bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Early nut development as a resistance factor to the attacks of Curculio nucum (Coleoptera: Curculionidae)
Authors: Guidone L. , Valentini N. , Rolle L. , Me G. , Tavella L. 
Published: May 2007

AbstractThe nut weevil Curculio nucum (Coleoptera: Curculionidae) is responsible for high yield losses in several hazelnut‐growing areas of Europe and Turkey, if not regularly controlled using pesticides. The resistance of hazelnut varieties to the nut weevil is known but poorly investigated so far. Thus a 2‐year study was carried out to investigate factors affecting C. nucum attacks on two cultivars [Tonda Gentile delle Langhe (TGL), Ennis] and four selections (Daria, 101, B6, L35) in a 15‐year‐old orchard of northwestern Italy. Nut developmental stages and shell characteristics, such as hardness and thickness, were measured and correlated to the biological cycle of the nut weevil and to the damage by its larvae. During the 2‐year sampling, nut weevil adults were collected on all cultivars and selections, but in greater quantities on TGL and Daria, and in lower quantities on 101 and B6. In 2005, by female dissection, mature eggs were observed from late June, when the mean temperature exceeded 18°C. Differences between cultivars and selections were found in nut and kernel development, and in shell hardening; in particular, the kernel development was directly related with the shell hardness. At harvest, the damage varied on average from 2.57% in cultivar TGL to 51.84% in selection 101 of total nuts harvested, so independently of the numbers of the collected weevil adults. These two varieties were the earliest and the latest in kernel development and shell hardening, respectively. Therefore, the susceptibility to nut weevil attacks was strictly related to shell hardening; in fact, a rapid hardening of the shell can hamper the oviposition of C. nucum females. By contrast, no correlation was found between shell thickness and damage at harvest.
Output and Price Determination in the Canadian Chicken Industry: Which Should Come First?
Authors: Gervais Jean‐Philippe , Guillemette Karine , Romain Robert 
Published: May 2007

Bilateral bargaining between chicken producers and processing firms determined chicken prices in Ontario from 1995 to 2002. A significant reform in 2003 introduced a formula‐based live price that is a function of chicken producers' costs. The latter pricing mechanism reduces the risk faced by processing firms and producers because the chicken price is known when output decisions are made. However, the pricing formula also involves some risk in that the cost components may be far removed from actual costs when production is carried out. Expected farm prices under the two different pricing mechanisms are also not identical. The producers' and processors' expected utility of profits under each pricing mechanism is computed. The bargaining pricing mechanism generally yields higher expected utility for producers than the formula‐based price. Conversely, processing firms obtain a higher expected utility under the formula‐based pricing than under the bargaining framework. These conclusions critically hinge on the size of the producers' margin component in the formula‐based price. In that sense, the formula‐based pricing mechanism did not lessen the significance of relative bargaining strengths in establishing the distribution of welfare in the chicken industry. Des négociations bilatérales entre les producteurs de poulet et les entreprises de transformation déterminaient le prix du poulet vivant en Ontario de 1995 à 2002. Une formule de prix établie en fonction des coûts de production des producteurs de poulet fut introduite en 2003. Ce mécanisme réduit le risque auquel sont confrontés les transformateurs et les producteurs parce que le prix du poulet vivant est connu lorsque les décisions de production sont prises. Cependant, la formule de prix comporte aussi un risque dans le sens où la composante du coût dans la formule de prix peut être différente des coûts réels de production du poulet vivant. Les prix espérés du poulet vivant sont aussi différents dans les deux systèmes de prix. L'utilité espérée des profits pour les producteurs et les transformateurs de poulet est calculée dans les deux mécanismes. Le modèle fondé sur la négociation génère une utilité espérée des profits plus élevée pour les producteurs que la formule de prix. À l'inverse, les transformateurs obtiennent une utilité espérée des profits plus élevée selon la formule de prix que selon le modèle fondé sur la négociation. Ces conclusions sont étroitement liées à la taille de la marge des producteurs utilisée dans le calcul de la formule de prix. Dans ce sens, l'introduction d'un nouveau mécanisme de détermination des prix n'a pas modifié l'importance du pouvoir relatif de négociation dans la distribution du surplus économique au sein de la filière canadienne du poulet.
A search for 22-GHz H2O masers in supernova remnants
Authors: Woodall J. M. , Gray M. D. 
Published: May 2007

