bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Russia's economic reform: insights and analyses into Gazprom
Authors: Yang Tzu‐Yi , Yang Yu‐Tai , Bishop Barry , Shen Ming‐Chan 
Published: June 2011

AbstractThis study continues the issue of Russian economic reform in the study by Quast and Locatelli (1997) and extends the same reform in many aspects. In this paper, an in‐depth study is also made in the reform strategies and the business performance of Gazprom, Russia's natural gas company, as Russia tried to curtail its domestic political and economic problems by means of the organisational reform (privatisation) of Gazprom starting in 1993. This study discovered that Gazprom had truly been a private corporation before 2005; however, it became practically a state‐run business after 2005. We further disclose that Gazprom's business performance after the reform did not come from the corporate organisational reform but rather resulted from the increase of natural gas prices and was irrelevant to the production capacity. Data in many aspects, such as the adoption of privatisation, liquefied natural gas, sole proprietorship, merger and the strategy of market diversification, are used in this study to sustain Gazprom's business performance after the reform. However, it is believed that the key factor of these changes was whether Russia's ruling party could really transform a state‐run business into a private enterprise, as otherwise, any economic reform would be a transient happening for the Russian economy.
Casimir: An Architecture for Mental Spatial Knowledge Processing
Authors: Schultheis Holger , Barkowsky Thomas 
Published: June 2011

AbstractMental spatial knowledge processing often uses spatio‐analogical or quasipictorial representation structures such as spatial mental models or mental images. The cognitive architecture Casimir is designed to provide a framework for computationally modeling human spatial knowledge processing relying on these kinds of representation formats. In this article, we present an overview of Casimir and its components. We briefly describe the long‐term memory component and the interaction with external diagrammatic representations. Particular emphasis is placed on Casimir’s working memory and control mechanisms. Regarding working memory, we describe the conceptual foundations and the processing mechanisms employed in mental spatial reasoning. With respect to control, we explain how it is realized as a distributed, emergent facility within Casimir.
AN ALTERNATIVE PERSPECTIVE ON SOUTH AFRICA'S PUBLIC DEBT, 1962‐1994
Authors: CALITZ ESTIAN , DU PLESSIS STAN , SIEBRITS KRIGE 
Published: June 2011

AbstractThe history of public debt reflects the cumulative effect of fiscal decisions and real outcomes in the economy. In the South African case the published record on public debt distorts the historical perspective on the associated fiscal decisions. This paper shows the impact of adjusting the South African public debt on an accrual basis to take account of two major obligations assumed in the first half of the 1990s, namely actuarial pension fund deficits and government debt of the apartheid homelands. The adjusted series is less volatile and rose less steeply between 1989 and 1996 than the official, cash‐based debt series. Failing to account for the evolution of these obligations exaggerates the impression of weak fiscal discipline in the early 1990s and exemplary fiscal prudence in preceding decades.
FOOD INFLATION IN SOUTH AFRICA: SOME IMPLICATIONS FOR ECONOMIC POLICY
Authors: RANGASAMY LOGAN 
Published: June 2011

AbstractThis paper analyses the trends in food price movements in South Africa between 1980 and 2008. There are three main results emanating from the analysis in this paper. Firstly, food price movements have played a large role in generating inflationary episodes in South Africa. Secondly, while external influences do matter, South African food price movements are mainly due to domestic influences. This implies that national policy has an important role to play in taming domestic food price inflation. Thirdly, given the strong second round impacts, food price movements warrant special attention in monetary policymaking. Core measures of inflation that exclude food price movements may not accurately reflect the underlying inflationary pressures in the economy and could compromise the attainment of the goal of price stability.
YOUTH UNEMPLOYMENT, FIRM SIZE AND RESERVATION WAGES IN SOUTH AFRICA
Authors: RANKIN NEIL A. , ROBERTS GARETH 
Published: June 2011

AbstractThe level of youth unemployment in South Africa is much higher than in comparator countries. We investigate whether one of the reasons may be that the wages young people want or need are above those that they could reasonably expect to earn given their characteristics. Unlike previous work on the relationship between reservation wages and unemployment we differentiate between wages in different sizes of firms. Larger firms pay more and thus, even if reservation wages are similar to average predicted wages, they may be above the wages that young people could expect to earn in smaller firms. We find that this is the case.
Design and Verification of a Pangenome Microarray Oligonucleotide Probe Set for Dehalococcoides spp
Authors: Hug Laura A. , Salehi Maryam , Nuin Paulo , Tillier Elisabeth R. , Edwards Elizabeth A. 
Published: June 2011

