bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Mid- to late Quaternary environments and stratigraphy of the southern Sierra Leone shelf, West Africa
Authors: PEGLER E. A. 
Published: December 2007

The middle to upper Quaternary succession of the southern Sierra Leone shelf appears to have been deposited in response to three glacial sea-level cycles, the last of which has left the most complete sedimentary record. The unconformable base of the succession is deeply incised off larger rivers inshore but has little relief toward the shelf-break. This difference results from the steep gradient of the inner shelf and the gentle gradient of the valley's long profile. Incision was caused by high fluvial discharge during sea level fall. Decline of discharge and sediment supply during and after glacial maximum resulted in cessation of incision and in the formation of cemented beach ridges at the shelf-break.
The lowstand wedge of the last glacial cycle is well developed beyond the shelf-break and where the pre-existing shelf was deep. Where sampled it is deposited below wave-base. Its preservation is apparently the result of protection from wave and shelf-current action during regression. The subsequent transgressive wedge entirely dominates shelf deposition, infilling incised valleys, and contains vertically stacked fluvial, estuarine, littoral and sub-littoral elements. It is thin or absent beyond the shelf as a result of active oceanic currents hindering sedimentation. Active oceanic currents also result in only weak development of the highstand wedge. Energy regime, as represented by moderate shelf currents and variable fluvial discharge, has been the fundamental control on sediment architecture. Sediment supply has been of only secondary importance.
Real users, real results
Authors: Brown Elizabeth , Fisher Tony , Brailsford Tim 
Published: December 2007

This paper examines the current state of AEH (adaptive educational hypermedia) research into explicit learning style modelling for user personalisation. It addresses the problem of non-naïve test subjects, who are often in user trials, thus contributing to experimental bias. Instead, the authors suggest using "real people", i.e. users with a range of backgrounds and abilities, in order to gain a truer insight into evidence-based research.
We report on a study carried out with "real" users: around 80 children at a UK primary school. The study investigated sequential and global learning styles as a personalisation mechanism in an AEH system. The user trial involved matching and mismatching users and learning environments to see if learning improved. The AEH system used by the children was DEUS, a new e-learning platform that is conceptually similar to WHURLE, an AEH that also used learning styles as its user model.
No statistically significant differences were found between experimental groups, learning style preferences or learning environments. We discuss the significance of this, and then critically analyse the use of learning styles in relation to this study and also in the wider context.
Electrochemical Behavior of High Nitrogen Ni-Free Austenitic Stainless Steels in L929 Cells and Cell Culture Medium
Authors: Alvarez Kelly P. , Hyun S.K. , Nakajima H. , Fujimoto S. 
Published: December 2007

The localized corrosion behavior of high nitrogen Ni-free and Ni-reduced austenitic stainless steels in L929 mouse fibroblasts and cell culture medium (Eagle's minimum essential medium (MEM) supplemented with 10% fetal bovine serum (FBS)) was evaluated by electrochemical techniques in an	electrochemical cell culture corrosion cell. The positive effect of nitrogen alloying was evidenced. The examined high nitrogen Ni-free and Ni-reduced alloys resulted to be immune to pitting corrosion even in the presence of cells. Cell culture studies showed that high nitrogen lotus-type porous Ni-free and Ni-reduced stainless steels were non-cytotoxic to mouse	fibroblasts cell line. In this sense, they represent a better	alternative to other conventional stainless steels.
Treatments for Enhancing Calcium and Phosphorus on Titanium Oxide Formed by Micro-arc Oxidation
Authors: Chen Mao-Teh , Liu Jian-Hong , Lin Chao-Sung 
Published: December 2007

