bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Microspore mutagenesis of Brassica species for fatty acid modifications: a preliminary evaluation
Authors: Ferrie A. M. R. , Taylor D. C. , MacKenzie S. L. , Rakow G. , Raney J. P. , Keller W. A. 
Published: May 2008

AbstractA microspore mutagenesis protocol was developed for Brassica rapa, Brassica napus and Brassica juncea for the production of double haploid lines with novel fatty acid profiles in the seed oil. Freshly isolated Brassica microspores were first cultured with ethyl methane sulphonate (EMS) for 1.5 h. The EMS was removed and the microspores were then cultured according to the standard Brassica microspore culture protocol. This protocol was used to generate over 80 000 Brassica haploid/double haploid plants. Field evaluation of B. napus and B. juncea double haploids was conducted between 2000 and 2003. Fatty acid analysis of the B. napus double haploid lines showed that saturated fatty acid proportions ranged from 5.0% to 7.7%. For B. juncea, saturate proportions ranged from 5.4% to 9.5%. Of the 7000 B. rapa lines that were analysed, 197 lines had elevated oleic acid (>55%), 69 lines had reduced α‐linolenic acid (<8%) and 157 lines had low saturated fatty acid proportions (<5%), when compared with the parental lines.
Latitudinal patterns in the phenological responses of leaf colouring and leaf fall to climate change in Japan
Authors: Doi Hideyuki , Takahashi Mayumi 
Published: May 2008

ABSTRACTAim  To estimate the potential effect of global climate change on the phenological responses of plants it is necessary to estimate spatial variations at larger scales. However, previous studies have not estimated latitudinal patterns in the phenological response directly. We hypothesized that the phenological response of plants varies with latitude, and estimated the phenological response to long‐term climate change using autumn phenological events that have been delayed by recent climate change.Location  Japan.Methods  We used a 53‐year data set to document the latitudinal patterns in the climate responses of the timing of autumn leaf colouring and fall for two tree species over a wide range of latitudes in Japan (31 to 44° N). We calculated single regression slopes for leaf phenological timing and air temperature across Japan and tested their latitudinal patterns using regression models. The effects of latitude, time and their interaction on the responses of the phenological timings were also estimated using generalized linear mixed models.Results  Our results showed that single regression slopes of leaf phenological timing and air temperature in autumn were positive at most stations. Higher temperatures can delay the timing of leaf phenology. Negative relationships were found between the phenological response of leaves to temperature and latitude. Single regression slopes of the phenological responses at lower latitudes were larger than those at higher latitudes.Main conclusions  We found negative relationships between leaf phenological responsiveness and latitude. These findings will be important for predicting phenological timing with global climate change.
Trade Unions and Democracy in South Africa: Union Organizational Challenges and Solidarities in a Time of Transformation
Authors: Buhlungu Sakhela , Brookes Mick , Wood Geoffrey 
Published: May 2008

AbstractBased on a nationwide survey, this article focuses on the perceptions of Congress of South African Trade Unions (COSATU) members on two of the central issues that have dominated debates on the South African labour movement: the advisability of COSATU's Alliance with the African National Congress (ANC) and the extent of internal union democracy. The survey revealed that the ANC‐Alliance continues to enjoy mass support, while internal democracy remains robust. At the same time, the federation faces the challenges of coping with — and contesting — neoliberal reforms, retaining and re‐energizing rank and file in the post‐apartheid era, and in reaching out to potential members in the informal sector and other areas of insecure work.
Internationalization and the Spaces of Temporary Labour: The Global Assembly of a Local Workforce
Authors: McDowell Linda , Batnitzky Adina , Dyer Sarah 
Published: May 2008

AbstractAn increasing number of low‐status consumer service jobs in the UK are undertaken by economic migrants, who are often recruited through the aegis of employment agencies. This article explores the use of migrant agency workers by a London hotel and a hospital, looking at the ways in which such a labour force is recruited and assembled in parts of the service sector in Greater London. It argues that even in the most locally‐based of service‐sector jobs, typically involving face to face interactions, new sets of transnational connections are producing a globalized labour force.
Exploring the Social Face of Urban Mobility: Daily Mobility as Part of the Social Structure in Spain
Authors: CAMARERO LUIS A. , OLIVA JESÚS 
Published: May 2008

