bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Variability in the Duration of Stem Elongation in Wheat and Barley Genotypes
Authors: Whitechurch E. M. , Slafer G. A. , Miralles D. J. 
Published: March 2007

AbstractThe stem elongation phase in wheat (Triticum aestivum, L.) and barley (Hordeum vulgare) is important for yield determination as it is the phase when stems and spikes grow actively. A longer duration of this phase could hypothetically increase assimilate availability, fertile florets at anthesis and final grain number. Argentine commercial wheat and barley cultivars were studied to analyse the range of genetic variability existing in the duration of the stem elongation phase, in particular, considering cultivars with similar time to anthesis. It was found that cultivars differing in time to anthesis, not only differed in the length of their early, mostly vegetative phases but also in the stem elongation phase (range 301–535 °C day for wheat and 252–404 °C day for barley), and that the partitioning of a similar time to anthesis into phases was substantially different between cultivars. Various studies with other cultivars were re‐analysed, showing that the stem elongation phase did present genetic variability as well. As a preliminary step to identifying the genetic causes behind this variability, an approximation to the possible photoperiod and/or vernalization sensitivities of this large group of Argentine cultivars was presented, by comparing behaviour in two contrasting sowing dates. This has proved useful to breeders since there have been no other previous studies including this large number of commercial cultivars.
Clinically unrecognized intravascular placement of epidural catheter in a child – an argument for the use of radio‐opaque contrast?
Authors: SKINNER ADAM V. , CHALKIADIS GEORGE A. 
Published: March 2007

SummaryAn epidural catheter was inserted after induction of anesthesia in a 28.2 kg 9‐year‐old boy scheduled to undergo bilateral femoral varus derotational osteotomies. There was no gravity free flow of blood down the catheter and there was no blood aspirated with a 2 ml syringe. After a negative test dose of a 4 ml solution of 0.25% levobupivacaine with epinephrine 1 : 200 000, a further 8 ml was administered via the epidural catheter. No significant increase in heart rate was noted. On surgical skin incision the heart rate increased from 94 to 116 b·min−1and blood pressure increased from 104/44 to 116/46 mmHg. A further 3 ml 0.25% levobupivacaine with epinephrine and clonidine 2 μg·kg−1were administered via the epidural catheter. The operation continued uneventfully although it was noted that the heart rate increased intermittently during the procedure. In view of the unexplained tachycardia and a history of cerebral palsy with the potential for postoperative muscle spasms, it was felt important to have a reliable epidural. To confirm placement, 2 ml of Isovue 300 (Iopamidol) was administered via the epidural catheter. X‐ray screening demonstrated intravascular placement and the rapid disappearance of contrast. The catheter was removed and reinserted. Contrast demonstrated good spread in the epidural space. The merits of screening with contrast for epidural catheter placement in children are discussed.
Normal anatomy of the external urethral meatus in boys: implications for hypospadias repair
Authors: Hutton Kim A.R. , Babu Ramesh 
Published: March 2007

Both papers in this section relate to the always difficult subject of hypospadias repair. One of them describes the anatomy of the external urethral meatus, and the other a technique for repairing coronal or subcoronal hypospadias.OBJECTIVETo investigate the normal external urethral meatal anatomy in boys, and to examine the proportional relationship between meatal length and degree of ventral glans closure.PATIENTS AND METHODSIn all, 92 boys with presumed normal penile anatomy were considered eligible for the study; 17 were not assessed because either the boy or parents declined to participate, leaving 75 boys (mean age 6.9 years, range 0.3–15) who completed the study. Photographic records of the meatal appearance were obtained and meatal height and ventral glans closure measured using ophthalmic callipers.RESULTSAll 75 boys in the study had a vertical slit‐like meatus that commenced at the tip of the penis and ran ventrally. The mean (sd) vertical meatal length was 5.4 (1) mm and the mean length of ventral glans closure was 4.7 (1.2) mm. There was an age‐dependent increase in meatal length and a similar association was identified for the length of ventral glans closure. There was also a statistically significant proportional relationship between meatal length and length of glans closure (r = 0.36, confidence interval 0.14–0.54, P < 0.002).CONCLUSIONThe position and size of the external urethral meatus in normal boys is consistent, and ventral glans closure is equal to or slightly less than meatal length. These data might be of interest to hypospadiologists in their efforts to reconstruct normal glanular anatomy.
HOW NOT TO COMPARE WESTERN SCIENTIFIC MEDICINE WITH AFRICAN TRADITIONAL MEDICINE
Authors: TANGWA GODFREY B. 
Published: March 2007

