bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
On the Lack of Participating Policy Usage by Stock Insurance Companies
Authors: Friesen Geoffrey 
Published: March 2007

AbstractStock insurers can reduce or eliminate agency conflicts between policyholders and stockholders by issuing participating insurance. Despite this benefit, most stock companies don't offer participating contracts. This study explains why. We study an equilibrium with both stock and mutual insurers in which stockholders set premiums to provide a fair expected return on their investment, and with a policyholder who chooses the insurance contract that maximizes her expected utility. We demonstrate that stockholders cannot profitably offer fully participating contracts, but can profitably offer partially participating insurance. However, when the policyholder participation fraction is high, the fair‐return premium is so large that the policyholder always prefers fully participating insurance from the mutual company. Policies with lower levels of policyholder participation are optimal for policyholders with relatively high risk aversion, though such policies are usually prohibited by insurance legislation. Thus, the reason stock insurers rarely issue participating contracts isn't because the potential benefits are small or unimportant. Rather, profitability or regulatory constraints simply prevent stock insurers from exercising those benefits in equilibrium.
Estimation of foraging territories of Reticulitermes grassei through mark–release–recapture
Authors: Nobre T. , Nunes L. , Bignell D.E. 
Published: March 2007

AbstractSubterranean termites have highly cryptic life habits and their foraging activities are as a rule confined to below‐ground level gallery systems. Mark–release–recapture (MRR) using fat‐soluble histological dyes is a candidate method for the study of foraging dynamics and territories, but has not hitherto been standardized experimentally. A wide range of dye types and concentrations is reported in the literature. In this study, six potential dyes were evaluated at different concentrations for marking workers of Reticulitermes grassei (Clément) (Isoptera: Rhinotermitidae), under laboratory and simulated field conditions. Neutral red (1% wt/wt) was considered the most effective while showing acceptably low toxicity. In a subsequent field trial using dye impregnated into a wooden bait, the MMR procedure was used to map the foraging territory perimeter of a single colony. Assumptions inherent in the interpretation of MMR data are reviewed. To map the foraging territory perimeter by this method, two theoretical approaches are defined (a conservative and a non‐conservative hypothesis). We show that the approach adopted may affect the estimate obtained by as much as 100%. Results are discussed in the context of the ecology and behaviour of subterranean termite colonies.
Response of the soybean aphid parasitoid Binodoxys communis to olfactory cues from target and non‐target host‐plant complexes
Authors: Wyckhuys Kris A.G. , Heimpel George E. 
Published: March 2007

AbstractThe parasitoid Binodoxys communis (Gahan) (Hymenoptera: Braconidae) is a candidate for release against the Asian soybean aphid, Aphis glycines Matsumura (Homoptera: Aphididae), in North America. Using a series of Y‐tube olfactometer assays, we recorded responses of naïve and experienced B. communis females to odors from both target and non‐target host plant complexes. The non‐target host plant complexes included three aphid species native to North America [Aphis monardae Oestlund, Aphis oestlundi Gillette, and Aphis asclepiadis (Fitch)] and one species presumed to be exotic to North America (Aphis nerii Boyer de Fonscolombe), all on their respective host plants. We also investigated whether the parasitoid distinguishes between volatiles from soybean infested with A. glycines vs. those of uninfested plants. Volatiles from A. glycines‐infested soybean plants and several non‐target host plant complexes elicited a response in B. communis, which seemed to be reinforced through oviposition experience. Wasps with experience on a specific host plant complex increased their response to odors of this complex. Neither naïve nor experienced wasps, however, preferred odors from target vs. non‐target host plant complexes in choice tests. Our data also indicate that B. communis is unable to distinguish between volatiles from infested vs. uninfested soybean plants. This study shows that B. communis females respond to a broad array of olfactory stimuli, exhibit low fidelity for any particular odor, and employ some behavioral plasticity in their response to volatile cues. We discuss implications of these results for establishment of B. communis and potential undesirable non‐target effects associated with the release of this species in North America.
Lack of association between chronic periodontitis and the Toll‐like receptor 4 gene polymorphisms in a Czech population
Authors: Izakovicova Holla L. , Buckova D. , Fassmann A. , Roubalikova L. , Vanek J. 
Published: March 2007

