bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Gum arabic establishes prebiotic functionality in healthy human volunteers in a dose-dependent manner
Authors: Calame Wim , Weseler Antje R. , Viebke Christer , Flynn Cal , Siemensma André D. 
Published: May 2008

The present study was undertaken to determine the prebiotic efficacy of gum arabic upon consumption by man for up to 4 weeks and, if any, to establish the dose–effect relationship. Human healthy volunteers consumed various daily doses (5, 10, 20, 40 g) of gum arabic (EmulGold®) in water for up to 4 weeks. Daily consumption of water was taken as the negative control and that of 10 g inulin as the positive control. At 0, 1, 2 and 4 weeks quantification of bacterial numbers in stool samples was performed via real time-PCR techniques and questionnaires were filled in to account for potential drawbacks. The genera of Bifidobacteria and Lactobacilli were taken as potentially beneficial bacteria and those of Bacteroides,Clostridium difficileand Enterococci as potentially non-beneficial, this distinction was dependent on the issue of these numbers being or becoming out of balance in the host. Compared with the negative control the numbers of Bifidobacteria and Lactobacilli 4 weeks after consumption were significantly higher for gum arabic: the optimal dose being around 10 g. Moreover, at this dose the numbers of Bifidobacteria, Lactobacilli and Bacteroides were significantly higher for gum arabic than for inulin. No significant drawback was encountered during the study. It is concluded that gum arabic establishes prebiotic efficacy, at least as good as inulin. The optimal daily dose was found to be 10 g.
A HUMAN RIGHTS CRITIQUE OF EUROPEAN JUDICIAL REVIEW: COUNTER-TERRORISM SANCTIONS
Authors: Almqvist Jessica 
Published: May 2008

AbstractLitigation involving individuals and entities whose financial assets have been frozen and whose names have been blacklisted in the fight against terrorism is on the rise around the world. However, the global ‘securitization’ of terrorism has rendered court performance of judicial review and the provision of remedies in these cases more difficult. What the main judicial challenges are, the need to overcome them, and how they can be overcome, are identified in this article as questions of central concern in an effort to secure the human right of effective access to justice for persons subjected to counter-terrorism sanctions. Special attention is given to the specific challenges facing the Court of Justice in the European Communities, the manner in which it has responded, and outstanding issues.
INVESTMENT TREATIES AND GENERAL INTERNATIONAL LAW
Authors: McLachlan Campbell 
Published: May 2008

AbstractThe huge rise in the settlement of investment disputes by treaty has provoked an underlying question of great practical and theoretical importance: the relationship between the substantive standards protected in such treaties and general international law. This paper argues that the relationship is symbiotic: custom informing the content of the treay right; and State practice under investment treaties contributing to the development of general international law. It is the structured process of treaty interpretation which determines when and how reference to general international law may be made. Practice in this field supports a broader modern phenomenon, in which ‘general principles of law common to civilized nations’ may be informed not only by common principles of domestic law, but also by general principles of international law itself.
FAITH AND CHILD SURVIVAL: THE ROLE OF RELIGION IN CHILDHOOD IMMUNIZATION IN NIGERIA
Authors: ANTAI DIDDY 
Published: May 2008

SummaryThis study assessed the role of mother’s religious affiliation in child immunization status of surviving children 12 months of age and older in Nigeria, using data from the 2003 Nigeria Demographic and Health Survey (NDHS). Guided by two competing hypotheses – the ‘characteristics hypothesis’ and the ‘particularized theology hypothesis’ – variations in the risks of child immunization in Nigeria were examined using logistic regression analysis. The results indicate that religion plays a role in the risk of non-immunization; religion was not associated with the risk of partial immunization; however, religion was significantly associated with the reduced risk of full immunization.
Self-focusing of electromagnetic beams in the ionosphere considering Earth's magnetic field
Authors: SODHA MAHENDRA SINGH , SHARMA ASHUTOSH 
Published: May 2008

