bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Establishment of multiple RT-PCR diagnostic techniques forAvian influenza virus(AIV),Newcastle disease virus(NDV),Classical swine fever virus(CSFV) andFoot-and-mouth disease virus(FMDV)
Authors: Wei-Quan Liu , Hai-Peng Liu , Yu Jiang , Ben-Xu Wang , Ji-Gui Wang , Shu-Yan Yang , Shao-Guang Sun , Chang-Chun Tu , Peng-Peng Liu 
Published: May 2006

AbstractThe homology of the sequences, reported and registered in GenBank, of different strains ofAvian influenza virus(AIV),Newcastle disease virus(NDV),Classical swine fever virus(CSFV) andFoot-and-mouth disease virus(FMDV), was analysed and compared with each other. According to the properties of these viruses, the conservative domain of theMgene for AIV, theFgene for NDV, the 5' non-coding domain end for CSFV and the2Bgene for FMDV were selected for polymerase chain reaction (PCR) amplification. In order to prevent the formation of conformational dimers between different primers, four pairs of primers designed with the DNAsis system under the condition of G+C (50–60%),18–25 bp in length andTm(72–85), were analysed using the VNTI5.5 system. The specific fragments amplified were as follows: 141 bp for FMDV, 200 bp for CSFV, 319 bp for NDV and 471 bp for AIV. The optimal conditions of PCR for each virus mentioned above were determined by orthogonal assay, and two or four of the four pairs of primers were then combined and used for amplification trials. The results showed that four specific fragments of different lengths would be successfully amplified in one tube at the same time. The products of PCR were tested to be specific by sequencing. Out of 46 pathological samples detected with the multiple PCR, there were 5 AIVs, 7 NDVs, 15 CSFVs and 6 FMDVs. The amplification above was identified with a single PCR. On the other hand, the results corresponded to those of electronic microscopy, haemagglutination (HA) and enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). The method described here is practicable, sensitive, specific, simple and cheap. It could be used for diagnosing AIV, NDV, CSFV and FMDV in different animals.
Neutralization of interleukin‐2 retards the growth of mouse renal cancer
Authors: FUKUHARA HIROSHI , MATSUMOTO AKIHIKO , KITAMURA TADAICHI , TAKEUCHI TAKUMI 
Published: May 2006

OBJECTIVETo examine the significance of the thymus and the neutralization of interleukin‐2 (IL‐2) in treating renal cancer, as the involvement of immunoregulatory cells in tumour development in vivo is well known, naturally occurring CD25+CD4+ T cells possess potent immunoregulatory functions, and they are of thymic origin dependent on IL‐2.MATERIALS AND METHODSWe first tested activity against mouse renal cell carcinoma (RENCA) cells by adoptively transferring splenocytes of euthymic Balb/c mice depleted of CD25+ cells into athymic Balb/c nude mice bearing established macroscopic RENCA tumours. Second, we tested the anti‐RENCA activity in euthymic mice bearing macroscopic RENCA tumours by neutralizing IL‐2.RESULTSThe intravenous administration of CD25+ cell‐depleted splenocytes of euthymic Balb/c mice initiated the retardation of macroscopic RENCA tumours subcutaneously established in athymic Balb/c mice. The tumour site showed massive lymphocyte infiltration of mainly CD4+ T cells. By eliminating either the CD4+ cells, CD8+ cells, or natural killer (NK) cells with antibodies after the adoptive transfer of CD25+ cell‐depleted splenocytes of euthymic Balb/c mice, macroscopic RENCA tumour retardation was abrogated. The growth of macroscopic RENCA tumour established in euthymic Balb/c mice was also retarded with IL‐2 neutralization alone by anti‐IL‐2 monoclonal antibody (mAb), as well as co‐administration of anti‐IL‐2 mAb and anti‐CD25 mAb compared with that of the controls given vehicle. After tumour inoculation, peri‐ and intratumoral infiltration of CD4+ and CD8+ T cells was very prominent in RENCA tumours in hosts given anti‐IL‐2 mAb, regardless of the administration of anti‐CD25 mAb. Two × 105 units of recombinant human IL‐2 reverted the retardation of RENCA tumour growth caused by the anti‐IL‐2 mAb. IL‐2 neutralization alone in euthymic Balb/c mice with no tumour inoculation did not suppress splenic CD25+CD4+ T cells.CONCLUSIONBoth the intravenous administration of CD25+ cell‐depleted splenocytes of euthymic Balb/c mice into athymic Balb/c nude mice and IL‐2 blocking with anti‐IL‐2 mAb in euthymic Balb/c mice retarded the growth of macroscopic RENCA tumours in vivo.
A novel approach to the treatment of benign prostatic hyperplasia
Authors: HORVÁTH KATALIN , WALTER GYÖRGY , VARGA ATTILA , ROMICS IMRE 
Published: May 2006