AbstractThis article considers the social aspects of daily mobility, which is studied as a social product, based on significant family strategies and social practices. Our analysis shows the importance of variables such as the lifecycle of households, class trends and family networks as well as class, gender and generational sub‐cultures. The different forms of daily mobility are seen to be linked to other social strategies (residential, labour, sociability, etc.) that create a varying range of social situations. Urban and mobility policies, urban dispersion, greater automobile use and new trends in the socio‐technical organization of cities exert a great influence on these unequal social positions, promoting new forms of exclusion and social risks. Based on the study of a medium‐sized city in Southern Europe (Pamplona‐Iruñea, the regional capital of Navarra), which is developing fast from a concentrated pattern to one of residential dispersion based on greater automobile use, an analysis is carried out into how family mobility strategies tie in with different sociological profiles. The study aims to provide interesting theoretical and methodological reflections on mobility that will be of use to professionals, institutions and civil movements working in the field of mobility regulation.Resumé Cet article s’intéresse aux aspects sociaux de la mobilité quotidienne, laquelle est étudiée en tant que produit social, en fonction de stratégies familiales et de pratiques sociales significatives. L’analyse montre l’importance de variables telles que le cycle de vie des ménages, les tendances de classe et les réseaux familiaux, ou encore les sous‐cultures de classe, de genre et générationnelles. Les différentes formes de mobilité quotidienne apparaissent liées à d’autres stratégies sociales (résidence, travail, sociabilité, etc.), celles‐ci créant toute une variété de situations sociales. Les politiques de la ville et de la mobilité, la dispersion urbaine, l’usage accru de l’automobile, ainsi que de nouvelles tendances dans l’organisation sociotechnique des villes, influent considérablement sur ces situations sociales inégales, tout en favorisant de nouvelles formes d’exclusion et de risques sociaux. A partir de l’étude d’une ville moyenne du sud de l’Europe (Iruñea‐Pamplune, capitale régionale de la Navarre) qui évolue rapidement d’un schéma concentré vers une dispersion résidentielle grâce à un usage accru de l’automobile, une analyse examine comment les stratégies de mobilité des familles rejoignent différents profils sociologiques. Ce travail vise à produire des réflexions théoriques et méthodologiques sur la mobilité qui soient intéressantes et pertinentes pour les experts, les institutions et les mouvements civils impliqués dans la régulation de la mobilité.
Making Class Politics Possible: Organizing Contract Cleaners in London
Authors: WILLS JANE 
Published: May 2008

AbstractThis article tells the story of community and union‐led efforts to re‐regulate the contract cleaning sector and to organize cleaners at Canary Wharf and in the City of London. It provides a historical overview of the campaign and highlights its innovative responses to subcontracted employment in the city today. The article starts by outlining anti‐essentialist approaches to the politics of class before using the campaign to flesh out what such politics might look like. In this case, the successful prosecution of class politics has depended upon the politics of class moving far beyond any particular workplace. Workplace issues have been recast as matters for the wider community engaging a diverse set of actors including workers, community organizations, contractors, clients, the media and London's politicians.Résumé Cet article relate une initiative communautaire et syndicale visant à re‐réguler le secteur des services de nettoyage et à en organiser le personnel dans les deux quartiers londoniens de Canary Wharf et de la City. Après un historique de la campagne, l’article souligne toute la nouveauté des réponses apportées à l’emploi sous‐traité dans la ville actuellement. Il expose d’abord les approches anti‐essentialistes de la politique de classe avant d’utiliser la campagne pour préciser ce à quoi cette politique pourrait ressembler. En l’occurrence, l’exercice réussi d’une politique de classe a tenu au fait que cette politique a transcendé tout lieu de travail spécifique. Les aspects propres au lieu de travail ont été refondus en thèmes concernant l’ensemble de la communauté et impliquant un ensemble diversifié d’acteurs, notamment les employés, les organisations représentatives de la communauté, les fournisseurs de services, les clients, les média et des hommes politiques londoniens.
Reference values for clinical chemistry tests during normal pregnancy
Authors: Larsson A , Palm M , Hansson L‐O , Axelsson O 
Published: May 2008

