bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Reproductive disorders in 10 domestic male cats
Authors: Axnér E. , Ström B. , Linde‐Forsberg C. , Gustavsson I. , Lindblad K. , Wallgren M. 
Published: April 2008

ABSTRACTThis study describes 10 tomcats with different reproductive disorders. Two of the cats had abnormal sex chromosomes; one was a tortoise‐shell and white Cornish rex, while the other was a brown Burmese. The other eight cats were diagnosed as having testicular hypoplasia, diphallos in combination with unilateral cryptorchidism, a persistent penile frenulum, retrograde ejaculation, temporary oligozoospermia, teratozoosper‐mia, azoospermia and congenital poor libido. For the cat with a persistent penile frenulum, and the cat with a temporary oligozoospermia, the prognosis for successful reproduction was considered favourable. By contrast it was considered unlikely that the cats with chromosomal abnormalities, testicular hypoplasia, diphallos, retrograde ejaculation, teratozoospermia and azoospermia would be able to produce offspring.
Severe Deep Moist Convective Storms: Forecasting and Mitigation
Authors: Arnold David L. 
Published: April 2008

AbstractSmall‐scale (2–20 km) circulations, termed ‘severe deep moist convective storms’, account for a disproportionate share of the world's insured weather‐related losses. Spatial frequency maximums of severe convective events occur in South Africa, India, Mexico, the Caucasus, and Great Plains/Prairies region of North America, where the maximum tornado frequency occurs east of the Rocky Mountains. Interest in forecasting severe deep moist convective systems, especially those that produce tornadoes, dates to 1884 when tornado alerts were first provided in the central United States. Modern thunderstorm and tornado forecasting relies on technology and theory, but in the post‐World War II era interest in forecasting has also been driven by public pressure. The forecasting process begins with a diagnostic analysis, in which the forecaster considers the potential of the atmospheric environment to produce severe convective storms (which requires knowledge of the evolving kinematic and thermodynamic fields, and the character of the land surface over which the storms will pass), and the likely character of the storms that may develop. Improvements in forecasting will likely depend on technological advancements, such as the development of phased‐array radar systems and finer resolution numerical weather prediction models. Once initiated, the evolution of deep convective storms is monitored by satellite and radar. Mitigation of the hazards posed by severe deep moist convective storms is a three‐step process, involving preparedness, response, and recovery. Preparedness implies that risks have been identified and organizations and individuals are familiar with a response plan. Response necessitates that potential events are identified before they occur and the developing threat is communicated to the public. Recovery is a function of the awareness of local, regional, and even national governments to the character and magnitude of potential events in specific locations, and whether or not long‐term operational plans are in place at the time of disasters.
Olympic Cities: Regeneration, City Rebranding and Changing Urban Agendas
Authors: Gold John R. , Gold Margaret M. 
Published: April 2008

AbstractWinning the right to host the Olympic Games is widely regarded as the most significant prize on offer in the never‐ending contest between the world's leading cities for prestige and investment. This essay explores the implications and significance of being an Olympic city. After recognising the Olympics as a mega‐event with inherent mega‐project tendencies, it provides a chronological survey that shows the changing agendas that host cities have brought to bear on staging the Games. The increasing scale of their ambitions is noted, particularly with respect to urban regeneration and city rebranding, while also recognising the financial and human costs involved. The next part throws light on contemporary practice through a study of the proposals for the Lower Lea Valley in London's East End – the site of the future Olympic Park for the 2012 Summer Games. The conclusion suggests an evolving research agenda, framed particularly around the London 2012 Games and the notion of legacy.
Combining Hydrometric and Hydrochemical Data Sets for Investigating Runoff Generation Processes: Tautologies, Inconsistencies and Possible Explanations
Authors: Lischeid Gunnar 
Published: April 2008

AbstractThe rapid increase of catchment runoff after the onset of rainstorms and the associated short‐term changes of stream‐water solute concentration are still poorly understood. These factors are dependent on the flowpaths that the water follows to the stream, and the length of time from rainwater infiltration to discharge. To study these processes, different approaches are used. Hydrometric data on, for example, discharge, groundwater level, soil matrix potential and soil moisture data, have a high spatial and temporal resolution. In contrast, hydrochemical data for solutes, isotopes and temperature, are spatial and temporal integrals. This article provides an overview of the different approaches that are used to investigate stormflow runoff, and critically examines apparent and actual tautologies and inconsistencies in them. Some of the inconsistencies can be traced back to a failure of the basic assumptions, whereas others remain to challenge our understanding of the runoff generation process. Finally, suggestions for future avenues of research in this field are made.
The Population Dynamics of Columnar and Other Cacti: A Review
Authors: Drezner Taly Dawn , Lazarus Barbi Lynn 
Published: April 2008

