bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Effectiveness of buzz pollination in Pedicularis chamissonis: significance of multiple visits by bumblebees
Authors: Kawai Yuka , Kudo Gaku 
Published: April 2008

AbstractPollination success of plants is highly susceptible to the frequency of visits and foraging behavior of pollinators. Pollination of the nectarless flowers of Pedicularis species depends on bumblebee workers collecting pollen by vibrating the anthers (buzz pollination). However, little is known about the efficiency of the pollination system. Foraging behavior, pollen removal from anthers and pollen deposition on stigmas of P. chamissonis were studied to assess the effectiveness of buzz pollination in an alpine snowbed population of northern Japan. Although bumblebees tended to visit most of the flowers open at a given time within inflorescences during a single visit, pollen removal rate at the first visit was about 20%, and buzzing period decreased with increasing number of previous visits, resulting in a decreasing proportion of pollen removed per visit as the number of visits increased. These trends enable plants to provide pollen for more pollinators. The number of pollen grains deposited on stigmas was not saturated during the first visit and increased with additional visits. Irrespective of weak self‐compatibility, evidence of interference between self and outcross pollen was lacking for seed production. Therefore, buzz pollination in P. chamissonis acts as a mechanism that improves the chance of cross‐pollination upon multiple visits if pollinator visitation is frequent.
Catastrophizing about their children's pain is related to higher parent–child congruency in pain ratings: An experimental investigation
Authors: Goubert L. , Vervoort T. , Cano A. , Crombez G. 
Published: April 2008

ABSTRACTLittle is known about the variables that account for why parents underestimate the pain of their child. In the present experiment, the joint impact of parental catastrophizing about their child's pain and children's facial pain expressions was examined upon pain estimates of their child undergoing a pressure pain test. In line with previous research, parents underestimated their children's pain. Interestingly, it was found that pain was estimated as higher when the child showed more facial pain expressions and when parents catastrophized more about their child's pain. An intriguing finding was that catastrophizing about their child's pain was related to less parent–child incongruence in pain ratings. The discussion addresses the possible functions of catastrophizing of parents about their children's pain, and delineates avenues for future research.
A structured review of the evidence for pacing as a chronic pain intervention
Authors: Gill Joanna R. , Brown Cary A. 
Published: April 2008

ABSTRACTPacing as an intervention appears with great regularity in the chronic pain management literature and yet what service providers actually mean by pacing is unclear and poorly defined. This short communication reports the findings of a structured review of the literature which examined the strength of the evidence for pacing as an intervention for people with chronic pain. The McMaster critical review guidelines were followed and the relevant electronic databases were searched. Findings revealed a paucity of outcome studies specific to pacing as an intervention. Although background literature demonstrates that pacing is often one part of a multidisciplinary intervention program, the research conducted on these programs presents pacing itself as an ill‐ or undefined construct. It is evident from this review that “pacing,” while a widely employed term, lacks consensus of definition and a demonstrable evidence‐base.
Finding the political in Myanmar, a.k.a. Burma
Authors: Taylor Robert H. 
Published: April 2008

AbstractThe study of the political in Myanmar over the past 200 years has been conducted in circumstances and with methods that have resulted in only partial and often unsatisfactory outcomes. Difficulties of accessing data and problems in its analysis have forced analysts to seek to understand Myanmar's politics often through informed hunches from a comparative perspective. As the field has grown, it has also become somewhat more politicised and there is a necessity to be analytically self-critical in order to avoid making ‘facts’ fit theories.
Predictors of outcome in first-episode schizophrenia over the first 4 years of illness
Authors: Whitty P. , Clarke M. , McTigue O. , Browne S. , Kamali M. , Kinsella A. , Larkin C. , O'Callaghan E. 
Published: April 2008

