bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Extensive evolutionary rate variation in floral color determining genes in the genus Ipomoea
Authors: TOLENO DONNA M. , DURBIN MARY L. , LUNDY KAREN E. , CLEGG MICHAEL T. 
Published: February 2010

AbstractFlower color is an important adaptive trait in many plant species because it determines reproductive success through differential attractiveness to insect pollinators. The genus Ipomoea is a pan tropically distributed plant genus characterized by showy flowers that often differ in color among closely related species. Flower color is determined primarily by products of the anthocyanin biosynthesis pathway. To determine whether flower color evolution among members of the genus is driven by adaptive molecular evolution of the anthocyanin pathway genes, we analyzed data from 10 genes sequenced from 19 species of Ipomoea. Six protein‐coding genes from the anthocyanin pathway were drawn for evolutionary analysis in addition to three genes from the unrelated leucine biosynthesis pathway and one MADS box regulatory gene for comparison. The analyses provided: (i) no convincing evidence for positive selection on anthocyanin pathway structural genes, or on the other sampled genes, despite shifts in flower color among species included in the sample; (ii) pathway position correlated weakly with estimates of the intensity of evolutionary constraint on the anthocyanin pathway enzyme coding genes; and (iii) there was substantial gene‐specific heterogeneity in the rates of synonymous site evolution. Synonymous rate heterogeneity does not appear to be accounted for by codon bias or local contextual or compositional sequence differences, leading us to implicate heterogeneous rates of mutation among genes as the most probable cause of synonymous rate heterogeneity.
Relationship between height and blood pressure in Japanese schoolchildren
Authors: Fujita Yuki , Kouda Katsuyasu , Nakamura Harunobu , Nishio Nobuhiro , Takeuchi Hiroichi , Iki Masayuki 
Published: February 2010

AbstractBackground:  Blood pressure examinations for health education use have been conducted at several schools in Japan. It has been reported that blood pressure is closely associated with bodyweight and height in US children. The aim of the present paper was to evaluate the association between height and blood pressure in Japanese schoolchildren.Methods:  In Iwata city in Japan, blood pressure screening was conducted by the school administration. A total of 98.9% (10 152/10 270 children) of all fifth (10‐year‐olds) and ninth graders (14‐year‐olds) residing in the Old Iwata area from 2002 to 2007 were analyzed.Results:  In 10‐year‐old and 14‐year‐old boys, regression analysis indicated that a positive correlation between weight and blood pressure was the strongest among the three body size indices (height, weight, and body mass index), but the association between height and blood pressure was also significant. For girls from both the 10 and 14 year age groups, the correlation of weight and blood pressure was stronger than those for the other body size indices, but there were also significant associations between height and blood pressure, except for height and diastolic blood pressure in the 14‐year‐olds.Conclusions:  There is a significant positive relationship between height and blood pressure. Further study is necessary to provide a blood pressure reference based on height in the Japanese program to prevent children from developing lifestyle‐related risk factors.
Multilevel analysis of effects of individual characteristics and household factors on self‐rated health among older adults in rural Vietnam
Authors: Van Minh Hoang , Byass Peter , Wall Stig 
Published: February 2010

Aim:  This paper aims to describe self‐rated health (SRH) status among older adults in a rural community of Vietnam, and examine individual and household‐level factors associated with good health rating among the study populations.Methods:  The study was carried out in the Bavi district, a rural community located 60 km west of Hanoi, the capital, within the Epidemiological Field Laboratory of Bavi (FilaBavi) in Vietnam in 2006. All people aged 50 years and over who lived within the district were surveyed. Face‐to‐face household interviews were conducted by trained surveyors using standard World Health Organization/INDEPTH network questionnaire–summary version. A logistic multilevel modeling approach was applied to analyze the association between SRH and both individual and household‐level factors.Results:  The proportion of people aged 50 years and older in FilaBavi reported having good/very good health and poor/very poor health was 15.1% and 24.8%, respectively. SRH status was reported to be better among: (i) men; (ii) younger people; (iii) people with higher education; (iv) people who were currently in marital a partnership; (v) those from wealthier households; and (vi) those who were living in riverside/island or highland areas compared to those of other categories of the same variable.Conclusion:  The findings reveal that there exist problems of inequality in health among older adults in the study setting by sex, age, education, wealth status and place of residence. We also found a considerable contribution of the household‐level factors to SRH of the study populations..
Homologues of nitrite reductases in ammonia‐oxidizing archaea: diversity and genomic context
Authors: Bartossek Rita , Nicol Graeme W. , Lanzen Anders , Klenk Hans‐Peter , Schleper Christa 
Published: February 2010

