bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Extraction and purification procedures for simultaneous quantification of phenolic xenoestrogens and steroid estrogens in river sediment by gas chromatography/ion trap mass spectrometry
Authors: Kinani Said , Bouchonnet Stéphane , Bourcier Sophie , Creusot Nicolas , Porcher Jean‐Marc , Aït‐Aïssa Sélim 
Published: October 2008

AbstractA sensitive and simple method based on ultrasonication extraction with a hexane/acetone (2:1, v/v) mixture, followed by clean up of the extract by solid‐phase extraction (SPE) and gas chromatography/mass spectrometry (GC/MS) detection, has been developed and validated for the analysis of 20 estrogenic endocrine‐disrupting chemicals (EEDCs) including phenolic xenoestrogens, synthetic and natural estrogens in river sediment. After extraction and purification, analytes are derivatised with a BSTFA/TMCS/pyridine (49:1:50, v/v/v) mixture and quantified by GC/MS. The GC/MS method involves switching between electron ionisation (EI) and chemical ionisation (CI); it also switches between selected ion storage and tandem mass spectrometry detection. The applicability of the method has been demonstrated by analysing extracts of French river sediments for which bioanalytical tests (in vitro) had already shown that they were impacted by estrogenic endocrine disrupters. The biological contribution of all the products detected in each sediment extract was compared to the estrogenic activity measured by bioassays. Copyright © 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
A perspective on emerging automotive safety applications, derived from lessons learned through participation in the DARPA Grand Challenges
Authors: McBride J. R. , Ivan J. C. , Rhode D. S. , Rupp J. D. , Rupp M. Y. , Higgins J. D. , Turner D. D. , Eustice R. M. 
Published: October 2008

AbstractThis paper reports on various aspects of the Intelligent Vehicle Systems (IVS) team's involvement in the recent 2007 DARPA Urban Challenge, wherein our platform, the autonomous “XAV‐250,'' competed as one of the 11 finalists qualifying for the event. We provide a candid discussion of the hardware and software design process that led to our team's entry, along with lessons learned at this event and derived from participation in the two previous Grand Challenges. In addition, we give an overview of our vision‐, radar‐, and LIDAR‐based perceptual sensing suite, its fusion with a military‐grade inertial navigation package, and the map‐based control and planning architectures used leading up to and during the event. The underlying theme of this article is to elucidate how the development of future automotive safety systems can potentially be accelerated by tackling the technological challenges of autonomous ground vehicle robotics. Of interest, we will discuss how a production manufacturing mindset imposes a unique set of constraints upon approaching the problem and how this worked for and against us, given the very compressed timeline of the contests. © 2008 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
The MIT–Cornell collision and why it happened
Authors: Fletcher Luke , Teller Seth , Olson Edwin , Moore David , Kuwata Yoshiaki , How Jonathan , Leonard John , Miller Isaac , Campbell Mark , Huttenlocher Dan , Nathan Aaron , Kline Frank‐Robert 
Published: October 2008

AbstractMidway through the 2007 DARPA Urban Challenge, MIT's robot “Talos” and Team Cornell's robot “Skynet” collided in a low‐speed accident. This accident was one of the first collisions between full‐sized autonomous road vehicles. Fortunately, both vehicles went on to finish the race and the collision was thoroughly documented in the vehicle logs. This collaborative study between MIT and Cornell traces the confluence of events that preceded the collision and examines its root causes. A summary of robot–robot interactions during the race is presented. The logs from both vehicles are used to show the gulf between robot and human‐driver behavior at close vehicle proximities. Contributing factors are shown to be (1) difficulties in sensor data association leading to an inability to detect slow‐moving vehicles and phantom obstacles, (2) failure to anticipate vehicle intent, and (3) an overemphasis on lane constraints versus vehicle proximity in motion planning. Finally, we discuss approaches that could address these issues in future systems, such as intervehicle communication, vehicle detection, and prioritized motion planning. © 2008 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
Late Holocene glacial and periglacial evolution in the upper Orco Valley, northwestern Italian Alps
Authors: Giraudi Carlo 
Published: October 2008

