bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Concentrations of faecal glucocorticoid metabolites in physically injured free‐ranging African elephants Loxodonta africana
Authors: Ganswindt André , Münscher Stefanie , Henley Michelle , Palme Rupert , Thompson Peter , Bertschinger Henk 
Published: October 2010

AbstractFree‐ranging African elephants Loxodonta africana use their front feet frequently during the process of foraging and this could be the reason for the high prevalence of physical injuries to these parts of the body. Although the occurrence of severe lameness caused by foot lesions in adult elephants has already been investigated and the clinical and pathological findings have been reported, the effect of foot injuries on glucocorticoid levels as a potential physiological stress response has not been examined. Given the practical difficulties involved in monitoring unpredictable events in free‐ranging animals, like the occurrence of foot injuries in elephants, it is not surprising that information regarding the endocrine correlates of physical injury is still limited for elephants. In our study we investigated the effects of foot injuries on concentrations of faecal glucocorticoid metabolites (GCM), body condition score (BCS) and reproductive behaviour in two GPS/radio‐collared elephant bulls in the Kruger National Park, South Africa. We monitored the bulls aged 40+ (Bull 1) and 30+ (Bull 2) 2‐3 times per week for 13 months starting in June 2007 and frequently collected faecal samples for non‐invasive hormone monitoring. Faecal samples were lyophilised, extracted and assayed with an enzyme immunoassay which detects GCM with a 3α‐hydroxy‐11‐oxo‐structure. Both bulls acquired foot injuries (right‐front), which caused temporary lameness, but the effect of injury on GCM concentration differed between bulls (P < 0.001). In Bull 1 the injury lasted ± 250 days and was associated with an up to four‐fold increase in GCM concentrations (P < 0.001) and his BCS reduced from ‘good‘ to ‘very thin‘ by the end of the injury period. In Bull 2 the injury lasted 65 days and was associated with a smaller increase in GCM concentrations (P = 0.03) together with a reduced loss in condition when compared to Bull 1. Following recovery, the condition of both bulls improved progressively and faecal GCM returned to baseline concentrations. Collectively, the data clearly underlined the value of non‐invasive hormone measurements as a tool to provide information on the level of stress experienced by elephants. Thus, monitoring GCM levels could help improve the assessment of an elephant's state of health.
Disturbance effects of hunting activity in a willow ptarmigan Lagopus lagopus population
Authors: Br⊘seth Henrik , Pedersen Hans Chr. 
Published: October 2010

AbstractHunting disturbance may affect individuals in a population by modifying their behaviour and spatial movements, which can lead to changes in home‐range size and habitat use or displacement, for example into refuge areas. To evaluate effects of disturbance by recreational hunting activity, we conducted a study with 87 individually radio‐marked willow ptarmigan Lagopus lagopus, in experimentally hunted and non‐hunted units in central Norway during a four‐year period. Contrary to a common belief among many hunters, i.e. that willow ptarmigan abandon a hunting unit in response to hunting activity, none of the birds left hunted units during the first two weeks of the hunting season in our study. Neither, did hunting affect the size of areas used by the ptarmigan or the distance between locations on consecutive days. In fact, day‐to‐day movements tended to be longer in non‐hunted units than in hunted units. Willow ptarmigan responded to the risk of being shot by increasing their use of habitat with dense forest/scrub cover, which provided secure escape sites where birds were more difficult to locate and to shoot by hunters using pointing dogs. The increased use of cover with secure escape sites found for willow ptarmigan indicates that the catch per unit effort of hunters will vary not only with population density, but also with the amount and distribution of dense forest/shrub habitat in hunted units. Where the site‐specific catch per unit effort of hunters is difficult to predict, we recommend a management scheme of harvests based on allowing a predefined number of hunters to hunt for the whole season and a seasonal bag limit per hunter.
Potential of St John's Wort for the Treatment of Depression: The Economic Perspective
Authors: Solomon Daniela , Ford Emily , Adams Jon , Graves Nicholas 
Published: October 2010

