bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Methodological aspects of in vitro sensing of L‐glutamate in acute brain slices
Authors: Sugawara Masao 
Published: November 2007

AbstractL‐Glutamate is a major amino acid neurotransmitter in the central neuronal system of the mammalian brain and plays a vital role in brain development, synaptic plasticity, neurotoxicity, and neuropathological disorders. Despite technical limitations, progress is being made in sensing L‐glutamate in vivo and in vitro. Sophisticated microsensors with the necessary spatial and temporal resolution have recently been emerging, which enable us to discern regional distribution, concentration levels, and temporal changes of L‐glutamate in acute brain slices. The L‐glutamate sensors for in vitro sensing have different structures and sizes, such as glass capillary‐based enzyme sensors, polymer‐coated enzyme sensors, and patch sensors based on natural sensing probes. The concentration of L‐glutamate released in brain slices by chemical stimulation is markedly dependent on neuronal regions, types of stimulation, and sensing methods. Real‐ and long‐time monitoring of L‐glutamate in acute hippocampal slices is beginning to shed light on L‐glutamate release related to the molecular mechanisms of long‐term potentiation. Progress is also being made toward the visualization of L‐glutamate release in acute hippocampal slices. The methodological aspects of in vitro sensing of L‐glutamate are discussed. © 2007 The Japan Chemical Journal Forum and Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Chem Rec 7: 317–325; 2007: Published online in Wiley InterScience (www.interscience.wiley.com) DOI 10.1002/tcr.20126
Network Governance and Multi-level Delegation: European Networks of Regulatory Agencies
Authors: COEN DAVID , THATCHER MARK 
Published: November 2007

ABSTRACTEuropean networks of regulators in industries such as telecommunications, securities, energy and transport have been cited as important examples of the growth of network governance in Europe. Using a principal-agent perspective as a starting point, the article examines why a double delegation to networks of regulators has taken place. It looks at how and why the European Commission, national governments and independent regulatory agencies have driven the creation of networks, their institutional character and their implications for regulatory governance in Europe. It argues that problems of co-ordination were the main factor advanced to justify establishing networks of regulators. The new networks have been given a wide range of tasks and broad membership, but enjoy few formal powers or resources. They are highly dependent on the European Commission and face rivals for the task of co-ordinating European regulators. Thus in institutional terms the spread of network governance has in fact been limited.
The Making of the European Energy Market: The Interplay of Governance and Government
Authors: EBERLEIN BURKARD 
Published: November 2007

ABSTRACTThis case study asks whether delegated, sectoral governance by private actors and arm’s-length agencies enhances policy efficacy or does sectoral governance require a shadow of hierarchy cast by government actors to deliver desired policy results? EU energy market liberalisation shows that sectoral governance successfully mobilises regulatory expertise, capacity and legitimacy and delivers workable norms and rules for market transactions in a complex policy environment. However, it also finds that the efficacy of sectoral governance mechanisms is constrained by distributive conflicts between different national jurisdictions and sector interests. If deadlock occurs, the European Commission as governmental principal casts a double shadow of hierarchy over sectoral governance agents: the threat of further legislation and of EU competition law. While both instruments enhance policy efficacy, they cannot substitute for the intrinsic rule-making qualities of sectoral governance: governance and government play complementary roles in the policy process.
New Modes of Governance in the Spanish Electricity and Gas Sectors
Authors: MORAL SORIANO LEONOR 
Published: November 2007

ABSTRACTThis paper analyses the institutional framework of the Spanish electricity and gas markets from their emergence at the beginning of the twentieth century until the liberalisation process encouraged by the European Union. European processes of liberalisation involving the introduction of regulation and competition and the application of non-hierarchical modes have raised the number of both public and private actors taking part in sectoral governance. However, none of these modes is new for the sector. A historical perspective shows the conditions under which the threat of governmental intervention and the discretion granted to sectoral governance differed significantly between sectors. While the threat to nationalise and monopolise the electricity sector contributed to the creation of a private agent and a model of self-regulation with a large measure of discretion, in the gas sector the public presence was strong and control tight. Thus, the paper concludes that one should not presuppose that old modes of governance are strongly governmental and hierarchical. The opposite proves to be the case in the Spanish electricity sector, where new modes of governance are now more linked to hierarchy.
On Government, Governance and Judicial Review: The Case of European Competition Policy
Authors: LEHMKUHL DIRK 
Published: November 2007