SummaryAmmonia‐oxidizing archaea are frequent and ubiquitous inhabitants of terrestrial and marine environments. As they have only recently been detected, most aspects of their metabolism are yet unknown. Here we report on the occurrence of genes encoding potential homologues of copper‐dependent nitrite reductases (NirK) in ammonia‐oxidizing archaea of soils and other environments using metagenomic approaches and PCR amplification. Two pairs of highly overlapping 40 kb genome fragments, each containing nirK genes of archaea, were isolated from a metagenomic soil library. Between 68% and 85% of the open reading frames on these genome fragments had homologues in the genomes of the marine archaeal ammonia oxidizers Nitrosopumilus maritimus and Cenarchaeum symbiosum. Extensions of NirK homologues with C‐terminal fused amicyanin domains were deduced from two of the four fosmids indicating structural variation of these multicopper proteins in archaea. Phylogenetic analyses including all major groups of currently known NirK homologues revealed that the deduced protein sequences of marine and soil archaea were separated into two highly divergent lineages that did not contain bacterial homologues. In contrast, another separated lineage contained potential multicopper oxidases of both domains, archaea and bacteria. More nirK gene variants directly amplified by PCR from several environments indicated further diversity of the gene and a widespread occurrence in archaea. Transcription of the potential archaeal nirK in soil was demonstrated at different water contents, but no significant increase in transcript copy number was observed with increased denitrifying activity.
A KOREAN PERSPECTIVE ON DEVELOPING A GLOBAL POLICY FOR ADVANCE DIRECTIVES
Authors: KIM SOYOON , HAHM KI‐HYUN , PARK HYOUNG WOOK , KANG HYUN HEE , SOHN MYONGSEI 
Published: February 2010

ABSTRACTDespite the wide and daunting array of cross‐cultural obstacles that the formulation of a global policy on advance directives will clearly pose, the need is equally evident. Specifically, the expansion of medical services driven by medical tourism, just to name one important example, makes this issue urgently relevant. While ensuring consistency across national borders, a global policy will have the additional and perhaps even more important effect of increasing the use of advance directives in clinical settings and enhancing their effectiveness within each country, regardless of where that country's state of the law currently stands. One cross‐cultural issue that may represent a major obstacle in formulating, let alone applying, a global policy is whether patient autonomy as the underlying principle for the use of advance directives is a universal norm or a construct of western traditions that must be reconciled with alternative value systems that may place lesser significance on individual choice. A global policy, at a minimum, must emphasize respect for patient autonomy, provision of medical information, limits to the obligations for physicians, and portability. And though the development of a global policy will be no easy task, active engagement in close collaboration with the World Health Organization can make it possible.
ADVANCE DIRECTIVES IN TURKEY'S CULTURAL CONTEXT: EXAMINING THE POTENTIAL BENEFITS FOR THE IMPLEMENTATION OF PATIENT RIGHTS
Authors: GUVEN TOLGA , SERT GURKAN 
Published: February 2010

ABSTRACTAdvance directives are not a part of the healthcare service in Turkey. This may be related with the fact that paternalism is common among the healthcare professionals in the country, and patients are not yet integrated in the decision‐making process adequately.However, starting from the enactment of the Regulation of Patient Rights in 1998, this situation started to change. While the paternalist tradition still appears to be strong in Turkey, the Ministry of Health has been taking concrete measures in the recent years to ensure that patient rights are implemented in healthcare practice. Therefore, Turkey now seems to be in a transitional period where a move towards a more patient‐autonomy centred approach is being supported by the regulatory authorities, as well as the academic circles and the public at large. In the light of this background, this paper aims to examine the potential benefits of advance directives, particularly with regard to their possible effect in the clinical decision‐making process of Turkey's context. It will be argued that advance directives, if correctly understood and implemented in the right settings, may be beneficial, particularly for improving communication between patients and healthcare professionals and for implementing of the right to refuse treatment.
Migration Creation and Diversion in the European Union: Is Central and Eastern Europe a ‘Natural’ Member of the Single Market for Labour?
Authors: MARQUES HELENA 
Published: February 2010