OBJECTIVETo assess the clinical efficacy and safety of the combined α1‐ and postsynaptic α2‐blocker GYKI‐16084 compared to placebo during a 28‐day active treatment of patients with benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH).PATIENTS AND METHODSAfter a 28‐day placebo run‐in phase, 7.5 and 15 mg GYKI‐16084 or placebo were administered twice daily for 28 days to patients with BPH in a randomized single‐blind Phase II study. Efficacy was primarily determined by changes in the American Urological Association (AUA) symptom scores and maximum urinary flow (Qmax), while safety was assessed by orthostatic changes and adverse‐event profile. A simplified International Index of Erectile Function questionnaire was used to assess effects on erectile function.RESULTSData from 63 patients were evaluated; the decrease in the AUA score during the active phase was greater in the 15 mg group (−6.05, −32.7%) than in the placebo (−4.3, 22.7%) or 7.5 mg (−3.55, −19.5%) groups. Qmax improved in both active treatment groups (+3.3 and +2.16 mL for the 7.5 and 15 mg groups, respectively) compared to placebo (+1.29 mL). None of the drug‐related adverse events associated with selective α1‐blockers were reported.CONCLUSIONThe combined α1‐ and postsynaptically selective α2‐blocker GYKI‐16084 significantly improved the AUA symptom scores and increased Qmax in patients with BPH, without inducing any adverse reaction, orthostatic changes or erectile dysfunction.
Islamic State Practices, International Law and the Threat from Terrorism: A Critique of the 'Clash Of Civilisations' in the New World Order by Javaid Rehman
Authors: Khaliq Urfan 
Published: May 2006

Book reviewed in this article: ISLAMIC STATE PRACTICES, INTERNATIONAL LAW AND THE THREAT FROM TERRORISM: A CRITIQUE OF THE ‘CLASH OF CIVILISATIONS’ IN THE NEW WORLD ORDER by JAVAID REHMAN
Perils and promises: University instructors’ integration of technology in classroom‐based practices
Authors: Brill Jennifer M. , Galloway Chad 
Published: May 2006

AbstractModern technologies such as the Internet present new opportunities for teaching and learning at all educational levels. Today, many universities strive to integrate appropriate technologies into campus classrooms. Despite sizeable investments in hardware, software and supporting infrastructures, little is known about implementation. The purpose of this study was to examine college‐level instructors’ use of and attitudes towards classroom‐based teaching technologies. The methodological design relied on qualitative measures through the use of two data collection methods, survey and interview. The research site was a large, public university in the United States. Findings revealed trends in current and future technology use, the positive influence of technology on teaching and learning, and significant barriers to technology use that resulted in practical recommendations for leveraging available resources towards the support of classroom‐based technologies. This study not only advances the knowledge base regarding the use of classroom‐based technologies in higher education but also serves as a practical resource for guiding future instructional technology practices on college campuses.
Cost‐Sharing for Emergency Care and Unfavorable Clinical Events: Findings from the Safety and Financial Ramifications of ED Copayments Study
Authors: Hsu John , Price Mary , Brand Richard , Ray G. Thomas , Fireman Bruce , Newhouse Joseph P. , Selby Joseph V. 
Published: May 2006