BackgroundThe outcome of schizophrenia appears to be more favourable than once thought. However, methodological issues, including the reliance on diagnosis at first presentation have limited the validity of outcome studies to date.MethodWe conducted a first-episode follow-up study of 97 patients with DSM-IV schizophrenia over the first 4 years of illness. First presentation and follow-up assessments were compared using pairedttests and a forced-entry regression analysis was used to determine prognostic variables.ResultsThere were significant improvements in positive and negative symptoms and global assessment of functioning between first presentation and follow-up. At first presentation, fewer negative symptoms (t=−3.40,p<0.01), more years spent in education (t=3.25,p<0.01), and a shorter duration of untreated psychosis (DUP) (t=−2.77,p<0.01) significantly predicted a better outcome at follow-up.ConclusionsThe outcome of schizophrenia may not be as pessimistic as once thought and most patients did not display a downward deteriorating course of illness. This study supports the relationship between DUP and outcome beyond the early stages of illness.
Central coherence in eating disorders: a systematic review
Authors: Lopez C. , Tchanturia K. , Stahl D. , Treasure J. 
Published: April 2008

BackgroundThis review systematically appraised the research evidence for localversusglobal information processing to test the hypothesis that people with eating disorders (ED) had weak central coherence.MethodSearches on Medline, EMBASE, PsycINFO and ISI Web of Science databases were conducted in November 2006 and subsequently updated in September 2007. Each search was conducted in two steps: (1) neuropsychological tasks measuring central coherence and (2) words related to cognitive functioning in eating disorders. Data were summarized in a meta-analysis if the number of studies for a given test was >5.ResultsData were extracted from 16 studies. Meta-analyses were conducted for four tasks obtaining moderate effect sizes. The majority of studies found global processing difficulties across the ED spectrum. The results are less clear regarding local processing.ConclusionsPeople with ED have difficulties in global processing. It is less certain as to whether they have superior local processing. Currently, there is insufficient evidence to refute the weak central coherence hypothesis.
Dimension of some non-normal continued fraction sets
Authors: LIAO LINGMIN , MA JIHUA , WANG BAOWEI 
Published: April 2008

AbstractWe consider certain sets of non-normal continued fractions for which the asymptotic frequencies of digit strings oscillate in one or other ways. The Hausdorff dimensions of these sets are shown to be the same value 1/2 as long as they are non-empty. An interesting example among them is the set of “extremely non-normal continued fractions” which was previously conjectured to be of Hausdorff dimension 0.
FReD: The floral reflectance spectra database
Authors: Arnold Sarah , Savolainen Vincent , Chittka Lars 
Published: April 2008

AbstractFloral reflectance measurements are of great value to researchers who need consider the real colour of flowers, for example in the context of how the flowers appear to their pollinators. We have thus developed the Floral Reflectance Database (FReD) to assist these researchers, gathering together floral reflectance data in a publicly available, searchable online database. The first version of the database is now available online at "http://www.reflectance.co.uk":http://www.reflectance.co.uk. We anticipate that this resource will be of interest to researchers working on flower colour and animal vision.
Expected Test Scores for Preschoolers With a Cochlear Implant Who Use Spoken Language
Authors: Nicholas Johanna G. , Geers Ann E. 
Published: April 2008

Purpose
The major purpose of this study was to provide information about expected spoken language skills of preschool-age children who are deaf and who use a cochlear implant. A goal was to provide “benchmarks” against which those skills could be compared, for a given age at implantation. We also examined whether parent-completed checklists of children’s language were correlated with results of standardized language tests and whether scores increased linearly with decreasing age of implantation and increasing duration of cochlear implant use.

Method
Participants were a nationwide sample of 76 children who were deaf and orally educated and who received an implant by 38 months of age. Formal language tests were administered at age 4.5 years. The MacArthur–Bates Communicative Development Inventories (CDI) instrument was completed by parents when children were ages 3.5 and 4.5 years.

Results
Based on regression analyses, expected scores for each age at implant were provided for 2 commonly administered language tests at 4.5 years of age and CDI subscale scores at 3.5 and 4.5 years. Concurrent test scores were significantly correlated on all measures. A linear relation was found that predicted increasing test scores with younger ages at implantation for all scales administered.

