bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
A review of stable isotope techniques for N2O source partitioning in soils: recent progress, remaining challenges and future considerations
Authors: Baggs E. M. 
Published: April 2008

AbstractNitrous oxide is produced in soil during several processes, which may occur simultaneously within different micro‐sites of the same soil. Stable isotope techniques have a crucial role to play in the attribution of N2O emissions to different microbial processes, through estimation (natural abundance, site preference) or quantification (enrichment) of processes based on the 15N and 18O signatures of N2O determined by isotope ratio mass spectrometry. These approaches have the potential to become even more powerful when linked with recent developments in secondary isotope mass spectrometry, with microbial ecology, and with modelling approaches, enabling sources of N2O to be considered at a wide range of scales and related to the underlying microbiology. Such source partitioning of N2O is inherently challenging, but is vital to close the N2O budget and to better understand controls on the different processes, with a view to developing appropriate management practices for mitigation of N2O. In this respect, it is essential that as many of the contributing processes as possible are considered in any study aimed at source attribution, as mitigation strategies for one process may not be appropriate for another. To aid such an approach, here the current state of the art is critically examined, remaining challenges are highlighted, and recommendations are made for future direction. Copyright © 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Application of nitrogen stable isotope analysis in size‐based marine food web and macroecological research
Authors: Jennings Simon , Barnes Carolyn , Sweeting Christopher J. , Polunin Nicholas V. C. 
Published: April 2008

AbstractInteracting human and environmental pressures influence the structure and dynamics of marine food webs. To describe and predict the effects of these pressures, theoretical advances need to be supported by a capacity to validate the underlying models and assumptions. Here, we review recent applications of nitrogen stable isotope analysis in marine food web and macroecological research, with a focus on work that has paralleled a resurgence of interest in the development and application of size‐based models. Nitrogen stable isotope data have been used to estimate intra‐ and inter‐specific variation in trophic level, predator‐prey size ratios, transfer efficiency, food chain length, relationships between predator and prey species diversity and the dynamics of energy use. Many of these estimates have contributed to the development, testing and parameterisation of food web and ecosystem models, some of which have been used to establish baselines for assessing the scale of human impacts. The interpretation of results depends on assumed fractionation but, when supported by sensitivity analyses and experimental validation, nitrogen stable isotope data provide valuable insights into the structuring of marine communities and ecosystems. Copyright © 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Stable carbon and nitrogen isotopes and quality traits of fossil cereal grains provide clues on sustainability at the beginnings of Mediterranean agriculture
Authors: Aguilera Mònica , Araus José Luis , Voltas Jordi , Rodríguez‐Ariza Maria Oliva , Molina Fernando , Rovira Núria , Buxó Ramon , Ferrio Juan Pedro 
Published: April 2008

AbstractWe present a novel approach to study the sustainability of ancient Mediterranean agriculture that combines the measurement of carbon isotope discrimination (Δ13C) and nitrogen isotope composition (δ15N) along with the assessment of quality traits in fossil cereal grains. Charred grains of naked wheat and barley were recovered in Los Castillejos, an archaeological site in SE Spain, with a continuous occupation of ca. 1500 years starting soon after the origin of agriculture (ca. 4000 BCE) in the region. Crop water status and yield were estimated from Δ13C and soil fertility and management practices were assessed from the δ15N and N content of grains. The original grain weight was inferred from grain dimensions and grain N content was assessed after correcting N concentration for the effect of carbonisation. Estimated water conditions (i.e. rainfall) during crop growth remained constant for the entire period. However, the grain size and grain yield decreased progressively during the first millennium after the onset of agriculture, regardless of the species, with only a slight recovery afterwards. Minimum δ15N values and grain N content were also recorded in the later periods of site occupation. Our results indicate a progressive loss of soil fertility, even when the amount of precipitation remained steady, thereby indicating the unsustainable nature of early agriculture at this site in the Western Mediterranean Basin. In addition, several findings suggest that barley and wheat were cultivated separately, the former being restricted to marginal areas, coinciding with an increased focus on wheat cultivation. Copyright © 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Elucidation of nitrate reduction pathways in anaerobic bioreactors using a stable isotope approach
Authors: Mazéas Laurent , Vigneron Vassilia , Le‐Ménach Karyn , Budzinski Hélène , Audic Jean‐Marc , Bernet Nicolas , Bouchez Théodore 
Published: April 2008