Objective. To evaluate the effect of emergency department (ED) copayment levels on ED use and unfavorable clinical events.Data Source/Study Setting. Kaiser Permanente–Northern California (KPNC), a prepaid integrated delivery system.Study Design. In a quasi‐experimental longitudinal study with concurrent controls, we estimated rates of ED visits, hospitalizations, ICU admissions, and deaths associated with higher ED copayments relative to no copayment, using Poisson random effects and proportional hazard models, controlling for patient characteristics. The study period began in January 1999; more than half of the population experienced an employer‐chosen increase in their ED copayment in January 2000.Data Collection/Extraction Methods. Using KPNC automated databases, the 2000 U.S. Census, and California state death certificates, we collected data on ED visits and unfavorable clinical events over a 36‐month period (January 1999 through December 2001) among 2,257,445 commercially insured and 261,091 Medicare insured health system members.Principal Findings. Among commercially insured subjects, ED visits decreased 12 percent with the $20–35 copayment (95 percent confidence interval [CI]: 11–13 percent), and 23 percent with the $50–100 copayment (95 percent CI: 23–24 percent) compared with no copayment. Hospitalizations, ICU admissions, and deaths did not increase with copayments. Hospitalizations decreased 4 percent (95 percent CI: 2–6 percent) and 10 percent (95 percent CI: 7–13 percent) with ED copayments of $20–35 and $50–100, respectively, compared with no copayment. Among Medicare subjects, ED visits decreased by 4 percent (95 percent CI: 3–6 percent) with the $20–50 copayments compared with no copayment; unfavorable clinical events did not increase with copayments, e.g., hospitalizations were unchanged (95 percent CI: −3 percent to +2 percent) with $20–50 ED copayments compared with no copayment.Conclusions. Relatively modest levels of patient cost‐sharing for ED care decreased ED visit rates without increasing the rate of unfavorable clinical events.
Surface Feature Identification Using a Vision-Based Manifold for Robotic Demanufacturing
Authors: Bailey-Van Kuren Michael M. 
Published: May 2006

Abstract
Robotic demanufacturing requires efficient operation on complex product surfaces from a diverse product stream. A new vision-based approach for surface identification is proposed. Vision-based information defines a surface manifold utilizing structured lighting. The surface manifold model is integrated with a surface estimation model to relate information back to the robot work space. A technique for developing surface patches related to surface objects detected in machine vision images is shown. Case study results from a scrap keyboard are presented and discussed. It is shown that the method iteratively generates a complete surface patch for any viewable surface object.
Using the Bootstrap Method for a Statistical Significance Test of Differences between Summary Histograms
Authors: Xu Kuan-Man 
Published: May 2006

Abstract
A new method is proposed to compare statistical differences between summary histograms, which are the histograms summed over a large ensemble of individual histograms. It consists of choosing a distance statistic for measuring the difference between summary histograms and using a bootstrap procedure to calculate the statistical significance level. Bootstrapping is an approach to statistical inference that makes few assumptions about the underlying probability distribution that describes the data. Three distance statistics are compared in this study. They are the Euclidean distance, the Jeffries–Matusita distance, and the Kuiper distance.
The data used in testing the bootstrap method are satellite measurements of cloud systems called “cloud objects.” Each cloud object is defined as a contiguous region/patch composed of individual footprints or fields of view. A histogram of measured values over footprints is generated for each parameter of each cloud object, and then summary histograms are accumulated over all individual histograms in a given cloud-object size category. The results of statistical hypothesis tests using all three distances as test statistics are generally similar, indicating the validity of the proposed method. The Euclidean distance is determined to be most suitable after comparing the statistical tests of several parameters with distinct probability distributions among three cloud-object size categories. Impacts on the statistical significance levels resulting from differences in the total lengths of satellite footprint data between two size categories are also discussed.
Relationship between SAR-Derived Wind Vectors and Wind at 10-m Height Represented by a Mesoscale Model
Authors: Koch Wolfgang , Feser Frauke 
Published: May 2006