Abstract
We have examined 18 known supernova remnants for evidence of the 22.235-GHz water maser spectral line, using the 20-m telescope at the Onsala observatory in Sweden. No evidence of such emission was discovered above the background noise in any of the observations. We have developed a radiative transfer water maser model for the shocked regions of supernova remnants in order to determine why this emission was not detected. The model indicates an insignificant amount of 22.235-GHz gain; the gain lengths are far too short to allow the formation of detectable water masers from these objects. We predict that only in unusual environments can 22-GHz water masers be detected around supernova remnants.
Predicting the frequencies of diverse exo-planetary systems
Authors: Greaves J. S. , Fischer D. A. , Wyatt M. C. , Beichman C. A. , Bryden G. 
Published: May 2007

Abstract
Extrasolar planetary systems range from hot Jupiters out to icy comet belts more distant than Pluto. We explain this diversity in a model where the mass of solids in the primordial circumstellar disc dictates the outcome. The star retains measures of the initial heavy-element (metal) abundance that can be used to map solid masses on to outcomes, and the frequencies of all classes are correctly predicted. The differing dependences on metallicity for forming massive planets and low-mass cometary bodies are also explained. By extrapolation, around two-thirds of stars have enough solids to form Earth-like planets, and a high rate is supported by the first detections of low-mass exo-planets.
Exciting the magnetosphere of the magnetar CXOU J164710.2–455216 in Westerlund 1
Authors: Muno M. P. , Gaensler B. M. , Clark J. S. , de Grijs R. , Pooley D. , Stevens I. R. , Zwart S. F. Portegies 
Published: May 2007

Abstract
We describe XMM–Newton observations taken 4.3 d prior to and 1.5 d subsequent to two remarkable events that were detected with Swift on 2006 September 21 from the candidate magnetar CXOU J164710.2–455216: (i) a 20-ms burst with an energy of 1037 erg (15–150 keV), and (ii) a rapid spin-down (glitch) with ΔP/P∼−10−4. We find that the luminosity of the pulsar increased by a factor of 100 in the interval between observations, from 1 × 1033 to 1 × 1035 erg s−1 (0.5–8.0 keV), and that its spectrum hardened. The pulsed count rate increased by a factor of 10 (0.5–8.0 keV), but the fractional rms amplitude of the pulses decreased from 65 to 11 per cent, and their profile changed from being single-peaked to exhibiting three distinct peaks. Similar changes have been observed from other magnetars in response to outbursts, such as that of 1E 2259+586 in 2002 June. We suggest that a plastic deformation of the neutron star crust induced a very slight twist in the external magnetic field, which in turn generated currents in the magnetosphere that were the direct cause of the X-ray outburst.
The 2006 Helsingborg Consensus Conference on European Stroke Strategies
Authors: Norrving Bo 
Published: May 2007

The 2nd Helsingborg Consensus Conference on European Stroke Strategies, was held March 2006 with the aims to update core issues in stroke management, to monitor progress, and to set new targets for the year 2015. the congress was organized by the International Society of Internal Medicine, endorsed by the European Stroke Council and the International Stroke Society, and co-sponsored by the WHO Regional Office for European. The meeting prepared the 2nd Helsingborg Declaration which details principles of care, research and development areas, and targets for the year 2015 in 5 areas of stroke management: organization of stroke services, management of acute stroke, prevention, rehabilitation, and evaluation of stroke outcome and quality assessment. The burden of stroke in European will increase markedly in the next decades. There is substantial evidence on insufficient control of major risk factors for stroke, in particular hypertension. The organization of stroke services plays a key role in the provision of effective therapies, but stroke units and facilities for provision of thrombolytic therapy remain suboptimal. Cognitive long term effects of stroke, and caregiver strain, have been underrecognized areas. Quality assessment as an integral part of services is still not established in most geographical areas. Several of the original Helsingborg Declaration goals for 2005 were found not to have been met. Some goals for 2015 in the 2nd Helsingborg Declaration was therefore kept unchanged or only slightly modified. The present report summarizes the proceedings held during the conference and provides further perspectives on the 2006 Helsingborg Declaration.
VITATOPS, the VITAmins TO Prevent Stroke Trial: Rationale and Design of a Randomised Trial of B-Vitamin Therapy in Patients with Recent Transient Ischaemic Attack or Stroke (NCT00097669) (ISRCTN74743444)
Authors:   The VITATOPS Trial Study Group
Published: May 2007