AbstractLeachate recirculation allows an increase of moisture content and the enhancement of the anaerobic digestion of wastes in landfill. Since there is no ammonia elimination process in landfill when leachate is recirculated, NH may accumulate. One strategy for NH removal is to treat aerobically the leachate outside the landfill to convert NH into NO. When nitrified leachate is recirculated, denitrification should occur in the waste. We have previously shown that wastes have a large capacity to convert nitrate into N2. Nevertheless, in some cases we observed nitrate reduction without gaseous nitrogen production. Using a stepwise multiple regression models, H2S concentration was the unique parameter found to have a negative effect on N2 production. We then suspected that dissimilatory nitrate reduction to ammonium (DNRA) occurred in the presence of H2S. In order to verify this hypothesis, 15N nitrate injections were performed into microcosms containing different H2S concentrations. The ammonium 15N enrichment was measured using an elemental analyser coupled to an isotope ratio mass spectrometer. In the two microcosms containing the highest H2S concentrations, the ammonium was 15N enriched and at the end of the experiment all the added nitrate was converted into ammonium. For the two microcosms containing the lowest H2S concentrations, no 15N enrichment of ammonium was observed. This isotopic approach has allowed us to demonstrate that, in the presence of significant concentrations of H2S, denitrification is replaced by DNRA. Copyright © 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Are frequent radiographs necessary in the management of closed forearm fractures in children?
Authors: Bochang Chen , Katz Kalman , Weigl Daniel , Jie Yang , Zhigang Wang , Bar-On Elhanan 
Published: April 2008

Introduction A prospective pooled case series was used to assess the value of frequent radiographic examinations during treatment of closed forearm fractures in children from major university pediatric medical centers in Israel and China. Methods The sample consisted of 202 consecutive children (mean age 7 years; range 3–12 years) with closed forearm fractures treated nonoperatively. Children with open, growth-plate fractures or fractures associated with dislocation of the nearby joint (i.e., monteggia fractures) were excluded. In 28 children who had torus fractures, radiographic examination was performed at the time of cast removal, 3 weeks after the start of treatment. In 63 children who had stable fractures that did not require reduction (undisplaced or minimally displaced, complete or greenstick), radiographic examination was performed 1 week after the start of treatment and again at cast removal 4–6 weeks later. In the remaining 111 children with complete, displaced, or greenstick fractures (all with angulation of more than 15°) who underwent closed reduction, an additional X-ray was taken 2 weeks after cast placement. All children (except those with torus fractures) were followed clinically, without further radiographic examination, for 3 months after cast removal. Results Radiographs at cast removal showed good union in all stable fractures, indicating that additional X-rays on cast removal would have had no added value. In the children with unstable fractures, only 9 showed redisplacement with angulation of more than 15° on repeated X-rays during the first 2 weeks after cast placement. All 9 underwent successful re-reduction. On clinical evaluation 3 months after cast removal, all patients in the sample had full range of elbow and forearm motion. Repeated fracture did not occur in any of the patients. Conclusions On the basis of these results, radiographs are recommended 2 weeks after cast placement for greenstick or complete fractures. At the time of cast removal, if clinical examination does not show signs of nonunion or malalignment, no radiographic examination is necessary.
Effects of cardiac resynchronization therapy on coronary blood flow: Evaluation by transthoracic Doppler echocardiography☆
Authors: Valzania Cinzia , Gadler Fredrik , Winter Reidar , Braunschweig Frieder , Brodin Lars‐Åke , Gudmundsson Petri , Boriani Giuseppe , Eriksson Maria J. 
Published: April 2008

