bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Short-term experience with Ponseti casting and the Achilles tenotomy method for clubfeet treatment in arthrogryposis multiplex congenita
Authors: Kowalczyk Bartholomew , Lejman Tadeusz 
Published: August 2008

Purpose This study presents our experience with the Ponseti method of manipulation and casting followed by Achilles tenotomy (AT) in children with arthrogryposis multiplex congenita (AMC). Methods Five children (ten feet) were followed for at least 24 months after the AT and are the cohort for this study. Their mean age at follow-up was 38.4 months (26 to 48 months), and the average follow-up period was 35.8 months (24–44 months). Treatment was begun within the first months of life. The AT to correct rigid equinus was performed at a mean of 14.4 weeks of life, after 7–10 cast changes (mean 8.4). Clinical criteria by Niki et al. and standard standing AP and lateral radiographs were analyzed for final evaluation. Efficacy of Ponseti casting and AT tenotomy was assessed according to the amount and continuance of the achieved correction. Results Seven feet had clinically satisfactory results. Among the three unsatisfactory feet, there were two (one child) with rocker-bottom pseudocorrections after repeated bilateral AT and one recurrent clubfoot (one child). Six feet required soft tissue releases at 3, 12 and 21 months after the AT due to recurrence of moderate equinus and adductus. Three feet (two children) underwent repeat AT at 10 and 15 months after the primary procedure. The mean interval between initial AT and redo surgical procedures was 11.8 months (range 3–21 months). Two feet (20%) remained without significant deformity after AT. Conclusion Clubfoot in AMC responds initially to the Ponseti method of casting, and deformity may be corrected or diminished. In some children, more extensive surgical treatment can be avoided and in others, delayed. Despite the need for additional surgical intervention, the Ponseti method of casting and AT does seem to be an alternative for initial treatment in children with AMC.
What T. R. Took: The Economic Impact of the Panama Canal, 1903–1937
Authors: MAURER NOEL , YU CARLOS 
Published: August 2008

The Panama Canal was one of the largest public investments of its time. In the first decade of its operation, the canal produced significant social returns for the United States. Most of these returns were due to the transportation of petroleum from California to the East Coast. The United States also succeeded in leveraging the threat of military force to obtain a much better deal from the Panamanian government than it could have negotiated otherwise.“I took the Isthmus.” President Theodore Roosevelt, 1904“Why, it's ours, we stole it fair and square.” Senator Samuel Hayakawa, 1977
The cult of Awo: the political life of a dead leader
Authors: Adebanwi Wale 
Published: August 2008

ABSTRACTThis essay examines the ‘posthumous career’ of Chief Obafemi Awolowo, the late leader of the Yoruba of Nigeria. It focuses on why he has been unusually effective as a symbol in the politics of Yorubaland and Nigeria. Regarding Awolowo as arecentancestor, the essay elaborates why death, burial and statue are useful in the analysis of the social history of, and elite politics in, Africa. The Awolowo case is used to contest secularist and modernist assumptions about ‘modernity’ and ‘rationality’ in a contemporary African society.
Lifting the blinkers: a new view of power, diversity and poverty in Mozambican rural labour markets
Authors: Cramer Christopher , Oya Carlos , Sender John 
Published: August 2008

ABSTRACTThis paper presents some results from the largest rural labour market survey yet conducted in Mozambique. Evidence from three provinces shows that labour markets have a significant impact on the lives of a large number of poor people, and that employers exercise considerable discretion in setting wages and conditions of casual, seasonal and permanent wage employment. The evidence presented comes from a combination of a quantitative survey based on purposive sampling with other techniques, including interviews with large farmers. The findings contrast with ideas that rural labour markets are of limited relevance to poverty reduction policy formulation in Africa, and the paper concludes with methodological, analytical and policy recommendations.
Imagining the Great Lakes Region: discourses and practices of civil society regional approaches for peacebuilding in Rwanda, Burundi and DR Congo
Authors: van Leeuwen Mathijs 
Published: August 2008