ABSTRACTFrom a traditional rationalist principal-agent framework, the development of the European Community’s competition policy could appear as a straightforward story of agency loss. However, the recent overhaul of competition policy, which the Community presented in terms of decentralisation, appears to have changed the story. We are confronted with the uncommon event of an agent (the European Commission) returning some of its powers to the principals (the member states). This paper resolves the puzzle by highlighting the role of the Commission and of European courts. It has become part of the Commission’s strategy to pursue its objectives through legally non-binding instruments such as notices or guidelines or co-operation in networks. These instruments do not need the approval of the Council of Ministers or the European Parliament. With the Commission’s promotion of new modes of governance, the link between sectoral governance (in terms of regulation specific to competition policy) and the governmental shadow of hierarchy shifted to an increasing extent to judicial review by European courts. Alongside this shift, the character of judicial review has changed in the direction of judicial control, as European courts no longer restrict themselves to review of the legality of Commission actions, but also engage in assessing the facts themselves.
Effect of earthworms on the community structure of active methanotrophic bacteria in a landfill cover soil
Authors: Héry Marina , Singer Andrew C , Kumaresan Deepak , Bodrossy Levente , Stralis-Pavese Nancy , Prosser Jim I , Thompson Ian P , Murrell J Colin 
Published: November 2007

Abstract
In the United Kingdom, landfills are the primary anthropogenic source of methane emissions. Methanotrophic bacteria present in landfill biocovers can significantly reduce methane emissions via their capacity to oxidize up to 100% of the methane produced. Several biotic and abiotic parameters regulate methane oxidation in soil, such as oxygen, moisture, methane concentration and temperature. Earthworm-mediated bioturbation has been linked to an increase in methanotrophy in a landfill biocover soil (AC Singer et al., unpublished), but the mechanism of this trophic interaction remains unclear. The aims of this study were to determine the composition of the active methanotroph community and to investigate the interactions between earthworms and bacteria in this landfill biocover soil where the methane oxidation activity was significantly increased by the earthworms. Soil microcosms were incubated with 13C-CH4 and with or without earthworms. DNA and RNA were extracted to characterize the soil bacterial communities, with a particular emphasis on methanotroph populations, using phylogenetic (16S ribosomal RNA) and functional methane monooxygenase (pmoA and mmoX) gene probes, coupled with denaturing gradient-gel electrophoresis, clone libraries and pmoA microarray analyses. Stable isotope probing (SIP) using 13C-CH4 substrate allowed us to link microbial function with identity of bacteria via selective recovery of ‘heavy’ 13C-labelled DNA or RNA and to assess the effect of earthworms on the active methanotroph populations. Both types I and II methanotrophs actively oxidized methane in the landfill soil studied. Results suggested that the earthworm-mediated increase in methane oxidation rate in the landfill soil was more likely to be due to the stimulation of bacterial growth or activity than to substantial shifts in the methanotroph community structure. A Bacteroidetes-related bacterium was identified only in the active bacterial community of earthworm-incubated soil but its capacity to actually oxidize methane has to be proven.
Modeling the adaptive immune system: predictions and simulations
Authors: Lundegaard Claus , Lund Ole , Keşmir Can , Brunak Søren , Nielsen Morten 
Published: November 2007

