bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Assessing and predicting the relative ecological impacts of disturbance on habitats with different sensitivities
Authors: HIDDINK J. G. , JENNINGS S. , KAISER M. J. 
Published: February 2007

Summary

Methods for assessing habitat sensitivity to human impacts are needed to gauge the sustainability of existing impacts, develop spatial management plans and support meaningful environmental impact assessments. These methods should be quantitative, validated, repeatable and applicable at the scales of impact and management.
Existing methods for assessing the sensitivity of marine habitats to human impacts have tended to rely on expert judgement and/or scoring systems. They are neither validated, quantitative nor repeatable.
We have developed a method that meets the criteria for assessing the sensitivity of seabed habitats to physical disturbance, and delineating and mapping habitat sensitivity at large spatial scales (>105 km2). The method assumes that sensitivity is related to the recovery time of production or biomass, as predicted using a size‐based model that takes account of the effects of natural disturbance.
As trawling disturbance is a major and widespread direct human impact on shelf seas, this was used as an example of anthropogenic physical disturbance. We mapped habitat sensitivity to trawling in 9‐km2 boxes across an area of 125 000 km2 in the North Sea.
Habitat sensitivities varied widely, and a trawling frequency of 5 year−1 in the least‐sensitive habitat had the same ecological effect as a trawling frequency of 0·3 year−1 in the most‐sensitive habitat (based on production). When trawling effort was held constant but redirected to the least‐sensitive habitats, the existing impacts on production and biomass were reduced by 36% and 25%, respectively.
Synthesis and applications. The method described in this paper enables managers to predict the implications of changing patterns of human impact on seabed habitats when establishing spatial management plans. In the context of fisheries management, this will support the identification and selection of fishing grounds that minimize the adverse ecological effects of fishing; the selection of closed areas (both representative and highly sensitive); the comparison of management options that might reduce the overall environmental impacts of fishing; and any future steps towards the application of environmental impact assessment in advance of fishery development.
Rapid population divergence in thermal reaction norms for an invading species: breaking the temperature–size rule
Authors: KINGSOLVER J. G. , MASSIE K. R. , RAGLAND G. J. , SMITH M. H. 
Published: February 2007

AbstractThe temperature–size rule is a common pattern of phenotypic plasticity in which higher temperature during development results in a smaller adult body size (i.e. a thermal reaction norm with negative slope). Examples and exceptions to the rule are known in multiple groups of organisms, but rapid population differentiation in the temperature–size rule has not been explored. Here we examine the genetic and parental contributions to population differentiation in thermal reaction norms for size, development time and survival in the Cabbage White Butterfly Pieris rapae, for two geographical populations that have likely diverged within the past 150 years. We used split‐sibship experiments with two temperature treatments (warm and cool) for P. rapae from Chapel Hill, NC, and from Seattle, WA. Mixed‐effect model analyses demonstrate significant genetic differences between NC and WA populations for adult size and for thermal reaction norms for size. Mean adult mass was 12–24% greater in NC than in WA populations for both temperature treatments; mean size was unaffected or decreased with temperature (the temperature–size rule) for the WA population, but size increased with temperature for the NC population. Our study shows that the temperature–size rule and related thermal reaction norms can evolve rapidly within species in natural field conditions. Rapid evolutionary divergence argues against the existence of a simple, general mechanistic constraint as the underlying cause of the temperature–size rule.
Immunotherapy against metastatic renal cell carcinoma with mature dendritic cells
Authors: Matsumoto Akihiko , Haraguchi Kyoko , Takahashi Tsuyoshi , Azuma Takeshi , Kanda Yoshinobu , Tomita Kyoichi , Kurokawa Mineo , Ogawa Seishi , Takahashi Koki , Chiba Shigeru , Kitamura Tadaichi 
Published: February 2007