ABSTRACT

Dehalococcoides
spp. are an industrially relevant group of
Chloroflexi
bacteria capable of reductively dechlorinating contaminants in groundwater environments. Existing
Dehalococcoides
genomes revealed a high level of sequence identity within this group, including 98 to 100% 16S rRNA sequence identity between strains with diverse substrate specificities. Common molecular techniques for identification of microbial populations are often not applicable for distinguishing
Dehalococcoides
strains. Here we describe an oligonucleotide microarray probe set designed based on clustered
Dehalococcoides
genes from five different sources (strain DET195, CBDB1, BAV1, and VS genomes and the KB-1 metagenome). This “pangenome” probe set provides coverage of core
Dehalococcoides
genes as well as strain-specific genes while optimizing the potential for hybridization to closely related, previously unknown
Dehalococcoides
strains. The pangenome probe set was compared to probe sets designed independently for each of the five
Dehalococcoides
strains. The pangenome probe set demonstrated better predictability and higher detection of
Dehalococcoides
genes than strain-specific probe sets on nontarget strains with <99% average nucleotide identity. An
in silico
analysis of the expected probe hybridization against the recently released
Dehalococcoides
strain GT genome and additional KB-1 metagenome sequence data indicated that the pangenome probe set performs more robustly than the combined strain-specific probe sets in the detection of genes not included in the original design. The pangenome probe set represents a highly specific, universal tool for the detection and characterization of
Dehalococcoides
from contaminated sites. It has the potential to become a common platform for
Dehalococcoides
-focused research, allowing meaningful comparisons between microarray experiments regardless of the strain examined.
Successful pregnancies with uterine leiomyomas and myomectomy at the time of caesarean section
Authors: Mu Yu-Lan , Wang Shan , Hao Jing , Shi Min , Yelian Frank D , Wang Xie-Tong 
Published: June 2011

ABSTRACT

Objective
To ascertain the impact of uterine leiomyomas on pregnancy outcome, and to determine the effectiveness of myomectomy at the time of caesarean delivery.

Methods
A retrospective study was conducted on pregnant women with uterine leiomyomas. Clinical information including the course of the pregnancy, mode of delivery, pathology findings, and postpartum course were extracted from medical records and analysed for statistical significance.

Results
There were 50 pregnancies associated with uterine leiomyomas. During pregnancy, the leiomyomas grew &gt;2 cm in 46% of cases. Only 6% were affected by symptoms of red degeneration. There were 2% mid trimester inductions of labour, 6% vaginal deliveries, and 92% caesarean sections. Of the 46 caesarean sections, 47% were due to obstetrical factors and 89% of patients underwent myomectomy at the time of caesarean delivery. The mean blood loss from myomectomy at the time of caesarean section was 260 ml (200–700 ml), and 5% of patients who underwent myomectomy were transfused.

Conclusions
It is possible to carry a pregnancy successfully to term when the pregnancy is complicated by uterine leiomyomas. When caesarean delivery is needed, myomectomy can be performed at the time of caesarean section routinely without significant complications.
Melanoma Prognosis: A REMARK-Based Systematic Review and Bioinformatic Analysis of Immunohistochemical and Gene Microarray Studies
Authors: Schramm Sarah-Jane , Mann Graham J. 
Published: June 2011