Background and Objective:  Periodontitis is a bacterially induced chronic inflammatory disease and a major cause of tooth loss among adults. Toll‐like receptors are signal molecules essential for the cellular response to bacterial cell wall components. The aim of this study was to investigate relationships between chronic periodontitis and variations in the TLR4 gene.Material and Methods:  A total of 171 patients with chronic periodontitis and 218 unrelated controls were genotyped for the Asp299Gly (896A>G) and Thr399Ile (1196C>T) polymorphisms of the TLR4 gene.Results:  Both variants were in nearly complete linkage disequilibrium. No homozygotes for the less common alleles, 299Gly and 399Thr, respectively, were found. The prevalence of the Asp299Gly and the Thr399Ile heterozygotes was 5.3% and 5.0% in controls, and 7.0% and 7.0% in periodontitis patients.Conclusion:  In conclusion, TLR4 gene polymorphisms were not significantly associated with the susceptibility to, or severity of, chronic periodontitis in our population.
Efficient and simple quantification of stratum corneum proteins on tape strippings by infrared densitometry
Authors: Voegeli R. , Heiland J. , Doppler S. , Rawlings A. V. , Schreier T. 
Published: March 2007

Background: The analysis of stratum corneum (SC) components is a widely accepted method to determine ‘skin health’ status or to follow the effects of topical treatments. These analytes are normally corrected to the amount of SC removed which can be determined gravimetrically or by extraction of SC proteins and their subsequent analysis. Unfortunately, this is a time consuming procedure and usually requires a laboratory. As a result there is a need for equipment that can be used in a clinical setting. Equally, a concurrent determination of total SC protein content and enzyme activity or any other analyte on the same tape stripping is difficult and also time consuming. Therefore a compact infrared densitometer was developed allowing a convenient and user friendly indirect measurement of SC protein content on tape strippings by optical absorption. As this is a non‐destructive technique, the tape strippings can subsequently be utilized for any other bioassay.Methods: Using tape strippings from human subjects the SC optical absorption was determined densitometrically and after extraction of the tape strippings, their protein content was measured. A comparison between SC optical absorption and protein content was made between samples from different body sites, differing hydration and pH levels, different age groups and between the genders.Results: The progression of absorption and protein curves was similar irrespective of tape strip number. The overall coefficient of determination (n=238) between absorption and protein content of forearm measurements was R2=0.852 and the corresponding overall linear regression 0.623x+2.703. Although the data distribution in the different subject groups varied, the regression was always quite similar and independent of gender, age, skin hydration rate, skin pH and varying skin areas. The correlations reached were statistically significant.Conclusion: Infrared densitometry is an easy to use and non‐destructive technique for the convenient measurement of the optical absorption of SC tape strippings which was shown to be linearly proportional to their protein content. Thus the corresponding SC densitometric‐protein content calibration curves can be used for a fast indirect protein evaluation of tape strippings. As this is a non‐destructive method, the unmodified tapes can be used for further investigations.
Unsupervised border detection in dermoscopy images
Authors: Emre Celebi M. , Alp Aslandogan Y. , Stoecker William V. , Iyatomi Hitoshi , Oka Hiroshi , Chen Xiaohe 
Published: March 2007

Background: As a result of the advances in skin imaging technology and the development of suitable image processing techniques, during the last decade, there has been a significant increase of interest in the computer‐aided diagnosis of skin cancer. Automated border detection is one of the most important steps in this procedure as the accuracy of the subsequent steps crucially depends on the accuracy of this step.Methods: In this article, we present an unsupervised approach to border detection in dermoscopy skin lesion images based on a modified version of the JSEG algorithm.Results: The method is tested on a set of 100 dermoscopy images. The border detection error is quantified by a metric that uses manually determined borders from a dermatologist as the ground truth. The results are compared with three other automated methods and manually determined borders by a second dermatologist.Conclusion: The results demonstrate that the presented method achieves both fast and accurate border detection in dermoscopy images.
Fluorescence–remission sensoring of skin tumours: preliminary results
Authors: Wollina Uwe , Nelskamp Cornelia , Scheibe Armin , Faßler Dieter , Schmidt Wolf‐Dieter 
Published: March 2007