AbstractMotivation: Immunological bioinformatics methods are applicable to a broad range of scientific areas. The specifics of how and where they might be implemented have recently been reviewed in the literature. However, the background and concerns for selecting between the different available methods have so far not been adequately covered.Summary: Before using predictions systems, it is necessary to not only understand how the methods are constructed but also their strength and limitations. The prediction systems in humoral epitope discovery are still in their infancy, but have reached a reasonable level of predictive strength. In cellular immunology, MHC class I binding predictions are now very strong and cover most of the known HLA specificities. These systems work well for epitope discovery, and predictions of the MHC class I pathway have been further improved by integration with state-of-the-art prediction tools for proteasomal cleavage and TAP binding. By comparison, class II MHC binding predictions have not developed to a comparable accuracy level, but new tools have emerged that deliver significantly improved predictions not only in terms of accuracy, but also in MHC specificity coverage. Simulation systems and mathematical modeling are also now beginning to reach a level where these methods will be able to answer more complex immunological questions.Contact: lunde@cbs.dtu.dkSupplementary information: Supplementary data are available at Bioinformatics online.
On the restriction of representations of GL2(F) to a Borel subgroup
Authors: Paskunas Vytautas 
Published: November 2007

AbstractLet F be a non-Archimedean local field and let p be the residual characteristic of F. Let G=GL2(F) and let P be a Borel subgroup of G. In this paper we study the restriction of irreducible smooth representations of G on $\overline {\mathbf {F}}_{p}$-vector spaces to P. We show that in a certain sense P controls the representation theory of G. We then extend our results to smooth $\mathcal {O}[G]$-modules of finite length and unitary K-Banach space representations of G, where $\mathcal {O}$ is the ring of integers of a complete discretely valued field K with residue field $\overline {\mathbf {F}}_{p}$.
Maximal symplectic packings in
Authors: Opshtein Emmanuel 
Published: November 2007

AbstractIn this paper we describe the intersections between the balls of maximal symplectic packings of $\mathbb {P}^2$. This analysis shows the existence of singular points for maximal packings of $\mathbb {P}^2$ by more than three equal balls. It also yields a construction of a class of very regular examples of maximal packings by five balls.
Integrality of quantum 3-manifold invariants and a rational surgery formula
Authors: Beliakova Anna , Lê Thang T. Q. 
Published: November 2007

AbstractWe prove that the Witten–Reshetikhin–Turaev (WRT) SO(3) invariant of an arbitrary 3-manifold M is always an algebraic integer. Moreover, we give a rational surgery formula for the unified invariant dominating WRT SO(3) invariants of rational homology 3-spheres at roots of unity of order co-prime with the torsion. As an application, we compute the unified invariant for Seifert fibered spaces and for Dehn surgeries on twist knots. We show that this invariant separates Seifert fibered integral homology spaces and can be used to detect the unknot.
Using Q-Learning and Genetic Algorithms to Improve the Efficiency of Weight Adjustments for Optimal Control and Design Problems
Authors: Kamali Kaivan , Jiang L. J. , Yen John , Wang K. W. 
Published: November 2007

Abstract
In traditional optimal control and design problems, the control gains and design parameters are usually derived to minimize a cost function reflecting the system performance and control effort. One major challenge of such approaches is the selection of weighting matrices in the cost function, which are usually determined via trial-and-error and human intuition. While various techniques have been proposed to automate the weight selection process, they either can not address complex design problems or suffer from slow convergence rate and high computational costs. We propose a layered approach based on Q-learning, a reinforcement learning technique, on top of genetic algorithms (GA) to determine the best weightings for optimal control and design problems. The layered approach allows for reuse of knowledge. Knowledge obtained via Q-learning in a design problem can be used to speed up the convergence rate of a similar design problem. Moreover, the layered approach allows for solving optimizations that cannot be solved by GA alone. To test the proposed method, we perform numerical experiments on a sample active-passive hybrid vibration control problem, namely adaptive structures with active-passive hybrid piezoelectric networks. These numerical experiments show that the proposed Q-learning scheme is a promising approach for automation of weight selection for complex design problems.
Evaluation of an Indirect Immunofluorescence Assay for Detection of Immunoglobulin M (IgM) and IgG Antibodies against Yellow Fever Virus
Authors: Niedrig Matthias , Kürsteiner Oliver , Herzog Christian , Sonnenberg Karen 
Published: November 2007