Objective  Reference values are usually defined based on blood samples from healthy men or nonpregnant women. This is not optimal as many biological markers changes during pregnancy and adequate reference values are of importance for correct clinical decisions. There are only few studies on the variations of laboratory tests during normal pregnancies, especially during the first two trimesters. It is thus a need to establish such reference values.Design  Longitudinal study of laboratory markers in normal pregnancies.Setting  Uppsala University Hospital, Sweden.Population  Healthy pregnant females.Methods  We have studied 25 frequently used laboratory tests during 52 normal pregnancies. Each woman was sampled up to nine times and the samples were divided according to collection time into the following groups: gestational week 7–17; week 17–24; week 24– 28; week 28–31; week 31–34; week 34–38; predelivery (0–2 weeks before delivery) and postpartum (>6 weeks after delivery). The 2.5 and 97.5 percentiles for these markers were calculated according to the recommendations of the International Federation of Clinical Chemistry on the statistical treatment of reference values.Results  Reference intervals are reported for plasma alanine aminotransferase, albumin, alkaline phosphatase, pancreas amylase, apolipoprotein A1, apolipoprotein B, aspartate aminotransferase, bilirubin, calcium, chloride, creatinine, cystatin C, ferritin, γ‐glutamyltransferase, iron, lactate dehydrogenase, magnesium, phosphate, potassium, sodium, transferrin, triglycerides, thyroid‐stimulating hormone, urate and urea during these pregnancy periods.Conclusions  Most of the analytes change during normal pregnancy. It is thus of importance to use special reference values during pregnancy.
The prognostic value of ultrasound abnormalities and biological parameters in blood of fetuses infected with cytomegalovirus
Authors: Benoist G , Salomon LJ , Jacquemard F , Daffos F , Ville Y 
Published: May 2008

Objective  To evaluate the prognostic value of ultrasound abnormalities and of selected biological parameters in blood of fetuses infected with cytomegalovirus (CMV).Design  Retrospective observational study.Setting  Two fetal medicine units in Paris, France.Population  All fetuses infected with CMV referred between 1998 and 2006.Methods  We retrospectively analysed data collected prospectively in 73 fetuses infected by CMV with a positive CMV polymerase chain reaction in amniotic fluid. Fetal blood sampling (FBS) was performed for evaluation of platelet count, plasma levels of aminotransferases and gamma‐glutamyl transpeptidases (GGT), presence of viraemia and specific fetal immunoglobulin M. Targeted ultrasound examination was performed every fortnight. Ultrasound findings were categorised into normal examination and any ultrasound abnormality, which was further grouped as ultrasound abnormality of the fetal brain and noncerebral ultrasound abnormality.Main outcome measures  A combination of histological findings after termination of pregnancy and evidence of cytomegalic inclusion disease at birth when pregnancies were continued. Clinical symptoms at birth or histological lesions attributable to CMV were considered as poor outcome. Statistical analysis was conducted to determine the value of each parameter to predict outcome. Logistic regression was used to build up a multivariate model combining the relevant parameters.Results  In univariate analysis, only thrombocytopenia and the presence of any ultrasound abnormality were associated with a poor outcome (P < 10−4 for both abnormalities). In the multivariate analysis, both thrombocytopenia and the presence of ultrasound abnormalities remained significant independent predictors of a poor outcome. Based on univariate logistic regression, odds ratio for a poor outcome were 1.24, 7.2, 22.5 and 25.5 for each 10 000/mm3 decrease in platelet count, the presence of noncerebral, any ultrasound and cerebral ultrasound abnormalities, respectively.Conclusions  The prognosis of CMV‐infected fetuses relies independently on both targeted ultrasound examination and fetal platelet count. FBS for platelet count may therefore justify FBS in infected fetuses even in the absence of ultrasound. features of brain involvement.
The relationship between sonographic fetal thymus size and the components of the systemic fetal inflammatory response syndrome in women with preterm prelabour rupture of membranes
Authors: El‐Haieg DO , Zidan AA , El‐Nemr MM 
Published: May 2008

