bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Allocation of Central Government Budgets Over City Regions
Authors: Foster C.D. , Smith J.F. 
Published: October 2006

The paper states the pressing need for a more analytical approach to the allocation of Central Government budgets and to budget forecasts for local areas. In many cases Central Government is unable to deal with individual projects of expenditure or investment and a strict optimisation at this micro level is impracticable. In these circumstances allocation must be based on broad and more aggregative indices, current and predicted. The paper offers a number of distinctions and certain allocation methods are discussed with simple illustrations. It is argued that methods have to approximate to micro optimisation at one extreme and macro economic optimisation at the other. The paper calls for further analysis on the interrelationships between methods.
Press releases and email notices increase local and global visibility of a small medical journal
Authors: Sambunjak Dario 
Published: October 2006

ABSTRACTTo increase its visibility among the general public and the international scientific community, the Croatian Medical Journal (CMJ), a small journal from the so‐called scientific periphery, introduced a media strategy of sending press releases to journalists and email notices to the newsdesk of a high‐profile international scientific journal. Subsequent news coverage and the positive response of journalists show that press releases and targeted email notices increased international visibility of articles published in a small scientific journal, and improved communication with journalists as mediators of scientific information to the general public.
Is it enough to change the language? A case study of Croatian biomedical journals
Authors: Pulišelić Lea , Petrak Jelka 
Published: October 2006

ABSTRACTThe language barrier is a factor in the low visibility and significance of scientific journals produced by small and scientifically peripheral countries. In order to reach an international audience, both as consumers and producers of scientific information, many journals abandon their national language and start publishing in English. Six Croatian biomedical journals that went through this transition were examined on their editing and publishing characteristics and their international visibility before and after the language shift. The analysis showed that this change influenced the journals' characteristics in general. Two journals enhanced their international visibility, but only one journal showed improvement in all analysed indicators.
Interactive Tree Of Life (iTOL): an online tool for phylogenetic tree display and annotation
Authors: Letunic Ivica , Bork Peer 
Published: October 2006

AbstractSummary: Interactive Tree Of Life (iTOL) is a web-based tool for the display, manipulation and annotation of phylogenetic trees. Trees can be interactively pruned and re-rooted. Various types of data such as genome sizes or protein domain repertoires can be mapped onto the tree. Export to several bitmap and vector graphics formats is supported.Availability: iTOL is available atContact: bork@embl.de
Pre‐cessation depressive mood predicts failure to quit smoking: the role of coping and personality traits*
Authors: Berlin Ivan , Covey Lirio S. 
Published: October 2006

ABSTRACTAims  To examine whether mood, personality and coping predict smoking cessation and whether the associations of personality and coping are mediated through depressed mood.Setting  Multicenter (n = 8) smoking cessation trial.Participants  A total of 600 smokers (≥ 15 cigarettes/day) without current depression who participated in a smoking cessation study.Measurements  The outcome was continuous abstinence during the last 4 weeks of the 3‐month trial: depressed mood was measured by the Beck Depression Inventory (BDI), personality by the Revised NEO Personality Inventory (NEO‐PI‐R) and coping by the Revised Ways of Coping Checklist (RWCC).Findings  A total of 14.7% (88/600) were abstainers. Controlling for potential confounders, baseline BDI independently predicted smoking cessation. Smokers with BDI ≥ 10 were less likely to quit than those with BDI < 10 (odds ratio: 6.39, 95% CI: 1.44–28.3, P = 0.01). Compared to BDI < 10 smokers, BDI ≥ 10 smokers had significantly higher scores for neuroticism and lower scores for extraversion and conscientiousness (NEO‐PI‐R). On the RWCC, BDI ≥ 10 smokers scored higher for blame self, wishful thinking and problem avoidance and they scored lower on problem focus than smokers with BDI < 10. A mediational analysis showed that neither personality traits nor coping skills predicted directly smoking cessation. However, low level of problem focusing and social support seeking predicted a negative outcome via depressed mood.Conclusion  A BDI score ≥ 10, even in smokers who do not meet a current diagnosis of major depression, directly predicts inability to quit. This suggests the utility of assessing depression symptoms in routine smoking cessation care.
The c‐Jun‐N‐terminal‐Kinase inhibitor SP600125 enhances the butyrate derivative D1‐induced apoptosis via caspase 8 activation in Kasumi 1 t(8;21) acute myeloid leukaemia cells
Authors: Rovida Elisabetta , Gozzini Antonella , Barbetti Valentina , Giuntoli Serena , Santini Valeria , Dello Sbarba Persio 
Published: October 2006