AbstractIn this article, we review the population cycles of cacti, with an emphasis on the large, often keystone columnar cacti of the North American deserts. These and many other cacti often experience dramatic increases and declines in their numbers. Seeds that germinate in years that provide favourable conditions for regeneration and subsequently survive establish a cohort. We first review the limitations to estimating the age of any given individual; without this information, we cannot reconstruct the age of a population and reconstruct its age structure and demography. We then discuss the techniques for so doing, the data that are available, and the work that has been carried out on a few limited and isolated populations, primarily ofCarnegiea gigantea. We then link century‐scale population fluctuations with micro, local, regional and global climate factors, which include nurse‐plant relationships, periodic freezing and El Niño events, and proceed to elaborate on the factors that influence cactus demographics, such as dispersal, pollination, human impacts and climate change.
Trends in UV Irradiance of Tanning Devices in Norway: 1983–2005
Authors: Nilsen Lill Tove N. , Hannevik Merete , Aalerud Tommy N. , Johnsen Bjørn , Friberg Eva G. , Veierød Marit B. 
Published: April 2008

AbstractIndoor tanning increases skin cancer risk, but the importance of different parts of the UV spectrum is unclear. We assessed irradiance of tanning devices in Norway for the period 1983–2005. Since 1983, all tanning models needed approval before being sold or used. UV Type 3 limits were valid from late 1992 (<0.15 W m−2 for CIE‐weighted, i.e. erythemally weighted, short and long wave irradiances). We analyzed data from 90% of the approved tanning models (n = 446 models) and two large inspection surveys in 1998/1999 and 2003 (n = 1341 tanning devices). Mean CIE‐weighted short wave irradiance of approved models increased from 0.050 W m−2 (95% confidence interval [CI] 0.045–0.055) in 1983–1992 to 0.101 W m−2 (95% CI 0.098–0.105) in 1993–2005, and mean long wave from 0.091 W m−2 (95% CI 0.088–0.095) to 0.112 W m−2 (95% CI 0.109–0.115), respectively. Inspection surveys revealed short wave irradiances much higher than that approved. In 1998–1999, only 28% (293/1034) of the devices were equipped with correct sunlamps and only 1 out of 130 inspected establishments fulfilled all requirements. In 2003, corresponding numbers were 59% (180/307) of devices and 2 out of 52 establishments. Mean short and long wave irradiances of the inspected tanning devices in 2003 were 1.5 and 3.5 times, respectively, higher than the irradiance of natural summer sun in Oslo. In conclusion, the short wave irradiance has increased in indoor tanning devices in Norway over the last 20 years. Due to the high long wave irradiance throughout this period, the percentage of short wave irradiance was much lower than for natural sun.
An Example of Data Technology Product: A Control Chart for Weibull Processes
Authors: Erto Pasquale , Pallotta Giuliana , Park Sung H. 
Published: April 2008

Summary This work proposes a new Shewhart‐type control chart of the Weibull percentile (i.e. the reliable life) as a practical example of a product attained following the Data Technology (DT) approach. DT is briefly introduced as a new discipline defined apart from Information Technology (IT). Following this approach, some specific Bayes estimators are selected from literature and then used to build the above new chart. These estimators allow to improve the control making use of any available kind of data (statistical and non‐statistical). The operative steps of DT approach are fully explained. The results are illustrated by means of a real applicative example.
Alcohol and Aggression: Perspectives on Controlled and Uncontrolled Social Information Processing
Authors: Bègue Laurent , Subra Baptiste 
Published: April 2008

AbstractThis paper reviews the main current social cognitive explanations of the effects of acute alcohol consumption on aggression: the cognitive disruption model, the attributional model, and model of automaticity. The cognitive disruption model posits that intoxication affects controlled processing arising from the impairment of executive cognitive functions by alcohol's pharmacological properties. The individual consequently focuses on the most salient and proximal situational factors, thereby spoiling self‐regulatory processes. According to the attributional model, drinkers expect alcohol to mitigate social sanctions following aggression by shifting blame to alcohol. These explicit expectations represent an extrapharmacological cause of the alcohol–aggression link. Finally, the model of automaticity implies that alcohol meanings stored in long‐term memory and activated in drinking contexts automatically trigger aggressive thoughts and behavior without the individual's awareness. The explanation of intoxicated aggression should integrate these co‐etiological social cognitive models that take into account pharmacological as well as extrapharmacological consequences of alcohol consumption.
Shared Reality, System Justification, and the Relational Basis of Ideological Beliefs
Authors: Jost John T. , Ledgerwood Alison , Hardin Curtis D. 
Published: April 2008

