bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Random sampling, abundance–extinction dynamics and niche‐filtering immigration constraints explain the generation of species richness gradients
Authors: Carnicer Jofre , Brotons Lluís , Sol Daniel , De Cáceres Miquel 
Published: February 2008

ABSTRACTAim The paradigm that species’ patterns of distribution, abundance and coexistence are the result of adaptations of the species to their niches has recently been challenged by evidence that similar patterns may be generated by simple random processes. We argue here that a better understanding of macroecological patterns requires an integration of both ecological and neutral stochastic approaches. We demonstrate the utility of such an integrative approach by testing the sampling hypothesis in a species–energy relationship of forest bird species.Location A Mediterranean biome in Catalonia, Spain.Methods To test the sampling hypothesis we designed a metacommunity model that reproduces the stochastic sampling from a regional pool to predict local species richness variation. Four conceptually different sampling procedures were evaluated.Results We showed that stochastic sampling processes predicted a substantial part (over 40%) of the observed variation in species richness, but left considerable variation unexplained. This remaining variation in species richness may be better understood as the result of alternative ecological processes. First, the sampling model explained more variation in species richness when the probability that a species colonises a new locality was assumed to increase with its niche width, suggesting that ecological differences between species matter when it comes to explaining macroecological patterns. Second, extinction risk was significantly lower for species inhabiting high‐energy regions, suggesting that abundance–extinction processes play a significant role in shaping species richness patterns.Main conclusions We conclude that species–energy relationships may not simply be understood as a result of either ecological or random sampling processes, but more likely as a combination of both.
Representational momentum and children's sensori‐motor representations of objects
Authors: Perry Lynn K. , Smith Linda B. , Hockema Stephen A. 
Published: February 2008

Abstract Recent research has shown that 2‐year‐olds fail at a task that ostensibly only requires the ability to understand that solid objects cannot pass through other solid objects. Two experiments were conducted in which 2‐ and 3‐year‐olds judged the stopping point of an object as it moved at varying speeds along a path and behind an occluder, stopping at a barrier visible above the occluder. Three‐year‐olds were able to take into account the barrier when searching for the object, while 2‐year‐olds were not. However, both groups judged faster moving objects to travel farther as indicated by their incorrect reaches. Thus, the results show that young children's sensori‐motor representations exhibit a form of representational momentum. This unifies the perceptually based representations of early childhood with adults’ dynamic representations that incorporate physical regularities but that are also available to conscious reasoning.
Maternal obesity: pregnancy complications, gestational weight gain and nutrition
Authors: Guelinckx I. , Devlieger R. , Beckers K. , Vansant G. 
Published: February 2008

SummaryThe obesity epidemic affects all, including women of reproductive age. One in five women attending prenatal care in the UK is obese. Prepregnancy obesity is associated with serious short‐ and long‐term complications for mother and child. Furthermore, gestational weight gain (GWG) of obese pregnant women generally exceeds the Institute of Medicine recommended ranges. This observation can partially be explained by an unbalanced diet and lack of daily physical activity. Despite this, few lifestyle intervention trials in obese pregnant women are available. Two out of seven intervention trials focusing on GWG, nutrition and physical activity, reached a significant decrease in GWG. Developing guidelines to promote appropriated weight gain and healthy lifestyle in overweight and obese pregnant women remains a challenge.This review aims to summarize the complications associated with maternal prepregnancy overweight and obesity and to discuss possible strategies to improve the lifestyle habits of pregnant women.
Obesity in Mediterranean region (1997–2007): a systematic review
Authors: Papandreou C. , Mourad T. Abu , Jildeh C. , Abdeen Z. , Philalithis A. , Tzanakis N. 
Published: February 2008

