bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Characterization of Spores of
Bacillus subtilis
That Lack Most Coat Layers
Authors: Ghosh Sonali , Setlow Barbara , Wahome Paul G. , Cowan Ann E. , Plomp Marco , Malkin Alexander J. , Setlow Peter 
Published: August 2008

ABSTRACT

Spores of
Bacillus subtilis
have a thick outer layer of relatively insoluble protein called the coat, which protects spores against a number of treatments and may also play roles in spore germination. However, elucidation of precise roles of the coat in spore properties has been hampered by the inability to prepare spores lacking all or most coat material. In this work, we show that spores of a strain with mutations in both the
cotE
and
gerE
genes, which encode proteins involved in coat assembly and expression of genes encoding coat proteins, respectively, lack most extractable coat protein as seen by sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis, as well as the great majority of the coat as seen by atomic force microscopy. However, the
cotE gerE
spores did retain a thin layer of insoluble coat material that was most easily seen by microscopy following digestion of these spores with lysozyme. These severely coat-deficient spores germinated relatively normally with nutrients and even better with dodecylamine but not with a 1:1 chelate of Ca
2+
and dipicolinic acid. These spores were also quite resistant to wet heat, to mechanical disruption, and to treatment with detergents at an elevated temperature and pH but were exquisitely sensitive to killing by sodium hypochlorite. These results provide new insight into the role of the coat layer in spore properties.
Stabilization of the Pertussis Toxin Secretion Apparatus by the C Terminus of PtlD
Authors: Verma Anita , Cheung Anissa M. , Burns Drusilla L. 
Published: August 2008

ABSTRACTPertussis toxin (PT) is secreted fromBordetella pertussisby a type IV secretion system, known as the Ptl transporter, that comprises nine different proteins, PtlA to PtlI. In this study, we found that PtlD is required for the stability of three Ptl proteins, PtlE, PtlF, and PtlH. A region limited to the C-terminal 72 amino acids of PtlD (amino acids 392 to 463) was sufficient for maintaining the stability of PtlE, PtlF, and PtlH, although this region was not sufficient to support secretion of the toxin. Further analysis demonstrated that a stretch of 10 amino acids at the C-terminal end of PtlD (amino acids 425 to 434) contributes to transporter stability.
Injury risks associated with tackling in rugby union
Authors: Fuller Colin W , Ashton Tony , Brooks John H M , Cancea Rebecca J , Hall John , Kemp Simon P T 
Published: August 2008

ObjectiveTo examine factors associated with tackles in rugby union and to assess their impact on the risk of injury.DesignTwo-season (2003/2004 and 2005/2006) prospective cohort design with video analysis.Setting13 English Premiership clubs.Participants645 players.Main outcome measureRR (95% CI) calculated by comparing the frequency of occurrence of risk factors in a cohort of players injured during tackles with their frequency of occurrence in tackles in general play.Risk factorsPlaying position; player’s speed, impact force, head position, head/neck flexion and body region struck in the tackle; sequence, direction and type of tackle; and location and type of injury.ResultsHigh-speed going into the tackle, high impact force, collisions and contact with a player’s head/neck were identified as significant (p<0.01) risk factors for ball carriers (BCs) and tacklers. Midfield backs were significantly (p<0.01) more prone to injury when tackling than other players. Relatively few tacklers were penalised by referees for collision tackles (general play: 2.0%; injured players: 3.3%) and tackles above the line of the shoulder (general play: 5.9%; injured players: 16.7%).ConclusionsAdvice in national and international injury prevention programmes for reducing the risk of injury in tackles is strongly supported by the results obtained from this study. These programmes should be reviewed, however, to provide specific advice for each type of tackle. Stricter implementation of the Laws of Rugby relating to collisions and tackles above the line of the shoulder may reduce the number of head/neck injuries sustained by BCs.
Modelling the health benefits of smoking cessation in Japan
Authors: Avila-Tang E , Apelberg B J , Yamaguchi N , Katanoda K , Sobue T , Samet J M 
Published: August 2008

