bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
First Report of Anthracnose Caused by Colletotrichum gloeosporioides on Pistachio (Pistacia vera) in China
Authors: Yang S. Y. , Su S. C. , Liu T. , Fan G. , Wang J. , Leng P. S. 
Published: June 2011

In the 1990s, pistachio (Pistacia vera L. ‘Kerman’ and ‘Peters’) was introduced in China. They are found in many orchards in Beijing and Gansu and Hebei provinces, northern China. In 2009, a new disease was observed on leaves, stems, and fruits in pistachio orchards in Gansu Province. Disease incidence in 8- to 12-year-old orchards was 30%. Yield losses reached 25%. Symptoms began as discrete, sunken, black spots, approximately 10 mm in diameter, followed by circular lesions that eventually coalesced with tissue death recorded and orange fructifications developed on lesions. Pieces of diseased leaves, stems, and fruits were surfaced sterilized and placed on 2% potato dextrose agar (PDA) at 25°C. A fungus was consistently isolated. After 10 days, cultures on PDA showed aerial, white mycelium that turned gray to grayish black with a salmon-to-orange conidial mass at 25°C and a 12-h photoperiod. Brown, 80 to 120 μm long setae were observed in the acervulus. Conidia were hyaline, fusiform to nearly straight, and averaged 12 to 18 × 3 to 5 μm. On the basis of morphological characteristics, the fungus was identified as Colletotrichum gloeosporioides (Penz.) Sacc. (2). On PDA, 0.5 μg/ml of benomyl was applied for the sensitivity test (3). Benomyl completely inhibited the growth of the fungus. Mycelial DNA was extracted, PCR amplified using ITS1 and ITS4 primers for the ribosomal DNA internal transcribed spacers 1 and 2, and sequenced. The DNA sequence was recorded in GenBank as No. HQ631378. The DNA sequence was blasted showing 99% identity with Accession Nos. GQ144454 and GU004376, for C. gloeosporioides. Pathogenicity tests were conducted under greenhouse conditions at 25°C. Three replicates of 2-year-old ‘Kerman’ plants were inoculated with mycelial PDA plugs placed on 0.5-cm2 stem wounds and then wrapped with Parafilm. Controls were inoculated with PDA plugs without the fungus. After 3 weeks, stem cankers were observed on inoculated plants. Control plants remained healthy. Pathogenicity was also tested on injured leaves and fruits. A 10-μl drop of a spore suspension of 104 conidia/ml was applied on ‘Kerman’ and ‘Peters’ leaves and ‘Kerman’ fruits and placed on plates with a wet filter paper at 25°C. Small, black lesions were observed at 2 days after inoculation. At 7 days, necrotic lesions covered the entire surface. C. gloeosporioides was reisolated from necrotic lesions. Controls did not develop symptoms. C. acutatum has been reported on pistachio in Australia (1), but to our knowledge, this is the first report of anthracnose caused by C. gloeosporioides on pistachio. References: (1) G. J. Ash and V. M. Lanoiselet. Australas. Plant Pathol. 30:365, 2001. (2) J. Y. Lu. Plant Pathogenic Mycology. China Agricultural Press, Beijing, 2001. (3) N. A. R. Peres et al. Plant Dis. 86:620, 2002.
Identification of polymorphisms in the malic enzyme 1, NADP(+)‐dependent, cytosolic and nuclear receptor subfamily 0, group B, member 2 genes and their associations with meat and carcass quality traits in commercial Angus cattle
Authors: Gill J. L. , Bishop S. C. , McCorquodale C. , Williams J. L. , Wiener P. 
Published: June 2011

SummaryGenes involved in the physiological control of energy and triglyceride synthesis, such as malic enzyme 1, NADP(+)‐dependent, cytosolic (ME1) and nuclear receptor subfamily 0, group B, member 2 (NR0B2), are key candidates that may have effects on meat and carcass quality traits. These genes were sequenced in Aberdeen Angus beef cattle, and the possibility of associations between SNPs and economically important carcass and meat quality traits was tested. Six novel SNPs, five in ME1 and one in NR0B2, were identified. A SNP in exon eight of ME1 resulted in a non‐synonymous amino acid change from valine to isoleucine. Phenotypic data were recorded on 536 commercial Aberdeen Angus‐cross beef cattle, which comprised 28 carcass quality, tenderness and sensory traits. The majority of the SNPs were associated with at least one of these traits, including an association between the NR0B2 SNP and fat class, and associations between at least one of the ME1 SNPs and eye muscle area, sirloin weight before maturation, sirloin steak tail length, and juiciness.
Barriers and facilitators to optimize function and prevent disability worsening: a content analysis of a nurse home visit intervention
Authors: Liebel Dianne V. , Powers Bethel Ann , Friedman Bruce , Watson Nancy M. 
Published: June 2011