AbstractIn this paper the focusing/defocusing of (i) a single Gaussian electromagnetic beam and (ii) a number of coaxial Gaussian electromagnetic beams, propagating in the extraordinary mode along the Earth's magnetic field in the ionosphere has been investigated in the paraxial approximation. The growth of a sinusoidal instability on account of self-focusing has also been studied. The nonlinearity in the dielectric function, responsible for the focusing/defocusing arises from the redistribution of the electron density, caused by the non-uniform distribution of the electron temperature. The electron temperature is determined by the energy balance for electrons/ions taking into account the Ohmic heating, the collisions and the radiation from the sun. The wave frequency has been assumed to be greater than the plasma frequency. The electron cyclotron frequency due to the Earth's magnetic field in the ionosphere is much larger than the electron collision frequency. This is specifically true for a height of 150 km. Numerical results have been presented for a range of parameters and a discussion of the same has been presented.
Influence of trait anxiety on brain activity during the acquisition and extinction of aversive conditioning
Authors: Barrett J. , Armony J. L. 
Published: May 2008

BackgroundWe examined how individual differences in trait anxiety (TA) influence the neural responses associated with the acquisition and extinction of anticipatory anxiety elicited through a context conditioning paradigm, with particular focus on the amygdala and the subgenual anterior cingulate cortex (sgACC).MethodDuring two sessions of echo-planar functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI), 18 healthy volunteers completed a decision-making task with two randomly alternating 28-s to 32-s background screen colour blocks. One of the colours was associated with the presentation of an aversive noise (CTX+) and the other colour was ‘safe’ (CTX−). In the first session (Acquisition), 33% of CTX+ colour blocks were paired with noise and in the second session (Extinction) no noise was presented.ResultsThe amygdala displayed an increased response to CTX+ compared to CTX− colour blocks during the Acquisition and Extinction sessions and the ACC displayed an increased response to CTX+ compared to CTX− colour blocks during Extinction only. In addition, a greater conditioned response (CTX+ minus CTX−) was observed in the ACC when comparing the Extinction and Acquisition sessions. Correlation analyses further showed that higher levels of TA were associated with a higher conditioned response in the amygdala during Extinction as well as a greater differential conditioned response (i.e. Extinction>Acquisition) in the ACC.ConclusionsOur results support the idea that individuals with high levels of anxiety-relevant traits and vulnerable to developing an anxiety disorder display a more resilient anxiety response during extinction that is characterized by hyper-responsivity in the amygdala.
Contact patterns and their implied basic reproductive numbers: an illustration for varicella-zoster virus
Authors: EFFELTERRE T. VAN , SHKEDY Z. , AERTS M. , MOLENBERGHS G. , DAMME P. VAN , BEUTELS P. 
Published: May 2008

SUMMARYThe WAIFW matrix (Who Acquires Infection From Whom) is a central parameter in modelling the spread of infectious diseases. The calculation of the basic reproductive number (R0) depends on the assumptions made about the transmission within and between age groups through the structure of the WAIFW matrix and different structures might lead to different estimates forR0and hence different estimates for the minimal immunization coverage needed for the elimination of the infection in the population. In this paper, we estimateR0for varicella in Belgium. The force of infection is estimated from seroprevalence data using fractional polynomials and we show how the estimate ofR0is heavily influenced by the structure of the WAIFW matrix.
A simple staining method for observation of germinatedStrigaseeds
Authors: Long Shusheng , Lendzemo Venasius , Kuyper Thomas W. , Kang Zhengsheng , Vierheilig Horst , Steinkellner Siegrid 
Published: May 2008