The burden of rising health care expenditures has created a demand for information regarding the clinical and economic outcomes associated with complementary and alternative medicines. Meta-analyses of randomized controlled trials have found Hypericum perforatum preparations to be superior to placebo and similarly effective as standard antidepressants in the acute treatment of mild to moderate depression. A clear advantage over antidepressants has been demonstrated in terms of the reduced frequency of adverse effects and lower treatment withdrawal rates, low rates of side effects and good compliance, key variables affecting the cost-effectiveness of a given form of therapy. The most important risk associated with use is potential interactions with other drugs, but this may be mitigated by using extracts with low hyperforin content. As the indirect costs of depression are greater than five times direct treatment costs, given the rising cost of pharmaceutical antidepressants, the comparatively low cost of Hypericum perforatum extract makes it worthy of consideration in the economic evaluation of mild to moderate depression treatments.
Volume change of Jakobshavn Isbræ, West Greenland: 1985–1997–2007
Authors: Motyka Roman J. , Fahnestock Mark , Truffer Martin 
Published: October 2010

AbstractFollowing three decades of relative stability, Jakobshavn Isbræ, West Greenland, underwent dramatic thinning, retreat and speed-up starting in 1998. To assess the amount of ice loss, we analyzed 1985 aerial photos and derived a 40 m grid digital elevation model (DEM). We also obtained a 2007 40 m grid SPOT DEM covering the same region. Comparison of the two DEMs over an area of ∼4000 km2 revealed a total ice loss of 160 ± 4 km3, with 107 ± 0.2 km3 in grounded regions (0.27 mm eustatic sea-level rise) and 53 ± 4 km3 from the disintegration of the floating tongue. Comparison of the DEMs with 1997 NASA Airborne Topographic Mapper data indicates that this ice loss essentially occurred after 1997, with +0.7 ± 5.6 km3 between 1985 and 1997 and −160 ± 7 km3 between 1997 and 2007. The latter is equivalent to an average specific mass balance of −3.7 ± 0.2 m a−1 over the study area. Previously reported thickening of the main glacier during the early 1990s was accompanied by similar-magnitude thinning outside the areas of fast flow, indicating that the land-based ice continued reacting to longer-term climate forcing.
Passive Consensus and Active Commitment in the Sciences
Authors: Bouvier Alban 
Published: October 2010

ABSTRACTGilbert (2000) examined the issue of collective intentionality in science. Her paper consisted of a conceptual analysis of the negative role of collective belief, consensus, and joint commitment in science, with a brief discussion of a case study investigated by Thagard (1998a, 1998b). I argue that Gilbert's concepts have to be refined to be empirically more relevant. Specifically, I distinguish between different kinds of joint commitments. I base my analysis on a close examination of Thagard's example, the discovery ofHelicobacter pylori, and two other historical cases involving the Copenhagen school of quantum mechanics and the Austrian school of economics. I also argue that it is difficult to fulfill the condition of common knowledge, even in Gilbert's weak sense. I conclude by raising serious doubts about the very possibility of a certain type of joint commitment, which I refer to as an implicit joint commitment.
Evidence and Justification in Groups with Conflicting Background Beliefs
Authors: Staley Kent W. 
Published: October 2010

ABSTRACTSome prominent accounts of scientific evidence treat evidence as an unrelativized concept. But whether belief in a hypothesis is justified seems relative to the epistemic situation of the believer. The issue becomes yet more complicated in the context of group epistemic agents, for then one confronts the problem of relativizing to an epistemic situation that may include conflicting beliefs. As a step toward resolution of these difficulties, an ideal of justification is here proposed that incorporates both an unrelativized evidence requirement and the requirement of the security of the evidence on which a conclusion from data is based. The latter requirement incorporates the consideration of epistemic modal statements.
Zero‐sum allocational strategies determine the allometry of specific leaf area
Authors: Price Charles A. , Weitz Joshua S. 
Published: October 2010

