bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Urban health insurance reform and coverage in China using data from National Health Services Surveys in 1998 and 2003
Authors: Xu Ling , Wang Yan , Collins Charles D , Tang Shenglan 
Published: March 2007

AbstractBackgroundIn 1997 there was a major reform of the government run urban health insurance system in China. The principal aims of the reform were to widen coverage of health insurance for the urban employed and contain medical costs. Following this reform there has been a transition from the dual system of the Government Insurance Scheme (GIS) and Labour Insurance Scheme (LIS) to the new Urban Employee Basic Health Insurance Scheme (BHIS).MethodsThis paper uses data from the National Health Services Surveys of 1998 and 2003 to examine the impact of the reform on population coverage. Particular attention is paid to coverage in terms of gender, age, employment status, and income levels. Following a description of the data between the two years, the paper will discuss the relationship between the insurance reform and the growing inequities in population coverage.ResultsAn examination of the data reveals a number of key points:The overall coverage of the newly established scheme has decreased from 1998 to 2003.The proportion of the urban population without any type of health insurance arrangement remained almost the same between 1998 and 2003 in spite of the aim of the 1997 reform to increase the population coverage.Higher levels of participation in mainstream insurance schemes (i.e. GIS-LIS and BHIS) were identified among older age groups, males and high income groups. In some cases, the inequities in the system are increasing.There has been an increase in coverage of the urban population by non-mainstream health insurance schemes, including non-commercial and commercial ones.The paper discusses three important issues in relation to urban insurance coverage: institutional diversity in the forms of insurance, labour force policy and the non-mainstream forms of commercial and non-commercial forms of insurance.ConclusionThe paper concludes that the huge economic development and expansion has not resulted in a reduced disparity in health insurance coverage, and that limited cross-group subsidy and regional inequality is possible. Unless effective measures are taken, vulnerable groups such as women, low income groups, employees based on short-term contracts and rural-urban migrant workers may well be left out of sharing the social and economic development.
Solid serous microcystic adenoma of the pancreas
Authors: Stern Jordan R , Frankel Wendy L , Ellison E Christopher , Bloomston Mark 
Published: March 2007

Abstract

Background
Cystic neoplasms of the pancreas are less common than solid tumors, and portend a better prognosis. They can be divided into serous and mucinous subtypes, with the former behaving less aggressively and generally considered benign. Of the serous neoplasms, serous microcystic adenoma is the most common. An extremely rare solid variant of serous microcystic adenoma lacking secretory capability has been described. Herein, we present the fourth described case of this solid variant and review the literature.

Case presentation
We present a case of a 62 year-old man with a history of abdominal pain, who on CT scan was found to have a solid mass at the junction of the head and body of the pancreas. The patient was offered resection for diagnosis and treatment, and subsequently underwent distal pancreatectomy and splenectomy. Based on gross pathology, histology and immunohistochemistry, the mass was determined to be a solid serous microcystic adenoma.

Conclusion
Solid serous microcystic adenoma shows similar histologic and immunohistologic features to its classic cystic counterpart, but lacks any secretory functionality. It appears to behave in a benign manner, and as such, surgical resection is curative for patients with this tumor. Furthermore, until more cases of solid SMA are identified to further elucidate its natural history and improve the reliability of preoperative diagnosis, surgical resection of this solid pancreatic tumor should be considered standard therapy in order to exclude malignancy.
A Maximum-Likelihood Method for the Estimation of Pairwise Relatedness in Structured Populations
Authors: Anderson Amy D , Weir Bruce S 
Published: March 2007

AbstractA maximum-likelihood estimator for pairwise relatedness is presented for the situation in which the individuals under consideration come from a large outbred subpopulation of the population for which allele frequencies are known. We demonstrate via simulations that a variety of commonly used estimators that do not take this kind of misspecification of allele frequencies into account will systematically overestimate the degree of relatedness between two individuals from a subpopulation. A maximum-likelihood estimator that includes FST as a parameter is introduced with the goal of producing the relatedness estimates that would have been obtained if the subpopulation allele frequencies had been known. This estimator is shown to work quite well, even when the value of FST is misspecified. Bootstrap confidence intervals are also examined and shown to exhibit close to nominal coverage when FST is correctly specified.
Mapping Quantitative Trait Loci for Expression Abundance
Authors: Jia Zhenyu , Xu Shizhong 
Published: March 2007

