bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Cultural distance, investment flow, and control in cross‐border cooperation
Authors: Lee Seung‐Hyun , Shenkar Oded , Li Jiatao 
Published: April 2008

AbstractPrevious research analyzing the impact of cultural distance on joint venture negotiations has often confounded firm and environment effects. To decouple these effects, the cross‐border cooperation preferences of small and medium‐sized Korean firms were studied, considering simultaneously firms involved in inward and outward investment ventures. While cultural distance showed no significant relationship with the degree of control sought over the cooperative ventures, cultural distance was significantly related with a preference for ventures in domestic or foreign markets. The impact of cultural distance was found to be greater in inward investment than in outward investment. Copyright © 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Achieving accurate and context‐sensitive timing for code optimization
Authors: Whaley R. Clint , Castaldo Anthony M. 
Published: April 2008

AbstractKey computational kernels must run near their peak efficiency for most high‐performance computing (HPC) applications. Getting this level of efficiency has always required extensive tuning of the kernel on a particular platform of interest. The success or failure of an optimization is usually measured by invoking a timer. Understanding how to build reliable and context‐sensitive timers is one of the most neglected areas in HPC, and this results in a host of HPC software that looks good when reported in the papers, but delivers only a fraction of the reported performance when used by actual HPC applications. In this paper, we motivate the importance of timer design and then discuss the techniques and methodologies we have developed in order to accurately time HPC kernel routines for our well‐known empirical tuning framework, ATLAS. Copyright © 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Diagnosis and management of genitourinary prolapse
Authors: Adekanmi Olugbenga A. , Freeman Robert M. 
Published: April 2008

AbstractFemale genitourinary prolapse, or pelvic organ prolapse, is a common gynaecological problem, often associated with symptoms that do not correlate with the site and degree of prolapse. Although surgery is the mainstay of treatment, the patient should first be offered conservative treatment options. Adequate counselling is essential, as there is a risk of recurrence after surgery. Copyright © 2008 Wiley Interface Ltd
Squamous cell carcinoma in a patient with lichen sclerosus
Authors: Babu Chitra S. , Morgan Emile 
Published: April 2008

AbstractThe authors present the case of a man with squamous cell carcinoma arising from lichen sclerosus. This case highlights the importance of close follow‐up in all cases of lichen sclerosus in view of the small risk of malignant transformation. Copyright © 2008 Wiley Interface Ltd
Lubrication improvement and friction reduction of DLC‐coated sliding surfaces by in‐process structuring and post polishing
Authors: Andersson P. , Koskinen J. , Varjus S. , Kolehmainen J. , Tervakangas S. , Buss W. 
Published: April 2008

AbstractThe paper describes an experimental investigation on the influence of the surface roughness of diamond‐like hard carbon (DLC) coatings on the friction and wear in sliding contact against steel under conditions of starving lubrication. Experimental studies employed a reciprocating ball‐on‐flat tribometer in two different modes of operation. The study showed a micro‐lubrication effect in terms of lubrication assistance achieved by microscopic cavities in the topography of a DLC coating and good sliding behaviour even in the case of starving oil lubrication. Post‐process polishing of the coated surfaces was adopted for eliminating unnecessary friction losses due to asperity interactions and micro‐abrasive wear. Copyright © 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Chronic kidney disease after liver, cardiac, lung, heart–lung, and hematopoietic stem cell transplant
Authors: Hingorani Sangeeta 
Published: April 2008

AbstractPatient survival after cardiac, liver, and hematopoietic stem cell transplant (HSCT) is improving; however, this survival is limited by substantial pretransplant and treatment-related toxicities. A major cause of morbidity and mortality after transplant is chronic kidney disease (CKD). Although the majority of CKD after transplant is attributed to the use of calcineurin inhibitors, various other conditions such as thrombotic microangiopathy, nephrotic syndrome, and focal segmental glomerulosclerosis have been described. Though the immunosuppression used for each of the transplant types, cardiac, liver and HSCT is similar, the risk factors for developing CKD and the CKD severity described in patients after transplant vary. As the indications for transplant and the long-term survival improves for these children, so will the burden of CKD. Nephrologists should be involved early in the pretransplant workup of these patients. Transplant physicians and nephrologists will need to work together to identify those patients at risk of developing CKD early to prevent its development and progression to end-stage renal disease.
Effect of interannual variations in sea‐surface temperature on egg‐laying parameters of black‐tailed gulls (Larus crassirostris) at Teuri Island, Japan
Authors: Tomita Naoki , Niizuma Yasuaki , Takagi Masaoki , Ito Motohiro , Watanuki Yutaka 
Published: April 2008

