bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
An Economic Analysis of Freshwater Prawn, Macrobrachium rosenbergii, Farming in Mymensingh, Bangladesh
Authors: Ahmed Nesar , Ahammed Faisal , Van Brakel Martin 
Published: January 2008

Abstract This paper deals with production systems, cost structure, and profitability of freshwater prawn, Macrobrachium rosenbergii, farming in a new area of Mymensingh district in the north‐central part of Bangladesh. In the study area, prawn farming practice is still extensive, and only a few farmers (20%) cultivate semiintensively. The costs and returns of extensive and semiintensive farming systems are compared. All farmers in different farming systems made a profit, with seed and feed dominating variable costs. Considerable variation in production costs and profitability was observed. Based on the Cobb–Douglas production function model, return to scale indicates that there is scope to increase production and income from prawn farms in extensive and semiintensive systems by applying more inputs (i.e., seed, feed, and fertilizer).
Evaluation of Growth and Disease Resistance of USDA103, USDA303, USDA102, and USDA102 × USDA103 Strains of Channel Catfish, Ictalurus punctatus
Authors: Peterson Brian C. , Bilodeau Lanie , Bosworth Brian G. 
Published: January 2008

Abstract USDA103, USDA303, USDA102, and USDA102 × USDA103 strains of channel catfish (27.7 ± 0.7 g/fish) were fed daily for 6 wk. Feed consumption and weight gain were highest (P < 0.001) in USDA103, USDA303, and USDA102 × USDA103 fish. USDA102 fish exhibited the poorest (P < 0.01) feed conversion ratio. Fillet and whole‐body content were similar (P > 0.05) among strains when final weight was used as a covariate. USDA103, USDA303, and USDA102 × USDA103 strains had higher (P < 0.01) protein efficiency ratios compared to USDA102. In a second study, the four groups of catfish (22.2 ± 1.9 g/fish) were challenged with Edwardsiella ictaluri and mortality was recorded for 3 wk postchallenge. Survival was higher (P < 0.02) for USDA303 and USDA102 × USDA103 fish. Results of these studies demonstrate that the USDA103 and USDA303 strains of catfish were superior in growth performance. Results of the bacterial challenge show that the USDA303 and USDA102 × USDA103 strains of fish exhibited increased survival. Continued selection of the USDA103 line and crossing this line of fish with lines of fish such as the USDA102 strain may produce fish with desirable growth and disease characteristics.
Use of Microbial Flocs Generated from Tilapia Effluent as a Nutritional Supplement for Shrimp, Litopenaeus vannamei, in Recirculating Aquaculture Systems
Authors: Kuhn David D. , Boardman Gregory D. , Craig Steven R. , Flick George J. , McLean Ewen 
Published: January 2008

Abstract Recovering nutrients in a fish effluent to be used as a supplemental feed for shrimp culture could ease constraints (e.g., environmental issues and high production cost) that have limited the US shrimp farming industry in the past. In this study under laboratory scale conditions, fish effluent was collected from a commercial tilapia farm and nutrients from the waste stream were offered as supplemental feed as either (1) untreated solids from tilapia effluent or (2) microbial flocs generated from the biological treatment of the effluent by reducing soluble chemical oxygen demand >80%. The first feeding trial demonstrated that microbial flocs contributed significantly (P < 0.05) to overall growth while untreated solids did not. Moreover, microbial flocs were larger and contained higher levels (P < 0.05) of protein. The second feeding trial investigated different feeding rates of commercial diets with and without microbial floc supplementation. Weekly measurements of mass and specific growth rates demonstrated that microbial flocs significantly (P < 0.05) contributed to shrimp performance. Weekly food conversion ratios were also reported. Water quality in shrimp systems during both studies was within safe levels, and no differences (P > 0.05) between treatments were observed for dissolved oxygen, nitrate‐nitrogen, nitrite‐nitrogen, pH, salinity, total ammonia nitrogen, and temperature.
Variation and Morphosyntactic Theory: Competition Fractionated
Authors: Embick David 
Published: January 2008

