bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Acute stress and performance in police recruits
Authors: Regehr Cheryl , LeBlanc Vicki , Jelley R. Blake , Barath Irene 
Published: July 2008

AbstractEmergency personnel consistently work under high‐stress situations, and thus, the question about whether this stress affects performance is critical to the safety of both themselves and the public. However, considerable controversy exists about the influence of stress on performance. This study investigates the association between both biological and psychological manifestations of stress and performance. The study was conducted with 84 police recruits using a high‐fidelity simulation of a policing event in order to try to determine performance in a life‐like workplace environment. Measures included both biological (heart rate and salivary cortisol levels) and psychological (subjective anxiety) indicators of stress. Performance was videotaped and was later evaluated by three expert raters. The results of this study are promising in that neither physiological nor psychological responses impaired performance in a simulated acutely stressful policing situation. On the other hand, those individuals with greater cortisol release showed higher levels of performance, supporting the notion that cortisol can enhance ability in high‐stress situations. Recruits were also asked to subjectively evaluate their performance. A small group of individuals ranked themselves as poor performers while evaluators ranked them highly. These individuals experienced significantly higher increase in subjective distress and significantly higher cortisol levels at baseline and peak. Copyright © 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Acute mental stress responses: neural mechanisms of adverse cardiac consequences
Authors: Esler Murray , Lambert Elisabeth , Alvarenga Marlies 
Published: July 2008

AbstractIt has always seemed plausible that short‐term mental stress can act as a trigger for cardiac catastrophes, but the scientific evidence until recently was unconvincing. Panic disorder provides a special case, illustrating that mental stress responses can be a cause of triggered adverse heart events such as myocardial infarction and sudden death. In recent years systematic evidence has been gathered at times of disasters including war, missile attacks on civilians and earthquakes, which also strongly supports the proposition of an acute mental stress–heart attack link. Do these observations have a generality, applicable to the population at large? The answer is that no doubt they do, a finding reached by several national health bodies deliberating on this previously contested question. In individual personal life, ‘emotional earthquakes’ do occur. Heart attacks have been well documented to be triggered when very distressing news has been received involving family members, by armed robbery, assaults and even sporting teams or racehorses losing narrowly (or even winning) after a gripping struggle. The activation of the sympathetic nerves of the heart is of prime importance in such triggering of cardiac catastrophes by acute mental stress.It has always seemed plausible that short‐term mental stress can act as a trigger for the development of abnormal heart rhythm and sudden death in patients with existing heart disease. For many years the existence of this relation of acute mental stress to heart attacks was largely based on individual anecdotes such as the celebrated case of the famous 18th‐century English surgeon John Hunter, who wrote that he was at the mercy of any scoundrel who aggravated him, then subsequently proved the point by dying suddenly in the middle of a stormy meeting of the board of his hospital (Figure 1). Key to understanding the mechanisms by which triggering of heart attacks might occur is consideration of the ways in which the sympathetic nervous system and adrenal medulla are engaged in acute mental stress responses. Copyright © 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
On the implementation of bytecode compression for interpreted languages
Authors: Stefanov Ekaterina , Sloane Anthony M. 
Published: July 2008

AbstractThis paper describes a new method for code space optimization for interpreted languages called LZW‐CC. The method is based on a well‐known and widely used compression algorithm, LZW, which has been adapted to compress executable program code represented as bytecode. Frequently occurring sequences of bytecode instructions are replaced by shorter encodings for newly generated bytecode instructions. The interpreter for the compressed code is modified to recognize and execute those new instructions. When applied to systems where a copy of the interpreter is supplied with each user program, space is saved not only by compressing the program code but also by automatically removing the unused implementation code from the interpreter. The method's implementation within two compiler systems for the programming languages Haskell and Java is described and implementation issues of interest are presented, notably the recalculations of target jumps and the automated tailoring of the interpreter to program code. Applying LZW‐CC to nhc98 Haskell results in bytecode size reduction by up to 15.23% and executable size reduction by up to 11.9%. Java bytecode is reduced by up to 52%. The impact of compression on execution speed is also discussed; the typical speed penalty for Java programs is between 1.8 and 6.6%, while most compressed Haskell executables run faster than the original. Copyright © 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
ImprovAbility™ guidelines for low‐maturity organizations
Authors: Christiansen Mads , Johansen Jørn 
Published: July 2008