AbstractIn vitrotechniques are essential forStrigaresearch and the development of appropriate control methods. In the laboratory, pre-screening of non-host or false-host plants ofStrigafor trap cropping or the screening of hosts for resistance involves visual evaluation ofStrigaseed germination that may be stimulated by plant parts or root exudates. This technique is presently laborious because the smallStrigaradicles are colourless. A number of solutions were evaluated to visualize the radicles ofStriga hermonthicato obtain a reliable, simple and fast staining method yielding good contrast for visual observation, with readily available, inexpensive and minimally toxic dyes and staining solutions. The inks Brilliant Blue (Pelikan), Blue (Geha) and Brilliant Green (Pelikan), in either vinegar or lactic acid, produced radicles with excellent contrast, whereas radicles stained with Brilliant Red (Pelikan), Black (Sheaffer), Brilliant Black (Pelikan) gave good contrast.Strigaradicles stained with Aniline Blue in vinegar or lactic acid, or Coomassie Brilliant Blue R250 in lactic acid, showed excellent contrast. Radicles stained with Ink Black (Sheaffer), Cotton Brown, or Rubin S in either vinegar or lactic acid also showed good contrast. With water as the diluent, only Lactophenol Blue showed excellent contrast. For health, safety and environmental concerns, availability and staining time, Blue ink in household vinegar (5% acetic acid) appears to be an excellent dye forStrigaradicles and could be used in routineStrigagermination assays.
Risk tolerance and retirement income composition
Authors: SCHWABISH JONATHAN A. , TOPOLESKI JULIE H. 
Published: May 2008

SUMMARYProposed changes to the Social Security system will affect the financial risk workers will face in their retirement differently across the income distribution. This study examines levels of financial risk workers face at different points in the lifetime earnings distribution. To do so, we use a microsimulation model that projects individual demographic and economic characteristics within the context of the Social Security system and the macroeconomy to assess the impact of two policy changes on the levels of lifetime benefits available to current and future retirees. Further, we incorporate data on pensions and savings to illustrate differences in the level and distribution of retirement funds across the earnings distribution. This exercise allows us to assess the financial risk workers face in their retirement, both within the Social Security system itself and within a broader view of the stream of total available retirement funds. We also use survey data to show that low earners are the least willing to tolerate such risk.
Saving incentives, old-age provision and displacement effects: evidence from the recent German pension reform
Authors: BÖRSCH-SUPAN AXEL , REIL-HELD ANETTE , SCHUNK DANIEL 
Published: May 2008

AbstractIn response to population aging, pay-as-you-go pensions are being reduced in almost all developed countries. In many countries, governments aim to fill the resulting gap with subsidized private pensions. This paper exploits the recent German pension reform to shed new light on the uptake of voluntary, but heavily subsidized private pension schemes. Specifically, we investigate how the uptake of the recently introduced ‘Riester pensions’ depends on state-provided saving incentives, and how well the targeting at families and low-income households works in practice.We show that, after a slow start, private pension plans took off very quickly. While saving incentives were effective in reaching parents, they were less successful in attracting low-income earners, although Riester pensions exhibit a more equal pattern by income than occupational pensions and unsubsidized private pension plans.We also provide circumstantial evidence on displacement effects between saving for old-age provision and other purposes. Households who plan to purchase housing are less likely to have a Riester pension. The same holds for households who attach high importance to a bequest motive. Occupational pensions and other forms of private pensions, however, act as complements rather than as substitutes.
The Influence of Gas Expulsion on the Evolution of Star Clusters
Authors: Baumgardt H. , Kroupa P. 
Published: May 2008

AbstractWe present new results on the dynamical evolution and dissolution of star clusters due to residual gas expulsion and the effect this has on the mass function and other properties of star cluster systems. To this end, we have carried out a large set of N-body simulations, varying the star formation efficiency, gas expulsion time scale and strength of the external tidal field, obtaining a three-dimensional grid of models which can be used to predict the evolution of individual star clusters or whole star cluster systems by interpolating between our runs. When applied to the Milky Way globular cluster system, we find that gas expulsion is the main dissolution mechanism for star clusters, destroying about 80% of all clusters within a few 10s of Myers. Together with later dynamical evolution, it seems possible to turn an initial power-law mass function into a log-normal one with properties similar to what has been observed for the Milky Way globular clusters.
A Dynamical Origin for Early Mass Segregation in Young Star Clusters
Authors: McMillan Steve , Vesperini Enrico , Zwart Simon Portegies 
Published: May 2008

