bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Left atrial myocardial function in either physiological or pathological left ventricular hypertrophy: a two-dimensional speckle strain study
Authors: D’Andrea A , De Corato G , Scarafile R , Romano S , Reigler L , Mita C , Allocca F , Limongelli G , Gigantino G , Liccardo B , Cuomo S , Tagliamonte G , Caso P , Calbrò R 
Published: December 2007

Background:Atrial function is an integral part of cardiac function that is often neglected. The presence of left ventricule hypertrophy (LVH) due to arterial hypertension may impair atrial function. However, it has also been suggested that physical training attenuates the age-associated impairment of diastolic filling. This study investigated whether mechanical dysfunction in the left atrium (LA) is present in patients with either physiological or pathological LVH, using two-dimensional strain rate imaging (2D strain echocardiography; 2DSE).Methods:Standard echocardiography, exercise stress echo and 2DSE of the left atrium were performed in 40 patients with arterial hypertension, 45 age-matched elite athletes (>40 years) and 25 healthy sedentary controls. Atrial longitudinal strain was performed from the apical views for the basal segments of the LA septum, lateral wall and roof.Results:LV mass index and ejection fraction were comparable between patients with either physiological or pathological LVH. Elite athletes showed increased LV end-diastolic diameter, end-diastolic volume and stroke volume, whereas circumferential end-systolic stress was higher in patients with hypertension. LA diameter and maximum volume were increased but similar between the two groups of patients with LVH. LA active emptying volume and fraction were both higher in patients with hypertension. Conversely, peak systolic myocardial atrial strain was significantly reduced in patients with pathological LVH compared with controls and athletes for all the analysed atrial segments (p<0.0001). Using multivariate analysis, LV end-diastolic volume/body surface area (BSA) (β coefficient 0.52; p<0.0001) and LV mass (β = 0.48; p<0.001) in athletes emerged as the only independent determinants of LA lateral wall peak systolic strain. In contrast, in patients with hypertension, an independent negative association of LA lateral wall peak systolic strain with both LV mass (β = −0.42; p<0.001) and circumferential end-systolic stress (β = −0.43; p<0.001) was found. In addition, in the overall population of patients with LVH, LA lateral wall systolic strain (β = 0.49; p<0.0001) was a powerful independent predictor of maximum workload during exercise testing.Conclusions:2DSE represents a promising, non-invasive, simple and reproducible technique to assess LA myocardial function in patients with either physiological or pathological LVH. LA myocardial deformation is impaired in patients with hypertension compared with age-matched sedentary controls and elite athletes, and is closely associated with functional capacity during effort.
Short intensive exercise increases the migratory activity of mesenchymal stem cells
Authors: Schmidt A , Bierwirth S , Weber S , Platen P , Schinköthe T , Bloch W 
Published: December 2007

Background:It is known that exercise increases the number of stem cells within the circulation; however, it has not been clear which cellular processes are responsible for this increase. To answer this question, we analysed the influence of athletes’ blood sera on human mesenchymal stem cells (MSC).Methods:Sera were taken before and after short intensive exercise. As cellular parameters of MSC proliferation, apoptosis and migratory activity were analysed.Results:A change in stimulation of proliferation or apoptosis was not seen after exercise. In contrast, the migratory activity of MSC was significantly increased after exercise. To identify potential factors that could be responsible for this effect, we also analysed the semiquantitative serum concentration of 120 cytokines. Of these factors brain-derived neurotrophic factor, cutaneous T-cell-attracting chemokine, epidermal growth factor receptor, glucocorticoid-induced tumour necrosis factor receptor ligand, growth-regulated oncogene-α, interleukin (IL)1a, IL6, IL8, IL15, pulmonary and activation-regulated chemokine and soluble tumour necrosis factor receptor II showed a significant increase whereas migration inhibitory factor howed a decrease in concentration after exercise.Conclusions:IL6 is known to stimulate migration in MSC. It is recognised that contracting skeletal muscles synthesise and release IL6 into the systemic circulation in response to exercise. We therefore hypothesise that there is a direct relationship between exercise, IL6 release and stem cell recruitment.
Morphological and anatomical development in the Vitaceae. X. Comparative ontogeny and phylogenetic implications ofCissus quadrangularisL.
Authors: Timmons Susan A. , Posluszny Usher , Gerrath Jean M. 
Published: December 2007