• Premise of the study: Specific leaf area (SLA) is a critical component of the leaf economics spectrum, and many functional leaf traits have been empirically demonstrated to covary with SLA. However, a complete understanding of how change in leaf size influences SLA has not yet emerged.• Methods: To help develop a more complete understanding of the determinants of variability in SLA, we present a covariation model of leaf allometry that predicts a zero‐sum interdependence of leaf thickness, density, and surface area on leaf mass. We test the model's predictions on measurements of 900 leaves from 44 angiosperm species.• Key results: We observe that “diminishing returns,” the negative allometry (slope < 1) of surface area versus mass, does not hold universally across species. Rather, the scaling of SLA is linked to the relative allocation to thickness and density. Specifically, diminishing returns are observed when leaves grow thicker, more than their density decreases, with increasing mass. Finally, we confirm model predictions that the allometric dependence of area, thickness, and density on mass can be well approximated by a zero‐sum allocational process.• Conclusions: Our work adds to the growing body of evidence that allometric covariation is a hallmark of the scaling behavior of complex plant and leaf traits. Moreover, because our model makes predictions based on allocational constraints, it provides a foundation to understand how deviations from zero‐sum tradeoffs in allocation to leaf thickness, density, or area determine the allometry of SLA and, ultimately, underlie adaptive strategies within and across plant species.
NON CONVENTIONAL SURFACE FUNCTIONALIZATION OF POROUS POLY-ε-CAPROLACTONE SCAFFOLDS USING BIOACTIVE MOLECULARLY IMPRINTED NANOSPHERES
Authors: Silvestri Davide , Cristallini Caterina , Domenichini Marco , Gagliardi Mariacristina , Giusti Paolo 
Published: October 2010

Polymeric scaffolds, in the form of porous membranes, modified to favour cell adhesion and proliferation on their surface, were prepared using an innovative technique of functionalization, based on molecularly imprinting technology. A series of membranes based on poly-ε-caprolactone were obtained through phase inversion using different solvents and non-solvents. Diffusion tests showed that prepared membranes exhibited a good permeability towards important nutrients such as folic acid and glucose. The ability of membranes, modified with imprinted nanoparticles, to facilitate cell adhesion and proliferation was evaluated by cell culture method using murine fibroblast cell line. SEM analysis at 72 h after seeding revealed an improved cell distribution on the surface of the membranes functionalized by deposition of molecularly imprinted nanoparticles.
SEQUENCE-BASED PREDICTION OF PROTEIN B-FACTORS WITH DUAL SUPERVIZED LEARNING MODELS
Authors: Liu Yu-Cheng , Hwang Shien-Ching , Huang Yu-Feng , Lin Win-Li , Oyang Yen-Jen , Huang Chien-Kang 
Published: October 2010

The B-factor, which is also known as temperature factor or Debby–Waller factor, is an important structural flexibility index of the ground-state protein conformation. In particular, the B-factors associated with a segment of residues, reflect the local flexibility of the corresponding protein tertiary substructure. Recent studies have shown that, for certain families of proteins, there exists a high-degree of correlation between the B-factors and the protein functional sites, including antigenic regions, enzyme active sites, and nucleotide binding sites. This paper presents a sequence–based predictor of B-factors with a dual-model approach.  The design of the dual-model approach has been aimed at exploiting the bi-modal distribution of B-factors in order to achieve higher prediction accuracy. In this paper, the prediction accuracy is measured by Pearson correlation coefficient. Experimental results show that the dual-model predictor proposed in this article is capable of delivering superior correlation coefficient in comparison with two predictors reported in two latest papers.  Though experimental results show that the dual-model proposed in this paper really works more effectively than the conventional approach, it is of interest to continue investigating more advanced designs since there exists a strong correlation between B-factors and protein functional sites. In this respect, identifying additional physiochemical properties that are related to structural flexibility deserves a high-degree of attention.
Critical Role of IL-25 in Nematode Infection-Induced Alterations in Intestinal Function
Authors: Zhao Aiping , Urban Joseph F. , Sun Rex , Stiltz Jennifer , Morimoto Motoko , Notari Luigi , Madden Kathleen B. , Yang Zhonghan , Grinchuk Viktoriya , Ramalingam Thirumalai R. , Wynn Thomas A. , Shea-Donohue Terez 
Published: October 2010