Anodic oxidation of titanium in the solution containing calcium (Ca) and phosphorus (P) compounds can prepare a Ca- and P-containing oxide film. However, during the	galvanostatic anodizing process, both the porous inner layer	formed prior to sparks and the crater-containing overlay formed with sparks resulted in decreasing the adhesion of the anodic film. Higher anodizing voltage can enhance the contents of Ca and P in the anodic film, yet leads to the	adhesion decrease problem. Simulated body fluid (SBF)	immersion after anodic oxidation in this study was reported to be able to increase the contents of Ca and P in the anodic film, and alkali- and heat-treatment (AHT) before SBF immersion further accelerated the reactions in SBF. Both the chemical and physical properties of the layer on the titanium specimen were optimized via these treatments above.
Profile Measurements of Microscratches Remaining on Polished Si(001) Wafers
Authors: Shigetoshi Takushi , Inoue Haruyuki , Kawashima Tsukasa , Hirokane Takaaki , Kataoka Toshihiko , Morita Mizuho , Arima Kenta 
Published: December 2007

We investigate the cross-sectional profile of microscratches remaining on a Si(001) wafer surface by a combination of laser light scattering and atomic force microscopy (AFM). AFM observations reveal that most microscratches detected by laser	light scattering are very shallow trenches with widths and depths of 80-200 nm and 0.10-0.20 nm, respectively. A ridge- shaped structure with a height of 0.10 nm is also found.	These results demonstrate that the combined method of laser light scattering with AFM enables us to not only detect atomic- scale defects on a Si wafer, but to also speculate when	microscratches are formed during chemical mechanical polishing (CMP) processes.
Tuning the Removal Rate of Carbon Doped Oxide during Chemical Mechanical Polishing
Authors: Liu Zhendong , Bian Jinru 
Published: December 2007

Most integration schemes require CMP barrier slurries to have high SiO2 and tunable carbon doped oxide (CDO) removal rates (RR). An additive, T, is able to enhance the SiO2 rate at low pH, but greatly suppressed the CDO RR at the concentration providing maximum SiO2 RR. With the addition of another additive, Z or P, the CDO rate could be tuned upward while not affecting the SiO2 RR substantially. Additives Z and P are anionic surfactants with short to intermediate chain length. They are effective only in the presence of T, which suggests a synergistic effect between the additives.	Contact angle	studies and SIMS analysis indicate that in the presence of T,	Z was adsorbed only on SiO2, but not on CDO. Without T in the	slurry, Z could not be adsorbed on either film. It was proposed that the adsorption of Z onto silica abrasive made	the colloidal silica particle more hydrophobic, leading to greatly enhanced impact on the hydrophobic CDO sur face.
TaMSH7: A cereal mismatch repair gene that affects fertility in transgenic barley (Hordeum vulgare L.)
Authors: Lloyd Andrew H , Milligan Andrew S , Langridge Peter , Able Jason A 
Published: December 2007

Abstract

Background
Chromosome pairing, recombination and DNA repair are essential processes during meiosis in sexually reproducing organisms. Investigating the bread wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) Ph2 (Pairing homoeologous) locus has identified numerous candidate genes that may have a role in controlling such processes, including TaMSH7, a plant specific member of the DNA mismatch repair family.

Results
Sequencing of the three MSH7 genes, located on the short arms of wheat chromosomes 3A, 3B and 3D, has revealed no significant sequence divergence at the amino acid level suggesting conservation of function across the homoeogroups. Functional analysis of MSH7 through the use of RNAi loss-of-function transgenics was undertaken in diploid barley (Hordeum vulgare L.). Quantitative real-time PCR revealed several T0 lines with reduced MSH7 expression. Positive segregants from two T1 lines studied in detail showed reduced MSH7 expression when compared to transformed controls and null segregants. Expression of MSH6, another member of the mismatch repair family which is most closely related to the MSH7 gene, was not significantly reduced in these lines. In both T1 lines, reduced seed set in positive segregants was observed.

