bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Laparoscopically assisted balloon vaginoplasty for management of vaginal aplasia
Authors: El Saman A.M. , Fathalla M.M.F. , Nasr A.M. , Youssef M.A. 
Published: June 2007

AbstractObjective: To report the intra‐operative and post‐operative results of laparoscopically assisted balloon vaginoplasty, a new technique for management of vaginal aplasia. Methods: Eight women with vaginal aplasia due to Mullerian agenesis who were referred for apareunia, dyspareunia. All had a poor penetration score and sexual satisfaction score. A Foley's catheter was laparoscopically inserted in the space between the urethra and rectum. Gradual traction and distension were used to create a neovagina. Outcomes measured were intra‐operative complications, post‐operative complications, length of the neovagina and post‐operative complications and sexual satisfaction score in both partners. Results: Mean operative time was 25.5 +/− 5.5 min. No operative complications were recorded. Pain scores ranged from zero to 30 points at rest and from 30 to 60 points during dressing, traction and distension. Penetration and satisfaction scores increased significantly after the operation. Conclusions Balloon vaginoplasty is a simple, safe and satisfactory technique for management of blind vagina.
Reproductive health and public health ethics
Authors: Dickens B.M. , Cook R.J. 
Published: June 2007

AbstractIndividuals' reproductive choices are private matters, but sexual conduct and pregnancy impose significant public health burdens. Ethical principles of public health are distinguishable from principles applied in modern bioethics. Bioethical principles have been developed at the clinical or microethical level, affecting relations among individuals, whereas pubic health ethics applies at the population‐based or macroethical level. Resolution of issues, for instance of consent to healthcare interventions and preservation of privacy, is different in public health practice from in clinical medicine. Public health aspects of human reproduction concern reduction of maternal mortality and morbidity, particularly in resource‐poor countries, and the contribution to high rates of each of unsafe abortion, most prevalent where abortion laws are restrictive. Further aspects of public health ethics concern limited access to contraceptive services, the spread of sexually transmitted infections (STIs), including HIV, causes of infertility, especially due to STIs, and responses to each of these concerns.
Effects of a novel anti-exospore monoclonal antibody on microsporidialNosema bombycisgermination and reproductionin vitro
Authors: ZHANG F. , LU X. , KUMAR V. S. , ZHU H. , CHEN H. , CHEN Z. , HONG J. 
Published: June 2007

SUMMARYA monoclonal antibody (mAb) 3C2, against an exospore protein of the microsporidiumNosema bombycis(N. bombycis) was prepared, and its effects on microsporidial germination and reproductionin vitrowere studied. MAb 3C2 was effective in inhibiting the germination and subsequent infection ofBombyx moricells compared to the control mAb. The antigen was isolated by 2-dimensional gel electrophoresis. Immunoblotting revealed it to be an 84 kDa protein corresponding to pI (7·2) on the 2-D gel. The present results suggest that the antibodies can be used for diagnostic purposes and for developing new therapeutic strategies in controlling microsporidian diseases.
Trypanosoma bruceivacuolar protein sorting 41 (VPS41) is required for intracellular iron utilization and maintenance of normal cellular morphology
Authors: LU S. , SUZUKI T. , IIZUKA N. , OHSHIMA S. , YABU Y. , SUZUKI M. , WEN L. , OHTA N. 
Published: June 2007

