bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
The Staphylococcus aureus cidC gene encodes a pyruvate oxidase that affects acetate metabolism and cell death in stationary phase
Authors: Patton Toni G. , Rice Kelly C. , Foster Mary K. , Bayles Kenneth W. 
Published: July 2010

SummaryThe Staphylococcus aureus cid and lrg operons have previously been shown to affect murein hydrolase activity and antibiotic tolerance. Based on their similarities to the holin family of proteins it was proposed that the functions of the cidA and lrgA gene products are analogous to bacteriophage‐encoded holin and antiholin proteins respectively. The cid operon expresses two overlapping transcripts, one that spans the cidA, cidB and cidC genes and whose expression is induced by the acetic acid generated by aerobic growth in the presence of excess glucose, and the other that spans the cidB and cidC genes only and is expressed in a sigma B‐dependent manner. In the study presented here, we have focused primarily on the third gene of this operon, cidC. A sequence analysis of the cidC gene product suggested that it encodes a pyruvate oxidase that catalyses the oxidative decarboxylation of pyruvate yielding acetate and CO2. Indeed, a ferricyanide‐based spectrophotometric assay revealed that the cidC mutant produced decreased pyruvate oxidase activity relative to the parental and complemented strains. In the presence of excess glucose the cidC mutant accumulated normal levels of acetic acid in the growth medium, likely because of the activity of the pyruvate dehydrogenase complex. However, in contrast to the wild type and complemented strains, the pH of the cidC mutant culture began to increase gradually until it was able to utilize the acetate for a secondary round of growth. Finally, a mutation in cidA caused reduced cell lysis in stationary phase but only minimally affected cell death. These results indicate that the cidC gene product is involved in the generation of acetic acid that contributes to the cell death and lysis that occurs in high‐glucose stationary phase cultures, while the cidA gene product, a putative holin, controls lysis of the dying cells.
Biosynthesis of tripyrrole and β‐lactam secondary metabolites in Serratia: integration of quorum sensing with multiple new regulatory components in the control of prodigiosin and carbapenem antibiotic production
Authors: Fineran Peter C. , Slater Holly , Everson Lee , Hughes Katie , Salmond George P. C. 
Published: July 2010

SummarySerratia sp. ATCC 39006 (39006) uses a complex hierarchical regulatory network allowing multiple inputs to be assessed before genes involved in secondary metabolite biosynthesis are expressed. This taxonomically ill‐defined Serratia sp. produces a carbapenem antibiotic (Car; a β‐lactam) and a red pigmented antibiotic, prodigiosin (Pig; a tripyrrole), which are controlled by the smaIR quorum sensing (QS) locus. SmaR is a repressor of Pig and Car when levels of N‐acyl‐ l‐homoserine lactones, produced by SmaI, are low. In this study, we demonstrate direct DNA binding of purified SmaR to the promoter of the Car biosynthetic genes and abolition of this binding by the QS ligand. We have also identified multiple new secondary metabolite regulators. QS controls production of secondary metabolites, at least in part, by modulating transcription of three genes encoding regulatory proteins, including a putative response regulator of the GacAS two‐component signalling system family, a novel putative adenylate cyclase and Rap (regulator of antibiotic and pigment). Mutations in another gene encoding a novel predicted global regulator, pigP, are highly pleiotropic; PigP has a significant ‘master’ regulatory role in 39006 where it controls the transcription of six other regulators. The PigP protein and its homologues define a new family of regulators and are predicted to bind DNA via a helix‐turn‐helix domain. There are regulatory overlaps between the QS and PigP regulons that enable the information from different physiological cues to be funnelled into the control of secondary metabolite production.
Histomorphology of the Harderian Gland in the Angora Rabbit
Authors: Bayraktaroğlu A. G. , Ergün E. 
Published: July 2010