Background:In Japan, tobacco smoking is one of the main avoidable causes of disease and death. Although the benefits of smoking cessation for reducing disease risk and increasing longevity have been extensively documented, a relatively low proportion of Japanese smokers currently express a willingness to quit. This study attempted to quantify future reduction in the burden of smoking-attributable disease that could result from increases in smoking cessation.Methods:A simulation model was developed to project changes in mortality in Japan associated with increased quit attempts and use of nicotine replacement therapy (NRT) among smokers, incorporating data on smoking prevalence, cause-specific mortality rates, quitting behaviour and NRT use and effectiveness.Results:Approximately 46 000 lung cancer deaths and 56 000 cardiovascular disease deaths could be avoided over 20 years if the proportion of smokers making a quit attempt per year gradually increased to current US levels over 20 years. If each of these quit attempts were aided by NRT, the estimates of avoidable deaths would increase to 64 000 for lung cancer and 78 000 for cardiovascular disease. In this model, negligible deaths were avoided due to decreased smoking initiation over the 20-year simulation.Conclusion:Smoking cessation can have measurable short-term impacts on the smoking-related mortality burden in Japan. However, to achieve these gains, tobacco control policies should focus both on increasing smokers’ willingness to quit and providing the support and therapies to increase the likelihood that smoking cessation attempts will succeed.
Towards a Model of Transformation: Manager's Perceptions of Transformation in an E-business Environment
Authors: Perrott Bruce E. 
Published: August 2008

In the Entrepreneurial Millennium, companies and industries must come to terms with change. When change is radical, they must manage a metamorphosis by way of transformation. Here industry structures and relationships may change radically where new rules and guidelines are needed to manage the business and its customers in the transformed dimension. Some studies have conducted research and analysed findings according to the transformational impact on the organisations showing that early adopters of e-business show a trend towards cost reductions and administrative efficiencies while more mature users focus on strategic level change and advantage (Ash and Burn, 2003). Other researchers have studied the challenges that major organisations have encountered while expanding their ebusiness transformation strategy (Ranganathan, Shetty and Muthukumaran, 2004). Managers therefore need to develop a better understanding of the theory and processes associated with the transformation in an e-business context. This paper reviews the findings of field research and uses it as a basis to propose a new model of transformation which may guide future research and lead to a better understanding of what is involved in the process.
Approximation schemes for wireless networks
Authors: Nieberg Tim , Hurink Johann , Kern Walter 
Published: August 2008

Wireless networks are created by the communication links between a collection of radio transceivers. The nature of wireless transmissions does not lead to arbitrary undirected graphs but to structured graphs which we characterize by the polynomially bounded growth property. In contrast to many existing graph models for wireless networks, the property of polynomially bounded growth is defined independently of geometric data such as positional information.
On such wireless networks, we present an approach that can be used to create polynomial-time approximation schemes for several optimization problems called the local neighborhood-based scheme. We apply this approach to the problems of seeking maximum (weight) independent sets and minimum dominating sets. These are two important problems in the area of wireless communication networks and are also used in many applications ranging from clustering to routing strategies. However, the approach is presented in a general fashion since it can be applied to other problems as well.
The approach for the approximation schemes is robust in the sense that it accepts any undirected graph as input and either outputs a solution of desired quality or correctly asserts that the graph presented as input does not satisfy the structural assumption of a wireless network (an NP-hard problem).
LIFELONG INTERACTIONSMemory impairment is a family affair
Authors: Wu Mike 
Published: August 2008