SummaryThe objective of this review is to determine the distribution of obesity by geographical location, income, age and sex in the Mediterranean region during the last decade. A meta‐analysis was conducted for 102 articles cited during the period (1997–2007) in Medline database (for 17 Mediterranean countries) searched during the summer of 2007 using the word ‘obesity’ and its related keywords. The study showed that adults were more obese than children in all Mediterranean continents and in different levels of income. The prevalence of obesity among European children was higher than among Asians. Also, European adults were more obese than European children. The total female adults were found to be more obese (median: 25.3%) than male adults (median: 20.0%). The regression model analysis indicated that male adults were more likely to be obese in the Euro‐Med region. Taking different factors into consideration, it was noticed that Mediterranean adults, especially those in the European region, are at higher risk of obesity. Awareness programmes addressing the importance of adopting healthy dietary habits combined with physical activity should target the whole community in general and adults in particular. The findings could guide health planners for better management of obesity.
CHOOSING BETWEEN LIFE AND DEATH: PATIENT AND FAMILY PERCEPTIONS OF THE DECISION NOT TO RESUSCITATE THE TERMINALLY ILL CANCER PATIENT
Authors: ELIOTT JAKLIN , OLVER IAN 
Published: February 2008

ABSTRACTIn keeping with the pre‐eminent status accorded autonomy within Australia, Europe, and the United States, medical practice requires that patients authorize do‐not‐resuscitate (DNR) orders, intended to countermand the default practice in hospitals of instituting cardiopulmonary‐resuscitation (CPR) on all patients experiencing cardio‐pulmonary arrest. As patients typically do not make these decisions proactively, however, family members are often asked to act as surrogate decision‐makers and decide on the patient's behalf. Although the appropriateness of patients or their families having to decide about the provision of CPR has been challenged, there has been little examination of how patients and their families talk about and negotiate such decisions, particularly in the context of the patient's imminent death. In this article, part of a larger study analysing interviews with 28 patients (13 female) with cancer within weeks of their death, and 20 others (predominantly family) attending, we argue that a common assumption underpinning participants' talk about the DNR decision (i.e. forgoing CPR) is that it requires a choice between life and death. Using illustrative examples, we demonstrate that in making decisions about CPR, patients and their families are implicitly required to make moral judgements about the value of the patient's life, including their relationships with significant others. We identify some implications of these empirical observations for the development of ethically appropriate policies and practices regarding patient autonomy and surrogacy at the end of life.
IS IT TIME FOR BIOETHICS TO GO EMPIRICAL?
Authors: HERRERA CHRIS 
Published: February 2008

ABSTRACTObservers who note the increasing popularity of bioethics discussions often complain that the social sciences are poorly represented in discussions about things like abortion and stem‐cell research. Critics say that bioethicists should be incorporating the methods and findings of social scientists, and should move towards making the discipline more empirically oriented. This way, critics argue, bioethics will remain relevant, and truly reflect the needs of actual people. Such recommendations ignore the diversity of viewpoints in bioethics, however. Bioethics can gain much from the methods and findings from ethnographies and similar research. But it is misleading to suggest that bioethicists are unaware of this potential benefit. Not only that, bioethicists are justified in having doubts about the utility of the social science approach in some cases. This is not because there is some inherent superiority in non‐empirical approaches to moral argument. Rather, the doubts concern the nature of the facts that the sciences would provide. Perhaps the larger point is that disagreements about the relationship between facts and normative arguments should be seen as part of the normal inquiry in bioethics, not evidence that reform is needed.
THE MORAL COMPLEXITY OF SPERM DONATION
Authors: WEINBERG RIVKA 
Published: February 2008

ABSTRACTSperm donation is a widely accepted and increasingly common practice. In the standard case, a sperm donor sells sperm to an agency, waives his parental rights, and is absolved of parental responsibility. We tend to assume that this involves no problematic abandonment of parental responsibility. If we regard the donor as having parental responsibilities at all, we may think that his parental responsibilities are transferred to the sperm recipients. But, if a man creates a child accidentally, via contraception failure, we tend to assume that the man does indeed have parental responsibilities. Assessing these contrasting conclusions requires a theory of parental responsibility.I analyse prevalent theories of what makes someone parentally responsible and show that none of these theories can withstand scrutiny. I propose a new theory of parental responsibility, which, I argue, is more plausible than the alternatives. My theory of parental responsibility is based on our ownership and control over hazardous materials, namely, our gametes.I show that neither my theory, nor the theories I reject, can support our contrasting intuitions. I conclude that sperm donors are fathers, with parental responsibility. I argue that the alternative conclusion, that neither sperm donors nor accidental fathers are parentally responsible for their resulting offspring, is less plausible. I then consider whether parental responsibility can be transferred and argue that it is far from clear that it can. Finally, I address objections and consider some practical implications of these views.
PROTECTING GROUPS FROM GENETIC RESEARCH
Authors: HAUSMAN DANIEL 
Published: February 2008

