bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
A Comparative Case Study of Care Systems for Frail Elderly People: Germany, Spain, France, Italy, United Kingdom and Sweden
Authors: Bihan Blanche Le , Martin Claude 
Published: February 2008

Abstract Comparative studies of European social policies towards frail elderly people typically focus on the systems and their implementation. The study presented in this article, conducted in 2001 in six European countries (Germany, Spain, Italy, France, the United Kingdom and Sweden) aims at comparing the rights of the individuals within the different care systems. The methodology used is a case study approach, which draws on a series of situations of dependent elderly people. Therefore, the analysis focuses on the public authorities’ responses – the care packages, which determine the type of care required and the financial contribution of the user – in each of the six countries, in relation to the concrete situations of frail elderly people. As local variations are important, in all the countries studied, local authorities have been chosen in each of the countries. This approach gives us interesting concrete elements on the services and financial help which can be given to frail elderly people, but it also enables us to understand precisely the national care systems organized in the different countries and the main difficulties encountered by public authorities in facing this problem of frail elderly people.
The Politics of Welfare State Retrenchment: A Literature Review
Authors: Starke Peter 
Published: February 2008

Abstract Welfare state retrenchment is widely seen as a highly unpopular endeavour and, therefore, as politically difficult to pursue. This assumption has underpinned most of the political science research on this issue, notably Paul Pierson's seminal contributions about the ‘new politics of the welfare state’. Yet, the question remains why and under what circumstances cutbacks take place in highly developed welfare states despite these formidable political obstacles. This article reviews the literature on the politics of retrenchment, namely on the impact of socio‐economic problem pressure, political parties, political institutions, welfare state structures and ideas. Most authors agree that socio‐economic problems – particularly domestic problems – contribute to an atmosphere of ‘permanent austerity’ which inspires cutbacks. Moreover, according to most scholars, the extent of retrenchment possible depends on the specific institutional configuration of a political system and the path dependence of existing welfare state structures. The debate on the relevance of political parties and ideas, by contrast, is still far from settled. Further unresolved issues include the nature of the dependent variable in retrenchment studies. Also, the exact motives for cutbacks are theoretically still little understood, as are the political mechanisms through which they are realized. I argue that, because of the nature of these persisting issues, the pluralistic dialogue between different methods and approaches – as well as their combination – remains the most promising way forward in the study of welfare state politics.
The neuronal glycine transporter GLYT2 associates with membrane rafts: functional modulation by lipid environment
Authors: Núñez Enrique , Alonso‐Torres Pablo , Fornés Amparo , Aragón Carmen , López‐Corcuera Beatriz 
Published: February 2008

AbstractThe neuronal glycine transporter GLYT2 is a plasma membrane protein that removes the neurotransmitter glycine from the synaptic cleft, thereby aiding the pre‐synaptic terminal reloading and the termination of the glycinergic signal. Missense mutations in the gene encoding GLYT2 (SLC6A5) cause hyperekplexia in humans. The activity of GLYT2 seems to be highly regulated. In this report, we demonstrate that GLYT2 is associated with membrane rafts in the plasma membrane of brainstem terminals and neurons. The transporter is localized to Triton X‐100‐insoluble light synaptosomal membranes together with flotillin‐1, a marker protein for membrane rafts, in a methyl‐β‐cyclodextrin (MβCD)‐sensitive manner. In brainstem primary neurons, the GLYT2 punctuate pattern visualized by confocal microscopy was modified by cholesterol depletion with MβCD, unlike other non‐raft neuronal markers. GLYT2‐associated gold particles were observed by electron microscopy on purified rafts from brainstem synaptosomes. Furthermore, either in brainstem terminals and cultured neurons, the pharmacological reduction of the levels of raft components, cholesterol and sphingomyelin, impairs both the association of GLYT2 with membrane rafts and its transport activity. Thus, GLYT2 may require membrane raft location for optimal function, and therefore the lipid environment may constitute a new mechanism to modulate GLYT2.
Apolipoprotein E‐polymorphism, frailty and mortality in older adults
Authors: Rockwood Kenneth , Nassar Bassam , Mitnitski Arnold 
Published: February 2008

