bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Deep‐sea pelagic ichthyonekton diversity in the Atlantic Ocean and the adjacent sector of the Southern Ocean
Authors: Fock Heino O. 
Published: December 2008

ABSTRACTAim  Deep‐sea pelagic diversity is poorly understood. Local (SL) and regional (SR) ichthyonekton species richness are presented and analysed with respect to local and regional environmental factors, and biogeographical processes.Location  Sixty‐six stations from the Atlantic Ocean and adjacent sector of the Southern Ocean, 65° N to 57° S.Methods  Estimation of SL by means of rarefaction. Stepwise evaluation of SL and SR relationships by means of the second‐order corrected Akaike information criterion (AICc) after locally weighted scatterplot smoothing (LOESS) and linear fitting, analysis of saturation effects by means of slopes of species accumulation curves (log–log plots).Results  Latitudinal gradients were present for SL and SR, and were asymmetric between the Northern and Southern hemispheres. Relatively low species richness was encountered for the Southern Ocean. Asymmetry at the regional level by means of higher SR was attributed to area effects in the South Atlantic. Log–log plots indicated saturation of local assemblages and dependence on environmental factors. SL was related to productivity; this relationship was hump‐shaped. SR was positively related to area size and negatively to seasonality of production. Biogeographical effects were indicated in that SR peaks coincided with overlap zones of boreal and tropical faunas as a consequence of historical faunal exchange processes.Main conclusions  The stepwise approach allowed for distinction between effects of area size, productivity and biogeographical processes on diversity at local and regional scales. Productivity in particular is important in two ways. At the local scale, the link of productivity to SL is explained by a successional‐functional hypothesis of resource utilization, whereas the seasonality effect for SR reinforces the hypothesis of dependence of deep‐sea fishes on seasonality of production through changes of life‐history traits. The causes of low Antarctic faunal diversity remained unresolved.
Walking for prevention of cardiovascular disease in men and women: a systematic review of observational studies
Authors: Boone‐Heinonen J. , Evenson K. R. , Taber D. R. , Gordon‐Larsen P. 
Published: December 2008

SummaryIn this systematic review, walking (a generally accessible activity for a largely sedentary population) was assessed as a preventive risk factor for development of fatal and non‐fatal cardiovascular disease (CVD). PubMed, CINHAL and reference list searches identified 21 peer‐reviewed publications examining walking in relation to CVD; studies assessing active transportation were excluded. Generally, there were dose‐dependent reductions in CVD risk with higher walking duration, distance, energy expenditure and pace. Associations appeared to be stronger for ischaemic stroke than other CVD outcomes such as coronary heart disease or haemorrhagic stroke. Adjustment for clinical CVD risk factors, obesity or other types of physical activity generally attenuated but did not eliminate associations. Because functional status may be an important determinant of walking behaviour in adults, potential bias due to pre‐existing illness is of concern in all studies reviewed, particularly in case–control studies which ascertain walking retrospectively and yielded the strongest associations. Study findings were consistent with current physical activity recommendations, but there is a need for improvements in measurement of walking and other CVD risk factors, more thorough control for pre‐existing illness, examination of mediating or moderating conditions such as obesity and other analytical issues.
Prevalence of obesity and metabolic syndrome in Indigenous Australian youths
Authors: Valery P. C. , Moloney A. , Cotterill A. , Harris M. , Sinha A. K. , Green A. C. 
Published: December 2008

SummaryWe conducted a cross‐sectional study of Indigenous youths residing in the Torres Strait region of Australia to assess the prevalence of obesity and the metabolic syndrome. Data on body mass index (BMI), waist circumference, blood pressure, presence of acanthosis nigricans and blood glucose were collected. Fasting glucose, insulin, C‐Peptide, HbA1c and lipids were measured, and an oral glucose tolerance test was performed in those with a BMI greater than 25 (childhood‐equivalent cut‐points) or fasting glucometer reading >5.5 mmol/L. Of 158 youths, 31% were overweight and 15% were obese, 38% had enlarged waist circumference consistent with central obesity, 43% had acanthosis nigricans and 27% were hypertensive. More females than males had enlarged waist circumferences (59% vs. 13%, P < 0.001). Among overweight or obese youth, 56% had significantly elevated insulin (P = 0.021); they also had higher HOMA‐IR (P = 0.002). The metabolic syndrome was present in 17% of all youths (mostly females) and in 33% of the overweight or obese subgroup. Type 2 diabetes was diagnosed in two youths. These very high proportions of overweight or obese Torres Strait youth with metabolic risk factors have major public health implications.
Quality of Life for the Camberwell Cohort
Authors: Beadle‐Brown Julie , Murphy Glynis , DiTerlizzi Michele 
Published: December 2008

