bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
STRATEGIC ENVIRONMENTAL ASSESSMENT: THE NEED TO TRANSFORM THE ENVIRONMENTAL ASSESSMENT PARADIGMS
Authors: JILIBERTO HERRERA RODRIGO 
Published: June 2007

Strategic Environmental Assessment (SEA) needs to develop its own theoretical ground and its related concepts to be able to address the challenges of environmentally improving complex strategic decisions such as policies, plans and programmes (PPP). According to its conceptual specificity, SEA requires an autonomous methodology. Its main feature is that it must be able to dialogue with the decision-making process to ensure the decision related environmental values are duly taken into account. This paper proposes two linked concepts that could help to set up an autonomous conceptual ground for the SEA: The concept of consistency requirements of decisions and the concept of decision related environmental values. In addition, SEA needs to identify the specific environmental dimension of strategic decisions. The concept of environmental impact describes perfectly the environmental dimension of projects. This paper proposes the concept of the sectorial environmental system as the genuine representation of the strategic environmental dimension of strategic decisions and therefore as the key target for SEA activities.
Regional Parameter Estimation of the VIC Land Surface Model: Methodology and Application to River Basins in China
Authors: Xie Zhenghui , Yuan Fei , Duan Qingyun , Zheng Jing , Liang Miaoling , Chen Feng 
Published: June 2007

Abstract
This paper presents a methodology for regional parameter estimation of the three-layer Variable Infiltration Capacity (VIC-3L) land surface model with the goal of improving the streamflow simulation for river basins in China. This methodology is designed to obtain model parameter estimates from a limited number of calibrated basins and then regionalize them to uncalibrated basins based on climate characteristics and large river basin domains, and ultimately to continental China. Fourteen basins from different climatic zones and large river basins were chosen for model calibration. For each of these basins, seven runoff-related model parameters were calibrated using a systematic manual calibration approach. These calibrated parameters were then transferred within the climate and large river basin zones or climatic zones to the uncalibrated basins. To test the efficiency of the parameter regionalization method, a verification study was conducted on 19 independent river basins in China. Overall, the regionalized parameters, when evaluated against the a priori parameter estimates, were able to reduce the model bias by 0.4%–249.8% and relative root-mean-squared error by 0.2%–119.1% and increase the Nash–Sutcliffe efficiency of the streamflow simulation by 1.9%–31.7% for most of the tested basins. The transferred parameters were then used to perform a hydrological simulation over all of China so as to test the applicability of the regionalized parameters on a continental scale. The continental simulation results agree well with the observations at regional scales, indicating that the tested regionalization method is a promising scheme for parameter estimation for ungauged basins in China.
Spatial Interpolation of Daily Potential Evapotranspiration for New Zealand Using a Spline Model
Authors: Tait Andrew , Woods Ross 
Published: June 2007

Abstract
Potential evapotranspiration (PET) is an important component of water balance calculations, and these calculations form an equally important role in applications such as irrigation scheduling, pasture productivity forecasts, and groundwater recharge and streamflow modeling. This paper describes a method of interpolating daily PET data calculated at climate stations throughout New Zealand onto a regular 0.05° latitude–longitude grid using a thin-plate smoothing spline model. Maximum use is made of observational data by combining both Penman and Priestley–Taylor PET calculations and raised pan evaporation measurements. An analysis of the interpolation error using 20 validation sites shows that the average root-mean-square error varies between about 1 mm in the summer months to about 0.4 mm in winter. It is advised that interpolated data for areas above 500-m elevation should be used with caution, however, due to the paucity of input data from high-elevation sites.
Evaluation of PERSIANN-CCS Rainfall Measurement Using the NAME Event Rain Gauge Network
Authors: Hong Yang , Gochis David , Cheng Jiang-tao , Hsu Kuo-lin , Sorooshian Soroosh 
Published: June 2007

Abstract
Robust validation of the space–time structure of remotely sensed precipitation estimates is critical to improving their quality and confident application in water cycle–related research. In this work, the performance of the Precipitation Estimation from Remotely Sensed Information using Artificial Neural Networks-Cloud Classification System (PERSIANN-CCS) precipitation product is evaluated against warm season precipitation observations from the North American Monsoon Experiment (NAME) Event Rain Gauge Network (NERN) in the complex terrain region of northwestern Mexico. Analyses of hourly and daily precipitation estimates show that the PERSIANN-CCS captures well active and break periods in the early and mature phases of the monsoon season. While the PERSIANN-CCS generally captures the spatial distribution and timing of diurnal convective rainfall, elevation-dependent biases exist, which are characterized by an underestimate in the occurrence of light precipitation at high elevations and an overestimate in the occurrence of precipitation at low elevations. The elevation-dependent biases contribute to a 1–2-h phase shift of the diurnal cycle of precipitation at various elevation bands. For reasons yet to be determined, the PERSIANN-CCS significantly underestimated a few active periods of precipitation during the late or “senescent” phase of the monsoon. Despite these shortcomings, the continuous domain and relatively high spatial resolution of PERSIANN-CCS quantitative precipitation estimates (QPEs) provide useful characterization of precipitation space–time structures in the North American monsoon region of northwestern Mexico, which should prove useful for hydrological applications.
Simulation and Projection of Arctic Freshwater Budget Components by the IPCC AR4 Global Climate Models
Authors: Kattsov Vladimir M. , Walsh John E. , Chapman William L. , Govorkova Veronika A. , Pavlova Tatyana V. , Zhang Xiangdong 
Published: June 2007