With 10 figuresSummaryThis study was aimed to demonstrate the morphological and histochemical properties of the Harderian gland in the Angora rabbit. Ten healthy adult Angora rabbits obtained from private breeders constituted the material of the study. The Harderian gland, which is composed of the pink and white lobes, consists of cells that produce a secretion of lipid character. The pink lobe contained type I cells with large lipid vacuoles. Cells with small lipid vacuoles (type II) were found in the white lobe. Type III cells containing both large and small lipid vacuoles were not observed. While type I cells reacted strongly to staining with Oil red O, type II cells reacted weakly to this stain. The number of plasma cells was greater in the white lobe when compared to the pink lobe. The apical granules within the epithelial cells lining the intralobular and inter‐lobular excretory ducts of the gland were positive for periodic acid‐Schiff (PAS), periodic acid‐Schiff/alcian blue (PAS/AB), alcian blue (AB) and performic acid/alcian blue (PA/AB). Electron microscopic examination revealed that type I cells contain large electron‐light lipid vacuoles and an eccentric heterochromatic nucleus, due to the presence of these vacuoles. The cells, which were connected by tight junctions, possessed apically located microfolds. The nucleus of type II cells was situated basally and had an oval shape. Type II cells had apical microvilli‐like cytoplasmic protrusions, longer than those of type I cells. Oval shaped myoepithelial cells were observed between the glandular epithelial cells and their basal lamina. The epithelium lining the excretory ducts of the gland contained two types of granules, which were dark and lightly coloured. Histochemical and ultrastructural examinations revealed no difference in the structure of the Harderian gland between female and male Angora rabbits.
Is Mating Alone Enough to Inhibit Infanticide in Male Bank Voles?
Authors: Vihervaara Hanne , Sundell Janne , Ylönen Hannu 
Published: July 2010

AbstractInfanticide, the killing of conspecific young, is commonly recognized as an adaptive behavioural strategy enhancing the fitness of the perpetrator. Infanticide is supposed to be inhibited in several male rodent species after mating with a time lag to the time when perpetrators own offspring would be born. This is because males with no parental care do not recognize their own offspring. It has been suggested that copulation alone is enough to inhibit infanticidal behaviour in male rodents. Infanticidal behaviour occurs in more than 50% of male bank voles (Myodes glareolus), and offspring loss because of infanticide may have a great effect on breeding success and population recruitment. In a laboratory experiment, we studied whether infanticidal male bank voles after successful mating stop the killing of pups. Infanticidal males were paired with a female until successful copulation. After the young were born, the males’ infanticidal behaviour was studied from the time of expected birth of own pups until their post‐weaning age. We predicted that mated infanticidal males are inhibited from committing infanticide especially during the time period when pups are less than 10 d old. Against our prediction, 67% of the infanticidal males continued the killing of pups in the age of 3 d. Infanticidal behaviour remained stable, and half of the males were infanticidal still at the age of weaning of pups. Our results are contradictory to previous studies, as we observed no inhibition of infanticide during early life of pups nor increase in infanticide again when their own offspring would have reached the ‘safe’ age and size after weaning. We suggest that mating alone is not sufficient to inhibit infanticide. Thus, we suggest that other cues of the female with whom the male mated with or on her territory are needed for inhibition to occur.
Combining abilities in maize for the length of the internode basal ring, the entry point of the Mediterranean corn borer larvae
Authors: Barros J. , Malvar R. A. , Butrón A. , Santiago R. 
Published: July 2010