AbstractToo many improvement and innovation projects fail. We have studied the characteristics of successful and failed projects. From this study, we derived 20 parameters that influence success and failure. We used the parameters to build the ImprovAbility Model, which is a model that can be used to measure an organization's or a project's ability to succeed with improvement. In this article, we elaborate on selected parameters that have been shown to be important and/or difficult, particularly in low‐maturity organizations. Copyright © 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Reference node placement and selection algorithm based on trilateration for indoor sensor networks
Authors: Han Guangjie , Choi Deokjai , Lim Wontaek 
Published: July 2008

AbstractThe key problem of location service in indoor sensor networks is to quickly and precisely acquire the position information of mobile nodes. Due to resource limitation of the sensor nodes, some of the traditional positioning algorithms, such as two‐phase positioning (TPP) algorithm, are too complicated to be implemented and they cannot provide the real‐time localization of the mobile node. We analyze the localization error, which is produced when one tries to estimate the mobile node using trilateration method in the localization process. We draw the conclusion that the localization error is the least when three reference nodes form an equilateral triangle. Therefore, we improve the TPP algorithm and propose reference node selection algorithm based on trilateration (RNST), which can provide real‐time localization service for the mobile nodes. Our proposed algorithm is verified by the simulation experiment. Based on the analysis of the acquired data and comparison with that of the TPP algorithm, we conclude that our algorithm can meet real‐time localization requirement of the mobile nodes in an indoor environment, and make the localization error less than that of the traditional algorithm; therefore our proposed algorithm can effectively solve the real‐time localization problem of the mobile nodes in indoor sensor networks. Copyright © 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
GPS determination of walking rates in captive African elephants (Loxodonta africana)
Authors: Leighty Katherine A. , Soltis Joseph , Wesolek Christina M. , Savage Anne , Mellen Jill , Lehnhardt John 
Published: July 2008

AbstractThe movements of elephants in captivity have been an issue of concern for animal welfare activists and zoological professionals alike in recent years. In order to fully understand how movement rates reflect animal welfare, we must first determine the exact distances these animals move in the captive environment. We outfitted seven adult female African elephants (Loxodonta africana) at Disney's Animal Kingdom with collar‐mounted global positioning recording systems to document their movement rates while housed in outdoor guest viewing habitats. Further, we conducted preliminary analyses to address potential factors impacting movement rates including body size, temperature, enclosure size, and social grouping complexity. We found that our elephants moved at an average rate of 0.409±0.007 km/hr during the 9‐hr data collection periods. This rate translates to an average of 3.68 km traveled during the observation periods, at a rate comparable to that observed in the wild. Although movement rate did not have a significant relationship with an individual's body size in this herd, the movements of four females demonstrated a significant positive correlation with temperature. Further, females in our largest social group demonstrated a significant increase in movement rates when residing in larger enclosures. We also present preliminary evidence suggesting that increased social group complexity, including the presence of infants in the herd, may be associated with increased walking rates, whereas factors such as reproductive and social status may constrain movements. Zoo Biol 28:16–28, 2009. © 2008 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
Role of Ethylene Oxide and Propylene Oxide Groups of Pluronics in Binding of Fatty Acid to Pluronics in Microemulsions
Authors: James‐Smith Monica A. , Shekhawat Dushyant , Cheung Sally , Moudgil Brij M. , Shah Dinesh O. 
Published: July 2008