SummaryWe recently showed that the histone deacetylase inhibitor D1 induced apoptosis in the t(8;21) Kasumi 1 acute myeloid leukaemia (AML) cell line and activated caspase 9. The present study characterised the effects of the combined administration of D1 with PD98059, SB203580 or SP600125, specific inhibitors of mitogen‐activated protein kinase, extracellular signal‐regulated kinases 1 and 2 (ERK1/2), p38 or Jun N‐terminal kinase (JNK), respectively. Among these inhibitors, SP600125 was the only one to markedly induce apoptosis and decrease cell proliferation. These experiments showed that SP600125 activated caspase 8 and confirmed that D1 activated the intrinsic pathway of apoptosis, as caspase 8 was not affected while Bcl‐2 was down‐regulated following D1 administration. The combination of the two drugs enhanced caspase‐8 activation and induced apoptosis in an additive fashion. JNK was constitutively activated in the Kasumi 1, NB4, HL60 and THP‐1 human AML cell lines, as well as in primary blasts from a t(8;21) AML patient. In all these cells, the pro‐apoptotic effect of the two drugs alone was increased when they were combined. On this basis, the combined administration of D1 with SP600125 seems to be very promising as a potential anti‐leukaemic tool in AML.
Early identification: are speech/language‐impaired toddlers at increased risk for Developmental Coordination Disorder?
Authors: Gaines R. , Missiuna C. 
Published: October 2006

AbstractBackground  Developmental Coordination Disorder (DCD) is a movement skill disorder which impacts upon a child’s ability to perform age‐appropriate self‐care and academic tasks. DCD is commonly comorbid with speech/language learning disabilities.Aim  The present study was conducted to determine whether children who had been identified with speech/language delays as toddlers demonstrated characteristics of DCD and/or speech/language problems at kindergarten age.Results  Speech/language and motor assessments who were followed up at 63–80 months of age. Of the 40 children, 18 showed evidence of significant motor impairment and two‐thirds of these met diagnostic criteria for DCD at follow‐up. Twelve children were identified as having persistent speech/language problems and, of these, nine presented with significant motor co‐ordination difficulties. Parental report of gross motor and fine motor problems at follow‐up correlated highly with actual motor impairment scores.Conclusions  Young children who are in early intervention programmes for speech/language delays may have significant co‐ordination difficulties that will become more evident at kindergarten age when motor deficits begin to impact self‐care and academic tasks. Clinical implications for early recognition of motor issues by speech/language pathologists and the potential use of parental reporting tools are addressed.
Consequences of Mediterranean warming events in seagrass (Posidonia oceanica) flowering records
Authors: DIAZ‐ALMELA ELENA , MARBÀ NURIA , DUARTE CARLOS M. 
Published: October 2006

Abstract Posidonia oceanica, a seagrass endemic to the Mediterranean forms extended and extremely persistent meadows. It is a clonal plant with an apparently irregular pattern of flowering events. An extensive bibliographic review allowed the reconstruction of past flowering events of this species around the Mediterranean, with a high degree of confidence for the last 30 years. The data series on annual flowering prevalence (FP, flowering records per total records) and flowering intensity (FI, fraction of flowering shoots) produced have been compared with four series on Sea Surface annual Temperature maxima (SSTmax) obtained for the NW Mediterranean (averaged from the local data series of l'Estartit and Villefranche: 1957–2005) and for the Eastern, Western basin and the whole Mediterranean sea (extracted from NCEP Reynolds interpolated SST maps: 1982–2005). Significant warming trends are detected in the Mediterranean SSTmax series, at a rate of (mean+SE) 0.04±0.01°C yr−1 (R2=0.24, P<0.01, N=24 years), in the Eastern basin series (0.06±0.01°C yr−1, R2=0.43, P<0.001, N=24 years) and in the long SSTmax series of the NW Mediterranean (0.02±0.01 C yr−1, R2=0.12, P<0.02, N=49 years). The magnitudes of the SSTmax anomalies around the absolute warming trend do not increase with time in any SSTmax series. Peaks of FP and FI in the Mediterranean seem to occur each 9–11 years, and coincide with peaks of annual SSTmax. Annual FP and FI increase with the residuals of annual SSTmax warming trend in all Mediterranean basins (FPMED: R2=0.27, P<0.01, N=23; FPNW: R2=0.34, P<0.01, N=31; FPE: R2=0.20; P<0.10, N=23). An outstanding event of P. oceanica flowering across the Mediterranean has been registered in Autumn 2003; 1 month after the highest annual SSTmax recorded in the series. The hypothesis of flowering induction by thermal stress as the possible cause of this relationship is discussed, as well as the potential use of P. oceanica flowering record as early indicator of biological change induced by global sea warming in Mediterranean marine ecosystems.
Xylem density, biomechanics and anatomical traits correlate with water stress in 17 evergreen shrub species of the Mediterranean‐type climate region of South Africa
Authors: JACOBSEN ANNA L. , AGENBAG LIZE , ESLER KAREN J. , PRATT R. BRANDON , EWERS FRANK W. , DAVIS STEPHEN D. 
Published: October 2006

