bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Epidemiology of cervical spine abnormalities in asymptomatic adult professional rugby union players using static and dynamic MRI protocols: 2002 to 2006
Authors: Castinel B H , Adam P , Milburn P D , Castinel A , Quarrie K L , Peyrin J-C , Yeo J D 
Published: April 2008

ObjectiveIn this study, the prevalence of abnormalities in the cervical spine of asymptomatic professional rugby players using both static and dynamic magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) in order to improve the detection of abnormalities and prevention of related injuries was investigated.DesignProspective observational study.SettingFrench professional rugby union clubs, between 2002 and 2006.Participants206 elite male adult players.InterventionStatic sagittal T2 and axial T2* fast spin echo (FSE), and dynamic sagittal single-shot FSE weighted MRI scans of the C2–C7 region were examined for the presence of abnormalities. Participants’ spines were in supine neutral position for the static protocol but were allowed complete flexibility in a sagittal plane for the dynamic protocol.Main outcome measurementsThe medulla-to-canal ratio (MCR) was measured at every vertebral disc level for both MRI methods. When observed, anatomical abnormalities were categorised.ResultsAnatomical abnormalities mainly consisted of degenerative discopathy and were most frequently observed in players aged>21 years, as well as in players whose MCR was abnormally high based on medical expertise. Most MCRs that were initially assessed as intermediate with static MRI were subsequently assessed as abnormal with dynamic MRI assessment.ConclusionsSince dynamic MRI is more accurate than static techniques in examining the cervical spine, it contributes substantially to identifying the risk of spinal injuries in professional rugby players, and when used in association with clinical assessment, it can assist in preventing spinal injury.
National study of physical and sexual assault among women with disabilities
Authors: Casteel C , Martin S L , Smith J B , Gurka K K , Kupper L L 
Published: April 2008

Objective:To examine the association between the level of disability impairment and physical and sexual assault in a sample of US women at least 18 years of age.Design, setting and participants:Retrospective longitudinal study of 6273 non-institutionalized US women from 8000 women participating in the 1995–1996 National Violence Against Women (NVAW) Survey.Main outcome measure:Women’s experiences of physical and sexual assault in the 12 months before the NVAW interview.Results:Most women reported having no disability (n = 5008, 79.8%) and/or not experiencing an assault in the year before their interview (n = 6018, 95.9%). Less than 5% (n = 280) reported having a disability that severely limited daily activities, and 15.7% (n = 985) reported having a disability that moderately limited activities. Less than 4% (n = 218) of the women reported a physical-only assault, and less than 1% (n = 37) reported being sexually assaulted. Women with severe disability impairments were four times more likely to be sexually assaulted than women with no reported disabilities (RR = 4.0, 95% CI 1.5 to 10.6). Little difference in the risk of sexual assault was found between women with moderate disability impairments and those reporting no disabilities (RR = 1.0, 95% CI 0.3 to 2.8). Women with severe (RR = 1.6, 95% CI 0.9 to 3.0) and moderate (RR = 1.2, 95% CI 0.8 to 1.9) disability impairments were at greater risk, although not quite significantly so, of physical-only assault than were women without a disability.Conclusion:The findings suggest that women with disabilities that severely limit activities of daily living are at increased risk of sexual assault.
Clustered and missing data in the US National Trauma Data Bank: implications for analysis
Authors: Roudsari B , Field C , Caetano R 
Published: April 2008