As all of us know, whether we are seven or 77, each of us can have challenging needs when in good health or when we are suffering from any number of ailments. The reality of understanding users is that health issues can color our lives in ways we might never expect. In this issue's forum, Mike Wu discusses the pressing needs of adults with severe memory impairments and what can be done to support them and their families through technology. What this article reminds us is that even when we consider our older or younger users, we must also consider the people that live with them. Their care-givers, whether they be grown-children or parents, can play a critical role in the lives of family members at any age. This forum on life-long interactions celebrates not just one age of user, but all ages working together to make life a little better for all of us.
---Allison Druin
The Topography of Visuospatial Attention as Revealed by a Novel Visual Field Mapping Technique
Authors: Brefczynski-Lewis Julie A. , Datta Ritobrato , Lewis James W. , DeYoe Edgar A. 
Published: August 2008

Abstract
Previously, we and others have shown that attention can enhance visual processing in a spatially specific manner that is retinotopically mapped in the occipital cortex. However, it is difficult to appreciate the functional significance of the spatial pattern of cortical activation just by examining the brain maps. In this study, we visualize the neural representation of the “spotlight” of attention using a back-projection of attention-related brain activation onto a diagram of the visual field. In the two main experiments, we examine the topography of attentional activation in the occipital and parietal cortices. In retinotopic areas, attentional enhancement is strongest at the locations of the attended target, but also spreads to nearby locations and even weakly to restricted locations in the opposite visual field. The dispersion of attentional effects around an attended site increases with the eccentricity of the target in a manner that roughly corresponds to a constant area of spread within the cortex. When averaged across multiple observers, these patterns appear consistent with a gradient model of spatial attention. However, individual observers exhibit complex variations that are unique but reproducible. Overall, these results suggest that the topography of visual attention for each individual is composed of a common theme plus a personal variation that may reflect their own unique “attentional style.”
Reflexive and Preparatory Selection and Suppression of Salient Information in the Right and Left Posterior Parietal Cortex
Authors: Mevorach Carmel , Humphreys Glyn W. , Shalev Lilach 
Published: August 2008

Abstract
Attentional cues can trigger activity in the parietal cortex in anticipation of visual displays, and this activity may, in turn, induce changes in other areas of the visual cortex, hence, implementing attentional selection. In a recent TMS study [Mevorach, C., Humphreys, G. W., & Shalev, L. Opposite biases in salience-based selection for the left and right posterior parietal cortex. Nature Neuroscience, 9, 740–742, 2006b], it was shown that the posterior parietal cortex (PPC) can utilize the relative saliency (a nonspatial property) of a target and a distractor to bias visual selection. Furthermore, selection was lateralized so that the right PPC is engaged when salient information must be selected and the left PPC when the salient information must be ignored. However, it is not clear how the PPC implements these complementary forms of selection. Here we used on-line triple-pulse TMS over the right or left PPC prior to or after the onset of global/local displays. When delivered after the onset of the display, TMS to the right PPC disrupted the selection of the more salient aspect of the hierarchical letter. In contrast, left PPC TMS delivered prior to the onset of the stimulus disrupted responses to the lower saliency stimulus. These findings suggest that selection and suppression of saliency, rather than being “two sides of the same coin,” are fundamentally different processes. Selection of saliency seems to operate reflexively, whereas suppression of saliency relies on a preparatory phase that “sets up” the system in order to effectively ignore saliency.
Subordinate Categorization Enhances the Neural Selectivity in Human Object-selective Cortex for Fine Shape Differences
Authors: Gillebert Céline R. , Op de Beeck Hans P. , Panis Sven , Wagemans Johan 
Published: August 2008

Abstract
There is substantial evidence that object representations in adults are dynamically updated by learning. However, it is not clear to what extent these effects are induced by active processing of visual objects in a particular task context on top of the effects of mere exposure to the same objects. Here we show that the task does matter. We performed an event-related fMRI adaptation study in which we derived neural selectivity from a release of adaptation. We had two training conditions: “categorized objects” were categorized at a subordinate level based on fine shape differences (Which type of fish is this?), whereas “control objects” were seen equally often in a task context requiring no subordinate categorization (Is this a vase or not?). After training, the object-selective cortex was more selective for differences among categorized objects than for differences among control objects. This result indicates that the task context during training modulates the extent to which object selectivity is enhanced as a result of training.
Is This Hand for Real? Attenuation of the Rubber Hand Illusion by Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation over the Inferior Parietal Lobule
Authors: Kammers Marjolein P. M. , Verhagen Lennart , Dijkerman H. Chris , Hogendoorn Hinze , De Vignemont Frederique , Schutter Dennis J. L. G. 
Published: August 2008