AbstractAlthough apolipoprotein E (ApoE) polymorphism is associated with variable risks of several illnesses, and with mortality, no persuasive relationship has been demonstrated with frailty. Here, the clinical examination cohort (n= 1452 older adults, aged 70+ years at baseline) of the Canadian Study of Health and Aging was evaluated, with 5‐year follow‐up data. Frailty was defined using both the phenotypic definition from the Cardiovascular Health Study (Frailty‐CHS) and the ‘Frailty Index’, from which age‐specific trajectories of deficit accumulation can be estimated. In age‐sex adjusted analyses, people with ApoE 4 allele had a higher risk of death (hazard ratio [HR]= 1.20; 95% confidence interval: 1.01–1.45), but this relationship was not significant when adjusted for cognitive impairment (1.06; 95% confidence interval: 0.88–1.27). There was no association between frailty and ApoE polymorphism, defined in age‐sex adjusted models either as Frailty‐CHS (ApoE4 HR 1.17; 95% confidence interval: 0.98–1.40, frailty HR 1.37; 95% confidence interval: 1.28–1.46) or by the Frailty Index (ApoE4 HR 1.07; 95% confidence interval: 0.90–1.29, frailty HR 35.3; 95% confidence interval: 20.4–61.1). The data do not support an association between ApoE polymorphism and frailty. This result did not depend on how frailty was defined.
Gap junctional communication in human osteoclasts in vitro and in vivo
Authors: Schilling A. F. , Filke S. , Lange T. , Gebauer M. , Brink S. , Baranowsky A. , Zustin J. , Amling M. 
Published: February 2008

AbstractBone‐forming cells are known to be coupled by gap junctions, formed primarily by connexin43 (Cx43). The role of Cx43 in osteoclasts has so far only been studied in rodents, where Cx43 is important for fusion of mononuclear precursors to osteoclasts. Given the potential importance for human diseases with pathologically altered osteoclasts, we asked whether a similar influence of Cx43 can also be observed in osteoclasts of human origin. For this purpose, Cx43 mRNA expression was studied in a time course experiment of human osteoclast differentiation by RT‐PCR. Localization of Cx43 in these cells was determined by immunohistochemistry and confocal microscopy. For the assessment of the effect of gap junction inhibition on cell fusion, gap junctions were blocked with heptanol during differentiation of the cells and the cells were then evaluated for multinuclearity. Paraffin sections of healthy bone and bone from patients with Paget's disease and giant cell tumour of the bone were used to study Cx43 expression in vivo. We found mRNA and protein expression of Cx43 in fully differentiated osteoclasts as well as in precursor cells. This expression decreased in the course of differentiation. Consistently, we found a lower expression of Cx43 in osteoclasts than in bone marrow precursor cells in the histology of healthy human bone. Blockade of gap junctional communication by heptanol led to a dose‐dependent decrease in multinuclearity, suggesting that gap junctional communication precedes cell fusion of human osteoclasts. Indeed, we found a particularly strong expression of Cx43 in the giant osteoclasts of patients with Paget's disease and giant cell tumour of the bone. These results show that gap junctional communication is important for fusion of human mononuclear precursor cells to osteoclasts and that gap junctional Cx43 might play a role in the regulation of size and multinuclearity of human osteoclasts in vivo.
Influence of collagen type II and nucleus pulposus cells on aggregation and differentiation of adipose tissue‐derived stem cells
Authors: Lu Z. F. , Zandieh Doulabi B. , Wuisman P. I. , Bank R. A. , Helder M. N. 
Published: February 2008

AbstractTissue microenvironment plays a critical role in guiding local stem cell differentiation. Within the intervertebral disc, collagen type II and nucleus pulposus (NP) cells are two major components. This study aimed to investigate how collagen type II and NP cells affect adipose tissue‐derived stem cells (ASCs) in a 3D environment. ASCs were cultured in collagen type I or type II hydrogels alone, or co‐cultured in transwells with micromass NP cells for 4 and 14 days. ASCs seeded in collagen type II gels acquired dentritic cell shapes, and orchestrated cell density‐dependent gel contraction rates. Up‐regulation of collagen type X, but not of other chondrogenic markers was observed at day 4, irrespective of the hydrogel type. Strikingly, in co‐cultures with NP cells, more pronounced differentiation of ASCs along the cartilaginous lineage was observed (up‐regulation of collagen IIA, IIB and aggrecan gene expression, as well as stronger alcian blue staining), when ASCs were embedded in collagen type II in comparison with type I hydrogels. Interestingly, strong cellular condensations/aggregations were observed in ASC‐seeded type II, but not type I gels, and this aggregation was markedly delayed when the same gels were co‐cultured with NP cells. The NP cell‐mediated inhibition of ASC aggregation in collagen type II gels coincided with down‐regulation of integrin subunit α2 gene expression. We conclude that soluble factors released by NP cells can direct chondrogenic differentiation of ASCs in collagen hydrogels, and that combination with a nucleus‐mimicking collagen type II microenvironment enhances differentiation towards a more pronounced cartilage/NP lineage relative to collagen type I hydrogels.
Tracing Coalbed Natural Gas–Coproduced Water Using Stable Isotopes of Carbon
Authors: Sharma S. , Frost C.D. 
Published: February 2008