liebel d.v., powers b.a., friedman b. & watson n.m. (2012) Barriers and facilitators to optimize function and prevent disability worsening: a content analysis of a nurse home visit intervention. Journal of Advanced Nursing68(1), 80–93.AbstractAims.  This paper is a report of an analysis of how to better understand the results of the nurse home visit intervention in the Medicare Primary and Consumer‐Directed Care Demonstration in terms of facilitators and barriers to disability improvement/maintenance as compared with disability worsening.Background.  There is a lack of literature describing how nurse home visit interventions are able to maintain/improve disability among older persons with disability. The present study is one of only six reporting beneficial disability outcomes.Methods.  Cases were purposefully sampled to represent change in the disability construct leading to selection of ten cases each of disability maintenance/improvement (no change or decrease in total Activities of Daily Living score from baseline) and worsening (an increase in total Activities of Daily Living score from baseline). Data from nurses’ progress notes and case studies (collected in March 1998–June 2002) were analysed using qualitative descriptive analysis (May 2009). These results remain relevant because the present study is one of the few studies to identify select nurse activities instrumental in postponing/minimizing disability worsening.Results/findings.  Three primary themes captured the facilitators and barriers to effective disability maintenance/improvement: (1) building and maintaining patient‐centred working relationships, (2) negotiating delivery of intervention components and (3) establishing balance between patients’ acute and chronic care needs. Sub‐themes illustrate nurse, patient and system factors associated with effective disability maintenance/improvement (e.g. nurse caring, communicating, facilitating interdisciplinary communication) and barriers associated with disability worsening (e.g. dementia, depression and recurring acute illnesses).Conclusion.  This study provides new insights about the facilitators and barriers to effective disability maintenance/improvement experienced by patients receiving home visits. Potential opportunities exist to integrate these insights into best‐practice models of nurse home visiting.
Should payments for biodiversity conservation be based on action or results?
Authors: Gibbons James M. , Nicholson Emily , Milner‐Gulland E. J. , Jones Julia P. G. 
Published: June 2011

Summary1. There is growing interest in the potential of payments for ecosystem services (PES) to encourage land managers to protect and enhance the environment. However, questions remain about how PES agreements should be designed. There is a division between schemes that structure payments by action or by results, with most biodiversity PES schemes, including European agri‐environment schemes, paying by action; for example incentivising land managers to carry out actions believed to increase biodiversity. Payment by results is a common incentive structure in the private sector (e.g. labourers doing piece work or no‐win no‐fee lawyers) but rarer in PES.2. Using a theoretical modelling approach, we investigate the conditions under which each way of structuring payments may be more cost‐effective in a biodiversity PES.3. Payment by action is favoured where there is a clear action that can be specified at an appropriate level and to which biodiversity is sensitive. We found that payment by results is favoured in degraded landscapes as incentives are created for managers to use their private knowledge and join the scheme only if they can produce the biodiversity services targeted by the scheme. Payment by results is also favoured where biodiversity is less sensitive to conservation action and when it is difficult for a central agency to determine an appropriate level of conservation action. This is because payment by results allows individual managers to optimise their level of action.4. The relative cost of monitoring action (compliance with an agreement to manage in a certain way) versus results (the presence of biodiversity) has a substantial effect on which payment structure is more efficient only when the central agency can accurately set an appropriate level of action. We illustrate these principles with examples based on agri‐environment schemes.5. Synthesis and applications. Payment by results deserves more attention from those designing biodiversity PES (be they agri‐environment schemes in agricultural landscapes or direct payment schemes in more intact ecosystems). This paper provides a formal framework to help policy makers identify the conditions under which payment by results or payment by action is most likely to yield cost‐effective biodiversity conservation.
Prioritising conservation areas using species surrogate measures: consistent with ecological theory?
Authors: Sætersdal Magne , Gjerde Ivar 
Published: June 2011