Background  Despite the acknowledged difficulties of measuring satisfaction for people with intellectual disabilities, the current study examined the quality of life (QoL) of the Camberwell Cohort, a total population sample of people with severe intellectual disability and/or autism [Wing & Gould, Epidemiology and Classification, 9, 1979, 11].Methods  The Lifestyle Satisfaction Scale (LSS) [Harner & Heal, Research in Developmental Disabilities, 14, 1993a, 221] was combined with selected questions from the Quality of Life Questionnaire Schalock & Keith 1993, Quality of Life Questionnaire, IDS Publishing Corporation, Worthington and conducted with 12 people with intellectual disabilities and 72 proxy respondents.Results  Inter‐rater reliability on overall score was available for 10 participants and was acceptable with a Spearman’s Rank order correlation co‐efficient over 0.8. There were no significant differences between the scores of proxies and service users on the domains of the LSS. The sample of service users who completed the interviews was too small to allow further detailed analysis of their responses. However, responses from the proxy interviews indicated that there were no differences in life satisfaction between those socially impaired and socially able. However those with autism were reported to be less satisfied on Community Satisfaction while those with challenging behaviour had lower scores overall and specifically on Community Satisfaction. Those with an IQ below 50 had lower scores overall, than those with an IQ above 50 and specifically on Recreation Satisfaction. Linear regression analysis on total QoL score indicated that only three variables seemed to be important in predicting proxy QoL scores: challenging behaviour at Time 3, IQ at Time 3 and independent living skills at Time 1.Conclusions  Despite the difficulties encountered, this study provided some support for the widely help belief that QoL is lower for those with intellectual disability and for those with challenging behaviour.
Has the Youth Labor Market in Japan Changed? An Event History Analysis Approach
Authors: Nakazawa Wataru 
Published: December 2008

Abstract: This paper examines whether the Japanese youth labor market has become more unstable, particularly since the 1990s. To address this problem, I suggest that we consider the transition rate of job exit to be the benchmark of instability in the labor market and focus on workers’ career histories until they reach the age of 34 years. This paper presents six hypotheses that explain the instability of the youth labor market as follows: the total increase in the job‐exit transition rate, the higher risk of job exit for provisional workers, the increase in the number of provisional workers, the increasing transition rate for provisional workers and stable regular workers, the impact of firm size, and the impact of the collapse of the bubble economy. I present the summary statistics of job exit rates and the results of the Cox partial likelihood estimation models. A conspicuous phenomenon of the 1990s entailed an increasing number of provisional workers who ran a higher risk of job exits compared to regular workers. However, the job exit transition rates are generally stable. Moreover, the transition rates for regular female workers have decreased since the 1980s due to the increasing realization of gender equality in society. Although partial likelihood estimation states that firm size and the type of officer concerned (public/private) had significant effects on the transition rates, their effect did not intensify after the collapse of the bubble economy. In sum, the evidence that the Japanese youth labor market changed in the 1990s is limited.
JAL (RH48) blood group antigen: serologic observations
Authors: Lomas‐Francis Christine , Alcantara Denden , Westhoff Connie , Uehlinger Joan , Valvasori Marilia , Castilho Lillian , Reid Marion E. 
Published: December 2008