AbstractThe sediments present in some areas of the Orco Valley provide indications on climatic variations that occurred during the last 6000 years on the southern slopes of the Alps. In particular, distribution and ages of peat layers help define periods and extent of glacial fluctuation in the last 2200 years. Sampling of soils involved in periglacial processes provided a basis for development of a chronological framework of late Holocene environmental change. The data indicate a trend toward cooler climate in the second half of the Holocene. A strong relationship exists between phases of River Po flooding and expansion/retreat phases of the Swiss glaciers: major glacial advances were coeval with periods of intense flooding of the River Po, whereas the phases of glacial retreat coincided with periods of little flooding of the Po. Only in three cases do relationships between glacier activity and floods show weak correlations; two of the cases relate to the warmest periods in approximately the last 2200 years, while the third is the present period. Paleoclimatic evidence from the study region indicates the relatively warm Roman Period between about 2200 and 1900 cal yr BP appears to better represent modern conditions than does the Medieval Warm Period.
Alpha 2 giardin is an assemblage A-specific protein of human infectiveGiardia duodenalis
Authors: STEUART R. F. L. , O'HANDLEY R. , LIPSCOMBE R. J. , LOCK R. A. , THOMPSON R. C. A. 
Published: October 2008

SUMMARYOf the 7 genetic assemblages of the parasiteGiardia duodenalisonly 2 (A and B) are known to cause infections in humans. These assemblages have been characterized in detail at the genomic level but few studies have examined differences in the proteins expressed. Employing one and two-dimensional PAGE we have identified an assemblage A-specific protein of human infectiveG. duodenalis; alpha 2 giardin. The protein difference was evident using both electrophoretic techniques. Alpha 2 giardin is known to be a structural protein and associates with the caudal flagella and the plasma membrane; however, its exact function is unknown. Although several proteins unique to assemblage B were also observed, we were unable to identify these proteins due to a lack of genomic data available for assemblage B isolates. Together, these proteins represent distinct phenotypic differences between the human infective assemblages ofG. duodenalisand support the need to revise the taxonomy of this parasite.
Regulation ofAnguillicola crassus(Nematoda) infrapopulations in their definitive host, the European eel,Anguilla anguilla
Authors: FAZIO G. , SASAL P. , DA SILVA C. , FUMET B. , BOISSIER J. , LECOMTE-FINIGER R. , MONÉ H. 
Published: October 2008

SUMMARYThe parasitic nematodeAnguillicola crassuswas recently introduced into populations of the European eel,Anguilla anguilla. We investigated, under experimental conditions, the regulation ofA. crassusinfrapopulations. We tested the effects of (1) the resource-limited habitat of the parasite and (2) the coexistence of several developmental stages in its niche (the swim-bladder) on the composition of the infrapopulations. The results revealed that the respective effects of these factors differed substantially during the course of the infection. Third-stage larvae (L3s) establishment would not be constrained by the size of the swim-bladder. Their moult to fourth-stage larvae (L4s) would be accelerated as the number of L3s increased. The moulting time of L4s to adults would be reduced by males and would be constrained by the size of the swim-bladder. However, the moult of L4s to adults and their further development would be synchronized with those of the opposite sex. At the time of mating, the number of males and the body weight of adults would depend on the size of the swim-bladder. Soon after the laying of eggs, the developmental constraint on the late L3s would decrease. When adults die, constraints would cease and late larval stages would moult to become adults.
Efficacy of different chemotherapeutic schemes for hookworm-infected villagers in China
Authors: YANG W. P. , YANG L. J. , SHEN Y. P. , SHAO J. O. , ZHANG T. 
Published: October 2008