Abstract
Wind vectors over the ocean were extracted from a large number of synthetic aperture radar (SAR) images from the European Remote Sensing Satellites (ERS-1 and ERS-2). The wind directions are inferred from the orientation of wind streaks that are imaged by the SAR, while the wind speeds are retrieved by inversion of the C-band model CMOD4. The derived wind directions and speeds were compared to wind vectors from the numerical Regional Model (REMO) that are available hourly on a 55-km grid. The large number of comparisons and independent weather situations allowed for an analysis of subsets that are classified by SAR-derived wind speed. A strong decrease of the standard deviation of directional differences with increasing wind speed was found. Biases of directional differences depend on SAR wind speed as well. Furthermore, the influence of the temporal difference between SAR overflight and model and an automatic image filtering on the directional error is demonstrated. Overall, reasonable fields of wind vectors were extracted from SAR imagery in 70 of 80 cases. These fields provide valuable information for validation of numerical models of the atmosphere and case studies of coastal wind fields.
The Role of Anomalously Warm Sea Surface Temperatures on the Intensity of Hurricane Juan (2003) during Its Approach to Nova Scotia
Authors: Fogarty Christopher T. , Greatbatch Richard J. , Ritchie Harold 
Published: May 2006

Abstract
When Hurricane Juan tracked toward Nova Scotia, Canada, in September 2003, forecasters were faced with the challenge of predicting the intensity and timing of the hurricane’s landfall. There were two competing factors dictating the storm’s intensity: 1) the decreasing sea surface temperatures (SSTs) over which the hurricane tracked that were conducive to weakening; and 2) the increased forward motion of the storm that enhanced the surface winds on the right (storm relative) side of the storm. Since Hurricane Juan was moving very quickly (forward speed approximately 15 m s−1) it spent less time over the cooler continental shelf waters between Nova Scotia and the &gt;26°C water of the Gulf Stream than would have been the case for a slower-moving storm. However, those waters were warmer than normal during this event, by ∼4°C. It is argued that these warmer SSTs made a significant contribution (among other factors) to this rare category-2 hurricane at landfall in Nova Scotia. To assess the role of SSTs on the decay rate of Hurricane Juan, the Mesoscale Compressible Community model of the atmosphere is used. The model consists of a fixed, nested 3-km grid driven by a coarser 12-km grid, and is initiated using a synthetic hurricane vortex constructed from observational information such as storm size and intensity, thus giving a decent representation of the real storm. The model is initiated at 0000 UTC 28 September, when the hurricane was close to maximum intensity. An ensemble of experiments are conducted for each of two SST configurations: 1) analyzed SST of 28 September 2003 and 2) climatological SST representative of late September. Results from the 3-km simulations indicate that the intensity of Hurricane Juan’s maximum surface wind just prior to landfall was ∼5 m s−1 (±∼1.5 m s−1) weaker in the normal SST case, a result that is statistically significant at the 99% level. The destructiveness of the maximum landfall winds in the normal SST case is generally about 70% of that in the observed (warmer than normal) SST case. Model performance is measured using surface weather data, as well as data collected from a research aircraft that flew into the storm just prior to landfall.
Identifying systematic reviews of the adverse effects of health care interventions
Authors: Golder Su , McIntosh Heather M , Loke Yoon 
Published: May 2006

Abstract

Background
In order to carry out a methodological research survey of systematic reviews of adverse effects we needed to retrieve a sample of systematic reviews in which the primary outcome is an adverse effect or effects.

Methods
We carried out searches of the Database of Abstracts of Reviews of Effects (DARE) and the Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews (CDSR) for systematic reviews of adverse effects published between 1994 to 2005. The search strategies used a combination of text words in the title and abstract, Medical Subject Headings (MeSH) and subheadings/qualifiers. In addition, DARE records in progress were hand searched. No language restrictions were placed on any of the searches. The performance, in terms of sensitivity and precision, of the search strategies and their combinations were tested in DARE and CDSR.

Results
In total 3635 records were screened of which 257 met our inclusion criteria. The precision of the searches in CDSR was low (0% to 3%), and no one search strategy could retrieve all the relevant records in either DARE or CDSR. Hand searching the records from DARE and CDSR not retrieved by our searches indicated that we had missed relevant systematic reviews in both DARE and CDSR. The sensitivities of many of the search combinations were comparable to those found when searching for primary studies in which adverse effects are secondary outcomes.