Abstract
Mendelian loci that control the expression levels of transcripts are called expression quantitative trait loci (eQTL). When mapping eQTL, we often deal with thousands of expression traits simultaneously, which complicates the statistical model and data analysis. Two simple approaches may be taken in eQTL analysis: (1) individual transcript analysis in which a single expression trait is mapped at a time and the entire eQTL mapping involves separate analysis of thousands of traits and (2) individual marker analysis where differentially expressed transcripts are detected on the basis of their association with the segregation pattern of an individual marker and the entire analysis requires scanning markers of the entire genome. Neither approach is optimal because data are not analyzed jointly. We develop a Bayesian clustering method that analyzes all expressed transcripts and markers jointly in a single model. A transcript may be simultaneously associated with multiple markers. Additionally, a marker may simultaneously alter the expression of multiple transcripts. This is a model-based method that combines a Gaussian mixture of expression data with segregation of multiple linked marker loci. Parameter estimation for each variable is obtained via the posterior mean drawn from a Markov chain Monte Carlo sample. The method allows a regular quantitative trait to be included as an expression trait and subject to the same clustering assignment. If an expression trait links to a locus where a quantitative trait also links, the expressed transcript is considered to be associated with the quantitative trait. The method is applied to a microarray experiment with 60 F2 mice measured for 25 different obesity-related quantitative traits. In the experiment, ∼40,000 transcripts and 145 codominant markers are investigated for their associations. A program written in SAS/IML is available from the authors on request.
Caenorhabditis elegans Mutants Resistant to Attachment of Yersinia Biofilms
Authors: Darby Creg , Chakraborti Amrita , Politz Samuel M , Daniels Calvin C , Tan Li , Drace Kevin 
Published: March 2007

Abstract
The detailed composition and structure of the Caenorhabditis elegans surface are unknown. Previous genetic studies used antibody or lectin binding to identify srf genes that play roles in surface determination. Infection by Microbacterium nematophilum identified bus (bacterially unswollen) genes that also affect surface characteristics. We report that biofilms produced by Yersinia pestis and Y. pseudotuberculosis, which bind the C. elegans surface predominantly on the head, can be used to identify additional surface-determining genes. A screen for C. elegans mutants with a biofilm absent on the head (Bah) phenotype identified three novel genes: bah-1, bah-2, and bah-3. The bah-1 and bah-2 mutants have slightly fragile cuticles but are neither Srf nor Bus, suggesting that they are specific for surface components involved in biofilm attachment. A bah-3 mutant has normal cuticle integrity, but shows a stage-specific Srf phenotype. The screen produced alleles of five known surface genes: srf-2, srf-3, bus-4, bus-12, and bus-17. For the X-linked bus-17, a paternal effect was observed in biofilm assays.
TheFLOWERING LOCUS T-Like Gene Family in Barley (Hordeum vulgare)
Authors: Faure Sébastien , Higgins Janet , Turner Adrian , Laurie David A 
Published: March 2007

AbstractThe FLOWERING LOCUS T (FT) gene plays a central role in integrating flowering signals in Arabidopsis because its expression is regulated antagonistically by the photoperiod and vernalization pathways. FT belongs to a family of six genes characterized by a phosphatidylethanolamine-binding protein (PEBP) domain. In rice (Oryza sativa), 19 PEBP genes were previously described, 13 of which are FT-like genes. Five FT-like genes were found in barley (Hordeum vulgare). HvFT1, HvFT2, HvFT3, and HvFT4 were highly homologous to OsFTL2 (the Hd3a QTL), OsFTL1, OsFTL10, and OsFTL12, respectively, and this relationship was supported by comparative mapping. No rice equivalent was found for HvFT5. HvFT1 was highly expressed under long-day (inductive) conditions at the time of the morphological switch of the shoot apex from vegetative to reproductive growth. HvFT2 and HvFT4 were expressed later in development. HvFT1 was therefore identified as the main barley FT-like gene involved in the switch to flowering. Mapping of HvFT genes suggests that they provide important sources of flowering-time variation in barley. HvFTI was a candidate for VRN-H3, a dominant mutation giving precocious flowering, while HvFT3 was a candidate for Ppd-H2, a major QTL affecting flowering time in short days.
Proofreading and Secondary Structure Processing Determine the Orientation Dependence of CAG·CTG Trinucleotide Repeat Instability inEscherichia coli
Authors: Zahra Rabaab , Blackwood John K , Sales Jill , Leach David R F 
Published: March 2007