SUMMARYA comparative analysis has been made of the efficacy of different chemotherapeutic schemes against hookworm infections in China. Hookworm eggs were detected by the improved Kato's thick smear method. Benzimidazole was offered to residents in the tested villages, while NaHCO3 was used as placebo in control villages. Data were analysed by negative binomial distribution with statistic software R2.2.1. In the tested village as a result of the application of selective chemotherapy, hookworm infection rate decreased from 58·79% to 1·08%, while the average of eggs per gram (EPG) reduced from 526·29 to 56·91. The infection rates in the target chemotherapy village and in the mass chemotherapy village declined from 6·90% to 1·92% and 10·10% to 0·65% respectively. It was concluded that the consecutive selective chemotherapy could rapidly decrease the infection rate and EPG of hookworm and maintain the infection rate at low level. The curative effect of the target chemotherapy was similar to that of the mass chemotherapy in the low hookworm endemic area.
Calendar calculating in savants with autism and healthy calendar calculators
Authors: Dubischar-Krivec A. M. , Neumann N. , Poustka F. , Braun C. , Birbaumer N. , Bölte S. 
Published: October 2008

BackgroundCalendar calculation is the ability to quickly name the day that a given date falls on. Previous research has suggested that savant calendar calculation is based on rote memory and the use of rule-based arithmetic skills. The objective of this study was to identify the cognitive processes that distinguish calendar calculation in savant individuals from healthy calendar calculators.MethodSavant calendar calculators with autism (ACC, n=3), healthy calendar calculators (HCC, n=3), non-savant subjects with autism (n=6) and healthy calendar calculator laymen (n=18) were included in the study. All participants calculated dates of the present (current month). In addition, ACC and HCC also calculated dates of the past and future 50 years.ResultsACC showed shorter reaction times and fewer errors than HCC and non-savant subjects with autism, and significantly fewer errors than healthy calendar calculator laymen when calculating dates of the present. Moreover, ACC performed faster and more accurate than HCC regarding past dates. However, no differences between ACC and HCC were detected for future date calculation.ConclusionsThe findings may imply distinct calendar calculation strategies in ACC and HCC, with HCC relying on calendar regularities for all types of dates and an involvement of (rote) memory in ACC when processing dates of the past and the present.
Specialist cardiac services: what do young people want?
Authors: Wray Jo , Maynard Linda 
Published: October 2008

AbstractPurposeWith improvements in the surgical and medical management of children with congenital heart disease, the majority are now expected to transition into adult services. Whilst the importance of successful transition is increasingly acknowledged, previous research has identified a number of areas of concern. We therefore wished to elicit the views of young people themselves concerning their requirements from a specialist cardiac service.MethodsUsing an exploratory approach our aims were to increase awareness of the service needs and expectations of young people, identify good practice and areas where communication processes and facilities could be improved, and enhance understanding of transition between paediatric and adult services. Postal questionnaires were sent to 63 young people with congenital cardiac disease aged 17 to 20 years. Open ended questions asked for views and experiences about facilities in the paediatric and adult areas, perceptions of transition between services and suggestions for improvements. Qualitative data were transferred verbatim into electronic format to facilitate coding and theming.ResultsThirty-eight (60.3 percent) completed questionnaires were received. A number of themes, including communication, care processes/caring interactions and environment, emerged regarding areas of satisfaction and dissatisfaction within the paediatric and adult services, together with areas for improvement and important aspects of transition.ConclusionsYoung people’s views need to be taken into account at all stages of the patient journey. They want an individualised approach to their care which recognises that they have specific emotional and practical needs. Such findings need to be incorporated into an ongoing model of care.
Does this list contain what you were searching for? Learning adaptive dialogue strategies for interactive question answering
Authors: RIESER V. , LEMON O. 
Published: October 2008

