bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Lopingian (Late Permian) foraminiferal faunal succession of a Paleo‐Tethyan mid‐oceanic carbonate buildup: Shifodong Formation in the Changning–Menglian Belt, West Yunnan, Southwest China
Authors: Ueno Katsumi , Tsutsumi Satoe 
Published: February 2009

AbstractThis paper deals with a Lopingian (Late Permian) foraminiferal faunal succession of the Shifodong Formation in the Changning–Menglian Belt, West Yunnan, Southwest China, which has been geologically interpreted as one of the closed remnants in East Asia of the Paleo‐Tethys Ocean. The Shifodong Formation is the uppermost stratigraphic unit in thick Carboniferous–Permian carbonates of the belt. These carbonates rest upon bases consisting of oceanic island basalt and are widely accepted as having a Paleo‐Tethyan mid‐oceanic (seamount‐ or oceanic plateau‐top) origin. Sixteen taxa of fusuline foraminifers and 37 taxa of smaller (non‐fusuline) foraminifers are recognized from the type section of the Shifodong Formation located in the Gengma area of the northern part of the Changning–Menglian Belt. Based on their stratigraphic distribution, three fusuline zones can be established in this section: they are, in ascending order, the Codonofusiella cf. C. kwangsiana Zone, Palaeofusulina minima Zone, and Palaeofusulina sinensis Zone. These three biozones are respectively referable to the Wuchiapingian, early Changhsingian, and late Changhsingian, of which the Wuchiapingian is first recognized in this study in the Changning–Menglian mid‐oceanic carbonates. The present study clearly demonstrates that the foraminiferal fauna in a Paleo‐Tethyan pelagic shallow‐marine environment still maintained high faunal diversity throughout the almost entire Lopingian, although the very latest Permian fauna in the upper part of the Palaeofusulina sinensis Zone of the Shifodong section records a sudden decrease in both faunal diversity and abundance. Moreover, the Shifodong faunas are comparable in diversity with those observed in circum‐Tethyan shelves such as South China. The present Paleo‐Tethyan mid‐oceanic foraminiferal faunas are definitely more diversified than coeval mid‐oceanic Panthalassan faunas, which are typically represented by those from the Kamura Limestone in a Jurassic accretionary complex of Southwest Japan. It is suggestive that the Paleo‐Tethyan mid‐oceanic buildups presumably supplied a peculiarly hospitable habitat for foraminiferal faunal development in a pelagic paleo‐equatorial condition.
Sedimentary facies of Carboniferous–Permian mid‐oceanic carbonates in the Changning–Menglian Belt, West Yunnan, Southwest China: Origin and depositional process
Authors: Nakazawa Tsutomu , Ueno Katsumi , Wang Xiangdong 
Published: February 2009

AbstractHuge carbonate rock bodies ranging in age from the Visean (Middle Mississippian/Early Carboniferous) to the Changhsingian (Lopingian/Late Permian) overlie a basaltic basement in the Changning–Menglian Belt, West Yunnan, Southwest China. These carbonates lack intercalations of terrigenous siliciclastic material throughout. These lines of evidence indicate that they formed upon an isolated and continuously subsiding mid‐oceanic island (or plateau), probably of hotspot origin. The carbonates are grouped into a shallow‐water carbonate platform facies regime observed in the Yutangzhai section and a relatively deep‐water carbonate slope facies regime typically represented in the Longdong section. These two facies regimes developed contemporaneously as parts of a carbonate depositional system on and around a mid‐oceanic volcanic edifice. The carbonate platform is subdivided into four facies, including platform‐margin, shoal, lagoon, and peritidal facies. Along the measured Yutangzhai section of the platform facies regime, the vertical facies succession from the platform‐margin facies into inner‐platform facies such as the shoal and lagoon facies is recognized. This facies succession is explained as resulting from the progradation of the carbonate platform. Worm tubes occur as a main reef builder in platform‐margin facies of the Mississippian. Their occurrence as major constituents in a high‐wave‐energy reef is peculiar to Carboniferous reef distributions of the world. The occurrences of other reef‐ and/or mound‐building organisms and peritidal dolo‐mudstone are almost consistent in timing with those of Panthalassan counterparts such as the Akiyoshi and Omi limestones of Japan, and probably exhibit the worldwide trend.
Budginmaya eulae gen. et sp. nov., a myrmecophilous planthopper (Hemiptera: Fulgoromorpha: Flatidae) from Western Australia
Authors: Fletcher Murray J , Moir Melinda L 
Published: February 2009