ABSTRACTThe idea has gained ground in recent years that, as conflicts in the countries of the Great Lakes Region are strongly interlinked, regional approaches are necessary to resolve them. This interest in regional dimensions of conflict and peacebuilding also gains currency in other parts of the world. Attention to regional approaches is reflected in the efforts of international organisations and donors to promote civil society peacebuilding. They assume that regional cooperation and exchange between civil society organisations contribute to peace, and provide an alternative to single-country interventions or regional diplomatic initiatives. This paper explores how such assumptions work out in practice. Experiences in the Great Lakes Region show that local and international organisations have difficulty in analysing the regional character of conflict and arriving at collaborative regional strategies. Moreover, local civil society organisations are deeply embedded in the politics of regional conflict. Consequently, the shift to regional peacebuilding approaches remains more theoretical than practical. This paper suggests that international supporting organisations need to adjust their ambitions in regional peacebuilding, but nonetheless have roles in fostering regional identification among civil society organisations.
The Supreme Court and federalism in Nigeria
Authors: Suberu Rotimi T. 
Published: August 2008

ABSTRACTSince Nigeria's transition from military to civilian rule in 1999, the country's Supreme Court has risen from a position of relative political obscurity and institutional vulnerability into a prominent and independent adjudicator of inter-governmental disputes in this chronically conflicted federation. Examined here is the Court's arbitration, during President Olusegun Obasanjo's two civilian constitutional terms (1999–2007), of fifteen different federal-state litigations over offshore oil resources, revenue allocation, local governance and public order. The Court's federalism decisions were remarkably independent and reasonably balanced, upholding the constitutional supremacy of the Federal Government in several findings, tilting towards the states in some declarations, and simultaneously underwriting federal authority and state autonomy in other rulings. Despite the Court's important and independent role, however, the Nigerian federation was vexed by violent conflicts, underscoring the structural, political and constitutional constraints on judicial federalism in this notoriously complex and divided country.
The West Side Boys: military navigation in the Sierra Leone civil war
Authors: Utas Mats , Jörgel Magnus 
Published: August 2008

ABSTRACTThe West Side Boys were one of several military actors in the Sierra Leonean civil war (1991–2002). A splinter group of the army, the WSB emerged as a key player in 1999–2000. In most Western media accounts, the WSB appeared as nothing more than renegade, anarchistic bandits, devoid of any trace of long-term goals. By contrast, this article aims to explain how the WSB used well-devised military techniques in the field; how their history and military training within the Sierra Leone army shaped their notion of themselves and their view of what they were trying to accomplish; and, finally, how military commanders and politicians employed the WSB as a tactical instrument in a larger map of military and political strategies. It is in the politics of a military economy that this article is grounded.
Stochastic layer scaling in the two-wire model for divertor tokamaks
Authors: ALI HALIMA , PUNJABI ALKESH , BOOZER ALLEN 
Published: August 2008

AbstractThe question of magnetic field structure in the vicinity of the separatrix in divertor tokamaks is studied. The authors have investigated this problem earlier in a series of papers, using various mathematical techniques. In the present paper, the two-wire model (TWM) [Reiman, A. 1996 Phys. Plasmas3, 906] is considered. It is noted that, in the TWM, it is useful to consider an extra equation expressing magnetic flux conservation. This equation does not add any more information to the TWM, since the equation is derived from the TWM. This equation is useful for controlling the step size in the numerical integration of the TWM equations. The TWM with the extra equation is called the flux-preserving TWM. Nevertheless, the technique is apparently still plagued by numerical inaccuracies when the perturbation level is low, resulting in an incorrect scaling of the stochastic layer width. The stochastic broadening of the separatrix in the flux-preserving TWM is compared with that in the low mn (poloidal mode number m and toroidal mode number n) map (LMN) [Ali, H., Punjabi, A., Boozer, A. and Evans, T. 2004 Phys. Plasmas11, 1908]. The flux-preserving TWM and LMN both give Boozer–Rechester 0.5 power scaling of the stochastic layer width with the amplitude of magnetic perturbation when the perturbation is sufficiently large [Boozer, A. and Rechester, A. 1978, Phys. Fluids21, 682]. The flux-preserving TWM gives a larger stochastic layer width when the perturbation is low, while the LMN gives correct scaling in the low perturbation region. Area-preserving maps such as the LMN respect the Hamiltonian structure of field line trajectories, and have the added advantage of computational efficiency. Also, for a $1\frac12$ degree of freedom Hamiltonian system such as field lines, maps do not give Arnold diffusion.
Seasonal dormancy cycles in the biennial Torilis japonica (Apiaceae), a species with morphophysiological dormancy
Authors: Vandelook Filip , Bolle Nele , Van Assche Jozef A. 
Published: August 2008