Summary

Climate change in South Africa may threaten the sclerophyllous evergreen shrubs of this region. Available data suggest that they are not as tolerant of water stress as chaparral shrubs occurring in climatically similar California, USA.
Seventeen species from nine angiosperm families, including both fynbos and succulent karoo species, were studied at a field site in Western Cape Province, South Africa. Minimum seasonal pressure potential (Pmin), xylem specific conductivity (Ks), stem strength against breakage (modulus of rupture, MOR), xylem density, theoretical vessel implosion resistance () and several fibre and vessel anatomical traits were measured.
Species displayed great variability in Pmin, similar to the range reported for chaparral and karoo shrub species, but in contrast to previous reports for fynbos shrubs.
More negative Pmin was associated with having greater xylem density, MOR and . There was no relationship between Pmin and traits associated with increased water transport efficiency.
Xylem density integrates many xylem traits related to water stress tolerance, including Pmin, MOR and , as well as percentage fibre wall, parenchyma, vessel area and fibre lumen diameter.
Xylem density may be an integral trait for predicting the impact of climate change on evergreen shrubs.
Quantitative high resolution transmission electron microscopy of nanostructured semiconductors
Authors: NEUMANN W. , KIRMSE H. , HÄUSLER I. , OTTO R. 
Published: October 2006

SummaryPeak‐finding procedures and the geometric phase method of quantitative high resolution electron microscopy (qHRTEM) were applied to determine the local strain and the chemical composition of nanostructured semiconductor materials. The growth of the structures investigated was induced by minimization of strain energy. The analysis of strain distribution is necessary for the understanding of the self‐organized formation of nanostructures. The possibilities and limitations of the methods are discussed in detail by analysing HRTEM images of (Si,Ge) islands and of a double layer of stacked quantum dots of (In,Ga)As and Ga(Sb,As).
CBED and LACBED characterization of crystal defects
Authors: MORNIROLI J. P. 
Published: October 2006

SummaryConvergent‐beam electron diffraction (CBED) obtained with a focused incident beam is well known for the identification of the point and space groups but it can also be used for the analysis of stacking faults and antiphase boundaries. Large‐angle convergent‐beam electron diffraction (LACBED) is performed with a large defocused incident beam and is well adapted to the characterization of most types of crystal defects: point defects, perfect and partial dislocations, stacking faults, antiphase boundaries and grain boundaries. Among the advantages of these methods with respect to the conventional transmission electron microscopy methods, are that one or few patterns are required for a full analysis and the interpretations are easy and unambiguous. The LACBED technique is particularly useful for the analysis of dislocations present in anisotropic and beam‐sensitive materials.
Arabidopsis WRKY33 transcription factor is required for resistance to necrotrophic fungal pathogens
Authors: Zheng Zuyu , Qamar Synan Abu , Chen Zhixiang , Mengiste Tesfaye 
Published: October 2006

