bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Multigene Families in Trypanosoma cruzi and Their Role in Infectivity
Authors: De Pablos Luis Miguel , Osuna Antonio 
Published: March 2012

ABSTRACTTheTrypanosoma cruzigenome contains the most widely expanded content (∼12,000 genes) of the trypanosomatids sequenced to date. This expansion is reflected in the high number of repetitive sequences and particularly in the large quantity of genes that make up its multigene families. Recently it was discovered that the contents of these families vary between phylogenetically unrelated strains. We review the basic characteristics of trans-sialidases and mucins as part of the mechanisms of immune evasion ofT. cruziand as ligands and factors involved in the cross talk between the host cell and the parasite. We also show recently published data describing two new multigene families, DGF-1 and MASP, that form an important part of the scenario representing the complex biology ofT. cruzi.
PmpG
303-311
, a Protective Vaccine Epitope That Elicits Persistent Cellular Immune Responses in Chlamydia muridarum-Immune Mice
Authors: Johnson Raymond M. , Yu Hong , Kerr Micah S. , Slaven James E. , Karunakaran Karuna P. , Brunham Robert C. 
Published: March 2012

ABSTRACT

Urogenital
Chlamydia
serovars replicating in reproductive epithelium pose a unique challenge to host immunity and vaccine development. Previous studies have shown that CD4 T cells are necessary and sufficient to clear primary
Chlamydia muridarum
genital tract infections in the mouse model, making a protective CD4 T cell response a logical endpoint for vaccine development. Our previous proteomics studies identified 13 candidate
Chlamydia
proteins for subunit vaccines. Of those, PmpG-1 is the most promising vaccine candidate. To further that work, we derived a PmpG
303-311
-specific multifunctional Th1 T cell clone, designated PmpG1.1, from an immune C57BL/6 mouse and used it to investigate the presentation of the PmpG
303-311
epitope by infected epithelial cells. Epithelial presentation of the PmpG
303-311
epitope required bacterial replication, occurred 15 to 18 h postinfection, and was unaffected by gamma interferon (IFN-γ) pretreatment. Unlike epitopes recognized by other
Chlamydia
-specific CD4 T cell clones, the PmpG
303-311
epitope persisted on splenic antigen-presenting cells (APC) of mice that cleared primary genital tract infections. PmpG1.1 was activated by unmanipulated irradiated splenocytes from immune mice without addition of exogenous
Chlamydia
antigen, and remarkably, activation of PmpG1.1 by unmanipulated immune splenocytes was stronger 6 months postinfection than it was 3 weeks postinfection. Enhanced presentation of PmpG
303-311
epitope on splenic APC 6 months postinfection reflects some type of “consolidation” of a protective immune response. Understanding the antigen-presenting cell populations responsible for presenting PmpG
303-311
early (3 weeks) and late (6 months) postinfection will likely provide important insights into stable protective immunity against
Chlamydia
infections of the genital tract.
A case–control study examining whether neurological deficits and PTSD in combat veterans are related to episodes of mild TBI
Authors: Ruff Robert Louis , Riechers Ronald George , Wang Xiao-Feng , Piero Traci , Ruff Suzanne Smith 
Published: March 2012