AbstractBackground:Relatively limited and conflicting data are available on the effects of cardiac resynchronization therapy (CRT) on coronary blood flow (CBF).Aims:To investigate changes in the left anterior descending coronary artery (LAD) flow under different CRT pacing modes by means of transthoracic Doppler echocardiography (TTE).Methods:Twenty‐two responders to CRT (67±11 years) with idiopathic dilated cardiomyopathy underwent TTE assessment of LAD flow and Tissue Velocity Imaging during 4 programming modes: intrinsic conduction (IC), right ventricular pacing (RV), simultaneous biventricular pacing (BVP), BVP with left ventricular (LV) pre‐activation.Results:Mean coronary flow velocity (CFV) was increased by simultaneous BVP (p=0.0063 vs. IC) and BVP with LV pre‐activation (p<0.0001 vs. IC; p=0.027 vs. simultaneous BVP). Peak CFV and LAD flow velocity/time integral were highest during BVP with LV pre‐activation. A reduction in septal‐to‐lateral delay and an increase in peak systolic velocity in the basal septum were observed during simultaneous BVP and BVP with LV pre‐activation.Conclusions:In CRT responders with idiopathic dilated cardiomyopathy, an increase in LAD flow, assessed by TTE, was observed during simultaneous BVP and BVP with LV pre‐activation. This was associated with an improvement in regional myocardial contraction and a decrease in intraventricular dyssynchrony.
Transplantation of adipose derived stromal cells is associated with functional improvement in a rat model of chronic myocardial infarction
Authors: Mazo Manuel , Planat‐Bénard Valérie , Abizanda Gloria , Pelacho Beatriz , Léobon Bertrand , Gavira Juan José , Peñuelas Iván , Cemborain Arantxa , Pénicaud Luc , Laharrague Patrick , Joffre Carine , Boisson Marie , Ecay Margarita , Collantes Maria , Barba Joaquin , Casteilla Louis , Prósper Felipe 
Published: April 2008

AbstractAims:To determine the effect of transplantation of undifferentiated and cardiac pre‐differentiated adipose stem cells compared with bone marrow mononuclear cells (BM‐MNC) in a chronic model of myocardial infarction.Methods:Ninety‐five Sprague–Dawley rats underwent left coronary artery ligation and after 1month received by direct intramyocardial injection either adipose derived stem cells (ADSC), cardiomyogenic cells (AD‐CMG) or BM‐MNC from enhanced‐Green Fluorescent Protein (eGFP) mice. The control group was treated with culture medium. Heart function was assessed by echocardiography and 18F‐FDG microPET. Cell engraftment, differentiation, angiogenesis and fibrosis in the scar tissue were also evaluated by (immuno)histochemistry and immunofluorescence.Results:One month after cell transplantation, ADSC induced a significant improvement in heart function (LVEF 46.3±9.6% versus 27.7±8% pre‐transplant) and tissue viability (64.78±7.2% versus 55.89±6.3% pre‐transplant). An increase in the degree of angiogenesis and a decrease in fibrosis were also detected. Although transplantation of AD‐CMG or BM‐MNC also had a positive, albeit smaller, effect on angiogenesis and fibrosis in the infarcted hearts, this benefit did not translate into a significant improvement in heart function or tissue viability.Conclusion:These results indicate that transplantation of adipose derived cells in chronic infarct provides a superior benefit to cardiac pre‐differentiated ADSC and BM‐MNC.
Responses to pain in school‐aged children with experience in a neonatal intensive care unit: Cognitive aspects and maternal influences
Authors: Hohmeister Johanna , Demirakça Süha , Zohsel Katrin , Flor Herta , Hermann Christiane 
Published: April 2008