AbstractWe investigated the drug and fatty acid binding capacity of Pluronic‐based microemulsions through simple turbidity experiments. Pluronic‐based oil‐in‐water microemulsions of various compositions were synthesized and titrated to turbidity with concentrated amitriptyline, an antidepressant drug. The BASF Pluronic grid was used to select two series of Pluronic surfactants: (1) those having the same number of ethylene oxide (EO) groups, with an increasing number of propylene oxide (PO) groups and (2) those having the same number of propylene oxide groups with an increasing number of ethylene oxide groups. We observed that the binding of sodium caprylate fatty acid and amitriptyline drug increases with increasing hydrophobicity (i.e., increasing number of PO groups). This is attributed to the greater number of binding sites for the sodium caprylate, which results in more charge on the microemulsion, subsequently leading to increased drug binding. We also determined that when the number of PO groups was held fixed and the number of EO groups was increased, there is no direct correlation to the binding behavior of fatty acid and drug. This is due to the fact that the hydrophilic groups (EO) do not play a direct role in the binding of fatty acid molecules. In fact, when there are a significantly large number of EO groups present, they can act to inhibit binding of fatty acid and hence, drug, to the microemulsion.
Dietary n‐3 HUFA Affects Mitochondrial Fatty Acid β‐Oxidation Capacity and Susceptibility to Oxidative Stress in Atlantic Salmon
Authors: Kjær M. A. , Todorčević M. , Torstensen B. E. , Vegusdal A. , Ruyter B. 
Published: July 2008

AbstractAtlantic salmon (Salmo salar) (90 g) were fed four different diets for 21 weeks (final weight 344 g). The levels of n‐3 highly unsaturated fatty acids (HUFA) ranged from 11% of the total fatty acids (FA) in the low n‐3 diet to 21% in the intermediate n‐3 diet, to 55 and 58% in the high n‐3 diets. The high n‐3 diets were enriched with either docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) or eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA). Increasing dietary levels of n‐3 HUFA led to increasing percentages (from 31 to 52%) of these FA in liver lipids. The group fed the highest level of DHA had higher expressions of peroxisome proliferator‐activated receptor (PPAR) β and the FA β‐oxidation genes acyl‐CoA oxidase (ACO) and carnitine palmitoyltransferase (CPT)‐II, compared to the low n‐3 groups. The high n‐3 groups had reduced activity of mitochondrial cytochrome c oxidase and β‐oxidation capacity, together with increased activities of superoxide dismutase (SOD) and caspase‐3 activities. In the group fed the highest level of n‐3 HUFA, decreased percentages of major phospholipids (PL) in the mitochondrial and microsomal membranes of the liver were also apparent. The percentage of mitochondrial cardiolipin (Ptd2Gro) was 3.1 in the highest n‐3 group compared to 6.6 in the intermediate group. These data clearly show an increased incidence of oxidative stress in the liver of fish fed the high n‐3 diets.
Projectivity of Hopf algebras over subalgebras with semilocal central localizations
Authors: Skryabin Serge 
Published: July 2008

AbstractThe purpose of this paper is to extend the class of pairs A, H where H is a Hopf algebra over a field and A a right coideal subalgebra for which H is proved to be either projective or flat as an A-module. The projectivity is obtained under the assumption that H is residually finite dimensional, A has semilocal localizations with respect to a central subring, and there exists a Hopf subalgebra B of H such that the antipode of B is bijective and B is a finitely generated A-module. The flatness of H over A is shown to hold when H is a directed union of residually finite dimensional Hopf subalgebras, and there exists a Hopf subalgebra of H whose center contains A. More general projectivity and flatness results are established for (co)equivariant modules over an H-(co)module algebra under similar assumptions.
Design of series damper actuator
Authors: Zhou Wei , Chew Chee-Meng , Hong Geok-Soon 
Published: July 2008

SUMMARYIn our previous work, a novel force control actuator, called series damper actuator (SDA), has been proposed. This paper proposes a general design procedure for the SDA system. From design requirements, several key parameters of the SDA plant can be determined. Based on these parameters, the selection or design of the series damper and the motor can be carried out. A case study is included to illustrate the effectiveness of the procedure. As there could be more than one feasible solutions from the procedure, the mechatronic design quotient (MDQ) method can be adopted to select the best solution from a feasible solution space.
Improving the stability level for on-line planning of mobile manipulators
Authors: Qiu Changwu , Cao Qixin , Yu Leibin , Miao Shouhong 
Published: July 2008