Objective:  We performed a clinical trial of immunotherapy using autologous mature dendritic cells (DC) pulsed with autologous tumor lysate, for patients with metastatic renal cell carcinoma (RCC).Methods:  Patients with refractory metastatic RCC were enrolled in the study. All of them received interferon (IFN)‐α treatment after nephrectomy and were followed over 3 months prior to this study. Autologous monocyte‐derived immature DC were pulsed with lysate from autologous primary tumor as the antigen and keyhole limpet hemocyanin (KLH) as immunomodulator, and cultured in the presence of tumor necrosis factor (TNF)‐α, interleukin (IL)‐1β, and prostaglandin (PG)E2 to generate mature DC. Mature DC were injected intradermally near bilateral inguinal lymph nodes of the patients. A delayed‐type hypersensitivity (DTH) test and enzyme‐linked immunospot (ELISPOT) assay were performed to evaluate the immunological response. After 4 months from first injection, the clinical effect was evaluated by diagnostic imaging.Results:  The treatments were well tolerated without significant toxicity by the patients who were an average of 65.7 years old and had multiple metastases in the lung and other organs. One of the two patients developed a positive DTH reaction to tumor lysate and the other patient only to KLH. The patient with a positive DTH reaction to tumor lysate had stable disease in the clinical evaluation.Conclusions:  We confirmed the safety of DC therapy in this clinical trial. The DTH test revealed that the DC therapy induced immunological response to RCC. On the other hand, it was necessary to reconsider the patient selection criteria.
Population‐based screening for prostate cancer by measuring total serum prostate‐specific antigen in Iran
Authors: Hosseini Seyyed Yousof , Moharramzadeh Massood , Ghadian Ali Reza , Hooshyar Hassan , Lashay Ali Reza , Safarinejad Mohammah Reza 
Published: February 2007

Objective:  To report the results from an Iranian large population‐based randomized study of screening using prostate‐specific antigen (PSA) to detect prostate cancer.Materials and Methods:  A total of 3758 Iranian men older than 40 years were mass checked by PSA‐based screening. Men with an abnormal digital rectal examination (DRE) and serum total PSA level of greater than 4 ng/mL, underwent transrectal ultrasonography (TRUS)‐guided extended prostate biopsy.Results:  The PSA value (mean ± standard deviation, SD) in all men without prostate cancer was 1.6 ± 1.1 ng/mL and in those with cancer 18 ± 44.8 ng/mL (P = 0.001). PSA values increased with age. In those aged 40–49, 50–59, 60–69 and ≥70 years, the mean ± SD PSA values were 1.3 ± 0.7, 1.4 ± 0.8, 1.8 ± 1 and 2.2 ± 1.6 ng/mL, respectively. Among the screened men, 323 (8.6%) had a serum PSA concentration greater than 4 ng/mL. Of patients who underwent prostate biopsy (230, 71.2%), 129 (positive predictive value, 56.1%) had prostate cancer. Additionally, nine cancers were detected among 16 patients with PSA of less than 4 ng/mL who had a doubtful DRE finding. The overall cancer detection rate was 3.6%; 1.4% at 40–49, 1.6% at 50–59, 4.2% at 60–69 and 12.9% at ≥70 years. Conventional systematic sextant biopsies, which accounted for six of the 10 cores in our biopsy scheme, detected 98 (71%) of the cancers.Conclusions:  The Iranian male population develops prostate cancer quite commonly if their serum PSA levels are greater than 4.0 ng/mL. In this study, 65.9% of the detected cancers were clinically significant. The conventional systematic sextant technique may be inappropriate for detection of all prostate cancers. The results need to be confirmed in other randomized trials.
Associations between renal sodium‐citrate cotransporter (hNaDC‐1) gene polymorphism and urinary citrate excretion in recurrent renal calcium stone formers and normal controls
Authors: Okamoto Naohiko , Aruga Seiji , Matsuzaki Shoji , Takahashi Satoru , Matsushita Kazuo , Kitamura Tadaichi 
Published: February 2007