Background:Injury researchers are increasingly using the US National Trauma Data Bank (NTDB). However, there are some methodological issues that might threaten the validity of studies that use this database for injury research.Methods:Two methodological issues were evaluated: clustering of patients within trauma centers and missing data. To illustrate how these issues might affect the results of a study, the following four analytical approaches that evaluated the association between patients’ blood alcohol concentration (BAC) in the emergency department (ED), patients’ resource utilization, and ED or hospital disposition were compared: (A) deleting subjects with missing BAC and ignoring clustering of patients within trauma centers; (B) deleting subjects with missing BAC while taking into account clustering; (C) using imputed values for patients’ BAC and ignoring the clustering issue; (D) using the imputed data while taking into account clustering.Results:Adjustment for clustering of patients within trauma centers increased the CIs in models B and D. The results of the analyses based on imputed data showed that estimates based on complete case analysis were biased. For example, the odds ratio for the use of a head CT scan fell from 1.84 (95% CI 1.49 to 2.28) in approach B to 1.26 (95% CI 0.98 to 1.64) in approach D.Conclusions:Excluding patients with missing values for BAC in studies that evaluate the association between this variable and patients’ resource utilization and ED or hospital disposition, using the NTDB, led to biased estimates. Furthermore, ignoring the clustering design led to artificially narrow CIs.
Using online databases to find journal articles on injury prevention and safety promotion research: key journals and the databases that index them
Authors: Lawrence D W , Laflamme L 
Published: April 2008

Objectives:(1) To determine the trends of the number of journals that publish injury prevention and safety promotion (IPSP) articles and the number of articles published each year from 1900 through 2006; (2) to determine the coverage of key IPSP journals in widely used literature databases.Methods:Journals were identified through a structured procedure that included hand-searching selected classification categories of two major listings of periodicals that publish four or more IPSP-relevant articles per year. Article relevance was assessed using the inclusion criteria for SafetyLit (a database of scholarly literature selected for its relevance to the IPSP field). Each identified journal was hand-searched from its first issue, and IPSP-relevant articles were added to the SafetyLit archive database. A MySQL database was used to perform basic queries and statistical summary analyses for journals published 1900–2006. The number of IPSP journals and journal articles was plotted for these years to identify publication trends. The publication year range of each IPSP journal was compared with the coverage, if any, of the journals in each of the five databases.Results:Of the 17 839 journals assessed, 597 met the threshold for inclusion in this study. This amounts to thousands of IPSP-related articles published each year: 6100 in 2006. Only 160 (26.8%) of the journals are included in all five databases, and none have all publication years included in all of the databases.Conclusions:Some key IPSP journals are completely excluded from some of the databases. Thus, a search in a single database may miss key information from one of the many disciplines that publish IPSP-relevant information.
Characterization of anionic surfactant-induced toxicity in a primary effluent
Authors: Bradley C. , Bérubé P.R. 
Published: April 2008

A simple and rapid analytical approach was developed that can be used to investigate the anionic surfactant-induced toxicity associated with the primary effluent from the Lions Gate wastewater treatment plant (North Vancouver, BC). Using this approach, the effluent was characterized on two occasions in terms of anionic surfactant concentration and anionic surfactant-induced toxicity. The results suggest that the concentration of anionic surfactants, measured as methylene blue active substances (MBAS), in the primary effluent increased throughout each day and was highest at night (11:30 p.m.). The toxicity, measured using Vibrio fischeri bioassays (i.e., MicroTox™), also increased throughout each day and was the highest at night. The high molecular weight fraction of anionic surfactants was identified as the most toxic fraction although it was present at the lowest concentration. The results of the present study suggest that the concentration of the high molecular weight fraction of anionic surfactants could be used as a good surrogate to easily and rapidly quanitfy the anionic surfactant-induced toxicity of the primary effluent.
In-well air sparging efficiency in remediating the aquifer of a petroleum refinery site
Authors: Aivalioti Maria V. , Gidarakos Evangelos L. 
Published: April 2008

Air sparging represents an innovative groundwater remediation technology, which has been proved to be capable of restoring aquifers that have been polluted by volatile and (or) biodegradable contaminants, such as petroleum hydrocarbons. This paper presents the design, the installation, and the pulsed operation of an in-well air sparging system at the site of a Greek petroleum refinery. The geographical position, the hydrologeoly, and the contamination features of the chosen study area develop special conditions that, along with the fact that the existing refinery is still active, greatly determine the applicability and the effectiveness of the specific technology. The area that was used for the application of the technology covered almost 600 m2 and included five air injection wells and four additional monitoring wells. The pulsed operation of the installed system lasted about 5 months and the results of frequent groundwater sampling and analysis indicate an important decline in total petroleum hydrocarbons (TPH) and benzene–toluene–ethylbenzene–xylene (BTEX) concentrations (up to 99%). However, prior to any attempt to expand the application of air sparging within the facilities of the refinery, special attention should be given to the eccentricities of the site and the ability of the technology to confront more persistent contaminants, such as methyl tertiary-butyl ether (MTBE).
Effect of phase separation on anaerobic digestion of kitchen waste
Authors: Mohan S. , Bindhu B.K. 
Published: April 2008