ABSTRACTIn his commentary on Aceme Nyika’s paper ‘Ethical and Regulatory Issues Surrounding African Traditional Medicine in the Context of HIV/AIDS’,1 Godfrey B. Tangwa charges the author with inappropriately using expressions, terminology and criteria of evaluation appropriate in Western scientific medicine to judge African traditional medicine (TM). He seriously frowns on Nyika’s suggestion that African TM needs to be incorporated into, and subjected to the canons of Western scientific medicine. Such a suggestion, he believes, is a prescription for invasion, colonization and exploitation so characteristic of the relationship between Africa and the Western world. However, he thinks that African TM is quite compatible with Western scientific medicine.
Literature and language teaching 1986–2006: a review
Authors: Carter Ronald 
Published: March 2007

For Christopher Brumfit (1940–2006)The teaching of literature can thus be seen as a means of introducing learners to such a serious view of our world, of initiating them in the process of defining themselves through contact with others’ experience. How it is best done, what the relationship between ‘reading’ and ‘literature’ needs to be for the greatest number of people to be led to literature, exactly what books are appropriate at what levels – these are questions for teachers to address. But the seriousness of the enterprise should not be doubted. It is only when these reading processes are centrally addressed as processes and when the debate moves away from content to what we do with literary texts, that genuine literary issues can be addressed.(Brumfit 2001: 92)
Effects of Aging and Ouabain on Left Atrial Arrhythmogenicity
Authors: WONGCHAROEN WANWARANG , CHEN YAO‐CHANG , CHEN YI‐JEN , LIN CHENG‐I , CHEN SHIH‐ANN 
Published: March 2007

Objectives: Aging increases atrial fibrillation (AF) vulnerability. The left atrium (LA) is important for the generation of AF. However, the effect of aging on the electrophysiological properties of the LA in general, on the specific LA sites, and of possible accentuation of regional differences between the LA sites with aging is not clear. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effects of aging on the LA electrophysiological heterogeneity and ouabain‐induced arrhythmogenicity. Methods: We used conventional microelectrodes to record the action potentials (APs) in isolated young (age, 3 months) and aged (age, 3 years) rabbit LA posterior wall (LAPW) and LA appendage (LAA) tissue specimens before and after the administration of ouabain. Results: Young LAPWs (n = 10) had larger AP amplitudes than young LAAs (n = 10, P < 0.05), and aged LAPWs (n = 9) had longer AP durations than aged LAAs (n = 9, P < 0.05). Ouabain (1 μM) induced a higher incidence (80% vs 30%, P < 0.05) of delayed afterdepolarizations (DADs) and spontaneous activity (60% vs 10%, P < 0.05) in the young LAPWs than in the young LAAs. Compared with the young group, the aged LAs had a higher incidence of DADs with a less negative resting membrane potential and smaller maximum upstroke velocity. After the ouabain (1μM) administration, the aged LAPWs had a greater shortening of the AP duration. Ouabain‐induced spontaneous activity was similar between the young and aged groups. Conclusions: Aging enhanced the LA regional electrical heterogeneity and LAPW arrhythmogenesis.
Assembly bias in the clustering of dark matter haloes
Authors: Gao Liang , White Simon D. M. 
Published: March 2007