BACKGROUND: JAL (RH48) is a low‐prevalence antigen in the Rh blood group system and anti‐JAL has caused hemolytic disease of the newborn. JAL is associated with either a haplotype carrying depressed C and e antigens or one carrying depressed c and e antigens. Blood samples from JAL+ people were tested, published serologic findings were confirmed, serologic studies were extended to include expression of other Rh antigens, and the antibody specificities produced by three sensitized JAL+ probands are reported.STUDY DESIGN AND METHODS: Red blood cell (RBC) samples from 17 (12 probands) JAL+ persons were tested by hemagglutination using standard methods.RESULTS: RBCs from both the Caucasian JAL+ probands had the (C)(e) haplotype and weakened C, e, hrB, and hrS antigens. JAL+ samples from black persons had the (c)(e) haplotype and expressed weakened c, e, f, V, VS, hrB, and hrS antigens. Plasma from three sensitized c+e+ JAL+ probands contained alloanti‐c, alloanti‐e, or alloantibody of apparent anti‐Rh17 specificity. This study shows that this alloanti‐Rh17−like antibody recognizes the high‐prevalence antigen antithetical to JAL that has been named CEST.CONCLUSIONS: The presence of the JAL antigen has a quantitative (weakening) effect on the expression of C, e, hrB, and hrS antigens in Caucasian persons and of c, e, f, V, VS, hrB, and hrS antigens in people of black African ancestry. A qualitative effect also was demonstrated by the presence of alloanti‐c or alloanti‐e in the plasma of two transfused c+e+ patients and by an antibody (anti‐CEST) that recognizes the high‐prevalence antigen antithetical to JAL.
Effects of water‐borne copper on the gills and hepatopancreas of Macrobrachium rosenbergii
Authors: LI Na , MA Qiang , YANG Jian , ZHAO Yunlong , BROCHON Jean‐Claude 
Published: December 2008

AbstractWe focused on elucidating the toxic effects of water‐borne copper on the giant freshwater prawn Macrobrachium rosenbergii. After seven days of exposure to copper (Cu2+) at concentrations ranging from 0.01 mg L−1 to 0.5 mg L−1, three isozymes, malate dehydrogenase, alkaline phosphatase and esterase, were analyzed and compared using polyacrylamide electrophoresis (PAGE) and biochemical staining. The results indicated that the electrophoretic patterns of the isozymes showed a copper‐concentration‐related difference. Low doses of copper stimulated strong expression of the three isozymes. Electrophoretic patterns of malate dehydrogenase and alkaline phosphatase gradually became weaker or even lost as the level of copper increased. In contrast, esterase patterns exhibited an increased molecular heterogeneity at higher copper concentrations. A transmission electron microscope was used to study ultrastructure differences in the gills and hepatopancreas of M. rosenbergii, and the results showed significant structural damage at increased levels of copper compared with the control group. The basement membranes and mitochondira in the gills were seriously damaged, the cuticle electron density distribution was not homogeneous, and an infolded basement membrane, circularized nucleus, disintegrated nuclear membrane, and decreased mitochondria number and size were observed in the gills. Similarly, flowing out of karyoplasms, partly falling microvilli, decreased mitochondrion, partly disappeared mitochondrial cristae, and a thinned matrix were observed in the hepatopancreas. These findings indicate that exposure to elevated copper levels might damage the ultrastructure of the gills and hepatopancreas of M. rosenbergii and might further weaken their normal physical activities. Isozymes were quite sensitive to environmental stress and changes in isozyme elctrophoretic patterns might be effective biomarkers of environmental contamination.
Getting off the GoldVarb Standard: Introducing Rbrul for Mixed‐Effects Variable Rule Analysis
Authors: Johnson Daniel Ezra 
Published: December 2008

AbstractThe variable rule program is one of the predominant data analysis tools used in sociolinguistics, employed successfully for over three decades to quantitatively assess the influence of multiple factors on linguistic variables. However, its most popular current version, GoldVarb, lacks flexibility and also isolates its users from the wider community of quantitative linguists. A new version of the variable rule program, Rbrul, attempts to resolve these concerns, and with mixed‐effects modelling also addresses a more serious problem whereby GoldVarb overestimates the significance of effects. Rbrul's superior performance is demonstrated on both simulated and real data sets.
Plasma exchange in combination with online‐hemodiafiltration as a promising method for purifying the blood of fulminant hepatitis patients
Authors: Inoue Kazuaki , Kourin Akishi , Watanabe Tsunamasa , Yamada Masaya , Yasuda Hiroshi , Yoshiba Makoto 
Published: December 2008

