bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Chronic stress, allostatic load, and aging in nonhuman primates
Authors: Maestripieri Dario , Hoffman Christy L. 
Published: October 2011

AbstractAllostatic load is the “wear and tear” of the body resulting from the repeated activation of compensatory physiological mechanisms in response to chronic stress. Allostatic load can significantly affect the aging process and result in reduced longevity, accelerated aging, and impaired health. Although low socioeconomic status is associated with high allostatic load during aging, the effects of status-related psychosocial stress on allostatic load are often confounded by lifestyle variables. Chronic psychosocial stress associated with low dominance rank in nonhuman primates represents an excellent animal model with which to investigate allostatic load and aging in humans. Research conducted with free-ranging rhesus monkeys suggests that female reproduction can also be a source of stress and allostatic load. Female reproduction is associated with increased risk of mortality and hyperactivation of the hypothalamic–pituitary–adrenal axis. Reproduction is especially stressful and costly for aging females of low rank. Although many indicators of body condition and neuroendocrine and immune function are influenced by aging, there are marked and stable individual differences among aging females in body condition, plasma cortisol responses to stress, and cytokine responses to stress. These differences are consistent with the hypothesis that there are strong differences in chronic stress among individuals, and that allostatic load resulting from chronic stress affects health during aging. Comparisons between captive and free-ranging rhesus monkey populations may allow us to understand how differences in environmental stress and allostatic load affect rates of aging, and how these in turn translate into differences in longevity and health.
Clinical Phenotype and Mutation Spectrum of the CYP21A2 Gene in Patients with Steroid 21-Hydroxylase Deficiency
Authors: Choi J.-H. , Jin H.-Y. , Lee B. , Ko J. , Lee J.-J. , Kim G.-H. , Jung C.-W. , Lee J. , Yoo H.-W. 
Published: October 2011

AbstractSteroid 21-hydroxylase deficiency is caused by inactivating mutations in the CYP21A2 gene. This paper reports on the mutation spectrum and the genotype-phenotype correlation of 21-hydroxylase deficiency. 72 unrelated patients with congenital adrenal hyperplasia (CAH) were included. Molecular analysis of CYP21A2 was performed, via the multiplex ligation-dependent probe amplification (MLPA) analysis and sequence-specific differenzial PCR amplification of the CYP21A2 and CYP21A1P genes, using 4 pair-wise sequence-specific primers, followed by sequencing of the entire CYP21A2 gene. Large gene deletions were identified in 45 (31.3%) of the 144 unrelated CAH alleles, whereas the most frequent point mutations were intron 2 splice mutations (c.293-13A>G) (41/144, 28.5%). The MLPA analysis successfully identified 23 of 72 patients (31.9%) with single copy deletion in CYP21A2. This paper describes a rapid and accurate method for the molecular diagnosis of 21-hydroxylase deficiency, which relies on the identification of point mutations and structural rearrangements within the CYP21A2 gene.
Analysis of entries into the penalty area as a performance indicator in soccer
Authors: Ruiz‐Ruiz Carlos , Fradua Luis , Fernández‐GarcÍa Ángel , Zubillaga Asier 
Published: October 2011

AbstractThis study examines entries into the penalty area as a performance indicator that distinguishes between winning, drawing and losing soccer teams. It assesses whether entries into the penalty area are influenced by match status, a player's dismissal and the respective quality of the competing teams. Two observers analysed the relation between defensive and offensive strategies and their scoring consequences for all 64 matches played in the 2006 World Cup. Kappa values ranged between 0.93 and 0.98 for intra‐reliability and between 0.88 and 0.98 for inter‐reliability. It was found that winning teams received significantly fewer entries into their own penalty area (mean=41.42, s=11.86) than drawing (mean=50.07, s=14.75) and losing teams (mean=47.23, s=12.14). Teams that received more entries into their own penalty area than the opposing team were significantly more likely to concede a goal (P <0.001). Teams losing by one (mean=0.41, s=0.21), two (mean=0.42, s=0.26) or more than two goals (mean=0.34, s=0.13) received significantly fewer entries into the penalty area per minute than teams winning by one (mean=0.55, s=0.27) or two goals (mean=0.59, s=0.39). Teams with fewer players on the pitch received significantly more entries into the penalty area per minute than teams with more (mean=0.22, s=0.07) or the same number (mean=0.14, s=0.05) of players. Based on these results, it is suggested that teams should enter the opposing team's penalty area but should not allow their opponents to do the same. These results also highlight the significance of the dismissal of a player.
A system-level approach for deciphering the transcriptional response to prion infection
Authors: Zampieri Mattia , Legname Giuseppe , Segrè Daniel , Altafini Claudio 
Published: October 2011