Abstract
We use a very large simulation of structure growth in a Λ cold dark matter (ΛCDM) universe — the Millennium Simulation — to study assembly bias, the fact that the large-scale clustering of haloes of given mass varies significantly with their assembly history. We extend earlier work based on the same simulation by superposing results for redshifts from 0 to 3, by defining a less noisy estimator of clustering amplitude, and by considering halo concentration, substructure mass fraction and spin, as well as formation time, as additional parameters. These improvements lead to results with less noise than previous studies and covering a wider range of halo masses and structural properties. We find significant and significantly different assembly bias effects for all the halo properties we consider, although in all cases the dependencies on halo mass and on redshift are adequately described as a dependence on equivalent peak height ν(M, z). The ν-dependencies for different halo properties differ qualitatively and are not related as might naively be expected given the relations between formation time, concentration, substructure fraction and spin found for the halo population as a whole. These results suggest that it will be difficult to build models for the galaxy populations of dark haloes which can robustly relate the amplitude of large-scale galaxy clustering to that for mass clustering at better than the 10 per cent level.
Field Test of the In Situ Permeable Ground Water Flow Sensor
Authors: Alden Andrew S. , Munster Clyde L. 
Published: March 2007

AbstractTwo in situ permeable flow sensors, recently developed at Sandia National Laboratories, were field tested at the Brazos River Hydrologic Field Site near College Station, Texas. The flow sensors use a thermal perturbation technique to quantify the magnitude and direction of ground water flow in three dimensions. Two aquifer pumping tests lasting eight and 13 days were used to field test the flow sensors. Components of ground water flow as determined from piezometer gradient measurements were compared with ground water flow components derived from the 3‐D flow sensors. The changes in velocity magnitude and direction of ground water flow induced by the pump were evaluated using flow sensor data and piezometric analyses. Flow sensor performance closely matched piezometric analysis results. Ground water flow direction (azimuth), as measured by the flow sensors and derived in the piezometric analysis, predicted the position of the pumping well accurately. Ground water flow velocities measured by the flow sensors compared well to velocities derived in the piezometric analysis. A significant delay in flow sensor response to relatively rapid changes in ground water flow was observed. Preliminary tests indicate that the in situ permeable flow sensor provides accurate and timely information on the velocity magnitude and direction of ground water flow.
Experimental Investigation of Surfactant‐Enhanced Dissolution of Residual NAPL in Saturated Soil
Authors: Chevalier Lizette R. , Masten Susan J. , Wallace Roger B. , Wiggert David C. 
Published: March 2007

AbstractNonaqueous phase liquid (NAPL) is a long‐term source of ground water contamination as the pollutant slowly partitions into the air and water phases. The objective of this work was to study the efficacy of aqueous surfactant solution to enhance the dissolution of a residual NAPL below the capillary fringe, hence reducing the time needed for aquifer restoration. An analytical technique was developed to measure the concentration of NAPL in a nonionic surfactant. Soil column experiments simulated conditions in the saturated soil where a NAPL may become trapped as a discontinuous immobile phase. Experimental results indicate that dissolution was a rate‐limited process, approaching equilibrium concentrations after 24 hours. The relative permeability of the aqueous phase initially decreased as surfactant was injected, but increased over time as the saturation of residual NAPL was reduced through mass transfer into the surfactant‐enhanced aqueous phase. These findings suggest that enhancing the aqueous phase with a nonionic surfactant may significantly enhance the in situ recovery or residual NAPL.
Spodic Material for In Situ Treatment of Arsenic in Ground Water
Authors: Lindberg J. , Sterneland J. , Johansson P.‐O. , Gustafsson J.P. 
Published: March 2007

