bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Attack preference ofIps pinionPinus ponderosain northern Arizona: tree size and bole position
Authors: Kolb T. E. , Guerard N. , Hofstetter R. W. , Wagner M. R. 
Published: August 2006

Abstract1 The present study investigated the influence of tree size and bole position on selection of ponderosa pines (Pinus ponderosaDougl. ex Laws.) byIps piniSay (Coleoptera: Curculionidae: Scolytinae) in a northern Arizona forest.Ips piniwere attracted to lower and upper bole positions with pheromone lures, and the number of attacks counted. In addition, tree phloem and bark thickness, resin flow in response to wounding and characteristics of tree water and carbon relations were all measured.2 Bark thickness was the most strongly related tree characteristic to number ofI. piniattacks. Thin bark and a high number of attacks occurred at the lower bole position of 10‐cm diameter trees and upper bole positions of 23‐, 35‐, and 50‐cm diameter trees.3 Phloem thickness increased directly with tree size, was greater at the upper bole compared with the lower bole, but was not associated with number of attacks.4 Resin flow did not differ strongly over tree sizes or bole positions, and was not related to number ofI. piniattacks. Attacks were not related to characteristics of tree carbon and water relations measured duringI. piniflights.
Assessment of anaerobic benzene degradation potential using 16S rRNA gene‐targeted real‐time PCR
Authors: Da Silva Marcio L. B. , Alvarez Pedro J. J. 
Published: August 2006

SummaryBenzene is a common groundwater pollutant that is often recalcitrant under the anaerobic conditions that prevail at hydrocarbon‐contaminated aquifers. Thus, determining the potential for anaerobic benzene degradation is important to assess the feasibility of intrinsic bioremediation. In this work we developed a 16S rRNA biomarker to estimate the concentration of putative benzene degraders in a methanogenic consortium that has been enriched on benzene for several years. Primers were designed based on phylogenetic information from this consortium. The primers and probe were obtained by sequencing the dominant denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis band of this consortium, which corresponded to Desulfobacterium sp. clone OR‐M2. No hybridization was observed with DNA samples from negative controls (i.e. toluene‐degrading and dehalorespiring methanogenic consortia that do not degrade benzene). Samples from an anaerobic aquifer column that was bioaugmented with this benzene‐degrading consortium showed a strong correlation between benzene degradation activity and the concentration of the target organism. Although our data do not prove that Desulfobacterium sp. is a benzene degrader, its enrichment as a result of benzene consumption and its correlation to anaerobic benzene degradation activity suggest that it either initiates benzene degradation or is a critical (commensal) partner. Therefore, the utility of this primers and probe set to assess anaerobic benzene degradation potential was demonstrated. This is the first report of the use of real‐time quantitative PCR for forensic analysis of anaerobic benzene degradation. Whether this biomarker will be adequately selective and broadly applicable to assess benzene degradation potential under strongly anaerobic (sulfate reducing and methanogenic) conditions will require further research.
Telephonic management of rectal bleeding in young adults – a prospective randomized controlled trial
Authors: Raje D. , Scott M. , Irvine T. , Walshe M. , Mukhtar H. , Oshowo A. , Ingham Clark C. 
Published: August 2006