SummaryPlant WRKY transcription factors are key regulatory components of plant responses to microbial infection. In addition to regulating the expression of defense‐related genes, WRKY transcription factors have also been shown to regulate cross‐talk between jasmonate‐ and salicylate‐regulated disease response pathways. The two pathways mediate resistance against different types of microbial pathogens, and there are numerous reports of antagonistic interactions between them. Here we show that mutations of the Arabidopsis WRKY33 gene encoding a WRKY transcription factor cause enhanced susceptibility to the necrotrophic fungal pathogens Botrytis cinerea and Alternaria brassicicola concomitant with reduced expression of the jasmonate‐regulated plant defensin PDF1.2 gene. Ectopic over‐expression of WRKY33, on the other hand, increases resistance to the two necrotrophic fungal pathogens. The wrky33 mutants do not show altered responses to a virulent strain of the bacterial pathogen Pseudomonas syringae, although the ectopic expression of WRKY33 results in enhanced susceptibility to this pathogen. The susceptibility of WRKY33‐over‐expressing plants to P. syringae is associated with reduced expression of the salicylate‐regulated PR‐1 gene. The WRKY33 transcript is induced in response to pathogen infection, or treatment with salicylate or the paraquat herbicide that generates activated oxygen species in exposed cells. WRKY33 is localized to the nucleus of plant cells and recognizes DNA molecules containing the TTGACC W‐box sequence. Together, these results indicate that pathogen‐induced WRKY33 is an important transcription factor that regulates the antagonistic relationship between defense pathways mediating responses to P. syringae and necrotrophic pathogens.
Plant endoplasmin supports the protein secretory pathway and has a role in proliferating tissues
Authors: Klein Eva M. , Mascheroni Laura , Pompa Andrea , Ragni Laura , Weimar Thilo , Lilley Kathryn S. , Dupree Paul , Vitale Alessandro 
Published: October 2006

SummaryEndoplasmin is a molecular chaperone of the heat‐shock protein 90 class located in the endoplasmic reticulum and its activity is poorly characterized in plants. We assessed the ability of endoplasmin to alleviate stress via its transient overexpression in tobacco protoplasts treated with tunicamycin, an inhibitor of glycosylation and inducer of the unfolded protein response (UPR). Endoplasmin supported the secretion of a model secretory protein but was less effective than BiP, the endoplasmic reticulum member of the heat‐shock protein 70 family. Consistently, immunoprecipitation experiments with in vivo radioactively labelled proteins using an antiserum prepared against Arabidopsis endoplasmin showed that a much smaller number of newly synthesized polypeptides associated with endoplasmin than with BiP. Synthesis of endoplasmin was enhanced by UPR inducers in tobacco seedlings but not protoplasts. As BiP synthesis was induced in both systems, we conclude that the UPR acts differently, at least in part, on the expression of the two chaperones. Endoplasmin was not detectable in extracts of leaves and stems of the Arabidopsis endoplasmin T‐DNA insertion mutant shepherd. However, the chaperone is present, albeit at low levels, in shepherd mutant callus, mature roots and tunicamycin‐treated seedlings, demonstrating that the mutation is leaky. Reduced endoplasmin in the shepherd mutant has no effect on BiP protein levels in callus or mature roots, leaves and stems, but is compensated by increased BiP in seedlings. This increase occurs in proliferating rather than expanding leaf cells, indicating an important role for endoplasmin in proliferating plant tissues.
Rapid implementation of therapeutic hypothermia in comatose out‐of‐hospital cardiac arrest survivors
Authors: Busch M. , Soreide E. , Lossius H. M. , Lexow K. , Dickstein K. 
Published: October 2006

Background:  The implementation of therapeutic hypothermia (TH) into daily clinical practice appears to be slow. We present our experiences with rapid implementation of a simple protocol for TH in comatose out‐of‐hospital cardiac arrest (OHCA) survivors.Methods:  From June 2002, we started cooling pre‐hospitally with sport ice packs in the groin and over the neck. In the intensive care unit (ICU), we used ice‐water soaked towels over the torso. All patients were endotracheally intubated, on mechanical ventilation and sedated and paralysed. The target temperature was 33 ± 1 °C to be maintained for 12–24 h. We used simple inclusion criteria: (i) no response to verbal command during the ambulance transport independent of initial rhythm and cause of CA; (ii) age 18–80 years; and (iii) absence of cardiogenic shock (SBP < 90 mmHg despite vasopressors). We compared the first 27 comatose survivors with a presumed cardiac origin of their OHCA with 34 historic controls treated just before implementation.Results:  TH was initiated in all 27 eligible patients. The target temperature was reached in 24 patients (89% success rate). ICU‐ and hospital‐ length of stay did not differ significantly before and after implementation of TH. Hypokalemia (P= 0.001) and insulin resistance (P= 0.025) were more common and seizures (P= 0.01) less frequently reported with the use of TH. The implementation of TH was associated with a higher hospital survival rate (16/27; 59% vs. 11/34; 32%, respectively; P≤ 0.05). Our results indicate a population‐based need of approximately seven cooling patients per 100,000 person‐years served.Conclusion:  Our simple, external cooling protocol can be implemented overnight in any system already treating post‐resuscitation patients. It was well accepted, feasible and safe, but not optimal in terms of cooling rate. Neither safety concerns nor costs should be a barrier for implementation of TH.
Cardiovascular changes after naloxone administration in propofol‐sedated piglets during opioid overdose
Authors: Boyd J. J. , Kyttä J. V. , Aittomäki J. V. , Rosenberg P. H. , Seppälä T. A. , Randell T. T. 
Published: October 2006