BackgroundMild traumatic brain injury (mTBI) is a common injury among military personnel serving in Iraq or Afghanistan. The impact of repeated episodes of combat mTBI is unknown.ObjectiveTo evaluate relationships among mTBI, post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and neurological deficits (NDs) in US veterans who served in Iraq or Afghanistan.MethodsThis was a case–control study. From 2091 veterans screened for traumatic brain injury, the authors studied 126 who sustained mTBI with one or more episodes of loss of consciousness (LOC) in combat. Comparison groups: 21 combat veterans who had definite or possible episodes of mTBI without LOC and 21 veterans who sustained mTBI with LOC as civilians.ResultsAmong combat veterans with mTBI, 52% had NDs, 66% had PTSD and 50% had PTSD and an ND. Impaired olfaction was the most common ND, found in 65 veterans. The prevalence of an ND or PTSD correlated with the number of mTBI exposures with LOC. The prevalence of an ND or PTSD was >90% for more than five episodes of LOC. Severity of PTSD and impairment of olfaction increased with number of LOC episodes. The prevalence of an ND for the 34 combat veterans with one episode of LOC (4/34=11.8%) was similar to that of the 21 veterans of similar age and educational background who sustained civilian mTBI with one episode of LOC (2/21=9.5%, p-NS).ConclusionsImpaired olfaction was the most frequently recognised ND. Repeated episodes of combat mTBI were associated with increased likelihood of PTSD and an ND. Combat setting may not increase the likelihood of an ND. Two possible connections between mTBI and PTSD are (1) that circumstances leading to combat mTBI likely involve severe psychological trauma and (2) that altered cerebral functioning following mTBI may increase the likelihood that a traumatic event results in PTSD.
ASYMPTOTIC BEHAVIOUR OF THE MAXIMAL NUMBER OF SQUARES IN STANDARD STURMIAN WORDS
Authors: PIATKOWSKI MARCIN , RYTTER WOJCIECH 
Published: March 2012

Denote by sq(w) the number of distinct squares in a string w and let [Formula: see text] be the class of standard Sturmian words. They are generalizations of Fibonacci words and are important in combinatorics on words. For Fibonacci words the asymptotic behaviour of the number of runs and the number of squares is the same. We show that for Sturmian words the situation is quite different. The tight bound [Formula: see text] for the number of runs was given in [3]. In this paper we show that the tight bound for the maximal number of squares is [Formula: see text]. We use the results of [11], where exact (but not closed) complicated formulas were given for sq(w) for [Formula: see text]. We show that for all [Formula: see text] we have [Formula: see text] and there is an infinite sequence of words [Formula: see text] such that lim k→∞ |wk| = ∞ and [Formula: see text]. Surprisingly the maximal number of squares is reached by the words with recurrences of length only 5. This contrasts with the situation of Fibonacci words, though standard Sturmian words are natural extension of Fibonacci words. If this length drops to 4, the asymptotic behaviour of the maximal number of squares falls down significantly below [Formula: see text]. The structure of Sturmian words rich in squares has been discovered by us experimentally and verified theoretically. The upper bound is much harder, its proof is not a matter of simple calculations. The summation formulas for the number of squares are complicated, no closed formula is known. Some nontrivial reductions were necessary.
Variations in rifting style and structure of the Scotian margin, Atlantic Canada, from 3D gravity inversion
Authors: Dehler S. A. , Welford J. K. 
Published: March 2012

Abstract
Regional gravity data and a three-dimensional (3D) inversion approach were used to examine variations in crustal thickness and to extend seismic-based interpretations along the Scotian margin, Atlantic Canada. Constraints on Moho, crust and sedimentary layers were based on seismic refraction models and profiles of deep multichannel seismic data. A subsurface 3D density anomaly distribution was developed, using initial constraints from bathymetric data and seismic basement depth estimates, and inverting for crustal and subcrustal geometries. Predictions from the model include regional maps of Moho structure, crustal thickness and stretching factor. Depth slices allow comparison with seismic interpretations along three transects. The model predictions of variable width of crustal extension and northward thinning of oceanic crust agree with the seismic profiles. The density anomaly model shows significantly greater thinning and numerous block faulting beneath the northern margin and more uniform thinning to the SW. The fairly sharp transition between the two regions may be explained by a transfer zone separating different rifting regimes.
Symbolic Message Sequence Charts
Authors: Roychoudhury Abhik , Goel Ankit , Sengupta Bikram 
Published: March 2012

Message sequence charts (MSCs) are a widely used visual formalism for scenario-based specifications of distributed reactive systems. In its conventional usage, an MSC captures an interaction snippet between
concrete
objects in the system. This leads to voluminous specifications when the system contains several objects that are behaviorally similar. MSCs also play an important role in the model-based testing of reactive systems, where they may be used for specifying (partial) system behaviors, describing test generation criteria, or representing test cases. However, since the number of processes in a MSC specification are fixed, model-based testing of systems consisting of process classes may involve a significant amount of rework: for example, reconstructing system models, or regenerating test cases for systems differing only in the number of processes of various types.