AbstractObjective  The majority of young adults referred with rectal bleeding to a colorectal specialist clinic have a very low risk of serious disease such as cancer, and a high chance of gaining symptom relief by simple dietary changes.To determine whether young low‐risk patients with rectal bleeding can be managed with a structured telephonic interview and dietary advice, rather than an outpatient visit.Method  A single‐blinded, prospective, randomized controlled trial was performed in two stages. Patients under 40 years with rectal bleeding only were offered inclusion. Part‐I trial: Patients were interviewed on telephone by the colorectal nurse specialist (CNS) and randomized to receive dietary advice (Advice Group) or not (Control Group). All patients were seen in clinic 6 weeks later by a doctor ‘blinded’ to their trial status. Part‐II trial: Patients were interviewed on telephone by the CNS and again randomized to an Advice Group or a Control Group. The Control Group were seen in clinic 6 weeks later. The Advice Group were telephoned again 6 weeks later, and if their bleeding had stopped, were not brought to clinic. All patients were tracked for a year after the study to ensure no adverse diagnoses came to light.Results  Part‐I trial: 63 of 89 eligible patients were contactable and none refused the study. Seventy per cent of the Advice Group compared with 33% (P = 0.001) of the Control Group had symptomatic improvement when seen in clinic. Approximately 30% of each group required further treatment. Part‐II trial: 54 of 94 eligible patients were contactable. However a further nine declined to enter the trial; 90% of patients in the Advice Group had improved at 6 weeks as judged by telephone interview compared with 56% of patients in the Control Group (P = 0.024) who were seen in clinic. The 90% of patients who improved in the Advice Group did not need to come to clinic to be seen. In both parts of the trial, the CNS identified a small number of patients with urgent symptoms at interview and brought them to clinic. The majority had anal fissures or haemorrhoids although in Part‐II, one patient had ulcerative colitis and one had colorectal cancer.Conclusion  Telephonic consultation is an effective way of identifying those patients with urgent symptoms among a cohort of young adults referred to the hospital with rectal bleeding. Telephonic dietary advice leads to resolution of rectal bleeding in the majority of patients without urgent symptoms.
Do interventions to limit sedentary behaviours change behaviour and reduce childhood obesity? A critical review of the literature
Authors: DeMattia L. , Lemont L. , Meurer L. 
Published: August 2006

SummaryWe sought to determine whether interventions that emphasize decreasing sedentary behaviours in children and adolescents result in behaviour change and weight control. A comprehensive literature search was conducted to identify all comparative studies of interventions to reduce sedentary behaviour among children, alone or in combination with other health messages. Two investigators evaluated articles for eligibility and validity. As methods, settings and interventions differ across studies, results were synthesized narratively. Twelve studies met the inclusion criteria and provided relevant data. Six targeted clinic‐based populations that were overweight or at risk of overweight, and six were population‐based prevention studies. Approaches varied, but all reduced sedentary behaviour and improved weight indices. An emphasis on decreasing sedentary behaviours is an effective intervention to decrease sedentary behaviours and control weight in children and adolescents.
Levels of engagement and barriers to physical activity in a population of adults with learning disabilities
Authors: Hawkins Andrew , Look Roger 
Published: August 2006

SummaryThis study examined levels of, and barriers to, physical activity in a population of 19 adults with learning disabilities living in community supported accommodation, using diary records and semi‐structured interviews with staff. The levels of physical activity were higher in the sample population than previous figures for adults with learning disabilities, but lower than figures for the general population. The five main barriers to physical activity identified by staff were: clients’ lack of understanding of the benefits of exercise; client mood; client lack of awareness of available options for physical activity; risk assessment issues and financial constraints.
EU Social Policy after Lisbon*
Authors: DALY MARY 
Published: August 2006

AbstractThis article focuses on the Lisbon strategy, the latest ‘moment’ in EU social policy. Following developments up to the end of 2005, it seeks to assess the significance of the poverty/social inclusion open method of co‐ordination in terms of what it indicates about the EU's engagement with social policy. The article proceeds by interrogating a series of arguments for and against significance. It considers in turn different interpretations of: the functions and rationale of the EU policy process on poverty and social inclusion; the application and unfolding of the method of open co‐ordination in this particular policy domain; and the politics underlying it. In elaborating the sui generis aspects of EU social policy especially as associated with Lisbon, the analysis discusses the possibility that social policy is developing its own dynamic at EU level. However, although significant elements can be identified, the relative fragility of poverty and social exclusion within the EU policy portfolio is highlighted. It is there but lacks firm foundation.
The Euro and Regional Price Differences of Individual Products in an Integrated Cross‐Border Area*
Authors: MATHÄ THOMAS Y. 
Published: August 2006