AbstractSea‐surface temperature (SST) directly and indirectly affects the distribution and abundance of prey species for seabirds, so we expect variation in SST to be associated with variation in seabird life history traits. In black‐tailed gulls (Larus crassirostris) at Teuri Island in northern Hokkaido, Japan, we investigated the diet of the gulls prior to egg laying in 2004 and 2005, and examined the influences of SST in March or April, when the gulls congregate in the colony, on egg‐laying parameters using 13 years of data (1992–2004). The gulls fed on krill (Thysanoessa inermis) and fish prior to the egg laying. Mean first egg dates and clutch sizes were significantly and quadratically related to SST anomalies in March, but were not influenced by SST anomalies in April. There was no significant effect of SSTs in either March or April on egg volume. Sea‐surface temperature anomalies in March of the years of early laying (−1 to 1°C) were higher than those in 2001 (−2.2°C), but lower than those in 1992 (+1.2°C) and 2004 (+1.1°C). Thysanoessa inermis congregates to spawn at the sea surface, when SSTs rise 3−4°C. Thus, a mismatch between food availability and the timing of egg production in the gulls could have occurred in these 3 years. This study suggests that SST fluctuations prior to laying are important in breeding success of black‐tailed gulls.
A physically motivated approach for filtering acoustic waves from the equations governing compressible stratified flow
Authors: DURRAN DALE R. 
Published: April 2008

An incompressibility approximation is formulated for isentropic motions in a compressible stratified fluid by defining a pseudo-density ρ* and enforcing mass conservation with respect to ρ* instead of the true density. Using this approach, sound waves will be eliminated from the governing equations provided ρ* is an explicit function of the space and time coordinates and of entropy. By construction, isentropic pressure perturbations have no influence on the pseudo-density.A simple expression for ρ* is available for perfect gases that allows the approximate mass conservation relation to be combined with the unapproximated momentum and thermodynamic equations to yield a closed system with attractive energy conservation properties. The influence of pressure on the pseudo-density, along with the explicit (x,t) dependence of ρ* is determined entirely by the hydrostatically balanced reference state.Scale analysis shows that the pseudo-incompressible approximation is applicable to motions for which ${\cal M})$2 ≪ min(1,${\cal R})$2, where ${\cal M})$ is the Mach number and ${\cal R}$ the Rossby number. This assumption is easy to satisfy for small-scale atmospheric motions in which the Earth's rotation may be neglected and is also satisfied for quasi-geostrophic synoptic-scale motions, but not planetary-scale waves. This scaling assumption can, however, be relaxed to allow the accurate representation of planetary-scale motions if the pressure in the time-evolving reference state is computed with sufficient accuracy that the large-scale components of the pseudo-incompressible pressure represent small corrections to the total pressure, in which case the full solution to both the pseudo-incompressible and reference-state equations has the potential to accurately model all non-acoustic atmospheric motions.
Studying Perception
Authors: Lagerspetz Olli 
Published: April 2008

AbstractEmpirical studies of perception must use the logic of everyday non-technical conceptions of perception as their unquestioned background. This is because the phenomena to be studied are defined and individuated on the basis of such basic understanding. Thus the methods of neurobiology exclude reductionist accounts from the outset, implicitly if not explicitly. It is further argued that the concepts of neural and mental representation, while not confused per se, presuppose a general picture where perception as a whole is viewed in the light of teleology. References are made to discussions by Bennett and Hacker, Paul Churchland, and Peter Winch.
What's Wrong With Megalopsychia?
Authors: Sarch Alexander 
Published: April 2008