Abstract Budginmaya eulae gen. et sp. nov. is described from the nest of a Camponotus terebrans (Lowne) ant from Western Australia. The species shows adaptations for subterranean life, including reduction in the tegmina, wings and eyes and increased hairiness around the head, body, tegmina and legs. This is the first record of an Australian planthopper (Fulgoromorpha) cohabiting with ants and the first record of an inquiline species in the family Flatidae. Furthermore, this flatid is most likely a short‐range endemic species currently restricted to Bandalup Hill.
Nocturia: A non‐specific but important symptom of urological disease
Authors: Schneider Tim , de la Rosette Jean JMCH , Michel Martin C 
Published: February 2009

AbstractNocturia is a prevalent symptom that can adversely affect quality of sleep and overall quality of life leading to morbidity and even mortality. Nocturia can be due to a range of urological conditions and non‐urological diseases. Nocturia can be due to an insufficient bladder capacity and/or (nocturnal) polyuria. Some of the possibly underlying non‐urological diseases can be life‐threatening, implying treatment priorities. Urological treatment options include α‐adrenoceptor antagonists, muscarinic receptor antagonists and vasopressin receptor agonists. The former two have shown beneficial but small and inconsistent effects in patients assumed to have benign prostatic hyperplasia or overactive bladder, respectively. In contrast, the vasopressin analog desmopressin has consistently shown nocturia improvement in patients with proven polyuria. While supported by lower levels of evidence, lifestyle modifications are generally considered important for nocturia treatment. We conclude that nocturia is a urinary storage symptom with a major impact on patients' lives and a complex pathophysiology.
External validation and head‐to‐head comparison of Japanese and Western prostate biopsy nomograms using Japanese data sets
Authors: Utsumi Takanobu , Kawamura Koji , Suzuki Hiroyoshi , Kamiya Naoto , Imamoto Takashi , Miura Junichiro , Ueda Takeshi , Maruoka Masayuki , Sekita Nobuyuki , Mikami Kazuo , Ichikawa Tomohiko 
Published: February 2009

AbstractThe objective of this study was to perform external validation of a previously developed prostate biopsy nomogram (the CHIBA nomogram) and to compare it with previously published nomograms developed in Japanese and overseas populations. Two different cohorts of patients were used: one from the Chiba Cancer Center (n = 392) in which transperineal 16‐core biopsy was performed, and another from Chibaken Saiseikai Narashino Hospital (n = 269) in which transrectal 16‐core biopsy was carried out. All patients were Japanese men with serum prostate‐specific antigen levels less than 10 ng/mL. The predictive accuracy of our CHIBA nomogram and of four other published nomograms (Finne's sextant biopsy‐based logistic regression model, Karakiewicz's sextant biopsy‐based nomogram, Chun's 10‐core biopsy‐based nomogram and Kawakami's three‐dimensional biopsy‐based nomogram) was quantified based on area under the curve derived from receiver operating characteristic curves. Head‐to‐head comparison of area under the curve values demonstrated that our nomogram was significantly more accurate than all other models except Chun's (P = 0.012 vs Finne's, P = 0.000 vs Karakiewicz's, and P = 0.003 vs Kawakami's). Our nomogram appears to be more useful for the Japanese population than Western models. Moreover, external validation demonstrates that its predictive accuracy does not vary according to biopsy approach. This is the first report to demonstrate that the predictive accuracy of a nomogram is independent from the biopsy method.
Computer‐based endoscopic image‐processing technology for endourology and laparoscopic surgery
Authors: Igarashi Tatsuo , Suzuki Hiroyoshi , Naya Yukio 
Published: February 2009