AbstractSome young star clusters show a degree of mass segregation that is inconsistent with the effects of standard two-body relaxation from an initially unsegregated system without substructure, in virial equilibrium, and it is unclear whether current cluster formation models can account for this degree of initial segregation in clusters of significant mass. We show that mergers of small clumps that are either initially mass segregated, or in which mass segregation can be produced by two-body relaxation before they merge, generically lead to larger systems which inherit the progenitor clumps' segregation. We conclude that clusters formed in this way are naturally mass segregated, accounting for the anomalous observations and suggesting that this process of prompt mass segregation due to initial clumping should be taken into account in models of cluster formation and dynamics.
A Near-infrared Survey of the Rosette Complex: Clues of Early Cluster Evolution
Authors: Román-Zúñiga Carlos G. , Lada Elizabeth A. , Ferreira Bruno 
Published: May 2008

AbstractThe majority of stars in our galaxy are born in embedded clusters, which can be considered the fundamental units of star formation. We have recently surveyed the star forming content of the Rosette Complex using FLAMINGOS in order to investigate the properties of its embedded clusters. We discuss the results of our near-infrared imaging survey. In particular, we on the first evidence for the early evolution and expansion of the embedded clusters. In addition we present data suggesting a temporal sequence of cluster formation across the cloud and discuss the influence of the HII region on the star forming history of the Rosette.
The Formation and Dynamics of the SMC Cluster NGC 346
Authors: Smith Linda J. 
Published: May 2008

AbstractThe young resolved cluster NGC 346 in the SMC provides us with the opportunity to study the details of cluster formation and the efficiency of feedback mechanisms at low metallicity. I describe the latest results from a large-scale study of this cluster and its H II region N66. HST/ACS images reveal that NGC 346 is composed of a number of sub-clusters which appear to be coeval with ages of 3±1 Myr, strongly suggesting formation by the hierarchical fragmentation of a giant molecular cloud (Nota et al. 2006; Sabbi et al. 2007a). HST Hα images show that the central cluster and the sub-clusters still contain some of their residual gas. We present high resolution spectroscopy of the ionized gas, and find that it shows little evidence for gas motions. This suggests that, at the low SMC metallicity, the cluster O star winds are not powerful enough to sweep away the residual gas. Instead, we find that stellar radiation is the dominant process shaping the interstellar environment of NGC 346.
Monte Carlo Simulations of Star Clusters with Primordial Binaries. Comparison with N-body Simulations and Observations
Authors: Giersz Mirek , Heggie Douglas C. 
Published: May 2008

AbstractWe outline the steps needed in to calibrate the Monte Carlo code in order to perform large scale simulations of real globular clusters. We calibrate the results against N-body simulations for N = 2500, 10000 and for the old open cluster M67. The calibration is done by choosing appropriate free code parameters.
Tidal Tails of the Nearest Open Clusters
Authors: Chumak Yaroslav , Rastorguev Alexey 
Published: May 2008

AbstractWe show that an extended population of stars escaping an evolved cluster and moving along its galactic orbit forms at the final phases of its dynamical evolution. Here we present some results of the numerical simulations for nearest open clusters: Hyades, Pleiades, Praesepe, Alpha Persei, Coma, IC 2391, and IC 2602. We calculated the models of the stellar tails for nearest open clusters and estimated some parameters: sizes, densities, locations relative to the solar neighborhood. Stars of the nearest tails can be observed as moving clusters.
The Population of Open Clusters in the Nearest kpc from the Sun
Authors: Röser S. , Kharchenko N. V. , Piskunov A. E. , Schilbach E. , Scholz R.-D. 
Published: May 2008

AbstractWe present a volume-limited sample (d < 850 pc) of open clusters in the Galaxy identified from our studies on galactic open clusters based on data from the all-sky catalogue ASCC-2.5 with absolute proper motions and B, V magnitudes of 2.5 million stars. The astrophysical properties of this sample are discussed.
Effects of Stellar Collisions on Star Cluster Evolution and Core Collapse
Authors: Chatterjee Sourav , Fregeau John M. , Rasio Frederic A. 
Published: May 2008