AbstractThe study of the ‘dynamic’ aspects of language – variation and change – and the development of grammatical theory are often pursued independently of one another. Concentrating on morphosyntax, this article explores connections between these domains that are centered on the notion of ‘competition’. When the relationship betweencompetition for grammaticalityandcompetition for useis articulated, it is clear thatgrammar competitionmodels of variation and change are connected directly to specific theoretical approaches to synchronic grammar.
Treebank‐Based Probabilistic Phrase Structure Parsing
Authors: Cahill Aoife 
Published: January 2008

AbstractThe area of probabilistic phrase structure parsing has been a central and active field in computational linguistics. Stochastic methods in natural language processing, in general, have become very popular as more and more resources become available. One of the main advantages of probabilistic parsing is in disambiguation: it is useful for a parsing system to return a ranked list of potential syntactic analyses for a string. In this article, we introduce probabilistic context‐free grammars (PCFGs) and outline some of their strengths and weaknesses. We concentrate on the automatic extraction of stochastic grammars from treebanks (large collections of hand‐corrected syntactic structures). We describe the current state of the field and the current research on improving the basic PCFG model. This includes lexicalized, history‐based and generative models. Finally, we briefly mention some research into probabilistic phrase structure parsing for domains other than traditional treebank text and languages other than English (Chinese, Arabic, German and French).
Language Processing in Frontotemporal Dementia: A Brief Review
Authors: Peelle Jonathan E. , Grossman Murray 
Published: January 2008

AbstractFrontotemporal dementia (FTD) is a neurodegenerative condition that presents with a number of distinct behavioral phenotypes. Here we review language‐processing deficits in three subgroups of FTD patients: progressive nonfluent aphasia (PNFA), semantic dementia (SD), and nonaphasic FTD patients with a disorder of social and executive functioning (SOC/EXEC). These three clinical subgroups have contrasting patterns of regional cortical atrophy that can be linked to their language impairments. PNFA patients’ disease includes left ventral inferior frontal cortex, resulting in impaired grammatical processing. SD patients demonstrate a profound impairment for semantic knowledge related to atrophy of the left temporal lobe. SOC/EXEC patients’ frontal atrophy tends to be more right lateralized and is associated with declines in executive functioning. SOC/EXEC patients’ limited executive resources impact language processing in a variety of ways, including slowed grammatical processing and impaired narrative discourse. FTD patients therefore provide converging evidence regarding dissociable components of language processing and their neuroanatomical bases.
RESEARCH ARTICLE: Clinical Anesthesia Causes Permanent Damage to the Fetal Guinea Pig Brain
Authors: Rizzi Sabina , Carter Lisa B. , Ori Carlo , Jevtovic‐Todorovic Vesna 
Published: January 2008

AbstractExposure of the immature brain to general anesthesia is common. The safety of this practice has recently been challenged in view of evidence that general anesthetics can damage developing mammalian neurons. Initial reports on immature rats raised criticism regarding the possibly unique vulnerability of this species, short duration of their brain development and a lack of close monitoring of nutritional and cardiopulmonary homeostasis during anesthesia. Therefore, we studied the neurotoxic effects of anesthesia in guinea pigs, whose brain development is longer and is mostly a prenatal phenomenon, so that anesthesia‐induced neurotoxicity studies of the fetal brain can be performed by anesthetizing pregnant female pigs. Because of their large size, these animals made invasive monitoring of maternal and, indirectly, fetal well‐being technically feasible. Despite adequate maintenance of maternal homeostasis, a single short maternal exposure to isoflurane, whether alone or with nitrous oxide and/or midazolam at the peak of fetal synaptogenesis, induced severe neuroapoptosis in the fetal guinea pig brain. As detected early in post‐natal life, this resulted in the loss of many neurons from vulnerable brain regions, demonstrating that anesthesia‐induced neuroapoptosis can cause permanent brain damage.
Role of UV in Cutaneous Melanoma†
Authors: Maddodi Nityanand , Setaluri Vijayasaradhi 
Published: January 2008