Summary1. Surrogate species measures of biodiversity (SSB) are used worldwide in conservation prioritisations. We address the important question whether the ideas behind SSB are consistent with current knowledge on distribution patterns of species, as reflected in theories of community assembly.2. We investigated whether assumptions necessary for successful functioning of SSB (nested species assemblages, cross‐taxon congruence, spatio‐temporal consistency) were supported by predictions from either niche or neutral community models.3. We found a general mismatch between ideas behind SSB and ecological community theory, except that SSB based on complementarity may be consistent with niche‐based theory when gradients in species composition are strong.4.
Synthesis and applications. The lack of a necessary scientific foundation may explain the disappointing results of empirical tests of SSB. We argue that site selection should be based on costs and opportunities within complementary environmental/land units, rather than expensive inventories of unfounded surrogate species.
Insights into Neogene Mediterranean biogeography based on phylogenetic relationships of mountain and lowland lineages of Narcissus (Amaryllidaceae)
Authors: Santos‐Gally Rocío , Vargas Pablo , Arroyo Juan 
Published: June 2011

AbstractAim  Our aims were: (1) to reconstruct the phylogenetic relationships of daffodils (Narcissus), focusing on the lowland subgenus Hermione and the mountain section Apodanthi; (2) to estimate the temporal setting of diversification; (3) to reconstruct the migration patterns of the lineages; and (4) to examine the microevolutionary differentiation of the wide‐ranging Narcissus tazetta group across the Mediterranean.Location  The Mediterranean Basin.Methods  Plastid (trnT–L, trnL–F and ndhF) sequences were obtained from 63 populations representing 23 species of Narcissus and combined with published data from 16 species. Phylogenetic relationships and dating were inferred by Bayesian analysis based on geological events and divergence estimates of closely related taxa. A dispersal–extinction–cladogenesis analysis was performed using maximum likelihood methods to infer ancestral geographical distributions, and phylogeographical reconstruction was performed using coalescence analysis.Results  Subgenus Hermione is not recognized as a monophyletic group because two of the nine species were found to have a close relationship with the subgenus Narcissus. The results on section Apodanthi confirmed previous findings of its monophyly and phylogenetic relationships within this mountain group. Molecular dating and ancestral range reconstructions suggest that the ancestor of Narcissus originated in the Iberian Peninsula during the Late Oligocene–Early Miocene. Eastward expansion of the lineage range proceeded from the western Mediterranean and involved colonization of mountain ranges in northern Africa. The phylogeography of the N. tazetta group revealed a widespread distribution of certain haplotypes, suggesting wide dispersal and a high level of colonization in the Mediterranean Basin.Main conclusions  Our study points to the role of three key historical events in Narcissus diversification: tectonic shifts of the Alboran domain in the western Mediterranean, the Messinian salinity crisis, and the onset of the Mediterranean climate followed by periods of repeated glaciation. Diversification of section Apodanthi probably resulted from allopatric speciation, while subgenus Hermione may have shown more sympatric speciation and high dispersal, despite the lack of apparent adaptations to long‐distance dispersal. This is best exemplified by the presence of both ancestral and recent haplotypes of N. tazetta across the Mediterranean.
Blueprint for a deliberative public forum on biobanking policy: were theoretical principles achievable in practice?
Authors: Molster Caron , Maxwell Susannah , Youngs Leanne , Kyne Gaenor , Hope Fiona , Dawkins Hugh , O’Leary Peter 
Published: June 2011

AbstractBackground:  Public deliberation is recommended for obtaining citizen input to policy development when policies involve contested ethical dimensions, diverse perspectives on how to trade‐off competing public interests and low public awareness of these perspectives. Several norms have been proposed for the design of deliberative methods. Evidence is scarce regarding whether such norms are achievable in practice.Purpose:  This paper refers to principles of deliberative democracy theory to describe a deliberative public forum on biobanking. Practical challenges and contextual facilitators of achieving deliberative ideals are discussed, along with factors that influenced use of the forum output in policy development.Method:  The forum ran for 4 days over two weekends in Perth, Western Australia. Key methodological features were socio‐demographic stratification to randomly recruit a mini‐public of citizens for discursive representation, provision of information inclusive of diverse perspectives and framed for difference, provision of a fair way for reasoning and collective decision making and adoption of processes to achieve publicity, accountability and independence from undue institutional influence.Results:  Most design principles were achieved in practice, with the fundamental exception of representativeness. Factors influencing these outcomes, and the use of deliberated outputs to develop policy, included institutional characteristics, the design involvement of deliberative experts and quality of the outputs when compared to other consultation methods.Conclusions:  Public deliberations can achieve design ideals and influence (ethics‐based) public health policy. The representation of ‘hard to reach’ citizens and their views needs further consideration, particularly as this relates to the procedural legitimacy of ethical analyses and the just inclusion of deliberative citizen advice within the broader policy‐making process.
Massive icebergs, alteration in primary food resources and change in benthic communities at Cape Evans, Antarctica
Authors: Thrush Simon F. , Cummings Vonda J. 
Published: June 2011