Purpose:  Urinary citrate is a potent inhibitor of renal stone formation. Its excretion is regulated by Na+/dicarboxylate cotransporter‐1 (NaDC‐1), which is expressed on the apical membrane of renal proximal tubules. Many patients with calcium urolithiasis exhibit hypocitraturia, however, the mechanisms are not perfectly understood. We examined whether or not the I550V polymorphism in human NaDC‐1 gene (hNaDC‐1) influenced urinary citrate excretion.Materials and methods:  I550V polymorphism was investigated in 105 patients with recurrent renal calcium stone formation (RSF) and 107 age‐matched healthy volunteers with non‐renal stone formation (NSF), using polymerase chain reaction (PCR) restriction fragment length polymorphism analysis and two 24‐h urine samples.Results:  Overall and in the RSF groups, subjects with a BB (homozygous for the digested Bcl‐I allele) genotype exhibited a significantly lower urinary citrate excretion level than subjects with a bb (homozygous for the undigested allele) genotype. Genotype distributions between subjects with hypocitraturia and normocitraturia were significantly different, with the BB genotype being more frequently observed in subjects with hypocitraturia – both overall and in each of the RSF and NSF groups. Although the BB genotype was observed more frequently in the RSF group than in the NSF group, no statistical differences among the distributions of the three genotypes (BB, Bb [heterozygous] and bb) were observed between the RSF and NSF groups.Conclusion:  These results suggest that the B allele of I550V polymorphism of hNaDC‐1 may be associated with a reduction in urinary citrate excretion and contribute to hypocitraturia in recurrent renal stone formers.
Evaluation of magnetic resonance imaging‐based prostate‐specific antigen density of the prostate in the diagnosis of prostate cancer
Authors: Hoshii Tatsuhiko , Nishiyama Tsutomu , Toyabe Shinichi , Akazawa Kohei , Komatsu Shuichi , Kaneko Masaaki , Hara Noboru , Takahashi Kota 
Published: February 2007

Objectives:  We evaluated prostate‐specific antigen (PSA) density of the prostatic volume (PSAD) estimated using transrectal ultrasonography (TRUS; TRUS‐based PSAD), magnetic resonance imaging (MRI; MRI‐based PSAD), and PSA density of the transition zone (TZ) volume (PSATZD) estimated using MRI (MRI‐based PSATZD) in the diagnosis of prostate cancer (PCa).Methods:  One hundred and twenty patients, who were suspected to have PCa based on PSA, ranged between 4.1 and 20.0 ng/mL were enrolled in this study.Results:  The prostatic volume estimated using TRUS was smaller than the volume estimated using MRI by 11.4% in the patients with PSA levels ranging 4.1–20.0 ng/mL, 7.2% in those 4.1–10.0 ng/mL, and 15.7% in those 10.1–20.0 ng/mL, respectively. PSA levels were correlated with the prostatic volume estimated using TRUS and MRI, and TZ volume estimated using MRI in the patients without PCa; however, the level was not correlated with them in the patients with PCa. The area under the receiver operating characteristic curve of MRI‐based PSAD was higher than that of TRUS‐based PSAD; however, there was no statistical difference. Stepwise logistic regression analysis for the prediction of PCa by using PSA‐related parameters confirmed that MRI‐based PSATZD was the most significant predictor in patients with PSA levels in the range of 4.1–20.0 ng/mL (P < 0.001), the range of 4.1–10.0 ng/mL (P = 0.002), and the range of 10.1–20.0 ng/mL (P < 0.001), respectively.Conclusions:  The prostatic volume estimated using TRUS was smaller than the volume estimated using MRI. MRI‐based PSATZD is the most significant predictor in the four parameters.
Morphological correlates of aquatic and terrestrial locomotion in a semi‐aquatic frog, Rana esculenta: no evidence for a design conflict
Authors: Nauwelaerts Sandra , Ramsay Jason , Aerts Peter 
Published: February 2007

AbstractSemi‐aquatic frogs are faced with an unusual locomotory challenge. They have to swim and jump using the same apparatus, i.e. the hind limbs. Optimization of two tasks that require mutually incompatible morphologies or physiologies cannot occur simultaneously. In such cases, natural selection will result in some compromise, i.e. an intermediate phenotype that can perform both tasks reasonably well, but its performance will never match that of a specialized phenotype. We found no direct evidence for a trade‐off between jumping and swimming performance nor for a coupled optimization. This could be due to the importance of overall quality, as suggested by the fact that some frogs possess greater overall muscularity than others, irrespective of their body size. Another explanation could be that some morphological characteristics have a positive effect on both locomotor modes and others show a trade‐off effect. The net effect of these characteristics could result in an overall absence of correlation between the two locomotor performances. Size has a great influence on the morphological data and on jumping performance, but not if performance is expressed as velocity. The body shape of an anuran is conservative and scales mostly isometrically.
The sympathetic postganglionic and sensory innervation of oviducal magnum in hen: a choleratoxin subunit B‐conjugated horseradish peroxidase study
Authors: Liu Jinxiong , Wang Wenjie , Feng Yamei , Li Meiying , Bao Huijun , Chen Qiusheng 
Published: February 2007