AbstractExpanded CAG·CTG trinucleotide repeat tracts are associated with several human inherited diseases, including Huntington's disease, myotonic dystrophy, and spinocerebellar ataxias. Here we describe a new model system to investigate repeat instability in the Escherichia coli chromosome. Using this system, we reveal patterns of deletion instability consistent with secondary structure formation in vivo and address the molecular basis of orientation-dependent instability. We demonstrate that the orientation dependence of CAG·CTG trinucleotide repeat deletion is determined by the proofreading subunit of DNA polymerase III (DnaQ) in the presence of the hairpin nuclease SbcCD (Rad50/Mre11). Our results suggest that, although initiation of slippage can occur independently of CAG·CTG orientation, the folding of the intermediate affects its processing and this results in orientation dependence. We propose that proofreading is inefficient on the CTG-containing strand because of its ability to misfold and that SbcCD contributes to processing in a manner that is dependent on proofreading and repeat tract orientation. Furthermore, we demonstrate that transcription and recombination do not influence instability in this system.
Adaptive Divergence in Experimental Populations of Pseudomonas fluorescens. III. Mutational Origins of Wrinkly Spreader Diversity
Authors: Bantinaki Eleni , Kassen Rees , Knight Christopher G , Robinson Zena , Spiers Andrew J , Rainey Paul B 
Published: March 2007

Abstract
Understanding the connections among genotype, phenotype, and fitness through evolutionary time is a central goal of evolutionary genetics. Wrinkly spreader (WS) genotypes evolve repeatedly in model Pseudomonas populations and show substantial morphological and fitness differences. Previous work identified genes contributing to the evolutionary success of WS, in particular the di-guanylate cyclase response regulator, WspR. Here we scrutinize the Wsp signal transduction pathway of which WspR is the primary output component. The pathway has the hallmarks of a chemosensory pathway and genetic analyses show that regulation and function of Wsp is analogous to the Che chemotaxis pathway from Escherichia coli. Of significance is the methyltransferase (WspC) and methylesterase (WspF) whose opposing activities form an integral feedback loop that controls the activity of the kinase (WspE). Deductions based on the regulatory model suggested that mutations within wspF were a likely cause of WS. Analyses of independent WS genotypes revealed numerous simple mutations in this single open reading frame. Remarkably, different mutations have different phenotypic and fitness effects. We suggest that the negative feedback loop inherent in Wsp regulation allows the pathway to be tuned by mutation in a rheostat-like manner.
Heteroduplex DNA in Meiotic Recombination in Drosophila mei-9 Mutants
Authors: Radford Sarah J , McMahan Susan , Blanton Hunter L , Sekelsky Jeff 
Published: March 2007

Abstract
Meiotic recombination gives rise to crossovers, which are required in most organisms for the faithful segregation of homologous chromosomes during meiotic cell division. Characterization of crossover-defective mutants has contributed much to our understanding of the molecular mechanism of crossover formation. We report here a molecular analysis of recombination in a Drosophila melanogaster crossover-defective mutant, mei-9. In the absence of mei-9 activity, postmeiotic segregation associated with noncrossovers occurs at the expense of crossover products, suggesting that the underlying meiotic function for MEI-9 is in crossover formation rather than mismatch repair. In support of this, analysis of the arrangement of heteroduplex DNA in the postmeiotic segregation products reveals different patterns from those observed in Drosophila Msh6 mutants, which are mismatch-repair defective. This analysis also provides evidence that the double-strand break repair model applies to meiotic recombination in Drosophila. Our results support a model in which MEI-9 nicks Holliday junctions to generate crossovers during meiotic recombination, and, in the absence of MEI-9 activity, the double Holliday junction intermediate instead undergoes dissolution to generate noncrossover products in which heteroduplex is unrepaired.
Performance of a Career Development and Compensation Program at an Academic Health Science Center
Authors: O'Brodovich Hugh , Beyene Joseph , Tallett Susan , MacGregor Daune , Rosenblum Norman D. 
Published: March 2007