ABSTRACT
The first commercial indirect immunofluorescence assay (IFA) using Euroimmun Biochip technology was evaluated for the serodiagnosis of immunoglobulin G (IgG) and IgM antibodies against yellow fever virus (YFV) and was compared with the plaque reduction neutralization test (PRNT), which is currently the gold standard test for YFV. An overall correlation between the tests of 98.7% was established based on the analysis of 150 sera from individuals after vaccination with the 17D yellow fever vaccine. The sensitivity and specificity, calculated using the 150 sera from vaccinees and 150 sera from healthy blood donors, were 95% and 95%, respectively, for the IgG IFA and 94% and 97% for the IgM IFA. Antibody titers found in the PRNT correlated poorly with the IgM and IgG titers detected by IFA. The analysis of preexisting heterologous flaviviral immunity revealed the presence of antibodies reactive with YFV, tick-borne encephalitis virus, West Nile virus, Japanese encephalitis virus, and dengue virus serotypes 1 to 4 in 20 out of the 150 vaccinees. The indirect IFA showed that nine of these individuals with previous flaviviral exposure who received 17D vaccine failed to produce detectable IgM antibodies. Despite this preexisting immunity, all vaccinees developed protective immunity as detected by PRNT and anti-YFV IgG antibodies as detected by IFA. The high specificity and sensitivity of the IFA make it a useful tool for rapid diagnosis of yellow fever during outbreaks, for epidemiological studies, and for serosurveillance after vaccination.
Cellular Entry of Lymphocytic Choriomeningitis Virus
Authors: Rojek Jillian M. , Perez Mar , Kunz Stefan 
Published: November 2007

ABSTRACT
In contrast to most enveloped viruses that enter the host cell via clathrin-dependent endocytosis, the Old World arenavirus lymphocytic choriomeningitis virus (LCMV) enters cells via noncoated vesicles that deliver the virus to endosomes, where pH-dependent membrane fusion occurs. Here, we investigated the initial steps of LCMV infection. We found that the attachment of LCMV to its cellular receptor α-dystroglycan occurs rapidly and is not dependent on membrane cholesterol. However, subsequent virus internalization is sensitive to cholesterol depletion, indicating the involvement of a cholesterol-dependent pathway. We provide evidence that LCMV entry involves an endocytotic pathway that is independent of clathrin and caveolin and that does not require the GTPase dynamin. In addition, neither the structural integrity nor the dynamics of the actin cytoskeleton are required for infection. These findings indicate that the prototypic Old World arenavirus LCMV uses a mechanism of entry that is different from clathrin-mediated endocytosis, which is used by the New World arenavirus Junin virus, and pathways used by other enveloped viruses.
Increased Levels of Galactose-Deficient Anti-Gal Immunoglobulin G in the Sera of Hepatitis C Virus-Infected Individuals with Fibrosis and Cirrhosis
Authors: Mehta Anand S. , Long Ronald E. , Comunale Mary Ann , Wang Mengjun , Rodemich Lucy , Krakover Jonathan , Philip Ramila , Marrero Jorge A. , Dwek Raymond A. , Block Timothy M. 
Published: November 2007

ABSTRACTHepatitis B and C viruses are major causative agents of liver fibrosis, cirrhosis, and liver cancer. Using comparative glycoproteomics, we identified a glycoprotein that is altered both in amount and in glycosylation as a function of liver fibrosis and cirrhosis. Specifically, this altered glycoprotein is an immunoglobulin G (IgG) molecule reactive to the heterophilic alpha-Gal epitope [Galα-1-3Galβ1-(3)4GlcNAc-R]. While similar changes in glycosylation have been observed in several autoimmune diseases, the specific immunoglobulins and their antigen recognition profiles were not determined. Thus, we provide the first report identifying the specific antigenic recognition profile of an immunoglobulin molecule containing altered glycosylation as a function of liver disease. This change in glycosylation allowed increased reactivity with several fucose binding lectins and permitted the development of a plate-based assay to measure this change. Increased lectin reactivity was observed in 100% of the more than 200 individuals with stage III or greater fibrosis and appeared to be correlated with the degree of fibrosis. The reason for the alteration in the glycosylation of anti-Gal IgG is currently unclear but may be related to the natural history of the disease and may be useful in the noninvasive detection of fibrosis and cirrhosis.
Macrophage-Derived Simian Immunodeficiency Virus Exhibits Enhanced Infectivity by Comparison with T-Cell-Derived Virus
Authors: Gaskill Peter J. , Zandonatti Michelle , Gilmartin Tim , Head Steven R. , Fox Howard S. 
Published: November 2007