AbstractUsing individual supermarket prices, this article shows that, even for a narrowly defined geographical and highly integrated cross‐border area, absolute deviations from the law of one price (LOP) rise, as distance increases and borders are crossed. Being inside the former Belgian‐Luxembourg monetary association has the opposite effect. The latter result suggests that the euro will increase European integration and will help to reduce regional and cross‐border price differences in the long term. Furthermore, larger differences in packaging sizes result in larger price deviations. The opposite is the case for prices observed within the same retail group.
Experiments in Food Safety Policy Integration in the European Union*
Authors: UGLAND TRYGVE , VEGGELAND FRODE 
Published: August 2006

AbstractPolicy issues are increasingly cross‐cutting. Policy integration has therefore become a fashionable concept among policy‐makers at domestic and international levels. Theoretically, the article facilitates a deeper understanding of the concept of policy integration. Empirically, this article analyses food safety policy integration in the European Union (EU). Three different historical phases are identified here. The central argument is that the way cross‐cutting policy issues are integrated within policy sectors affects the opportunities for effective integration of these issues across different policy sectors.
Effect of biomass on assemblages of large mammals in a seasonally dry forest in the Brazilian Amazonia
Authors: Mendes Pontes A. R. , Chivers D. J. , Lee P. C. 
Published: August 2006

AbstractAiming to understand the relationship between body mass and abundance, a community of middle‐sized and larger mammals was studied in a seasonally dry forest in the far north of the Brazilian Amazonia. Diurnal and nocturnal surveys were carried out by the line‐transect method along a 10‐km transect. Data were collected on density, biomass, use of forest types, forest strata, diet and feeding strategies by the mammals. Biomass explained animal abundance better than did body mass across the two forest types: Terra Firme forest and mixed forest. There was a statistically significant positive relationship between the biomass of all the 33 mammals studied and group density, as well as between biomass and group size, in both forests. When terrestrial and arboreal mammals, and also different feeding guilds were considered separately, they exhibited very similar results, where biomass alone was positively associated with group density and group size. The slope of the relationships between body mass and group density, body mass and group size, biomass and group density, and biomass and group size varied considerably, with significant scatter around the regression line. Food and food competition shaped the relationship between animal mass and abundance, and this relationship can even vary widely between assemblages. As a result of competition for the available resources, group density increased with increasing biomass.
Evaluation of the KA24 (Knowledge Access 24) service for health and social care staff in London and the south‐east of England. Part 2: qualitative
Authors: Urquhart Christine , Durbin Jane , Cumbers Barbara 
Published: August 2006

AbstractAims and objectives:  The aim of this two‐part paper is to identify the main transferable lessons learned from both the quantitative and qualitative evaluations of the KA24 (Knowledge Access 24) service of online databases and selected full‐text journals for health and social care staff in London and the south‐east of England. The objectives of the qualitative evaluation were to assess the enablers and barriers to usage, and to assess the impact of the service on patient care.Methods:  Telephone interviews (n = 65) and a questionnaire survey (n = 296) were conducted with various types of user, in various Trust settings. Some non‐users were also contacted. Selection of interviewees and questionnaire recipients was not random, and aimed to cover all groups of users representatively.Results:  Results show that policy goals were being delivered, with indications of changes to clinical practice, and improved clinical governance. Promotion, training and support needs to be extensive, and tailored to needs, but users are not always aware they need training. The sharing of passwords cast doubts on the reliability of some usage data.Conclusions:  Digital health library services, delivered at the point of care, are changing the way some clinicians practise. A combination of qualitative and quantitative evaluation methods are needed to assess digital library services.
Learning to use the Internet as a study tool: a review of available resources and exploration of students’ priorities
Authors: Bond Carol S. , Fevyer David , Pitt Chris 
Published: August 2006

