bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Hemodynamic response to featural changes in the occipital and inferior temporal cortex in infants: a preliminary methodological exploration
Authors: Wilcox Teresa , Bortfeld Heather , Woods Rebecca , Wruck Eric , Boas David A. 
Published: May 2008

Abstract Over the past 30 years researchers have learned a great deal about the development of object processing in infancy. In contrast, little is understood about the neural mechanisms that underlie this capacity, in large part because there are few techniques available to measure brain functioning in human infants. The present research examined the extent to which near‐infrared spectroscopy (NIRS), an optical imaging technique, could be used to assess the relation between object processing and brain functioning. Infants aged 6.5 months were presented with an occlusion event involving objects that differed on many feature dimensions (multi‐featural change), differed on shape only (shape change) or color only (color change), or did not differ (control). NIRS data were collected in the occipital and inferior temporal cortex. In the occipital cortex, a significant increase in oxyhemoglobin (HbO2) was observed in response to all four events and these responses did not differ significantly from each other. In the inferior temporal cortex, a significant increase in HbO2 was observed in the multi‐featural and the shape change condition but not in the control condition. An increase was also observed in the color change condition but this increase did not differ significantly from baseline nor did it differ significantly from the response obtained in the control condition. These data were discussed in terms of (a) what they suggest about the neural basis of feature processing in infants and (b) the viability of using NIRS to study brain–behavior relations in infants.
Preschool children's ability to visually represent relations
Authors: Koerber Susanne , Sodian Beate 
Published: May 2008

Abstract The developmental origins of mapping temporal relations onto space was investigated in N = 122 3‐ to 5‐year‐old children and adults. Spontaneous production and comprehension were investigated. Production was investigated in two conditions: an iconic condition (three‐dimensional objects depicting the events or objects to be represented) and an abstract condition (plain discs). Consistent with findings by Tversky, Kugelmass and Winter (1991), 5‐year‐olds performed on an adult‐like level. Developmental progress was observed between the ages of 3 and 4 years, with comprehension preceding production. Consistent with DeLoache's findings (2000), 4‐year‐olds’ performance was better in abstract than in iconic conditions, indicating that dual representational demands may have affected task performance in the iconic condition. In sum, abilities to map temporal relations onto spatial relations appear to develop spontaneously, even before children have experience with conventional notational systems.
The metric matters: determining the extent of children's knowledge of morphological spelling regularities
Authors: Deacon S. Hélène 
Published: May 2008

AbstractAll developmental research needs to carefully consider how children's knowledge is measured. The study of children's knowledge of spelling conventions, or the ways in which the English orthography encodes the roots and affixes and the sounds in words, is no exception. This experiment examined the extent of 7‐ to 9‐year‐old children's knowledge of the role of root morphemes in spelling words across different contexts and with different units of assessment. Different writing contexts did not appear to affect children's performance; children were better able to spell the first components of two‐ than of one‐morpheme words (e.g. onlyfreeinfreelyandfreeze), both when writing whole words and their first sections (e.g. completing__ or __lyforfreely). A second analysis revealed that the unit of coding can influence conclusions. Children demonstrated similar abilities across ages 7 to 9 when only the first segments of words were coded; in contrast, there was evidence of age‐related differences when whole word spelling accuracy was assessed. In combination, these results suggest that children's knowledge of the principle of root consistency is remarkably robust to changes in writing context, but that coding is key when drawing conclusions. These findings remind us that the metric matters in studies of spelling, as in other domains, and they offer a manner to reconcile previously conflicting data on spelling development.
The effect of functional morphemes on word segmentation in preverbal infants
Authors: Shi Rushen , Lepage Mélanie 
Published: May 2008