Conclusions
While the expected scores reported here should not be considered as normative data, they are benchmarks that may be useful for evaluating spoken language progress of children with cochlear implants who are enrolled in spoken language–based programs.
A Phase II Trial of Telehealth Delivery of the Lidcombe Program of Early Stuttering Intervention
Authors: Lewis Christine , Packman Ann , Onslow Mark , Simpson Judy M. , Jones Mark 
Published: April 2008

Purpose
The aims of this study were to evaluate the efficacy of telehealth delivery of the Lidcombe Program of Early Stuttering Intervention, compared with a control group, and to determine the number of children who could be regarded as “responders.”

Method
A speech-language pathologist provided telehealth delivery of the Lidcombe Program during telephone consultations with parents in their homes, remote from the clinic. The study design was an open plan, parallel group, randomized controlled trial with blinded outcome assessment. Children in the no-treatment control group who were still stuttering after 9 months then received the same treatment. The primary outcome measure was frequency of stuttering, gathered from audiotape recordings of participants' conversational speech in everyday, nontreatment situations, before and after treatment.

Results

Analysis of covariance showed a 73% decrease in frequency of stuttering at 9 months after randomization in the treatment group, as compared with the control group (95% confidence interval = 25%–90%,
p
= .02). Measures of treatment time showed that telehealth delivery of the Lidcombe Program requires around 3 times more resources than standard presentation.

Conclusions
Telehealth delivery of the Lidcombe Program is an efficacious treatment for preschool children who cannot receive the standard, clinic-based Lidcombe Program. Avenues for improving efficiency are considered.
The Role of Color Cues in Facilitating Accurate and Rapid Location of Aided Symbols by Children With and Without Down Syndrome
Authors: Wilkinson Krista , Carlin Michael , Thistle Jennifer 
Published: April 2008

PurposeThis research examined how the color distribution of symbols within a visual aided augmentative and alternative communication array influenced the speed and accuracy with which participants with and without Down syndrome located a target picture symbol.MethodEight typically developing children below the age of 4 years, 8 typically developing children over the age of 4 years, and 10 children with Down syndrome participated. Participants were asked to find a target line drawing among an array of 12. Line drawings represented either foods (e.g., grapes, cherries), clothing (e.g., a red shirt, a yellow shirt), or activities (e.g., soccer, swimming). In one condition, symbols that shared a color were clustered together, creating a subgroup within which to search. In another condition, symbols that shared a color were distributed across the display, allowing each to appear individually. Dependent measures were accuracy and speed of finding the target symbol.ResultsClustering same-color symbols facilitated the speed of locating the target for all participants, and facilitated search accuracy in the younger preschool children and participants with Down syndrome. These effects held when targets were foods, clothing, or activities.ConclusionClinicians should consider the internal color of visual symbols when constructing aided symbol displays, at least for children with Down syndrome. Further research is needed on a number of dimensions, however, including visual processing in other etiological categories, the role of background color, and the relation of color to other stimulus dimensions.
nuScore: a web-interface for nucleosome positioning predictions
Authors: Tolstorukov Michael Y. , Choudhary Vidhu , Olson Wilma K. , Zhurkin Victor B. , Park Peter J. 
Published: April 2008

Abstract
Summary: Sequence-directed mapping of nucleosome positions is of major biological interest. Here, we present a web-interface for estimation of the affinity of the histone core to DNA and prediction of nucleosome arrangement on a given sequence. Our approach is based on assessment of the energy cost of imposing the deformations required to wrap DNA around the histone surface. The interface allows the user to specify a number of options such as selecting from several structural templates for threading calculations and adding random sequences to the analysis.
Availability: The nuScore interface is freely available for use at http://compbio.med.harvard.edu/nuScore.
Contact: peter_park@harvard.edu; tolstorukov@gmail.com
Supplementary information: The site contains user manual, description of the methodology and examples.
jSquid: a Java applet for graphical on-line network exploration
Authors: Klammer Martin , Roopra Sanjit , Sonnhammer Erik L. L. 
Published: April 2008

