bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
A wavelet‐based location referencing strategy for digital maps in navigation systems
Authors: Zangmeister T. , Sonar Th. , Heßling M. 
Published: March 2007

AbstractOne of the main problems of modern navigation systems for cars is location referencing, i.e. the description of a certain location in a digital map ‘A’ and the search of exactly this location in a different digital map ‘B’. In contrast to classical methods of finding a location by means of the surrounding geometry or even the use of attributes like names and types of streets, we propose a purely analytical approach based on the wavelet transform of the digital maps themselves.
Bio‐economic resource management under threats of environmental catastrophes
Authors: Tsur Yacov , Zemel Amos 
Published: March 2007

AbstractWe combine ecological and economic dynamics to study the management of a natural resource that supports both ecosystem and human needs. Shrinking the resource base introduces a threat of occurrence of catastrophic ecological events, such as sudden ecosystem collapse. The occurrence conditions involve uncertainty of various types, and the distinction among these types is important for optimal resource management. When uncertainty is due to our ignorance of some aspects of the underlying ecology, the isolated equilibrium states characterizing optimal exploitation for many renewable resource problems become equilibrium intervals. Genuinely stochastic events shift the optimal equilibrium states, but maintain the structure of isolated equilibria.
Body size and biomass distributions of carrion visiting beetles: do cities host smaller species?
Authors: Ulrich Werner , Komosiński Karol , Zalewski Marcin 
Published: March 2007

AbstractThe question how animal body size changes along urban–rural gradients has received much attention from carabidologists, who noticed that cities harbour smaller species than natural sites. For Carabidae this pattern is frequently connected with increasing disturbance regimes towards cities, which favour smaller winged species of higher dispersal ability. However, whether changes in body size distributions can be generalised and whether common patterns exist are largely unknown. Here we report on body size distributions of carcass‐visiting beetles along an urban–rural gradient in northern Poland. Based on samplings of 58 necrophages and 43 predatory beetle species, mainly of the families Catopidae, Silphidae, and Staphylinidae, we found contrary patterns of necrophages and predatory beetles. Body sizes of necrophages decreased towards the city centre and those of predators remained unchanged. Small necrophages and large predators dominated in abundance in the city centre. Necrophage body sizes appeared to be more regularly spaced in the city centre than expected from a random null model and in comparison to the rural pattern, pointing to increased competition.
Sex differences in the effectiveness of angiotensin receptor blockers and angiotensin converting enzyme inhibitors in patients with congestive heart failure — A population study
Authors: Hudson Marie , Rahme Elham , Behlouli Hassan , Sheppard Richard , Pilote Louise 
Published: March 2007

AbstractBackground:Angiotensin converting enzyme (ACE) inhibitors and angiotensin receptor blockers (ARBs) have been shown to improve survival in patients with congestive heart failure (CHF). We wish to determine whether there are sex‐related differences in the optimal treatment of congestive heart failure.Methods:Using administrative databases, all patients > >=65 years of age discharged with a diagnosis of CHF between January 1998 and March 2003 and who filled a prescription for an ARB or an ACE inhibitor within 90 days of discharge were identified. Time to all‐cause death in women and men on ACE inhibitors or ARBs was compared.Results:There were 10,223 women (8627 ACE inhibitors and 1596 ARBs) and 9475 men (8484 ACE inhibitors and 991 ARBs). Hypertension was more common in women (50.1%) than men (33.1%). Women on ARBs had better survival than those on ACE inhibitors (adjusted hazard ratio (HR) 0.69, 95% confidence interval (CI) 0.59, 0.80). There was no difference in survival in men prescribed ARBs compared to ACE inhibitors (HR 1.10, 95% CI 0.95, 1.30).ConclusionThese sex differences in treatment‐related outcome are important but should be confirmed in a randomized trial before ARBs are preferentially prescribed to women with CHF.
Intestinal paracellular permeability is not affected in chronic congestive heart failure
Authors: Schaufelberger M. , Ekman I. , Björnsson E. , Kalaitzakis E. , Ekman T. 
Published: March 2007