Background:  Naloxone is an opioid receptor antagonist. Even when used in modest doses, it has been associated with serious cardiopulmonary side‐effects. In this experimental porcine study, we examined the cardiac effects of naloxone during an opioid overdose.Methods:  Cardiac parameters, changes in the left ventricular compliance and the magnitude of catecholamine release were evaluated in eight spontaneously breathing piglets under propofol sedation. Cardiac parameters were recorded every 30 s and transthoracic echocardiography was used for the continuous assessment of cardiac performance. Respiratory arrest was induced by morphine (8 mg/kg). Ten minutes after morphine administration, naloxone (80 μg/kg) was injected intravenously. Every 5 min, arterial blood gases were measured and, every 10 min, a sample for the analysis of plasma catecholamines was drawn.Results:  There were no statistically significant changes in left ventricular ejection fraction and no signs of pulmonary hypertension. There was a statistically significant increase in the mean arterial pressure immediately after naloxone administration and in norepinephrine concentration before naloxone administration. After naloxone administration, the plasma catecholamine levels decreased in all but one animal. Two animals developed cardiac arrest (pulseless electrical activity and ventricular fibrillation) shortly after receiving naloxone. Although they were both administered naloxone prematurely due to hypoxic bradycardia, naloxone could have contributed to the development of ventricular fibrillation.Conclusion:  Naloxone did not cause changes in ejection fraction or mean pulmonary artery pressure in hypoxic and hypercarbic conditions. After naloxone administration, the plasma catecholamine levels returned to baseline in all but one animal, and two animals developed cardiac arrest.
Effect of Dietary Carotenoid Supplementation on Food Intake and Immune Function in a Songbird with no Carotenoid Coloration
Authors: McGraw Kevin J. , Crino Ondi L. , Medina‐Jerez William , Nolan Paul M. 
Published: October 2006

AbstractStudies of ornamental carotenoid coloration suggest that animals may have evolved specialized mechanisms for maximizing color expression and advertising their potential worth as a mate. For example, when given a choice of foods, many carotenoid‐pigmented fishes and birds select the more colorful, presumably carotenoid‐rich foods, and then accumulate these pigments at high levels in both the integument and systemically, in order to boost their immune system and hence directly advertise their health state with their colors. The majority of animals, however, do not exhibit sexually selected carotenoid coloration, which raises the question of whether they still optimize pigment intake and allocation in ways that boost endogenous accumulation and health. We tested the effect of carotenoid supplementation on food intake, carotenoid accumulation in blood, and both innate and adaptive immunity in male society finches (Lonchura domestica) – a non‐carotenoid‐colored estrildid finch relative of the zebra finch (Taeniopygia guttata; a species in which males do display sexually attractive and health‐revealing carotenoid color). Males fed a carotenoid‐rich diet for 2 wk did not consume more food than control males. Still, consumption of the carotenoid‐rich diet for 2 wk significantly elevated circulating levels of carotenoids in blood in male society finches, yielding the potential for immune enhancement. In fact, carotenoid‐enriched finches performed significantly better than control birds in our assay of constitutive innate immunity (bacterial‐killing activity of whole blood), although not in our test of inducible adaptive immunity (response to a mitogenic challenge with phytohemagglutinin). These results suggest that affinities for carotenoid‐rich foods may be particular to species with sexually selected carotenoid pigmentation, but that, as in humans and other mammals (e.g. mice, rats) without carotenoid color, the immune‐boosting action of carotenoids is conserved regardless of the strength of sexual selection on pigment use.