With 2 tables AbstractLength of the internode basal ring (LIBR) in maize is a morphological character that has been associated with resistance to Mediterranean corn borer (MCB), Sesamia nonagrioides Lef. The present study is the first research to evaluate the usefulness of this trait in breeding programmes. Six maize hybrids, from a complete diallel set of four inbred lines (two resistant and two susceptible to MCB), were evaluated under early and late sowing conditions at three locations in northwestern Spain. General and specific combining ability (GCA and SCA, respectively) for LIBR were estimated, and LIBR correlations with grain yield and other important agronomic traits were evaluated. Hybrid by environment interactions were not significant for LIBR and the sums of squares partitioning indicated a greater GCA effect (95%), suggesting that this trait is stable and shows important additive effects for this set of hybrids. Correlation coefficients not only indicate that selection for increasing LIBR could enhance grain yield and other related plant traits (height and silking) but also an increase in the MCB susceptibility. Based on the limited number genotypes evaluated, LIBR could be modified by selection; however, if LIBR is used as an indirect selection criterion to improve MCB resistance, then some negative effects on yield may be expected.
Extramedullary plasmacytoma arising from the lacrimal gland
Authors: Sia David IT , Cannon Paul S , Selva Dinesh 
Published: July 2010

AbstractAn 80‐year‐old man presented with an 8‐week history of painless swelling in the right lacrimal gland region with infero‐medial dystopia of the globe. The lesion was excised and histology confirmed an orbital plasmacytoma. Multiple myeloma screening was negative and a solitary extramedullary plasmacytoma arising from the lacrimal gland was diagnosed. The patient was subsequently treated with radiotherapy.
Optic disc area and correlation with central corneal thickness, corneal hysteresis and ocular pulse amplitude in glaucoma patients and controls
Authors: Insull Elizabeth , Nicholas Simon , Ang Ghee Soon , Poostchi Ali , Chan Kenneth , Wells Anthony 
Published: July 2010

AbstractBackground:  To examine the relationships between optic disc area and parameters measured at the cornea; central corneal thickness (CCT), corneal hysteresis (CH) and ocular pulse amplitude (OPA) in glaucoma subjects and controls.Methods:  In this prospective experimental study, patients underwent measurement of CCT, OPA, CH and optic disc imaging with the Heidelberg Retina Tomograph II (HRT‐II). Pearson's correlation coefficient was calculated to assess the associations between optic disc area and CCT, OPA and CH.Results:  A total of 100 patients, 38 with glaucoma and 62 controls were examined. In a univariate analysis of this group, CCT and CH were significantly lower in glaucoma patients (P = 0.01). CCT was inversely correlated with optic disc surface area (Pearson's correlation coefficient r = −0.200; P = 0.05). This inverse correlation did not achieve statistical significance when glaucoma patients and controls were analysed separately. There was no statistically significant association between optic disc area and OPA or CH.Conclusions:  There was an inverse relationship between CCT and optic disc area in this study group. No association was found between optic disc area and OPA or CH.
QUANTIFYING THE QUALITY OF TERTIARY EDUCATION ANNUAL REPORTS
Authors: Coy David , Tower Greg , Dixon Keith 
Published: July 2010

Abstract:Research methods for developing disclosure indices are evaluated in relation to measuring performance for tertiary education bodies. A critique of earlier unweighted, dichotomous studies such as Dixon, Coy and Tower [1991], reveals limitations of such an approach. An alternative method (AD‐Score) is advanced using 3‐point scales to differentiate for: i) the quality of disclosures and, ii) a weighting of the importance of each item.Annual reports from 33 New Zealand tertiary education bodies (1985‐90) were analyzed using both approaches. The results show that the AD‐Score is approximately 10 percentage points lower throughout. The AD‐Score also changed some of the rankings of the institutions. The scoring systems were found to be significantly different in 1990 (but not 1989). Suggestions for further improvements of the AD‐Score are also offered.
THE SHARING OF MEANING BETWEEN ACCOUNTING STUDENTS AND MEMBERS OF THE ACCOUNTING PROFESSION
Authors: Houghton Keith A. , Hronsky Jane J.F. 
Published: July 2010