Abstract
The state-of-the-art AOGCM simulations have recently (late 2004–early 2005) been completed for the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) in order to provide input to the IPCC’s Fourth Assessment Report (AR4). The present paper synthesizes the new simulations of both the twentieth- and twenty-first-century arctic freshwater budget components for use in the IPCC AR4, and attempts to determine whether demonstrable progress has been achieved since the late 1990s. Precipitation and its difference with evapotranspiration are addressed over the Arctic Ocean and its terrestrial watersheds, including the basins of the four major rivers draining into the Arctic Ocean: the Ob, the Yenisey, the Lena, and the Mackenzie. Compared to the previous [IPCC Third Assessment Report (TAR)] generation of AOGCMs, there are some indications that the models as a class have improved in simulations of the Arctic precipitation. In spite of observational uncertainties, the models still appear to oversimulate area-averaged precipitation over the major river basins. The model-mean precipitation biases in the Arctic and sub-Arctic have retained their major geographical patterns, which are at least partly attributable to the insufficiently resolved local orography, as well as to biases in large-scale atmospheric circulation and sea ice distribution. The river discharge into the Arctic Ocean is also slightly oversimulated. The simulated annual cycle of precipitation over the Arctic Ocean is in qualitative agreement between the models as well as with observational and reanalysis data. This is also generally the case for the seasonality of precipitation over the Arctic Ocean’s terrestrial watersheds, with a few exceptions. Some agreement is demonstrated by the models in reproducing positive twentieth-century trends of precipitation in the Arctic, as well as positive area-averaged P–E late-twentieth-century trends over the entire terrestrial watershed of the Arctic Ocean.
For the twenty-first century, three scenarios are considered: A2, A1B, and B1. Precipitation over the Arctic Ocean and its watersheds increases through the twenty-first century, showing much faster percentage increases than the global mean precipitation. The arctic precipitation changes have a pronounced seasonality, with the strongest relative increase in winter and fall, and the weakest in summer. The river discharge into the Arctic Ocean increases for all scenarios from all major river basins considered, and is generally about twice as large as the increase of freshwater from precipitation over the Arctic Ocean (70°–90°N) itself. The across-model scatter of the precipitation increase for each scenario is significant, but smaller than the scatter between the climates of the different models in the baseline period.
A Gauge-Based Analysis of Daily Precipitation over East Asia
Authors: Xie Pingping , Chen Mingyue , Yang Song , Yatagai Akiyo , Hayasaka Tadahiro , Fukushima Yoshihiro , Liu Changming 
Published: June 2007

AbstractA new gauge-based analysis of daily precipitation has been constructed on a 0.5° latitude–longitude grid over East Asia (5°–60°N, 65°–155°E) for a 26-yr period from 1978 to 2003 using gauge observations at over 2200 stations collected from several individual sources. First, analyzed fields of daily climatology are computed by interpolating station climatology defined as the summation of the first six harmonics of the 365-calendar-day time series of the mean daily values averaged over a 20-yr period from 1978 to 1997. These fields of daily climatology are then adjusted by the Parameter-Elevation Regressions on Independent Slopes Model (PRISM) monthly precipitation climatology to correct the bias caused by orographic effects. Gridded fields of the ratio of daily precipitation to the daily climatology are created by interpolating the corresponding station values using the optimal interpolation method. Analyses of total daily precipitation are finally calculated by multiplying the daily climatology by the daily ratio.Cross-validation tests indicated that this gauge-based analysis has high quantitative quality with a negligible bias and a correlation coefficient of ∼0.6 for comparisons between withdrawn station data and the analysis at a 0.05° latitude–longitude grid box. The quality of the analysis increases with the gauge network density. The mean distribution and annual cycle of this new gauge analysis present similar patterns but with more detailed structures and slightly larger magnitude compared to other published monthly gauge analyses over the region.The East Asia gauge analysis is applied to verify the performance of five satellite-based precipitation estimates. This examination reveals the regionally and seasonally dependent performance of the satellite products with the best statistics observed for relatively wet regions. Further improvements of the daily gauge analysis are underway to increase the gauge network density and to refine the algorithm to better deal with the orographic effects especially over South and Southeast Asia.
Presence of thiamine pyrophosphate in mammalian peroxisomes
Authors: Fraccascia Patrizia , Sniekers Mieke , Casteels Minne , Van Veldhoven Paul P 
Published: June 2007