Although the grape family, Vitaceae, is of great economic importance, there is little understanding of the relationships between and within the genera. Recent DNA-based phylogenies of the Vitaceae have disagreed with traditional classifications by grouping some Cissus species (e.g., Cissus antarctica Vent.) in a clade with Vitis species, while placing other Cissus species (e.g., Cissus quadrangularis L.) in a monophyletic clade. This study investigates Cissus phylogeny using epi-illumination light microscopy and histological ontogenetic comparisons of vegetative and reproductive characters of Vitis rotundifolia (Forssk.) Vahl, Vitis ‘Ventura’, Vitis riparia Michx., C. antarctica, and C. quadrangularis. Ten characters limited to the Cissus species (connection of stipules, precocious axillary bud initiation, prophyll growth not obviously unequal, timing of mature shoot architecture on axillary buds, lack of spiral inflorescence branching, absence of calyptra, petals closely enveloping anthers, large gynoecial disk, ovary buried in the disk, and production of copious amounts of nectar) support the traditional phylogenies: the monophyly of Vitis and the exclusion of Cissus species from Vitis. The comparison of C. antarctica (Vitis–Cissus clade) and C. quadrangularis (monophyletic Cissus clade) supports the division of Cissus into two clades based on supernumerary buds, stipule connectivity, uncommitted primordium shape, and inflorescence branching patterns.
Phylogenetic relationships among taxa in the Jahnulales inferred from 18S and 28S nuclear ribosomal DNA sequences
Authors: Campbell Jinx , Ferrer Astrid , Raja Huzefa A. , Sivichai Somsak , Shearer Carol A. 
Published: December 2007

Jahnulales is an order of freshwater, lignicolous, bitunicate ascomycetes characterized by wide (10–40 μm), brown, septate hyphae, stalked and (or) sessile ascomata, ascomal walls of 2–6 layers of large cells, and 1-septate ascospores. A variety of ascospore modifications are represented among the species in the order, including wall roughening, gelatinous sheaths, appendages and (or) pads, and apical caps or spines. To clarify generic boundaries and phylogenetic relationships within the Jahnulales and to assess the taxonomic significance of various morphological characters, a molecular study was carried out using 18S and 28S rDNA sequence data from 15 species representing the four genera in the order. In addition, Brachiosphaera tropicalis Nawawi and Xylomyces chlamydosporus Goos, R.D. Brooks & Lamore, two mitosporic species that co-occur with Jahnula Kirschst., species and have wide (>10 μm), brown, septate hyphae were included in the study to determine whether these species are members of this order. Maximum likelihood analyses confirmed the monophyly of the Jahnulales and resolved four clades. Two robustly supported clades comprise the genera Aliquandostipite Inderb. and Megalohypha A. Ferrer & Shearer. A third well-supported clade encompassed species of Brachiosphaera , Jahnula , and Xylomyces . The fourth clade contained isolates of the type species of the genus Jahnula, Jahnula aquatica (Plöttn. & Kirschst.) Kirschst., and two other members of this genus, but this clade was weakly supported. Our data suggest that the presence of very wide, brown, septate hyphae is an important character defining the Jahnulales. Based on molecular and morphological data, we propose the transfer of Jahnula siamensiae Sivichai & E.B.G. Jones and Patescospora separans Abdel-Wahab & El-Shar. to Aliquandostipite and emend the description of the Jahnulales.
Characteristics of anArabidopsisglyoxylate reductase: general biochemical properties and substrate specificity for the recombinant protein, and developmental expression and implications for glyoxylate and succinic semialdehyde metabolism in planta
Authors: Hoover Gordon J. , Van Cauwenberghe Owen R. , Breitkreuz Kevin E. , Clark Shawn M. , Merrill A. Rod , Shelp Barry J. 
Published: December 2007