AbstractThe anatomy of the extrinsic innervation of the avian magnum has not been accurately demonstrated previously. In the present study, choleratoxin subunit B‐conjugated horseradish peroxidase (CB‐HRP) was used as a retrograde tracer to determine the sympathetic postganglionic and sensory innervation of the magnum of hens. With regard to the sympathetic postganglionic innervation, following CB‐HRP injections under the serosa of the magnum, CB‐HRP‐positive neurons were found bilaterally in the C12–LS13 ganglia of the sympathetic chain, splanchnic ganglia and adrenal ganglia. The number of labelled neurons in the left ganglia of the sympathetic chain and splanchnic ganglia was approximately 2.1 times that in the right ganglia. This suggests that the unilateral magnum is bilaterally innervated with sympathetic postganglionic nerves, the left nerves being predominant. With regard to the sensory innervation, following tracer injections, CB‐HRP‐positive neurons were found bilaterally in the spinal ganglia C13–LS12, jugular ganglia and nodose ganglia. The number of positive cells in the left ganglia was about 2.2 times that in the right ganglia. In the spinal ganglia, 85.6% of the labelled neurons were in the T5–LS2 and LS8–LS11 ganglia. These results suggest that the sensory nerve fibres of the magnum reach the central nervous system principally via two groups of spinal ganglia and vagus nerves, and that the innervation is bilateral although the left‐hand route predominates. Moreover, 45.7% of all the CB‐HRP‐labelled neurons were found in the rectal region of the intestinal nerve of Remak (INR), which suggests that the INR plays a very important role in the functional regulation of the magnum.
National Vocational Qualifications: the candidates’ experience
Authors: Isaac Susan 
Published: February 2007

AbstractPurpose:  To examine the experience of studying for an National Vocational Qualification (NVQ) by past and present candidates in the library and information science sector, their reasons for choosing this qualification and its impact on completion.Methodology:  Following a review of the literature, a number of NVQ candidates were interviewed using a semi‐structured questionnaire. Candidates were contacted via e‐mail through NVQ Centres and the LondonLinks e‐mail list. There is a focus on health libraries as the flexibility and work‐based nature of NVQs enable more staff to access training and education in this sector, despite the not uncommon low levels of staffing.Results:  NVQ Centres have gained experience since NVQs were launched 10 years ago. More support is offered to candidates and a number of issues such as isolation, are no longer a problem. An interesting result was the high number of candidates who had gone on to higher education following the completion of an NVQ.Conclusions:  The NVQ is a useful method of providing staff with an opportunity to gain a recognized qualification. A significant number of candidates reported that the NVQ was ultimately a positive experience that improved their working practices. It can be an important first step for non‐professional staff, but the future remains uncertain.
Evaluating the impact of library user training programmes across Thames Valley Strategic Health Authority in the UK
Authors: Trinder Valerie M , Fleet Geoffrey E , Gray Anne E 
Published: February 2007

AbstractBackground:  This study was undertaken to provide evidence that library outreach projects in the NHS in the Thames Valley Strategic Health Authority area were effective and could justify continued funding.Objectives:  The object was to assess whether information literacy skills training taken up by health professionals impacts on their confidence and skills in using electronic sources of health information.Method:  A total of 487 health professionals taking up training on a voluntary basis were assessed by completing a self‐assessment questionnaire prior to and after training to establish their information literacy skills and confidence levels. Of these, 223 trainees (46%) also returned 6‐week follow‐up questionnaires.Results:  Results showed that 464 trainees (95%) intended to apply what they had learnt in a variety of ways; use of specific resources greatly increased after training and confidence in using them increased substantially. Use of search techniques increased considerably overall, whereas use of Google decreased.Conclusions:  The major findings of this research are that training health‐care personnel in the use of electronic resources impacts positively on their information literacy skills and confidence, and that the information available to them is considered to have potential value across health‐care practice.
Effectiveness of information skills training and mediated searching: qualitative results from the EMPIRIC project
Authors: Brettle Alison , Hulme Claire , Ormandy Paula 
Published: February 2007