Abstract This study examines the role of functional morphemes in the earliest stage of lexical development. Recent research showed that prelinguistic infants can perceive functional morphemes. We inquire whether infants use frequent functors to segment potential word forms. French‐learning 8‐month‐olds were familiarized to two utterance types: a novel noun following a functor, and another novel noun following a prosodically matched nonsense functor. After familiarization, infants’ segmentation of the two nouns was assessed in a test phase presenting the nouns in isolation. Infants in Experiment 1 showed evidence of using both frequent functors des and mes (as opposed to the nonsense functor kes) to segment the nouns, suggesting also that they had specific representations of the functors. The infrequent functor vos in Experiment 2 did not facilitate segmentation. Frequency is thus a crucial factor. Our findings demonstrate that frequent functors can bootstrap infants into early lexical learning. Furthermore, the effect of functors for initial word segmentation is likely universal.
LOWER BOUNDS TO THE POPULATION SIZE WHEN CAPTURE PROBABILITIES VARY OVER INDIVIDUALS
Authors: Xuan Mao Chang 
Published: May 2008

SummaryThe problem of estimating population sizes has a wide range of applications. Although the size is non‐identifiable when a population is heterogeneous, it is often useful to estimate the lower bounds and to construct lower confidence limits. A sequence of lower bounds, including the well‐known Chao lower bound, is proposed. The bounds have closed‐form expressions and are estimated by the method of moments or by maximum likelihood. Real examples from epidemiology, wildlife management and ecology are investigated. Simulation studies are used to assess the proposed estimators.
SCALE MIXTURES DISTRIBUTIONS IN STATISTICAL MODELLING
Authors: Boris Choy S.T. , Chan Jennifer S.K. 
Published: May 2008

SummaryThis paper presents two types of symmetric scale mixture probability distributions which include the normal, Student t, Pearson Type VII, variance gamma, exponential power, uniform power and generalized t (GT) distributions. Expressing a symmetric distribution into a scale mixture form enables efficient Bayesian Markov chain Monte Carlo (MCMC) algorithms in the implementation of complicated statistical models. Moreover, the mixing parameters, a by‐product of the scale mixture representation, can be used to identify possible outliers. This paper also proposes a uniform scale mixture representation for the GT density, and demonstrates how this density representation alleviates the computational burden of the Gibbs sampler.
A RESTRICTED MAXIMUM LIKELIHOOD PROCEDURE FOR ESTIMATING THE VARIANCE FUNCTION OF AN IMMUNOASSAY
Authors: O'Malley A. James , Smith Murray H. , Sadler William A. 
Published: May 2008

SummaryRestricted maximum likelihood (REML) is a procedure for estimating a variance function in a heteroscedastic linear model. Although REML has been extended to non‐linear models, the case in which the data are dominated by replicated observations with unknown values of the independent variable of interest, such as the concentration of a substance in a blood sample, has not been considered. We derive a REML procedure for an immunoassay and show that the resulting estimator is superior to those currently being used. Some interesting properties of the REML estimator are derived, and its relationship to other estimators is discussed.
Two‐level CES Production Technology in the Solow and Diamond Growth Models*
Authors: Papageorgiou Chris , Saam Marianne 
Published: May 2008

AbstractThe two‐level CES aggregate production function—that nests a CES into another CES function—has recently been used extensively in theoretical and empirical applications of macroeconomics. We examine the theoretical properties of this production technology and establish existence and stability conditions of steady states under the Solow and Diamond growth models. It is shown that in the Solow model the sufficient condition for a steady state is fulfilled for a wide range of substitution parameter values. This is in sharp contrast with the two‐factor Solow model, where only an elasticity of substitution equal to one is sufficient to guarantee the existence of a steady state. In the Diamond model, multiple equilibria can occur when the aggregate elasticity of substitution is lower than the capital share. Moreover, it is shown that for high initial levels of capital and factor substitutability, the effect of a further increase in a substitution parameter on the steady state depends on capital–skill complementarity.
Economic Growth, TFP Convergence and the World Export of Ideas: A Century of Evidence
Authors: Madsen Jakob B. 
Published: May 2008

