bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Molecular Dynamics Simulation of Nanoindentation-induced Mechanical Deformation and Phase Transformation in Monocrystalline Silicon
Authors: Lin Yen-Hung , Jian Sheng-Rui , Lai Yi-Shao , Yang Ping-Feng 
Published: January 2008

Abstract
This work presents the molecular dynamics approach toward mechanical deformation and phase transformation mechanisms of monocrystalline Si(100) subjected to nanoindentation. We demonstrate phase distributions during loading and unloading stages of both spherical and Berkovich nanoindentations. By searching the presence of the fifth neighboring atom within a non-bonding length, Si-III and Si-XII have been successfully distinguished from Si-I. Crystallinity of this mixed-phase was further identified by radial distribution functions.
Using evolutionary costs to enhance the efficacy of malaria control via genetically manipulated mosquitoes
Authors: KOELLA JACOB C. , ZAGHLOUL LAMIA 
Published: January 2008

SUMMARYAn earlier mathematical model exploring the use of genetically manipulated mosquitoes for malaria control suggested that the prevalence of malaria is reduced significantly only if almost all mosquitoes become completely resistant to malaria. Central to the model was the ‘cost of resistance’: the reduction of a resistant mosquito's evolutionary fitness in comparison with a sensitive one's. Here, we consider the possibility of obtaining more optimistic outcomes by taking into account the epidemiological (in addition to the evolutionary) consequences of a cost of resistance that decreases the life-span of adult mosquitoes (the most relevant parameter for the parasite's epidemiology). There are two main results. First, if despite its cost, resistance is fixed in the population, increasing the cost of resistance decreases the intensity of transmission. However, this epidemiological effect is weak if resistance is effective enough to be considered relevant for control. Second, if the cost of resistance prevents its fixation, increasing it intensifies transmission. Thus, the epidemiological effect of the cost of resistance cannot compensate for the lower frequency of resistant mosquitoes in the population. Overall, our conclusion remains pessimistic: so that genetic manipulation can become a promising method of malaria control, we need techniques that enable almost all mosquitoes to be almost completely resistant to infection.
Metazoan-protozoan parasite co-infections and host body weight in St Kilda Soay sheep
Authors: CRAIG B. H. , TEMPEST L. J. , PILKINGTON J. G. , PEMBERTON J. M. 
Published: January 2008

SUMMARYFor hundreds of years, the unmanaged Soay sheep population on St Kilda has survived despite enduring presumably deleterious co-infections of helminth, protozoan and arthropod parasites and intermittent periods of starvation. Important parasite taxa in young Soay sheep are strongyles (Trichostrongylus axei, Trichostrongylus vitrinus and Teladorsagia circumcincta), coccidia (11 Eimeria species) and keds (Melophagus ovinus) and in older animals, Teladorsagia circumcincta. In this research, associations between the intensity of different parasite taxa were investigated. Secondly, the intensities of different parasite taxa were tested for associations with variation in host weight, which is itself a determinant of over-winter survival in the host population. In lambs, the intensity of strongyle eggs was positively correlated with that of Nematodirus spp. eggs, while in yearlings and adults strongyle eggs and coccidia oocysts were positively correlated. In lambs and yearlings, of the parasite taxa tested, only strongyle eggs were significantly and negatively associated with host weight. However, in adult hosts, strongyles and coccidia were independently and negatively associated with host weight. These results are consistent with the idea that strongyles and coccidia are exerting independent selection on Soay sheep.
Particular generalisation: the Antarctic Treaty of 1959 in relation to the anti-nuclear movement
Authors: Moore Jason Kendall 
Published: January 2008