Abstract.This study examines the extent to which accounting students and practising accountants share the same meanings of fundamental accounting concepts. In doing so, it provides evidence on the suitability of using accounting students as surrogates for accounting practitioners in the study of connotative meaning in accounting.Using the semantic differential technique, the “cognitive structure” (the structure within which meaning is held) as well as the positioning or placement of concepts within the structure were determined for both groups. Each group was found to have a similar cognitive structure (a three dimensional structure comparable to the classic structure found in the psychology literature, Osgood, Suci and Tannenbaum, 1957). However, the placement or positioning of concepts by students within that shared structure was significantly different to that of accounting practitioners.
Capital Culture Revisited: Sex, Testosterone and the City
Authors: McDOWELL LINDA 
Published: July 2010

AbstractIn this essay I want to revisit and add to the arguments in my book Capital Culture: Gender at Work in the City, published a decade before the first signs of the current financial crisis. There I suggested that the City of London, the financial heart of the UK, is an arena riven by sexualized and gendered scripts: in other words capitalism is gendered. A decade or so later, these arguments seem just as relevant as the financial ‘masters of the universe’ are brought low, in part by their own behaviour. Here, I explore more explicitly the implications of testosterone‐fuelled risk taking by both the traders and the chief executive officers of investment banks in the current world of casino capitalism.Résumé Ce travail reprend et complète le propos de Capital Culture: Gender at Work in the City, le livre que j’ai publié une décennie avant l’apparition des premiers signes de la crise financière actuelle. Cet ouvrage préconisait que la City de Londres, cœur financier du Royaume‐Uni, était une arène scindée selon des scénarios différenciés par sexe et genre, autrement dit le capitalisme était sexué. Près de dix ans plus tard, ces propos semblent tout aussi pertinents d’autant que les ‘maîtres de l’univers’ de la finance sont amoindris, en partie à cause de leur propre comportement. Sont examinées ici de plus près les implications des prises de risques nourries à la testostérone auxquelles se livrent à la fois les traders et les directeurs généraux des banques d’investissement dans un monde où règne un capitalisme de casino.
‘Not Relevant to the System’: The Crisis in the Backyards
Authors: BERNT MATTHIAS , RINK DIETER 
Published: July 2010

AbstractThis essay provides insights into the crisis unfolding in the ‘backyards’ of globalization, that is, in regions that are largely abandoned in terms of capital and are characterized by de‐industrialization and depopulation. We take Eastern Germany as an example to examine how the crisis manifests itself in this context. We look at the turmoil around the failed sale of the Opel car company, the acquisition of pre‐fab housing estates by global investors and risky financial transactions by municipal companies to show how crucial decisions about the fate of urban regions have become widely disembedded from local democratic structures. We argue that regions that are ‘not relevant to the system’ are not only particularly hard hit by the current crisis, but are also at considerable disadvantage when attempting to mobilize power to achieve solutions that are adequate to solve their problems.Résumé Ce texte fournit un éclairage sur la crise qui se développe dans les ‘arrière‐cours’ de la mondialisation, autrement dit dans les régions presque totalement délaissées par le capital et marquées par la désindustrialisation et la dépopulation. Le cas de l’Allemagne de l’Est permet d’examiner comment la crise se manifeste dans cet environnement. En étudiant l’agitation autour de la vente avortée d’Opel, l’acquisition d’immeubles de logements en béton préfabriqué par des investisseurs mondiaux et les transactions financières risquées de sociétés municipales, il est montré comment des décisions essentielles pour le destin de régions urbaines se sont largement dissociées des structures démocratiques locales. Les régions ‘inintéressantes pour le système’ sont non seulement particulièrement frappées par la crise actuelle, mais aussi nettement défavorisées lorsqu’elles s’efforcent de mobiliser le pouvoir en place afin de mettre en œuvre des solutions appropriées à leurs problèmes.
Amsterdam in Crisis: How the (Local) State Buffers and Suffers
Authors: ENGELEN EWALD , MUSTERD SAKO 
Published: July 2010