OBJECTIVE. The academic physicians of our department developed a novel Career Development and Compensation Program to outline job expectations, enhance career development, and provide a peer-review process to assess performance. The Career Development and Compensation Program was founded on the principle that sustained achievement in education, clinical care, or research should be valued, supported, and rewarded in an equivalent manner and that reward for clinical work should not be limited by the focus of the university on research and education. The objective of this study was to determine whether the principles of the Career Development and Compensation Program were sustained during the initial 7 years of its implementation.
METHODS. The outcome of the 7 triennial reviews that occurred from 1999 to 2005 was evaluated. For the purposes of some analyses, physicians were classified as predominately clinical (clinician-specialists and clinician-teachers), predominately education (clinician-educators), or predominately research (clinician-investigators and clinician-scientists).
RESULTS. Each of the job profiles had a similar probability to increase a level within the Career Development and Compensation Program at the time of triennial review. Similarly, all 5 job profiles had a similar rate of increase in their level in relation to the total number of years of experience at an academic health science center. Neither the university academic rank nor gender of the physician affected the probability of increasing a level at the time of the triennial review.
CONCLUSION. The peer-reviewed Career Development and Compensation Program recognizes sustained achievement in each area of education, clinical care, and research in an equivalent manner with no detectable effect of academic rank or gender.
Relative Abundance, Site Fidelity, and Survival of Adult Lake Trout in Lake Michigan from 1999 to 2001: Implications for Future Restoration Strategies
Authors: Bronte Charles R. , Holey Mark E. , Madenjian Charles P. , Jonas Jory L. , Claramunt Randall M. , McKee Patrick C. , Toneys Michael L. , Ebener Mark P. , Breidert Brian , Fleischer Guy W. , Hess Richard , Martell Archie W. , Olsen Erik J. 
Published: March 2007

Abstract
We compared the relative abundance of lake trout Salvelinus namaycush spawners in gill nets during fall 1999–2001 in Lake Michigan at 19 stocked spawning sites with that at 25 unstocked sites to evaluate how effective site-specific stocking was in recolonizing historically important spawning reefs. The abundance of adult fish was higher at stocked onshore and offshore sites than at unstocked sites. This suggests that site-specific stocking is more effective at establishing spawning aggregations than relying on the ability of hatchery-reared lake trout to find spawning reefs, especially those offshore. Spawner densities were generally too low and too young at most sites to expect significant natural reproduction. However, densities were sufficiently high at some sites for reproduction to occur and therefore the lack of recruitment was attributable to other factors. Less than 3% of all spawners could have been wild fish, which indicates that little natural reproduction occurred in past years. Wounding by sea lamprey Petromyzon marinus was generally lower for Seneca Lake strain fish and highest for strains from Lake Superior. Fish captured at offshore sites in southern Lake Michigan had the lowest probability of wounding, while fish at onshore sites in northern Lake Michigan had the highest probability. The relative survival of the Seneca Lake strain was higher than that of the Lewis Lake or the Marquette strains for the older year-classes examined. Survival differences among strains were less evident for younger year-classes. Recaptures of coded-wire-tagged fish of five strains indicated that most fish returned to their stocking site or to a nearby site and that dispersal from stocking sites during spawning was about 100 km. Restoration strategies should rely on site-specific stocking of lake trout strains with good survival at selected historically important offshore spawning sites to increase egg deposition and the probability of natural reproduction in Lake Michigan.
Effects of Acute Insulin Excess and Deficiency on Gluconeogenesis and Glycogenolysis in Type 1 Diabetes
Authors: Boden Guenther , Cheung Peter , Homko Carol 
Published: March 2007