The anaerobic digestion of kitchen waste was studied in both batch and continuous modes. The effect of increasing loading rates on pollutant removal and biogas production was investigated for single-phase digestion and two-phase digestion systems. The anaerobic biodegradability of the kitchen waste obtained from the batch study was 83.5%. Single-stage digestion of kitchen waste was subjected to varying organic loading rates (OLR) ranging from 1.5 kg volatile solids (VS) m–3 d–1 to 5.5 kg VS m–3d–1, with a common hydraulic retention time (HRT) of 15 d. The optimum performance of the system was observed at an OLR of 4.5 kg VS m–3 d–1 in terms of pollutant removal efficiency and biogas production. The removal rates for chemical oxygen demand (COD) and VS at this optimal OLR were 81% and 79%, respectively. Maximum production of the methane was 0.288 m3/kg of VS added. Beyond the optimal OLR, the volatile fatty acids concentration increased and reached its maximum value (9.2 g/L) at the higher loading rate tested (5.5 kg VS m–3 d–1). Anaerobic digestion of the kitchen waste was carried out in a two-stage reactor with different loading rates of 4, 6, and 8 kg VS m–3 d–1. The retention time given to both hydrolysis and methanogenesis phases was 5 d, for a total HRT of 10 d. Best performances were observed in the third run with the OLR of 8 kg VS m–3 d–1. High removal efficiencies for COD and VS were found as 92% and 94%, respectively. A total of 0.22 m3 of methane was produced by 1 kg of VS added. Responses to the fluctuations in the loading rates were sudden and many times unfavourable in the single-stage system, while the fluctuations were suppressed or overcome at a faster rate in the two-stage reactor, without creating too many problems. Comparison of the overall performance showed that phase-separated digesters or the two-stage digesters may offer the best choice for high efficiency, concerning pollutant removal.
Inactivation of Bacillus subtilis on gypsum board using aerosolized chemical agents
Authors: Wagner Andrew , Green Christopher F. , Pedregon Veronica , Barth Edwin , Gibbs Shawn G. , Scarpino Pasquale V. 
Published: April 2008

The ability of aerosolized disinfectant agents to reach exterior and interior spaces of walls and other difficult to access areas has potential as a remediation technique for contained biological contamination. Bacillus subtilis were evaluated against aerosolized solutions of distilled water (dH2O, control), 0.05% chlorine dioxide (ClO2), and 0.6% sodium hypochlorite (NaOCl). Bacillus subtilis endospores were inoculated onto commercially available gypsum board with paper facing. Aerosols generated from a collison nebulizer were directed into a sterile contact chamber housing the inoculated gypsum board for 4, 8, and 12 hour periods. Independent evaluations were conducted of the gypsum board where the organism B. subtilis were exposed to the aerosolized disinfectant. Treatment effects were evaluated through the collection of surface samples before and after exposures. The aerosolized 0.6% sodium hypochlorite solution was the only treatment successful in reducing the total concentration of B. subtilis. Treatment with sodium hypochlorite solution reduced B. subtilis organisms by 1.55-log after 4 h, 1.92-log after 8 h, and 2.50-log after 12 h of exposure, though the difference in log-reduction between exposure periods were not statistically significant.
Large chromosomal inversion correlated with spectinomycin resistance inLactococcus lactissubsp.lactisbv. diacetylactis S50
Authors: Kojic Milan , Jovcic Branko , Begovic Jelena , Fira Djordje , Topisirovic Ljubisa 
Published: April 2008