Abstract
Motivation: Deciphering the response of a complex biological system to an insulting event, at the gene expression level, requires adopting theoretical models that are more sophisticated than a one-to-one comparison (i.e. t-test). Here, we investigate the ability of a novel reverse engineering approach (System Response Inference) to unveil non-obvious transcriptional signatures of the system response induced by prion infection.
Results: To this end, we analyze previously published gene expression data, from which we extrapolate a putative full-scale model of transcriptional gene–gene dependencies in the mouse central nervous system. Then, we use this nominal model to interpret the gene expression changes caused by prion replication, aiming at selecting the genes primarily influenced by this perturbation. Our method sheds light on the mode of action of prions by identifying key transcripts that are the most likely to be responsible for the overall transcriptional rearrangement from a nominal regulatory network. As a first result of our inference, we have been able to predict known targets of prions (i.e. PrPC) and to unveil the potential role of previously unsuspected genes.
Contact: altafini@sissa.it
Supplementary Information: Supplementary data are available at Bioinformatics online.
MetaRank: a rank conversion scheme for comparative analysis of microbial community compositions
Authors: Wang Tse-Yi , Su Chien-Hao , Tsai Huai-Kuang 
Published: October 2011

Abstract
Motivation: Metagenomics involves sampling and studying the genetic materials in microbial communities. Several statistical methods have been proposed for comparative analysis of microbial community compositions. Most of the methods are based on the estimated abundances of taxonomic units or functional groups from metagenomic samples. However, such estimated abundances might deviate from the true abundances in habitats due to sampling biases and other systematic artifacts in metagenomic data processing.
Results: We developed the MetaRank scheme to convert abundances into ranks. MetaRank employs a series of statistical hypothesis tests to compare abundances within a microbial community and determine their ranks. We applied MetaRank to synthetic samples and real metagenomes. The results confirm that MetaRank can reduce the effects of sampling biases and clarify the characteristics of metagenomes in comparative studies of microbial communities. Therefore, MetaRank provides a useful rank-based approach to analyzing microbiomes.
Contact: hktsai@iis.sinica.edu.tw
Supplementary Information: Supplementary data are available at Bioinformatics online.
A Gain-of-function Mutation in Adenylate Cyclase Confers Isoflurane Resistance in Caenorhabditis elegans
Authors: Saifee Owais , Metz Laura B. , Nonet Michael L. , Crowder C. Michael 
Published: October 2011

Background
Volatile general anesthetics inhibit neurotransmitter release by a mechanism not fully understood. Genetic evidence in Caenorhabditis elegans has shown that a major mechanism of action of volatile anesthetics acting at clinical concentrations in this animal is presynaptic inhibition of neurotransmission. To define additional components of this presynaptic volatile anesthetic mechanism, C. elegans mutants isolated as phenotypic suppressors of a mutation in syntaxin, an essential component of the neurotransmitter release machinery, were screened for anesthetic sensitivity phenotypes.

Methods
Sensitivity to isoflurane concentrations was measured in locomotion assays on adult C. elegans. Sensitivity to the acetylcholinesterase inhibitor aldicarb was used as an assay for the global level of C. elegans acetylcholine release. Comparisons of isoflurane sensitivity (measured by the EC₅₀) were made by simultaneous curve-fitting and F test.

Results
Among the syntaxin suppressor mutants, js127 was the most isoflurane resistant, with an EC₅₀ more than 3-fold that of wild type. Genetic mapping, sequencing, and transformation phenocopy showed that js127 was an allele of acy-1, which encodes an adenylate cyclase expressed throughout the C. elegans nervous system and in muscle. js127 behaved as a gain-of-function mutation in acy-1 and had increased concentrations of cyclic adenosine monophosphate. Testing of single and double mutants along with selective tissue expression of the js127 mutation revealed that acy-1 acts in neurons within a Gαs-PKA-UNC-13-dependent pathway to regulate behavior and isoflurane sensitivity.

Conclusions
Activation of neuronal adenylate cyclase antagonizes isoflurane inhibition of locomotion in C. elegans.
The Mediator Complex in Plants: Structure, Phylogeny, and Expression Profiling of Representative Genes in a Dicot (Arabidopsis) and a Monocot (Rice) during Reproduction and Abiotic Stress
Authors: Mathur Saloni , Vyas Shailendra , Kapoor Sanjay , Tyagi Akhilesh Kumar 
Published: October 2011