ABSTRACTThis article presents the US role in the formation of the Antarctic Treaty of 1959 in relation to the era's anti-nuclear movement. The purpose is two-fold: to highlight the strategic orientation of US Antarctic policy, suggesting that it was less enlightened than it is frequently portrayed; and to highlight the influence of the anti-nuclear movement upon the treaty's inclusion of a test ban which the United States initially opposed, hoping to reserve the right to conduct nuclear tests. The treaty is depicted as a particular generalisation: one aspect of the cold war that gains significance when scrutinised in relation to another that is much better-known.
Human geographies of sea ice: freeze/thaw processes around Igloolik, Nunavut, Canada
Authors: Laidler Gita J. , Ikummaq Theo 
Published: January 2008

ABSTRACTSea ice has been, and continues to be, an integral component of life in the Inuit community of Igloolik, Nunavut. Located on an island of the same name off the northeastern coast of Melville Peninsula, extensive ice formation occurs in Fury and Hecla Strait. This creates an important travel and hunting platform, and enables access to Baffin Island, the mainland, moving ice, hunting and fishing grounds, and nearby communities. With the combined importance, dynamism, and continuous use of this frozen ocean environment, local Inuit elders and hunters have developed a detailed and nuanced understanding of sea ice conditions, freeze/thaw processes, and the influences of winds and currents on ice conditions. Working collaboratively with the community of Igloolik since February 2004, we present the results of 24 semi-directed interviews and 4 sea ice trips to provide a baseline understanding of local freezing processes (near-shore, open water, sea ice thickening, landfast ice, tidal cracks, floe edge, and moving ice), melting processes (snow melt, water accumulation and drainage, and break-up), wind influences on sea ice (wind direction and strength affecting sea ice formation and movement), and, current influences on sea ice (tidal variations and current strength affecting sea ice formation, movement, and polynya size/location). Strong emphasis is placed on Inuktitut terminology and spatial delineations of localised ice conditions and features. Therefore, this paper provides insights into local scale ice conditions and dynamics around Igloolik that are not captured in regional scale studies of Foxe Basin and/or Fury and Hecla Strait. Results have the potential to inform future research efforts on local/regional sea ice monitoring, the relationship between Inuit knowledge, language, and the environment, and addressing community interests through targeted studies.
The cruise of MS Golden Princess in Antarctic waters, January 2007
Authors: Bertram Esther , Gunn Caroline , Stonehouse Bernard 
Published: January 2008

ABSTRACTIn January 2007, MS Golden Princess, carrying 2425 passengers and a crew of approximately 1100, became the largest ship to sail Antarctic waters within the northern limit of pack ice. This note describes the ship and its itinerary, discusses aspects of the cruise, and comments on the use of large cruise liners in Antarctic waters.
Exploring policy-makers’ perspectives on disinvestment from ineffective healthcare practices
Authors: Elshaug Adam G. , Hiller Janet E. , Moss John R. 
Published: January 2008

Objectives:Many existing healthcare interventions diffused before modern evidence-based standards of clinical- and cost-effectiveness. Disinvestment from ineffective or inappropriately applied practices is growing as a priority for international health policy, both for improved quality of care and sustainability of resource allocation. Australian policy stakeholders were canvassed to assess their perspectives on the challenges and the nature of disinvestment.Methods:Senior health policy stakeholders from Australia were criterion and snow-ball sampled (to identify opinion leaders). Participants were primed with a potential disinvestment case study and took part in individual semistructured interviews that focused on mechanisms and challenges within health policy to support disinvestment. Interviews were taped and transcribed for thematic analysis. Participant comments were de-identified.Results:Ten stakeholders were interviewed before saturation was reached. Three primary themes were identified. (i) The current focus on assessment of new and emerging health technologies/practices and lack of attention toward existing practices is due to resource limitations and methodological complexity. Participants considered a parallel model to that of Australia's current assessment process for new medical technologies is best-positioned to facilitate disinvestment. (ii) To advance the disinvestment agenda requires an explicit focus on the potential for cost-savings coupled with improved quality of care. (iii) Support (financial and collaborative) is needed for research advancement in the methodological underpinnings associated with health technology assessment and for disinvestment specifically.Conclusions:In this exploratory study, stakeholders support the notion that systematic policy approaches to disinvestment will improve equity, efficiency, quality, and safety of health care, as well as sustainability of resource allocation.
Valuing care recipient and family caregiver time: A comparison of methods
Authors: Guerriere Denise N. , Tranmer Jennifer E. , Ungar Wendy J. , Manoharan Venika , Coyte Peter C. 
Published: January 2008