AbstractBackground:In chronic heart failure (CHF) it has been proposed that a dysfunction of the gastrointestinal barrier could lead to translocation of endotoxin into the systemic circulation. A secondary inflammatory reaction, observed as increased levels of cytokines, could negatively affect cardiac function. The aims of this paper were therefore to determine whether patients with CHF have a disturbed mucosal barrier and whether it was possible to detect endotoxin in venous blood.Methods:Nineteen stable patients with CHF (New York Heart Association II–III, EF≤40% or EF>40% and earlier hospitalisation for heart failure) were investigated. Twenty healthy subjects (HS group) and 25 patients, who were admitted for bone marrow transplantation (BMT group), served as controls. Gastrointestinal permeability was assessed by a 51Cr‐EDTA absorption test.Results:Eleven patients with and eight without peripheral oedema were included. Median age was 76.5 years. Intestinal permeability was 1.82±1.96% in the CHF patients and 1.54±.59% and 1.9±.9% in HS and BMT groups, respectively (p=0.4 and p=0.7, CHF vs HS and BMT, respectively). No difference was found between patients with and without oedema and endotoxins were below the detection limit in all patients.Discussion:This study does not support the hypothesis that patients with CHF have a dysfunctional gastrointestinal barrier, at least as assessed by the 51Cr‐EDTA resorbtion test.
Sex differences in formalin‐induced pain in prenatally stressed infant rats
Authors: Butkevich Irina P. , Barr Gordon A. , Vershinina Elena A. 
Published: March 2007

AbstractThe aim of this work was to study the effects of prenatal stress on nociceptive responses in the formalin test in female and male infant (7‐day‐old) Long‐Evans hooded rats. Prenatally stressed infant rats displayed biphasic flinching+ shaking behavior whereas non‐stressed animals showed only a weak second phase. Pain sensitivity in prenatally stressed males was significantly greater than that of prenatally non‐stressed males during the second phase only; there were no differences in pain sensitivity between prenatally stressed and non‐stressed females. Moreover prenatally stressed male rats pups demonstrated that the second phase of the response to formalin was enhanced relative to the second phase in stressed females. The current and previous data [Butkevich IP, Barr GA, Mikhailenko VA, Otellin VA. Increased formalin‐induced pain and expression of fos neurons in the lumbar spinal cord of prenatally stressed infants rats. Neurosci Lett 2006a;403:222–226] show increased tonic pain in prenatally stressed infant rats and a large increase in the number of formalin‐induced fos‐like immunoreactivity in the spinal cord dorsal horn. There is a concomitant decrease in serotonin‐like immunoreactivity in the lumbar spinal cord dorsal horn [Butkevich IP, Barr GA, Otellin VA. Effect of prenatal stress on behavioral and neural indices of formalin‐induced pain in infant rats. Abstracts, 35th Annual Meeting of Soc. For Neurosci. 2005a. Program No. 512.4 Washington, DC: Society for Neuroscience]. Given the decreased level of perinatal testosterone in prenatally stressed rats to which infant males are more sensitive than females, we suggest that these hormonal, behavioral and neuronal indices are strongly interrelated in prenatally stressed 7‐day‐old rat pups and that the decreased surge of testosterone may contribute to the increased behavioral response in the second phase in male rat pups. Mechanisms underlying the behavioral pain response induced by inflammation in prenatally stressed rat pups are characterized by sexual dimorphism even prior to the activational effects of sex hormones.
Maternal vitamin D depletion alters neurogenesis in the developing rat brain
Authors: Cui Xiaoying , McGrath John J. , Burne Thomas H.J. , Mackay‐Sim Alan , Eyles Darryl W. 
Published: March 2007

AbstractEvidence is accumulating that normal levels of vitamin D are important for brain development. Vitamin D acts as an anti‐proliferative agent in a wide variety of tissues and developmental vitamin D (DVD) deficiency has been shown to alter brain structure and function. The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of DVD deficiency on neuroprogenitor formation in the neonatal brain. We show that DVD deficiency increased the number of neurospheres formed in cultures from the neonatal subventricular zone. Exogenous vitamin D added to the culture medium reduced neurosphere number in control but not DVD cultures. We show the receptor for vitamin D is concentrated in the subventricular zone and is also present in cultured neurospheres prepared from this region. These results show that vitamin D can regulate cell proliferation in the developing brain. Further studies are warranted to examine the underlying mechanisms for these findings.
Assessing the need for sequence-based normalization in tiling microarray experiments
Authors: Royce Thomas E. , Rozowsky Joel S. , Gerstein Mark B. 
Published: March 2007