AbstractThe Mediator (Med) complex relays regulatory information from DNA-bound transcription factors to the RNA polymerase II in eukaryotes. This macromolecular unit is composed of three core subcomplexes in addition to a separable kinase module. In this study, conservation of Meds has been investigated in 16 plant species representing seven diverse groups across the plant kingdom. Using Hidden Markov Model-based conserved motif searches, we have identified all the known yeast/metazoan Med components in one or more plant groups, including the Med26 subunits, which have not been reported so far for any plant species. We also detected orthologs for the Arabidopsis (Arabidopsis thaliana) Med32, -33, -34, -35, -36, and -37 in all the plant groups, and in silico analysis identified the Med32 and Med33 subunits as apparent orthologs of yeast/metazoan Med2/29 and Med5/24, respectively. Consequently, the plant Med complex appears to be composed of one or more members of 34 subunits, as opposed to 25 and 30 members in yeast and metazoans, respectively. Despite low similarity in primary Med sequences between the plants and their fungal/metazoan partners, secondary structure modeling of these proteins revealed a remarkable similarity between them, supporting the conservation of Med organization across kingdoms. Phylogenetic analysis between plant, human, and yeast revealed single clade relatedness for 29 Med genes families in plants, plant Meds being closer to human than to yeast counterparts. Expression profiling of rice (Oryza sativa) and Arabidopsis Med genes reveals that Meds not only act as a basal regulator of gene expression but may also have specific roles in plant development and under abiotic stress conditions.
Collective indexing of emotions in videos
Authors: Knautz Kathrin , Stock Wolfgang G. 
Published: October 2011

PurposeThe object of this empirical research study is emotion, as depicted and aroused in videos. This paper seeks to answer the questions: Are users able to index such emotions consistently? Are the users' votes usable for emotional video retrieval?Design/methodology/approachThe authors worked with a controlled vocabulary for nine basic emotions (love, happiness, fun, surprise, desire, sadness, anger, disgust and fear), a slide control for adjusting the emotions' intensity, and the approach of broad folksonomies. Different users tagged the same videos. The test persons had the task of indexing the emotions of 20 videos (reprocessed clips from YouTube). The authors distinguished between emotions which were depicted in the video and those that were evoked in the user. Data were received from 776 participants and a total of 279,360 slide control values were analyzed.FindingsThe consistency of the users' votes is very high; the tag distributions for the particular videos' emotions are stable. The final shape of the distributions will be reached by the tagging activities of only very few users (less than 100). By applying the approach of power tags it is possible to separate the pivotal emotions of every document – if indeed there is any feeling at all.Originality/valueThis paper is one of the first steps in the new research area of emotional information retrieval (EmIR). To the authors' knowledge, it is the first research project into the collective indexing of emotions in videos.
How information systems communicate as documents: the concept of authorial voice
Authors: Feinberg Melanie 
Published: October 2011

PurposeThis study aims to examine how systems for organizing information may present an authorial voice and shows how the mechanism of voice may work to persuasively communicate a point of view on the materials being collected and described by the information system.Design/methodology/approachThe paper synthesizes a conceptual framework from the field of rhetoric and composition and uses that framework to analyze how existing organizational schemes reveal authorial voice.FindingsThrough textual analysis, the mechanism of authorial voice is described in three example information systems. In two of the examples, authorial voice is shown to function as a persuasive element by enabling identification, the rhetorical construct defined by the literary critic Kenneth Burke. In one example, voice appears inconsistently and does not work to facilitate persuasion.Research limitations/implicationsThis study illustrates the concept of authorial voice in the context of information systems, but it does not claim to comprehensively catalog all potential manifestations of authorial voice.Practical implicationsBy analyzing how information systems work as a form of document, we can better understand how information systems communicate to their users, and we can use this understanding to facilitate design.Originality/valueBy creating designs that incorporate an enhanced conceptual grasp of authorial voice and other rhetorical properties of information systems, the construction of information systems that systematically and purposefully communicate original, creative points of view regarding their assembled collections can be facilitated, and so enable learning, discovery, and critical engagement for users.
ICT education in library and information science programs
Authors: Al‐Daihani Sultan M. 
Published: October 2011

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to explore students' perceptions and views of the instructors, in relation to information and communications technology (ICT) education in library and information science (LIS) programs.Design/methodology/approachA questionnaire survey was carried out among students from the two LIS departments in Kuwait. A focus group was conducted with faculty members of the two institutions, who provided qualitative input about the instruction of ICT, needed changes, and relevance of market needs.FindingsParticipants showed dissatisfaction with the currently available ICT courses in the LIS programs. Students pointed out deficiencies and inadequacies in ICT resources and facilities, and suggested upgrading software and hardware. They appeared to be satisfied with the ICT skills being targeted by LIS programs. They also appeared to be satisfied with the ICT instructors. The study pointed out a need for collaboration with professional forums for continuing education programs and the need for revisions in curricula to introduce more focused courses that meet the needs of the ever‐changing market requirements and give the students access to professional bilingual materials. The faculty members noted the demands of the job market and proposed measures for addressing them through enhanced course content and improved opportunities for hands‐on instruction.Originality/valueEarlier studies reported in the literature have discussed ICT education in broader terms. This study reports the situation of ICT education in IS programs in Kuwait, focusing on specific areas such as resource, curricula, and instructors.
Towards effective management of grey literature for higher education, research and national development
Authors: Okoroma Francisca N. 
Published: October 2011

