bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Fish otolith trace element maps: new approaches with synchrotron microbeam x‐ray fluorescence
Authors: Limburg Karin E. , Huang Rong , Bilderback Donald H. 
Published: August 2007

AbstractOtoliths, the carbonate earstones of fishes, take up minor and trace amounts of elements as they accrete through a fish's life. We apply synchrotron microbeam x‐ray fluorescence methods to establish a breakthrough in high‐resolution, simultaneous area mapping of multiple trace elements in otoliths, with spatial resolution down to 20 µm and trace element detection down into the part per million range for multiple elements. Concentration maps of Ca, Sr, Zn and, for the first time, Ba, Mn, and Se are obtained simultaneously. Combinations of these elemental maps provide new insights into the environmental history of fishes and their lifetime movements, illustrated by several case studies. This method helps pave the way toward improved spatial analysis of otolith microchemistry. Copyright © 2007 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Expression of Candida albicans Sfu1 in fission yeast complements the loss of the iron‐regulatory transcription factor Fep1 and requires Tup co‐repressors
Authors: Pelletier Benoit , Mercier Alexandre , Durand Mathieu , Peter Chardeen , Jbel Mehdi , Beaudoin Jude , Labbé Simon 
Published: August 2007

AbstractThe opportunistic pathogenic yeast Candida albicans contains a gene which encodes a putative member of the iron‐regulatory GATA factor protein family. This protein, referred to as suppressor of ferric uptake (Sfu1), has two Cys2/Cys2‐type zinc finger domains separated by a conserved Cys‐rich region. In Schizosaccharomyces pombe, the GATA‐type transcription factor Fe protein 1 (Fep1) represses target gene expression when iron levels exceed those needed by the cell. To ascertain the functional similarity between Sfu1 and Fep1, the C. albicans Sfu1 was expressed in Sz. pombe cells lacking the endogenous fep1+ gene. We determined that Sfu1 is capable of suppressing iron‐related phenotypes of fep1Δ mutant cells. Using a functional SFU1–GFP fusion allele, the Sfu1 protein was localized to the nucleus under both iron‐replete and iron‐starved conditions. Sfu1 effectively regulated the expression of genes encoding components of the reductive and non‐reductive iron transport systems. Furthermore, the iron‐responsive regulation mediated by Sfu1 was GATA‐dependent. The N‐terminal 250 amino acid segment of Sfu1 expressed in and purified from Escherichia coli specifically associated with the hexanucleotide sequence AGATAA in an iron‐dependent manner. On the other hand, expression of the full‐length C. albicans Sfu1 in Sz. pombe fep1Δ tup11Δ tup12Δ triple mutant cells failed to repress target gene expression under conditions of high iron concentration. Using two‐hybrid analysis, we demonstrated that Tup11 and Tup12 physically interacted with Sfu1. Taken together, these results reveal a remarkable functional conservation between Sfu1 from C. albicans and Fep1 from Sz. pombe in their ability to sense excess iron and respond by repressing target gene transcription. Copyright © 2007 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Lymph Node Metastasis Density and Growth Pattern as Independent Prognostic Factors in Advanced Esophageal Squamous Cell Carcinoma
Authors: Ooki Akira , Yamashita Keishi , Kobayashi Nobuyuki , Katada Natsuya , Sakuramoto Shinichi , Kikuchi Shiroh , Watanabe Masahiko 
Published: August 2007