AbstractRecovery of hydrocarbons commonly is associated with coproduction of water. This water may be put to beneficial use or may be reinjected into subsurface aquifers. In either case, it would be helpful to establish a fingerprint for that coproduced water so that it may be tracked following discharge on the surface or reintroduction to geologic reservoirs. This study explores the potential of using δ13C of dissolved inorganic carbon (DIC) of coalbed natural gas (CBNG)–coproduced water as a fingerprint of its origin and to trace its fate once it is disposed on the surface. Our initial results for water samples coproduced with CBNG from the Powder River Basin show that this water has strongly positive δ13CDIC (12‰ to 22‰) that is readily distinguished from the negative δ13C of most surface and ground water (−8‰ to −11‰). Furthermore, the DIC concentrations in coproduced water samples are also high (more than 100 mg C/L) compared to the 20 to 50 mg C/L in ambient surface and ground water of the region. The distinctively high δ13C and DIC concentrations allow us to identify surface and ground water that have incorporated CBNG‐coproduced water. Accordingly, we suggest that the δ13CDIC and DIC concentrations of water can be used for long‐term monitoring of infiltration of CBNG‐coproduced water into ground water and streams. Our results also show that the δ13CDIC of CBNG‐coproduced water from two different coal zones are distinct leading to the possibility of using δ13CDIC to distinguish water produced from different coal zones.
Weakly Nonlinear Approximation of Periodic Flow in Phreatic Aquifers
Authors: Smith Anthony J. 
Published: February 2008

AbstractPublished frequency‐domain solutions of periodic flow in aquifers apply strictly to mathematically linear systems that arise when aquifer diffusivity is assumed constant in space and time. This assumption can be invalid in phreatic aquifers that experience spatiotemporal variation in the free surface position and consequent variation in saturated thickness. A weakly nonlinear approach to formulating and solving periodic flow problems in the frequency domain can be applied in situations where conventional linearized approximations break down. The weakly nonlinear equations provide robust approximations of the true nonlinear response and require much less computational effort and time to solve than the full nonlinear problem. Nondimensional rules of thumb are presented for choosing between linear, weakly nonlinear and nonlinear solution strategies.
Geochemical Tracers to Evaluate Hydrogeologic Controls on River Salinization
Authors: Moore Stephanie J. , Bassett R. L. , Liu Beiling , Wolf Christopher P. , Doremus Dale 
Published: February 2008

AbstractThe salinization of rivers, as indicated by salinity increases in the downstream direction, is characteristic of arid and semiarid regions throughout the world. Historically, salinity increases have been attributed to various mechanisms, including (1) evaporation and concentration during reservoir storage, irrigation, and subsequent reuse; (2) displacement of shallow saline ground water during irrigation; (3) erosion and dissolution of natural deposits; and/or (4) inflow of deep saline and/or geothermal ground water (ground water with elevated water temperature). In this study, investigation of salinity issues focused on identification of relative salinity contributions from anthropogenic and natural sources in the Lower Rio Grande in the New Mexico‐Texas border region. Based on the conceptual model of the system, the various sources of water and, therefore, salinity to the Lower Rio Grande were identified, and a sampling plan was designed to characterize these sources. Analysis results for boron (δ11B), sulfur (δ34S), oxygen (δ18O), hydrogen (δ2H), and strontium (87Sr/86Sr) isotopes, as well as basic chemical data, confirmed the hypothesis that the dominant salinity contributions are from deep ground water inflow to the Rio Grande. The stable isotopic ratios identified the deep ground water inflow as distinctive, with characteristic isotopic signatures. These analyses indicate that it is not possible to reproduce the observed salinization by evapotranspiration and agricultural processes alone. This investigation further confirms that proper application of multiple isotopic and geochemical tracers can be used to identify and constrain multiple sources of solutes in complex river systems.
Involvement of FKHRL1 in melanoma cell survival and death
Authors: Hilmi C. , Larribere L. , Deckert M. , Rocchi S. , Giuliano S. , Bille K. , Ortonne J.P. , Ballotti R. , Bertolotto C. 
Published: February 2008