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to address issues in grey literature (GL) management and to proffer solutions to the problems. The specific aims are: to identify the categories of grey materials stocked, and the method of acquisition; to examine the method of GL management and the degree of access in Illinois state libraries; and also to identify the challenges/solutions to the problems associated with GL management and access.Design/methodology/approachA survey was conducted in Illinois state, USA in 2010, using an online questionnaire posted to various listservs used by 118 academic libraries in Illinois, including those of the Consortia of Academic and Research Libraries in Illinois and the Illinois Association of College and Research Libraries. The online survey questionnaire was designed to identify the categories of grey materials stocked by libraries, the method of acquisition and organization, the degree of access and the challenges/solutions to the problems associated with GL management and access. Simple frequencies and percentage were used in data analyses.FindingsThe study identified various categories of grey stocked, including: theses and dissertations, faculty works, conference proceedings, research reports, in‐house publications of associations, government documents and translations. The study diagnosed various challenges in the organization and dissemination of GL, and solutions to the challenges in order to ensure optimal access and utilization of grey materials.Practical implicationsThe implication of this work is that institutional and subject repositories are needed in order to aggregate these useful resources into globally accessible databases, where the resources will be rediscovered through international catalogues such as online computer library center and major web search engines such as Google. The end result will showcase the value of these resources to the public for greater access and utilization.Originality/valueThe knowledge gained will help to more effectively manage and harness the current and factual contents of grey materials, for quality education, research and national advancement. The paper will be of benefit to libraries, librarians, educationists, researchers and decision makers globally.
Environmental consciousness and intellectual capital management
Authors: Huang Cheng‐Li , Kung Fan‐Hua 
Published: October 2011

PurposeThis study aims to discuss the impact that environmental consciousness and green intellectual capital had on competitive advantage. The study adopted green intellectual capital as an intervening variable to gain insight into how environmental consciousness indirectly affects competitive advantage.Design/methodology/approachA questionnaire survey on the environmental consciousness and intellectual capital management of Taiwan's manufacturing firms was conducted, and 227 samples were analyzed. The research model investigates the relevant relationships among the constructs by using a structural equation modelling approach.FindingsResearch results reveal that environmental consciousness had an indirect impact on competitive advantage through investment in green intellectual capital. It was thus known that green intellectual capital is a mediator of the relationship between environmental consciousness and competitive advantage.Originality/valueThis paper may serve as a reference for firms mapping out future environmental policies and provide an input of various perspectives and arguments into the discipline of green management.
Competence exploration and exploitation in new product development
Authors: Yang Tsau‐Tang , Li Ci‐Rong 
Published: October 2011

PurposeThis paper aims to extend research on exploration and exploitation by investigating the effects of competence exploration and exploitation on new product development outcomes in China. Premised from the perspective of environment‐performance relationship and the fit‐as‐moderation view, the authors argue that exploration and exploitation have curvilinear effects on new product development performance due to external environmental factors.Design/methodology/approachThe paper is based on a questionnaire survey/analysis of a sample of 289 firms in China.FindingsConsistent with the two perspectives mentioned above, the curvilinear link between competence exploration and new product performance was negatively moderated by environmental dynamism but positively moderated by environmental competitiveness. In contrast, the non‐linear effect of competence exploitation on new product performance was positively moderated by environmental dynamism but negatively moderated by environmental competitiveness.Originality/valueThe exploration and exploitation‐performance link emerges as more complex than previous research has shown. The results indicate the need for simultaneous consideration of environmental dynamism and competitiveness as moderators in the discourse on the curvilinear effects of exploration and exploitation on new product performance.
Effects of international entry‐order strategies on foreign subsidiary exit
Authors: Park Young‐Ryeol , Yul Lee Jeoung , Hong Sunghoon 
Published: October 2011

PurposeThe objective of this paper is to determine whether international entry‐order strategies by Korean chaebols affect the exit of their foreign subsidiaries.Design/methodology/approachThe sample consists of a set of 61 parent firms and their 500 foreign subsidiaries. The sample includes 27 Korean business groups, called chaebols, and spans 51 markets, during the period from 1999 to 2004. The study employs resource‐ and knowledge‐based views, and is based on the Cox's proportional hazard model.FindingsThis study leads to two main findings: in the context of Korean business groups, latecomers in international markets have greater survival rates than pioneers do because latecomers have stronger resource commitments; and, nonetheless, if chaebol pioneers have greater competitive advantages than chaebol latecomers, the pioneers' subsidiaries have better survival rates than do those of latecomers.Originality/valueThe analysis advances order‐of‐entry research by exploring the international order‐of‐entry strategies of chaebol multinationals and their impact on international exit and the interrelationship between the order‐of‐entry and core competencies of chaebol multinationals.