A large chromosomal inversion that confers resistance to high concentrations of the antibiotic spectinomycin in Lactococcus lactis subsp. lactis bv. diacetylactis S50 was identified by pulsed field gel electrophoresis. The same type of inversion was identified in 4 independent experiments and in 4 different derivatives of strain S50, indicating the same position and the same mechanism of recombination as a response to antibiotic selective pressure in all derivatives. An analysis of ribosomal operons in strain S50 and mutants revealed that ribosomal operons are not endpoints of the recombination. Spectinomycin-resistant mutants appeared in a population of S50 derivatives at a high frequency of 2 × 10−7. These spectinomycin-resistant mutants were not able to compete successfully with the wild-type strain during 25 generations (48 h) of co-culture in vitro, indicating that inversion had a significant fitness cost. Results demonstrate that as a mechanism of genome plasticity, inversion can be directly involved in one-step development of the adaptation to a high concentration of spectinomycin.
Transcriptional regulation of ACC deaminase gene expression inPseudomonas putidaUW4
Authors: Cheng Zhenyu , Duncker Bernard P. , McConkey Brendan J. , Glick Bernard R. 
Published: April 2008

One of the major mechanisms that plant growth-promoting bacteria use to facilitate plant growth is through the lowering of plant ethylene levels by the bacterial enzyme 1-aminocyclopropane-1-carboxylate (ACC) deaminase. Many of the bacterial ACC deaminase genes (acdS) that have been examined to date are under the transcriptional control of a leucine-responsive regulatory protein, Lrp, encoded by acdR and referred to here as AcdR. The work presented here is focused on how AcdR and the newly discovered AcdB protein from Pseudomonas putida UW4 are involved in the regulation of acdS expression. First, the results of gel retardation experiments showed that AcdR binds to the acdS regulatory region, and this binding activity in vitro is not affected by the addition of 2 mmol·L–1ACC but can be eliminated by addition of 20 μg·mL–1leucine. Second, a potential regulatory protein, AcdB, involved in the regulation of acdS expression, was identified through both yeast 2-hybrid screen and coimmunoprecipitation based on its ability to bind to AcdR; subsequently, its binding to the acdS regulatory region in the presence of ACC was shown by gel retardation experiments. The data are interpreted in terms of a model in which AcdR and AcdB co-regulate the expression of the acdS gene.
Hydroxamate siderophores produced by Streptomyces acidiscabies E13 bind nickel and promote growth in cowpea (Vigna unguiculata L.) under nickel stress
Authors: Dimkpa Christian , Svatoš Aleš , Merten Dirk , Büchel Georg , Kothe Erika 
Published: April 2008

The siderophore-producing ability of nickel-resistant Streptomyces acidiscabies E13 and the role of the elicited siderophores in promoting plant growth under iron and nickel stress are described. Siderophore assays indicated that S. acidiscabies E13 can produce siderophores. Electrospray ionization mass spectrometry (ESI-MS) revealed that the bacterium simultaneously produces 3 different hydroxamate siderophores. ESI-MS showed that in addition to iron, all 3 siderophores can bind nickel. In vitro plant growth tests were conducted with cowpea ( Vigna unguiculata ) in the presence and absence of the elicited siderophores. Culture filtrates containing hydroxamate siderophores significantly increased cowpea height and biomass, irrespective of the iron status of the plants, under nickel stress. The presence of reduced iron was found to be high in siderophore-containing treatments in the presence of nickel. Measurements of iron and nickel contents of cowpea roots and shoots indicated that the siderophore-mediated plant growth promotion reported here involves the simultaneous inhibition of nickel uptake and solubilization and supply of iron to plants. We conclude that hydroxamate siderophores contained in culture filtrates of S. acidiscabies E13 promoted cowpea growth under nickel contamination by binding iron and nickel, thus playing a dual role of sourcing iron for plant use and protecting against nickel toxicity.
Diversity and dynamics of lactobacilli populations during ripening of RDO Camembert cheese
Authors: Henri-Dubernet Ségolène , Desmasures Nathalie , Guéguen Micheline 
Published: April 2008

