bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Our PDT experience in the treatment of non‐melanoma skin cancer over the last 7 years
Authors: Baptista J , Martinez C , Leite L , Cochito M 
Published: April 2006

AbstractBackground  Topical photodynamic therapy (PDT) with 5‐aminolevulinic acid (ALA) was first described by Kennedy et al. in 1990; currently, accumulated evidence shows that topical PDT is effective in the treatment of actinic keratoses, Bowen's disease and superficial basal cell carcinoma, being potentially advantageous where size, anatomical location or number of lesions limit the efficacy and/or the acceptability of conventional therapies. It involves the use of photosensitizing drugs and the administration of an appropriate light source to activate the sensitizing agent, which leads to the production of activated oxygen species for tissue destruction. The topically administered prodrug 5‐ALA is converted within cells into the active photosensitizer protoporphyrin IX, via haem cycle, with preferential accumulation in tumour cells.Methods  The authors describe their experience with topical PDT, using 20% 5‐ALA and two different incoherent light sources, ‘Waldman 1200 L’ and ‘VersaLightTM’, in the treatment of non‐melanoma skin cancer and precursor lesions. More than 100 patients were treated since 1997, with up to a 7‐year follow‐up period.Results  Cases are illustrated and results are presented and discussed in the light of the relevant Literature.Conclusion  The study suggests that 5‐ALA PDT is effective in the treatment of superficial skin cancer and premalignant lesions.
The adaptation of a cognitive‐behavioural treatment programme for special needs sexual offenders
Authors: Keeling Jenny A. , Rose John L. 
Published: April 2006

SummaryThe need for specialized treatment programmes to address the specific requirements of different populations has been well recognized. One important area of treatment development has been for offenders who are unsuitable for existing mainstream treatment programmes. This paper describes the process of adapting an existing sexual offender treatment programme for use with sexual offenders who have special needs in an Australian correctional setting. The population comprised individuals with a variety of special needs including borderline or mild intellectual functioning, severe literacy problems, significant communication difficulties, and other important deficits and special needs. It should be noted that some of these special needs individuals would not meet the diagnostic criteria for intellectual disability and this programme is aimed at the broader group inclusive of a number of special needs. Therapeutic adaptations have been guided by current research and practice, and specific examples are described and discussed. The authors believe that these adaptations may also have some utility for mainstream sexual offender treatment programmes. Research into the efficacy of these treatment adaptations with this population is currently underway.
Social structure of the bushveld sengi (Elephantulus intufi) in Namibia and the evolution of monogamy in the Macroscelidea
Authors: Rathbun G. B. , Rathbun C. D. 
Published: April 2006

AbstractThe elephant‐shrews or sengis (order Macroscelidea) represent a monophyletic radiation endemic to Africa with 15 extant species in four genera. Field studies of representatives from all four genera indicate that all are socially monogamous. Resource and female dispersion, indirect paternal investment and male mate guarding have been proposed as factors contributing to sengi monogamy. To better understand sengi social organization, we studied the behavioural ecology of the bushveld sengi Elephantulus intufi in Namibia. Radio‐tags and direct observation were used to gather spatial and behavioural data during 5 months in 2000–2002. Bushveld sengis were distributed as monogamous pairs on exclusive territories, similar to other sengis. Maternal care was characterized by an ‘absentee’ strategy and there was no evidence of direct or indirect paternal care. Sengis share many life‐history traits with small antelopes, including uni‐parental monogamy. Unlike the antelopes, which exhibit strong pair bonds, bushveld sengi pairs spend little time in coordinated activities. Male mate guarding best explains why sengis are socially monogamous – a model largely developed from studies of small antelopes. The similarity in morphology, life history and behaviour among sengi species results in a distinctive adaptive syndrome, which explains the consistency of their social structure, even in the extremes of terrestrial habitats that they occupy. The degree of sengi social monogamy is labile, which is related to their weak pair bond, same‐sex aggression and variable densities.
Diets and coexistence in Neomys and Sorex shrews in Białowieża forest, eastern Poland
Authors: Churchfield S. , Rychlik L. 
Published: April 2006