Objectives:The purpose of this study is to compare the approaches used for valuing family caregiver and care recipient time devoted to providing and receiving care.Methods:Valuation approaches were operationalized within a cohort of cystic fibrosis care recipients (n= 110). Base-case analyses, grounded in human capital theory, applied earnings estimates to caregiving time to impute the market value of time lost from labor. Unpaid labor and leisure time was valued with a replacement cost (homemaker's wage rate). Total time costs were computed and sensitivity analyses were conducted to describe the effects of alternative valuation methods on total costs.Results:The mean time cost per care recipient–caregiver dyad over 28 days was $2,026CAD. The majority (76 percent) of time costs were due to losses from unpaid labor and leisure time. Varying the valuation of paid labor time did not result in significantly different total time costs (p= .0877). However, varying the method of valuing unpaid labor and leisure time did significantly affect total costs (p&lt; .0001).Conclusions:Care recipients and caregivers primarily lost time from unpaid labor and leisure in the treatment of cystic fibrosis. Moreover, when the above losses were aggregated, the method of valuation greatly influenced overall results. The findings clearly indicate that omitting caregiver and unpaid labor and leisure costs may result in an inaccurate assessment of ambulatory and home-based healthcare programs.
Patient preferences for pharmacogenetic screening in depression
Authors: Herbild Louise , Gyrd-Hansen Dorte , Bech Mickael 
Published: January 2008

Objectives:The aims of this study were to estimate preferences and willingness-to-pay (WTP) for genetic screening for CYP2D6 polymorphisms among a group of former and currently depressed patients.Methods:A Web-based discrete choice questionnaire was sent to 89 respondents, age 18–65. Four attributes were included: (i) shifts in antidepressant medication before symptom relief, (ii) time with antidepressant medication without symptom relief, (iii) time with antidepressant medication without symptoms but with adverse side-effects, (iv) cost of genetic screening. We used a switching model with two scenarios, one representing patients’ own treatment history and the other a treatment scenario with genetic screening.Results:In a main-effects model involving the four attributes all coefficients had the expected sign, indicating that as the number of shifts, price or time without symptom relief, and/or dosage-adjustments increased, the likelihood of choosing the screening test decreased. Price and number of shifts in medicine were significant. Marginal WTP for 5 percent probability of a reduction of one in antidepressant shifts was DKK2,599 (€350).Conclusions:Patients value reductions in shifts in antidepressants and price when choosing between genetic screening and no screening. They do not focus on how the reductions are provided, nor do they value the genetic information the test provides irrespective of its effect on outcome. Given, that the test is able to provide a reduction of one shift in the number of antidepressant shifts with a probability of 5 percent, WTP for the test exceeds its cost.
Biomedical literature search protocols: Consensus statement from the documentation units of the Spanish health technology assessment agencies
Authors: Guemes-Careaga Itziar , Gutiérrez-Ibarluzea Iñaki 
Published: January 2008