AbstractThe Dutch institutional configuration is unique in its hybrid character. The specific mixture of a strong welfare state and an Anglo‐American‐oriented economy, which is even more pronounced in the case of Amsterdam, creates a buffering capacity. However, this capacity is expected to be insufficient to absorb the entire impact of the current financial and economic crises. The Amsterdam economy, segments of the housing market and urban development in general will be hard hit by the crises. The state will be reasserting itself, but will soon suffer from a lack of investment capital.Résumé La configuration institutionnelle néerlandaise est unique par son caractère hybride. La combinaison singulière d’une protection sociale forte et d’une économie d’orientation anglo‐américaine – encore plus flagrante dans le cas d’Amsterdam – crée une capacité d’amortissement. Celle‐ci devrait toutefois ne pas suffire pour absorber tout l’impact des crises financière et économique actuelles. À Amsterdam, ces dernières vont gravement affecter à la fois l’économie, certains segments du marché du logement et l’urbanisme en général. L’État se rétablira, mais ne tardera pas à souffrir d’un manque de capitaux d’investissement.
Population and individual level effects of over‐winter supplementary feeding mountain hares
Authors: Newey S. , Allison P. , Thirgood S. , Smith A. A. , Graham I. M. 
Published: July 2010

AbstractSupplementary feeding studies are widely used to assess the effects of food availability on herbivore population dynamics. Supplementary feeding studies make the implicit and often untested assumption that supplementary feed is used by the target population. Here we describe and present the results of a supplementary feeding experiment to assess the effects of over‐winter food availability on mountain hare Lepus timidus body condition, fecundity and survival in two fed and two control areas. We used passive induced transponder (PIT) tags and feeding stations equipped with PIT tag readers and data loggers to monitor individual use of supplementary feed. Fifty per cent, of 119 PIT‐tagged hares, which were resident on the fed areas, used food, but individual variation in the time spent feeding was large. Food supplementation was associated with greater male body mass, earlier breeding, higher fecundity and longer survival. At the population (treatment) level these differences were not statistically significant. At the individual level the combined radio‐telemetry and PIT tag data revealed a large and highly significant effect of supplementary feeding on survival. Recent syntheses of mountain hare population ecology have not identified food as a key factor determining dynamics. Our experimental study however demonstrates that food may have profound effects on individuals. In addition our study raises critical questions about the design and interpretation of supplementary feeding studies.
The neurology of coeliac disease in childhood: what is the evidence? A systematic review and meta‐analysis
Authors: LIONETTI ELENA , FRANCAVILLA RUGGIERO , PAVONE PIERO , PAVONE LORENZO , FRANCAVILLA TERESA , PULVIRENTI ALFREDO , GIUGNO ROSALBA , RUGGIERI MARTINO 
Published: July 2010

Aim  The aim of this article was to review and conduct a meta‐analysis of the paediatric literature on the neurology of coeliac disease.Method  We conducted a review of paediatric studies published in English assessing neurological illness in coeliac disease identified through a MEDLINE search (1950–2009). Calculation of computed relative risk, odds ratio, and risk difference was performed using the fixed effect method if applicable.Results  Fifteen studies were analysed (11 772 participants). The meta‐analysis showed that (1) the relative risk of epilepsy in individuals with coeliac disease, and of coeliac disease in individuals with epilepsy, compared with the general population, was 2.1 and 1.7, respectively, and the risk difference was close to zero, indicating that it was probably a chance association; and (2) the relative risk of headache in individuals with the disease compared with comparison groups was 3.2. In two studies, cerebellar ataxia was documented in 2.7 to 5.4% of participants; in two further studies, the risk of cerebellar dysfunction was zero. Two studies found an association between coeliac disease and peripheral neuropathy. Brain white matter lesions were recorded in two other studies. An association between autism and coeliac disease is disputed.Interpretation  Children with coeliac disease are at risk of developing neurological complications, but the risk is lower than in adulthood. The discrepancy might be due to short disease duration, early elimination of gluten from the diet, stricter adherence to diet, or different susceptibility to immune‐mediated disorders.