ABSTRACTPreviously, it was shown that school‐aged (9–14yr) preterm and fullterm children with neonatal pain exposure exhibit elevated heat pain thresholds and heightened perceptual sensitization to tonic painful heat when tested under standard conditions [Hermann C, Hohmeister J, Demirakca S, Zohsel K, Flor H. Long‐term alteration of pain sensitivity in school‐aged children with early pain experiences. Pain 2006;125:278–85]. Here, changes in the psychosocial context of pain responses in these children, who had been hospitalized ≥7 days after birth including ≥3 days of treatment in a neonatal intensive care unit (NICU), are reported. Nineteen preterm (≤31 weeks gestational age) and 20 fullterm children (≥37 weeks gestational age) with NICU experience, recruited retrospectively and selected based on strict exclusion criteria, and 20 fullterm control children participated. Preterm NICU children endorsed more pain catastrophizing as compared to controls. Mothers of preterm children, who had been more severely ill and had been hospitalized longer than fullterm NICU children, were more likely to engage in solicitous pain‐related behavior. Maternal influence was also assessed by comparing heat pain thresholds and perceptual sensitization to tonic painful heat obtained in the presence versus absence (i.e. standard testing conditions) of the mother. In all three groups, maternal presence was associated with increased heat pain thresholds. Control children habituated significantly more to tonic heat when their mother was present. The NICU children showed overall significantly less habituation than the controls; there was no modulating effect of maternal presence. Especially in highly vulnerable children such as preterms, neonatal pain exposure and prolonged hospitalization may, aside from neuronal plasticity, promote maladaptive pain‐related cognitions and foster parental behavior that reinforces the child's pain response.
Truth, proof and evidence
Authors: Swayne Jeremy 
Published: April 2008

The study and practice of medicine, in its most personal and intimate functions, its most sophisticated scientific and technological manifestations, and its philosophical and ethical ramifications, are central to our understanding of the human condition. Homeopathic medicine: its insights, the questions that it begs, and the scientific and philosophical challenges it presents, has a significant contribution to make to this process.To be actively and seriously engaged with homeopathy is an adventurous undertaking. It is to be engaged in exploring both human nature and the nature of the world we inhabit. And in that process we are also engaged in the pursuit of truth and the exploration of reality.This paper deals first with the layout of the playing field on which homeopathy has to compete to be taken seriously. It then discusses three concepts: reality, truth and knowledge, which are objectives for which we strive and principles that guide us in that striving. In the third part it introduces the concept of ‘personal knowledge’ as an essential ingredient of scientific discovery and the pursuit of truth. And finally it proposes that the homeopathic community in general, and the Faculty of Homeopathy in particular, must expand its vision with a definition of a new paradigm, the new model of healthcare and medical science to which the vision aspires.
Effects of homeopathy in mice experimentally infected with Trypanosoma cruzi
Authors: Rodrigues de Almeida Luciana , Caroline de Oliveira Campos Mônica , Miraglia Herrera Heitor , Villano Bonamin Leoni , Henrique da Fonseca Adivaldo 
Published: April 2008

Aim: The aim of this study was to evaluate the action of homeopathic treatment on mice experimentally infected with Trypanosoma cruzi.Methods: Eighty adult male C57BL/6 inbred mice were randomly allocated to five groups treated with biotherapy (nosode) of T. cruzi 12dH (12×) pre- and post-infection; Phosphorus 12dH post-infection; infected control treated with control solution and uninfected control. The biotherapy was prepared by the Costa method from the blood of mice experimentally infected with the Y strain of T. cruzi. Phosphorus was used because of its clinical and reportorial similarity to Chagas disease. T. cruzi (104) sanguineous forms were inoculated intraperitoneally per animal. Parasitaemia was monitored, leukocyte and serological responses were evaluated at 0, 7, 14 and 42 days after infection. The prepatent and patent periods of parasitaemia, maximum of parasitaemia, day of maximum parasitaemia and mortality rates were compared between groups.Results: A significantly shorter period of patent parasitaemia was observed in the group treated with the biotherapy before infection (p < 0.05) than in the other groups. This group also had the lowest parasitaemias values at 9, 13, 15 (p < 0.05), 17 (p < 0.05), 22, 24 and 28 days, a lower rate of mortality and a significant increase of lymphocytes compared to the infected control group. The Phosphorus group had the longest period of patent parasitaemia, higher maximum parasitaemia, and a significant reduction of lymphocyte numbers, but no mortality. The infected control group had the highest mortality rate (not statistically significant), and the highest IgG titres at 42 days post-infection (p < 0.05).Conclusions: The results suggest that pre-treatment with biotherapy modulates host immune response to T. cruzi, mainly during the acute phase of the infection. Phosphorus shows an action on the pathogenicity by T. cruzi infection. Homeopathic treatment of T. cruzi infection should be further investigated.
Discrimination of lichen genera and species using element concentrations
Authors: BENNETT James P. 
Published: April 2008