The diversity and dynamics of Lactobacillus populations in traditional raw milk Camembert cheese were monitored throughout the manufacturing process in 3 dairies. Culture-dependent analysis was carried out on isolates grown on acidified de Man – Rogosa – Sharpe agar and Lactobacillus anaerobic de Man Rogosa Sharpe agar supplemented with vancomycin and bromocresol green media. The isolates were identified by polymerase chain reaction – temperature gradient gel electrophoresis (PCR–TGGE) and (or) species-specific PCR and (or) sequencing, and Lactobacillus paracasei and Lactobacillus plantarum isolates were characterized by pulsed field gel electrophoresis (PFGE). Milk and cheese were subjected to culture-independent analysis by PCR–TGGE. Presumed lactobacilli were detected by plate counts throughout the ripening process. However, molecular analysis of total DNA and DNA of isolates failed to detect Lactobacillus spp. in certain cases. The dominant species in the 3 dairies was L. paracasei. PFGE analysis revealed 21 different profiles among 39 L. paracasei isolates. Lactobacillus plantarum was the second most isolated species, but it occurred nearly exclusively in one dairy. The other species isolated were Lactobacillus parabuchneri , Lactobacillus fermentum , Lactobacillus acidophilus , Lactobacillus helveticus , a Lactobacillus psittaci/delbrueckii subsp. bulgaricus/gallinarum/crispatus group, Lactobacillus rhamnosus , Lactobacillus delbrueckii subsp. bulgaricus, L. delbrueckii subsp. lactis, Lactobacillus brevis , Lactobacillus kefiri , and Lactobacillus perolens. Lactobacilli diversity at the strain level was high. Dynamics varied among dairies, and each cheese exhibited a specific picture of species and strains.
GENDER-ROLE ORIENTATION AS A DETERMINANT OF ENTREPRENEURIAL SELF-EFFICACY
Authors: MUELLER STEPHEN L. , DATO-ON MARY CONWAY 
Published: April 2008

Entrepreneurial self-efficacy (ESE) is often included in entrepreneurial intentions models to explain why some individuals are more likely than others to become entrepreneurs. An unsettled question among researchers is whether ESE differs between men and women. While early studies seem to suggest that men have higher ESE than women, more recent studies are inconclusive. Lacking empirical support for gender differences in ESE compels researchers to look for other factors to explain variation in entrepreneurial self-efficacy.The present study confirms two recent studies by finding no significant difference in ESE between men and women in a representative sample of MBA students. This finding leads to an investigation of gender-role orientation as a possible determinant of differences in entrepreneurial self-efficacy. Results indicate that the relationship between gender-role orientation and entrepreneurial self-efficacy is complex and multifaceted. Early in the venture creation process, the searching and planning tasks demand creativity and innovation where a strong mix of masculine and feminine traits (androgyny) improves performance. Later in the venture creation process, an individual (male or female) with a strong masculine orientation seems better suited for undertaking entrepreneurial tasks associated with persuading and leading others.
THE EFFECT OF STRATEGIC ORIENTATION AND GENDER ON SURVIVAL: A STUDY OF POTENTIAL MASS MERCHANDISING SUPPLIERS
Authors: KNOTTS TAMI L. , JONES STEPHEN C. , BROWN KAREN L. 
Published: April 2008

While a market orientation is associated with superior performance (Narver and Slater, 1990; Kara et al., 2005), it may not be the only approach for small manufacturers (Noble et al., 2002). Our study examines whether two other orientations — production and marketing — influence the survival rate for small manufacturers wanting to supply the mass merchandising marketplace. We also investigate the impact of gender-related preferences on the continued existence of these firms. The sample for this study consisted of 1,690 small, independently-owned manufacturers who participated in an evaluation program in order to become a supplier for a major mass merchandiser. Results showed that surviving firm owners placed more emphasis on production than marketing activities, while non-surviving firm owners did the opposite. When gender was considered, male-owners showed similar preferences as the general sample, but the reverse was true for female entrepreneurs. We conclude that an exclusive focus on a market orientation may be counterproductive to a firm's long-term success. For small manufacturers in the mass merchandising industry, both a production and marketing orientation are needed to survive.