AbstractBackground:  The Internet is a valuable information tool, but users often struggle to locate good quality information from within the vast amount of information available.Objectives:  The aim of the study was to identify the online information resources available to assist students develop Internet searching skills, and to explore the students’ priorities in online guides.Methods:  A qualitative approach was adopted with two phases. The first was a structured search of available online study skills resources. The second comprised 10 group interviews with a total of 60 students at all stages of five undergraduate health and social care related courses at a UK university.Results:  The study found that there were good online guides available, but that, perversely, the better guides tended to require the best searching skills to locate them. A few students were enthusiastic about using online support, however the majority felt that if they had the skills to locate such resources they wouldn't use a study guide to improve these skills, and if they did not have the skills they would not think of using an online guide to develop them.Conclusions:  Students wanted assistance when they had problems or questions, rather than sites that offered structured learning experiences. Personal support rather than virtual support was also considered to be most important to the students in this study.
Open access publishing in the biomedical sciences: could funding agencies accelerate the inevitable changes?
Authors: Glover Steven William , Webb Anne , Gleghorn Colette 
Published: August 2006

AbstractBackground:  Open access is making a noticeable impact on access to information. In 2005, many major research funders, including the Wellcome Trust, National Institutes for Health (NIH), and the Research Councils UK (RCUK), set out their position in a number of statements. Of particular note was the stipulation that authors receiving grants must deposit their final manuscript in an open access forum within 6–12 months of publication.Observations:  The paper will look at the open access position statements issued by some of the major funding bodies in the biomedical sciences. The paper will also look at the models used by publishers to provide open or delayed access, such as Oxford Open from Oxford University Press, HighWire Press’ delayed access policy, BioMed Central, and Public Library of Science (PLoS). There are now over 1.2 million articles in PubMed that are freely accessible via publishers’ websites.1Conclusion/discussion:  Could funding agencies accelerate the move to open access? The list of funding agencies supporting open access is growing. The National Institutes for Health and the Wellcome Trust have been joined by many of the world's major funders in biomedical research whose goal it is to make their research findings available with no barriers.
Do financial factors such as author page charges and industry funding impact on the nature of published research in infectious diseases?
Authors: Liyanage Surabhi S. , Raina MacIntyre C. 
Published: August 2006

AbstractObjectives:  The question of who pays for research to be conducted and published is an important one as it may result in publication bias. The traditional model of medical publishing has relied on subscriptions for funding. There has been increasing interest in making the results of scientific research freely available. One proposed mechanism is an author‐pays system, which shifts cost from subscribers to authors. We investigated the impact of author page charges on the nature and type of published research, and the association of industry funding with types of published research.Methods:  Four infectious diseases journals with comparable scope were studied—two with page charges and two without. Variables included type of research study, area of research, author demographics, study setting and industry funding. The differences between a subscription model vs. a mixed model (author page charges and subscription charges) were studied. We also investigated changes within the same journal once it had moved from a subscription model to a mixed model.Results:  Authors from developing countries were significantly less likely to be published in the mixed‐model journals (OR 0.25, 95% CI 0.15–0.41, P < 0.001). Clinical trials published in any type of journal were significantly more likely to be industry funded than any other type of research (OR 12.7, 95% CI 7.0–22.9, P < 0.001). Industry‐funded research was significantly less likely to be about diseases affecting predominantly the developing world (OR 0.47, 95% CI 0.25–0.89, P < 0.05).Conclusion:  There is clearly a relationship between industry funding and certain types of published research. The model of funding of journal publishing can also affect the nature of published research. Shifting publishing costs to authors favours well‐funded organizations, industry sponsored research and wealthy countries. Such potential for publication bias must be considered when planning for open access models.
Euroethics—a database network on biomedical ethics
Authors: Gavel Ylva , Andersson Per‐Olov , Knutssøn Gun‐Brit 
Published: August 2006