SUMMARYProcyclic forms ofTrypanosoma brucei bruceiremain and propagate in the midgut of tsetse fly where iron is rich. Additional iron is also required for their growth inin vitroculture. However, little is known about the genes involved in iron metabolism and the mechanism of iron utilization in procyclic-form cells. Therefore, we surveyed the genes involved in iron metabolism in theT. b. bruceigenome sequence database. We found a potential homologue of vacuole protein sorting 41 (VPS41), a gene that is required for high-affinity iron transport inSaccharomyces cerevisiaeand cloned the full-length gene (TbVPS41). Complementation analysis of TbVPS41 in ΔScvps41yeast cells showed that TbVPS41 could partially suppress the inability of ΔScvps41yeast cells to grow on low-iron medium, but it could not suppress the fragmented vacuole phenotype. Further RNA interference (RNAi)-mediated gene knock-down in procyclic-form cells resulted in a significant reduction of growth in low-iron medium; however, no change in growth was observed in normal culture medium. Transmission electron microscopy showed that RNAi causedT. b. bruceicells to have larger numbers of small intracellular vesicles, similar to the fragmented vacuoles observed in ΔScvps41yeast cells. The present study demonstrates that TbVPS41 plays an important role in the intracellular iron utilization system as well as in the maintenance of normal cellular morphology.
Morphological and molecular diversity and phylogenetic relationships among anuran trypanosomes from the Amazonia, Atlantic Forest and Pantanal biomes in Brazil
Authors: FERREIRA R. C. , CAMPANER M. , VIOLA L. B. , TAKATA C. S. A. , TAKEDA G. F. , TEIXEIRA M. M. G. 
Published: June 2007

SUMMARYWe examined for the presence of trypanosomes in blood samples from 259 anurans (47 species from 8 families), the majority of which were from the Brazilian Amazonia, Atlantic Forest and Pantanal biomes. Trypanosomes were detected by a combination of microhaematocrit and haemoculture methods in 45% of the anurans, and 87 cultures were obtained: 44 from Hylidae, 22 from Leptodactylidae, 15 from Bufonidae, 5 from Leiuperidae and 1 from an unidentified anuran. High morphological diversity (11 morphotypes) was observed among blood trypanosomes from anurans of different species and of the same species as well as among trypanosomes from the same individual. Conversely, morphologically similar trypanosomes were found in anurans from distinct species and biomes. ITS and SSU rDNA polymorphisms revealed high diversity among the 82 isolates examined.† Twenty-nine genotypes could be distinguished, the majority distributed in 11 groups. Phylogenetic relationships based on rDNA sequences indicated that isolates from more phylogenetically related anurans are more closely related. Comparison of anuran trypanosomes from Brazil and other countries revealed several new species among the isolates examined in this study. Phylogenetic relationships suggest that host restriction, host switching and overall ecogeographical structure may have played a role in the evolution of the anuran trypanosomes.
Comparative evaluation ofGiardia duodenalissequence data
Authors: WIELINGA C. M. , THOMPSON R. C. A. 
Published: June 2007

SUMMARYA review of theGiardia duodenalissequences currently available on the GenBank database was completed to compare the different genotyping loci (small subunit ribosomal DNA, glutamate dehydrogenase, triose-phosphate isomerase and beta giardin) for their ability to discern assemblage and subassemblage groups and infer phylogenetic relationships. In total, 405Giardia duodenalissequences were sorted and aligned to examine the substitutions within and between the assemblages – A and B (zoonotic), C and D (dogs), E (livestock), F (cats) and G (rodents). It was found that all of the genes could reproducibly group isolates into their assemblages and that the AI/AII subassemblage groups were robust and identifiable at all loci. However, the assemblage B subgroups were not reproducible at half of the loci (small subunit ribosomal DNA and beta giardin), not due to their conserved nature, but because there was insufficient sequence data of reference isolates available for comparison. It is anticipated that further investigation of these loci may reveal the core subgroups of this medically important and zoonotic assemblage and also those of others. The closer, more recent, phylogenetic relationships amongst the assemblages appear to be resolved; however, more sequence data from the current loci, and possibly new loci, will be required to establish the remaining relationships.
Fast Frequent Querying with Lazy Control Flow Compilation
Authors: TRONÇON REMKO , JANSSENS GERDA , DEMOEN BART , VANDECASTEELE HENK 
Published: June 2007