AbstractBackgroundEsophageal cancer is one of the leading types of cancer, and it is a particularly deadly form of malignancy. TNM classification is the most common staging system, but it has been reported that prognosis is not reflected adequately by this classification. The purpose of this study was to clarify independent prognostic factors in esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (ESCC), a dominant type of esophageal cancer in Japan, to broaden the staging system to improve its predictive value. Thus staging could be expanded to make the prognosis a valuable clinical tool, and to improve knowledge of the biological traits of advanced ESCC.MethodsThe present study included 121 patients with advanced ESCC (stage II to IVA) treated by esophagectomy between 1990 and 2003 at the Kitasato University Higashi Hospital.ResultsUnivariate prognostic analysis of the disease‐specific survival revealed that TNM stage (p < 0.0001), lymph node metastasis density over 10% (ND10; p < 0.0001), R‐category (p = 0.003), intramural metastasis within the esophagus (IM; p = 0.009), growth pattern (p = 0.01), and size of tumor (p = 0.02) were significantly associated with a poor outcome in advanced ESCC. Multivariate analysis confirmed that growth pattern (p = 0.02, HR = 3.1) and ND10 (p = 0.02, HR = 2.0) were finally remnant prognostic factors independent of TNM stage. Growth pattern was prominent in stage II, whereas ND10 was directly proportional to stage progression and characteristics to stage IV disease. Interestingly, ND20, the most malignant phenotype of ESCC, was the only prognostic determinant, even in stage IV disease.ConclusionsFrom the present study, we concluded that progression of lymph node density is characteristic of a life‐threatening phenotype of advanced ESCC, and it should be employed as a therapeutic target to improve patient survival. Growth pattern is an alternative target characteristic of less advanced ESCC. Both of these parameters may be applied as useful clinical tools in the management of patients with advanced esophageal cancer.
An Organic Metal/Silver Nanoparticle Finish on Copper for Efficient Passivation and Solderability Preservation
Authors: Wessling Bernhard , Thun Marco , Arribas-Sanchez Carmen , Gleeson Sussane , Posdorfer Joerg , Rischka Melanie , Zeysing Bjoern 
Published: August 2007

Abstract
For the first time, a complex formed by polyaniline (in its organic metal form) and silver has been deposited on copper in nanoparticulate form. When depositing on Cu pads of printed circuit boards it efficiently protects against oxidation and preserves its solderability. The deposited layer has a thickness of only nominally 50 nm, containing the Organic Metal (conductive polymer), polyaniline, and silver. With >90% (by volume), polyaniline (PAni) is the major component of the deposited layer, Ag is present equivalent to a 4 nm thickness. The Pani–Ag complex is deposited on Cu in form of about 100 nm small particles. Morphology, electrochemical characteristics, anti-oxidation and solderability results are reported.
The Effects of Softeners on the Properties of Sulfur‐Dyed Cotton Fibers
Authors: Parvinzadeh Mazeyar 
Published: August 2007

AbstractThe processing of textiles to achieve a particular handle is one of the most important aspects of finishing technology. Softeners can improve some properties of textiles, depending on the chemical nature, including soft handle, smoothness, elasticity, hydrophilic, antistatic and soil release properties. They can affect the color and fastness of the dyed textile. In this research project, cotton fabrics were first scoured with nonionic detergent and then dyed with four sulfur dyes of different structures. The colors of the dyed fabrics was yellow, bluish black and bright blue. The dyed fabrics were then treated with anionic, cationic, nonionic, micro and macro silicone softeners. Nonionic, micro and macro silicone softeners decreased the lightness (L*) of all sulfur‐dyed samples while anionic and cationic softeners caused only a slight alteration in lightness. The a*, b* and c* values of most dyed samples showed a little change after treatment with softeners except for the color coordinates of the yellow samples, which increased. A considerable increase in the fk values for silicone softener‐treated samples was obtained. The washing fastness properties of blue samples decreased while they remained unchanged for other samples. The light fastness properties decreased for all samples after treatment with softeners.
Affective pain modulation in fibromyalgia, somatoform pain disorder, back pain, and healthy controls
Authors: Arnold Bettina S. , Alpers Georg W. , Süß Holger , Friedel Eckart , Kosmützky Gregor , Geier Antje , Pauli Paul 
Published: August 2007