AbstractMotivation: Increases in microarray feature density allow the construction of so-called tiling microarrays. These arrays, or sets of arrays, contain probes targeting regions of sequenced genomes at regular genomic intervals. The unbiased nature of this approach allows for the identification of novel transcribed sequences, the localization of transcription factor binding sites (ChIP-chip), and high resolution comparative genomic hybridization, among other uses. These applications are quickly growing in popularity as tiling microarrays become more affordable. To reach maximum utility, the tiling microarray platform needs be developed to the point that 1 nt resolutions are achieved and that we have confidence in individual measurements taken at this fine of resolution. Any biases in tiling array signals must be systematically removed to achieve this goal.Results: Towards this end, we investigated the importance of probe sequence composition on the efficacy of tiling microarrays for identifying novel transcription and transcription factor binding sites. We found that intensities are highly sequence dependent and can greatly influence results. We developed three metrics for assessing this sequence dependence and use them in evaluating existing sequence-based normalizations from the tiling microarray literature. In addition, we applied three new techniques for addressing this problem; one method, adapted from similar work on GeneChip brand microarrays, is based on modeling array signal as a linear function of probe sequence, the second method extends this approach by iterative weighting and re-fitting of the model, and the third technique extrapolates the popular quantile normalization algorithm for between-array normalization to probe sequence space. These three methods perform favorably to existing strategies, based on the metrics defined here.Availability: http://tiling.gersteinlab.org/sequence_effects/Contact: mark.gerstein@yale.eduSupplementary information: Supplementary data are available at Bioinformatics online.
Pseudomonas corrugata: plant pathogen and/or biological resource?
Authors: CATARA VITTORIA 
Published: March 2007

SUMMARY Pseudomonas corrugata is the causal agent of tomato pith necrosis yet it is also used in the biological control of plant pathogenic bacteria and fungi. Potentially it could be used in other fields, such as the production of commercial biomolecules with a wide range of application and including bioremediation. This review reports the multiple characteristics of the bacterium, highlights its known molecular features and speculates on the possible underlying mechanisms of action.Taxonomy:  Bacteria; Proteobacteria; γ subdivision; order Pseudomonadales; family Pseudomonadaceae; genus Pseudomonas.Microbiological properties:  Gram‐negative, oxidase‐positive, non‐spore forming rods; non‐fluorescent on King's B medium; produces wrinkled and rarely smooth colonies on yeast peptone glucose agar or nutrient dextrose agar; yellow to brown diffusible pigments are frequently produced.Disease symptoms:  The typical symptom on tomato is necrosis and/or hollowing of the pith of the stem; the syndrome determines loss of turgidity of the plant, hydropic/necrotic areas and long conspicuous adventitious roots on the stem.Biological control agent: In vitro assessed against plant pathogenic fungi and bacteria, as well as the phytotoxin indicator microorganims Rhodotorula pilimanae and Bacillus megaterium; in vivo used against pre‐ and post‐harvest plant pathogens.
Haemorrhagic cytology samples – how to get the best diagnostic results
Authors: Srebotnik Kirbiš I. , Strojan Fležar M. , Lavrenčak J. , Pohar Marinšek Ž. 
Published: March 2007

Objective:  To describe and evaluate the value of a simple filtration technique for use in processing haemorrhagic samples for cytomorphological evaluation and immunocytochemistry.Methods:  One hundred and sixty haemorrhagic cytological samples (133 FNAs, 27 effusions) received in our laboratory from August 2002 to September 2005 were included in this study. After preparing two smears for diagnostic evaluation, the residual sample was suspended in 2 ml of a cell medium prepared in our laboratory. These primary haemorrhagic suspensions were filtered through disposable nylon filter devices and the cells deposited on the upper membrane surface were transferred into 2 ml of fresh cell medium. From all three fractions – primary cell suspension, filter deposit and filtrate – cytospins were prepared and stained by Giemsa or Papanicolaou methods. Cytospins were examined under the microscope for the presence of diagnostic cells, red blood cells (RBCs) and debris. Additional cytospins for immunocytochemistry were prepared at the cytopathologist's request.Results:  RBCs and debris were successfully removed in 142 out of 160 haemorrhagic samples (88%) by using this new filtration technique. In all these cases the tumour cells were well presented and allowed substantially improved cytomorphological evaluation. Immunocytochemical staining was performed on 112 filtered samples with three different markers per case on average. Filtration did not improve the quality of cytospins in 18/160 haemorrhagic samples, mostly attributable to insufficient numbers of diagnostic cells in the original samples.Conclusion:  The presented filtration technique is very simple and quick. It substantially improves the quality of haemorrhagic samples for cytomorphological evaluation; moreover, the samples are well suited for multiple immunocytochemical stainings.
Cumulative sum procedure in evaluation of EUS‐guided FNA cytology: the learning curve and diagnostic performance beyond sensitivity and specificity
Authors: Eltoum I. A. , Chhieng D. C. , Jhala D. , Jhala N. C. , Crowe D. R. , Varadarajulu S. , Eloubeidi M. A. 
Published: March 2007