Objective: Nonmelanoma skin cancer (NMSC) is one of the most common malignancies in men. Objective evaluation by digital dermoscopy, as for pigmented lesions, does not provide sufficient data to discriminate between benign and malignant lesions. Therefore, other techniques have to be developed.Setting: Hospitalized patients of an academic teaching hospital were evaluated.Patients and methods: Because the simultaneous measurement of fluorescence and remission of skin is impossible, a principle of subsequent measurement of remission and fluorescence had been developed by our group. This was combined with dermoscopic imaging. VIS‐NIR remission spectroscopy was performed using the laboratory device TIDAS. Fluorescence spectroscopy was realized using a SKINSKAN. Fluorescence emission was detected by a highly sensitive PMT‐detector. Based on this evaluation, we developed an optimized measuring device (FRIS, fluorescence–remission–imaging sensor) combining sensors for fluorescence, remission and digital imaging with a white light ring illumination, a drilled mirror and fibre optics. FRIS consists of an industrial personal computer with a touch screen combining three UV‐VIS spectrometer modules and a white light source for remission measurements and referencing. Furthermore, included are a CCD coloured camera module and an LED white light ring‐illumination. Fluorescence emission is realized by a UV‐LED with a peak wavelength of 370 nm. System control uses Window© frames and a specifically developed software Skinrem3.exe©. Using this technology, we performed a pilot study in 19 patients with 30 NMSC‐suspicious lesions including: actinic keratosis (n=10), basal cell carcinoma (BCC; n=16) and squamous cell carcinoma (SCC; n=4 with two in situ carcinomas).Results: Reproducibility measured or FRIS by relative standard deviation of repeated spectroscopic measurements was <0.1% for remission and 2% for fluorescence. The technology was able to generate typical pattern of remission‐corrected fluorescence data. The fluorescence differences at 430 nm allow a differentiation between actinic keratoses and BCC. A decrease of the corrected lesional fluorescence >2 AU indicates BCC. To substantiate the diagnostic potency of this technology, further studies are needed.Conclusions: A combination of fluorescence and remission readings of skin provides objective data in NMSC. We developed the FRIS equipment that allows a reproducible measurement and easy handling.
Preserving Endangered Languages
Authors: Romaine Suzanne 
Published: March 2007

AbstractOver the last few decades an increasing number of books, scholarly articles and media reports have predicted that as many as 60 to 90% of the world's some 6900 languages may be at risk of extinction within the next 100 years. This article provides an overview of the current state of the world's languages, explains some causes and consequences of the loss of linguistic diversity, in addition to outlining some of the range of efforts currently underway worldwide to preserve endangered languages. We should think about languages in the same way as we do other natural resources that need careful planning: they are vital parts of complex local ecologies that must be supported if global biodiversity is to be sustained.
Yerranderie a Late Devonian Silver–Gold–Lead Intermediate Sulfidation Epithermal District, Eastern Lachlan Orogen, New South Wales, Australia
Authors: Downes Peter M. 
Published: March 2007