AbstractDespite intensive research efforts, within-stage survival rates for melanoma vary widely. Pursuit of molecular biomarkers with improved prognostic significance over clinicohistological measures has produced extensive literature. Reviews have synthesized these data, but none have systematically partitioned high-quality studies from the remainder across different molecular methods nor examined system properties of that output. Databases were searched for studies analyzing protein expression by immunohistochemistry (n = 617, extending the only systematic review to date by 102 studies) or for gene expression microarray studies (n = 45) in melanoma in relation to outcome. REMARK-derived criteria were applied to identify high-quality studies. Biomarkers and pathways were functionally assessed by using gene ontology software. Most manuscripts did not meet REMARK-based criteria, an ongoing trend that can impede translational research. Across REMARK-compliant literature, 41 proteins were significantly associated with outcome. Multimarker tests consistently emerged among the most promising potential biomarkers, indicating a need to continue assessing candidates in that composite setting. Twenty-one canonical pathways were populated by outcome-related proteins but not by those that failed to show such an association; we propose that this set of pathways warrants closer investigation to understand drivers of poor outcome in melanoma. Two-gene expression microarray studies met REMARK-based criteria reflecting a genuine paucity of literature in the area. The 254 outcome-related genes were examined for correspondences with the systematically identified protein signature. This analysis highlighted proliferating cell nuclear antigen and survivin as priorities for further examination as biomarkers in melanoma prognosis, and illustrated ongoing need to integrate alternative approaches to biomarker discovery in melanoma translational research. Mol Cancer Ther; 10(8); 1520–8. ©2011 AACR.
Retinal Arteriolar Tortuosity and Cardiovascular Risk Factors in a Multi-Ethnic Population Study of 10-Year-Old Children; the Child Heart and Health Study in England (CHASE)
Authors: Owen Christopher G. , Rudnicka Alicja R. , Nightingale Claire M. , Mullen Robert , Barman Sarah A. , Sattar Naveed , Cook Derek G. , Whincup Peter H. 
Published: June 2011

Objective—
To examine the association between cardiovascular risk factors and retinal arteriolar tortuosity in a multi-ethnic child population.

Methods and Results—
Cross sectional study of 986 UK primary school children of South Asian, black African Caribbean, and white European origin aged 10 to 11 years. Anthropometric measurements and retinal imaging were carried out and a fasting blood sample collected. Digital images of retinal arterioles were analyzed using a validated semiautomated measure of tortuosity. Associations between tortuosity and cardiometabolic risk factors were analyzed using multi-level linear regression, adjusted for gender, age, ethnicity, arteriole branch status, month, and school. Levels of arteriolar tortuosity were similar in boys and girls and in different ethnic groups. Retinal arteriolar tortuosity was positively associated with levels of triglyceride, total and LDL cholesterol, and systolic and diastolic blood pressure. One standard deviation increases in these risk factors were associated with 3.7% (95% CI: 1.2%, 6.4%), 3.3% (0.9%, 5.8%), 3.1% (0.6%, 5.6%), 2.0% (−0.3%, 4.2%), and 2.3% (0.1%, 4.6%) increases in tortuosity, respectively. Adiposity, insulin resistance, and blood glucose showed no associations with tortuosity.

Conclusion—
Established cardiovascular risk factors, strongly linked to coronary heart disease in adulthood, may influence retinal arteriolar tortuosity at the end of the first decade of life.
Chromobox Protein Homolog 3 Is Essential for Stem Cell Differentiation to Smooth Muscles In Vitro and in Embryonic Arteriogenesis
Authors: Xiao Qingzhong , Wang Gang , Yin Xiaoke , Luo Zhenling , Margariti Andriani , Zeng Lingfang , Mayr Manuel , Ye Shu , Xu Qingbo 
Published: June 2011

Objective—
Smooth muscle cell (SMC) differentiation is a critical process during cardiovascular formation and development, but the underlying molecular mechanism remains unclear.

Methods and Results—
Here we demonstrated that chromobox protein homolog 3 (Cbx3) is crucial for SMC differentiation from stem cells and that the chromodomain and chromoshadow domain of Cbx3 are responsible for Cbx3-induced SMC differentiation. Moreover, we identified that 4 amino acids (165 to 168) within the chromoshadow domain of Cbx3 are key elements for Cbx3 interaction with Dia-1- and Cbx3-induced SMC differentiation. Mechanistically, we found that Cbx3 mediates SMC differentiation through modulating serum response factor (SRF) recruitment to the promoters of SMC genes, in which the interaction between Cbx3 and Dia-1/SRF plays a crucial role in this process. Moreover, our in vivo study demonstrated that the misexpression of Cbx3 within neural crest cells of chick embryos resulted in the death of chick embryos at early stages because of the maldevelopment of branchial arch arteries.

Conclusion—
Our findings suggest that the interaction between Cbx3 and Dia-1/SRF is essential for SMC differentiation from stem cells and for the development of functional cardiovascular system.
Botulinum Toxin Injection in Epicardial Autonomic Ganglia Temporarily Suppresses Vagally Mediated Atrial Fibrillation
Authors: Oh Seil , Choi Eue-Keun , Zhang Youhua , Mazgalev Todor N. 
Published: June 2011

Background—
Autonomic denervation may suppress atrial fibrillation (AF) vulnerability. This study was designed to assess the short- to mid-term effects of botulinum toxin, a cholinergic neurotransmission blocker, on AF inducibility.