AbstractObjectives:  To explore library staff and health professionals’ views on the effectiveness of information skills training and librarian mediated searching as methods of providing information for patient care. This is the second article describing the Effective Methods of Providing InfoRmation for patIent Care (EMPIRIC) project. The first paper, in a previous issue of this journal (Brettle et al. The costs and effectiveness of information skills training and mediated searching: quantitative results for the EMPIRIC project. Health Information and Libraries Journal 2006, 23, 239–247) describes the quantitative results.Methods:  A questionnaire survey to library staff and health professionals in the North West. Data was collected on perceptions of services, satisfaction and service usage. Statistical data were analysed using the Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS) and qualitative data using thematic analysis.Results:  Both information skills training and mediated searches are perceived by library staff and health professionals to be effective. There is strong support for mediated searches carried out on behalf of the health professional and information skills training to enable them to carry out their own searches. The results provide insights into the effectiveness of the services and the factors that make them effective.Conclusions:  Evidence and stakeholders views support the provision of both information skills training and mediated search services. Both services are valued by users who see them as complementary methods of obtaining information depending on their needs at different times.
Characterization of new SSR‐EST markers in cod, Gadus morhua
Authors: WEISS EMILY , BENNIE MICHAEL , HODGINS‐DAVIS ANDREA , ROBERTS STEVEN , GERLACH GABRIELE 
Published: February 2007

AbstractFor years, fishermen have noted that cod (Gadus morhua) within the Georges Bank Atlantic fishery spawn multiple times annually with peaks in the spring and in the fall. To evaluate the hypothesis that these differences in reproductive behaviour reflect genetically different spawning populations, we identified eight polymorphic simple sequence repeats within expressed sequence tags (ESTs). Previously, only a few genetic markers have been informative for distinguishing between cod populations of the Northwest Atlantic. The development of additional markers from ESTs will be a valuable tool to improve our understanding of population structure in this commercially important species.
Sexual conflict over parental care in Penduline Tits Remiz pendulinus: the process of clutch desertion
Authors: VAN DIJK RENÉ E. , SZENTIRMAI ISTVÁN , KOMDEUR JAN , SZÉKELY TAMÁS 
Published: February 2007

Do the two parents at a nest make simultaneous decisions whether to care for their offspring or to desert? If a single parent is sufficient for rearing young, one parent (typically, the male) may desert and reproduce with a new mate within the same breeding season, leaving the other parent with the brunt of care. As each parent is expected to maximize its own reproductive success, the interests of the two parents do not necessarily coincide, and a sexual conflict over care may emerge. Here we investigate the process of clutch desertion in a small passerine bird, the Penduline Tit Remiz pendulinus. Among birds, this species has a remarkably variable breeding system, because a single parent (either the male or the female) may provide the full care of the young, whereas about 30% of clutches are abandoned by both parents. First, we show that biparental desertion occurs within a single day in 73.7% of the clutches (n = 14), whereas desertion decisions are sequential in 26.3% of the clutches (n = 5) (male first: 10.5% (n = 2); female first: 15.8% (n = 3); n = 19 clutches in total). Secondly, we observed the behaviour of both parents before desertion, and investigated whether desertion can be predicted from their behaviour. However, neither singing nor nest‐building behaviour predicted whether the male or the female would desert. We therefore suggest that biparental desertion may be simultaneous by male and female in our population of Penduline Tits. Furthermore, the parents do not appear to signal their intention to desert their mate. We argue that the parents’ interest may be actually to disguise their intention to desert.
Vertebrate aging research 2006
Authors: Austad Steven N. 
Published: February 2007

SummaryThis Hot Topics review, the first in a projected annual series, discusses those articles, published in the last year, which seem likely to have a major impact on our understanding of the aging process in mammals and the links between aging and late‐life illnesses. The year's highlights include studies of oxidation damage in the very‐long‐lived naked mole‐rat, and of caloric restriction in monkeys, humans, and growth hormone‐unresponsive mice. Two studies of resveratrol, one showing its ability to extend lifespan in a short‐lived fish, the other demonstrating beneficial effects in mice subjected to a diet high in fat, may well be harbingers of a parade of intervention studies in the coming decade.