Objectives:The aims of this study were, first, to define the main advantages and disadvantages of using bibliographic search protocols; second, to define a series of criteria that could aid in prioritizing the information resources to be consulted for each research project; and third, to rank these criteria.Methods:First, a survey was e-mailed to the Spanish Health Technology Assessment Agencies (AUnETS) group, with the aim of evaluating the usefulness of using bibliographic search protocols. Second, a consensus group meeting with the information specialists of the AUnETS group was organized, where SWOT analysis technique (strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats) was used, also to discuss the utility of using search protocols. Third, the same group designed a final prioritization criteria questionnaire intended for Health Technology Assessment International's Information Resources Group (HTAi IRG), based on a draft version written by the information specialist from the Basque Office for HTA. Finally, this questionnaire was e-mailed to the HTAi IRG experts, and their responses were analyzed.Results:Some of the advantages defined were systematization of the searches and transparency and repeatability of the process. The perceived disadvantages were inflexibility to be adapted to some situations, inability to establish time frameworks and the difficulty of incorporating experts’ opinions into closed protocols. Five areas of prioritization criteria were defined: study topic; characteristics of the database and other information resources; database interface; characteristics of the organization; kind of research output for which the information is intended. A ranked list of prioritization criteria was established based on the responses of the HTAi IRG group.Conclusions:The information specialists consulted agreed that search protocols are useful tools for guiding systematic searches. The twenty-one prioritization criteria defined will be used by the information specialists for determining, which databases to consult.
Senior residents’ perceived need of and preferences for “smart home” sensor technologies
Authors: Demiris George , Hensel Brian K. , Skubic Marjorie , Rantz Marilyn 
Published: January 2008

Objectives:The goal of meeting the desire of older adults to remain independent in their home setting while controlling healthcare costs has led to the conceptualization of “smart homes.” A smart home is a residence equipped with technology that enhances safety of residents and monitors their health conditions. The study aim is to assess older adults’ perceptions of specific smart home technologies (i.e., a bed sensor, gait monitor, stove sensor, motion sensor, and video sensor).Methods:The study setting is TigerPlace, a retirement community designed according to the Aging in Place model. Focus group sessions with fourteen residents were conducted to assess perceived advantages and concerns associated with specific applications, and preferences for recipients of sensor-generated information pertaining to residents’ activity levels, sleep patterns and potential emergencies. Sessions were audio-taped; tapes were transcribed, and a content analysis was performed.Results:A total of fourteen older adults over the age of 65 participated in three focus group sessions Most applications were perceived as useful, and participants would agree to their installation in their own home. Preference for specific sensors related to sensors’ appearance and residents’ own level of frailty and perceived need. Specific concerns about privacy were raised.Conclusions:The findings indicate an overall positive attitude toward sensor technologies for nonobtrusive monitoring. Researchers and practitioners are called upon to address ethical and technical challenges in this emerging domain.
INTRODUCTION TO SPECIAL ISSUE: DYNAMIC MACROECONOMIC THEORY
Authors: JENSEN HENRIK , SØRENSEN PETER NORMAN , WHITTA-JACOBSEN HANS JØRGEN 
Published: January 2008

This issue collects 11 articles at the frontier of the field of Dynamic Macroeconomic Theory.A majority of the articles discuss theoretical issues related to monetary policy. Many rich economies have now enjoyed a long period of stable monetary conditions, but many researchers remain puzzled as to what are the main mechanisms driving monetary stability. The field is of great importance to policymakers, and this issue's dynamic approaches will advance the debate. The other articles touch on other, equally inherently dynamic issues of macroeconomics, relating to growth, business cycles, and the role of credit. In light of the hard constraints we imposed on the length of the contributed articles, we will let the articles speak for themselves, and hope that the reader will enjoy this research sample as much as we do.
A review of the biology of bovine herpesvirus type 1 (BHV-1), its role as a cofactor in the bovine respiratory disease complex and development of improved vaccines
Authors: Jones Clinton , Chowdhury Shafiqul 
Published: January 2008