AbstractPrey selection, food niche overlap and resource partitioning were investigated in semi‐aquatic Neomys fodiens and Neomys anomalus and terrestrial Sorex araneus and Sorex minutus coexisting in marshland in Białowieża Forest, eastern Poland. Evidence of prey selectivity was found but high levels of overlap, particularly in prey size, reflected the abundance of invertebrates in field samples. Despite similarities in diets between all four species, evidence of niche differentiation was found in terms of foraging mode and prey composition. Neomys ate predominantly terrestrial prey but 20% of prey of N. fodiens was aquatic (compared with 11% in N. anomalus), with Asellus being the dominant aquatic prey. Sorex shrews were exclusively terrestrial in foraging mode. All species ate predominantly small prey (≤5 mm) and these were most abundant in field samples, but small prey were most important for S. minutus. Pairwise comparisons suggested that the most important promoter of resource partitioning was body size, indicating different foraging modes. Food niche overlap was least between species most dissimilar in size. The tiny S. minutus was predominantly an epigeal forager on small Araneae, Opiliones and Coleoptera; the medium‐sized S. araneus fed extensively on Lumbricidae and Coleoptera; and the large, semi‐aquatic Neomys fed on different amounts of freshwater prey in addition to terrestrial prey. Our results support the prediction that microhabitat selection among these species indicates differentiation in foraging mode.
A Cost Analysis of the Iowa Medicaid Primary Care Case Management Program
Authors: Momany Elizabeth T. , Flach Stephen D. , Nelson Forrest D. , Damiano Peter C. 
Published: April 2006

Objective. To determine the cost savings attributable to the implementation and expansion of a primary care case management (PCCM) program on Medicaid costs per member in Iowa from 1989 to 1997.Data Sources. Medicaid administrative data from Iowa aggregated at the county level.Study Design. Longitudinal analysis of costs per member per month, analyzed by category of medical expense using weighted least squares. We compared the actual costs with the expected costs (in the absence of the PCCM program) to estimate cost savings attributable to the PCCM program.Principal Findings. We estimated that the PCCM program was associated with a savings of $66 million to the state of Iowa over the study period. Medicaid expenses were 3.8 percent less than what they would have been in the absence of the PCCM program. Effects of the PCCM program appeared to grow stronger over time. Use of the PCCM program was associated with increases in outpatient care and pharmaceutical expenses, but a decrease in hospital and physician expenses.Conclusions. Use of a Medicaid PCCM program was associated with substantial aggregate cost savings over an 8‐year period, and this effect became stronger over time. Cost reductions appear to have been mediated by substituting outpatient care for inpatient care.
Ethanol Tolerance Caused by slowpoke Induction in Drosophila
Authors: Cowmeadow Roshani. B. , Krishnan Harish. R. , Ghezzi Alfredo , Al'Hasan Yazan M. , Wang Yan. Z. , Atkinson Nigel S. 
Published: April 2006

Background: The large‐conductance calcium‐activated potassium channel encoded by the slowpoke gene has recently been implicated in the ethanol response. Caenorhabditis elegans carrying mutations in this gene have altered ethanol sensitivity and Drosophila mutant for this gene are unable to acquire rapid tolerance to ethanol or anesthetics. In Drosophila, induction of slowpoke expression has been linked to anesthetic resistance.Methods: We used Drosophila as a model system to examine the relationship between slowpoke expression and ethanol tolerance. Real‐time PCR and a reporter transgene were used to measure slowpoke induction after ethanol sedation. An inducible slowpoke transgene was used to manipulate slowpoke levels in the absence of ethanol sedation.Results: Ethanol sedation increased transcription from the slowpoke neural promoters but not from the slowpoke muscle/tracheal cell promoters. This neural‐specific change was concomitant with the appearance of ethanol tolerance, leading us to suspect linkage between the two. Moreover, induction of slowpoke expression from a transgene produced a phenotype that mimics ethanol tolerance.Conclusions: In Drosophila, ethanol sedation induces slowpoke expression in the nervous system and results in ethanol tolerance. The induction of slowpoke expression alone is sufficient to produce a phenotype that is indistinguishable from true ethanol tolerance. Therefore, the regulation of the slowpoke BK‐type channel gene must play an integral role in the Drosophila ethanol response.
Heart Rate Response to Alcohol and Intoxicated Aggressive Behavior
Authors: Assaad Jean‐Marc , Pihl Robert O. , Séguin Jean R. , Nagin Daniel , Vitaro Frank , Tremblay Richard E. 
Published: April 2006