Constitutive expression of an Arabidopsis thaliana (L.) Heynh cDNA (GenBank accession No. AY044183 ) in a succinic semialdehyde (SSA) dehydrogenase-deficient yeast ( Saccharomyces cerevisiae Hansen) mutant enables growth on γ-aminobutyrate and significantly enhances the accumulation of γ-hydroxybutyrate. In this report, the cDNA (designated hereinafter as AtGR1) was functionally expressed in Escherichia coli , and the recombinant protein purified to homogeneity. Kinetic analysis of substrate specificity revealed that the enzyme catalyzed the conversion of glyoxylate to glycolate (Km,glyoxylate= 4.5 μmol·L–1) as well as SSA to γ-hydroxybutyrate (Km, SSA= 0.87 mmol·L–1) via an essentially irreversible, NADPH-based mechanism. The enzyme had a 250-fold higher preference for glyoxylate than SSA based on the performance constants (kcat/Km), and with the exception of 4-carboxybenzaldehyde, at least a 100-fold higher preference for SSA than all other substrates tested (formaldehyde, acetaldehyde, butyraldehyde, 2-carboxybenzaldehyde, glyoxal, methylglyoxal, phenylglyoxal, phenylglyoxylate). In vitro assays of SSA reductase activity in cell-free extracts from Arabidopisis revealed its presence throughout the plant, although its specific activity was considerably higher in leaves at all developmental stages and in reproductive parts than in roots. It is proposed that the enzyme functions in redox homeostasis and the detoxification of both glyoxylate and SSA, in planta, resulting in the production of glycolate and γ-hydroxybutyrate, respectively.
Kinetic mechanism of a recombinantArabidopsisglyoxylate reductase: studies of initial velocity, dead-end inhibition and product inhibition
Authors: Hoover Gordon J. , Prentice Gerald A. , Merrill A. Rod , Shelp Barry J. 
Published: December 2007

Kinetic analysis of substrate specificity revealed that a recombinant Arabidopsis protein catalyzes the conversion of glyoxylate to glycolate (Km,glyoxylate= 4.5 μmol·L–1) and succinic semialdehyde (SSA) to γ-hydroxybutyrate (Km, SSA= 0.87 mmol·L–1) via an essentially irreversible, NADPH-based mechanism. In this report, the enzyme was further characterized via initial-velocity, dead-end inhibition and product inhibition studies. The kinetic mechanism was ordered Bi Bi, involving the complexation of NADPH to the enzyme before glyoxylate or SSA, and the release of NADP+before glycolate or γ-hydroxybutyrate, respectively. It can be concluded that the enzyme functions as a NADPH-dependent glyoxylate reductase (EC 1.1.1.79) or possibly an aldehyde reductase (EC 1.1.1.2), and the kinetic mechanism involved is consistent with that found in members of both the aldo-keto reductase and 3-hydroxyisobutyrate dehydrogenase-related superfamilies of enzymes. Since NADP+was an effective competitive inhibitor with respect to NADPH (Ki= 1–3 µmol·L–1), it is proposed that the ratio of NADPH/NADP+regulates enzymatic activity in planta.
The 2003 Canadian Geotechnical Colloquium: Mechanistic interpretation and practical application of damage and spalling prediction criteria for deep tunnelling
Authors: Diederichs Mark S. 
Published: December 2007

Spalling and strain bursting has long been recognized as a mechanism of failure in deep underground mines in hard rock and in deep infrastructure tunnels. The latter is a significant growth industry, particularly in Europe where subalpine base tunnels in excess of 10 m wide and dozens of kilometres long are being driven by tunnel boring machine (TBM) through alpine terrain at depths greater than 2 km. In more massive granitoid or gneissic ground, these tunnels have experienced significant spalling damage. En route to a practical predictive technique for this condition, the author utilizes a number of analytical and micromechanical tools to validate a simple empirical predictive model for tunnel spall initiation. The true nature of damage and of yield, as the result of extensile damage accumulation, in hard rocks is examined using these tools. Based on the resultant conceptual model, the author expands on the empirical damage threshold, using a spalling limit to differentiate stress paths that lead to crack propagation and spalling from those that incur stable microdamage prior to conventional shear failure at higher relative confinements. Finally, the composite and robust in situ yield model is applied to nonlinear modelling for support design.
Long-term investigation of a deep-seated creeping landslide in crystalline rock. Part I. Geological and hydromechanical factors controlling the Campo Vallemaggia landslide
Authors: Bonzanigo L. , Eberhardt E. , Loew S. 
Published: December 2007