AbstractThis paper examines the effect of international patent stock on total factor productivity for 16 OECD countries over the past 120 years. The results show that the international patent stock is highly influential for economic growth and, together with knowledge spillovers through the channel of imports, has contributed significantly to TFP growth and σ‐convergence among the OECD countries over the past 120 years.
Prices, Productivity and Wage Bargaining in Open Economies*
Authors: Forslund Anders , Gottfries Nils , Westermark Andreas 
Published: May 2008

AbstractAccording to the standard union bargaining model, unemployment benefits should have big effects on wages, but product‐market prices and productivity should play no role in the wage bargain. We formulate an alternative strategic bargaining model, where labour and product‐market conditions together determine wages. A wage equation is derived and estimated on aggregate data for four Nordic countries. Wages are found to depend not only on unemployment and the replacement ratio, but also on productivity, international prices and exchange rates. There is evidence of considerable nominal wage rigidity. Exchange rate changes have large and persistent effects on competitiveness.
Final Offer Arbitration: Better Theory Than Practice
Authors: FEIGENBAUM CHARLES 
Published: May 2008

SummaryThe theory of final offer arbitration promises more than its actual performance delivers, based on admittedly limited experience. There is no showing that fewer negotiations reach impasse than would occur under conventional arbitration. There is evidence, however, that final offer arbitration does tend to produce awards less equitable than warranted by the positions and strengths of the parties, particularly when there are multiple issues at impasse and when arbitrators may select only one overall package or another. This tendency is built‐in to the process, since the whole point of final offer arbitration is deterrence, with little or no concern for getting a good settlement through arbitration.“Bad” awards cannot fail to generate irritation and to have a corrosive effect on responsible contract administration. It is possible that such awards, and their effects, will be accepted as the necessary price of a final offer selection system. What seems more likely, however, is that the system will be modified along the lines of those in Eugene and Michigan. Those modifications can be expected to have two effects. First, they will make it more likely that the parties will be able to reach their own agreement by encouraging mediation and further negotiations, even after arbitration has been invoked. Second, they will increase the possibility of an acceptable arbitrated settlement by allowing the arbitrator greater flexibility in making an award. By doing these things, however, the deterrent effect of final offer selection will be substantially weakened, and what will be left will be a useful form of mediation‐arbitration but not a substitute for the strike which contains an equivalent incentive to negotiate.
An exploratory study of the influences that compromise the sun protection of young adults
Authors: Calder Ngaia , Aitken Robert 
Published: May 2008

AbstractThis paper reports on an exploratory research project designed to gain a deeper understanding of the influences on ultraviolet radiation (UVR) behaviours among high‐risk young adults to determine what compromises the adoption of protection measures for this group. A dual approach using focus groups and the Zaltman Metaphor Elicitation Technique was used to provide personal narratives related to UVR behaviour for tertiary education students. Results from both ‘conversations’ were content‐analysed using an iterative ‘bootstrapping’ technique to identify key themes and issues. This exploratory research identified a number of key themes including effect on mood, influence of culture, the value of tans, unrealistic optimism, risk‐orientation, and the role of experience. This group felt that they not been targeted effectively by public health campaigns and did not fully understand the dangers of high‐risk UVR behaviours. Although a number of previous studies have investigated the relationship between knowledge and behaviour, and largely concluded that increases in knowledge do not lead to increases in adoption of protection practices, the preliminary findings of this study reveal that the knowledge and perceived self efficacy of protective practices is extremely high, what is lacking is the perceived threat and thus the motivations to adopt such behaviours. The conclusions drawn from this research indicate that there are a variety of important influencing factors that compromise UVR behaviours, in particular, the lack of perceived seriousness and severity towards long term consequences such as skin cancer. The recommendation to address the imbalance of ‘perceived threat’ and ‘outcome expectations’ is to focus on increasing knowledge of skin cancer, particularly susceptibility to skin cancer and the severity of the condition.
Glucose promotes caspase‐dependent delayed cell death after a transient episode of oxygen and glucose deprivation in SH‐SY5Y cells
Authors: Serra‐Pérez Anna , Verdaguer Ester , Planas Anna M. , Santalucía Tomàs 
Published: May 2008