ABSTRACTHuman immunodeficiency virus (HIV) and simian immunodeficiency virus (SIV) infect and productively replicate in macrophages and T lymphocytes. Here, we show that SIV virions derived from macrophages have higher levels of infectivity than those derived from T cells. The lower infectivity of T-cell-derived viruses is influenced by the quantity or type of mannose residues on the virion. Our results demonstrate that the cellular origin of a virus is a major factor in viral infectivity. Cell-type-specific factors in viral infectivity, and organ-specific or disease stage-specific differences in cellular derivation of virions, can be critical in the pathogenesis of HIV and AIDS.
Murine Endogenous Retrovirus MuERV-L Is the Progenitor of the “Orphan” Epsilon Viruslike Particles of the Early Mouse Embryo
Authors: Ribet David , Louvet-Vallée Sophie , Harper Francis , de Parseval Nathalie , Dewannieux Marie , Heidmann Odile , Pierron Gérard , Maro Bernard , Heidmann Thierry 
Published: November 2007

ABSTRACT
Viruslike particles which displayed a peculiar wheellike appearance that distinguished them from A-, B- or C-type particles had previously been described in the early mouse embryo. The maximum expression of these so-called epsilon particles was observed in two-cell-stage embryos, followed by their rapid decline at later stages of development and no particles detected at the zygote one-cell stage. Here, we show that these particles are in fact produced by a newly discovered murine endogenous retrovirus (ERV) belonging to the widespread family of mammalian ERV-L elements and named MuERV-L. Using antibodies that we raised against the Gag protein of these elements, Western blot analysis and in toto immunofluorescence studies of the embryos at various stages disclosed the same developmental expression profile as that observed for epsilon particles. Using expression vectors for cloned, full-length, entirely coding MuERV-L copies and cell transfection, direct identification of the epsilon particles was finally achieved by high-resolution electron microscopy.
Lifetime medical expenditure and life expectancy lost attributable to smoking through major smoking related diseases in Taiwan
Authors: Chung Chih-Wen , Wang Jung-Der , Yu Cheng-Fen , Yang Ming-Chin 
Published: November 2007

Objective:To estimate the lifetime financial burden on Taiwan’s national health insurance (NHI) system, life expectancy and years of life expectancy lost (YLEL) attributable to smoking from major smoking related diseases.Methods:10 major smoking related diseases (seven cancers, stroke, acute myocardial infarction and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease) were selected for this study. A survival analysis was conducted on linked cohorts from the National Death Registry database and the National Cancer Registry (NCR) and patients at the National Taiwan University Hospital (NTUH). Estimation of the smoking attributable fraction (SAF) for the study diseases was undertaken by combining the relative risks of smokers against non-smokers and the prevalence of smoking in Taiwan. The YLEL attributable to smoking was calculated for the study diseases by combining the survival analysis results, the SAF and the annual incidences of each disease. The lifetime medical expenditure for the study diseases was estimated by integrating the survival curve and the mean annual medical costs calculated from NHI reimbursement records.Results:There were 241 280 incidents of the 10 study diseases in 2001, of which about 53 648 cases (22.2%) were attributable to smoking, with a total YLEL of 191 313 at an average of about 3.6 YLEL per case. For each case, the average survival time was about 10.2 years. Under two different annual discount rates, the total lifetime financial burden on the NHI was estimated at between $291 million (£147 million; €216 million) (3% discount) and $336 million (1% discount) for all diseases attributable to smoking in 2001, accounting for about 24.6% of the total estimated lifetime medical expenditure for all incidents of the 10 study diseases.Conclusions:Smoking places tremendous financial and health burdens upon both society and individuals. A much more stringent tobacco control strategy is needed to curb the damage from smoking.