AbstractIL-25 (IL-17E) is a member of the IL-17 cytokine family. IL-25–deficient mice exhibit impaired Th2 immunity against nematode infection, implicating IL-25 as a key component in mucosal immunity. The sources of IL-25 and mechanisms responsible for the induction of Th2 immunity by IL-25 in the gastrointestinal tract remain poorly understood. There is also little information on the regulation of IL-25 during inflammation or its role in gut function. In the current study, we investigated the regulation of IL-25 during Nippostrongylus brasiliensis infection and the contribution of IL-25 to the infection-induced alterations in intestinal function. We found that epithelial cells, but not immune cells, are the major source of IL-25 in the small intestine. N. brasiliensis infection-induced upregulation of IL-25 depends upon IL-13 activation of STAT6. IL-25−/− mice had diminished intestinal smooth muscle and epithelial responses to N. brasiliensis infection that were associated with an impaired Th2 protective immunity. Exogenous IL-25 induced characteristic changes similar to those after nematode infection but was unable to restore the impaired host immunity against N. brasiliensis infection in IL-13−/− mice. These data show that IL-25 plays a critical role in nematode infection-induced alterations in intestinal function that are important for host protective immunity, and IL-13 is the major downstream Th2 cytokine responsible for the IL-25 effects.
Diesel Exhaust Particle-Treated Human Bronchial Epithelial Cells Upregulate Jagged-1 and OX40 Ligand in Myeloid Dendritic Cells via Thymic Stromal Lymphopoietin
Authors: Bleck Bertram , Tse Doris B. , Gordon Terry , Ahsan Mohammad R. , Reibman Joan 
Published: October 2010

Abstract
Ambient particulate matter, including diesel exhaust particles (DEP), promotes the development of allergic disorders. DEP increase oxidative stress and influence human bronchial epithelial cell (HBEC)–dendritic cell interactions via cytokines, including thymic stromal lymphopoietin (TSLP). Upregulation of TSLP results in Th2 responses. Using primary culture HBEC and human myeloid dendritic cell (mDC) cocultures, we show in this study that DEP upregulation of Th2 responses occurred via HBEC-dependent mechanisms that resulted from oxidative stress. Moreover, DEP-treated HBEC and ambient particulate matter-treated HBEC upregulated OX40 ligand (OX40L) and the Notch ligand Jagged-1 mRNA and expression on mDC. Upregulation of OX40L as well as Jagged-1 on mDC required HBEC and did not occur in the presence of N-acetylcysteine. Furthermore, OX40L and Jagged-1 upregulation was inhibited when HBEC expression of TSLP was silenced. Thus, DEP treatment of HBEC targeted two distinct pathways in mDC that were downstream of TSLP expression. Upregulation of OX40L and Jagged-1 by mDC resulted in mDC-driven Th2 responses. These studies expand our understanding of the mechanism by which ambient pollutants alter mucosal immunity and promote disorders such as asthma.
Memory-Reduction Method for Pricing American-Style Options under Exponential Lévy Processes
Authors: Chan Raymond H. , Wu Tao 
Published: October 2010

AbstractThis paper concerns the Monte Carlo method in pricing American-style options under the general class of exponential Lévy models. Traditionally, one must store all the intermediate asset prices so that they can be used for the backward pricing in the least squares algorithm. Therefore the storage requirement grows like , where m is the number of time steps and n is the number of simulated paths. In this paper, we propose a simulation method where the storage requirement is only . The total computational cost is less than twice that of the traditional method. For machines with limited memory, one can now enlarge m and n to improve the accuracy in pricing the options. In numerical experiments, we illustrate the efficiency and accuracy of our method by pricing American options where the log-prices of the underlying assets follow typical Lévy processes such as Brownian motion, lognormal jump-diffusion process, and variance gamma process.
Modified Verlet Method Involving Second-Order Mid-Point Rule Applied to Balls Falling in One-Dimensional Potentials
Authors: Yasuda Hidenori 
Published: October 2010