AbstractPrevious research suggested that patients with fibromyalgia (FM) experience a higher pain intensity (clinical pain) than do patients with musculoskeletal pain after negative emotional priming compared to positive priming. To further examine affective pain modulation in FM, we applied an experimental pain induction to compare 30 patients with FM with 30 healthy (pain‐free) participants (HC), and 30 patients with back pain (BP). For another group of 30 patients with somatoform pain disorder (SF), we predicted the same pain modulation as for FM. As primes we presented positive, neutral, negative, and pain‐related pictures and assessed pain intensity in response to a fixed pressure weight. Overall, picture valence modulated pain intensities (in the order of pain‐related>negative pictures>neutral), but the pain intensities between neutral and positive pictures did not differ significantly. SF reported significantly higher pain intensities than did BP and HC; FM were in between, but did not differ significantly from the three other groups. There was no interaction of priming and group. Affective modulation of pain was not specifically altered in FM and SF, but SF were more sensitive to pressure pain than BP and HC.
Concgramming: A computer driven approach to learning the phraseology of English
Authors: Greaves Chris , Warren Martin 
Published: August 2007

AbstractThis study introduces a new computer-based methodology, ‘concgramming’, that has as its primary aim the automatic identification of the phraseological profile and hence the ‘aboutness’, of a text or corpus. It is argued that this methodology can be employed by language learners and teachers to raise awareness of the importance of the phraseological tendency in language. The methodology is outlined, and examples of its potential for use by language learners in a data-driven learning mode are described. The wider implications of concgramming, and the concgrams so generated, are also discussed with regard to CALL.
Learning English grammar with a corpus: Experimenting with concordancing in a university grammar course
Authors: Vannestål Maria Estling , Lindquist Hans 
Published: August 2007

AbstractCorpora have been used for pedagogical purposes for more than two decades but empirical studies are relatively rare, particularly in the context of grammar teaching. The present study focuses on students' attitudes towards grammar and how these attitudes are affected by the introduction of concordancing. The principal aims of the project were to increase the students' motivation by showing them that English grammar is more than a set of rules in a book and to enable them to assume more responsibility for their own learning. The idea was to introduce the use of language corpora into the curriculum for first-semester English at Växjö University in Sweden, as a complement to grammar textbooks and ordinary exercise materials. Between classes, the students worked with problem-solving assignments that involved formulating their own grammar rules based on the examples they found in the corpus. In the classroom, a system of peer teaching was applied, where the students took turns at explaining grammatical rules to each other. Besides presenting a new way of working with grammar, we also provided the students with a tool for checking questions of usage when writing English texts in the future, since the corpus we use is free of charge and available to all. The work with corpora and peer teaching was evaluated by means of questionnaires and interviews. This article describes and evaluates this initiative and presents insights gained in the process. One important conclusion is that using corpora with students requires a large amount of introduction and support. It takes time and practice to get students to become independent corpus users, knowing how to formulate relevant corpus queries and interpret the results. Working with corpora is a method that some students appreciate while others, especially weak students, find it difficult or boring. Several of the students did not find corpora very useful for learning about grammatical rules, but realized the potential of using corpora when writing texts in English.
Enriching language learning through a multimedia corpus
Authors: Ackerley Katherine , Coccetta Francesca 
Published: August 2007

AbstractUntil recently, use has been made almost exclusively of text-based concordancers in the analysis of spoken corpora. This article discusses research being carried out on Padua University's Multimedia English Corpus (Padova MEC) using the multimodal concordancer MCA (Multimodal Corpus Authoring System, Baldry, 2005). This highly innovative concordancer enables the retrieval of parts of video and audio from a tagged corpus and access to examples of language in context, thereby providing non-verbal information about the environment, the participants and their moods, details that can be gleaned from a combination of word, sound, image and movement. This is of use to language learners of all levels because if “communication is to be successful, a relevant context has to be constructed by the discourse participants” (Braun, 2005: 52). In other words, transcripts alone are not sufficient if learners are to have anything like participant knowledge and comprehend spoken language. In the article it will be demonstrated how language functions expressed in the multimedia corpus of spoken English are retrieved using MCA. Online learning materials based on the multimodal concordances take into consideration not only language, but also the way in which it co-patterns with other semiotic resources, thereby raising the issue of the importance of learner awareness of the multimodal nature of communication.
Incremental copying garbage collection for WAM-based Prolog systems
Authors: VANDEGINSTE RUBEN , DEMOEN BART 
Published: August 2007