SummaryMelanoma is a highly aggressive tumour characterized by a strong resistance to apoptotic stimuli that give rise to a selective advantage for tumour progression and metastasis formation. Therefore, it is of paramount importance to better understand the mechanisms involved in this resistance to apoptosis. In this report, we focused our attention on FKHRL1, a member of the forkhead family of transcription factors, which controls expression of genes involved in cell cycle progression and apoptosis. In melanoma cells, we show that IGF1, which exerts pro‐survival properties, induces the phosphorylation and nuclear exclusion of FKHRL1 in a PI3K/AKT‐dependent pathway. Moreover, we observe that over‐expression of a non‐phosphorylable mutant of FKHRL1 (FKHRL1‐TM), constitutively localized to the nucleus, promotes apoptotic cell death of melanoma cells. Finally, we find that FKHRL1‐TM decreases the expression of survivin, a member of the inhibitor of apoptosis protein and that survivin re‐expression partially rescues the deleterious effects of FKHRL1. Taken together, these findings reveal, in melanoma cells, that endogenous FKHRL1 is a downstream target of the PI3K/AKT pathway and suggest that the phosphorylation of this transcription factor may be involved in the pro‐survival effects of growth factors such as IGF1. On the other hand, forced nuclear localization of FKHRL1 decreases melanoma cell growth and may serve as a therapeutic strategy against melanoma.
LIGR, a protease‐activated receptor‐2‐derived peptide, enhances skin pigmentation without inducing inflammatory processes
Authors: Lin Connie B. , Chen Nannan , Scarpa Richard , Guan Fei , Babiarz‐Magee Laura , Liebel Frank , Li Wen‐Hwa , Kizoulis Menas , Shapiro Stanley , Seiberg Miri 
Published: February 2008

SummaryThe protease‐activated receptor‐2 (PAR‐2) is a seven transmembrane G‐protein‐coupled receptor that could be activated by serine protease cleavage or by synthetic peptide agonists. We showed earlier that activation of PAR‐2 with Ser‐Leu‐Ile‐Gly‐Arg‐Leu‐NH2(SLIGRL), a known PAR‐2 activating peptide, induces keratinocyte phagocytosis and increases skin pigmentation, indicating that PAR‐2 regulates pigmentation by controlling phagocytosis of melanosomes. Here, we show that Leu‐Ile‐Gly‐Arg‐NH2(LIGR) can also induce skin pigmentation. Both SLIGRL and LIGR increased melanin deposition in vitro and in vivo, and visibly darkened human skins grafted onto severe combined immuno‐deficient (SCID) mice. Both SLIGRL and LIGR stimulated Rho‐GTP activation resulting in keratinocyte phagocytosis. Interestingly, LIGR activates only a subset of the PAR‐2 signaling pathways, and unlike SLIGRL, it does not induce inflammatory processes. LIGR did not affect many PAR‐2 signaling pathways, including [Ca2+] mobilization, cAMP induction, the induction of cyclooxgenase‐2 (COX‐2) expression and the secretion of prostaglandin E2, interleukin‐6 and ‐8. PAR‐2 siRNA inhibited LIGR‐induced phagocytosis, indicating that LIGR signals via PAR‐2. Our data suggest that LIGR is a more specific regulator of PAR‐2‐induced pigmentation relative to SLIGRL. Therefore, enhancing skin pigmentation by topical applications of LIGR may result in a desired tanned‐like skin color, without enhancing inflammatory processes, and without the need of UV exposure.
Web 2.0 and the semantic web: hindrance or opportunity?
Authors: Yesilada Yeliz , Harper Simon 
Published: February 2008