AbstractEndourology and laparoscopic surgery are evolving in accordance with developments in instrumentation and progress in surgical technique. Recent advances in computer and image‐processing technology have enabled novel images to be created from conventional endoscopic and laparoscopic video images. Such technology harbors the potential to advance endourology and laparoscopic surgery by adding new value and function to the endoscope. The panoramic and three‐dimensional images created by computer processing are two outstanding features that can address the shortcomings of conventional endoscopy and laparoscopy, such as narrow field of view, lack of depth cue, and discontinuous information. The wide panoramic images show an anatomical ‘map’ of the abdominal cavity and hollow organs with high brightness and resolution, as the images are collected from video images taken in a close‐up manner. To assist in laparoscopic surgery, especially in suturing, a three‐dimensional movie can be obtained by enhancing movement parallax using a conventional monocular laparoscope. In tubular organs such as the prostatic urethra, reconstruction of three‐dimensional structure can be achieved, implying the possibility of a liquid dynamic model for assessing local urethral resistance in urination. Computer‐based processing of endoscopic images will establish new tools for endourology and laparoscopic surgery in the near future.
Changes in magnetic flux density around fatigue crack tips
Authors: KIDA K. , TANABE H. , OKANO H. 
Published: February 2009

ABSTRACTFatigue failure of steel occurs when small cracks form in a component and then continue to grow to a size large enough to cause failure. In order to understand the strength of steel components, it is important to find the cracks, which eventually grow to cause failures. However, at present, it is not easy to distinguish, in the early stages of growth, the cracks that will grow fast and cause failure.We hypothesized that it may be possible to distinguish them by comparing changes in the magnetic flux density around the tips of those cracks that grew to failure. In order to measure these changes in magnetic flux density, we developed a scanning Hall probe microscope and observed the fatigue cracks growing from artificial slits in soft bearing steels. Note that we did not magnetize the specimens artificially but succeeded to measure the changes in magnetic flux density during the fatigue tests. We also compared the changes in magnetic flux density around crack tips, which grew under different loads, and found that there is a strong correlation between the magnetic flux density, crack growth and stress intensity factors. In order to understand this, we looked into the relation between stress field, residual strain and magnetic flux density, and concluded that the changes in magnetic flux density are caused not only by the residual strain occurring around the crack tips but also by the increase in the elastic stress.
A novel exocrine structure of the bicellular unit type in the thorax of termites
Authors: Gonçalves Teresa Telles , DeSouza Og , Billen Johan 
Published: February 2009

AbstractGonçalves, T. T., DeSouza, O. and Billen, J. 2010. A novel exocrine structure of the bicellular unit type in the thorax of termites — Acta Zoologica (Stockholm) 91: 193–198Studying the thorax of some Termitidae species, we found two pairs of hitherto unknown lateral glands in the mesothorax and metathorax of both workers and soldiers. The glands consist of distinct clusters of class 3 secretory cells accompanied by their duct cells, located in the upper lateral portion of the thoracic wall. Ultrastructural observations reveal numerous mitochondria, a well‐developed Golgi apparatus and vesicular smooth endoplasmic reticulum, indicating a cytoplasm with intensive metabolic activity. The gland is reported to occur in Microcerotermes strunckii, Cornitermes cumulans and Nasutitermes minor, three species comprising an interesting morpho‐behavioural gradient, respectively, from only mechanical, through mechanical–chemical, to only chemical defence systems. The extent of such a gradient allows speculations that this gland would be related to the general needs of termites, rather than to some specificities of a single group. We warn, however, that complementary studies are needed, before any conclusions can be drawn.
Effect of body mass index on the outcome of infections: a systematic review
Authors: Falagas M. E. , Athanasoulia A. P. , Peppas G. , Karageorgopoulos D. E. 
Published: February 2009