Conclusion
Results presented here indicate, for the first time, a distinct functional role for MSH7 in vivo and show that expression of this gene is necessary for wild-type levels of fertility. These observations suggest that MSH7 has an important function during meiosis and as such remains a candidate for Ph2.
The global distribution of fatal pesticide self-poisoning: Systematic review
Authors: Gunnell David , Eddleston Michael , Phillips Michael R , Konradsen Flemming 
Published: December 2007

AbstractBackgroundEvidence is accumulating that pesticide self-poisoning is one of the most commonly used methods of suicide worldwide, but the magnitude of the problem and the global distribution of these deaths is unknown.MethodsWe have systematically reviewed the worldwide literature to estimate the number of pesticide suicides in each of the World Health Organisation's six regions and the global burden of fatal self-poisoning with pesticides. We used the following data sources: Medline, EMBASE and psycINFO (1990–2007), papers cited in publications retrieved, the worldwide web (using Google) and our personal collections of papers and books. Our aim was to identify papers enabling us to estimate the proportion of a country's suicides due to pesticide self-poisoning.ResultsWe conservatively estimate that there are 258,234 (plausible range 233,997 to 325,907) deaths from pesticide self-poisoning worldwide each year, accounting for 30% (range 27% to 37%) of suicides globally. Official data from India probably underestimate the incidence of suicides; applying evidence-based corrections to India's official data, our estimate for world suicides using pesticides increases to 371,594 (range 347,357 to 439,267). The proportion of all suicides using pesticides varies from 4% in the European Region to over 50% in the Western Pacific Region but this proportion is not concordant with the volume of pesticides sold in each region; it is the pattern of pesticide use and the toxicity of the products, not the quantity used, that influences the likelihood they will be used in acts of fatal self-harm.ConclusionPesticide self-poisoning accounts for about one-third of the world's suicides. Epidemiological and toxicological data suggest that many of these deaths might be prevented if (a) the use of pesticides most toxic to humans was restricted, (b) pesticides could be safely stored in rural communities, and (c) the accessibility and quality of care for poisoning could be improved.
Resource allocation of in vitro fertilization: a nationwide register-based cohort study
Authors: Klemetti Reija , Gissler Mika , Sevón Tiina , Hemminki Elina 
Published: December 2007

Abstract
Background
Infertility is common and in vitro fertilization (IVF) is a widely used treatment. In IVF the need increases and the effectiveness and appropriateness decrease by age. The purpose of this study was to describe allocation of resources for IVF by women's age, socioeconomic position, area of residence and treatment sector (public vs. private) and to discuss how fairly the IVF resources are allocated in Finland.

Methods
Women who received IVF between 1996 and 1998 (N = 9175) were identified from the reimbursement records of the Social Insurance Institution (SII). Information on IVF women's background characteristics came from the Central Population Register and the SII, on treatment costs from IVF clinics and the SII, and on births from the Medical Birth Register. The main outcome measures were success of IVF by number of cycles and treated women, expenditures per IVF cycles, per women, per live-birth, and per treatment sector, and private and public expenditures. Expenditures were estimated from health care visits and costs.

Results
During a mean period of 1.5 years, older women (women aged 40 or older) received 1.4 times more IVF treatment cycles than younger women (women aged below 30). The success rate decreased by age: from 22 live births per 100 cycles among younger women to 6 per 100 among older women. The mean cost of a live birth increased by age: compared to younger women, costs per born live birth of older women were 3-fold. Calculated by population, public expenditure was allocated most to young women and women from the highest socioeconomic position. Regional differences were not remarkable.

Conclusion
Children of older infertile women involve more expense due to the lower success rates of IVF. Socioeconomic differences suggest unfair resource allocation in Finland.
Oral health service utilization by elderly beneficiaries of the Mexican Institute of Social Security in México city
Authors: Sánchez-García Sergio , de la Fuente-Hernández Javier , Juárez-Cedillo Teresa , Mendoza José Manuel Ortega , Reyes-Morales Hortensia , Solórzano-Santos Fortino , García-Peña Carmen 
Published: December 2007

Abstract

Background
The aging population poses a challenge to Mexican health services. The aim of this study is to describe recent oral health services utilization and its association with socio-demographic characteristics and co-morbidity in Mexican Social Security beneficiaries 60 years and older.