AbstractThis article applies the concepts of trade creation and trade diversion to immigration into the EU‐15 in order to investigate whether during 1986–2006 there were any significant preference effects in favour of the CEECs (central and eastern European countries) that make them ‘natural’ members of the EU single market for labour. If this hypothesis is true, there should have been strong migration creation but little migration diversion in the last 20 years. The results broadly support migration creation for the CEECs prior to their EU membership. At the same time, the evidence of diversion away from other world regions is mixed. The combined impact of a common language and established communities, compared to distance and a common border, may contribute to the preservation of migration channels from outside Europe. Within Europe, to be an EU outsider can have a negative impact on migration channels. Moreover, whilst liberal immigration policies increase immigration contemporaneously, restrictive immigration policies only show an impact with a two‐year lag.
EU Enlargement and Migration: Assessing the Macroeconomic Impacts
Authors: BARRELL RAY , FITZGERALD JOHN , RILEY REBECCA 
Published: February 2010

AbstractEnlargement of the European Union in May 2004 was followed by an increase in migration from the poorest of the central and eastern European New Member States (NMS) to other Member States. We consider the macroeconomic impacts of these migration flows across Europe, highlighting impacts in receiving and sending countries.
Power is Always in Fashion: State‐Centric Realism and the European Security and Defence Policy
Authors: SELDEN ZACHARY 
Published: February 2010

AbstractThe European Security and Defence Policy (ESDP) is in large part a product of the institutional development of the EU and the consolidation of its authority over internal issues. This parallels the development of the United States as a global actor shortly after the federal government consolidated power over domestic affairs in the 1890s.
Measuring and Comparing the Europeanization of National Legislation: A Research Note
Authors: TÖLLER ANNETTE ELISABETH 
Published: February 2010

AbstractThere is an urgent need for a method to measure quantitatively the Europeanization of national public policies, meaning the scope and extent to which national policies are shaped by European law and policy. Research on the Europeanization of public policies has so far mostly been limited to qualitative analysis. While such case studies, or comparative case or country studies have produced valuable insights into the nature of Europeanization, the challenge to measure how much national policy‐making has been influenced by European law and policies has not yet been mastered by the discipline. After outlining both the scholarly and the political context of the debate, the article briefly discusses different methods that have been developed so far to measure the Europeanization of national legislation in the UK, the Netherlands, Denmark, France and Germany. Their common feature is that they aim to measure Europeanization – and that they do so by using diverse methods and measures. Not only do they display some flaws in how they measure the Europeanization of legislation, but the results of these diverse studies are by no means comparable. Based on a short discussion of these approaches that have been developed so far, I will outline how this challenge could be faced. I will then present a concept for the development of an analytical tool to measure the scope and extent of the Europeanization of national public policies across policy fields, time and countries, as a means of improving our knowledge and as a starting point for explaining variance across policy fields, across time and, most interesting, across countries. Finally more and less fundamental objections to this enterprise are discussed.
Emotional lability in children and adolescents with attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD): clinical correlates and familial prevalence
Authors: Sobanski Esther , Banaschewski Tobias , Asherson Philip , Buitelaar Jan , Chen Wai , Franke Barbara , Holtmann Martin , Krumm Bertram , Sergeant Joseph , Sonuga‐Barke Edmund , Stringaris Argyris , Taylor Eric , Anney Richard , Ebstein Richard P. , Gill Michael , Miranda Ana , Mulas Fernando , Oades Robert D. , Roeyers Herbert , Rothenberger Aribert , Steinhausen Hans‐Christoph , Faraone Stephen V. 
Published: February 2010