AbstractTorilis japonica (Apiaceae) has a widespread distribution, extending from western Europe to eastern Asia. In Europe, it usually behaves as a spring-germinating biennial species. Ripe seeds of T. japonica have an underdeveloped embryo and can persist in the soil for several years. The aim of this research was to reveal the mechanisms regulating the seasonal emergence pattern of seedlings. Experiments in a natural environment were performed to study phenology of seedling emergence and embryo growth. Seasonal changes in the dormancy status of T. japonica seeds were examined by regularly exhuming buried seeds and incubating them in controlled conditions. The action of temperature and light in regulating dormancy, embryo growth and germination was studied in the laboratory. Results showed that seeds of T. japonica have non-deep, simple morphophysiological dormancy (MPD), whereby physiological dormancy is broken by moist chilling (5°C). Once MPD was broken, embryo growth and subsequent germination started in spring, when appropriate temperature and light conditions were present. Seeds buried at a depth where light could not reach them showed cyclic changes in their dormancy status; embryo growth in these seeds could not be initiated because of the lack of a light stimulus. As far as we know, this is the first extensive study of seasonal dormancy cycles in a spring-germinating species of the Apiaceae. T. japonica occurs in a temperate climate with cool winters and warm, moist summers. In this climate, spring is often the most favourable season for seedling establishment.
Trends in the evolution of BMI in Belgian army men
Authors: Mullie Patrick , Vansant Greet , Guelinckx Isabelle , Hulens Mieke , Clarys Peter , Degrave Etienne 
Published: August 2008

AbstractObjectivesThe first aim was to evaluate BMI cross-sectionally over a period of 14 years (1992 to 2005) in 43 343 army men and the second was to compare BMI using the paired data of 1497 army men. The data were analysed as a function of the military ranking system, used as an indicator for socio-economic position.DesignMultiple cross-sectional and longitudinal design.ResultsA significant increase of BMI between age categories was detected over the 14-year period; BMI remained stable in each age category. In the paired cohort, median BMI increased during the same period from 23·9 (interquartile range 3·3) kg/m2 to 24·7 (interquartile range 3·5) kg/m2 (P < 0·0001). This age-dependent evolution was present in all military rankings. From age 40 years or more, BMI indicated a significant increase in the prevalence of overweight and obesity.ConclusionFor the total cohort, BMI remained stable in each age category. For the paired cohort, BMI increased over time. The military leadership should emphasize prevention in order to reduce the health-care costs and disease burden in this cohort. This emphasis on prevention should target those aged less than 40 years.
Work histories and the access to contributory pensions: the case of Uruguay
Authors: BUCHELI MARISA , FORTEZA ALVARO , ROSSI IANINA 
Published: August 2008

AbstractIncomplete and highly fragmented work histories threaten to leave many contributors of the pension schemes in Latin America without the minimum pension guarantee or even without access to the ordinary pension. We propose a methodology to assess this risk, identify vulnerable groups and study potential determinants of the history of contributions using information from the work history records of the social security institutions. We apply this methodology to the largest social security institution of Uruguay, the Banco de Previsión Social (BPS), and show that the majority of contributors to this institution might not comply with the minimum number of years of contribution that is currently required to access an ordinary pension when they reach the retirement age.
Performance and governance of Swiss pension funds
Authors: AMMANN MANUEL , ZINGG ANDREAS 
Published: August 2008