AbstractThis paper looks at two accounts of Aristotle's views on the virtue of megalopsychia. The first, defended by Christopher Cordner, commits Aristotle to two claims about the virtuous person that might seem unpalatable to modern readers. The second account, defended by Roger Crisp, does not commit Aristotle to these claims. Some might count this as an advantage of Crisp's account. However, I argue that Cordner's account, not Crisp's, is actually the better interpretation of Aristotle. Nonetheless, this does not ultimately spell trouble for Aristotle, since, as I argue, the claims that Cordner's account commits Aristotle to are, on closer inspection, not really problematic.
The Complexity of Wittgenstein's Methods
Authors: Harré Rom 
Published: April 2008

AbstractIn claiming to draw out an inconsistency between Wittgenstein's declarations on method and his actual practice, John Cook argues that Wittgenstein retained a radical distinction between material things (bricks) and immaterial things (spooks). I argue that on the contrary Wittgenstein showed in detail how this dichotomy is to be rejected in favour of a spectrum of more or less ‘minded' beings, at one pole of which are persons as animated bodies. Discussing the grammar of ‘know', Cook claims that Wittgenstein depended on philosophers' distinctions rather than a surview of vernacular uses. I argue that it was the expression/description distinction that Wittgenstein used to make sense of the grammar of ‘know'.
Protein folding and misfolding: mechanism and principles
Authors: Englander S. Walter , Mayne Leland , Krishna Mallela M. G. 
Published: April 2008

AbstractTwo fundamentally different views of how proteins fold are now being debated. Do proteins fold through multiple unpredictable routes directed only by the energetically downhill nature of the folding landscape or do they fold through specific intermediates in a defined pathway that systematically puts predetermined pieces of the target native protein into place? It has now become possible to determine the structure of protein folding intermediates, evaluate their equilibrium and kinetic parameters, and establish their pathway relationships. Results obtained for many proteins have serendipitously revealed a new dimension of protein structure. Cooperative structural units of the native protein, called foldons, unfold and refold repeatedly even under native conditions. Much evidence obtained by hydrogen exchange and other methods now indicates that cooperative foldon units and not individual amino acids account for the unit steps in protein folding pathways. The formation of foldons and their ordered pathway assembly systematically puts native-like foldon building blocks into place, guided by a sequential stabilization mechanism in which prior native-like structure templates the formation of incoming foldons with complementary structure. Thus the same propensities and interactions that specify the final native state, encoded in the amino-acid sequence of every protein, determine the pathway for getting there. Experimental observations that have been interpreted differently, in terms of multiple independent pathways, appear to be due to chance misfolding errors that cause different population fractions to block at different pathway points, populate different pathway intermediates, and fold at different rates. This paper summarizes the experimental basis for these three determining principles and their consequences. Cooperative native-likefoldon unitsand thesequential stabilizationprocess together generate predetermined stepwise pathways. Optional misfoldingerrors are responsible for 3-state and heterogeneous kinetic folding.
Defaults and indeterminacy in temporal grammaticalization: The ‘perfect’ road to perfective
Authors: Schwenter Scott A. , Cacoullos Rena Torres 
Published: April 2008

AbstractAdopting a grammaticalization path perspective on the envelope of variation, that is, the range of grammatical functions along the cross-linguistic perfect-to-perfective path, and employing the variationist comparative method, we compare use of the Present Perfect and Preterit in Mexican and Peninsular Spanish to identify the default past perfective form in each dialect. The linguistic conditioning of the variability provides evidence that the Present Perfect is becoming the default exponent of past perfective in Peninsular Spanish; in empirical terms, the default expression is the one appearing more frequently (combined effect of corrected mean and factor weight) in the most frequent and, crucially, the least specified contexts. The quantitative analysis of natural speech production—rather than elicited—data also suggests a different trajectory for perfect-to-perfective grammaticalization than the commonly assumed route via remoteness distinctions: the Present Perfect's shift from hodiernal to general perfective advances in temporally indeterminate past contexts.
Cell-cycle synchronization of fibroblasts derived from transgenic cloned cattle ear skin: effects of serum starvation, roscovitine and contact inhibition
Authors: Sun XiuZhu , Wang ShuHui , Zhang YunHai , Wang HaiPing , Wang LiLi , Ying Liu , Li Rong , Li Ning 
Published: April 2008