SummaryIt has not been adequately evaluated whether the outcome of infections differs by body‐weight category. We performed a systematic review of relevant studies. Eleven studies (one retrospective and 10 prospective cohort studies) were included in this review, involving a total of 3159 hospitalized patients or nursing home residents. Most studies (6/11) referred to lower respiratory tract infections. Seven studies showed an association of patient outcome (mortality in 6/7 studies) with body‐weight category. This was shown in multivariate analysis in 4/5 studies that reported relevant data. Obese or morbidly obese patients with infections had worse outcome compared with the rest of the patients or with normal‐weight patients, in 4/7 studies that reported relevant data; findings were not significant in the remaining three studies. Patients in the lowest body mass index (BMI) group had worse outcome compared with all other groups combined, in 3/5 studies that reported relevant data; findings were not significant in the remaining two studies. Low BMI was associated with worse outcome in patients with lower respiratory tract infections in 3/4 relevant studies. Although not consistently reported, an association of both ends of the BMI distribution with worse outcome of infections is plausible and merits further investigation.
Mobilities, Vulnerabilities and Sustainabilities: Exploring Pathways from Denial to Sustainable Rural Development
Authors: Marsden Terry 
Published: February 2009

AbstractMobilities, vulnerabilities and sustainabilities represent three key and potentially divergent processes currently affecting rural Europe. Together they also set some key challenges and potentials for critical rural social science. This article, after first setting these processes in the global macro‐context of growing environmental vulnerability and spatial uneven development, explores each of these processes in turn. It asks how rural areas can meet the challenges of these increasing mobilities in ways which reduce vulnerabilities and enhance sustainabilities. One answer, it is argued, concerns the critical understanding and dissemination of the sustainable rural development model. In the second part of the article some of the conceptual building blocks of such a model are proposed, suggesting the recasting of new rural–urban relationships based around new eco‐economic principles.
Ontology‐supported Querying of Geographical Databases
Authors: Baglioni Miriam , Giovannetti Emiliano , Masserotti Maria Vittoria , Renso Chiara , Spinsanti Laura 
Published: February 2009

AbstractQuerying geographical information systems has been recognized as a difficult task for non‐expert users. Furthermore, user queries are often characterized by semantic aspects not directly managed by traditional spatial databases or GIS. Examples of such semantic geospatial queries are the use of implicit spatial relations between objects, or the reference of domain concepts not explicitly represented in data. To handle such queries, we envisage a system that translates natural language queries into spatial SQL statements on a database, thus improving standard GIS with new semantic capabilities. Within this general objective, the contribution of this article is to introduce a methodology to handle semantic geospatial queries issued over a spatial database. This approach captures semantics from an ontology built upon the spatial database and enriched by domain concepts and properties specifically defined to represent the localization of objects. Some examples of the use of the methodology in the urban domain are presented.
COMMENTARY ON ELIZABETH COREY'S INTERPRETATION OF MICHAEL OAKESHOTT
Authors: Podoksik Efraim 
Published: February 2009

Abstract.Elizabeth Corey suggests that in order to understand Michael Oakeshott's worldview one should pay special attention to two subjects, religion and aesthetics, and analyze the connection between these two realms and the idea of practical life in general and of politics in particular. Her book provides a sympathetic but also critical conversation with Oakeshott's ideas, ultimately offering us a coherent picture of the place of the religious, poetical, and political in the totality of his thought. Corey persuasively shows that the major ideas of the mature Oakeshott originated in his earlier religious convictions and that his philosophy of aesthetics, contrary to what his critics claimed, fit nicely in the general framework of his thought.
Luck and the Domain of Distributive Justice
Authors: Schwartz Daniel 
Published: February 2009