AbstractThe leaching of chromium‐copper‐arsenic salts from old wood preservation sites is a threat to ground water at many places in Sweden. The installation of in situ reactive barriers is an attractive “passive’ technique to prevent the further spreading of contaminants. The use of peat as a reactive barrier material has been suggested for heavy metals, but this material was expected to be unsatisfactory for arsenic (As). Therefore, the feasibility of using spodic B horizon material for the retention of arsenic was tested in laboratory column experiments. Contaminated soil was taken from an old preservation site and leached under conditions designed to imitate the field conditions. The arsenic load during the three‐month duration of the test corresponded to a load at the field site during three years. The B horizon material proved to be efficient for retention of arsenic, despite the observation that As(III) dominated the As speciation. The As(III) concentration was reduced from 1 to 3 mg dm−3 to < 0.02 mg dm−3. Pure peat was, as expected, not suited as a reactive barrier for As, and a mixed B horizon/peat reactive barrier also proved unsatisfactory for the removal of As. It is therefore important to separate the B horizon material from any peat that is used to sorb heavy metals. Before applying the B horizon reactive barrier technique in the field, the effect of the naturally occurring variability of the reactive compounds should be tested. The inclusion of oxidizing agents in the barrier could possibly improve the lifetime considerably. Furthermore, the influence of the flow rate should be evaluated since the kinetics of the arsenic adsorption is relatively slow.
CUBA'S SOCIAL POLICY AFTER THE DISINTEGRATION OF THE SOVIET UNION: SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT AS LEGITIMACY OF THE REGIME AND ITS ECONOMIC EFFECTIVENESS
Authors: Yamaoka Kanako 
Published: March 2007

Since the disintegration of the Soviet Union, Cuba has experienced a severe economic crisis, and the country's social policy has played an important role in showing the people a raison‐d'ětre for the revolution. This role has become even stronger in recent years, as internal and external actors demand political reforms and economic liberalization. This article first examines the Cuban government's use of social development to counter the demands for changes. It then looks at the extent that government social policy contributes economically to improving the Cuban living standard.The article demonstrates empirically how the leadership emphasizes their social accomplishments whenever demands for change come, and then shows that after the suspension of Soviet aid, Cuban social policy has been able to provide services mainly by relying on human capital and reducing quality materially because of the shortage of foreign reserves. This has limited the economic effectiveness of the services.
Some Questions in Hume's Aesthetics
Authors: Williams Christopher 
Published: March 2007

AbstractThe central problem posed in Hume's essay ‘Of the Standard of Taste’ concerns the mutual adjustment of two things: a skepticism about the correctness of tastes, and a belief that artistic productions genuinely differ in their merits. In response, Hume modifies the skepticism by proposing that the ‘joint verdict of true judges’ is the standard of taste. This article surveys three sets of issues in connection with this solution: the role of rules in grounding verdicts; the possibility of circularity in the judge‐verdict relation; and the relevance of the judges’ verdicts to those that non‐judges would or should make.
OPEN‐BOAT WHALING ON THE STRAITS OF GIBRALTAR GROUND AND ADJACENT WATERS
Authors: Aguilar Alex , Borrell Assumpció 
Published: March 2007

AbstractLogbooks (n= 317) from whaling expeditions made in the North Atlantic during the 19th century were examined to investigate activity in the Gibraltar Straits grounds. At least forty expeditions of whaling vessels from European and American ports visited the area. In all cases the main target was the sperm whale, but pilot whales, dolphins, sea turtles, and even a blue whale were also taken. Whaling effort concentrated on the Atlantic side of the Straits; only two expeditions ventured into the Mediterranean Sea, obtaining negligible catches. The whaling season extended during spring and summer and peaked in June–July. This seasonality appeared not to be governed by changes in whale density but by the trade winds necessary to sail southward or westward to cross the Atlantic. Searching effort continued while trying out, but the rate of sighting cetaceans was about half that of searching periods. However, the rate of sighting or capturing a sperm whale remained unchanged during processing, probably because the gregarious habits of the species produced clumping of catches. For every whale secured, 1.31 whales were struck. After correcting for struck but lost whales and for “gammed” vessels, the minimum number of removals of sperm whales during 1862–1889 is estimated at 237.
DIVING DEVELOPMENT AND BEHAVIOR OF A REHABILITATED MEDITERRANEAN MONK SEAL (MONACHUS MONACHUS)
Authors: Dendrinos Panagiotis , Karamanlidis Alexandros A. , Androukaki Evgenia , McConnell Bernie J. 
Published: March 2007