Objective  To assess the relation between sonographic fetal thymus size and the components of fetal inflammatory response syndrome (FIRS) in women with preterm prelabour rupture of membranes (PPROM).Design  Prospective cohort study.Setting  University hospital from January through October 2006.Population  Fifty‐six women with PPROM.Methods  In these women, fetal thymus perimeter was measured sonographically. At birth, cord venous plasma interleukin‐6 (IL‐6) level estimation and histopathological examination of the placentas and umbilical cords were performed.Main outcome measures  Small thymus size (<5th percentile for gestational age) and its association with FIRS.Results  From the 56 women with PPROM, 54% had chorioamnionitis (CA), 23% had funisitis. IL‐6 level was >11 pg/ml in 52% of women and >18 pg/ml in 41%. A small thymus was more associated with male fetuses, shorter preterm prelabour rupture of membranes delivery interval, higher IL‐6 level, higher frequency of funisitis and CA. When data were regressed for confounding, only IL‐6 level and funisitis remained significant independent factors that influence the thymus size. In the subset of women (n = 19) who delivered within 1 week of first measurements, a small thymus had sensitivity and positive predictive value of 93%, specificity and negative predictive value of 75% and accuracy of 89% in the identification of FIRS (IL‐6 >18 pg/ml and/or funisitis).Conclusions  An association exists between fetal thymic involution and components of FIRS in women with PPROM. Small fetal thymus size may be considered a reliable sonographic marker of fetal involvement in the inflammatory response.
The accurate staging of ovarian cancer using 3T magnetic resonance imaging – a realistic option
Authors: Booth SJ , Turnbull LW , Poole DR , Richmond I 
Published: May 2008

Objectives The aim of the study was to determine whether staging primary ovarian cancer using 3.0 Tesla (3T) magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) is comparable to surgical staging of the disease.Design A retrospective study consisting of a search of the pathology database to identify women with ovarian pathology from May 2004 to January 2007.Setting All women treated for suspected ovarian cancer in our cancer centre region.Sample All women suspected of ovarian pathology who underwent 3T MRI prior to primary surgical intervention between May 2004 and January 2007.Methods All women found to have ovarian pathology, both benign and malignant, were then cross checked with the magnetic resonance (MR) database to identify those who had undergone 3T MRI prior to surgery. The resulting group of women underwent comparison of the MR, surgical and histopathological findings for each individual including diagnosis of benign or malignant disease and International Federation of Gynecology and Obstetrics (FIGO) staging where appropriate.Main outcome measures Comparisons were made between the staging accuracy of 3T MRI and surgical staging compared with histopathological findings and FIGO stage using weighted kappa. Sensitivity, specificity and accuracy were calculated for diagnosing malignant ovarian disease with 3T MRI.Results A total of 191 women identified as having ovarian pathology underwent imaging with 3T MR and primary surgical intervention. In 19 of these women, the ovarian disease was an incidental finding. The group for which staging methods were compared consisted of 77 women of primary ovarian malignancy (20 of whom had borderline tumours). 3T MRI was able to detect ovarian malignancy with a sensitivity of 92% and a specificity of 76%. The overall accuracy in detecting malignancy with 3T MRI was 84%, with a positive predictive value of 80% and negative predictive value of 90%. Statistical analysis of the two methods of staging using weighted kappa, gave aKvalue of 0.926 (SE ±0.121) for surgical staging and 0.866 (SE ±0.119) for MR staging. A further analysis of the staging data for ovarian cancers alone, excluding borderline tumours resulted in aKvalue of 0.931 (SE ±0.136) for histopathological staging versus MR staging and 0.958 (±0.140) for histopathological stage versus surgical staging.Conclusion Our study has shown that MRI can achieve staging of ovarian cancer comparable with the accuracy seen with surgical staging. No previous studies comparing different modalities have used the higher field strength 3T MRI. In addition, all other studies comparing radiological assessment of ovarian cancer have grouped the stages into I, II, III and IV rather than the more clinically appropriate a, b and c subgroups.
Accuracy and correlates of maternal recall of birthweight and gestational age
Authors: Adegboye ARA , Heitmann BL 
Published: May 2008