Abstract: The natural lottery is a metaphor about the way luck affects the allocation of personal attributes, talents, skills, and defects. Susan Hurley has argued that it is incoherent to regard individual essential properties (IEPs) as a matter of lottery luck. The reason is that a lottery of identity‐affecting properties generates the ‘non‐identity problem’. For this reason among others she suggests substituting lottery luck with ‘thin luck’, i.e. luck as non‐responsibility, which would allow us to coherently regard IEPs as a matter of luck.I argue that we are not not‐responsible for our IEPs. Therefore, the coherent range of ‘thin luck’ is not broader than that of lottery luck. Moreover, justice theorists need to be worried about the non‐identity problem only to the extent that IEPs affect life prospects and it is far from evident that they do. After addressing some connected aspects of Hurley's analysis, I discuss the type of reasons that justify seeking to expand domain of justice and the ways of doing this, for instance by abandoning lottery luck. I close by suggesting, however, that if Parfit's view of ‘what matters about identity’ is correct, its application to the case of identity‐affecting lotteries may prove the expansion of the domain of justice superfluous, as IEPs belong to it as it is.
Finite element modeling of slug tests in an aquifer with stratigraphical and structural heterogeneities
Authors: CHENG J.‐T. , EVERETT M. E. 
Published: February 2009

AbstractSlug interference tests using an array of multilevel active and monitoring wells permit enhanced aquifer characterization. Analyses of these field test data rely on numerical inverse models. In order to provide synthetic data sets and to have a better understanding of the flow mechanisms, we used a three‐dimensional finite element analysis (FEHM) to explore the effects of idealized, stratigraphical (strata) and structural (faults) heterogeneities with low permeability values on the transient head field that is associated with slug tests in an aquifer. Firstly, we tested our model on homogeneous aquifers and the effectiveness of our modeling strategies have been validated via the excellent agreement of our modeling results with those of the semi‐analytical model of Liu & Butler (1995). In our heterogeneity investigations, we embedded vertical and horizontal zones of lower permeability into a homogenous, isotropic, and confined aquifer to represent low‐permeability faults and strata respectively. A slugged interval is located at the center of the aquifer. Effects of strata thickness and permeability contrast as well as other effects associated with the offset of low‐permeability strata were explored. In particular, modeling results are represented by contour maps of peak travel time and maximum head perturbation of generated hydraulic pulses. Furthermore, various phenomena, such as real‐time matrix diffusion, intermittent matrix–fracture interactions, and faster pulse arrival through a longer flow trajectory, are concretely presented in the snapshots of head perturbations in the aquifer. Our finite element modeling provides useful information for understanding the behaviors of diffusive pressure propagation in an aquifer with stratigraphical and/or structural heterogeneities, and for designing hydraulic tomography to enhance aquifer characterization.
Assessing genetic diversity for conservation management: a case study of a threatened reptile
Authors: Miller K. A. , Chapple D. G. , Towns D. R. , Ritchie P. A. , Nelson N. J. 
Published: February 2009

AbstractThe consequences of inbreeding in small isolated populations are well documented, yet populations are often managed in isolation to avoid irreversibly mixing genetic lineages and to maintain the historic integrity of each population. Three remaining populations of Whitaker's skink (Cyclodina whitakeri) in New Zealand, remnants of a once wider distribution, illustrate the conflict between this genetic goal (separate management of populations) with the more tangible and immediate threats of small population size and inbreeding. Middle and Castle Islands harbour populations of C. whitakeri and have been separated from each other and from the mainland for ∼10 000 years. The single mainland population at Pukerua Bay is extremely small, declining and deemed a high priority for management. We sequenced a 550 bp region of mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA,ND2) and genotyped animals from all three populations at 13 microsatellite loci. The population of C. whitakeri at Pukerua Bay showed marked differences from the island populations at both mtDNA (unique, fixed haplotype) and microsatellite loci (FST∼0.20), and private alleles were detected at a high frequency (24% of all alleles). However, we attribute this pattern to an historic genetic gradient coupled with rapid genetic drift. Further, animals in captivity show genetic signatures of both Pukerua Bay and island populations, despite the goal to maintain a pure Pukerua Bay stock. The mixed genetic stock in captivity provides an opportunity for the addition of skinks from Middle Island to evaluate the risks of further population hybridization, including the disruption of potential local adaptation, while mitigating the risks of inbreeding.