Background:  Fulminant hepatitis is an intractable disease caused by various etiological agents. Artificial liver support (ALS) is a symptomatic treatment used to control serious symptoms, such as bleeding tendency, hepatic coma, and brain edema.Methods:  The present study involved four patients with fulminant hepatitis who were admitted to Showa University Fujigaoka Hospital between January 2007 and June 2007. All four patients were subacute type disease of indeterminate etiology. The four patients were placed on an ALS system that comprised plasma exchange and online hemodiafiltration. The effect of the ALS on various symptoms of fulminant hepatitis was evaluated, and the levels of glutamine in the patients' plasma samples and the discarded buffer were assayed using automatic analyser.Results:  Three of the four patients regained full consciousness and survived. The remaining patient died despite recovering from hepatic coma with ALS. The plasma glutamine levels were significantly reduced by artificial liver support. The estimated distribution volume of removed Gln ranged from 30 L to 60 L.Conclusions:  Plasma exchange in combination with online hemodiafiltration is a promising and effective method for purifying the blood of patients with fulminant hepatitis.
Probing the Reactivity of the Potent AgF2 Oxidizer. Part 1: Organic Compounds
Authors: Grzybowska Dorota , Malinowski Przemysław , Mazej Zoran , Grochala Wojciech 
Published: December 2008

The reactivity of Ag(II)F2 towards a variety of organic compounds of a high degree of fluorination has been investigated. AgF2 readily fluorinates P(C6F5)3 to PF2(C6F5)3, and attacks the isothiocyanate functional group, -NCS, yielding Ag2S. Perfluorinated aliphatic nitriles resist the action of AgF2, but aromatic C6F5CN undergoes a radical-initiated oligomerization; byproducts include C6F6CN• and C6F5N2• (after intramolecular rearrangement following the bimolecular reaction). AgF2 oxidizes higher fluorosulfonic acids (C4F9SO3H, C8F17SO3H) at or close to the room temperature and triflic acid (CF3SO3H) at its boiling point to the corresponding peroxides. CF3COOH and CF3CONH2 are also decomposed in redox reactions, but the gaseous products have not been identified. Surprisingly, AgF2 is kinetically inert to perfluorinated aromatic hydrocarbons and to CCl4, but it decomposes CBr4 with vigorous elimination of Br2. CI4 decomposes explosively in the presence of AgF2. C6F5OH and CF3COOH are readily oxidized with AgF2 but, surprisingly, t-C4F9OH is kinetically resistant under similar conditions. Coordination complexes of perfluorinated aza and oxa Lewis bases (including perfluorinated 15-crown-5 ether) and AgF2 are not formed under the experimental conditions.
Association mapping of yellow pigment in an elite collection of durum wheat cultivars and breeding lines
Authors: Reimer S. , Pozniak C. J. , Clarke F. R. , Clarke J. M. , Somers D. J. , Knox R. E. , Singh A. K. 
Published: December 2008

Association mapping (AM) is an alternative or complementary strategy to QTL mapping for describing associations between genotype and phenotype based on linkage disequilibrium (LD). Yellow pigment (YP), an important end-use quality trait in durum wheat (Triticum turgidum L. var. durum), was evaluated to determine the ability of AM to identify previously published QTL and to identify genomic regions for further genetic dissection. The YP concentration was determined for 93 durum wheat accessions sampled from a variety of geographic origins. Analysis of population structure using distance- and model-based estimates indicated the presence of five subpopulations. Using subpopulation assignments as covariates, significant (P < 0.05) marker–trait associations for YP were detected on all chromosomes of the durum genome. Using AM, genomic regions housing known YP QTL were confirmed, most notably the group 7 chromosomes. In addition, several markers on the group 1, 2, and 3 chromosomes were identified where QTL have yet to be reported. A phytoene synthase gene, Psy1-B1, a potential candidate gene for YP, was significantly associated with YP and was in strong LD with microsatellite markers on the distal end of 7BL. Our results demonstrated that AM complemented traditional QTL mapping techniques and identified novel QTL that should be the target of further genetic dissection.
Phylogenetic relationships between annual and perennial species of Helianthus: evolution of a tandem repeated DNA sequence and cytological hybridization experiments
Authors: Natali L. , Ceccarelli M. , Giordani T. , Sarri V. , Zuccolo A. , Jurman I. , Morgante M. , Cavallini A. , Cionini P. G. 
Published: December 2008