Background Epidemiological studies suggest that raised plasma concentrations of total homocysteine (tHcy) may be a common, causal and treatable risk factor for atherothromboembolic ischaemic stroke, dementia and depression. Although tHcy can be lowered effectively with small doses of folic acid, vitamin B12 and vitamin B6, it is not known whether lowering tHcy, by means of B vitamin therapy, can prevent stroke and other major atherothromboembolic vascular events. Aim To determine whether the addition of B-vitamin supplements (folic acid 2 mg, B6 25 mg, B12 500 μg) to best medical and surgical management will reduce the combined incidence of stroke, myocardial infarction (MI) and vascular death in patients with recent stroke or transient ischaemic attack (TIA) of the brain or eye. Design A prospective, international, multicentre, randomised, double blind, placebo-controlled clinical trial. Setting One hundred and four medical centres in 20 countries on five continents. Subjects Eight thousand (6600 recruited as of 5 January, 2006) patients with recent (7 months) stroke (ischaemic or haemorrhagic) or TIA (brain or eye). Randomisation Randomisation and data collection are performed by means of a central telephone service or secure internet site. Intervention One tablet daily of either placebo or B vitamins (folic acid 2mg, B6 25 mg, B12 500 μg). Primary outcome The composite of stroke, MI or death from any vascular cause, whichever occurs first. Outcome and serious adverse events are adjudicated blinded to treatment allocation. Secondary outcomes TIA, unstable angina, revascularisation procedures, dementia, depression. Statistical power With 8000 patients followed up for a median of 2 years and an annual incidence of the primary outcome of 8% among patients assigned placebo, the study will have at least 80% power to detect a relative reduction of 15% in the incidence of the primary outcome among patients assigned B vitamins (to 6·8%/year), applying a two-tailed level of significance of 5%. Conclusion VITATOPS aims to recruit and follow-up 8000 patients between 1998 and 2008, and provide a reliable estimate of the safety and effectiveness of folic acid, vitamin B12, and vitamin B6 supplementation in reducing recurrent serious vascular events among a wide range of patients with TIA and stroke throughout the world.
Stroke and Cardiovascular Diseases: The Need for a Global Approach for Prevention and Drug Development
Authors: Hilbrich Lutz , Truelsen Thomas , Yusuf Salim 
Published: May 2007

Background Research into the prevention and treatment of stroke and cardiovascular disease has focused primarily on the needs of high-income countries (HIC). However, the majority of all stroke and cardiovascular deaths occurs in low- and middle-income countries (LMIC), with further rises in these countries predicted. Summary of review In HIC, proven strategies for the treatment of stroke and cardiovascular disease are well established and cost-effective. Developing strategies to include LMIC is therefore crucial to curb the global epidemic of stroke and cardiovascular disease. For example, pharmaceutical companies are being encouraged to make certain drugs more affordable in low- and middle-income companies, and the same principle could be applied to drugs for the prevention of stroke. Furthermore, centers from LMIC are now often included in clinical trials, resulting in trials that are more globally relevant and affordable and that enhance the participation of healthcare professionals from a broad range of countries. Conclusions More cost-effective drug development processes and affordable prices, while protecting intellectual property rights, will prevent the ever-increasing burden of stroke becoming unmanageable in LMIC.
Promoting Acute Thrombolysis for Ischaemic Stroke (PRACTISE)
Authors: Dirks Maaike , Niessen Louis W. , Huijsman Robbert , van Wijngaarden Jeroen , Minkman Mirella M. N. , Franke Cees L. , van Oostenbrugge Robert J. , Koudstaal Peter J. , Dippel Diederik W. J. 
Published: May 2007