Background:  Using cumulative sum (CUSUM) chart, we address two questions: (i) Over time, how will an EUS‐FNA (endoscopic ultrasound guided fine needle aspiration) service maintain an acceptable non‐diagnostic rate defined as technical failures, unsatisfactory specimens and atypical and suspicious diagnoses? (ii) Over time, how will EUS‐FNA maintain acceptable diagnostic errors (false‐positives plus false‐negative diagnosis)?Methods:  The study included all consecutive patients who underwent EUS‐FNA at our institution from July 2000 to October 2003 and were followed up until December 2004. Using a simple spread sheet, we designed CUSUM charts and used them to track trends and assess performance at a preset acceptable rate of 10% and a preset unacceptable rate of 15% for non‐diagnostic rate and diagnostic errors. We assessed all cases collectively and then in groups defined by site, size and cytopathologist.Results:  Of 876 patients undergoing EUS‐FNA, 83 (9.5%) had non‐diagnostic results: 43 (51%) of these diagnoses were ‘atypical’, 27(33%) were ‘suspicious for malignancy’, eight (10%) were ‘insufficient material for diagnosis’ and five (6%) were ‘technical failure’. In 585 cases with adequate follow up, there were 26 (6.3%) diagnostic errors: three (0.5%) were false positive and 23 (3.1) were false negative. The overall CUSUM charts for both non‐diagnostic rate and for diagnostic error rate start with a small period of learning then cross to a significantly acceptable level at case numbers 121 and 97 respectively. Our diagnostic performance was better in lymph nodes than in the pancreas and other organs and was not significantly different for lesions ≤25 mm compared with lesion >25 mm in diameter. Performance was better for pathologists with prior experience than for pathologists without experience.Conclusion:  In the current climate of proficiency testing, error tracking and competence evaluation, there is a great potential for the use of CUSUM charts to assess procedure failure and error tracking in quality control programs, particularly when a new procedure such as EUS‐FNA is introduced in the laboratory. Additionally, the method can be used to assess trainee competency and to track the proficiency of practicing cytologists.
Fine needle aspiration cytology as an additional tool in the diagnosis of odontogenic keratocyst
Authors: Vargas P. A. , Da Cruz Perez D. E. , Mata G. M. , De Almeida O. P. , Jones A. V. , Gerhard R. 
Published: March 2007

Objective:  The aim of this study was to assess the use of fine needle aspiration cytology (FNAC) in diagnosis of odontogenic keratocyst (OKC), as well as to describe the cytological and immunohistochemical features.Methods:  Eight consecutive patients submitted to FNAC and diagnosed with OKC were included in this study. FNAC was performed using 24‐gauge needles attached to a 10‐ml syringe, supported by a mechanical‐syringe holder to facilitate aspiration. All cases provided a liquid or viscous content for smears that were either air‐dried for Diff‐Quick® staining or immediately fixed in 95% alcohol and stained by the Papanicolaou technique. Incisional biopsies were carried out to confirm the diagnosis. Immunohistochemical reactions against anti‐pan‐cytokeratin (CK), CK14 and CK19 were performed in 3 μm sections obtained from cell blocks and biopsy specimens.Results:  Cytologically many isolated or groups of keratinocytes with normal or ill defined nuclei were seen, besides numerous anucleated squamous cells and keratinous debris. Immunohistochemically, the keratin lamellae were positive for pan‐cytokeratin and CK19, but negative for CK14. In biopsy specimens, CK14 expression was restricted to basal cells, while only the superficial cells were positive for CK19.Conclusions:  In summary, FNAC is useful, reliable and safe tool for the preoperative diagnosis of OKC.
Carbon in tundra soils in the Lake Labaz region of arctic Siberia
Authors: Gundelwein A. , Müller‐Lupp T. , Sommerkorn M. , Haupt E. T. K. , Pfeiffer E.‐M. , Wiechmann H. 
Published: March 2007