SummaryThe purpose of the present study was to evaluate the effects of serum-starvation, contact-inhibition and roscovitine treatments on cell-cycle synchronization at the G0/G1 stage of ear skin fibroblasts isolated from transgenic cloned cattle. The developmental competence of re-cloned embryos was also examined. Our results showed that the proportion of G0/G1 cells from the serum-starved group at 3, 4 or 5 days was significantly higher compared with 1 or 2 days only (91.5, 91.7 and 93.5% versus 90.1 and 88.8%, respectively, p < 0.05); whilst there was no statistical difference among cells at 3, 4 or 5 days. For roscovitine-treated cells, the proportion of G0/G1 cells at 2, 3, 4 or 5 days was significantly higher than those treated for 1 day only (91.1, 90.1, 89.4 and 91.3% versus 86.51%, respectively, p < 0.05). The proportion of contact-inhibited G0/G1 cells rose significantly with treatment time, but was similar at 3, 4 and 5 days (89.4, 90.4, 91.4, 91.6 and 92.1%, respectively, p < 0.05). The efficiency of obtaining G0/G1 phase cells was lower when roscovitine treatment was employed to synchronize the cell cycle compared with the serum-starvation and contact-inhibition methods (89.7 versus 91.1% and 91.0%, p < 0.05). Moreover, obvious differences were observed in the rate of fused couplets and blastocysts (89.88 ± 2.70 versus 87.40 ± 5.13; 44.10 ± 8.62 versus 58.38 ± 13.28, respectively, p < 0.05), when nuclear transfer embryos were reconstructed using donors cells that had been serum starved or contact inhibited for 3 days. Our data indicate that 3 day treatment is feasible for harvesting sufficient G0/G1 cells to produce re-cloned transgenic bovine embryos, regardless of whether serum-starvation, contact-inhibition or roscovitine treatments are used as the synchronization methods.
In vitro development of non-enucleated rat oocytes following microinjection of a cumulus nucleus and chemical activation
Authors: Fujii Wataru , Funahashi Hiroaki 
Published: April 2008

SummaryThe present study examined in vitro development and the cytological status of non-enucleated rat oocytes after microinjection of cumulus nuclei and chemical activation. Oocyte–cumulus complexes were collected from gonadotropin-treated prepubertal female Wistar rats 14 h after human chorionic gonadotropin (hCG) injection. Cumulus nuclei were injected into ovulated oocytes and then stimulated in the presence of 5 mM SrCl2 for 20 min at various time points (0–3.5 h) after injection. Some of the reconstituted eggs were cultured to observe the pronuclear formation, cleavage, and blastocyst formation. The incidences of eggs forming at least one pronucleus or containing two pronuclei were not significantly different among the periods (82.4–83.5% and 43.4–51.9%, respectively). Nor did the incidences of eggs cleaving (86.7–97.7%) and developing to the blastocyst stage (0–3.5%) differ depending on when, after injection, stimulation began. When some of the reconstituted eggs were observed for cytological morphology 1–1.5 h after injection, 71.7% of the eggs caused premature chromatin condensation, but only 46.2% of them formed two spindles around each of maternal and somatic chromatins. However, the morphology of the somatic spindles differed from that of the spindles, which formed around the oocyte chromatins. Only 7.5% of the eggs contained the normal chromosomal number. In many reconstituted oocytes, before activation, an abnormal spindle formation was observed in the somatic chromatins. In conclusion, these results show that non-enucleated rat oocytes injected with cumulus nuclei can form pronuclei and cleave following chemical activation, whereas blastocyst formation is very limited, probably caused by abnormalities in the spindle formation and distribution of somatic chromatids.
Interaction between embryos and culture conditions duringin vitrodevelopment of bovine early embryos
Authors: Nagao Yoshikazu , Iijima Rumi , Saeki Kazuhiro 
Published: April 2008