Abstract

Background
Thiamine pyrophosphate (TPP) is a cofactor for 2-hydroxyacyl-CoA lyase 1 (HACL1), a peroxisomal enzyme essential for the α-oxidation of phytanic acid and 2-hydroxy straight chain fatty acids. So far, HACL1 is the only known peroxisomal TPP-dependent enzyme in mammals. Little is known about the transport of metabolites and cofactors across the peroxisomal membrane and no peroxisomal thiamine or TPP carrier has been identified in mammals yet. This study was undertaken to get a better insight into these issues and to shed light on the role of TPP in peroxisomal metabolism.

Results
Because of the crucial role of the cofactor TPP, we reanalyzed its subcellular localization in rat liver. In addition to the known mitochondrial and cytosolic pools, we demonstrated, for the first time, that peroxisomes contain TPP (177 ± 2 pmol/mg protein). Subsequently, we verified whether TPP could be synthesized from its precursor thiamine, in situ, by a peroxisomal thiamine pyrophosphokinase (TPK). However, TPK activity was exclusively recovered in the cytosol.

Conclusion
Our results clearly indicate that mammalian peroxisomes do contain TPP but that no pyrophosphorylation of thiamine occurs in these organelles, implying that thiamine must enter the peroxisome already pyrophosphorylated. Consequently, TPP entry may depend on a specific transport system or, in a bound form, on HACL1 translocation.
Definition of the zebrafish genome using flow cytometry and cytogenetic mapping
Authors: Freeman Jennifer L , Adeniyi Adeola , Banerjee Ruby , Dallaire Stephanie , Maguire Sean F , Chi Jianxiang , Ng Bee Ling , Zepeda Cinthya , Scott Carol E , Humphray Sean , Rogers Jane , Zhou Yi , Zon Leonard I , Carter Nigel P , Yang Fengtang , Lee Charles 
Published: June 2007

AbstractBackgroundThe zebrafish (Danio rerio) is an important vertebrate model organism system for biomedical research. The syntenic conservation between the zebrafish and human genome allows one to investigate the function of human genes using the zebrafish model. To facilitate analysis of the zebrafish genome, genetic maps have been constructed and sequence annotation of a reference zebrafish genome is ongoing. However, the duplicative nature of teleost genomes, including the zebrafish, complicates accurate assembly and annotation of a representative genome sequence. Cytogenetic approaches provide "anchors" that can be integrated with accumulating genomic data.ResultsHere, we cytogenetically define the zebrafish genome by first estimating the size of each linkage group (LG) chromosome using flow cytometry, followed by the cytogenetic mapping of 575 bacterial artificial chromosome (BAC) clones onto metaphase chromosomes. Of the 575 BAC clones, 544 clones localized to apparently unique chromosomal locations. 93.8% of these clones were assigned to a specific LG chromosome location using fluorescencein situhybridization (FISH) and compared to the LG chromosome assignment reported in the zebrafish genome databases. Thirty-one BAC clones localized to multiple chromosomal locations in several different hybridization patterns. From these data, a refined second generation probe panel for each LG chromosome was also constructed.ConclusionThe chromosomal mapping of the 575 large-insert DNA clones allows for these clones to be integrated into existing zebrafish mapping data. An accurately annotated zebrafish reference genome serves as a valuable resource for investigating the molecular basis of human diseases using zebrafish mutant models.
Structural and functional definition of the specificity of a novel caspase-3 inhibitor, Ac-DNLD-CHO
Authors: Yoshimori Atsushi , Sakai Junichi , Sunaga Satoshi , Kobayashi Takanobu , Takahashi Satoshi , Okita Naoyuki , Takasawa Ryoko , Tanuma Sei-ichi 
Published: June 2007