AbstractBrain ischemia causes neuronal cell death by several mechanisms involving necrotic and apoptotic processes. The contributions of each process depend on conditions such as the severity and duration of ischemia, and the availability of ATP. We examined whether glucose affected the development of apoptosis after transient ischemia, and whether this was sensitive to caspase inhibition. Retinoic acid‐differentiated SH‐SY5Y human neuroblastoma cells were subjected to oxygen and glucose deprivation for 15 h followed by various periods of reoxygenation in either the presence or absence of glucose. Oxygen and glucose deprivation induced cell death in the hours following reoxygenation, as detected by propidium iodide staining. At the end of the period of oxygen and glucose deprivation, both cytochrome c and apoptosis‐inducing factor translocated from mitochondria to cytosol. Reoxygenation in the presence of glucose accelerated cell death, and enhanced caspase‐3 activity and apoptosis. The glucose‐dependent increase in apoptosis was prevented by treatment with the caspase inhibitor zVAD‐fmk, but not with calpeptin, a calpain inhibitor. Nevertheless, both zVAD‐fmk and calpeptin decreased cell death in the glucose‐treated group. ATP levels dropped dramatically after oxygen and glucose deprivation, but recovered steadily thereafter, and were significantly higher at 6 h of reoxygenation in the glucose‐treated group. This indicates that energy recovery may promote the glucose‐dependent cell death. We conclude that glucose favours the development of caspase‐dependent apoptosis during reoxygenation following oxygen and glucose deprivation.
Characterization of a motif for specific binding to hyaluronan in chicken SPACR
Authors: Zhao Jinsong , Yoneda Masahiko , Takeyama Masayuki , Miyaishi Osamu , Inoue Yoko , Kataoka Takuya , Ohno‐Jinno Akiko , Isogai Zenzo , Kimata Koji , Iwaki Masayoshi , Zako Masahiro 
Published: May 2008

AbstractThe chicken sialoprotein associated with cones and rods (SPACR) binds to hyaluronan (HA) in the interphotoreceptor matrix space, but the motif for HA binding is still unknown. This study was conducted to determine the critical site required for specific binding to HA. Western blotting study showed that SPACR binds biotinylated HA, and this interaction was specifically inhibited by unlabeled HA. A series of GST fusion proteins covering whole SPACR was prepared, and reactivity with HA was individually screened to narrow down the region for the binding. Further, putative HA‐binding motif found near the carboxyl‐terminus of SPACR was mutated by site‐directed mutagenesis to identify the critical binding site. Finally, we showed that native SPACR derived from retina similarly binds to HA‐affinity column under both reducing and non‐reducing conditions. These results revealed that the specific putative HA‐binding motif is located near the carboxyl‐terminus of chicken SPACR, and suggested that a structural integrity such as folded structure is not largely involved in the HA binding.
Biomineralization: linking the fossil record to the production of high value functional materials
Authors: LLOYD J. R. , PEARCE C. I. , COKER V. S. , PATTRICK R. A. D. , VAN DER LAAN G. , CUTTING R. , VAUGHAN D. J. , PATERSON‐BEEDLE M. , MIKHEENKO I. P. , YONG P. , MACASKIE L. E. 
Published: May 2008

ABSTRACTThe microbial cell offers a highly efficient template for the formation of nanoparticles with interesting properties including high catalytic, magnetic and light‐emitting activities. Thus biomineralization products are not only important in global biogeochemical cycles, but they also have considerable commercial potential, offering new methods for material synthesis that eliminate toxic organic solvents and minimize expensive high‐temperature and pressure processing steps. In this review we describe a range of bacterial processes that can be harnessed to make precious metal catalysts from waste streams, ferrite spinels for biomedicine and catalysis, metal phosphates for environmental remediation and biomedical applications, and biogenic selenides for a range of optical devices. Recent molecular‐scale studies have shown that the structure and properties of bionanominerals can be fine‐tuned by subtle manipulations to the starting materials and to the genetic makeup of the cell. This review is dedicated to the late Terry Beveridge who contributed much to the field of biomineralization, and provided early models to rationalize the mechanisms of biomineral synthesis, including those of geological and commercial potential.
Constraints in the colonization of natural and engineered subterranean igneous rock aquifers by aerobic methane‐oxidizing bacteria inferred by culture analysis
Authors: CHI FRU E 
Published: May 2008