AbstractFelsic volcanic units of the Early Devonian Bindook Volcanic Complex host the Yerranderie epithermal silver–gold–lead district 94 km west–southwest of Sydney. Mineralization in the district forms part of a fault‐controlled, intermediate sulfidation, epithermal silver–gold–base metal vein system that has significant mineral and alteration zonation. Stage 1 of the mineral paragenesis in the veins developed quartz and carbonate with early pyrite, whereas stage 2 is a crustiform banded quartz–pyrite–arsenopyrite assemblage. Stage 3, the main stage of sulfide deposition, comprises early sphalerite, followed by a tetrahedrite–tennantite–gold assemblage, then a galena–chalcopyrite–native silver–pyrite assemblage, and finally a pyrargyrite–polybasite–pearceite assemblage. Stage 4 involves the deposition of quartz veins with minor (late) pyrite and stage 5 is characterized by siderite that infilled remaining voids. Mineral zonation occurs along the Yerranderie Fault, with bornite being restricted to the Colon Peaks–Silver Peak mine area, whereas arsenopyrite, which is present in both the Colon Peaks–Silver Peak and Wollondilly mine areas, is absent in other lodes along the Yerranderie Fault. The Yerranderie Fault, which hosts the major lodes, is surrounded by a zoned alteration system. With increasing proximity to the fault the intensity of alteration increases and the alteration assemblage changes from an outer quartz–muscovite–illite–(ankerite) assemblage to a quartz–illite–(pyrite–carbonate) assemblage within meters of the fault.40Ar/39Ar dating of muscovite from the alteration zone gave a 372.1 ± 1.9 Ma (Late Devonian) age, which is interpreted to be the timing of the quartz–sulfide vein formation. Sulfur isotope values for sulfides range from 0.1 to 6.2‰ with one outlier of −5.6 δ34S‰. The results indicate that the initial ore‐forming fluids were reduced, and that sulfur was probably sourced from a magmatic reservoir, either as a direct magmatic contribution or indirectly through dissolution and recycling of sulfur from the host volcanic sequence. The sulfur isotope data suggest the system is isotopically zoned.
Functional Taxonomy of Bacterial Hyperstructures
Authors: Norris Vic , den Blaauwen Tanneke , Cabin-Flaman Armelle , Doi Roy H. , Harshey Rasika , Janniere Laurent , Jimenez-Sanchez Alfonso , Jin Ding Jun , Levin Petra Anne , Mileykovskaya Eugenia , Minsky Abraham , Saier Milton , Skarstad Kirsten 
Published: March 2007

SUMMARYThe levels of organization that exist in bacteria extend from macromolecules to populations. Evidence that there is also a level of organization intermediate between the macromolecule and the bacterial cell is accumulating. This is the level of hyperstructures. Here, we review a variety of spatially extended structures, complexes, and assemblies that might be termed hyperstructures. These include ribosomal or “nucleolar” hyperstructures; transertion hyperstructures; putative phosphotransferase system and glycolytic hyperstructures; chemosignaling and flagellar hyperstructures; DNA repair hyperstructures; cytoskeletal hyperstructures based on EF-Tu, FtsZ, and MreB; and cell cycle hyperstructures responsible for DNA replication, sequestration of newly replicated origins, segregation, compaction, and division. We propose principles for classifying these hyperstructures and finally illustrate how thinking in terms of hyperstructures may lead to a different vision of the bacterial cell.
Reindeer grazing reduces seed and propagule bank in the High Arctic
Authors: Cooper Elisabeth J. 
Published: March 2007

It is commonly assumed that plant establishment in the High Arctic is limited by severe abiotic conditions and by a paucity of propagules and seeds. Heavy reindeer grazing may reduce plant allocation to reproduction and removes significant proportions of flowers and seeds, thus reducing contributions to seed rain and seed bank. In contrast, foraging and trampling may break up existing mature plants, increasing the vegetative propagules in the soil. To determine the effect of grazing on colonization potential in the High Arctic, two studies were carried out: (i) a comparison of seed bank inside and outside three long-term reindeer ( Rangifer tarandus platyrhnchus (Vrolic)) exclosures and (ii) an investigation of the germinable seed and propagule bank of two neighbouring peninsulas with contrasting reindeer grazing history in northwestern Svalbard (79°N, 12°E). Seed banks inside reindeer exclosures germinated significantly more seedlings (596 seedlings·m–2) than those outside (263 seedlings·m–2). Species composition and total plant cover was similar on both peninsulas, but forage-plant cover was lower on the heavily grazed peninsula (Brøggerhalvøya) than on the adjacent lightly grazed peninsula (Sarsøyra). Brøggerhalvøya had significantly lower species richness and density of seed and propagule bank (0.21 ± 0.02 germinating species per sample, 0.15 ± 0.02 propagule species per sample, 416 ± 103 seedlings·m–2, 283 ± 78 propagules·m–2) than did Sarsøyra (0.44 ± 0.40 germinating species per sample, 0.35 ± 0.03 propagule species per sample,1016 ± 188 seedlings·m–2, 782 ± 238 propagules·m–2). These results imply that reindeer depleted both the seed and the propagule banks, thus reducing the potential for colonization of disturbed areas. Grazing may, therefore, have a lasting impact on High Arctic plant communities.
Growth and reproductive potential of the invasive exotic vine Vincetoxicum rossicum in northern New York State
Authors: Smith Larissa L. , DiTommaso Antonio , Lehmann Johannes , Greipsson Sigurdur 
Published: March 2007