AbstractThe design and implementation of an incremental copying heap garbage collector for WAM-based Prolog systems is presented. Its heap layout consists of a number of equal-sized blocks. Other changes to the standard WAM allow these blocks to be garbage collected independently. The independent collection of heap blocks forms the basis of an incremental collecting algorithm which employs copying without marking (contrary to the more frequently used mark&copy or mark&slide algorithms in the context of Prolog). Compared to standard semi-space copying collectors, this approach to heap garbage collection lowers in many cases the memory usage and reduces pause times. The algorithm also allows for a wide variety of garbage collection policies including generational ones. The algorithm is implemented and evaluated in the context of hProlog.
Constraint functional logic programming over finite domains
Authors: FERNÁNDEZ ANTONIO J. , HORTALÁ-GONZÁLEZ TERESA , SÁENZ-PÉREZ FERNANDO , DEL VADO-VÍRSEDA RAFAEL 
Published: August 2007

AbstractIn this paper, we present our proposal to Constraint Functional Logic Programming over Finite Domains (CFLP($\fd$)) with a lazy functional logic programming language which seamlessly embodies finite domain ($\fd$) constraints. This proposal increases the expressiveness and power of constraint logic programming over finite domains (CLP($\fd$)) by combining functional and relational notation, curried expressions, higher-order functions, patterns, partial applications, non-determinism, lazy evaluation, logical variables, types, domain variables, constraint composition, and finite domain constraints. We describe the syntax of the language, its type discipline, and its declarative and operational semantics. We also describe\toy(fd)$, an implementation forCFLP($\fd$), and a comparison of our approach with respect toCLP($\fd$) from a programming point of view, showing the new features we introduce. And, finally, we show a performance analysis which demonstrates that our implementation is competitive with respect to existingCLP($\fd$) systems and that clearly outperforms the closer approach toCFLP($\fd$).
Decomposable theories
Authors: DJELLOUL KHALIL 
Published: August 2007

AbstractWe present in this paper a general algorithm for solving first-order formulas in particular theories called decomposable theories. First of all, using special quantifiers, we give a formal characterization of decomposable theories and show some of their properties. Then, we present a general algorithm for solving first-order formulas in any decomposable theory T. The algorithm is given in the form of five rewriting rules. It transforms a first-order formula ϕ, which can possibly contain free variables, into a conjunction φ of solved formulas easily transformable into a Boolean combination of existentially quantified conjunctions of atomic formulas. In particular, if ϕ has no free variables then φ is either the formula true or ¬true. The correctness of our algorithm proves the completeness of the decomposable theories. Finally, we show that the theory ${\cal T}$ of finite or infinite trees is a decomposable theory and give some benchmarks realized by an implementation of our algorithm, solving formulas on two-partner games in ${\cal T}$ with more than 160 nested alternated quantifiers.
Visible hand or invisible fist?: the new market and choice in the English NHS
Authors: PATON CALUM 
Published: August 2007