In this article we propose a scenario-based notation, called symbolic message sequence charts (SMSCs), for modeling, simulation, and testing of process classes. SMSCs are a lightweight syntactic and semantic extension of MSCs where, unlike MSCs, a SMSC lifeline can denote some/all objects from a collection. Our extensions give us substantially more modeling power. Moreover, we present an abstract execution semantics for (structured collections of) SMSCs. This allows us to validate MSC-based system models capturing interactions between large, or even unbounded, number of objects. Finally, we describe a SMSC-based testing methodology for process classes, which allows generation of test cases for new object configurations with minimal rework.
Since our SMSC extensions are only concerned with MSC lifelines, we believe that they can be integrated into existing standards such as UML 2.0. We illustrate our SMSC-based framework for modeling, simulation, and testing of process classes using a weather-update controller case-study from NASA.
Transformations of The Woman Warrior Hua Mulan: From Defender of The Family To Servant of The State
Authors: Edwards Louise 
Published: March 2012

AbstractFor over 1500 years the Hua Mulan story has remained a popular source of inspiration for writers of plays, poems, and novels as well as films and television dramas. The sustained interest in Mulan rests in part with her daring cross-dressing and the humour that this challenge to gender norms provokes. This article shows that the various versions of the Mulan story also reveal the gendered nature of a key tension within the Chinese social and moral universe—how individuals manage the competing demands from their families and the central state. The article traces the transformations of her story from its inception in the Northern Wei ballad through to the 2010 cinema versions in order to trace the evolution of gendered norms of loyalty, patriotism, virtue and filial piety.
Tragic Ending and Inversion in The Tale of Orchid Dream
Authors: Wang Ying 
Published: March 2012

AbstractThis essay examines the representation of gender conflict in the late Qing novel Lanhua meng qizhuan (The tale of orchid dream) through an analysis of the novel's responses to its two literary models: Cao Xueqin's Honglou meng (Dream of the red chamber) and Wen Kang's Ernü yingxiong zhuan (A tale of heroes and lovers, 1878). Written as an imitation of Cao Xueqin's masterpiece and a reversal of Wen Kang's novel (itself also a rewriting of Cao Xueqin's work), Lanhua meng qizhuan consciously returns to the tragic mode of representation while it re-polarizes the themes of heroism and love (or ritualized morality versus private feeling) in its portrayal of the married life of a female hero, Song Baozhu. Through the deterioration of the heroine's marriage and her death, the novel exposes the deep-seated male centeredness in Chinese society and culture. At the same time, it reveals the ideological and artistic clashes of the hero-lover model promoted by Wen Kang and undermines his effort of assimilating qing (love, feelings) into the domain of public morality. The author's effort in Lanhua meng qizhuan, while seriously tackling the social problem of gender inequality in its time, also challenged old conventions and opened new avenues in Chinese fiction.
Do Female Zebra Finches Vary Primary Reproductive Effort in Relation to Mate Attractiveness?
Authors: Balzer Alison , Williams Tony 
Published: March 2012

AbstractFemale choice and mate preference have been shown to affect female reproductive effort both prior to copulation (e.g. females seeking extra-pair copulation) and during parental care ('secondary' reproductive effort) in relation to mate quality. Here we show that female zebra finches, Taeniopygia guttata, vary their 'primary' reproductive effort in egg production in relation to the attractiveness of their male partner, for some components of reproduction but not others. Females were allowed to choose 'preferred' and 'non-preferred' males in standard mate choice trials, and were then paired sequentially with each male. Preferred males had significantly higher song duration and song frequency than non-preferred males confirming that females preferred attractive, higher quality males. Male attractiveness had a positive, but weak, effect on clutch size: in breeding experiments individual females laid on average 0.5 eggs more when paired with their preferred male compared to the non-preferred male. However, there was no significant difference in breeding propensity (whether females laid eggs or not), number of days between pairing and laying, mean egg size or egg quality (protein and lipid composition) in relation to male type. These results suggest that components of primary reproductive effort in individual female zebra finches are relatively non-plastic traits.
DOMINANCE AND PATCH DISTRIBUTION OF GREAT TITS PARUS MAJOR: A PRELIMINARY TEST OF THEORETICAL PREDICTIONS
Authors: Holmgren Noel 
Published: March 2012