AbstractControl flow compilation is a hybrid between classical WAM compilation and meta-call, limited to the compilation of non-recursive clause bodies. This approach is used successfully for the execution of dynamically generated queries in an inductive logic programming setting (ILP). Control flow compilation reduces compilation times up to an order of magnitude, without slowing down execution. A lazy variant of control flow compilation is also presented. By compiling code by need, it removes the overhead of compiling unreached code (a frequent phenomenon in practical ILP settings), and thus reduces the size of the compiled code. Both dynamic compilation approaches have been implemented and were combined with query packs, an efficient ILP execution mechanism. It turns out that locality of data and code is important for performance. The experiments reported in the paper show that lazy control flow compilation is superior in both artificial and real life settings.
Reasoning and planning with sensing actions, incomplete information, and static causal laws using answer set programming
Authors: TU PHAN HUY , SON TRAN CAO , BARAL CHITTA 
Published: June 2007

AbstractWe extend the 0-approximation of sensing actions and incomplete information in Son and Baral (2001) to action theories with static causal laws and prove its soundness with respect to the possible world semantics. We also show that the conditional planning problem with respect to this approximation isNP-complete. We then present an answer set programming based conditional planner, called ASCP, that is capable of generating both conformant plans and conditional plans in the presence of sensing actions, incomplete information about the initial state, and static causal laws. We prove the correctness of our implementation and argue that our planner is sound and complete with respect to the proposed approximation. Finally, we present experimental results comparing ASCP to other planners.
Updates in answer set programming: An approach based on basic structural properties
Authors: OSORIO MAURICIO , CUEVAS VÍCTOR 
Published: June 2007

AbstractWe have studied the update operator ⊕1 defined for update sequences by Eiter et al. without tautologies and we have observed that it satisfies an interesting property. This property, which we call Weak Independence of Syntax (WIS), is similar to one of the postulates proposed by Alchourrón, Gärdenfors, and Makinson (AGM); only that in this case it applies to nonmonotonic logic. In addition, we consider other five additional basic properties about update programs and we show that ⊕1 satisfies them. This work continues the analysis of the AGM postulates with respect to the ⊕1 operator under a refined view that considers N2 as a monotonic logic which allows us to expand our understanding of answer sets. Moreover, N2 helped us to derive an alternative definition of ⊕1 avoiding the use of unnecessary extra atoms.
Promoter regions of many neural- and nutrition-related genes have experienced positive selection during human evolution
Authors: Haygood Ralph , Fedrigo Olivier , Hanson Brian , Yokoyama Ken-Daigoro , Wray Gregory 
Published: June 2007

AbstractSurveys of protein-coding sequences for evidence of positive selection in humans and chimpanzees have flagged surprisingly few genes known to be involved in neural or nutritional processes, despite the pronounced differences between humans and chimpanzees in behavior, cognition, and diet. It may be that most such differences are due to changes in gene regulation rather than protein structure. Here, we present the first survey of promoter (5'-flanking) regions, which are rich in cis-regulatory sequences, for signatures of positive selection in humans. Our results indicate that positive selection has targeted the regulation of many genes known to be involved in neural development and function, both in the brain and elsewhere in the nervous system, and in nutrition, particularly glucose metabolism.
An optimization structure for frictional plasticity
Authors: Chandler H.W , Sands C.M 
Published: June 2007