Background: This study examined the elevated heart rate (HR) response to alcohol intoxication, thought to reflect an increased sensitivity to alcohol‐induced reward, as a potential factor in the increased likelihood of alcohol‐induced aggression.Methods: Three groups, intoxicated high (n=37) and low (n=37) HR responders and sober controls (n=73), participated in a laboratory measure of physical aggression, the Taylor Aggression Paradigm.Results: Results revealed that intoxicated high HR responders were more aggressive than the intoxicated low HR responders and sober controls.Conclusions: These findings are interpreted within a hypothetical model relating increased alcohol‐induced aggression to a dysregulation in the motivational system responding to rewards.
Alterations in Circadian Rhythm Phase Shifting Ability in Rats Following Ethanol Exposure During the Third Trimester Brain Growth Spurt
Authors: Sakata‐Haga Hiromi , Dominguez Hector D. , Sei Hiroyoshi , Fukui Yoshihiro , Riley Edward P. , Thomas Jennifer D. 
Published: April 2006

Background: Disruptions in sleep and feeding rhythms are among the consequences of prenatal alcohol exposure. Previously, we reported that ethanol exposure during the second trimester equivalent in rats produces long‐lasting impairments in circadian system functioning. In the present study, we examined the effects of ethanol exposure during the third trimester equivalent brain growth spurt on the development of the circadian clock system.Methods: Sprague–Dawley male rat pups were exposed to 6.0 g/kg/d ethanol via an artificial rearing procedure on postnatal days (PD) 4 through 9 (EtOH). An artificially reared gastrostomized control group and a normally reared suckle control group were also included. At 10 to 12 weeks of age, wheel‐running behavior was measured continuously under a 12‐hour/12‐hour light/dark (LD) cycle. Thereafter, subjects were exposed to a 6‐hour phase delay of the LD cycle, and the ability to adjust to the new LD cycle was evaluated.Results: Before the phase delay, onset time of activity and acrophases of activity in all 3 groups were not significantly different from one another. After the 6‐hour LD cycle delay, EtOH subjects were slower to adapt to the new cycle compared with both control groups, as measured by both activity onset and acrophase. Throughout the experiment, activity levels of EtOH subjects tended to be higher compared to both controls.Conclusions: These data demonstrate that ethanol exposure during the third trimester disrupts the ability to synchronize circadian rhythm to light cues. Disruptions in circadian regulation may cause abnormal behavioral rhythmicity, such as disrupted sleep and feeding patterns, as seen in individuals prenatally exposed to ethanol.
Measurements of Electrophysiological Effects of Components of Acute Ischemia in Langendorff‐Perfused Rat Hearts Using Voltage‐Sensitive Dye Mapping
Authors: NYGREN ANDERS , BACZKÓ ISTVÁN , GILES WAYNE R. 
Published: April 2006