Background:  The goal of this study was to investigate the occurrence, severity and clinical correlates of emotional lability (EL) in children with attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), and to examine factors contributing to EL and familiality of EL in youth with ADHD.Methods:  One thousand, one hundred and eighty‐six children with ADHD combined type and 1827 siblings (aged 6–18 years) were assessed for symptoms of EL, ADHD, associated psychopathology and comorbid psychiatric disorders with a structured diagnostic interview (PACS) as well as parent and teacher ratings of psychopathology (SDQ; CPRS‐R:L; CTRS‐R:L). Analyses of variance, regression analyses, χ2‐tests or loglinear models were applied.Results:  Mean age and gender‐standardized ratings of EL in children with ADHD were >1.5 SD above the mean in normative samples. Severe EL (>75th percentile) was associated with more severe ADHD core symptoms, primarily hyperactive‐impulsive symptoms, and more comorbid oppositional defiant, affective and substance use disorders. Age, hyperactive‐impulsive, oppositional, and emotional symptoms accounted for 30% of EL variance; hyperactive‐impulsive symptoms did not account for EL variance when coexisting oppositional and emotional problems were taken into account, but oppositional symptoms explained 12% of EL variance specifically. Severity of EL in probands increased the severity of EL in siblings, but not the prevalence rates of ADHD or ODD. EL and ADHD does not co‐segregate within families.Conclusion:  EL is a frequent clinical problem in children with ADHD. It is associated with increased severity of ADHD core symptoms, particularly hyperactivity‐impulsivity, and more symptoms of comorbid psychopathology, primarily symptoms of oppositional defiant disorder (ODD), but also affective symptoms, and substance abuse. EL in ADHD seems to be more closely related to ODD than to ADHD core symptoms, and is only partly explainable by the severity of ADHD core symptoms and associated psychopathology. Although EL symptoms are transmitted within families, EL in children with ADHD does not increase the risk of ADHD and ODD in their siblings.
In vitro activation of GAT1 transporters expressed in spinal cord gliosomes stimulates glutamate release that is abnormally elevated in the SOD1/G93A(+) mouse model of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis
Authors: Milanese Marco , Zappettini Simona , Jacchetti Emanuela , Bonifacino Tiziana , Cervetto Chiara , Usai Cesare , Bonanno Giambattista 
Published: February 2010

J. Neurochem. (2010) 113, 489–501.AbstractThe effect of GABA on glutamate release from astrocytes has been studied in healthy mice and in a murine transgenic model of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), using mouse spinal cord gliosomes labeled with [3H]d‐aspartate ([3H]d‐ASP). GABA concentration‐dependently evoked the release of [3H]d‐ASP. The effect of GABA was not mimicked by GABAA or GABAB receptor agonists or counteracted by antagonists, excluding receptor involvement. However, it was prevented by the GABA transport inhibitor N‐(4,4‐phenyl‐3‐butenyl)‐nipecotic acid (SKF 89976A), suggesting participation of GABA transporters type 1 (GAT1) placed on glutamate‐releasing astrocyte‐derived gliosomes. Accordingly, GAT1 co‐expressed with glutamate–aspartate transporter (GLAST) and glutamate transporter type 1 (GLT1) in the majority of glial particles. [3H]d‐aspartate release was Ca2+‐independent and not blocked by the glutamate uptake inhibitor dl‐threo‐b‐benzyloxyaspartic acid (dl‐TBOA); instead, it was abrogated by the anion channel blockers niflumic acid and 5‐nitro‐2‐(3‐phenylpropylamino) benzoic acid (NPPB). The GAT1‐mediated release of [3H]d‐ASP was significantly enhanced in spinal cord gliosomes from the mouse model of ALS. This excessive [3H]d‐ASP release was very precocious, largely preceding the onset of the disease symptoms. These data indicate that GAT1, GLAST and GLT1 coexist on the same gliosome in mouse spinal cord and that activation of GAT1 transporters elicits glutamate release by anion channel opening. This phenomenon might have pathological relevance, because [3H]d‐ASP release is enhanced in experimental ALS.
The selective β1‐adrenoceptor antagonist nebivolol is a potential oestrogen receptor agonist with neuroprotective abilities
Authors: Manthey D , Gamerdinger M , Behl C 
Published: February 2010