Abstract:The importance of organic chemistry in the classification of lichens is well established, but inorganic chemistry has been largely overlooked. Six lichen species were studied over a period of 23 years that were growing in 11 protected areas of the northern Great Lakes ecoregion, which were not greatly influenced by anthropogenic particulates or gaseous air pollutants. The elemental data from these studies were aggregated in order to test the hypothesis that differences among species in tissue element concentrations were large enough to discriminate between taxa faithfully. Concentrations of 16 chemical elements that were found in tissue samples from Cladonia rangiferina, Evernia mesomorpha, Flavopunctelia flaventior, Hypogymnia physodes, Parmelia sulcata, and Punctelia rudecta were analyzed statistically using multivariate discriminant functions and CART analyses, as well as t-tests. Genera and species were clearly separated in element space, and elemental discriminant functions were able to classify 91–100 of the samples correctly into species. At the broadest level, a Zn concentration of 51 ppm in tissues of four of the lichen species effectively discriminated foliose from fruticose species. Similarly, a S concentration of 680 ppm discriminated C. rangiferina and E. mesomorpha, and a Ca concentration of 10 436 ppm discriminated H. physodes from P. sulcata. For the three parmelioid species, a Ca concentration >32 837 ppm discriminated Punctelia rudecta from the other two species, while a Zn concentration of 56 ppm discriminated Parmelia sulcata from F. flaventior. Foliose species also had higher concentrations than did fruticose species of all elements except Na. Elemental signatures for each of the six species were developed using standardized means. Twenty-four mechanisms explaining the differences among species are summarized. Finally, the relationships of four species based on element concentrations, using additive-trees clustering of a Euclidean-distance matrix, produced identical relationships as did analyses based on secondary product chemistry that used additive-trees clustering of a Jaccard similarity matrix. At least for these six species, element composition has taxonomic significance, and may be useful for discriminating other taxa.
Leptogium loriforme P. M. Jørg. & Kashiw., a new hairy species from Papua New Guinea
Authors: JØRGENSEN Per M. , KASHIWADANI H. 
Published: April 2008

Abstract:A new species of the Leptogium trichophorum group is described from Mt. Albert Edward in Papua New Guinea. A key to the related species, which are all found in SE Asia, is given. The new species appears to be rather local, and may prove to be endemic.
Caloplaca concreticola (Teloschistaceae), a new species from anthropogenic substrata in Eastern Europe
Authors: VONDRÁK Jan , KHODOSOVTSEV Alexander , ŘÍHA Pavel 
Published: April 2008

Abstract:Caloplaca concreticola is described here as new. It is a morphologically well-characterized, sorediate species of the subgenus Pyrenodesmia, that comprises a part of the ‘‘black-fruited’’ taxa with an absence of anthraquinones in their apothecia. Currently it is known only from concrete and always occurs close to water (mainly on the walls of water channels). Analysis of nuclear ribosomal ITS sequence data of the new species, together with most European species of the subgenus, supports the recognition of the new species as a monophyletic taxon within the Pyrenodesmia clade.