AbstractAmong the priority actions identified for saving the critically endangered Mediterranean monk seal are gaining basic biological information on movements and behavior, and rescuing and rehabilitating wounded, stranded, and orphaned pups. On 22 May 2004 a rehabilitated monk seal juvenile was fitted with a satellite tag, released in the National Marine Park of Alonnisos, Northern Sporades, Greece, and monitored for 167 d. Postrelease, the seal remained close to the islands of the park and within the 200‐m isobath. Throughout the monitoring period, the seal reduced time hauled out, while 95‐percentile dive duration and depth gradually increased. The overall maximum depth of 123 m recorded in this study is the greatest depth ever recorded for the species. These results confirm the effectiveness of the rehabilitation program carried out on the particular animal and provide additional support for the continuation of the rehabilitation program as a conservation measure for the species. We demonstrate that satellite tracking of rehabilitated seals is a valuable research and conservation tool, even for a species that commonly uses shoreline caves for resting, molting, and parturition.
Comparison of the MagNA pure LC automated system and the RiboPure‐Blood RNA manual method for RNA extraction from multiple myeloma bone marrow samples conserved in an RNA stabilizer
Authors: GARCIA‐EFFRON G. , GAMARRA S. , CROOKE A. , MARTÍNEZ‐SÁNCHEZ P. , LAHUERTA J. , MARTÍNEZ‐LÓPEZ J. 
Published: March 2007

SummaryA total of 62 frozen bone marrow specimens conserved in RNA later® (Ambion) were processed using two different extraction methods, the MagNA Pure LC system (MAG; Roche) and the manual RiboPure‐Blood RNA method (RIBO; Ambion); Beta glucoronidase RNA (GUS) was amplified by LightCycler PCR to evaluate the quality of both extraction procedures. Less than 1000 GUS copies/ml was detected in 26 of 62 specimens (41.94%) processed by MAG and in five of 62 specimens (8.06%) processed by RIBO. Moreover, RNA recovery from the 62 specimens by MAG is, on average, 2.91 cycle threshold‐fold higher than RIBO (P = 0.0008). Furthermore, we compared the extraction times and reagent costs of both methods. In conclusion, RNA extraction using MAG is faster to process 32 samples and less expensive than RIBO but it is not sensitive enough to be employed for research purpose in our laboratory.
A prospective comparison of four techniques for diagnosis of paroxysmal nocturnal hemoglobinuria
Authors: GUPTA R. , PANDEY P. , CHOUDHRY R. , KASHYAP R. , MEHROTRA M. , NASEEM S. , NITYANAND S. 
Published: March 2007

SummaryParoxysmal nocturnal hemoglobinuria (PNH) is an acquired clonal stem cell disorder with altered expression of glycosylphosphatidylinositol (GPI)‐anchored proteins, resulting in the increased susceptibility of erythrocytes to complement‐mediated lysis. This study compared the available laboratory methods for detection of PNH cells and evaluated their utility in routine clinical practice. Fifty patients were evaluated by flow cytometric immunophenotyping (FCMI) using CD55 and CD59 monoclonal antibodies, PNH gel card test (GCT), Ham test and sucrose lysis test (SLT). A PNH clone was detectable in erythrocytes in 14 (28%) patients by FCMI, 13 (26%) by GCT and 10 (20%) by Ham test and SLT. The GCT and lytic tests showed 100% specificity and sensitivity was 92.8% and 71.1%, respectively. The GCT results correlated with type III cells (positive for ≥3.21% type III cells) and lytic test results correlated with CD59− type III cells (positive for ≥5% CD59− type III cells). The GCT and lytic tests were comparable in their sensitivity to detect type II cells (positive for ≥18.5% type II cells). Among the available methods, FCMI is most sensitive, can quantify and delineate PNH cells with differential expression of GPI‐anchored proteins. The GCT is a useful screening tool as it is fairly sensitive, easy to perform and interpret. Well‐standardized lytic tests are fairly reliable as screening tests.