ABSTRACTGenetics research, like research in sociology and anthropology, creates risks for groups from which research subjects are drawn. This paper considers what sort of protection for groups from the risks of genetics research should be provided and by whom. The paper categorizes harms by distinguishing process‐related from outcome‐related harms and by distinguishing two kinds of group harms. It argues that calls for community engagement are justified with respect to some kinds of harms, but not with respect to others; and it cautions that community engagement may itself be harmful.
Anxiousness, Frustration, and Effortful Control as Moderators of the Relation between Parenting and Adjustment in Middle‐childhood
Authors: Lengua Liliana J. 
Published: February 2008

AbstractInteractions among multiple dimensions of child temperament and parenting were tested as predictors of change in child adjustment problems using a community sample (N = 188) of children (8–12 years). Significant interactions suggested that the effect of parenting on changes in problems were dependent upon temperament and, in some cases, child sex. Effortful control mitigated the potential negative impact of inconsistent discipline and physical punishment on externalizing problems, whereas frustration exacerbated the effects of inconsistent discipline and rejection. Anxiousness moderated parenting only for boys, mitigating the impact of inconsistent discipline on internalizing and externalizing problems but exacerbating the effects of physical punishment on externalizing problems. Implications for identifying children at risk for developing adjustment problems and for parenting interventions are discussed.
Workplace performance: a comparison of subjective and objective measures in the 2004 Workplace Employment Relations Survey
Authors: Forth John , McNabb Robert 
Published: February 2008

ABSTRACTUnderstanding what determines workplace performance is important for a variety of reasons. In the first place, it can inform the debate about the UK's low productivity growth. It also enables researchers to determine the efficacy of different organisational practices, policies and payment systems. In this article, we examine not the determinants of performance but how it is measured. Specifically, we assess the alternative measures of productivity and profitability that are available in the 2004 Workplace Employment Relations Survey (WERS). Previous WERS have been an important source of data in research into workplace performance. However, the subjective nature of the performance measures available in WERS prior to 2004 has attracted criticism. In the 2004 WERS, data were again collected on the subjective measure but, in addition, objective data on profitability and productivity were also collected. This allows a comparison to be made between the two types of measures. A number of validity tests are undertaken and the main conclusion is that subjective and objective measures of performance are weakly equivalent but that differences are also evident. Our findings suggest that it would be prudent to give most weight to results supported by both types of measure.
Job characteristics, employee voice and well‐being in Britain
Authors: Wood Stephen 
Published: February 2008

ABSTRACTJob characteristics are often omitted when analysing job satisfaction, but these are crucial to work psychology models, such as the Karasek model. There has also been a neglect of non‐union voice. This study uses data from the 2004 Workplace Employee Relations Survey to investigate the associations between job characteristics and employee voice and well‐being. Improvements in the survey from that of 1998 mean that we can examine two dimensions of well‐being: job satisfaction and the less studied anxiety–contentment.Support is found for the basic Karasek model that both measures of well‐being are negatively related to job demands and positively related to job control; moreover, high job controls reduce the negative association between job demands and both measures. Supportive management is also related to both measures but does not play the buffering role between demands and well‐being that job control does. Union membership is found to be unrelated to job satisfaction and anxiety–contentment, but a perception of consultative management is.
Chronic right ventricular pressure overload results in a hyperplastic rather than a hypertrophic myocardial response
Authors: Leeuwenburgh Boudewijn P. J. , Helbing Willem A. , Wenink Arnold C. G. , Steendijk Paul , De Jong Roos , Dreef Enno J. , Gittenberger‐de Groot Adriana C. , Baan Jan , Van Der Laarse Arnoud 
Published: February 2008