AbstractWe investigate the relationship between pension fund governance and investment performance. For this purpose, we develop the Swiss Pension Fund Governance Index (SPGI) which is a standard metric for the governance quality of Swiss pension funds. The empirical analysis is based on a sample of 96 pension funds with total assets of more than CHF 190 billion. We find evidence for governance issues in the area organization and target setting. Our results support the widespread hypothesis of a positive relationship between pension fund governance and investment performance.
Edinger-Westphal Nucleus
Authors:   Allen Institute for Brain Science, Burnell Josh , Ng Lydia , Guillozet-Bongaarts Angela 
Published: August 2008

AbstractThis report contains a summary of expression patterns for genes that are enriched in the Edinger-Westphal nucleus (EW) of the midbrain. All data are derived from the Allen Brain Atlas (ABA) in situ hybridization mouse project. The structure's location and morphological characteristics in the mouse brain are described using the Nissl data found in the Allen Reference Atlas. Using an established algorithm, the expression values of the Edinger-Westphal nucleus were compared to the values of its larger parent structure, in this case the midbrain, for the purpose of extracting regionally selective gene expression data. The highest ranking genes were manually curated and verified. 50 genes were then selected and compiled for expression analysis. The experimental data for each gene may be accessed via the links provided; additional data in the sagittal plane may also be accessed using the ABA. Correlations between gene expression in the Edinger-Westphal nucleus and the rest of the brain, across all genes in the coronal dataset (~4300 genes), were derived computationally. A gene ontology table (derived from DAVID Bioinformatics Resources 2007) is also included, highlighting possible functions of the 50 genes selected for this report.
Facial Motor Nucleus
Authors:   Allen Institute for Brain Science, Dalley Rachel , Ng Lydia , Guillozet-Bongaarts Angela 
Published: August 2008

AbstractThis report contains a summary of expression patterns for genes that are enriched in the facial motor nucleus (VII) of the medulla. All data is derived from the Allen Brain Atlas (ABA) in situ hybridization mouse project. The structure's location and morphological characteristics in the mouse brain are described using the Nissl data found in the Allen Reference Atlas. Using an established algorithm, the expression values of the facial motor nucleus were compared to the values of its larger parent structure, in this case the medulla, for the purpose of extracting regionally selective gene expression data. The highest ranking genes were manually curated and verified. 50 genes were then selected and compiled for expression analysis. The experimental data for each gene may be accessed via the links provided; additional data in the sagittal plane may also be accessed using the ABA. Correlations between gene expression in the facial motor nucleus and the rest of the brain, across all genes in the coronal dataset (~4300 genes), were derived computationally. A gene ontology table (derived from DAVID Bioinformatics Resources 2007) is also included, highlighting possible functions of the 50 genes selected for this report.
Prediction of Functional Sites in SCOP Domains using Dynamics Perturbation Analysis
Authors: Cohn Judith , Ming Dengming , Wall Michael 
Published: August 2008

AbstractDynamics perturbation analysis (DPA) finds regions in a protein structure where proteins are "ticklish", i.e., where interactions cause a large change in protein dynamics. Previously, such regions were shown to predict the location of native binding sites in a docking test set, but the more general applicability of DPA to the prediction of functional sites in proteins was not shown. Here we describe the results of applying an accelerated algorithm, called Fast DPA, to predict functional sites in over 50,000 SCOP domains.
A Pilot of a Video Game (DDR) to Promote Physical Activity and Decrease Sedentary Screen Time
Authors: Maloney Ann E. , Bethea T. Carter , Kelsey Kristine S. , Marks Julie T. , Paez Sadye , Rosenberg Angela M. , Catellier Diane J. , Hamer Robert M. , Sikich Linmarie 
Published: August 2008