AbstractMalignant melanoma arises from epidermal melanocytes, the cells responsible for the production of the skin pigment melanin. The photoprotective role of melanin, which is transferred to neighboring keratinocytes, in UV‐induced skin carcinogenesis, specifically in nonmelanoma skin cancers, has been well documented. Although melanocyte‐resident melanin is expected to offer similar protection to melanocytes from UV‐induced damage, UV radiation has long been suspected to have an etiologic role in cutaneous melanoma. However, nearly three decades of efforts using a variety of in vitro and in vivo models of human skin and mouse genetic models have produced conflicting data. Epidemiologic studies have also failed to establish a definitive association between UV exposure and risk of melanoma. In this review, we evaluate the dual role of the melanin pigment as a photoprotector as well as a photosensitizer and examine the evidence for association between melanin levels (constitutive and induced) and melanoma risk. We also discuss possible reasons for the lack of signature UV mutations in melanoma oncogenes known to date and potential alternative mechanisms to explain the role of UV in melanomagenesis.
DNA Damage, Apoptosis and Langerhans Cells—Activators of UV‐induced Immune Tolerance†
Authors: Timares Laura , Katiyar Santosh K. , Elmets Craig A. 
Published: January 2008

AbstractSolar UVR is highly mutagenic but is only partially absorbed by the outer stratum corneum of the epidermis. UVR can penetrate into the deeper layers of the epidermis, depending on melanin content, where it induces DNA damage and apoptosis in epidermal cells, including those in the germinative basal layer. The cellular decision to initiate either cellular repair or undergo apoptosis has evolved to balance the acute need to maintain skin barrier function with the long‐term risk of retaining precancerous cells. Langerhans cells (LCs) are positioned suprabasally, where they may sense UV damage directly, or indirectly through recognition of apoptotic vesicles and soluble mediators derived from surrounding keratinocytes. Apoptotic vesicles will contain UV‐induced altered proteins that may be presented to the immune system as foreign. The observation that UVR induces immune tolerance to skin‐associated antigens suggests that this photodamage response has evolved to preserve the skin barrier by protecting it from autoimmune attack. LC involvement in this process is not clear and controversial. We will highlight some basic concepts of photobiology and review recent advances pertaining to UV‐induced DNA damage, apoptosis regulation, novel immunomodulatory mechanisms and the role of LCs in generating antigen‐specific regulatory T cells.
Resource Evaluation of Indium in the Dajing Tin‐Polymetallic Deposits, Inner Mongolia, China
Authors: Ishihara Shunso , Qin Kezhang , Wang Yuwang 
Published: January 2008

AbstractIndividual ores of 37 specimens and five mill concentrates were analyzed chemically, and anomalous indium contents were detected in the tin‐polymetallic veins of the Dajing mine. The indium contents are heterogenously distributed (0.5–296 ppm In), and are low generally in the ores of the East Block. Indium is mainly correlated with copper, partly with zinc in the Dajing deposits, implying that the element is substituted in copper and zinc sulfides and sulfosalts. The total indium content is expected as >768 tons, which is lower than a previous estimation of this mine. The whole tonnage of the southern part of the Da Hinggang Mountains is >1200 tons In, which is the second largest in China after the tin‐polymetallic deposits in the southern China.
Scandium‐Bearing Minerals in the Bayan Obo Nb‐REE‐Fe Deposit, Inner Mongolia, China
Authors: Shimazaki Hidehiko , Yang Zhuming , Miyawaki Ritsuro , Shigeoka Masako 
Published: January 2008

AbstractAegirine, “perrierite‐(Ce)”, and ferrocolumbite, occurring in the Bayan Obo Nb‐REE‐Fe deposit in Inner Mongolia, China, contain appreciable amounts of scandium. The Sc2O3 content in aegirine (sample TS‐15) was 0.34–1.81 wt% (with one exceptionally high value of 3.45%) with an average value of 1.19%. The Sc2O3 content of “perrierite‐(Ce)” (TS‐20) was 2.82–3.64% with an average value of 3.26%. In the ferrocolumbite samples (TS‐16, TS‐23), the Sc2O3 content was 0.20–0.25% with an average value of 0.22% in sample TS‐16, and 0.56–1.04% with an average value of 0.67% in sample TS‐23. These data provide the basic information for future possible recovery of scandium as a by‐product from the deposit.
Oxygen Isotope Study of Paleoproterozoic Banded Iron Formation, Hamersley Basin, Western Australia
Authors: Hayashi Ken‐ichiro , Naraoka Hiroshi , Ohmoto Hiroshi 
Published: January 2008