AbstractMyocardial hyperplasia is generally considered to occur only during fetal development. However, recent evidence suggests that this type of response may also be triggered by cardiac overload after birth. In congenital heart disease, loading conditions are frequently abnormal, thereby affecting ventricular function. We hypothesized that chronic right ventricular pressure overload imposed on neonatal hearts initiates a hyperplastic response in the right ventricular myocardium. To test this, young lambs (aged 2–3 weeks) underwent adjustable pulmonary artery banding to obtain peak right ventricular pressures equal to left ventricular pressures for 8 weeks. Transmural cardiac tissue samples from the right and left ventricles of five banded and five age‐matched control animals were studied. We found that chronic right ventricular pressure overload resulted in a twofold increase in right‐to‐left ventricle wall thickness ratio. Morphometric right ventricular myocardial tissue analysis revealed no changes in tissue composition between the two groups; nor were right ventricular myocyte dimensions, relative number of binucleated myocytes, or myocardial DNA concentration significantly different from control values. In chronic pressure overloaded right ventricular myocardium, significantly (P < 0.01) more myocyte nuclei were positive for the proliferation marker proliferating cellular nuclear antigen than in control right ventricular myocardium. Chronic right ventricular pressure overload applied in neonatal sheep hearts results in a significant increase in right ventricular free wall thickness which is primarily the result of a hyperplastic myocardial response.
Communities, populations and individuals of arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi
Authors: Rosendahl Søren 
Published: February 2008

SummaryArbuscular mycorrhizal fungi in the phylum Glomeromycota are found globally in most vegetation types, where they form a mutualistic symbiosis with plant roots. Despite their wide distribution, only relatively few species are described. The taxonomy is based on morphological characters of the asexual resting spores, but molecular approaches to community ecology have revealed a considerable unknown diversity from colonized roots. Although the lack of genetic recombination is not unique in the fungal kingdom, arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi are probably ancient asexuals. The long asexual evolution of the fungi has resulted in considerable genetic diversity within morphologically recognizable species, and challenges our concepts of individuals and populations. This review critically examines the concepts of species, communities, populations and individuals of arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi.

Contents

Summary
1

I.
Introduction
1

II.
Taxonomy and species recognition
2

III.
Communities of arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi
4

IV.
Populations of arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi
6

V.
Individuals, genets or clones?
8

VI.
Speciation in Glomeromycota
9

VII.
Conclusion
10

Acknowledgements
11

References
11
mGluR1 antagonist decreases tyrosine phosphorylation of NMDA receptor and attenuates infarct size after transient focal cerebral ischemia
Authors: Murotomi Kazutoshi , Takagi Norio , Takayanagi Gen , Ono Megumi , Takeo Satoshi , Tanonaka Kouichi 
Published: February 2008

AbstractThe contribution of metabotropic glutamate receptors to brain injury afterin vivocerebral ischemia remains to be determined. We investigated the effects of the metabotropic glutamate receptor 1 (mGluR1) antagonist LY367385 on brain injury after transient (90 min) middle cerebral artery occlusion in the rat and sought to explore their mechanisms. The intravenous administration of LY367385 (10 mg/kg) reduced the infarct volume at 24 h after the start of reperfusion. As the Gq‐coupled mGluR1 receptor is known to activate the PKC/Src family kinase cascade, we focused on changes in the activation and amount of these kinases. Transient focal ischemia increased the amount of activated tyrosine kinase Src and PKC in the post‐synaptic density (PSD) at 4 h of reperfusion. The administration of LY367385 attenuated the increases in the amounts of PSD‐associated PKCγ and Src after transient focal ischemia. We further investigated phosphorylation of the NMDA receptor, which is a major target of Src family kinases to modulate the function of the receptor. Transient focal ischemia increased the tyrosine phosphorylation of NMDA receptor subunits NR2A and NR2B. Tyrosine phosphorylation of NR2A, but not that of NR2B, in the PSD at 4 h of reperfusion was inhibited by LY367385. These results suggest that the mGluR1 after transient focal ischemia is involved in the activation of Src, which may be linked to the modification of properties of the NMDA receptor and the development of cerebral infarction.
Parkin mediates the degradation‐independent ubiquitination of Hsp70
Authors: Moore Darren J. , West Andrew B. , Dikeman Dustin A. , Dawson Valina L. , Dawson Ted M. 
Published: February 2008