AbstractBackgroundThe rational design of peptide-based specific inhibitors of the caspase family members using their X-ray crystallographies is an important strategy for chemical knockdown to define the critical role of each enzyme in apoptosis and inflammation. Recently, we designed a novel potent peptide inhibitor, Ac-DNLD-CHO, for caspase-3 using a new computational screening system named the Amino acid Positional Fitness (APF) method (BMC Pharmacol. 2004, 4:7). Here, we report the specificity of the DNLD sequence against caspase-3 over other major caspase family members that participate in apoptosis by computational docking and site-directed mutagenesis studies.ResultsAc-DNLD-CHO inhibits caspases-3, -7, -8, and -9 activities with Kiappvalues of 0.68, 55.7, >200, and >200 nM, respectively. In contrast, a well-known caspase-3 inhibitor, Ac-DEVD-CHO, inhibits all these caspases with similar Kiappvalues. The selective recognition of a DNLD sequence by caspase-3 was confirmed by substrate preference studies using fluorometric methylcoumarin-amide (MCA)-fused peptide substrates. The bases for its selectivity and potency were assessed on a notable interaction between the substrate Asn (N) and the caspase-3 residue Ser209 in the S3subsite and the tight interaction between the substrate Leu (L) and the caspase-3 hydrophobic S2subsite, respectively, in computational docking studies. Expectedly, the substitution of Ser209 with alanine resulted in loss of the cleavage activity on Ac-DNLD-MCA and had virtually no effect on cleaving Ac-DEVD-MCA. These findings suggest that N and L residues in Ac-DNLD-CHO are the determinants for the selective and potent inhibitory activity against caspase-3.ConclusionOn the basis of our results, we conclude that Ac-DNLD-CHO is a reliable, potent and selective inhibitor of caspase-3. The specific inhibitory effect on caspase-3 suggests that this inhibitor could become an important tool for investigations of the biological function of caspase-3. Furthermore, Ac-DNLD-CHO may be an attractive lead compound to generate novel effective non-peptidic pharmaceuticals for caspase-mediated apoptosis diseases, such as neurodegenerative disorders and viral infection diseases.
Serology based disease status of Pakistani population infected with Hepatitis B virus
Authors: Alam Muhammad Masroor , Zaidi Soahil Zahoor , Malik Salman Akbar , Naeem Asif , Shaukat Shahzad , Sharif Salmaan , Angez Mehar , Khan Anis , Butt Javed Aslam 
Published: June 2007

Abstract

Background
The infection rate of hepatitis B virus is continuously increasing in Pakistan. Therefore, a comprehensive study of epidemiological data is the need of time.

Methods
A total of 1300 individuals were screened for HBV infection markers including HBsAg, anti-HBsAg, HBeAg and anti-HBcAg. The association of these disease indicators was compared with patients' epidemiological characteristics like age, socio-economic status and residential area to analyze and find out the possible correlation among these variables and the patients disease status.

Results
52 (4%) individuals were found positive for HBsAg with mean age 23.5 ± 3.7 years. 9.30%, 33.47% and 12% individuals had HBeAg, antibodies for HBsAg, and antibodies for HBcAg respectively. HBsAg seropositivity rate was significantly associated (p = 0.03) with the residing locality indicating high infection in rural areas. Antibodies titer against HBsAg decreased with the increasing age reflecting an inverse correlation.

Conclusion
Our results indicate high prevalence rate of Hepatitis B virus infection and nationwide vaccination campaigns along with public awareness and educational programs are needed to be practiced urgently.
Early prediction of median survival among a large AIDS surveillance cohort
Authors: Enanoria Wayne TA , Hubbard Alan E , van der Laan Mark J , Chen Mi , Ruiz Juan , Colford John M 
Published: June 2007

Abstract

Background
For individuals with AIDS, data exist relatively soon after diagnosis to allow estimation of "early" survival quantiles (e.g., the 0.10, 0.15, 0.20 and 0.30 quantiles, etc.). Many years of additional observation must elapse before median survival, a summary measure of survival, can be estimated accurately. In this study, a new approach to predict AIDS median survival is presented and its accuracy tested using AIDS surveillance data.

Methods
The data consisted of 96,373 individuals who were reported to the HIV/AIDS Reporting System of the California Department of Health Services Office of AIDS as of December 31, 1996. We defined cohorts based on quarter year of diagnosis (e.g., the "931" cohort consists of individuals diagnosed with AIDS in the first quarter of 1993). We used early quantiles (estimated using the Inverse Probability of Censoring Weighted estimator) of the survival distribution to estimate median survival by assuming a linear relationship between the earlier quantiles and median survival. From this model, median survival was predicted for cohorts for which a median could not be estimated empirically from the available data. This prediction was compared with the actual medians observed when using updated survival data reported at least five years later.

Results
Using the 0.15 quantile as the predictor and the data available as of December 31, 1996, we were able to predict the median survival of four cohorts (933, 934, 941, and 942) to be 34, 34, 31, and 29 months. Without this approach, there were insufficient data with which to make any estimate of median survival. The actual median survival of these four cohorts (using data as of December 31, 2001) was found to be 32, 40, 46, and 80 months, suggesting that the accuracy for this approach requires a minimum of three years to elapse from diagnosis to the time an accurate prediction can be made.

Conclusion
The results of this study suggest that early and accurate prediction of median survival time after AIDS diagnosis may be possible using early quantiles of the survival distribution. The methodology did not seem to work well during a period of significant change in survival as observed with highly active antiretroviral treatment, but results suggest that it may work well in a time of more gradual improvement in survival.