1. Predictions from existing models on 'ideal free distribution of unequal competitors' were tested by comparing the intake rates of the birds in relation to their bowl preferences.
2. Three types of distributions across two patches (1 and 2, where 1 provides higher food production rate than 2) were tested: truncated (H
1
> L
1
H
2
> L
2
), semi-truncated (H
1
> H
2
> L
1
L
2
), and mixed (H
1
H
2
> L
1
L
2
). H
i
indicates highest individual intake rate in patch i, L
i
indicates lowest individual intake rate in patch i.
3. The birds were studied in groups of six. They were fed by presenting two bowls containing mealworms, one bowl had twice the food-input rate of the other.
4. Four birds visited the high-density bowl more often than the low-density bowl, whereas the other two birds showed no or opposite preferences.
5. The semi-truncated distribution was the only distribution that could not be rejected by any criteria.
6. When members of the experimental group were exchanged, the changes in individual intake rates suggest that the intake rate is related to each individual's quantitative competitive ability rather than to the individual's rank.
RESPONSES TO MULTIPLE CHEMICAL CUES BY THE CRAYFISH ORCONECTES VIRILIS
Authors: Hazlett Brian 
Published: March 2012

AbstractTo investigate how organisms respond to multiple cues, the responses of the crayfish Orconectes virilis to natural chemical stimuli presented both one at a time and in combinations were recorded in the laboratory. Following the introduction of predator (snapping turtle) odours, individuals decreased the rate of non-locomotory movements compared to control levels. The addition of food odour resulted in an increase in movement as well as postural changes. When both signals were presented simultaneously, the level of food-elicited movements was reduced and the extent of inhibition of food-related responses depended upon the relative intensity of the two types of input. The behavioural effect of predator odour introduction lasted about two hours. When alarm odour and food odour were presented simultaneously, movements were reduced even more strongly than with the predator odour-food odour combination. Presentation of two signals associated with danger (alarm and predator odours) resulted in a significantly greater reduction of food odour-induced movement than for either danger signal by itself.
Prospects in Theories of Religion
Authors: Stausberg Michael 
Published: March 2012

AbstractThe article proposes possible reasons for the avoidance of theories of religion in the discipline of religious studies. The article further discusses some main challenges for theories of religion: the complexity of the subject matter, the variety of discourses in other relevant scholarly fields and disciplines, and the various (philosophical, anthropological etc.) choices theorists have to make (and sometimes made without further reflection). These challenges are illustrated by introducing the articles of this special issue on Prospects in Theories of Religion. The introductory article points to some shared concerns and developments but also to some points of potential dialogue and matters of contention among the articles of this special issue.
On the Production of Religious Configurations
Authors: Benavides Gustavo 
Published: March 2012

AbstractResearch on the emergence of the configuration known as “religion” requires tracing the articulation among biological, psychological and social processes. This research must take into account evolutionary approaches; first, in terms of hominid evolution, for it is only by taking into consideration work on symbolization, language development, the capacity to engage in metacognition and cooperation, the tendency to form hierarchies, engage in violence, sexual differentiation, and related topics, that one can hope to trace the emergence of certain relatively stable features of human behavior. But since symbolization and the other capacities mentioned above are exercised in specific social circumstances—which themselves could not have come into existence were it not for the exercise of those capacities—it is essential to consider social evolution, especially insofar as this evolution leads to the appearance of stratified societies and to the kind of labor that prevails in them.
The Evolution of Charismatic Cultures
Authors: Bulbulia Joseph , Frean Marcus 
Published: March 2012