Slope movements of the deep-seated Campo Vallemaggia landslide in the southern Swiss Alps have been reported for over 200 years. Surface and borehole investigations of the unstable mass reveal an up to 300 m deep complex structure incorporating 800 million cubic metres of disturbed metamorphic rocks divided into blocks along primary fault zones. An average slide velocity of approximately 5 cm/year can be calculated from various monitoring data recorded between 1892 and 1995. Block movements primarily involve mechanisms relating to multiple shear surfaces, but in cases where slide blocks are constrained by other blocks, creep deformations are observed. Borehole investigations revealed the presence of artesian water pressures, which when integrated with inclinometer and surface geodetic data, helped to provide key insights into the underlying instability mechanisms. This paper reports the findings of an extensive mapping, geophysical, and monitoring investigation carried out over a 20 year period. Results from the analysis are presented with respect to the hydromechanical factors controlling the unstable mass, the significance of which were instrumental in resolving conflicts with regards to the slope mitigation measures required to stabilize the slope. In Part II (see companion paper, this issue), the stabilization works performed at Campo Vallemaggia and their effectiveness are presented.
Base load – displacement response of piles in sand
Authors: Gavin Kenneth , Lehane Barry 
Published: December 2007

The paper presents the results of a series of laboratory and field model pile tests performed to study the factors controlling the base pressure – settlement reponse of piles in sand. One series of tests involved the installation and load testing of steel open- and closed-ended piles in loose sand contained in a large pile testing chamber. A second series involved tests on open- and closed-ended steel piles and a concrete bored pile at a dense sand test bed site. The experiments were designed to investigate the effects of pile type, sand consistency, and installation resistance on a pile’s base response during static loading. The tests revealed that both the base capacity and stiffness of piles in sand are controlled by the degree of prestress imposed on the soil below the pile tip. Simple expressions, which require the small strain stiffness and cone penetration test data as the input parameters, are developed to predict the base pressure – settlement response. The final part of the paper employs other field tests on full-scale displacement piles and bored piles to verify the validity of the proposed approach.
JAPAN'S DEFLATIONARY HANGOVER: WAGE STAGNATION AND THE SYNDROME OF THE EVER-WEAKER YEN
Authors: MCKINNON RONALD 
Published: December 2007

Japan still suffers a deflationary hangover from the great episodic yen appreciations of the 1980s into the mid-1990s. Money wages are still declining, and short-term interest rates remain trapped near zero. After Japan's "lost decade" from 1992 to 2002, however, output has begun to grow modestly — but through export expansion and associated investment rather than domestic consumption. This export-led growth has been helped by a passive real depreciation of the yen: prices and wages in Europe and the United States have grown, and are growing, faster than in Japan. As the yen becomes weaker in real terms, American and European industrialists and politicians are again complaining that the yen is too weak (Japan bashing II?) — although the pressure on Japan to appreciate is not yet as great as it now is on China. But Japan is trapped. If it does appreciate the yen, its fragile economy will be driven back into outright deflation. The only solution is to stabilize the nominal dollar value of the yen over the long-term, but this step will not necessarily be immediately effective in placating foreign mercantilists. Under foreign pressure to appreciate the renminbi, China, with its booming economy, is now in a similar position to Japan's of more than 20 years ago. Policymakers in China should resist pressure to go down the same deflationary road as Japan.
Chapter 8 Tertiary volcanicity
Authors: Crow M. J. 
Published: December 2007

The Centenary of the Netherlands Indies Geological Survey was commemorated by the publication of a synthesis of the geology of Indonesia by van Bemmelen (1949). In his account of the geology of Sumatra van Bemmelen (1949) described three distinct, but continuous, cycles of volcanic activity during the Tertiary and Quaternary: Old Neogene (Late Oligocene-Mid-Miocene); Young Neogene (Mid-Miocene-early in the Quaternary); and Young Quaternary. The first cycle began with the 'Old Andesites', and ended with the Mid-Miocene uplift of the Barisan Mountains. The second cycle commenced with the eruption of basic igneous products and concluded with an acidic phase which coincided with a second episode of uplift of the Barisan Mountains.
Subsequently, knowledge of the Tertiary volcanic rocks in Sumatra has been refined as the result of programmes of geological mapping in the early 1970s by the Geological Survey of Indonesia and the United States Geological Survey, and between 1975 and the mid-1990s by the Geological Research and Development Centre, the Directorate of Mineral Resources and the British Geological Survey. Exploration by oil and mineral companies has also provided data concerning the distribution of Tertiary plutonic rocks in the Pre-Tertiary basement and in the Tertiary sedimentary basins, of volcanic units interbedded with sediments. Further contributions to the understanding of Tertiary volcanicity in Sumatra and its forearc islands have been made by academic researchers and post-graduate students from the Institute of Technology, Bandung and the University of London, in collaboration with the Geological Research and Development Centre, LIPI and LEMIGAS, and the
Chapter 10 Fuel resources: oil and gas
Authors: Clure John 
Published: December 2007