A theoretical framework of rigid plasticity is presented that is based on optimization and includes frictional dissipation. It has been used in this paper as a foundation for existing and modified models of granular materials consisting of rigid granules. It has the major advantage that it enables yield criteria to be created numerically, which is particularly useful when analytical expressions cannot be found. This framework is constructed by first postulating: (i) a dissipation function that can depend on the current components of stress, but is always homogeneous of degree one and positive definite, (ii) a volume constraint function that is also homogeneous of degree one, and (iii) a balance of the rate of doing work and the rate at which energy needs to be dissipated. A mathematical process similar to the construction of a dual norm in convex analysis then leads to: a flow rule; a single natural representation of the yield surface; and a useful constitutive inequality involving the components of stress and strain rate.
Dissipation functions appropriate for the Drucker–Prager and Matsuoka–Nakai yield surfaces are investigated when a simple dilation rule is the volume constraint. These include a case where an explicit expression for the yield function is not found and, instead, the yield function is found numerically. Such numerical yield functions have been checked graphically against carefully constructed envelopes and found to be consistent with them.
Ensemble climate simulations using a fully coupled ocean–troposphere–stratosphere general circulation model
Authors: Huebener H , Cubasch U , Langematz U , Spangehl T , Niehörster F , Fast I , Kunze M 
Published: June 2007

Long-term transient simulations are carried out in an initial condition ensemble mode using a global coupled climate model which includes comprehensive ocean and stratosphere components. This model, which is run for the years 1860–2100, allows the investigation of the troposphere–stratosphere interactions and the importance of representing the middle atmosphere in climate-change simulations.
The model simulates the present-day climate (1961–2000) realistically in the troposphere, stratosphere and ocean. The enhanced stratospheric resolution leads to the simulation of sudden stratospheric warmings; however, their frequency is underestimated by a factor of 2 with respect to observations.
In projections of the future climate using the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change special report on emissions scenarios A2, an increased tropospheric wave forcing counteracts the radiative cooling in the middle atmosphere caused by the enhanced greenhouse gas concentration. This leads to a more dynamically active, warmer stratosphere compared with present-day simulations, and to the doubling of the number of stratospheric warmings. The associated changes in the mean zonal wind patterns lead to a southward displacement of the Northern Hemisphere storm track in the climate-change signal.
The development of a knowledge sharing construct to predict turnover intentions
Authors: Jacobs Everd , Roodt Gert 
Published: June 2007

PurposeThe objective of this paper is to discuss the development of a knowledge sharing questionnaire and the role of knowledge sharing in predicting turnover intentions of registered professional nurses.Design/methodology/approachA literature study was conducted to determine the concepts and activities linked to knowledge sharing in order to compile a questionnaire. The questionnaire was factor analysed in order to determine the factor structure of the instrument. Thereafter, the construct of knowledge sharing was introduced together with organisational culture and various proposed mediating variables, namely organisational commitment, organisational citizenship behaviour and job satisfaction, as well as various demographic variables to develop a predictive model of turnover intentions through applying general linear modelling. A cross‐sectional field survey design was used with a sample of 530 registered professional nurses in South Africa.FindingsA knowledge‐sharing questionnaire was developed that yielded a high reliability coefficient. A significant negative relationship was found between knowledge sharing behaviour and turnover intentions. Furthermore, knowledge sharing interacted with organisational culture in a final model where all the selected mediating and demographic variables were simultaneously entered into the equation to predict turnover intentions.Research limitations/implicationsMore attention should be given to improve the content validity of the knowledge‐sharing questionnaire. The development of more knowledge sharing measures in different industries is also important.Practical implicationsEmployers should know that retention strategies of professional nurses can be built around opportunities to share knowledge if they manage the organisational culture in such a way that people are willing to share what they know. This emphasises the importance of the human being in effective knowledge management.Originality/valueThe development of the knowledge‐sharing questionnaire contributes to fill a gap of existing measures. It also focuses on the importance of tacit knowledge and that knowledge resides in the human minds of people. The value of a thorough literature overview in compiling questionnaires and applying general linear modelling in compiling predictive models are highly recommended.
A theoretical exploration of information behaviour: a power perspective
Authors: Mutshewa Athulang 
Published: June 2007