Methods
A sample of 700 individuals aged 60+ years was randomly chosen from the databases of the Mexican Institute of Social Security (IMSS). These participants resided in the southwest of Mexico City and made up the final sample of a cohort study for identifying risk factors for root caries in elderly patients. Sociodemographic variables, presence of cognitive decline, depression, morbidity, medication consumption, and utilization of as well as reasons for seeking oral health services within the past 12 months were collected through a questionnaire. Clinical oral assessments were carried out to determine coronal and root caries experience.

Results
The sample consisted of 698 individuals aged 71.6 years on average, of whom 68.3% were women. 374 participants (53.6%) had made use of oral health services within the past 12 months. 81% of those who used oral health services sought private medical care, 12.8% sought social security services, and 6.2% public health services. 99.7% had experienced coronal caries and 44.0% root caries. Female sex (OR = 2.0), 6 years' schooling or less (OR = 1.4), and caries experience in more than 22 teeth (OR = 0.6) are factors associated with the utilization of these services.

Conclusion
About half the elderly beneficiaries of social security have made use of oral health services within the past 12 months, and many of them have to use private services. Being a woman, having little schooling, and low caries experience are factors associated with the use of these services.
Genomic and gene regulatory signatures of cryptozoic adaptation: Loss of blue sensitive photoreceptors through expansion of long wavelength-opsin expression in the red flour beetle Tribolium castaneum
Authors: Jackowska Magdalena , Bao Riyue , Liu Zhenyi , McDonald Elizabeth C , Cook Tiffany A , Friedrich Markus 
Published: December 2007

Abstract

Background
Recent genome sequence analysis in the red flour beetle Tribolium castaneum indicated that this highly crepuscular animal encodes only two single opsin paralogs: a UV-opsin and a long wavelength (LW)-opsin; however, these animals do not encode a blue (B)-opsin as most other insects. Here, we studied the spatial regulation of the Tribolium single LW- and UV-opsin gene paralogs in comparison to that of the five opsin paralogs in the retina of Drosophila melanogaster.

Results

In situ hybridization analysis reveals that the Tribolium retina, in contrast with other insect retinas, constitutes a homogenous field of ommatidia that have seven LW-opsin expressing photoreceptors and one UV-/LW-opsin co-expressing photoreceptor per eye unit. This pattern is consistent with the loss of photoreceptors sensitive to blue wavelengths. It also identifies Tribolium as the first example of a species in insects that co-expresses two different opsins across the entire retina in violation of the widely observed "one receptor rule" of sensory cells.

Conclusion
Broader studies of opsin evolution in darkling beetles and other coleopteran groups have the potential to pinpoint the permissive and adaptive forces that played a role in the evolution of vision in Tribolium castaneum.
Perspectives on Olfactory Processing, Conscious Perception, and Orbitofrontal Cortex
Authors: SHEPHERD GORDON M. 
Published: December 2007

Abstract:
The orbitofrontal cortex receives inputs from all the major sensory pathways, but olfaction is the only pathway that projects directly to it. We discuss several unique properties with which this is associated. Olfactory stimuli are converted into spatial images, varying in time, in the olfactory bulb, which are processed by the olfactory cortex for input to orbitofrontal cortex. The input from olfactory cortex to orbitofrontal cortex is mostly direct, though some fibers project through mediodorsal thalamus in some species. Studies are needed to determine the specific contributions of olfactory cortex and orbitofrontal cortex to conscious smell perception. A major challenge to the field is accounting for how conscious perception of this sense is coordinated with conscious perceptions of the other major senses, which are known to depend on thalamocortical circuits. The fact that the primary olfactory area at the neocortical level is embedded in the multisensory region of the orbitofrontal cortex indicates that at this level smell perception is heavily influenced by other senses, particularly related to food flavors through retronasal smell, which is being documented in experimental studies in rodents, nonhuman primates, and humans. Also requiring clarification is how behavioral modulation at each step of processing of the odor images is coordinated. In sum, the orbitofrontal cortex is emerging as the next frontier in understanding the neural basis of smell.
Control of Estradiol-Directed Gene Transactivation by an Intracellular Estrogen-Binding Protein and an Estrogen Response Element-Binding Protein
Authors: Chen Hong , Hewison Martin , Adams John S. 
Published: December 2007