AbstractPolicy learning is an active topic in dialogue systems research, but it has not been explored in relation to interactive question answering (IQA). We take a first step in learning adaptive interaction policies for question answering : we address the question of how to acquire enough reliable query constraints, how many database results to present to the user and when to present them, given the competing trade-offs between the length of the answer list, the length of the interaction, the type of database and the noise in the communication channel. The operating conditions are reflected in an objective function which we use to derive a hand-coded threshold-based policy and rewards to train a reinforcement learning policy. The same objective function is used for evaluation. We show that we can learn strategies for this complex trade-off problem which perform significantly better than a variety of hand-coded policies, for a wide range of noise conditions, user types, types of DB and turn-penalties. Our policy learning framework thus covers a wide spectrum of operating conditions. The learned policies produce an averagerelativeincrease in reward of 86.78% over the hand-coded policies. In 93% of the cases the learned policies perform significantly better than the hand-coded ones (p< .001). Furthermore we show that the type of database has a significant effect on learning and we give qualitative descriptions of the learned IQA policies.
Hunting a New Ocean Tracer
Authors: Umlauf Lars , Tanhua Toste , Waniek Joanna J. , Schmale Oliver , Holtermann Peter , Rehder Gregor 
Published: October 2008

A useful method to obtain integrated estimates of vertical mixing in the ocean over a long period of time and a large area is the release of a tracer. Recent large‐scale tracer release experiments conducted in the Southern Ocean, such as the Diapycnal and Isopycnal Mixing Experiment (DIMES [see Gille et al., 2007]), and in the equatorial Atlantic will rely on a new tracer chemical called trifluoromethyl sulfur pentafluoride (SF5CF3), which is likely to become a standard for future experiments. Here we report results from the first injection of pure SF5CF3 into the ocean, which was carried out in a deep basin of the Baltic Sea.Using the Baltic Sea as a natural laboratory for the investigation of physical mixing processes, this pilot study aims at improving our understanding of one of the most puzzling mixing properties in stratified ocean basins: Almost independent of the basin's size, the basin‐scale vertical mixing rates exceed the rates inferred from local turbulence measurements in the basin center by approximately 1 order of magnitude [see, e.g., Ledwell and Bratkovich, 1995].
Global Environmental Solutions Require Global Funding
Authors: Fry Juliane 
Published: October 2008

As members of the next generation of environmental scientists, we are committed to conducting solutions‐oriented research on global environmental problems. In addition to the highly visible problem of climate change, we face global environmental threats such as biodiversity loss, worsening air quality, and limited food security and water availability. These threats do not stop at national borders. Research in these areas requires global coordination and collaboration, and it would be best served by an equally global funding infrastructure.The United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change Conference of the Parties will convene in 2009 in Copenhagen, Denmark, to negotiate post—Kyoto Protocol climate policy. One criterion for the success of these negotiations is their basis in the best available scientific understanding of the climate system at local, regional, and global scales. While the organizational infrastructure for global research coordination exists, funding is managed by national and regional agencies individually, with increasing emphasis on local concerns.
Understanding Great Earthquakes in Japan's Kanto Region: Third International Workshop on the Kanto Asperity Project; Chiba, Japan, 16–19 February 2008
Authors: Kobayashi Reiji , Curewitz Daniel 
Published: October 2008

The 1703 (Genroku) and 1923 (Taisho) earthquakes in Japan's Kanto region (M 8.2 and M 7.9, respectively) caused severe damage in the Tokyo metropolitan area. These great earthquakes occurred along the Sagami Trough, where the Philippine Sea slab is subducting beneath Japan. Historical records, paleoseismological research, and geophysical/geodetic monitoring in the region indicate that such great earthquakes will repeat in the future.A dense regional array of geodetic monitoring stations recorded several slow‐slip events (or “silent earthquakes”) off the Boso Peninsula in 1996, 2002, and 2007. These are thought to have occurred in the zone between coupled and stable‐sliding areas. The shape and extent of these great earthquake asperities (regions of maximum slip along fault planes during earthquakes) and source areas of slow‐slip events are still unclear. Geophysical monitoring and understanding the distribution of seismicity in areas exhibiting distinctly different seismotectonic characteristics will help to define regions along these plate boundaries characterized by slow‐slip events, repeating events, locked plate interfaces, and regions of maximum coseismic slip.
Exploring Venus as a Terrestrial Planet
Authors: Showstack Randy 
Published: October 2008