AbstractIn the rubber hand illusion (RHI), participants incorporate a rubber hand into a mental representation of one's body. This deceptive feeling of ownership is accompanied by recalibration of the perceived position of the participant's real hand toward the rubber hand. Neuroimaging data suggest involvement of the posterior parietal lobule during induction of the RHI, when recalibration of the real hand toward the rubber hand takes place. Here, we used off-line low-frequency repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS) in a double-blind, sham-controlled within-subjects design to investigate the role of the inferior posterior parietal lobule (IPL) in establishing the RHI directly. Results showed that rTMS over the IPL attenuated the strength of the RHI for immediate perceptual body judgments only. In contrast, delayed perceptual responses were unaffected. Furthermore, ballistic action responses as well as subjective self-reports of feeling of ownership over the rubber hand remained unaffected by rTMS over the IPL. These findings are in line with previous research showing that the RHI can be broken down into dissociable bodily sensations. The illusion does not merely affect the embodiment of the rubber hand but also influences the experience and localization of one's own hand in an independent manner. Finally, the present findings concur with a multicomponent model of somatosensory body representations, wherein the IPL plays a pivotal role in subserving perceptual body judgments, but not actions or higher-order affective bodily judgments.
Socioeconomic Disparities Affect Prefrontal Function in Children
Authors: Kishiyama Mark M. , Boyce W. Thomas , Jimenez Amy M. , Perry Lee M. , Knight Robert T. 
Published: August 2008

Abstract
Social inequalities have profound effects on the physical and mental health of children. Children from low socioeconomic status (SES) backgrounds perform below children from higher SES backgrounds on tests of intelligence and academic achievement, and recent findings indicate that low SES (LSES) children are impaired on behavioral measures of prefrontal function. However, the influence of socioeconomic disparity on direct measures of neural activity is unknown. Here, we provide electrophysiological evidence indicating that prefrontal function is altered in LSES children. We found that prefrontal-dependent electrophysiological measures of attention were reduced in LSES compared to high SES (HSES) children in a pattern similar to that observed in patients with lateral prefrontal cortex (PFC) damage. These findings provide neurophysiological evidence that social inequalities are associated with alterations in PFC function in LSES children. There are a number of factors associated with LSES rearing conditions that may have contributed to these results such as greater levels of stress and lack of access to cognitively stimulating materials and experiences. Targeting specific prefrontal processes affected by socioeconomic disparity could be helpful in developing intervention programs for LSES children.
Semantic Learning Modifies Perceptual Face Processing
Authors: Heisz Jennifer J. , Shedden Judith M. 
Published: August 2008

Abstract
Face processing changes when a face is learned with personally relevant information. In a five-day learning paradigm, faces were presented with rich semantic stories that conveyed personal information about the faces. Event-related potentials were recorded before and after learning during a passive viewing task. When faces were novel, we observed the expected N170 repetition effect—a reduction in amplitude following face repetition. However, when faces were learned with personal information, the N170 repetition effect was eliminated, suggesting that semantic information modulates the N170 repetition effect. To control for the possibility that a simple perceptual effect contributed to the change in the N170 repetition effect, another experiment was conducted using stories that were not related to the person (i.e., stories about rocks and volcanoes). Although viewers were exposed to the faces an equal amount of time, the typical N170 repetition effect was observed, indicating that personal semantic information associated with a face, and not simply perceptual exposure, produced the observed reduction in the N170 repetition effect. These results are the first to reveal a critical perceptual change in face processing as a result of learning person-related information. The results have important implications for researchers studying face processing, as well as learning and memory in general, as they demonstrate that perceptual information alone is not enough to establish familiarity akin to real-world person learning.
The New Face of CEFTA and its Dispute Resolution Mechanisms
Authors: Biuković Ljiljana 
Published: August 2008