Abstract
Summary: jSquid is a graph visualization tool for exploring graphs from protein–protein interaction or functional coupling networks. The tool was designed for the FunCoup web site, but can be used for any similar network exploring purpose. The program offers various visualization and graph manipulation techniques to increase the utility for the user.
Availability: jSquid is available for direct usage and download at http://jSquid.sbc.su.se including source code under the GPLv3 license, and input examples. It requires Java version 5 or higher to run properly.
Contact: erik.sonnhammer@sbc.su.se
Supplementary information: Supplementary data are available at Bioinformatics online.
Bacterioferritin from Mycobacterium smegmatis contains zinc in its di‐nuclear site
Authors: Janowski Robert , Auerbach‐Nevo Tamar , Weiss Manfred S. 
Published: April 2008

AbstractBacterioferritins, also known as cytochrome b 1, are oligomeric iron‐storage proteins consisting of 24 identical amino acid chains, which form spherical particles consisting of 24 subunits and exhibiting 432 point‐group symmetry. They contain one haem b molecule at the interface between two subunits and a di‐nuclear metal binding center. The X‐ray structure of bacterioferritin from Mycobacterium smegmatis (Ms‐Bfr) was determined to a resolution of 2.7 Å in the monoclinic space group C2. The asymmetric unit of the crystals contains 12 protein molecules: five dimers and two half‐dimers located along the crystallographic twofold axis. Unexpectedly, the di‐nuclear metal binding center contains zinc ions instead of the typically observed iron ions in other bacterioferritins.
Toward chaperone‐assisted crystallography: Protein engineering enhancement of crystal packing and X‐ray phasing capabilities of a camelid single‐domain antibody (VHH) scaffold
Authors: Tereshko Valentina , Uysal Serdar , Koide Akiko , Margalef Katrina , Koide Shohei , Kossiakoff Anthony A. 
Published: April 2008

AbstractA crystallization chaperone is an auxiliary protein that binds to a target of interest, enhances and modulates crystal packing, and provides high‐quality phasing information. We critically evaluated the effectiveness of a camelid single‐domain antibody (VHH) as a crystallization chaperone. By using a yeast surface display system for VHH, we successfully introduced additional Met residues in the core of the VHH scaffold. We identified a set of SeMet‐labeled VHH variants that collectively produced six new crystal forms as the complex with the model antigen, RNase A. The crystals exhibited monoclinic, orthorhombic, triclinic, and tetragonal symmetry and have one or two complexes in the asymmetric unit, some of which diffracted to an atomic resolution. The phasing power of the Met‐enriched VHH chaperone allowed for auto‐building the entire complex using single‐anomalous dispersion technique (SAD) without the need for introducing SeMet into the target protein. We show that phases produced by combining SAD and VHH model‐based phases are accurate enough to easily solve structures of the size reported here, eliminating the need to collect multiple wavelength multiple‐anomalous dispersion (MAD) data. Together with the presence of high‐throughput selection systems (e.g., phage display libraries) for VHH, the enhanced VHH domain described here will be an excellent scaffold for producing effective crystallization chaperones.
Frequent silencing of a putative tumor suppressor gene melatonin receptor 1 A (MTNR1A) in oral squamous‐cell carcinoma
Authors: Nakamura Erina , Kozaki Ken‐ichi , Tsuda Hitoshi , Suzuki Emina , Pimkhaokham Atiphan , Yamamoto Gou , Irie Tarou , Tachikawa Tetsuhiko , Amagasa Teruo , Inazawa Johji , Imoto Issei 
Published: April 2008

Array‐based comparative genomic hybridization (array‐CGH) has good potential for the high‐throughput identification of genetic aberrations in cell genomes. In the course of a program to screen a panel of 21 oral squamous‐cell carcinoma (OSCC) cell lines for genome‐wide copy‐number aberrations by array‐CGH using our in‐house bacterial artificial chromosome arrays, we identified a frequent homozygous deletion at 4q35 loci with approximately 1 Mb in extent. Among the seven genes located within this region, the expression of the melatonin receptor 1 A (MTNR1A) messenger RNA (mRNA) was not detected or decreased in 35 out of the 39 (89%) OSCC cell lines, but was detected in immortalized normal oral epithelial cell line, and was restored in gene‐silenced OSCC cells without its homozygous loss after treatment with 5‐aza‐2′‐deoxycytidine. The hypermethylation of the CpG (cytosine and guanine separated by phosphate) island in the promoter region of MTNR1A was inversely correlated with its expression in OSCC lines without a homozygous deletion. Methylation of this CpG island was also observed in primary OSCC tissues. In an immunohistochemical analysis of 50 primary OSCC tumors, the absence of immunoreactive MTNR1A was significantly associated with tumor size and a shorter overall survival in patients with OSCC tumors, and seems to be an independent prognosticator in a multivariate analysis. Exogenous restoration of MTNR1A expression inhibited the growth of OSCC cells lacking its expression. Together with the known tumor‐suppressive function of melatonin and MTNR1A in various tumors, our results indicate MTNR1A to be the most likely target for epigenetic silencing at 4q35 and to play a pivotal role during oral carcinogenesis. (Cancer Sci 2008; 99: 1390–1400)
Spatial and temporal variation in a suite of life‐history traits in two species of wolf spider
Authors: REED DAVID H. , NICHOLAS AMY C. 
Published: April 2008