SummaryVarious factors such as embryo density and substances in the medium can influence embryo developmentin vitro. These factors and the embryos probably interact with each other, however the interactions are not fully understood. To investigate the interactions, we examined the effects of the number of embryos, drop size, oxygen concentration and glucose and inorganic phosphate in the medium during protein-free culture of bovine IVM/IVF embryos. In Experiment 1, different numbers of embryos were cultured in a 50 μl drop of medium. The frequencies of blastocyst development in the groups with 25, 50 and 100 embryos per drop were higher than in the other groups. One, five and 25 embryos were cultured in different drop sizes (Experiment 2), a 50 µl drop of medium at different O2concentrations (Experiment 3) and a 50 µl drop of medium excluding glucose and/or inorganic phosphate (Experiment 4). In Experiment 2, the size of the medium drops did not improve blastocyst development. In Experiment 3, the highest frequency of blastocyst development for one, five and 25 embryos per drop was obtained at 1, 2.5 and 5% O2, respectively. In Experiment 4, blastocyst development for one and five embryos per drop were improved in the medium excluded inorganic phosphate. These results indicate that there is a cooperative interaction among embryos during culture and that this interaction may be mediated by reduction of toxic factors in the medium. At low embryo density, reduced oxygen concentration or the exclusion of inorganic phosphate enhanced blastocyst development.
Involvement of GABAAreceptor inBufo arenarumoocyte maturation
Authors: Toranzo G. Sánchez , Zelarayán L. , Bonilla F. , Oterino J. , Bühler M.I. 
Published: April 2008

SummaryAmphibian oocytes meiotic arrest is released under the stimulus of progesterone; this hormone interacts with the oocyte surface and starts a cascade of events leading to the activation of a cytoplasmic maturation promoting factor (MPF) that induces germinal vesicle breakdown (GVBD), chromosome condensation and extrusion of the first polar body.The aim of this work was to determine whether the activation of a GABAAreceptor is able to induce GVBD in fully grown denuded oocytes ofBufo arenarumand to analyse its possible participation in progesterone-induced maturation. We also evaluated the role of purines and phospholipids in the maturation process induced by a GABAAreceptor agonist such as muscimol.Our results indicated that the activation of the GABAAreceptor by muscimol induces maturation in a dose- and time-dependent manner and that this activation is a genuine maturation that enables oocytes to form pronuclei. Assays with a receptor antagonist, picrotoxine, showed that the maturation induced by muscimol was inhibited. Treatment with picrotoxine, however, shows that the participation of GABAAreceptor in progesterone-induced maturation is not significant.In addition, our results indicate that high intracellular levels of purines obtained by the use of db-AMPc and theophylline or the inhibition of the phosphatidylinositol 4,5-bisphosphate (PIP2hydrolysis by neomycin and PIP2turn over by LiCl, respectively, inhibited the maturation induced by muscimol. Treatment with H-7 indicated, however, that PKC activation is not necessary for GVBD induced by the GABAAreceptor agonist. Results suggest that the transduction pathway used by the GABAAreceptor to induce maturation is different from those used by progesterone.
In vitroageing of pig oocytes: effects of the histone deacetylase inhibitor trichostatin A
Authors: Ješeta M. , Petr J. , Krejčová T. , Chmelíková E. , Jílek F. 
Published: April 2008

SummaryAfterin vitromaturation, the unfertilized pig oocytes underwent the process called ageing. This process involves typical events such as fragmentation, spontaneous parthenogenetic activation or lysis. Inhibition of histone deacetylase, using its specific inhibitor trichostatin A (TSA), significantly delayed the maturation of pig oocytes culturedin vitro. The ageing of oocytes matured under the effect of TSA is the same as the ageing in oocytes matured without TSA. The inhibition of histone deacetylase during oocyte ageing significantly reduced the percentage of fragmented oocytes (from 30% in untreated oocytes to 9% in oocytes aged under the effect of 100 nM of TSA). Oocytes maturedin vitroand subsequently aged for 1 day under the effects of TSA retained their developmental capacity. After parthenogenetic activation, a significantly higher portion (27% vs. 15%) of oocytes developed to the blastocyst stage after 24 h ageing under 100 nM TSA when compared with oocytes activated after 24 h ageing in a TSA-free medium. The parthenogenetic development in oocytes aged under TSA treatment is similar to the development of fresh oocytes (29% of blastocyst) artificially activated immediately afterin vitromaturation.