ABSTRACTThe aerobic methane‐oxidizing bacteria (MOB) are suggested to be important for the removal of oxygen from subterranean aquifers that become oxygenated by natural and engineering processes. This is primarily because MOB are ubiquitous in the environment and in addition reduce oxygen efficiently. The biogeochemical factors that will control the success of the aerobic MOB in these kinds of underground aquifers remain unknown. In this study, viable and cultivable MOB occurring at natural and engineered deep granitic aquifers targeted for the disposal of spent nuclear fuel (SNF) in the Fennoscandian Shield (~3–1000 m) were enumerated. The numbers were correlated with in situ salinity, methane concentrations, conductivity, pH, and depth. A mixed population habiting freshwater aquifers (~3–20 m), a potential source for the inoculation of MOB into the deeper aquifers was tested for tolerance to NaCl, temperature, pH, and an ability to produce cysts and exospores. Extrapolations show that due to changing in situ parameters (salinity, conductivity, and pH), the numbers of MOB in the aquifers dropped quickly with depth. A positive correlation between the most probable numbers of MOB and methane concentrations was observed. Furthermore, the tolerance‐based tests of cultured strains indicated that the MOB in the shallow aquifers thrived best in mesophilic and neutrophilic conditions as opposed to the hyperthermophilic and alkaliphilic conditions expected to develop in an engineered subterranean SNF repository. Overall, the survival of the MOB both quantitatively and physiologically in the granitic aquifers was under the strong influence of biogeochemical factors that are strongly depth‐dependent.
Using concept mapping to locate the tacit dimension of clinical expertise: towards a theoretical framework to support critical reflection on teaching
Authors: Kinchin Ian M. , Cabot Lyndon B. , Hay David B. 
Published: May 2008

AbstractThe tacit dimension of expertise is given considerable prominence in the literature on clinical education. However, the concept of knowing more than you can tell is one that cannot be used explicitly to support student learning. In this paper, the authors contend that much professional knowledge that has been described as tacit can be surfaced for examination through application of concept mapping techniques. This allows the articulation of expert practice in a way that can be modelled for students. It also provides a new model of expertise that is based on connections between chains of practice (characterized by sequences of observable actions) and the underlying network of understanding from which they are extracted. These connections, often overlooked and automated in daily practice, represent the location of the tacit dimension.Localizing the tacit dimension in this way allows the teacher and student to focus on the connections of tacit knowledge with formal knowledge and with practice in such a way that intuitive actions can be verified and connected to underlying knowledge frameworks. The act of concept mapping also slows reflection on actions that are normally automated and often overlooked. The resulting model includes an additional dimension that is missing from the traditional stage models of expertise. As such, it provides a conceptual framework upon which it would be possible to develop protocols to support the continuing development of clinical teachers through peer observation and/or guided self‐reflection.
Enablers and challenges to international practice education: a case study
Authors: Kinsella Elizabeth Anne , Bossers Ann , Ferreira Donna 
Published: May 2008

AbstractInternationalization is a growing priority for professions, universities and governments around the globe. This has led to increased numbers of health and social care students participating in international practice education experiences. This study identifies enablers and challenges to participation in international practicum education through a case study. The case involves one occupational therapy programme and its international partners, and investigates the perspectives of students, university personnel and preceptor stakeholders. Challenges included: lack of financial support, limited placement availability, and procedural complexity. Enablers included: external financial support, champions for the concept, international connections, and access to the appropriate communication technology. Practical insights that may be relevant for enabling student participation in international education experiences are highlighted.