Abstract:As England (unlike the rest of the UK) retreads the market route in health policy, it is worth asking two questions. Firstly, is the government right that the ‘new market’ (as it refuses to call it, except in private seminars) is fundamentally different from the 1990s’ internal market which New Labour allegedly abolished in 1997? Secondly, given that the new market is clearly not characterized by the invisible hand, should we characterize it as steered ‘economically’ by a visible (facilitating) hand, on the one hand, or managed ‘politically’ by a fist which would like to remain invisible in order to maintain its power? This article goes on to examine choice in the new NHS with reference to Hirschman (1970), arguing that genuflections to the latter by pro-choice advocates such as Le Grand (2003) are just that – genuflections. Hirschman is used as a taxi by which to reach a desired destination rather than a stimulus to critical reflection, Hirschman-style, upon how ‘exit’, ‘voice’, and particular combinations of ‘exit’ and ‘voice’ may produce perverse outcomes.
Family history of chronic disease and participation in healthy behaviours
Authors: GIBBISON GODFREY A. , JOHNSON C. DOUGLAS 
Published: August 2007

Abstract:This article presents an investigation into whether individuals incorporate information on their family genetic (health) endowment into decision making regarding participation in behaviours related to the production of health capital. Competing theoretical perspectives exist as to how genetic endowment should affect participation in health-related behaviours. There is also a growing consensus that the availability of genetic information holds important consequences for the individual in terms of investment in human capital, the pricing and availability of health insurance, and labour market opportunity. Therefore, the question of how individuals use the greater availability of genetic data is important. Our empirical results indicate that poor genetic endowment tends to be associated with a lower probability of participation in cigarette smoking, but also a lower probability of participation in regular exercise.
Funding pharmaceutical innovation through direct tax credits
Authors: LYBECKER KRISTINA M. , FREEMAN ROBERT A. 
Published: August 2007

Abstract:Rising pharmaceutical prices, increasing demand for more effective innovative drugs and growing public outrage have heightened criticism of the pharmaceutical industry. The public debate has focused on drug prices and access. As a consequence, the patent system is being reexamined as an efficient mechanism for encouraging pharmaceutical innovation and drug development. We propose an alternative to the existing patent system, instead rewarding the innovating firm with direct tax credits in exchange for marginal cost pricing. This concept is based on the fundamental assumption that innovation that benefits society at large may be financed publicly. As an industry which produces a social good characterized by high fixed costs, high information and regulatory costs, and relatively low marginal costs of production, pharmaceuticals are well-suited to such a mechanism. Under this proposal, drug prices fall, consumer surplus increases, access is enhanced, and the incentives to innovate are preserved.
The ICRC delegate: an exceptional humanitarian player?
Authors: Troyon Brigitte , Palmieri Daniel 
Published: August 2007

Abstract“What is an ICRC delegate?” Here, in a sentence, is the focus of this article. Going through the in-house perception, which highlights the extraordinary and singular nature of this humanitarian player, and through the view of the public, which oscillates between the missionary of humanity and the mere holder of a temporary job, the authors attempt to give the reader the key to unveil and discover this peculiar profession.
Dunant's pyramid: thoughts on the “humanitarian space”
Authors: Thürer Daniel 
Published: August 2007

AbstractThis article uses the metaphor of a pyramid bounding the humanitarian space as a means of portraying what it is that constitutes humanitarian law and humanitarian action. Whereas humanity as the tip of the pyramid forms the aim and international humanitarian law the base, the sides are the principles of impartiality, neutrality and independence, which enclose the humanitarian space and make the humanitarian endeavour possible.
CTree: comparison of clusters between phylogenetic trees made easy
Authors: Archer John , Robertson David L. 
Published: August 2007

AbstractSummary: CTree has been designed for the quantification of clusters within viral phylogenetic tree topologies. Clusters are stored as individual data structures from which statistical data, such as the Subtype Diversity Ratio (SDR), Subtype Diversity Variance (SDV) and pairwise distances can be extracted. This simplifies the quantification of tree topologies in relation to inter- and intra-cluster diversity. Here the novel features incorporated within CTree, including the implementation of a heuristic algorithm for identifying clusters, are outlined along with the more usual features found within general tree viewing software.Availability: CTree is available as an executable jar file from: http://www.manchester.ac.uk/bioinformatics/ctreeContact: john.archer@postgrad.manchester.ac.uk