Rationale Thrombolysis with intravenous rtPA is an effective treatment for patients with ischaemic stroke if given within 3 h from onset. Generally, more than 20% of stroke patients arrive in time to be treated with thrombolysis. Nevertheless, in most hospitals, only 1–8% of all stroke patients are actually treated. Interorganisational, intraorganisational, medical and psychological barriers are hampering broad implementation of thrombolysis for acute ischaemic stroke. Aims To evaluate the effect of a high-intensity implementation strategy for intravenous thrombolysis in acute ischaemic stroke, compared with regular implementation; to identify success factors and obstacles for implementation and to assess its cost-effectiveness, taking into account the costs of implementation. Design The PRACTISE study is a national cluster-randomised-controlled trial. Twelve hospitals have been assigned to the regular or high-intensity intervention by random allocation after pair-wise matching. The high-intensity implementation consists of training sessions in conformity with the Breakthrough model, and a tool kit. All patients who are admitted with acute stroke and onset of symptoms not longer than 24 h are registered. Study outcomes The primary outcome measure is treatment with thrombolysis. Secondary outcomes are admission within 4 h after onset of symptoms, death or disability at 3 months, the rate of haemorrhagic complications in patients treated with thrombolysis, and costs of implementation and stroke care in the acute setting. Tertiary outcomes are derived from detailed criteria for the organisational characteristics, such as door-to-needle time and protocol violations. These can be used to monitor the implementation process and study the effectiveness of specific interventions. Discussion This study will provide important information on the effectiveness and cost-effectiveness of actively implementing an established treatment for acute ischaemic stroke. The multifaceted aspect of the intervention will make it difficult to attribute a difference in the primary outcome measure to a specific aspect of the intervention. However, careful monitoring of intermediate parameters as well as monitoring of accomplished SMART tasks can be expected to provide useful insights into the nature and role of factors associated with implementation of thrombolysis for acute ischaemic stroke, and of effective acute interventions in general.
Increased fat oxidation and regulation of metabolic genes with ultraendurance exercise
Authors: Helge J. W. , Rehrer N. J. , Pilegaard H. , Manning P. , Lucas S. J. E. , Gerrard D. F. , Cotter J. D. 
Published: May 2007

AbstractAim:  Regular endurance exercise stimulates muscle metabolic capacity, but effects of very prolonged endurance exercise are largely unknown. This study examined muscle substrate availability and utilization during prolonged endurance exercise, and associated metabolic genes.Methods:  Data were obtained from 11 competitors of a 4‐ to 5‐day, almost continuous ultraendurance race (seven males, four females; age: 36 ± 11 years; cycling o2peak: males 57.4 ± 5.9, females 48.1 ± 4.0 mL kg−1 min−1). Before and after the race muscle biopsies were obtained from vastus lateralis, respiratory gases were sampled during cycling at 25 and 50% peak aerobic power output, venous samples were obtained, and fat mass was estimated by bioimpedance under standardized conditions.Results:  After the race fat mass was decreased by 1.6 ± 0.4 kg (11%; P < 0.01). Respiratory exchange ratio at the 25 and 50% workloads decreased (P < 0.01) from 0.83 ± 0.06 and 0.93 ± 0.03 before, to 0.71 ± 0.01 and 0.85 ± 0.02, respectively, after the race. Plasma fatty acids were 3.5 times higher (from 298 ± 74 to 1407 ± 118 μmol L−1; P < 0.01). Muscle glycogen content fell 50% (from 554 ± 28 to 270 ± 25 nmol kg−1 d.w.; n = 7, P < 0.01), whereas the decline in muscle triacylglycerol (from 32 ± 5 to 22 ± 3 mmol kg−1 d.w.; P = 0.14) was not statistically significant. After the race, muscle mRNA content of lipoprotein lipase and glycogen synthase increased (P < 0.05) 3.9‐ and 1.7‐fold, respectively, while forkhead homolog in rhabdomyosarcoma, pyruvate dehydrogenase kinase 4 and vascular endothelial growth factor mRNA tended (P < 0.10) to be higher, whereas muscle peroxisome proliferator‐activated receptor γ co‐activator‐1β mRNA tended to be lower (P = 0.06).Conclusion:  Very prolonged exercise markedly increases plasma fatty acid availability and fat utilization during exercise. Exercise‐induced regulation of genes encoding proteins involved in fatty acid recruitment and oxidation may contribute to these changes.
Changes in signalling pathways regulating protein synthesis in human muscle in the recovery period after endurance exercise
Authors: Mascher H. , Andersson H. , Nilsson P.‐A. , Ekblom B. , Blomstrand E. 
Published: May 2007