AbstractA submillimeter‐scale variation of δ18O in quartz was identified in chert and Fe‐oxide mesobands of the Brockman Iron Formation, Western Australia, using an in situ CO2‐laser fluorination technique. The total range of variation is 11.2–23.0‰, with >5‰ variations within a single mesoband of approximately 2 cm thickness. These data contradict most previous works, which have suggested that banded iron formations are isotopically homogeneous. The present sample was obtained outside of the iron mining area, and as such is considered to have been less altered by the hydrothermal event recently shown to be responsible for the formation of the iron ore. The data suggest that the largest Paleoproterozoic banded iron formations may have formed not in a stable, quiescent sea, but instead as a result of increased influx of iron‐ and silica‐rich solutions during periods of increased magmatism and submarine hydrothermal activity in a rift basin environment.
Explaining False Uniqueness: Why We are Both Better and Worse Than Others
Authors: Chambers John R. 
Published: January 2008

AbstractPeople see themselves as unique from others – as having better personalities and abilities, more desirable opinions, and brighter futures than almost everyone else. In the past, researchers attributed these ‘false uniqueness perceptions’ primarily to a need or desire to see oneself in the most charitable light possible (i.e., self‐enhancement). More recent findings – that oftentimes people claim to be worse off than others – call this view into question and raise the need to find explanations that can account for both positive and negative forms of uniqueness perceptions. This review describes several of the leading non‐motivated (cognitive) explanations for false uniqueness perceptions and discusses recent empirical findings that establish their role in these phenomena. The rationality of false uniqueness perceptions and the status of motivated reasoning are also briefly considered.
Localism and the Environment
Authors: Hess David J. 
Published: January 2008

AbstractLocalism, understood here as a movement to regain sovereignty over the local economy in an era of globalization, offers an alternative economic development strategy to that of the high‐tech, export‐oriented manufacturing cluster. Instead, localism advocates call attention to the benefits of import‐replacing strategies that strengthen locally owned businesses, farms, and nonprofit organizations, as well as local government agencies. Primary examples of localism include the ‘buy local movement’ supported by independent retailers and banks, community‐controlled energy, and local food and agricultural networks. Localism may generate environmental benefits due to decreased transportation and increased awareness of the environmental effects of production when located near consumers, but the connection between localism and environmental dividends is variable and tenuous.
Effects of isolation on the colonisation of restored habitat patches by forest‐dependent arthropods of soil and litter
Authors: NAKAMURA AKIHIRO , CATTERALL CARLA P. , KITCHING ROGER L. , HOUSE ALAN P. N. , BURWELL CHRIS J. 
Published: January 2008

Abstract. A novel experimental approach was taken to investigate the effects of distance from rainforest remnants on the recolonisation patterns of ants and other soil and litter arthropods in ‘restored’ habitat patches within a pasture matrix.Experimental habitat patches were created by adding a thick mulch of sterilised woodchips and leaves, and simulating shade using shadecloth, to create conditions similar to those that occur during rainforest restoration. These patches were deployed at five experimental sites in the Maleny plateau of subtropical eastern Australia. Artificial habitat patches were located at varying distances from a rainforest edge at each site, as well as within the rainforest. The experiment also included a test for efficacy of inoculation, which involved translocation of a small quantity of litter (containing live arthropods) from rainforest habitat to isolated habitat patches.The results showed that, after 9 months, there was little colonisation by rainforest‐dependent taxa in any of the experimental plots beyond those closely adjacent to forest patches. Inoculation was unsuccessful in increasing the extent of arthropod establishment.A number of explanations that potentially account for the observed results are suggested. An experimental approach provides an opportunity to test explicitly for factors considered important for the development of biota in restored habitat patches. There are, however, unavoidable limitations associated with the design of experiments that simulate small‐scale analogues of restoration treatments. Avoiding these limitations may require controlled and replicated efforts in experimental restoration over larger areas, based on collaborations between researchers and practitioners.
Spatio‐temporal variation in mortality rates of Mecodema spp. (Coleoptera: Carabidae) across a forest‐grassland edge in New Zealand
Authors: EWERS ROBERT M. 
Published: January 2008

Abstract.