Background and purpose:  Nebivolol, a selective β1‐adrenoceptor antagonist mediating rapid vasodilating effects, is used clinically to treat hypertension. Recently, it was reported that nebivolol also acts as an oestrogen receptor (ER) agonist. To investigate the neuroprotective potential of oestrogens, we assessed the oestrogenic effects of nebivolol in several in vitro neuronal models.Experimental approach:  Human neuroepithelioma SK‐N‐MC cells stably transfected with human ER α and β, and mouse N2A neuroblastoma cells expressing human APP695SWE[N2Aswe, stably transfected with the Swedish mutation form of the Alzheimer‐associated amyloid precursor protein (APPswe, K670M/N671L)] were incubated with different concentrations of nebivolol and 17β‐oestradiol (E2) for 24–48 h. ER activation was detected in a specific reporter assay, and ER‐dependent gene expression was measured by quantitative real‐time PCR (qRT PCR). Furthermore, cell survival rates were determined, and oxidative stress was induced by hydrogen peroxide and paraquat. Amyloid β protein precursor (APP) processing was investigated, and the cleavage fragments sAPPα and Aβ were quantified via α‐, β‐ and γ‐secretase activity assays. Alterations of secretase expression levels were determined by qRT PCR.Key results:  Nebivolol induces oestrogen‐dependent gene transcription, and protects neuronal cells against oxidative stress even at low and physiological concentrations (10−8 M). Moreover, nebivolol modulates processing of APP in mouse neuronal N2Aswe cells by increasing α‐secretase activity, ultimately leading to enhanced release of soluble non‐amyloidogenic sAPPα.Conclusions and implications:  We showed that nebivolol acts as ER agonist in neuronal cell lines, and suggest oestrogen‐like neuroprotective effects mediated by nebivolol.
The Futile Paradigm: In Quest of Feudalism in Early Medieval Japan
Authors: Friday Karl 
Published: February 2010

AbstractHow useful is ‘feudalism’ as a paradigm for understanding medieval Japan? While the construct has a venerable history in application to the Japanese past, it is rarely invoked by specialists today, who tend to focus comparative analyses on fundamental differences, rather than superficial parallels between medieval Japan and medieval Europe. This article examines both the history and the utility of the feudal construct, discussing problems inherent to definitions of ‘feudalism’ and surveying changing scholarly perceptions of late classical and early medieval Japan, particularly with regard to three key processes: the appearance of the samurai, the emergence of warrior‐aristocrats as rulers, and the evolution of vassalage and its relationship to benefice.
The Making of the Juvenile Delinquent in Nigeria and South Africa, 1930–1970
Authors: Fourchard Laurent 
Published: February 2010

AbstractIn Nigeria as in South Africa, youth crime is perceived by officials and some academics as a major social and political contemporary concern. The understanding of the origins of youth violence, youth destitution and public policies towards the youth is, however, inadequately informed by academic research. Only a few works have been produced on Nigerian youth crime history while it has become an important subfield of research in the case of South Africa in the framework of the rise of the new social history in this country since the 1980s. In both countries, however, the understanding of youth crime from the point of view of officials remains largely unexplored. It is argued in this article that juvenile delinquency became a central notion popularized from the 1930s onward by officials, politicians, welfare officers, academics and later on by some international organizations, before declining in the 1980s and 1990s. The discovery of ‘delinquents’ by welfare officers or academics actually led to the implementation in both countries of new administrative and judiciary machinery which combined two processes: it legislated ‘juvenile delinquency’ into existence as a clearly identifiable social problem and criminalized a large portion of urban youth. As such the history of the juvenile delinquent in Africa strictly follows state or academic discovery of youth destitution and the setting up of juvenile state institutions rather than it really informs on the history of youth crime. It is thus considered that colonial, post colonial and apartheid policies towards the youth and the children were a central part of the problem of juvenile delinquency not a solution to it.