AGU's book, Exploring Venus as a Terrestrial Planet, edited by Larry W. Esposito, Ellen R. Stofan, and Thomas E. Cravens, focuses on how the study of Venus will aid in understanding the evolution of terrestrial and extrasolar planets. The book's 12 chapters include discussions on Venus's surface and interior processes, atmospheric circulation, chemistry, and aeronomy as well as on astrobiology and technological challenges.In this interview, Eos talks with Esposito, professor of astrophysical and planetary sciences at the University of Colorado's Laboratory for Atmospheric and Space Physics, in Boulder. Esposito has had a long interest in Venus, serving as coinvestigator for the NASA Pioneer Venus Orbiter's ultraviolet spectrograph from 1978 to 1993 and for the European Space Agency's Venus Express Venus Monitoring Camera since 2003, and as principal investigator for a NASA Venus Discovery mission study from 1993 to 1998.
Psychological antecedents to socially responsible behavior
Authors: Crilly Donal , Schneider Susan C. , Zollo Maurizio 
Published: October 2008

AbstractTo date, the discussion regarding corporate social responsibility (CSR) has primarily addressed organizational rationale and activities. Little has been said about the individual characteristics and behaviors that promote the development of CSR within organizations. In this paper, we propose and test a model to explain individual differences in the propensity to engage in socially responsible behavior (SRB). By linking values, affect and reasoning to managers' propensity to ‘do good’ and ‘do no harm,’ we provide a more complete picture of how SRB arises in organizations. A survey of 643 middle managers in five multinational corporations supports our contention that values, affect and reasoning matter for SRB. In particular, self‐transcendence values (universalism and benevolence) and positive affect increase the propensity to engage in SRB, as do moral and reputation‐based reasoning styles. Moreover, we find that values and affect shape more controlled processes such as moral reasoning. We develop implications for the interaction between the individual and the organization in promoting SRB.
Noninvasive coronary angiography with 64-channel multidetector computed tomography in patients with acute coronary syndrome
Authors: Ulimoen G. R. , Gjønnæss E. , Atar D. , Dahl T. , Stranden E. , Sandbæk G. 
Published: October 2008

Background: Advances in computer tomography (CT) imaging technology in recent years have facilitated the possibility of noninvasive coronary angiography. Purpose: To compare the diagnostic accuracy of 64-channel multidetector computed tomography (MDCT) with conventional invasive coronary angiography (ICA) for the detection of significant coronary stenosis in patients with acute coronary syndrome (ACS). Material and Methods: MDCT was performed in 60 patients classified with non-ST-elevation infarction (NSTEMI) or unstable angina and scheduled for ICA within 3 days. The diagnostic accuracy of MDCT was evaluated using quantitative coronary angiography (QCA) as the gold standard. Results: 48 out of 60 patients had interpretable scans by both MDCT and ICA. On a segment-based analysis, 488 out of 665 segments with a diameter of ≥1.5 mm, as defined by QCA, were interpretable by MDCT. Sensitivity was 78%, specificity 87%, positive predictive value 47%, and negative predictive value 97% in detecting and excluding significant coronary stenosis, as defined with MDCT. On a per patient-based analysis, sensitivity was 89%, specificity 50%, positive predictive value 84%, and negative predictive value 60%. Conclusion: Limited diagnostic accuracy restricts the usefulness of coronary MDCT in patient groups with a high pretest probability of disease, such as in acute coronary syndrome.
QGene 4.0, an extensible Java QTL-analysis platform
Authors: Joehanes Roby , Nelson James C. 
Published: October 2008

Abstract
Summary: Of many statistical methods developed to date for quantitative trait locus (QTL) analysis, only a limited subset are available in public software allowing their exploration, comparison and practical application by researchers. We have developed QGene 4.0, a plug-in platform that allows execution and comparison of a variety of modern QTL-mapping methods and supports third-party addition of new ones. The software accommodates line-cross mating designs consisting of any arbitrary sequence of selfing, backcrossing, intercrossing and haploid-doubling steps that includes map, population, and trait simulators; and is scriptable.
Availability: Software and documentation are available at http://coding.plantpath.ksu.edu/qgene. Source code is available on request.
Contact: jcn@ksu.edu