SUMMARYThis paper presents a quadratic programming (QP) form algorithm to realize on-line planning of mobile manipulators with consideration for improving the stability level. With Lie group and screw tools, the general tree topology structure mobile robot dynamics and dynamic stability attributes were analysed. The stable support condition for a mobile robot is constructed not only in a polygonal support region, but also in a polyhedral support region. For a planar supporting region, the tip-over avoiding requirement is formulated as the tip-over prevent constraints with the reciprocal products of the resultant support wrench and the imaginary tip-over twists, which are constructed with the boundaries of the convex support polygon. At velocity level, the optimized resolution algorithm with standard QP form is designed to resolve the inverse redundant kinematics of the Omni-directional Mobile ManipulatorS (OMMS) with stability considerations. Numerical simulation results show that the presented methods successfully improve the stability level of the robot within an on-line planning process.
Analysis of the FoodNet case-control study of sporadicSalmonellaserotype Enteritidis infections using persons infected with otherSalmonellaserotypes as the comparison group
Authors: VOETSCH A. C. , POOLE C. , HEDBERG C. W. , HOEKSTRA R. M. , RYDER R. W. , WEBER D. J. , ANGULO F. J. 
Published: July 2008

SUMMARYUse of well persons as the comparison group for laboratory-confirmed cases of sporadic salmonellosis may introduce ascertainment bias into case-control studies. Data from the 1996–1997 FoodNet case-control study of laboratory-confirmedSalmonellaserogroups B and D infection were used to estimate the effect of specific behaviours and foods on infection withSalmonellaserotype Enteritidis (SE). Persons with laboratory-confirmedSalmonellaof other serotypes acted as the comparison group. The analysis included 173 SE cases and 268 non-SE controls. SE was associated with international travel, consumption of chicken prepared outside the home, and consumption of undercooked eggs prepared outside the home in the 5 days prior to diarrhoea onset. SE phage type 4 was associated with international travel and consumption of undercooked eggs prepared outside the home. The use of ill controls can be a useful tool in identifying risk factors for sporadic cases ofSalmonella.
Discovering regulatory motifs in the Plasmodium genome using comparative genomics
Authors: Wu Jie , Sieglaff Douglas H. , Gervin Joshua , Xie Xiaohui S. 
Published: July 2008

Abstract
Motivation: Understanding gene regulation in Plasmodium, the causative agent of malaria, is an important step in deciphering its complex life cycle as well as leading to possible new targets for therapeutic applications. Very little is known about gene regulation in Plasmodium, and in particular, few regulatory elements have been identified. Such discovery has been significantly hampered by the high A-T content of some of the genomes of Plasmodium species, as well as the challenge in associating discovered regulatory elements to gene regulatory cascades due to Plasmodium's complex life cycle.
Results: We report a new method of using comparative genomics to systematically discover motifs in Plasmodium without requiring any functional data. Different from previous methods, our method does not depend on sequence alignments, and thus is particularly suitable for highly divergent genomes. We applied our method to discovering regulatory motifs between the human parasite, P.falciparum, and its rodent-infectious relative, P.yoelii. We also tested our procedure against comparisons between P.falciparum and the primate-infectious, P.knowlesi. Our computational effort leads to an initial catalog of 38 distinct motifs, corresponding to over 16 200 sites in the Plasmodium genome. The functionality of these motifs was further supported by their defined distribution within the genome as well as a correlation with gene expression patterns. This initial map provides a systematic view of gene regulation in Plasmodium, which can be refined as additional genomes become available.
Availability: The new algorithm, named motif discovery using orthologous sequences (MDOS), is available at http://www.ics.uci.edu/∼xhx/project/mdos/.
Contact: xhx@ics.uci.edu
Supplementary information: Supplementary data are available at Bioinformatics online.
Sphingolipid Long-Chain Base Hydroxylation Is Important for Growth and Regulation of Sphingolipid Content and Composition inArabidopsis
Authors: Chen Ming , Markham Jennifer E. , Dietrich Charles R. , Jaworski Jan G. , Cahoon Edgar B. 
Published: July 2008