Introduction: This study was carried out to evaluate optical mapping in the presence of cytochalasin‐D as a method for measuring electrophysiological responses in general, and in particular the responses to acute ischemia in the Langendorff‐perfused rat heart. Cytochalasin‐D is commonly used to reduce contraction for the purpose of suppressing motion artifacts in voltage‐sensitive dye recordings of cardiac membrane potential. Methods and Results: Observations using optical mapping were complemented by recordings of the surface electrogram to provide information independent of the optical measurements. Perfusion of Langendorff‐perfused rat hearts with 3 μM cytochalasin‐D resulted in a 24% prolongation of the QT interval of surface electrograms indicating that cytochalasin‐D prolongs the rat ventricular action potential. Individual components of the electrophysiological response to acute ischemia were globally induced as follows: (1) opening of KATP channels was induced by perfusion of 2 μM P‐1075, (2) accumulation of extracellular K+ was simulated by increasing perfusate [K+] to 12 mM, and (3) acidosis was simulated by reducing perfusate pH to 6.5. The responses to these interventions could be reliably documented using optical recordings, as well as from surface electrograms. Whole‐cell patch clamp measurements on isolated rat ventricular myocytes indicate that cytochalasin‐D produces an approximately 2.5‐fold increase in P‐1075‐induced IK,ATP. Conclusion: These results provide the necessary background information for interpreting electrophysiological measurements during acute ischemia in the presence of cytochalasin‐D.
CAP MTR versus environmentally targeted agricultural policy in marginal arable areas: impact analysis combining simulation and survey data
Authors: Muñiz Ignacio Atance , Hurlé Jesús Barreiro 
Published: April 2006

AbstractOn June 2003 the final version of the Common Agricultural Policy Mid‐Term Review (CAP MTR) was published. The driving forces of this policy change include inter alia the compliance with World Trade Organization (WTO) negotiations' requirements, improvement of social support for agricultural policy, adjustment to budget constraints and adaptation of agricultural practices to environmental requirements. This article reviews how this policy performs in marginal areas regarding one of those objectives: the provision of environmental outputs related to agricultural activity. As an alternative to this reform, a policy based on agri‐environmental measures designed to maximize environmental outputs, is proposed. Both options are evaluated from a cost‐effectiveness point of view. Data from a farm survey and a positive mathematical programming model for a cereal steppes agro‐system in Spain are combined in order to simulate the effects of this reform and our alternative instrument on several environmental indicators. Results show that in marginal areas, where land abandonment is a clear threat, more environmental output can be achieved for the same cost, while maintaining, if not increasing, the levels of achievement for the other goals.
ANALYSIS OF RESERVES DISCOVERED IN PETROLEUM EXPLORATION
Authors: Quirk D. G. , Ruthrauff R. 
Published: April 2006

Mathematical theory and empirical data show that discovery sizes from mature plays have lognormal distributions. This allows a simple transformation to be used that converts lognormal trends to straight lines from which valuable statistical data on exploration potential is derived.After correcting for the unreliable nature of data from non‐commercial accumulations and then discounting the extreme high ends and low ends (<P99 and >P1), discovery size distributions from a variety of mature plays outside the Middle East show certain common properties that help constrain reserves ranges in individual prospects and new play fairways. These are:

P99 is 0.3MM brl or less in non‐DHI oil plays and 4BCF or less in gas plays at normal depths;
P50 reserves fall within the range 7‐35 MM brl or 15–150 BCF (half of all discoveries are smaller than this);
risked average discovery size is generally 10‐100 MM brl or 20–200 BCF;
there is somewhere between a 1 in 5 and 1 in 4 chance of finding reserves equal to or larger than the average size of discovery;
the average minimum economic field size falls between P70 and P30, meaning that around half of all discoveries are too small to be commercial, except in onshore areas close to infrastructure;
P90 values show the smallest variation over time as a play matures but these rarely become commercial;
most established conventional plays contain 1–10 billion brl o.e. of recoverable resource.

In contrast, upside reserves, the number of discoveries and the chance of making a discovery are unique to each play. Also, rather than indicating the exploration maturity of a play per se, P10/P90 ratios reflect play specific limits to discovery size, although it is true that the P10/P90 ratio decreases as the number of discoveries increases.As most large discoveries are made in emergent plays, companies looking for high impact (unusually large) prospects are unlikely to find these in established plays meaning that they need to be prepared to explore at higher risk, often in frontier areas.
XcisClique: analysis of regulatory bicliques
Authors: Pati Amrita , Vasquez-Robinet Cecilia , Heath Lenwood S , Grene Ruth , Murali TM 
Published: April 2006