To determine whether insulin induces acute changes in endogenous glucose production (EGP) via changes in gluconeogenesis (GNG), glycogenolysis (GL), or both, we measured GNG (with 2H2O) and GL (EGP-GNG) in nine patients with type 1 diabetes during acute insulin excess produced by subcutaneous injection of insulin and during insulin deficiency which developed between 5 and 8 h after insulin injection. During insulin excess, free insulin concentration rose fivefold (from 36 to 180 pmol/l). Plasma glucose was maintained between 6.2 and 6.7 mmol/l for ∼4 h with IV glucose. EGP (with 6,6-2H glucose) decreased from 17.1 to 9.8 μmol · kg−1 · min−1 after 1 h. This decrease was almost completely accounted for by a decrease in GL (from 10.7 to 4.6 μmol · kg−1 · min−1). During insulin deficiency, plasma glucose rose from 6.2 to 10.5 mmol/l and EGP from 9.5 to 14.3 μmol/kg min. The increase in EGP again was accounted for by an increase in GL.
We conclude that in type 1 diabetes acute regulation of EGP by insulin is mainly via changes in GL while GNG changes little during the early hours of acute insulin excess or deficiency.
Hypothesis: Shifting the Equilibrium From Activity to Food Leads to Autonomic Unbalance and the Metabolic Syndrome
Authors: Kreier Felix , Yilmaz Ajda , Kalsbeek Andries , Romijn Johannes A. , Sauerwein Hans P. , Fliers Eric , Buijs Ruud M. 
Published: March 2007

“The stability of the internal environment is the condition that life should be free and independent… So, far from the higher animal being indifferent to the external world, it is on the contrary in a precise and informed relation with it, in such a way that its equilibrium results from a continuous and delicate compensation, established as by the most sensitive of balances.”
Claude Bernard (1865)
Molecular photochromic systems: a theoretical and experimental investigation on zinc(II) dithizonate
Authors: Armelao L. , Bandoli G. , Barreca D. , Bottaro G. , Tondello E. , Venzo A. , Vittadini A. 
Published: March 2007

AbstractZinc(II)‐dithizone based molecular systems [Zn(HDz)2] are intriguing candidates for the development of optical devices thanks to their interesting photochromic and nonlinear optical properties. In the present work, the behavior of Zn(HDz)2 in different solvents was investigated by a combined theoretical and experimental approach. In particular, solutions of both dithizone (H2Dz) and Zn(HDz)2 were analyzed by optical absorption spectroscopy and nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) techniques, with particular attention to structure–properties relationships. Density functional and time‐dependent density functional calculations were performed on the stable and the activated forms of the complex, obtaining information on the energetics of their interconversion, as well as on the nature of their electronic excitations. Copyright © 2007 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Metal‐based antibacterial and antifungal amino acid derived Schiff bases: their synthesis, characterization and in vitro biological activity
Authors: Chohan Zahid H. , Arif M. , Sarfraz M. 
Published: March 2007

AbstractA new series of antibacterial and antifungal amino acid derived Schiff bases and their cobalt(II), copper(II), nickel(II) and zinc(II) metal complexes have been synthesized and characterized by their elemental analyses, molar conductances, magnetic moments, IR and electronic spectral measurements. The spectral data indicated the Schiff base ligands (L1–L5) derived by condensation of salicylaldehyde with glycine, alanine, phenylalanine, methionine and cysteine, to act as tridentate towards divalent metal ions (cobalt, copper, nickel and zinc) via the azomethine‐N, deprotonated carboxyl group of the respective amino acid and deprotonated oxygen atom of salicylaldehyde by a stoichiometric reaction of M:L (1:2) to form complexes of the type K2[M(L)2] [where M = Co(II), Cu(II), Ni(II) and Zn(II)]. The magnetic moments and electronic spectral data suggested that all complexes have an octahedral geometry. Elemental analyses and NMR spectral data of the ligands and their Zn (II) complexes agree with their proposed structures. The synthesized ligands, along with their metal complexes, were screened for their in‐vitro antibacterial activity against four Gram‐negative (Escherichia coli, Shigella flexeneri, Pseudomonas aeruginosa and Salmonella typhi) and two Gram‐positive (Bacillus subtilis and Staphylococcus aureus) bacterial strains and for in‐vitro antifungal activity against Trichophyton longifusus, Candida albicans, Aspergillus flavus, Microsporum canis, Fusarium solani and Candida glaberata. The results of these studies show the metal complexes to be more antibacterial/antifungal against one or more species as compared with the uncomplexed Schiff base ligands. The brine shrimp bioassay was also carried out to study their in‐vitro cytotoxic properties. Only three compounds (2, 11 and 17) displayed potent cytotoxic activity as LD50 = 8.196 × 10−4, 7.315 × 10−4 and 5.599 × 10−4 M/ml respectively, against Artemia salina. Copyright © 2007 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.