The World Wide Web (Web) is in transition; a fundamental evolution of the model which underpins the traditional Web. This new Web, Web 2.0, is a mesh of enhanced semantics, push application widgets, and embedded scripting languages and was developed to pursue the promise of enhanced interactivity. The possible benefits of Web 2.0 are great, but it seems that without timely and prompt action disabled users will be barred from these benefits. Indeed, using sites such as: Flicker, YouTube, MySpace, Google Maps, and Google Portal will rapidly become 'offlimits' to disabled users. Semantic Web technologies have already shown themselves to be useful in addressing some issues of Web Accessibility. However, this new technology has not yet started to make its way into mainstream applications. Without change, will the benefits of the Semantic Web be lost? Will the promising enhanced interactivity of Web 2.0 technologies become increasingly inaccessible to disabled users? We pose the question:
"Web 2.0 and the Semantic Web: Hindrance or Opportunity?"
The conference was held on Monday the 7th and Tuesday the 8th of May 2007 at the Fairmont Banff Springs Hotel in Banff National Park. We welcomed 65 attendees pursuing research on Web accessibility. We accepted 40.3% of all submissions, each paper was peer reviewed by the three of our programme committee. In brief, the conference proceedings brought together a cross section of Web design, engineering and Web accessibility research. The papers included report on developments on the Web 2.0 and Semantic Web, discussed the issues regarding the evolvement of the Web, and suggested cross-pollinated solutions. Comments from our attendees suggested that they enjoyed the conference and would be participating again next year. Our social programme also attracted almost all of our delegates, which was a great fun. Overall we judge the conference to be a great success.
Probe-Aided MulTCP
Authors: Kuo Fang-Chun , Fu Xiaoming 
Published: February 2008

An aggregate congestion control mechanism, namely Probe-Aided MulTCP (PA-MulTCP), is proposed in this paper. It is based on MulTCP,a proposal for enabling an aggregate to emulate the behavior of multiple concurrent TCP connections. The objective of PA-MulTCP is to ensure the fair sharing of the bottleneck bandwidth between the aggregate and other TCP or TCP-friendly flows while keeping lightweightness and responsiveness. Unlike MulTCP, there are two congestion window loops in PA-MulTCP, namely the probe window loop and the adjusting window loop.The probe window loop constantly probes the congestion situation and the adjusting window loop dynamically adjusts the congestion window size for the arriving and departing flows within the aggregate
Our simulations demonstrate that PA-MulTCP is more stable and fairer than MulTCP over a wide range of the weight N in steady conditions as well as in varying congestion conditions. PA-MulTCP is also responsive to flow arrival/departure and thus reduces the latency of short-lived transfers. Furthermore, PA-MulTCP is lightweight, since it enjoys above advantages at the cost of only an extra probe window loop, which has a marginal influence on the implementation complexity. Finally, the design of PA-MulTCP decouples the congestion management from the other functionalities in the aggregate flow management. As a result, PA-MulTCP could be potentially applied to a wider range of scenarios, e.g. wireless TCP proxies, edge-to-edge overlays, QoS provisioning and mass data transport. TCP, Fairness, Congestion Control, Aggregate Flow Management
Operational comparison of available bandwidth estimation tools
Authors: Urvoy-Keller Guillaume , En-Najjary Taoufik , Sorniotti Alessandro 
Published: February 2008

The available bandwidth of a path directly impacts the performance of throughput sensitive applications, e.g., p2p content replication or podcasting. Several tools have been devised to estimate the available bandwidth. The vast majority of these tools follow either the Probe Rate Model (PRM) or the Probe Gap Model (PGM).
Lao et al. [6] and Liu et al. [7] have identified biases in the PGM approach that lead to consistent underestimations of the available bandwidth. Those results were obtained under the ideal assumption of stationary cross traffic.
In this note, we confirm the existence of these biases experimentally, i.e., for the case of non stationary cross traffic. To do so, we compare one representative of the PRM family, namely Pathload, and one representative of the PGM family, namely Spruce, using long term (several day long) traces collected on an example path.
We first propose a methodology to compare operational results of two available bandwidth measurement tools. Based on the sanitized data obtained using the previous methodology, we next show that the biases identified by previous works are clearly observable on the long term, even with non stationary cross traffic. We further uncover the formal link that exists between the work by Liu et al. and the one by Lao et al.