AbstractAim:  Exercise induced alterations in the rate of muscle protein synthesis may be related to activity changes in signalling pathways involved in protein synthesis. The aim of the present study was to investigate whether such changes in enzyme phosphorylation occur after endurance exercise.Methods:  Six male subjects performed ergometer cycling exercise for 1 h at 75% of the maximal oxygen uptake. Muscle biopsy samples from the vastus lateralis were taken before, immediately after, 30 min, 1 h, 2 h and 3 h after exercise for the determination of protein kinase B (PKB/Akt), mammalian target of rapamycin (mTOR), glycogen synthase 3 kinase (GSK‐3), p70S6 kinase (p70S6k) and eukaryotic elongation factor 2 (eEF2) phosphorylation.Results:  The phosphorylation of Akt was unchanged directly after exercise, but two‐ to fourfold increased 1 and 2 h after the exercise, whereas GSK‐3α and β phosphorylation were two‐ to fourfold elevated throughout most of the 3‐h recovery period. Phosphorylation of mTOR was elevated threefold directly after, 30 min and 2 h after exercise and eEF2 phosphorylation was decreased by 35–75% from 30 min to 3 h‐recovery. Exercise led to a five‐ to eightfold increase in Ser424/Thr421 phosphorylation of p70S6k up to 30 min after exercise, but no change in Thr389 phosphorylation.Conclusions:  The marked decrease in eEF2 phosphorylation suggests an activation of translation elongation and possibly protein synthesis in the recovery period after sustained endurance exercise. The lack of p70S6k activation suggests that translation initiation is activated via alternative pathways, possibly via the activation of eukaryotic initiating factor 2B.
Multidecadal Climate Variability and Drought in the United States
Authors: Goodrich Gregory B. 
Published: May 2007

AbstractThe history of multidecadal climate variability and drought in the United States during the past millennium is reviewed, and recent research into the physical mechanisms that produce long‐term aridity is examined. Numerous multiyear droughts that have major social repercussions for contemporary and prehistoric societies can be identified in instrumental and proxy records. The 16th‐century megadrought in the Southwest was the worst long period of aridity in the past 500 years. A prolonged period of aridity in the western United States from 900 to 1300 AD, which coincided with the Medieval Warm Period, is indicative of a mean shift in climate that ended in roughly 1400 AD. While the causes of these and other multiyear droughts are still under investigation, there is strong statistical and modeled evidence that persistent La Niña‐like sea surface temperatures in the tropical Pacific force hemispheric and zonal symmetry in multidecadal droughts. In other words, persistent cooler than normal sea surface temperatures in the tropical Pacific force anomalous atmospheric circulations that produce multiyear droughts not only in the Great Plains and the Southwest, but also in the Mediterranean region of Europe, the Pampas region of South America, the steppes of Central Asia, and the outback of Western Australia. Other possible causes of long period drought include low‐frequency variability in the north Pacific and Atlantic oceans and global warming in the Anthropocene.
Participatory Development: From Epistemological Reversals to Active Citizenship
Authors: Mohan Giles 
Published: May 2007

AbstractThe past decade has witnessed the ubiquity of participation in governance across the globe, involving efforts to bring more marginalised people into the decision‐making processes that affect them. At one level, there is an apparent consensus around the need to reconnect citizens with the policy process, which has seen experiments in different forms of direct democracy. Common to these experiments is changing epistemologies in terms of knowing what marginalised people feel and need. This article charts the rise of participatory governance and offers a critique of the epistemological assumptions that underpin it. A key critique is that changing epistemologies, by themselves, are no guarantee of more meaningful participation so that concerted institutional change is also needed. I argue that for participation to become more transformatory we need to see it as a form of citizenship in which political processes are institutionalised and people can hold others to account. This revitalised citizenship agenda is also spatialised in that peoples’ understandings of the world and the political channels available to them are locally differentiated and contingent. The conclusion is a call for more geographically sensitive empirical research on the unfolding of new forms of participation.