Methods and Results—
A total of 23 mongrel dogs were studied. The sinus node and atrioventricular node epicardial fat pads were exposed through a right lateral thoracotomy. Botulinum toxin (Botox, 50 U per fat pad) or 0.9% normal saline (control) was injected into the center of each of the 2 fat pads. The electrophysiological effects were evaluated at 1, 2, and 3 weeks (7 to 8 animals at each time point) with and without cervical vagal stimulation. The vagal stimulation effects on the sinus and atrioventricular nodes were inhibited, and dispersion of atrial effective refractory period was lower at 1 week in the Botox group. Significant suppression of AF inducibility was observed at 1 week but disappeared at 2 and 3 weeks. These changes were not observed in the control group.

Conclusions—
Temporary suppression of vagally mediated AF, for at least 1 week, was achieved with botulinum toxin injection in this canine model. This effect might be associated with reduced dispersion of effective refractory period. A temporary autonomic block using botulinum toxin might be a novel therapeutic option for several clinical conditions such as post–cardiac surgery AF.
Subtherapeutic International Normalized Ratio in Warfarin-Treated Patients Increases the Risk for Symptomatic Intracerebral Hemorrhage After Intravenous Thrombolysis
Authors: Seet Raymond C.S. , Zhang Yi , Moore S. Arthur , Wijdicks Eelco F. , Rabinstein Alejandro A. 
Published: June 2011

Background and Purpose—
There is uncertainty whether warfarin-treated patients (despite international normalized ratio <1.7) have increased risks of symptomatic intracerebral hemorrhage after intravenous thrombolysis.

Methods—
Vascular risk factors, stroke subtype, and outcome measures were compared between warfarin- and nonwarfarin-treated patients undergoing acute thrombolysis within 3 hours of symptom onset.

Results—
From 212 patients (mean age, 74±14 years; 50% men) studied, 14 (6.5%) had prior warfarin use. After adjusting for age, baseline National Institutes of Health Stroke Scale, and stroke subtype, warfarin-treated patients had significantly increased risks of developing symptomatic intracerebral hemorrhage (adjusted OR, 14.7; 95% CI, 1.3 to 54.3). A trend for poorer stroke recovery and increased mortality was observed in warfarin-treated patients on univariate, but not on multivariable, analyses.

Conclusions—
Warfarin-treated patients with stroke have increased risks of symptomatic intracerebral hemorrhage after thrombolytic treatment. These data raise safety concerns of thrombolytic treatment in warfarin-treated patients with subtherapeutic international normalized ratio.
The Theoretician’s Clouds—Heavier or Lighter than Air? On Densities in Atmospheric Thermodynamics
Authors: Pelkowski Joachim , Frisius Thomas 
Published: June 2011

AbstractThreefold densities may be introduced into atmospheric thermodynamics. For rainless clouds the general indirect or implicit conclusion is that they are denser than moist air under the same circumstances, although in a classic treatise a different conclusion was reached, to the effect that cloudy air (containing water and/or ice) is less dense than moist air under the same pressure and temperature. By reconsidering carefully different ways of determining densities, any doubts that may linger after reading the scant literature dealing explicitly with the density of a cloud are dispelled.
A Model of Atlantic Heat Content and Sea Level Change in Response to Thermohaline Forcing
Authors: Zhai Xiaoming , Johnson Helen L. , Marshall David P. 
Published: June 2011

Abstract
The response of ocean heat content in the Atlantic to variability in the meridional overturning circulation (MOC) at high latitudes is investigated using a reduced-gravity model and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) general circulation model (MITgcm). Consistent with theoretical predictions, the zonal-mean heat content anomalies are confined to low latitudes when the high-latitude MOC changes rapidly, but extends to mid- and high latitudes when the high-latitude MOC varies on decadal or multidecadal time scales. This low-pass-filtering effect of the mid- and high latitudes on zonal-mean heat content anomalies, termed here the “Rossby buffer,” is shown to be associated with the ratio of Rossby wave basin-crossing time to the forcing period at high northern latitudes. Experiments using the MITgcm also reveal the importance of advective spreading of cold water in the deep ocean, which is absent in the reduced-gravity model. Implications for monitoring ocean heat content and sea level changes are discussed in the context of both models. It is found that observing global sea level variability and sea level rise using tide gauges can substantially overestimate the global-mean values.
Assessing the Roles of Three Eddy Types in Restratifying the Labrador Sea after Deep Convection
Authors: Gelderloos Renske , Katsman Caroline A. , Drijfhout Sybren S. 
Published: June 2011