AbstractBackgroundModeling ofcis-elements or regulatory motifs in promoter (upstream) regions of genes is a challenging computational problem. In this work, set of regulatory motifs simultaneously present in the promoters of a set of genes is modeled as a biclique in a suitably defined bipartite graph. A biologically meaningful co-occurrence of multiplecis-elements in a gene promoter is assessed by the combined analysis of genomic and gene expression data. Greater statistical significance is associated with a set of genes that shares a common set of regulatory motifs, while simultaneously exhibiting highly correlated gene expression under given experimental conditions.MethodsXcisClique, the system developed in this work, is a comprehensive infrastructure that associates annotated genome and gene expression data, models knowncis-elements as regular expressions, identifies maximal bicliques in a bipartite gene-motif graph; and ranks bicliques based on their computed statistical significance. Significance is a function of the probability of occurrence of those motifs in a biclique (a hypergeometric distribution), and on the new sum of absolute values statistic (SAV) that uses Spearman correlations of gene expression vectors. SAV is a statistic well-suited for this purpose as described in the discussion.ResultsXcisClique identifies new motif and gene combinations that might indicate as yet unidentified involvement of sets of genes in biological functions and processes. It currently supportsArabidopsis thalianaand can be adapted to other organisms, assuming the existence of annotated genomic sequences, suitable gene expression data, and identified regulatory motifs. A subset of Xcis Clique functionalities, including the motif visualization component MotifSee, source code, and supplementary material are available athttps://bioinformatics.cs.vt.edu/xcisclique/.
The Most-Favored-Nation Clause
Authors: Hornbeck Stanley K. 
Published: April 2006

Before turning to consider the views of several of the leading writers who have discussed the theory and practice of the most-favored-nation clause, it will he well to get clearly in mind certain circumstances which have attended its use in different periods. A knowledge of the time when a treaty was made will be found to be absolutely essential in many cases if we wish to arrive at a proper interpretation of some of its clauses.In the first place, and of primary importance, most-favored-nation treatment has now, and had in the eighteenth century, a different meaning in European policy from that which attached to it between 1825 and 1860. While European countries now give the clause a form and an interpretation corresponding approximately to that in vogue in the eighteenth century, the universalizing of favors, which, through the intricacy of modern treaty systems, that old form might be expected to entail, is largely modified by the mechanism of modern tariff policy.
Some Questions of International Law in the European War
Authors: Garner James W. 
Published: April 2006

On February 4, 1915, the German Admiralty published the following decree:
The waters around Great Britain, including the whole of the English Channel, are declared hereby to be included within the zone of war, and after the 18th inst. all enemy merchant vessels encountered in these waters will be destroyed, even if it may not be possible always to save their crews and passengers.Within this war zone neutral vessels are exposed to danger, since, in view of the misuse of the neutral flags ordered by the Government of Great Britain on the 31st ult. and of the hazards of naval warfare, neutral vessels cannot always be prevented from suffering from the attacks intended for enemy ships.The route of navigation around the north of the Shetland Islands, in the eastern part of the North Sea, and in a strip thirty miles wide along the Dutch Coast are not open to the danger zone.
The Development and Formation of International Law
Authors: Nys Ernest 
Published: April 2006

“Law in general,” says Montesquieu, “is human reason so far as it controls all the people of the earth, and the political and civil laws of each nation can only be considered as individual cases in which this human reason is applied.” Reason was held by the Romans to constitute one of the fundamental elements of law. Cicero announced the existence of “a veritable law, true reason (recta ratio), in conformity with nature, universal, immutable and eternal, the commands of which constitute a call to duty and the prohibitions of which avert evil.”It is at present unnecessary to consider what influence the Stoic, Academic and Epicurean doctrines had on Roman jurisprudence, and it would be risky to support as absolutely final any view which might be expressed on the subject. During the last phases of the Republic there had already come to exist in the world’s capital a fusion of the different schools of philosophy; and traces of the Platonic teachings constantly appear in the expression of the great orator’s lofty thought.