Edge effects are a highly cited issue in conservation biology with a wealth of empirically described impacts on invertebrates, but the mechanisms underlying the responses of individual species to habitat edges have been seldom tested. One often‐raised hypothesis is that individual species vary in their ability to survive along a gradient of changing microclimatic conditions across habitat edges.
I used a phylogenetically controlled, translocation experiment to investigate edge‐driven variation in adult mortality rate for two closely related species that have contrasting abundance patterns with respect to forest‐grassland edges; the habitat generalist Mecodema fulgidum Broun (Coleoptera: Carabidae) and the forest‐dwelling Mecodema rugiceps Sharp.
Adult individuals of both species were live‐caught and translocated into containers at varying distances along an edge gradient extending from 1024 m inside a large forest fragment and 64 m into the surrounding grassland matrix. Experimental containers were connected to the above‐ and below‐ground environments via mesh‐covered panels, and beetle mortality over a 4‐month period in the 2006/2007 austral summer was recorded.
Overall, mortality was higher for the habitat specialist M. rugiceps than for the generalist M. fulgidum. Neither species exhibited an edge‐related trend in mortality, nor were mortality rates correlated with microclimatic gradients across the edge.
Weather records for the summer indicated that M. rugiceps was more sensitive than M. fulgidum to a soil moisture deficit that became more pronounced as summer progressed. Analysis of a 10‐year climate record shows that soil moisture deficits occur annually, suggesting that seasonal variation in soil moisture may contribute to the variation in the distribution and abundance of the two species.
Oral Health Program Preferences among Pregnant Women in a Managed Care Organization
Authors: Thoele Merry J. , Asche Stephen E. , Rindal D. Brad , Fortman Kristine K. 
Published: January 2008

Abstract
Objective: The purpose of the study was to understand the oral health information preferences of pregnant women and new mothers. Methods: This study was conducted at a Minnesota managed care organization. A random sample of 250 women with public program insurance and 250 privately insured women was selected from the population of pregnant women in the claims systems. The study consisted of a mailed survey and phone contact to nonresponders. The analytic sample consisted of 123 public‐pay and 127 private‐pay respondents. Descriptive statistics summarize the preferences for oral health care topics. Results: Receiving information by mail was preferred by both groups. Women favored information concerning infant‐specific oral health more than information on both mother and infant oral health. While public‐pay respondents had more enthusiasm for many topics, the topic preference rankings within each sample were similar. Conclusion: Similarities in program preferences suggest that common interventions could be designed that would appeal to both groups without extensive tailoring.
Identification and Description of Mobile Dental Programs – A Brief Communication
Authors: Carr Brian R. , Isong Umo , Weintraub Jane A. 
Published: January 2008

Abstract
Objectives: The purpose of this study was to identify and describe mobile dental programs in California. Methods: The programs were identified by Internet searches, county health officers, local dental society directors, mobile program directors, and others. A cross‐sectional survey was mailed to program directors if their programs provide clinical dental services beyond screening and education. Results: In California, 33 programs were identified; survey response rate was 70 percent. The populations most likely to be served were those with low‐income (100 percent), elementary (77 percent) and preschool (68 percent) children, non‐English speakers (64 percent), and the Medicaid‐eligible (64 percent). At least half of the programs were providing services in designated Dental Health Professional Shortage Areas. Most program directors indicated that if their program was discontinued, it would be “very difficult” (61 percent) or “difficult” (35 percent) for the target populations to get dental services. Conclusions: Mobile dental programs are a highly variable, but important, strategy for bringing dental care to many underserved populations.