AbstractAmendments made to the Central European Free Trade Agreement (CEFTA) in 2006 mark significant developments in the economic integration of the Western Balkans. Among those amendments were changes to the Agreement's dispute resolution mechanism. This article analyzes the latest developments in economic integration in the Western Balkans and examines the nature and operation of the dispute resolution mechanisms used in CEFTA. Explanations for important changes to the dispute settlement process in CEFTA are suggested by examining the context of the members' economic, political, social and legal surroundings. The article surveys ongoing tendencies in the development of dispute resolution mechanisms in other regional trade agreements, in particular those utilized by the European Union (EU), as a means of exploring the rationale behind the new CEFTA. It argues that the EU practice—developed in EU association agreements with third countries—has inspired the 2006 amendments to the CEFTA dispute resolution mechanism.
A Statewide Examination of Hunting and Trophy Nonhuman Animals: Perspectives of Montana Hunters
Authors: Eliason Stephen 
Published: August 2008

AbstractThe purpose of this descriptive and exploratory study was to extend our understanding of the motivations for trophy hunting. Hunting is an important recreational activity and part of the culture in Montana. Placing specific emphasis on the importance of obtaining a trophy nonhuman animal when hunting, the study examined the attitudes of resident hunters and nonresident outfitter-sponsored hunters. The study used a qualitative approach to data collection and developed 2 surveys that contained mostly open-ended questions. Results from 1000 surveys mailed to resident elk hunters and 1000 surveys mailed to nonresident outfitter-sponsored elk hunters indicated that nonresident outfitter-sponsored hunters were more likely than resident hunters to seek trophy-class animals. Respondents provided statements about the importance of obtaining trophy animals.
Translating Human Rights into Muslim Vernaculars
Authors: Gregg Benjamin 
Published: August 2008

AbstractUsing Islam as an example, I show how interpreters can develop human rights within their own culture even as they draw on extra-local ideas and practices. They can do so despite points of significant conflict between the local culture and that of human rights, in ways that need to resonate with the local culture yet also challenge it. Translators can do the work they do because they have the “dual consciousness” of outside intermediaries and local participants.
Cultivating Energy, Reducing Poverty: Biofuel Development in an Indonesian Village
Authors: Amir Sulfikar , Nurlaila Ida , Yuliar Sonny 
Published: August 2008

Abstract
This article examines biofuel development in Indonesia initiated by the government through a presidential instruction issued in January 2006. Three layers of analysis are presented. One is related to the politics of oil during the Suharto era that shaped Indonesian energy policy for decades. The second layer looks at current political and economic situations in Indonesia, which has been much affected by a crisis of energy resulting from previous regimes. A biofuel initiative thus got underway to solve three major problems, namely, the energy crisis, high unemployment, and poverty. Finally, this paper observes how the biofuel policy impacts people in a village in West Java.
An h-Adaptive Finite-Element Technique for Constructing 3D Wind Fields
Authors: Pepper Darrell W. , Wang Xiuling 
Published: August 2008

Abstract
An h-adaptive, mass-consistent finite-element model (FEM) has been developed for constructing 3D wind fields over irregular terrain utilizing sparse meteorological tower data. The element size in the computational domain is dynamically controlled by an a posteriori error estimator based on the L2 norm. In the h-adaptive FEM algorithm, large element sizes are typically associated with smooth flow regions and small errors; small element sizes are attributed to fast-changing flow regions and large errors. The adaptive procedure employed in this model uses mesh refinement–unrefinement to satisfy error criteria. Results are presented for wind fields using sparse data obtained from two regions within Nevada: 1) the Nevada Test Site, located approximately 65 mi (1 mi ≈ 1.6 km) northwest of Las Vegas, and 2) the central region of Nevada, about 100 mi southeast of Reno.