Objective  To determine the accuracy of maternal recall of children birthweight (BW) and gestational age (GA), using the Danish Medical Birth Register (DBR) as reference and to examine the reliability of recalled BW and its potential correlates.Design  Comparison of data from the DBR and the European Youth Heart Study (EYHS).Setting  Schools in Odense, Denmark.Population  A total of 1271 and 678 mothers of school children participated with information in the accuracy studies of BW and GA, respectively. The reliability sample of BW was composed of 359 women.Method  The agreement between the two sources was evaluated by mean differences (MD), intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC) and Bland–Altman’s plots. The misclassification of the various BW and GA categories were also estimated.Main outcome measures  Differences between recalled and registered BW and GA.Results  There was high agreement between recalled and registered BW (MD =−0.2 g; ICC = 0.94) and GA (MD = 0.3 weeks; ICC = 0.76). Only 1.6% of BW would have been misclassified into low, normal or high BW and 16.5% of GA would have been misclassified into preterm, term or post‐term based on maternal recall. The logistic regression revealed that the most important variables in the discordance between recalled and registered BW were ethnicity and parity. Maternal recall of BW was highly reliable (MD =−5.5 g; ICC = 0.93), and reliability remained high across subgroups.Conclusion  Maternal recall of BW and GA seems to be sufficiently accurate for clinical and epidemiological use.
Zolpidem Generalization and Antagonism in Male and Female Cynomolgus Monkeys Trained to Discriminate 1.0 or 2.0 g / kg Ethanol
Authors: Helms Christa M. , Rogers Laura S.M. , Waters Courtney A. , Grant Kathleen A. 
Published: May 2008

Background: The subtypes ofγ‐aminobutyric acid (GABA)Areceptors mediating the discriminative stimulus effects of ethanol in nonhuman primates are not completely identified. The GABAAreceptor positive modulator zolpidem has high, intermediate, and low activity at receptors containingα1,α2/3, andα5subunits, respectively, and partially generalizes from ethanol in several species. The partial inverse agonist Ro15‐4513 has the greatest affinity forα4/6‐containing receptors, higher affinity forα5‐ and lower, but equal, affinity forα1‐ andα2/3‐, containing GABAAreceptors, and antagonizes the discriminative stimulus effects of ethanol.Methods: This study assessed Ro15‐4513 antagonism of the generalization of zolpidem from ethanol in male (n = 9) and female (n = 8) cynomolgus monkeys (Macaca fascicularis) trained to discriminate 1.0 g/kg (n = 10) or 2.0 g/kg (n = 7) ethanol (i.g.) from water with a 30‐minute pretreatment interval.Results: Zolpidem (0.017 to 5.6 mg/kg, i.m.) completely generalized from ethanol (≥80% of total session responses on the ethanol‐appropriate lever) for 6/7 monkeys trained to discriminate 2.0 g/kg and 4/10 monkeys trained to discriminate 1.0 g/kg ethanol. Zolpidem partially generalized from 1.0 or 2.0 g/kg ethanol in 6/7 remaining monkeys. Ro15‐4513 (0.003 to 0.30 mg/kg, i.m., 5‐minute pretreatment) shifted the zolpidem dose–response curve to the right in all monkeys showing generalization. Analysis of apparent pKBfrom antagonism tests suggested that the discriminative stimulus effects of ethanol common with zolpidem are mediated by low‐affinity Ro15‐4513 binding sites. Main effects of sex and training dose indicated greater potency of Ro15‐4513 in males and in monkeys trained to discriminate 1.0 g/kg ethanol.Conclusions: Ethanol and zolpidem share similar discriminative stimulus effects most likely through GABAAreceptors that containα1subunits, however, antagonism by Ro15‐4513 of zolpidem generalization from the lower training dose of ethanol (1.0 g/kg) may involve additional zolpidem‐sensitive GABAAreceptor subtypes (e.g.,α2/3andα5).