AbstractThe following essay explains how religion may evolve to support cooperation among anonymous partners. It first reviews honest signalling theory, and reveals a limitation in the model’s capacity to explain large-scale cooperation. It then suggests that much cooperation is threatened by uncertainty, rather than by cheating. Finally, it explains how signalling theory can be extended to address the problem of cooperation threatened by uncertainty, ‘fragile cooperation’. The resulting extension of signalling theory—called ‘charismatic signalling’—directs attention to potential cooperative benefits from religion’s fascinating and diverse effects on the body. The charismatic signalling model is presented as a ‘how-possibly model’, not as a ‘just-so story’. The model’s interest comes from its ability to organise seemingly unrelated puzzles under a common solution, and to motivate the study of cooperative strategies harboured in shared ecologies.
Ten Implications of Semantic Holism for Theories of Religion
Authors: Engler Steven , Gardiner Mark Q. 
Published: March 2012

AbstractThis article proposes ten theses on the impact of semantic holism (an important philosophical view of meaning) on theories of religion. We argue that, if correct, semantic holism imposes metatheoretical constraints on the nature of such theories, theoretical constraints on the way that “religion” must be characterized, and methodological constraints on the way that religious phenomena must be analyzed.
Theory and Criticism: The Cognitive Science of Religion
Authors: Saler Benson 
Published: March 2012

AbstractAfter describing what the author regards as important and commendable characteristics of the current cognitive science of religion, the author contends that future theorizing ought to take account of mounting criticisms of cognitive-evolutionary theories of religion. That is especially so when criticism recognizes the great complexity of what we conventionally mean by the term “religion” and when it suggests that monochromatic theorizing is likely to prove inadequate for explaining the existence of polychromatic phenomena. Indeed, monochromatic perspectives tend to confine or impoverish our understandings of religion. Future theorizing about religion should aim for theories that better reflect the complexity of the phenomena that they purport to explain. One possibility, based on an analogy to epigenetic theorizing, is described by way of providing an example.
Explaining order in religious systems
Authors: Malley Brian E. 
Published: March 2012

AbstractOurs is a problem of order, cognitive and cultural. Were religion simply chaotic, we would not recognize it as an object of study. In this article, I outline two complementary approaches to religious phenomena; both aim to explain different aspects of order in religion. First, recently-developed cognitive theories of religious phenomena account for some aspects of cultural order in terms of cognitive constraints. Second, complexity theory offers hypotheses about the emergent dynamics of entire religious systems. Before examining these theories themselves, however, I will explain in more detail the problem of order and the place of these theories in explaining it.
Reading difference in Isaiah 56-66: The interplay of literary and sociological strategies
Authors: Berquist Jon L. 
Published: March 2012

AbstractCurrent trends in biblical scholarship investigate texts using a variety of strategies, including literary and sociological methods. Usually, these different methods never interact in ways that could lead to fuller understandings of their underlying assumptions. Isaiah 56-66 provides a test-case for the comparison of method, with a focus on the ways in which various newer methodologies can interpret the differences within the text. Whereas philosophical and literary methods (such as those of Derrida, Fish, and Bakhtin) understand that texts construct themselves within infinite difference, sociological approaches may better concentrate on the power differentials inherent within textual differences. However, both canon and method conspire to (fail to) interpret, in that they limit the infinite interplay of difference in order to produce a (single) interpretation. The singularity and multiplicity of "meaning" coheres in the multiple identities formed by interpreting communities. Fragmentation of self mirrors the fragmentation of text and interpretation.
How new is neo-phenomenology? A comparison of the methodologies of Gerardus van der Leeuw and Jacques Waardenburg
Authors: Daniels John 
Published: March 2012

AbstractIn this article, an attempt is made to relate the "intuitive" classical phenomenology of Gerardus van der Leeuw and the neo-phenomenology of Jacques Waardenburg. An outline of van der Leeuw's methodology is presented along with a summary of Waardenburg's critique. An account is then given of Waardenburg's alternative approach. When the two methodologies are juxtaposed, two points fo convergence emerge. The first relates to the nonempirical nature of meanings; the second relates to the need to reconstitute the believer's world in order to gain understanding of phenomena. Discussion suggests that both methodologies entail the combined use of Erklären ['explanation'] and Verstchen ['understanding'] in explicating meanings. The conclusion is ventured that neo-phenomenology can be plausibly viewed as a modification of van der Leeuw's approach which is distinguished by greater hermeneutical sensitivity.