SummaryLarge amounts of carbon are stored in permafrost‐affected soils of the Arctic tundra. The quantity, distribution and composition of this carbon are important, because much of the carbon is likely to be released as a result of global warming. We have studied soils of the central Siberian Arctic to determine the carbon content and the nature of the organic matter by density fractionation, and 13C‐NMR‐ and 13C‐stable‐isotope analyses. There are pronounced differences in the profile and variations from place to place in the quantity and nature of soil organic matter. We estimated that the mean stock of carbon was 14.5 kg m–2 within the active layer. We found a total of about 30.7 kg C m–3 in the entire upper metre of the soils. Carbon of the tussock tundra showed strong vertical differentiation, with a large proportion comprising decomposed, recalcitrant compounds. We identified within the soil several zones of aerobe and anaerobe decomposition. Mobile carbon fractions have precipitated under the influence of low temperatures.
Translocation of soils to stimulate climate change: CO2emissions and modifications to soil organic matter
Authors: Rey M. , Guntiñas E. , Gil‐Sotres F. , LeirÓs M. C. , Trasar‐Cepeda C. 
Published: March 2007

SummaryThe effect of climate change on CO2emissions was studied on undisturbed soil monoliths (40‐cm diameter, 25‐cm high), which were translocated to warmer zones than their place of origin. Thirty‐two months after the translocation, a climatic factor deduced from the moisture content of the soil and from the effective mean temperature (temperatures in excess of 5°C) revealed that translocation increased the potential of the climate to enhance the biological processes by between 73% and 26% compared with what the soil would support in its place of origin. At the end of the study, the transported soils had lost a large proportion of both total carbon and nitrogen (between 20 and 45%). During the experiment, the CO2emissions from the soils, measured under field conditions, were quite variable, but were usually greater than from soilsin situ. The variation in labile C in the soil throughout the experiment was calculated from a first‐order kinetic equation for organic matter decay. The relative CO2emissions, expressed in terms of the labile carbon fraction in the soils, were clearly greater in those translocated soils that underwent the most intensive climate change, which indicates that the variations in emissions over time are basically a function of the size of the labile organic matter pool.
Kinetics and adsorption of metolachlor and atrazine and the conversion products (deethylatrazine, deisopropylatrazine, hydroxyatrazine) in the soil profile of a river basin
Authors: Vryzas Z. , Papadopoulou‐Mourkidou E. , Soulios G. , Prodromou K. 
Published: March 2007

SummaryThe adsorption kinetics and adsorption parameters of metolachlor, atrazine, deethylatrazine (DEA), deisopropylatrazine (DIA) and hydroxyatrazine (HA) were investigated in a soil profile in a maize field formed from recent alluvial deposits in a river basin in Greece. We used the batch equilibrium method modified to simulate field conditions as closely as possible for the use and practices related to soil applied pre‐emergence herbicides. Pseudo‐equilibrium times, determined by kinetic studies, were achieved after 16, 16, 24, 24 and 48 hours for metolachlor, DIA, DEA, HA and atrazine, respectively. At pseudo‐equilibrium the percentage of the adsorbed amount increased in the order of DEA (10%) < DIA (14%) < atrazine (27%) < metolachlor (43%) ≪ HA (94%) which indicates that more than 57% of all compounds except for HA are in solution and available for transport to deeper soil layers when conditions similar to those simulated in the laboratory exist in the field. Adsorption isotherms of all compounds and in most of the cases correlated well with the Freundlich model and adsorption coefficients (Kf) decreased with increased soil depth. Principal component and multiple regression analyses confirmed the importance of the soil organic carbon content on the adsorption capacity of soils for all compounds except HA in the plough layers (0–40 cm). In the subsurface soils (40–110 cm) variables such as clay content and pH were more important. For HA, theKfvalues determined for the plough and subsurface soil layers were better correlated with clay content and pH. Also in the subsurface soils, the variation in organic carbon content was not correlated with the variation ofKfvalues. Thus calculatedKoc‐f‐values misrepresent the adsorptive capacity of these soils towards the compounds studied.