AbstractBackground:  euroethics is a database covering European literature on ethics in medicine. It is produced within Eurethnet, a European information network on ethics in medicine and biotechnology.Objectives:  The aim of Euroethics is to disseminate information on European bioethical literature that may otherwise be difficult to find.Methods:  A collaboration model for pooling data from different centres was developed. The policy was to accomplish data uniformity, while still allowing for local differences in terms of software, indexing practices and resources. Records contributed to the database follow common standards in terms of data fields and indexing terms. The indexing terms derive from two thesauri, Thesaurus Ethics in the Life Sciences (TELS) and Medical Subject Headings (MeSH). Combining elements from search tools developed previously, the developers sought to find a technical solution optimized for this data model. An approach relying on a thesaurus database that is loaded along with the bibliographic database is described.Results and conclusions:  The present case study offers examples of possible approaches to several tasks often encountered in database development, such as: merging data from diverse sources, getting the most out of indexing terms used in a database, and handling more than one thesaurus in the same system.
Kanamycin alters cytoplasmic and nuclear phosphoinositide signaling in the organ of Corti in vivo
Authors: Jiang Hongyan , Sha Su‐Hua , Schacht Jochen 
Published: August 2006

AbstractAminoglycoside antibiotics strongly bind to phosphoinositides and affect their membrane distribution and metabolism. Kanamycin treatment also disrupts Rac/Rho signaling pathways to the actin cytoskeleton in the mouse inner ear in vivo. Here, we investigate the influence of kanamycin on phosphoinositide signaling in sensory cells (hair cells) of the mouse cochlea. Immunoreactivity to phosphatidylinositol‐3,4,5‐trisphosphate (PIP3) decreased in the organ of Corti, especially in outer hair cells, after 3–7 days of drug treatment, whereas imunoreactivity to phosphatidylinositol‐4,5‐bisphosphate (PIP2) increased. Immunoreactivity to PIP2 was present at the apical poles of outer hair cells, but appeared in their nuclei only after drug treatment. Furthermore, nuclear PIP2 formed a complex with histone H3 and attenuated its acetylation in outer hair cells. In agreement with reduced PIP3 signaling, phosphorylated Akt decreased in both the cytoplasm and nuclei of outer hair cells after kanamycin treatment. This study suggests that kanamycin disturbs the balance between PIP2 and PIP3, modifies gene transcription via histone acetylation and diminishes the PI3K/Akt survival pathway. These actions may contribute to the death of outer hair cells, which is a consequence of chronic kanamycin treatment.
Microsatellite primers for Ficus racemosa and Ficus rubiginosa
Authors: CROZIER Y. CHING , JIA XIAO CHENG , YAO JIN YAN , FIELD ASHLEY R. , COOK JAMES M. , CROZIER ROSS H. 
Published: August 2006

AbstractWe developed 11 polymorphic microsatellite loci each for the figs Ficus (Sycomorus) racemosa and Ficus (Urostigma) rubiginosa from AG‐ and TG‐enriched genomic libraries. These 22 loci were investigated for cross‐species amplification and polymorphism in 17–21 F. racemosa and 16–24 F. rubiginosa individuals from Townsville, Australia. Observed heterozygosities range from 0.12 to 0.90 in F. racemosa and from 0.25 to 1.0 in F. rubiginosa.
Curvature of ellipsoids and other surfaces
Authors: Harris W. F. 
Published: August 2006

AbstractFrom differential geometry one obtains an expression for the curvature in any direction at a point on a surface. The general theory is outlined. The theory is then specialised for surfaces that are represented parametrically as height over a transverse plane. The general ellipsoid is treated in detail as a special case. A quadratic equation gives the principal directions at the point and, hence, the principal curvatures associated with them. Equations are obtained for ellipsoids in general that are generalisations of Bennett's equations for sagittal and tangential curvature of ellipsoids of revolution. Equations are also presented for the locations of umbilic points on the ellipsoid.