AbstractAlthough it is tempting to think that one's political convictions reflect independent and unbiased thinking, research increasingly suggests that ideologies reflect motivational processes. The present paper integrates system justification and shared reality theories to propose that ideologies may function as prepackaged units of interpretation that spread because of basic human motives to understand the world, avoid existential threat, and maintain valued interpersonal relationships. The authors review evidence suggesting that affiliative motives may influence ideological beliefs to align with the progressive or conservative views shared within a given relationship or group. At the same time, such motives may lead disproportionately to the adoption of system‐justifying worldviews. Implications for the context dependence of ideological convictions, the role that shared reality may play in group conflicts, and the relational bases of revolutionary change are discussed.
The State of Media Ownership and Media Markets: Competition or Concentration and Why Should We Care?
Authors: Winseck Dwayne 
Published: April 2008

AbstractThis article presents a global overview of the state of communications media ownership and markets. The primary issue at stake is whether or not markets and ownership are becoming more or less concentrated. After reviewing contrasting views on this issue, I suggest that the question turns on whether or not we consider ‘numerical diversity’ (the number of channels available in any given area) versus ‘source diversity’ (a measure of the number of media owners in any given area). Drawing on recent data I suggest that while there is undoubtably greater ‘numerical diversity’, we are seeing – within countries, regionally and globally – greater concentration at the level of ‘source diversity’. While new media, especially the Internet, open up unprecedented opportunities for people to access and distribute information, the emergence of a powerful nexus between both ‘old’ and ‘new’ media means that the character of media ownership and markets still matters greatly. This nexus of ownership and market power spans different segments of the media and is qualitatively different from previous times. These factors have an important influence on the evolution of media technologies and markets, the work of media professionals and the character of information and media content.
From Colonial Pluralism to Postcolonial Multiculturalism: Race, State Formation and the Question of Cultural Diversity in Malaysia and Singapore
Authors: Goh Daniel P. S. 
Published: April 2008

AbstractIn postcolonial societies, multiculturalism is a historical problem conditioned by colonial racial knowledge and state formation on the one hand, and by the ethnic conflicts of decolonization on the other. The reality and legacy of colonial racisms in colonized societies were not straightforward affairs. Anthropological knowledge was crucial for the construction of colonial state institutions, where racial ethnography determined the way each native ethnic group was ruled. In turn, nationalist consciousness developed along communitarian ethnic lines. The inheritance of the colonial racial state by nationalists created the conditions for postcolonial ethnic conflict. Drawing on the acclaimed Malaysia and Singapore cases of successful postcolonial management of ethnic conflict, I show the transition from colonial pluralism to postcolonial multiculturalism, in which nationalist leaders tapped into communitarian practices, scripted cultural identities and transformed themselves into a transcultural elite to maintain authoritarian rule through state multiracialism. However, globalization today is creating a new pluralism that threatens this multiracialism and presenting opportunities for democratization.
Sociological Knowledge and Scientific Knowledge
Authors: David Matthew 
Published: April 2008

AbstractSome significant insights in relation to science and its claims emerged in early sociology. However, sociologies of knowledge and science remained separate until the late 1960s. Questioning scientific knowledge raised questions about career interests, language, interaction, class and gender in shaping scientific claims. Offering insights, this new sociology tended towards ‘epistemological polarisation’. New waves further distanced themselves from the validity claims of ‘scientists’. Insulating within a self‐referential field of peers, journals, conferences and subdisciplinary norms, epistemological polarisation, emulated natural sciences, but had a marginalising effect. Attention to symmetry in the social study of scientific beliefs, such that social causation of belief is not said to invalidate such belief, was often ignored, and the sociology of scientific knowledge tended towards debunking. This article challenges this spiral and suggests a ‘reflexive epistemological diversity’ that recognises the value of many forms of explanation, promoting interaction between different explanations, at different levels of causation, and across the divide between natural and social sciences. Recent feminist science studies go furthest in developing this trend. In line with recent developments in the natural sciences, such an approach does not suggest that ‘anything goes’, yet opens up explanation beyond narrow conceptions of expertise, reductionism and relativism.
Evaluation of Matrix-Assisted Laser Desorption Ionization-Time-of-Flight Mass Spectrometry in Comparison to 16S rRNA Gene Sequencing for Species Identification of Nonfermenting Bacteria
Authors: Mellmann A. , Cloud J. , Maier T. , Keckevoet U. , Ramminger I. , Iwen P. , Dunn J. , Hall G. , Wilson D. , LaSala P. , Kostrzewa M. , Harmsen D. 
Published: April 2008