Abstract
Restratification after deep convection is one of the key factors in determining the temporal variability of dense water formation in the Labrador Sea. In the subsurface, it is primarily governed by lateral buoyancy fluxes during early spring. The roles of three different eddy types in this process are assessed using an idealized model of the Labrador Sea that simulates the restratification season. The first eddy type, warm-core Irminger rings, is shed from the boundary current along the west coast of Greenland. All along the coastline, the boundary current forms boundary current eddies. The third type, convective eddies, arises directly around the convection area. In the model, the latter two eddy types are together responsible for replenishing 30% of the winter heat loss within 6 months. Irminger rings add another 45% to this number. The authors’ results thus confirm that the presence of Irminger rings is essential for a realistic amount of restratification in this area. The model results are compared to observations using theoretical estimates of restratification time scales derived for the three eddy types. The time scales are also used to explain contradicting conclusions in previous studies on their respective roles.
Robust Ensemble Filtering and Its Relation to Covariance Inflation in the Ensemble Kalman Filter
Authors: Luo Xiaodong , Hoteit Ibrahim 
Published: June 2011

Abstract
A robust ensemble filtering scheme based on the H∞ filtering theory is proposed. The optimal H∞ filter is derived by minimizing the supremum (or maximum) of a predefined cost function, a criterion different from the minimum variance used in the Kalman filter. By design, the H∞ filter is more robust than the Kalman filter, in the sense that the estimation error in the H∞ filter in general has a finite growth rate with respect to the uncertainties in assimilation, except for a special case that corresponds to the Kalman filter.
The original form of the H∞ filter contains global constraints in time, which may be inconvenient for sequential data assimilation problems. Therefore a variant is introduced that solves some time-local constraints instead, and hence it is called the time-local H∞ filter (TLHF). By analogy to the ensemble Kalman filter (EnKF), the concept of ensemble time-local H∞ filter (EnTLHF) is also proposed. The general form of the EnTLHF is outlined, and some of its special cases are discussed. In particular, it is shown that an EnKF with certain covariance inflation is essentially an EnTLHF. In this sense, the EnTLHF provides a general framework for conducting covariance inflation in the EnKF-based methods. Some numerical examples are used to assess the relative robustness of the TLHF–EnTLHF in comparison with the corresponding KF–EnKF method.
Observations of the Surface Boundary Structure within the 23 May 2007 Perryton, Texas, Supercell
Authors: Skinner Patrick S. , Weiss Christopher C. , Schroeder John L. , Wicker Louis J. , Biggerstaff Michael I. 
Published: June 2011

AbstractIn situ data collected within a weakly tornadic, high-precipitation supercell occurring on 23 May 2007 near Perryton, Texas, are presented. Data were collected using a recently developed fleet of 22 durable, rapidly deployable probes dubbed “StickNet” as well as four mobile mesonet probes. Kinematic and thermodynamic observations of boundaries within the supercell are described in tandem with an analysis of data from the Shared Mobile Atmospheric Research and Teaching Radar.Observations within the rear-flank downdraft of the storm exhibit large deficits of both virtual potential temperature and equivalent potential temperature, with a secondary rear-flank downdraft gust front trailing the mesocyclone. A primarily thermodynamic boundary resided across the forward-flank reflectivity gradient of the supercell. This boundary is characterized by small deficits in virtual potential temperature coupled with positive perturbations of equivalent potential temperature. The opposing thermodynamic perturbations appear to be representative of modified storm inflow, with a flux of water vapor responsible for the positive perturbations of the equivalent potential temperature. Air parcels exhibiting negative perturbations of virtual potential temperature and positive perturbations of equivalent potential temperature have the ability to be a source of both baroclinically generated streamwise horizontal vorticity and greater potential buoyancy if ingested by the low-level mesocyclone.