PurposeThe purpose of this article is to explore and propose a way of using power as a theoretical anchor to investigate the information behaviour of people in work roles.Design/methodology/approachThe paper reviews literature on power relevant to the information disciplines. Various models of power are described, and a more sophisticated view, which takes a relational approach to power, is used to suggest how information related behaviour could be investigated.FindingsIn this paper, power is regarded as a pervasive phenomenon involved in all aspects of individual lives, including the aspects emanating from work roles performed by individuals, thus manifesting itself as part of the relationships in the organisation. The paper suggests a framework that links information behaviour to power by arguing that power relations that form part of the processes of the work roles induce the information behaviour exhibited by those people. The paper concludes by pointing to a need for information behaviour researchers to consider power as central to understanding how people seek and use information.Originality/valueThe framework could be used as a tool for designing studies that will enable the collection of data on information behaviour.
Information seeking: an overview of web tracking and the criteria for tracking software
Authors: Fourie Ina , Bothma Theo 
Published: June 2007

PurposeThe purpose of this article is to alert researchers to software for web tracking of information seeking behaviour, and to offer a list of criteria that will make it easier to select software. A selection of research projects based on web tracking as well as the benefits and disadvantages of web tracking are also explored.Design/methodology/approachAn overview of the literature, including clarification of key concepts, a brief overview of studies of web information seeking behaviour based on web tracking, identification of software used, as well as the strengths and short‐comings noted for web tracking is used as a background to the identification of criteria for the selection of web tracking software.FindingsWeb tracking can offer very valuable information for the development of websites, portals, digital libraries, etc. It, however, needs to be supplemented by qualitative studies, and researchers need to ensure that the tracking software will collect the data required.Research limitations/implicationsThe criteria is not applied to any software in particular.Practical implicationsThe criteria can be used by researchers working on web usage and web information seeking behaviour to select suitable tracking software.Originality/valueAlthough there are many reports on the use of web tracking (also reported in this article), nothing could be traced on criteria for the evaluation of web tracking software.
Knowledge management in a multicultural environment: a South African perspective
Authors: King Nadene , Kruger Neels , Pretorius Jaco 
Published: June 2007

PurposeNumerous authors contend that there are dissimilarities in the way people, especially those from different cultural backgrounds, interpret or accept knowledge sharing. Ribiere and Sitar argue that, as a result of their educational systems, western cultures do not encourage a social exemplar of knowledge sharing. Yeh and Ma concur, arguing that western cultures are more likely to embrace values of self‐determination, independence and the attainment of personal interest. In contrast, Yang argues that Asian cultures nurture a sharing and teamwork environment or approach to activities. Very little is mentioned in literature about knowledge sharing in African cultures and/or African organisations. Specifically, not much is known regarding knowledge sharing in settings where the roles of dominance of one culture over another are reversed or neutralised, either by force or law, or by natural progression. The purpose of this paper is to address this issue.Design/methodology/approachBeing in the fortunate position of working for a culturally diversified multinational organisation based in South Africa, one of the authors was able to determine, on a first‐hand basis, how different cultural backgrounds impact upon knowledge sharing. In the organisation under review, research subjects' opinions on knowledge sharing, culture and other knowledge management (KM) issues were surveyed by means of a structured questionnaire consisting of 21 descriptive questions. Phenomenological research was chosen since it is a qualitative research method that attempts to understand participants' perspectives, perceptions and views of a phenomenon. The analysis that follows consists of descriptive statistics used for each question, as well as the testing of hypotheses regarding the relationships between explanatory and response variables.FindingsAs in other studies, cultural issues such as language proficiency, education and schooling, gender biases, age and work experience, were all found to influence the knowledge‐sharing inclination of individuals either directly or indirectly. However, when individuals have been exposed to past political turmoil leading to present empowerment policies such as affirmative action, knowledge distribution takes on a different dimension – one in which knowledge sharing becomes a power play. African individuals, irrespective of whether they are black or white, display much more of a sense of power in knowledge sharing than do their European counterparts.Originality/valueThe paper is of relevance to knowledge management practitioners, scholars and professionals interested in the sharing and management of knowledge in extremely diversified and multidimensional environments.