ABSTRACT
Nonfermenting bacteria are ubiquitous environmental opportunists that cause infections in humans, especially compromised patients. Due to their limited biochemical reactivity and different morphotypes, misidentification by classical phenotypic means occurs frequently. Therefore, we evaluated the use of matrix-assisted laser desorption ionization-time-of-flight mass spectrometry (MALDI-TOF MS) for species identification. By using 248 nonfermenting culture collection strains composed of 37 genera most relevant to human infections, a reference database was established for MALDI-TOF MS-based species identification according to the manufacturer's recommendations for microflex measurement and MALDI BioTyper software (Bruker Daltonik GmbH, Leipzig, Germany), i.e., by using a mass range of 2,000 to 20,000 Da and a new pattern-matching algorithm. To evaluate the database, 80 blind-coded clinical nonfermenting bacterial strains were analyzed. As a reference method for species designation, partial 16S rRNA gene sequencing was applied. By 16S rRNA gene sequencing, 57 of the 80 isolates produced a unique species identification (≥99% sequence similarity); 11 further isolates gave ambiguous results at this threshold and were rated as identified to the genus level only. Ten isolates were identified to the genus level (≥97% similarity); and two isolates had similarity values below this threshold, were counted as not identified, and were excluded from further analysis. MALDI-TOF MS identified 67 of the 78 isolates (85.9%) included, in agreement with the results of the reference method; 9 were misidentified and 2 were unidentified. The identities of 10 randomly selected strains were 100% correct when three different mass spectrometers and four different cultivation media were used. Thus, MALDI-TOF MS-based species identification of nonfermenting bacteria provided accurate and reproducible results within 10 min without any substantial costs for consumables.
The FUSE Binding Protein Is a Cellular Factor Required for Efficient Replication of Hepatitis C Virus
Authors: Zhang Zhengbin , Harris Dylan , Pandey Virendra N. 
Published: April 2008

ABSTRACT

Hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection is the leading cause of liver cirrhosis and hepatocellular carcinoma and one of the primary indications for liver transplantation. The molecular mechanisms underlying the actions of host factors in HCV replication remain poorly defined. FUSE (far upstream element of the c-
myc
proto-oncogene) binding protein (FBP) is a cellular factor that we have identified as a binder of HCV 3′ nontranslated region (3′NTR). Mapping of the binding site showed that FBP specifically interacts with the poly(U) tract within the poly(U/UC) region of the 3′NTR. Silencing of FBP expression by small interfering RNA in cells carrying HCV subgenomic replicons severely reduced viral replication, while overexpression of FBP significantly enhanced viral replication. We confirmed these observations by an in vitro HCV replication assay in the cell-free replicative lysate, which suggested that there is a direct correlation between the cellular FBP level and HCV replication. FBP immunoprecipitation coprecipitated HCV nonstructural protein 5A (NS5A), indicating that FBP interacts with HCV NS5A, which is known to function as a link between HCV translation and replication. Although FBP is mainly localized in the nucleus, we found that in MH14 cells a significant level of this protein is colocalized with NS5A in the cytosol, a site of HCV replication. While the mechanism of FBP involvement in HCV replication is yet to be delineated, our findings suggest that it may be an important regulatory component that is essential for efficient replication of HCV.
In Vitro and In Vivo Gene Therapy Vector Evolution via Multispecies Interbreeding and Retargeting of Adeno-Associated Viruses
Authors: Grimm Dirk , Lee Joyce S. , Wang Lora , Desai Tushar , Akache Bassel , Storm Theresa A. , Kay Mark A. 
Published: April 2008

ABSTRACT
Adeno-associated virus (AAV) serotypes differ broadly in transduction efficacies and tissue tropisms and thus hold enormous potential as vectors for human gene therapy. In reality, however, their use in patients is restricted by prevalent anti-AAV immunity or by their inadequate performance in specific targets, exemplified by the AAV type 2 (AAV-2) prototype in the liver. Here, we attempted to merge desirable qualities of multiple natural AAV isolates by an adapted DNA family shuffling technology to create a complex library of hybrid capsids from eight different wild-type viruses. Selection on primary or transformed human hepatocytes yielded pools of hybrids from five of the starting serotypes: 2, 4, 5, 8, and 9. More stringent selection with pooled human antisera (intravenous immunoglobulin [IVIG]) then led to the selection of a single type 2/type 8/type 9 chimera, AAV-DJ, distinguished from its closest natural relative (AAV-2) by 60 capsid amino acids. Recombinant AAV-DJ vectors outperformed eight standard AAV serotypes in culture and greatly surpassed AAV-2 in livers of naïve and IVIG-immunized mice. A heparin binding domain in AAV-DJ was found to limit biodistribution to the liver (and a few other tissues) and to affect vector dose response and antibody neutralization. Moreover, we report the first successful in vivo biopanning of AAV capsids by using a new AAV-DJ-derived viral peptide display library. Two peptides enriched after serial passaging in mouse lungs mediated the retargeting of AAV-DJ vectors to distinct alveolar cells. Our study validates DNA family shuffling and viral peptide display as two powerful and compatible approaches to the molecular evolution of novel AAV vectors for human gene therapy applications.