The alien invasive vine Vincetoxicum rossicum (Kleopow) Barbar. is problematic in the Lower Great Lakes Basin of North America. The lack of effective control strategies exacerbates the need for a better understanding of the growth and reproductive potential of V. rossicum. Thus, a 2-year field experiment was performed in a field site in 2003 and 2004 that was densely colonized by V. rossicum. Mean height of V. rossicum stems was 20% and 45% greater in naturally shaded plots compared with plots receiving full sun in 2003 and 2004, respectively. During the 2-year study, the density of stems 10 cm or taller averaged 134 stems·m–2, substantially greater than reported in previous field studies for this species. The high densities of stems and seedlings indicate that this field site may be near or at carrying capacity. Each stem produced, on average, 17 mature follicles with some stems producing as many as 100 follicles. Each follicle yielded an average of 15 seeds, each composed of an average of two viable embryos. A typical V. rossicum stand in this site produced as many as 54 000 seedlings·m–2 annually. More flowers (2400 flowers·m–2), follicles (2250 follicles·m–2), and total seeds (32 000 seeds·m–2) were produced in plots receiving intermediate light compared with plants in full sun (1650 flowers·m–2, 1600 follicles·m–2, and 25 000 seeds·m–2) or shaded (1600 flowers·m–2, 2000 follicles·m–2, and 28 000 seeds·m–2) plots. Seeds harvested from follicles in the low light plots were 41% more likely to be dormant than seeds collected from follicles in full sun plots. Seeds collected from plants in full sun plots had the lowest frequency (∼36%) of single embryo seeds and the highest frequency (∼64%) of multiple embryo seeds. These findings suggest that V. rossicum growth and reproductive output is influenced by light environment. While competitive strategies differ between the light environments, the decrease in viability and germination in shaded sites may not be large enough to affect population growth over multiple generations. The substantially greater growth and reproduction of V. rossicum reported in this study relative to previous research may explain the increasing abundance and range expansion of this species in many Lower Great Lakes regions of Ontario and New York State.
Transgenic Brassica napus fields and Brassica rapa weeds in Quebec: sympatry and weed-crop in situ hybridization
Authors: Simard Marie-Josée , Légère Anne , Warwick Suzanne I. 
Published: March 2007

Hybridization between the herbicide-resistant transgenic crop Brassica napus L. (canola) and its weedy relative Brassica rapa L. (bird rape) has been documented in Quebec. Our goal was to evaluate the actual hybridization potential based on range overlap and actual in situ hybridization rates. This was done by mapping B. napus canola fields, comparing them with the sampling locations of B. rapa herbarium specimens from Quebec, gathering information on the presence of B. rapa in certified canola seed production fields, and surveying for B. rapa populations located in, or close to B. napus field margins. Progeny from these populations were screened for herbicide resistance (HR) and for the presence of the HR transgene. Two fields were also selected to evaluate B. rapa density effects on hybridization rates. Significant sympatry was observed in several areas of the province; hybridization occurred in all eight populations (1.1% to 17.5% hybrid seed) located in field margins and in one (1.1%) out of three populations located less than 10 m from a B. napus field. Hybridization rates decreased exponentially as B. rapa density increased, but interplant rates (0% to 68%) were highly variable. Environmental problems could be generated by the release of B. napus crops with traits conferring fitness benefits in nonmanaged areas.