AbstractSphingolipids are structural components of endomembranes and function through their metabolites as bioactive regulators of cellular processes such as programmed cell death. A characteristic feature of plant sphingolipids is their high content of trihydroxy long-chain bases (LCBs) that are produced by the LCB C-4 hydroxylase. To determine the functional significance of trihydroxy LCBs in plants, T-DNA double mutants and RNA interference suppression lines were generated for the two Arabidopsis thaliana LCB C-4 hydroxylase genes Sphingoid Base Hydroxylase1 (SBH1) and SBH2. These plants displayed reductions in growth that were dependent on the content of trihydroxy LCBs in sphingolipids. Double sbh1 sbh2 mutants, which completely lacked trihydroxy LCBs, were severely dwarfed, did not progress from vegetative to reproductive growth, and had enhanced expression of programmed cell death associated–genes. Furthermore, the total content of sphingolipids on a dry weight basis increased as the relative amounts of trihydroxy LCBs decreased. In trihydroxy LCB–null mutants, sphingolipid content was ∼2.5-fold higher than that in wild-type plants. Increases in sphingolipid content resulted from the accumulation of molecular species with C16 fatty acids rather than with very-long-chain fatty acids, which are more commonly enriched in plant sphingolipids, and were accompanied by decreases in amounts of C16-containing species of chloroplast lipids. Overall, these results indicate that trihydroxy LCB synthesis plays a central role in maintaining growth and mediating the total content and fatty acid composition of sphingolipids in plants.
Two types of allograft‐induced cytotoxic macrophage, one against allografts and the other against syngeneic or allogeneic tumor cells
Authors: Yoneda Yukio , Tashiro‐Yamaji Junko , Kubota Takahiro , Yoshida Ryotaro 
Published: July 2008

ABSTRACTIn the 1990s, based on the results of studies using β2M, CD4 or CD8 knockout mice, several groups reported that the main effector cells responsible for skin or organ allograft rejection were non‐T, non‐NK cells. Similarly, we demonstrated that in an animal model of transplantation of BALB/c (H‐2d) skin onto or Meth A (H‐2d) tumor cells into C57BL/6 (H‐2b) mice, AIM, which expressed iNOS, IL‐12, and IL‐18, were the main effector cells and also that they were cytotoxic against syngeneic tumor cells. Here, we examined whether the same population of macrophages could react with two distinct types of target cell. When BALB/c skin or Meth A tumor cells were transplanted into C57BL/6 mice, cytotoxic activity against the allograft was induced in the transplantation site on days 5–14 and was recovered in non‐adherent cells after a 20‐min incubation in a serum‐coated dish, suggesting the induction of a type of AIM (AIM‐1) in the transplantation site. The AIM‐1‐expressing receptors for H‐2DdKd antigens had no cytotoxic activity against syngeneic tumor cells. In contrast, AIM‐2, which were recovered in the fraction adherent to the serum‐coated dish, exhibited cytotoxic activities against various types of tumor cells, whereas they were inactive toward BALB/c skin. AIM expressed iNOS (AIM‐1 < AIM‐2), IL‐12 (AIM‐1 > AIM‐2), and IL‐18 (AIM‐2 alone) mRNAs. These results indicate that after allografting, two distinct types of cytotoxic AIM were induced in the transplantation site, one against the allografted skin or tumor (AIM‐1) and the other against allogeneic or syngeneic tumor cells (AIM‐2).
Protective effects of farnesol against oral candidiasis in mice
Authors: Hisajima Tatsuya , Maruyama Naho , Tanabe Yuko , Ishibashi Hiroko , Yamada Tsuyoshi , Makimura Koichi , Nishiyama Yayoi , Funakoshi Kengo , Oshima Haruyuki , Abe Shigeru 
Published: July 2008

ABSTRACTFarnesol is known as a quorum‐sensing molecule for Candida albicans and is recognized to play pathogenic roles in Candida infection. To assess the possible role of farnesol in mucosal C. albicans infection, the effects of farnesol treatment against experimental oral candidiasis in mice were examined. Prednisolone‐pretreated ICR mice were orally infected with C. albicans and 3, 24 and 30 hr later the animals were orally given farnesol. Forty‐eight hr later they were killed for observation. Farnesol treatment in a dose ranging between 1.125 and 9 μmol/mouse showed a protective effect against oral candidiasis in a dose‐dependent manner, at least as estimated by symptom scores of tongues. At 9 μmol/mouse it decreased bodyweight loss. Histological studies of 2.25 μmol/mouse farnesol‐treated animals indicated that farnesol suppressed mycelial growth of C. albicans on the surface of tongues, but microbiological study did not prevent the change of CFU of C. albicans cells not only on tongues but also in feces, kidneys and livers. These results suggest that farnesol has very characteristic roles in protection against mucosal candidiasis.