AbstractWe systematically study the effects of collisions on the overall dynamical evolution of dense star clusters using Monte Carlo simulations over many relaxation times. We derive many observable properties of these clusters, including their core radii and the radial distribution of collision products. We also study different aspects of collisions in a cluster taking into account the shorter lifetimes of more massive stars, which has not been studied in detail before. Depending on the lifetimes of the significantly more massive collision products, observable properties of the cluster can be modified qualitatively; for example, even without binaries, core collapse can sometimes be avoided simply because of stellar collisions.
Star Cluster Life-times: Dependence on Mass, Radius and Environment
Authors: Gieles Mark , Lamers Henny J. G. L. M. , Baumgardt Holger 
Published: May 2008

AbstractThe dissolution time (tdis) of clusters in a tidal field does not scale with the “classical” expression for the relaxation time. First, the scaling with N, and hence cluster mass, is shallower due to the finite escape time of stars. Secondly, the cluster half-mass radius is of little importance. This is due to a balance between the relative tidal field strength and internal relaxation, which have an opposite effect on tdis, but of similar magnitude. When external perturbations, such as encounters with giant molecular clouds (GMC) are important, tdis for an individual cluster depends strongly on radius. The mean dissolution time for a population of clusters, however, scales in the same way with mass as for the tidal field, due to the weak dependence of radius on mass. The environmental parameters that determine tdis are the tidal field strength and the density of molecular gas. We compare the empirically derived tdis of clusters in six galaxies to theoretical predictions and argue that encounters with GMCs are the dominant destruction mechanism. Finally, we discuss a number of pitfalls in the derivations of tdis from observations, such as incompleteness, with the cluster system of the SMC as particular example.
N-body Simulations of Star Clusters
Authors: Anders Peter , Lamers Henny J. G. L. M. , Baumgardt Holger 
Published: May 2008

AbstractTwo aspects of our recent N-body studies of star clusters are presented:
1)What impact does mass segregation and selective mass loss have on integrated photometry?2)How well do results compare from N-body simulations using NBODY4 and STARLAB/KIRA?
Binary Stars and Globular Cluster Dynamics
Authors: Fregeau John M. 
Published: May 2008

AbstractIn this brief proceedings article I summarize the review talk I gave at the IAU 246 meeting in Capri, Italy, glossing over the well-known results from the literature, but paying particular attention to new, previously unpublished material. This new material includes a careful comparison of the apparently contradictory results of two independent methods used to simulate the evolution of binary populations in dense stellar systems (the direct N-body method of Hurley, Aarseth, & Shara (2007) and the approximate Monte Carlo method of Ivanova et al. (2005)), that shows that the two methods may not actually yield contradictory results, and suggests future work to more directly compare the two methods.
Evolution of Compact Binary Populations in Globular Clusters: a Boltzmann Study
Authors: Banerjee Sambaran , Ghosh Pranab 
Published: May 2008

AbstractWe explore a Boltzmann scheme for studying the evolution of compact binary populations in globular clusters. We include processes of compact binary formation by tidal capture and exchange encounters, binary destruction by exchange and dissociation mechanisms and binary hardening by encounters, gravitational radiation and magnetic braking, as also the orbital evolution during mass transfer, following Roche lobe contact. From the evolution of compact-binary population, we investigate the dependence of the model number of X-ray binaries NXB on two essential cluster properties, namely, the star-star and star-binary encounter-rate parameters Γ and γ (Verbunt parameters). We find that the values of NXB and their expected scaling with the Verbunt parameters are in good agreement with results from recent X-ray observations of Galactic globular clusters.
A Post-Newtonian Treatment of Relativistic Compact Object Binaries in Star Clusters
Authors: Downing J. M. B. , Spurzem R. 
Published: May 2008

AbstractStellar mass compact object binaries are promising sources of gravitational radiation for the current generation of ground-based detectors, VIRGO and LIGO. Accurate templates for gravitational waveforms are needed in order to extract an event from the VIRGO/LIGO data stream. In the case of relativistic, compact object binaries accurate orbital parameters are necessary in order to produce such templates. Binary systems are affected by their stellar environment and thus the parameters of the binary population of a dense star cluster will be different from those of the field population. We propose to investigate the parameters of relativistic binary populations in dense star clusters using direct N-body simulations with a Post-Newtonian treatment of general relativity for the close binaries.