Abstract 1. Life‐history traits and density were assayed in seven populations of two sympatric species of wolf spider for three consecutive years. The goal of the study was to quantify population dynamics and its relation to spatial and temporal life‐history variation.2. Adult female body size and fecundity varied significantly, among field sites and among years, in both species. Female spiders of both species differed in mean relative reproductive effort among sites, but not among years. The size of offspring was invariable, with no significant differences due to site or year.3. All populations of both species tended to either decrease or increase in density during a given year and this was tightly correlated with changes in prey consumption rates.4. Since life‐history patterns are determined primarily by selection, it is concluded that size at sexual maturity for females is phenotypically plastic and responds to changes in prey availability. Offspring size however is not plastic and it is likely that other selection forces have determined offspring size. Temporal fluctuations in population size are correlated over a large area relative to dispersal capabilities for these species and conservation efforts for invertebrates must take this into consideration.
Resources exploitation by ants facilitates lizard egg survival
Authors: HUANG WEN‐SAN 
Published: April 2008

Abstract 1.  This study investigated the interaction between eggs of the lizard Mabuya longicaudata Hallowell and two species of ant: a lizard egg commensalist (Paratrechina longicornis Latreille), and an egg predator (Pheidole taivanensis Forel). The ecological interaction between P. longicornis and lizard eggs was tested, and it was predicted that when the interaction was removed, lizard eggs would be attacked by P. taivanensis.2. Field observations showed that both ant species actively searched for lizard eggs, and that P. taivanensis typically found new lizard nests earlier than P. longicornis did. Left undisturbed, P. taivanensis predation dramatically reduced lizard egg survival. While P. longicornis usually found nests later, they were able to displace P. taivanensis. As a result, proportional egg survival was higher in nests with P. longicornis (0.95 ± 0.04 eggs) compared to nests without either ant species (0.65 ± 0.09 eggs), or nests occupied by P. taivanensis (0.07 ± 0.02 eggs).3. When P. longicornis ants were experimentally excluded from lizard nests, the proportion of eggs surviving significantly decreased because of increased P. taivanensis predation. Paratrechina longicornis benefits from water that condenses on the eggs. When this resource disappears P. longicornis abandons the nest, leading to predation of the eggs by P. taivanensis.
MRI studies of flow and dislocation of model NAPL in saturated and unsaturated sediments
Authors: Nestle N. , Wunderlich A. , Baumann T. 
Published: April 2008

SummaryIn this article, we explore the possibilities of studying transport phenomena that involve non‐aqueous phase liquids (NAPL) by means of magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) with a paramagnetic contrast agent. We studiedn‐octanol as a model NAPL, especially in alcohol flooding in a water‐saturated sediment, and flood‐drainage‐cycles in a temporally unsaturated sediment column. While the ‘natural’ relaxation time contrast between water andn‐octanol often allows a distinction of the two liquids in a quartz‐sand sediment, the use of Mn2+‐ions dissolved in the water phase as a ‘biphasic’ contrast agent allows much better discrimination between the different liquid phases and also considerably faster imaging. Using a 3D FLASH sequence, a NAPL‐saturated region can be visualized against a background of water‐saturated sediment in 11 s with a resolution of 1.9 × 1.9 × 3.2 mm3.