AbstractThe presence of massive icebergs in the Southwestern Ross Sea (Antarctica) in the early‐to‐mid‐2000s changed the regional sea ice regime and phytoplankton productivity. We exploit data on benthic macro‐ and megafaunal communities collected on six occasions between 2001 and 2009 in the shallow waters adjacent to Cape Evans to link these oceanographic shifts to changes in benthic ecology. Changes in the abundance of individual species and community composition were generally strongest, and mostly negative, in 2002 and 2003, which exhibited the largest decrease in water column productivity and thick and persistent sea ice. This pattern of decreasing numbers from the start of sampling in 2001 to the lowest values in 2003 is consistent with the impact of the icebergs and a lagged response on the part of the benthic populations in response to food shortage. The patterns of stronger effects on macrofauna than on megafauna, and on abundance rather than species richness, are consistent with a change in food supply and/or recruitment for short‐lived species, rather than a physical disturbance effect. Nevertheless, recovery patterns are likely to reflect changes in benthic communities associated with larval supply and changes in top‐down control after the years of predicted lowest food supply. There are many potential manifestations of climate change in Antarctica, and many of the ecological responses to environmental change are likely to be mediated through the foodweb. Long‐term studies in different locations are essential if we are to understand and forecast changes in sea‐floor ecosystems.
Identification of two portal vein tumor thrombosis associated proteins in hepatocellular carcinoma: Protein disulfide‐isomerase A6 and apolipoprotein A‐I
Authors: Xu Xiao , Wei Xuyong , Ling Qi , Cheng Jun , Zhou Bin , Xie Haiyang , Zhou Lin , Zheng Shusen 
Published: June 2011

AbstractBackground and Aim:  Portal vein tumor thrombus (PVTT) is one of the factors that can affect prognosis and survival of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). In the present study, we aimed to find out some biomarkers associated with vascular invasion features of HCC with the method of comparative proteomic analysis.Methods:  The proteins were extracted from a pair of HCC tissues with PVTT and without PVTT, and then separated by two‐dimensional polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis. Differentially expressed protein spots were identified by matrix assisted laser desorption ionization time‐of‐flight mass spectrometry (MALDI‐TOF MS). Further analysis of two proteins were completed using real‐time fluorescence quantitative polymerase chain reaction and western‐blot in 40 HCC tissues with PVTT (n = 20) and without PVTT (n = 20).Results:  Among 465 protein spots displayed on the gels, 33 unique proteins (> twofold change, P < 0.01) were identified, including 24 upregulated in HCC tissue without PVTT and nine upregulated in HCC tissue with PVTT. The real‐time fluorescence quantitative PCR showed no statistically significant difference between HCC tissues with PVTT and without PVTT for mRNA expressions of protein disulfide‐isomerase, A6 (PDI A6) (P = 0.137) and apolipoprotein A‐I (Apo A‐I) (P = 0.718). However, compared with HCC tissues without PVTT, protein expression of PDI A6 was higher in HCC tissues with PVTT (P < 0.001), while protein expression of Apo A‐I was lower in HCC tissues with PVTT (P = 0.012).Conclusions:  PDI A6 and Apo A‐I are closely related to vascular invasion feature of HCC.
Variation in human genetic polymorphisms, their association with Helicobacter pylori acquisition and gastric cancer in a multi‐ethnic country
Authors: Schmidt Heather‐Marie A , Ha Dung Mai , Taylor Elizabeth F , Kovach Zsuzsanna , Goh Khean‐Lee , Fock Kwong Ming , Barrett Jennifer H , Forman David , Mitchell Hazel 
Published: June 2011