AbstractMutations in the parkin gene cause autosomal recessive, juvenile‐onset parkinsonism. Parkin is an E3 ubiquitin ligase that mediates the ubiquitination of protein substrates. Disease‐associated mutations cause a loss‐of‐function of parkin which may compromise the poly‐ubiquitination and proteasomal degradation of specific protein substrates, potentially leading to their deleterious accumulation. Here, we identify the molecular chaperones, Hsp70 and Hsc70, as substrates for parkin. Parkin mediates the ubiquitination of Hsp70 both in vitro and in cultured cells. Parkin interacts with Hsp70 via its second RING finger domain and mutations in/near this domain compromise Hsp70 ubiquitination. Ubiquitination of Hsp70 fails to alter its steady‐state levels or turnover, nor does it promote its proteasomal degradation. Consistent with this observation, Hsp70 levels remain unaltered in brains from parkin‐deficient autosomal recessive, juvenile‐onset parkinsonism subjects, whereas alternatively, Hsp70 levels are elevated in the detergent‐insoluble fraction of sporadic Parkinson’s disease/dementia with Lewy bodies brains. Parkin mediates the multiple mono‐ubiquitination of Hsp70/Hsc70 consistent with a degradation‐independent role for this ubiquitin modification. Our observations support a novel functional relationship between parkin and Hsc/Hsp70 and support the notion that parkin is a multi‐purpose E3 ubiquitin ligase capable of modifying proteins either via attachment of alternatively linked poly‐ubiquitin chains or through multiple mono‐ubiquitination to achieve alternate biological outcomes.
Characterization of the striatal dopaminergic neurotransmission in MEN2B mice with elevated cerebral tissue dopamine
Authors: Mijatovic Jelena , Patrikainen Outi , Yavich Leonid , Airavaara Mikko , Ahtee Liisa , Saarma Mart , Petteri Piepponen T. 
Published: February 2008

AbstractThe Ret receptor tyrosine kinase is the common signaling receptor for the glial cell line‐derived neurotrophic factor (GDNF) family ligands. The Met918Thr mutation leads to constitutive activation of Ret and is responsible for dominantly inherited cancer syndrome MEN2B. Previously, we found that the mice carrying the mutation (MEN2B mice) have profoundly increased tissue dopamine (DA) concentrations in the striatum as well as increased striatal levels of tyrosine hydroxylase (TH) and dopamine transporter. The aim of this study was to characterize the striatal dopaminergic neurotransmission in MEN2B mice and to clarify the mechanisms by which they compensate their over‐production of DA. We found that tyrosine hydroxylase activity and DA synthesis are increased in MEN2B mice. Augmented effects of α‐methyl‐para‐tyrosine (αMT, an inhibitor of TH) and tetrabenazine (VMAT2 blocker) on DA levels suggest that also storage of DA is increased in MEN2B mice. There was no difference in the basal extracellular DA concentrations or potassium‐evoked DA release between the genotypes. The effects of cocaine and haloperidol were also similar between the genotypes as assessed by in vivo microdialysis. However, with in vivo voltammetry we found increase in stimulated DA release in MEN2B mice and detailed analysis of DA overflow showed that uptake of DA was also enhanced in MEN2B mice. Thus, our data show that enhanced synthesis of DA leading to increased storage and releasable pools in pre‐synaptic terminals in MEN2B mice apparently also leads to increased DA release, which in turn is compensated by higher dopamine transporter activity.