for the study of Egypt from the Arab conquest (641ce) through the mid‐ninth century. Beginning with a discussion of reference works, the article turns to narrative, hagiographic, and apocalyptic texts that focus specifically on Egypt. The latter section identifies the essential print and online resources for the study of Greek, Coptic, and Arabic papyri through the ninth century.
The Historiography of the English State During ‘The Long Eighteenth Century’ Part Two – Fiscal‐Military and Nationalist Perspectives
Authors: Devereaux Simon 
Published: August 2010

AbstractThis article (begun in a previous issue) reviews the four most prominent themes in the historiography of the modern English state during the last six decades, with a particular focus on ‘the long eighteenth century’ (ca. 1660–1837). The first is the vision of an expansive and centralized administrative state in Victorian England most famously set forth in the work of the late Oliver MacDonagh. Second is the notion of the state as an information‐gathering entity that has recently been forcefully stated by Edward Higgs. Third is the vision of an unexpectedly powerful, substantially centralized ‘fiscal‐military’ state during the eighteenth century, powerfully evoked in the work of John Brewer. Finally, a brief overview is given of the prodigious historical literature that has arisen in recent years surrounding the notion of the state as an abstract entity capable of commanding the loyalties of those people over whom it rules. The article concludes by suggesting how a more fully integrated vision of the English state in history might be achieved through a deeper, more dynamic interrelation of changing political–administrative structures and shifting social–cultural forces.
A Decade of Disquieting Diplomacy: South Africa, Zimbabwe and the Ideology of the National Democratic Revolution, 1999–2009
Authors: Moore David 
Published: August 2010

AbstractReflections on South African diplomacy regarding Zimbabwe, inspired by hopes that Nelson Mandela’s discourse of cross‐border support for liberal human rights would continue after his departure, are pervaded by disquiet. They suggest that Thabo Mbeki’s ‘quiet diplomacy’ during the decade of his incumbency indicated either cynical realpolitik or enthusiastic support for a dictator, under the guise of supporting Zimbabwean sovereignty and pan‐Africanism. This more nuanced article takes ideas seriously by closely examining a long Mbeki text on the question of Zimbabwe, underpinned by the Soviet‐inspired ‘national democratic revolution’ ideology. This ‘NDR’ discourse illustrates much about the contradictions of ‘marxists’ in power in a world far from approaching the ideology’s progenitors’ expectations, regarding both foreign policy and further realms of ‘democracy’. Examination of the text thus illustrates the petards upon which many African rulers rest, pointing to even more disquiet for advocates of liberal (or socialist) democracy – abroad and at home.
Australian Multiculturalism: Revisiting Australia’s Political Heritage and the Migrant Presence
Authors: Mason Robert 
Published: August 2010

AbstractAustralian multiculturalism has become central to the nation’s political landscape, yet historians have rarely considered the impact of government policies on migrants’ pre‐existing political identities. Multiculturalism became government policy in 1973, in recognition of the new complexity of Australian society that followed greatly increased post‐war immigration. The new policy sought to facilitate migrants’ inclusion in Australian society, without obliging them to surrender their cultural heritage. Similar to the government’s emphasis on ethnic identity, historians have displayed sustained interest in ethnic heritage, rather than on migrants’ political belief. New research in transnational histories and social memory studies provide renewed potential to evaluate the processes through which migrants’ political and moral ideals have been transferred to Australia. Memories of social norms and cultural landscapes existed in a dialogue with migrants’ everyday Australian experiences, helping to frame their engagement with broader society. The closer integration of multicultural studies with transnational research and memory studies offers new perspectives of Australian history, and a deeper understanding of migrants’ engagement in multicultural Australia.