Petroleum systems are controlled by the evolution of sedimentary basins and the provenance of their sedimentary fills. As the result of a favourable combination of these factors Sumatra is rich in petroleum resources. The discovery and exploitation of commercial accumulations of oil and gas has so far been restricted to the backarc region of Sumatra, NE of the Barisan Range and the active volcanic arc, where three major sedimentary basins, the North, Central and South Sumatra Basins are distinguished. Exploration in the Sibolga, Mentawai and Bengkulu basins along the western margin of Sumatra in the forearc region has, so far, not been as successful. Commercial success has also eluded companies which have explored basins or sub-basins, such as the Ombilin Basin, which occur within the Barisan Range.
Plate-tectonic mechanisms and the resultant crustal thicknesses control this distribution of the Sumatran petroleum resources. To the east of the Barisan Range, beneath the backarc basins, the crust has been stretched and thinned and thus has a high geothermal gradient, suitable for the generation of hydrocarbons. In the forearc region, to the west of the Barisan Range, the lithosphere is thicker due to the subduction of the Indian Ocean Plate beneath the Sunda Craton in Sumatra. This effective doubling of lithospheric thickness has resulted in lowering of the geothermal gradient, so that sediments in the forearc basinal setting have a lower thermal maturity. Also, clastic sediments in forearc basins, due to their volcanic and metamorphic provenance, tend to be poor in quartz, and
Rock physics and geomechanics in the study of reservoirs and repositories
Authors: David C. , Le Ravalec-Dupin M. 
Published: December 2007

Abstract
Reservoir management for hydrocarbon extraction and repositories design for radioactive waste storage are two different areas in which rock physics and geomechanics provide valuable information. Although the targets and objectives are different, similar approaches and common attributes exist in both fields: safety assessment, short- to long-term prediction, integration of various scales of investigation, and remote monitoring, among others. Nevertheless, there are also important differences: reservoirs at depth are investigated through remote geophysical studies, well-logging and/or core samples retrieval, whereas direct access to repositories is possible through excavation in the host formation in which underground research laboratories can be constructed. We review a number of studies focusing on geomechanics and rock physics applied to the characterization of reservoirs and repositories, including laboratory experiments and predictive models, at different scales.
Influence of persistence on behaviour of fractured rock masses
Authors: Kim B. H. , Kaiser P. K. , Grasselli G. 
Published: December 2007

Abstract
Most of the models that simulate fractured rock masses assume fully persistent discontinuities, simplifying the fact that, in nature, fractured rock masses are made of non-continuous sets of joints. A rock bridge gives an effective cohesion to the fracture and a block of rock cannot fall or slide until all the rock bridges fail. This failure involves the failure of the intact rock, which can be orders of magnitude stronger than the shear strength of the rock joint. In this study we focus on how the distribution of rock bridges influences the overall rock mass behaviour, to contribute to the understanding of how the presence of rock bridges influences the ‘scale’ effect that is observed between strength values measured on intact rock in the laboratory and those observed at the rock mass scale. To estimate the influence of spatial fracture, parameters of the rock mass strength and deformation were determined, using the orthogonal arrays method, UDEC and variance analysis. The numerical model was first calibrated on shear tests of samples made of continuous joints, and then used to investigate the shear behaviour of a fractured rock mass with non-persistent joints. The 2D approach was successfully extended to 3D models using 3DEC with the aim of providing a better approach for simulating the stability of an underground cavern in a fractured rockmass.