AbstractBackground and Aim:  The contribution of human genetic polymorphisms to Helicobacter pylori infection and gastric cancer (GC) development remains unclear due to geographic variation in the association between specific host genetic polymorphisms and GC. In the current study we investigated the association between polymorphisms related to immune and cancer‐related pathways and H. pylori infection among the major ethnicities, Chinese, Malay and Indian, resident in Singapore and Malaysia as well as the association between these polymorphisms and GC development in ethnic Chinese patients.Methods:  Thirty‐four polymorphisms in 26 genes were typed by mass spectrometry in 422 patients undergoing endoscopy (162 Chinese, 113 Indian and 87 Malay controls and 60 Chinese GC cases). Patients were assessed for evidence of H. pylori infection. Odds ratios (OR) and confidence intervals (CI) were obtained using logistic regression models.Result:  The prevalence of 16 polymorphisms varied significantly among the ethnicities. In the Chinese subgroup, nominally significant associations were shown between (i) EBBR2+1963G (rs1801200) and H. pylori infection (per‐allele OR: 0.48, 95% CI 0.23, 0.98, P = 0.04), (ii) PTGS2‐1195G (rs689466) and an increased risk of GC on adjusting for H. pylori status (OR: 1.53, 95% CI 0.99, 2.37, P = 0.05), and (iii) IL1B‐1473C (rs1143623) and a decreased risk of GC (OR: 0.64, 95% CI 0.41, 0.99, P = 0.05). Borderline significant associations were seen between IL2‐330G (rs2069762) (OR 1.45, 95% CI 0.95, 2.15, P = 0.06) and IL13‐1111T (rs1800925) (OR 0.65, 95% CI 0.42, 1.01, P = 0.06) and H. pylori infection.Conclusion:  These findings contribute to the understanding of the genetic variation between ethnicities, which may influence H. pylori susceptibility and the outcome of infection.
Helicobacter pylori induces promoter hypermethylation and downregulates gene expression of IRX1 transcription factor on human gastric mucosa
Authors: Guo Xiao Bo , Guo Lei , Zhi Qiao Ming , Ji Jun , Jiang Jin Ling , Zhang Rong Juan , Zhang Jia Nian , Zhang Jun , Chen Xue Hua , Cai Qu , Li Jian Fang , Yan Min , Gu Qin Long , Liu Bing Ya , Zhu Zheng Gang , Yu Ying Yan 
Published: June 2011

AbstractBackground and Aim:  Gene silence of IRX1 tumor suppressor by promoter CpG methylation combined with loss of heterozygosity (LOH) has been identified in human gastric cancer. This study investigated the association between methylation of IRX1 and Helicobacter pylori infection in gastric mucosa tissues and cell line.Methods:  IRX1 methylation was studied by methylation specific polymerase chain reaction (MSP) and bisulfate sequencing polymerase chain reaction (BSP) methods in gastric mucosa tissues from H. pylori‐positive chronic gastritis patients or H. pylori‐negative chronic gastritis patients. Promoter activity, methylation status and gene expressing level of IRX1 were evaluated by persistent infecting H. pylori on human gastric cells GES‐1 in vitro. Electron microscopy was used to observe the effect of H. pylori infection on GES‐1 gastric mucosa cells.Results:  The methylation level of IRX1 promoter in H. pylori positive chronic gastritis and H. pylori negative chronic gastritis was 55.30% ± 13.17 versus 5.20% ± 6.31, respectively (P < 0.01). H. pylori infection stimulated increased microvillus, and mucous secretion on GES‐1 cells. Infection of H. pylori induced IRX1 promoter methylation and downregulation of the promoter activity as well as gene expression significantly.Conclusions:  This study firstly demonstrated that H. pylori infection contributes to IRX1 promoter methylation on gastric mucosa.
Capital structure and business cycles
Authors: Akhtar Shumi 
Published: June 2011

AbstractThis study investigates the relationship between business cycles and capital structure. Specifically, it extends the work of Lemmon et al. (2008), by incorporating the effect of four different stages of the business cycle – peak, contraction, trough and expansion – on the relative importance of the unobserved permanent component of the capital structure. Results indicate that business cycles play an important role in explaining the unobserved permanent component of leverage ratios after controlling for firm fixed effects. In particular, the model becomes much stronger in explaining the variation in leverage ratios after accounting for business cycle phases.