Conclusion
Searching major databases of systematic reviews, for systematic reviews of adverse effects, proved more difficult than anticipated due to a lack of standard terminology used by the authors, inadequate indexing and the variations in the search interfaces of the databases. At present hand searching all records in DARE and CDSR seems to be the only way to ensure retrieval of all systematic reviews of adverse effects in these databases.
Cyano Group Transfer of Acetone Cyanohydrin to Aldehyde Mediated by Titanium Alkoxide and Aluminum Alkyls
Authors: Mori Atsunori , Kinoshita Koichi , Osaka Masahiko , Inoue Shohei 
Published: May 2006

Abstract
Cyano group transfer reaction of acetone cyanohydrin to various aldehydes in the presence of titanium alkoxide and aluminum alkyls to give the corresponding aldehyde cyanohydrins in high yield is described.
Enantio-and Stereo-controlled Construction of Tertiary and Quaternary Carbon Centers Using Chiral O-Benzylglycidol as Template
Authors: Takano Seiichi , Shimazaki Youichi , Moriya Minoru , Ogasawara Kunio 
Published: May 2006

Abstract
An efficient method for the enantio- and stereo-controlled construction of tertiary and quaternary carbon centers in a highly functionalized system has been developed using chiral O-benzylglycidol as template.
Using and generating evidence: policy makers’ reflections on commissioning and learning from the Scottish Health Demonstration Projects
Authors: Mackenzie Mhairi , Blamey Avril , Hanlon Phil 
Published: May 2006

English
This article discusses the gap between rhetoric and reality in evidence-based policy making using data derived from external evaluations of two of Scotland’s national Health Demonstration Projects. More specifically, it reports on the extent to which policy makers used evidence to commission the projects, and on the type of evidence that they expected to flow from them to feed into future government strategy. Using primary data, this article confirms that policy decisions are made on the basis of factors that go beyond research evidence and suggests that both policy makers and evaluators would gain from more explicit acknowledgement of what lies beneath the veneer of evidence-based policy making.
RTD evaluation and policy in the European Research Area
Authors: Schmidt Evanthia Kalpazidou 
Published: May 2006

English
Evaluation of Research and Technological Development (RTD) processes and outcomes is gaining importance in European policy as funds are reallocated to research and demands for accountability are growing. However, a common evaluation ground is not seen yet in Europe. The theme for this article is the landscape of RTD evaluations in Europe and their use in research and technology policy. Based on a comparative study of 22 European countries, concepts of public evaluations and their impacts on policy at meso- and macro-level are outlined and discussed. The article points to future needs and challenges with regard to the construction of public RTD evaluations and their use in policy, in particular with a view to creating the European Research Area (ERA). It concludes that some rethinking of evaluation concepts and practices is called for.
Establishment of helophytes in the course of fen restoration
Authors: Roth S. , Seeger T. , Poschlod P. , Pfadenhauer J. , Succow M. 
Published: May 2006

Abstract. In two fen areas of northeastern Germany, different techniques of re‐introduction to establish reed‐bed species in formerly intensively used, species‐poor, grasslands, after rewetting, were studied under three hydrological regimes (permanent inundation, temporary inundation, border irrigation) with the aims (1) to establish peat‐forming vegetation and (2) to enhance species richness.Establishment was successful for nearly all species investigated under all hydrological variants. There were differences between individuals sown and those which had been planted. Wet, but not inundated soil linked with vegetation gaps create ‘safe sites’ which enable successful germination and seedling establishment. The survival rate for both planted and sown individuals was generally high, with the exception of Cladium mariscus, Eupatorium cannabinum and Phragmites australis Recommendations for restoration management include the establishment of the following successful species: Carex acutiformis, C elata and C paniculata to establish peat‐forming vegetation; Iris pseudacorus, Lysimachia vulgaris, Lythrum salicaria to enhance species richness.