Objective: We examined the feasibility of Dance Dance Revolution (DDR), a dance video game, in participants' homes, to increase physical activity (PA) and to decrease sedentary screen time (SST).Methods And Procedures: Sixty children (7.5 ± 0.5 years) were randomized in a 2:1 ratio to DDR or to wait‐list control (10‐week delay). DDR use was logged, PA was measured objectively by accelerometry. SST was self‐reported at weeks 0 and 10. At week 28, after both groups had access to DDR, accelerometry and SST were repeated.Results: Mean use of DDR was 89 ± 82 (range 0–660min) min per week (mpw). The DDR group showed increased vigorous PA and a reduction in light PA; the control group showed no increase in moderate and/or vigorous PA (MVPA) although they also had a reduction in light PA. Differences between the groups were not observed. The DDR group also reported a decrease in SST of −1.2 ± 3.7 h per week (hpw) (P < 0.05), whereas the controls reported an increase of +3.0 ± 7.7 hpw (nonsignificant). The difference in SST between the groups was significant, with less SST in the DDR group. Between weeks 10 and 28, numeric reductions in SST were reported in both groups. In the DDR group, SST at week 28 (8.8 ± 6.0 hpw) was lower than baseline (10.5 ± 5.5 hpw; P < 0.03).Discussion: This pilot study suggests that DDR reduces SST and may facilitate slight increases in vigorous PA. Further study is needed to better characterize children and contexts in which DDR may promote a healthy lifestyle.
Bingeing, Self‐restriction, and Increased Body Weight in Rats With Limited Access to a Sweet‐fat Diet
Authors: Berner Laura A. , Avena Nicole M. , Hoebel Bartley G. 
Published: August 2008

Objective: Prior research has shown that fasting alternated with a diet of standard rodent chow and a 10% sucrose solution produces bingeing on the sucrose, but animals remain at normal body weight. The present study investigated whether restricted access to a highly palatable combination of sugar and fat, without food deprivation, would instigate binge eating and also increase body weight.Methods and Procedures: Male rats were maintained for 25 days on one of four diets: (i) sweet‐fat chow for 2 h/day followed by ad libitum standard chow, (ii) 2‐h sweet‐fat chow only 3 days/week and access to standard chow the rest of the time, (iii) ad libitum sweet‐fat chow, or (iv) ad libitum standard chow.Results: Both groups with 2‐h access to the sweet‐fat chow exhibited bingeing behavior, as defined by excessively large meals. The body weight of these animals increased due to large meals and then decreased between binges as a result of self‐restricted intake of standard chow following binges. However, despite these fluctuations in body weight, the group with 2‐h access to sweet‐fat chow every day gained significantly more weight than the control group with standard chow available ad libitum.Discussion: These findings may have implications for the body weight fluctuations associated with binge‐eating disorder, as well as the relationship between binge eating and the obesity epidemic.
Ajuba: a new microtubule‐associated protein that interacts with BUBR1 and Aurora B at kinetochores in metaphase
Authors: Ferrand Alexia , Chevrier Véronique , Chauvin Jean‐Paul , Birnbaum Daniel 
Published: August 2008

Background information. The role of the LIM‐domain‐containing protein Ajuba was initially described in cell adhesion and migration processes and recently in mitosis as an activator of the Aurora A kinase.Results. In the present study, we show that Ajuba localizes to centrosomes and kinetochores during mitosis. This localization is microtubule‐dependent and Ajuba binds microtubules in vitro. A microtubule regrowth assay showed that Ajuba follows nascent microtubules from centrosomes to kinetochores. Owing to its contribution to mitotic commitment and its microtubule‐dependent localization, Ajuba could also play a role during the metaphase—anaphase transition. We show that Ajuba interacts with Aurora B and BUBR1 [BUB (budding uninhibited by benomyl)‐related 1], two major components of the mitotic checkpoint. Inhibition of BUBR1 by siRNA (small interfering RNA) disrupts chromosome alignment at the metaphase plate and modifies Ajuba localization due to premature mitotic exit.Conclusions. Ajuba is a microtubule‐associated protein that collaborates with Aurora B and BUBR1 at the metaphase—anaphase transition and this may be important to ensure proper chromosome segregation.