AbstractNew World primates exhibit a form of resistance to estrogens that is associated with overexpression of an estrogen response element (ERE)-binding protein (ERE-BP) and an intracellular estradiol (E2)-binding protein (IEBP). Both proteins suppress E2-mediated transcription when overexpressed in estrogen receptor-α (ERα)-positive cells. Although ERE-BP acts as a competitor for ERE occupancy by liganded ERα, the function of IEBP and its human homolog, heat-shock protein 27 (hsp27), is less clear. In data presented here, we have used E2-responsive human MCF-7 breast cancer cells to show that IEBP/hsp27 can regulate estrogen signaling as a cytosolic decoy for E2 and as a protein chaperone for ERα. Furthermore, co-immunoprecipitation, colocalization, yeast two-hybrid, and glutathione S-transferase pull-down analyses indicate that IEBP/hsp27 also interacts with ERE-BP to form a dynamic complex that appears to cycle between the cytoplasm and nucleus during normal estrogen signaling. Overexpression of either IEBP/hsp27 or ERE-BP in MCF-7 cells resulted in abnormal subcellular distribution of the IEBP/hsp27 and ERE-BP, with concomitant dysregulation of ERE occupancy as determined by chromatin immunoprecipitation. We hypothesize that IEBP/hsp27 and ERE-BP not only cause hormone resistance in New World primates but are also crucial to normal estrogen signaling in human cells. This appears to involve a physical association between the two proteins to form a complex that is able to interact with both E2 and ERα in cytosolic and nuclear compartments.
Microstructural Features in Aged Erbium Tritide Films
Authors: Gelles D. S. , Brewer L. N. , Kotula P. G. , Cowgill D. F. , Busick C. C. , Snow C. S. 
Published: December 2007

Abstract
Erbium is used as a storage medium for tritium. Microstructural study of helium bubble generation from tritium decay in erbium tritide can provide an unusual example of bubble development with negligible radiation damage. Aged erbium tritide film specimens were found to contain five distinctly different microstructural features. The general structure was of large columnar grains of ErT2. But on a fine scale, precipitates believed to be erbium oxy-tritides and helium bubbles could be identified. The precipitate size was in the range of ∼10 nm and the bubbles were of an unusual planar shape on {111} planes with an invariant thickness of ∼1 nm and a diameter on the order of 10 nm. Also, an outer layer containing no fine precipitate structure and only a few helium bubbles were present on the films. This layer is best described as a denuded zone which probably grew during aging in air. Finally, large embedded Er2O3 particles were found at low density and nonuniformly distributed, but sometimes extending through the thickness of the film. A failure mechanism allowing the helium to escape is suggested by observed cracking between bubbles closer to end of life.
Adsorption and kinetic desorption study of 152+154Eu(III) on multiwall carbon nanotubes from aqueous solution by using chelating resin and XPS methods
Authors: Tan X. L. , Xu D. , Chen C. L. , Wang X. K. , Hu W. P. 
Published: December 2007

Multiwall carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs) have been pretreated with HNO3 and used for the adsorption of radionuclide 152+154Eu(III) from aqueous solutions. The effects of pH (2–12), ionic strength (0.01 M and 0.1 M NaClO4) and radionuclide 152+154Eu(III) solution concentrations (10-8–10-5 mol/L) on the adsorption of 152+154Eu(III) on MWCNTs were investigated. The experiments were carried out at 25±2 °C and under atmosphere conditions. Adsorption of 152+154Eu(III) on MWCNTs increases significantly with increasing pH at pH <6, and over 96% 152+154Eu(III) are adsorbed on MWCNTs at pH >6. Strong surface complexation and/or chemisorptions are considered as the main adsorption mechanism. The sorption was also characterized by using high resolution XPS spectra. The results show that MWCNTs can be a promising candidate of adsorbent for preconcentration of lanthanides from large volumes in radioactive nuclear waste management.