AbstractInfection of cattle by bovine herpesvirus type 1 (BHV-1) can lead to upper respiratory tract disorders, conjunctivitis, genital disorders and immune suppression. BHV-1-induced immune suppression initiates bovine respiratory disease complex (BRDC), which costs the US cattle industry approximately 3 billion dollars annually. BHV-1 encodes at least three proteins that can inhibit specific arms of the immune system: (i) bICP0 inhibits interferon-dependent transcription, (ii) the UL41.5 protein inhibits CD8+T-cell recognition of infected cells by preventing trafficking of viral peptides to the surface of the cells and (iii) glycoprotein G is a chemokine-binding protein that prevents homing of lymphocytes to sights of infection. Following acute infection of calves, BHV-1 can also infect and induce high levels of apoptosis of CD4+T-cells. Consequently, the ability of BHV-1 to impair the immune response can lead to BRDC. Following acute infection, BHV-1 establishes latency in sensory neurons of trigeminal ganglia (TG) and germinal centers of pharyngeal tonsil. Periodically BHV-1 reactivates from latency, virus is shed, and consequently virus transmission occurs. Two viral genes, the latency related gene and ORF-E are abundantly expressed during latency, suggesting that they regulate the latency-reactivation cycle. The ability of BHV-1 to enter permissive cells, infect sensory neurons and promote virus spread from sensory neurons to mucosal surfaces following reactivation from latency is also regulated by several viral glycoproteins. The focus of this review is to summarize the biology of BHV-1 and how this relates to BRDC.
Histophilus somnihost–parasite relationships
Authors: Corbeil Lynette B. 
Published: January 2008

AbstractHistophilus somni(Haemophilus somnus) is one of the key bacterial pathogens involved in the multifactorial etiology of the Bovine Respiratory Disease Complex. This Gram negative pleomorphic rod also causes bovine septicemia, thrombotic meningencephalitis, myocarditis, arthritis, abortion and infertility, as well as disease in sheep, bison and bighorn sheep. Virulence factors include lipooligosaccharide, immunoglobulin binding proteins (as a surface fibrillar network), a major outer membrane protein (MOMP), other outer membrane proteins (OMPs) and exopolysaccharide. Histamine production, biofilm formation and quorum sensing may also contribute to pathogenesis. Antibodies are very important in protection as shown in passive protection studies. The lack of long-term survival of the organism in macrophages, unlike facultative intracellular bacteria, also suggests that antibodies should be critical in protection. Of the immunoglobulin classes, IgG2 antibodies are most implicated in protection and IgE antibodies in immunopathogenesis. The immunodominant antigen recognized by IgE is the MOMP and by IgG2 is a 40 kDa OMP. Pathogenetic synergy of bovine respiratory syncytial virus (BRSV) andH. somniin calves can be attributed, in part at least, to the higher IgE anti-MOMP antibody responses in dually infected calves. Other antigens are probably involved in stimulating host defense or immunopathology as well.
Polyethyleneimine‐Mediated Chemical Extraction of Cytoplasmic His‐Tagged Inclusion Body Proteins from Escherichia coli
Authors: Nian Rui , Tan Lihan , Choe Woo‐Seok 
Published: January 2008

AbstractThe selectivity of polyethyleneimine (PEI) in DNA precipitation during chemical extraction was investigated. Chemical extraction was used to recover two His‐tagged model proteins: gloshedobin, a thrombin‐like enzyme from snake venom, and IbpA, a molecular chaperone, which were expressed mainly in the form of inclusion bodies. High DNA removal efficiency (more than 90%) was achieved at various cell densities (with OD600 ranging from 30 to 150) without affecting the solubility of host cell proteins. Compared to spermine‐induced precipitation method reported elsewhere, PEI provided a higher DNA precipitation efficiency at a significantly lower cost. Moreover, PEI obviated the use of EDTA, which has been reported to be essential for the chemical extraction methods, hence exhibiting dual roles in replacing cost‐prohibitive spermine and EDTA. The residual PEI in the post‐extraction mixture was efficiently counteracted by addition of Mg2+, allowing the streamlined application of the extraction broth to immobilized metal affinity chromatography. Taken together, the PEI‐mediated chemical extraction method provides a simpler and more economically viable processing route for the production of recombinant proteins whose expression is hampered by IB formation.