The amplification and chromosomal localization of tandem repeated DNA sequences from Helianthus annuus (clone HAG004N15) and the physical organization of ribosomal DNA were studied in annual and perennial species of Helianthus . HAG004N15-related sequences, which did not show amplification in other Asteraceae except for Viguiera multiflora , were redundant in all the Helianthus species tested, but their frequency was significantly higher in perennials than in annuals. These sequences were located at the ends and intercalary regions of all chromosome pairs of annual species. A similar pattern was found in the perennials, but a metacentric pair in their complement was not labelled. Ribosomal cistrons were carried on two chromosome pairs in perennials and on three pairs in annuals except for H. annuus, where rDNA loci were on four pairs. No difference was observed between cultivated H. annuus and its wild accessions in the hybridization pattern of the HAG004N15 and ribosomal probes. These findings support the hypothesis that the separation between annual and perennial Helianthus species occurred through interspecific hybridization involving at least one different parent. However, GISH in H. annuus using genomic DNA from the perennial Helianthus giganteus as blocking DNA failed to reveal different genomic assets in annual and perennial species.
Endothelial cell-derived nitric oxide mobilization is attenuated in copper-deficient rats
Authors: Falcone Jeff C. , Lominadze David , Johnson W. Thomas , Schuschke Dale A. 
Published: December 2008

The attenuation of endothelium-dependent nitric oxide (NO) mediated vasodilation is a consistent finding in both conduit and resistance vessels during dietary copper (Cu) deficiency. Although the effect is well established, evidence for the mechanism remains circumstantial. This study was designed to determine the relative amount of NO produced in and released from the vascular endothelium. Using the fluorescent NO indicator, 4-amino-5-methylamino-2′,7′-difluorofluorescein (DAF-FM), we now demonstrate the effect of a Cu-deficient diet on the production of NO from the endothelium of resistance arterioles. In one group of experiments, control and Cu-chelated lung microvascular endothelial cells (ECs) were used to assay NO production and fluorescence was observed by confocal microscopy. Weanling Sprague–Dawley rats were fed purified diets that were either Cu adequate (6.3 micrograms Cu per gram of food) or Cu deficient (0.3 micrograms Cu per gram of food) for 4 weeks. In the second series of experiments, first-order arterioles were microsurgically isolated from the rat cremaster muscle, cannulated, and pressurized with (3[N-morpholino]propanesulfonic acid) physiologic salt solution (MOPS-PSS). DAF-FM (5 µmol·L–1) was added in the lumen of the vessel to measure NO release. Baseline DAF-FM fluorescence was significantly lower in Cu-chelated ECs than in controls. In response to 10−6 mol·L–1 acetylcholine, fluorescent intensity was significantly less in chelated ECs and in the lumen of Cu-deficient arterioles. The results suggest that production and release of NO by the vascular endothelium is inhibited by a restriction of Cu. This inhibition may account for the attenuated vasodilation previously reported in Cu-deficient rats.
Vastus lateralis surface and single motor unit EMG following submaximal shortening and lengthening contractions
Authors: Altenburg Teatske M. , de Ruiter Cornelis J. , Verdijk Peter W.L. , van Mechelen Willem , de Haan Arnold 
Published: December 2008

A single shortening contraction reduces the force capacity of muscle fibers, whereas force capacity is enhanced following lengthening. However, how motor unit recruitment and discharge rate (muscle activation) are adapted to such changes in force capacity during submaximal contractions remains unknown. Additionally, there is limited evidence for force enhancement in larger muscles. We therefore investigated lengthening- and shortening-induced changes in activation of the knee extensors. We hypothesized that when the same submaximal torque had to be generated following shortening, muscle activation had to be increased, whereas a lower activation would suffice to produce the same torque following lengthening. Muscle activation following shortening and lengthening (20° at 10°/s) was determined using rectified surface electromyography (rsEMG) in a 1st session (at 10% and 50% maximal voluntary contraction (MVC)) and additionally with EMG of 42 vastus lateralis motor units recorded in a 2nd session (at 4%–47%MVC). rsEMG and motor unit discharge rates following shortening and lengthening were normalized to isometric reference contractions. As expected, normalized rsEMG (1.15 ± 0.19) and discharge rate (1.11 ± 0.09) were higher following shortening (p < 0.05). Following lengthening, normalized rsEMG (0.91 ± 0.10) was, as expected, lower than 1.0 (p < 0.05), but normalized discharge rate (0.99 ± 0.08) was not (p > 0.05). Thus, muscle activation was increased to compensate for a reduced force capacity following shortening by increasing the discharge rate of the active motor units (rate coding). In contrast, following lengthening, rsEMG decreased while the discharge rates of active motor units remained similar, suggesting that derecruitment of units might have occurred.