AbstractA modified Verlet method which involves a kind of mid-point rule is constructed and applied to the one-dimensional motion of elastic balls of finite size, falling under constant gravity in space and then under the chemical potential in the interface region of phase separation within a two-liquid film. When applied to the simulation of two balls falling under constant gravity in space, the new method is found to be computationally superior to the usual Verlet method and to Runge–Kutta methods, as it allows a larger time step for comparable accuracy. The main purpose of this paper is to develop an efficient numerical method to simulate balls in the interface region of phase separation within the two-liquid film, where the ball motion is coupled with two-phase flow. The two-phase flow in the film is described via shallow water equations, using an invariant finite difference scheme that accurately resolves the interface region. A larger time step in computing the ball motion, more comparable with the time step in computing the two-phase flow, is a significant advantage. The computational efficiency of the new method in the coupled problem is demonstrated for the case of four elastic balls in the two-liquid film.
A Comparative Method for Analysing Toponome Image Stacks
Authors: Barysenka Andrei , Dress Andreas W. M. , Schubert Walter 
Published: October 2010

AbstractWe present a technique to find threshold values that allows the user to separate signal from noise in fluorescence grey-level images. It can be classified as a purely comparative method based upon the amount of “Mutual Information” between two or more florescence images, and we apply it to stacks of such images produced using the newly-developed MELK technology. Our results are compared to results obtained by another research group using a quite different (completely independent and more technology-based) approach; and also to results obtained using Otsu's Thresholding Method, yet another completely distinct approach invented to separate foreground and background in a grey-level image, based on minimising “intra-class variance” [9,10]. The remarkably good agreement found suggests that our proposed comparative information based method not only accounts for the biological mechanisms governing cellular protein networks very well, but also (and probably much more importantly) shows that cells actually organise the spatial structure of their protein networks in a highly non-random fashion as might be expected – and thereby try to optimise their “mutual information content”, and thus most probably their efficiency.
Uma outra face dos metadados: informações para a gestão da preservação digital
Authors: Sayão Luís Fernando 
Published: October 2010

O conceito tradicional de metadado pode ser ampliado para abrigar um conjunto de informações que apóiem as atividades de gestão da preservação de materiais digitais. Esse tipo de metadados, chamados de metadados de preservação, tem como função instruir e documentar os processos de preservação digital de longo prazo, garantindo que os conteúdos digitais possam ser acessados e interpretados no futuro. Nos últimos anos foram desenvolvidos inúmeros esquemas e infraestruturas de metadados voltados para a preservação digital, que tiveram como maior desafio antecipar que informações são realmente necessárias para suportar um processo específico de preservação. A iniciativa mais importante e mais abrangente nesse campo é o dicionário de dados PREMIS cujo desenvolvimento teve como base a infraestrutura conceitual definida pela norma OAIS. A idéia básica deste trabalho é revisar os principais conceitos, padrões e tecnologias envolvidos no desenvolvimento de esquemas de metadados de preservação.
A finite element analysis of masticatory stress hypotheses
Authors: Chalk Janine , Richmond Brian G. , Ross Callum F. , Strait David S. , Wright Barth W. , Spencer Mark A. , Wang Qian , Dechow Paul C. 
Published: October 2010

AbstractUnderstanding how the skull transmits and dissipates forces during feeding provides insights into the selective pressures that may have driven the evolution of primate skull morphology. Traditionally, researchers have interpreted masticatory biomechanics in terms of simple global loading regimes applied to simple shapes (i.e., bending in sagittal and frontal planes, dorsoventral shear, and torsion of beams and cylinders). This study uses finite element analysis to examine the extent to which these geometric models provide accurate strain predictions in the face and evaluate whether simple global loading regimes predict strains that approximate the craniofacial deformation pattern observed during mastication. Loading regimes, including those simulating peak loads during molar chewing and those approximating the global loading regimes, were applied to a previously validated finite element model (FEM) of a macaque (Macaca fascicularis) skull, and the resulting strain patterns were compared. When simple global loading regimes are applied to the FEM, the resulting strains do not match those predicted by simple geometric models, suggesting that these models fail to generate accurate predictions of facial strain. Of the four loading regimes tested, bending in the frontal plane most closely approximates strain patterns in the circumorbital region and lateral face, apparently due to masseter muscle forces acting on the zygomatic arches. However, these results indicate that no single simple global loading regime satisfactorily accounts for the strain pattern found in the validated FEM. Instead, we propose that FE models replace simple cranial models when interpreting bone strain data and formulating hypotheses about craniofacial biomechanics. Am J Phys Anthropol, 2011. © 2010 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.