bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Crystal structure of a DNA binding protein from the hyperthermophilic euryarchaeon Methanococcus jannaschii
Authors: Wang Ganggang , Guo Rong , Bartlam Mark , Yang Haitao , Xue Hong , Liu Yiwei , Huang Li , Rao Zihe 
Published: November 2003

AbstractThe Sac10b family consists of a group of highly conserved DNA binding proteins from both the euryarchaeotal and the crenarchaeotal branches of Archaea. The proteins have been suggested to play an architectural role in the chromosomal organization in these organisms. Previous studies have mainly focused on the Sac10b proteins from the crenarchaeota. Here, we report the 2.0 Å resolution crystal structure of Mja10b from the euryarchaeon Methanococcus jannaschii. The model of Mja10b has been refined to an R‐factor of 20.9%. The crystal structure of an Mja10b monomer reveals an α/β structure of four β‐strands and two α‐helices, and Mja10b assembles into a dimer via an extensive hydrophobic interface. Mja10b has a similar topology to that of its crenarchaeota counterpart Sso10b (also known as Alba). Structural comparison between the two proteins suggests that structural features such as hydrophobic inner core, acetylation sites, dimer interface, and DNA binding surface are conserved among Sac10b proteins. Structural differences between the two proteins were found in the loops. To understand the structural basis for the thermostability of Mja10b, the Mja10b structure was compared to other proteins with similar topology. Our data suggest that extensive ion‐pair networks, optimized accessible surface area and the dimerization via hydrophobic interactions may contribute to the enhanced thermostability of Mja10b.
Accommodation of a highly symmetric core within a symmetric protein superfold
Authors: Brych Stephen R. , Kim Jaewon , Logan Timothy M. , Blaber Michael 
Published: November 2003

AbstractAn alternative core packing group, involving a set of five positions, has been introduced into human acidic FGF‐1. This alternative group was designed so as to constrain the primary structure within the core region to the same threefold symmetry present in the tertiary structure of the protein fold (the β‐trefoil superfold). The alternative core is essentially indistinguishable from the WT core with regard to structure, stability, and folding kinetics. The results show that the β‐trefoil superfold is compatible with a threefold symmetric constraint on the core region, as might be the case if the superfold arose as a result of gene duplication/fusion events. Furthermore, this new core arrangement can form the basis of a structural “building block” that can greatly simplify the de novo design of β‐trefoil proteins by using symmetric structural complementarity. Remaining asymmetry within the core appears to be related to asymmetry in the tertiary structure associated with receptor and heparin binding functionality of the growth factor.
Structural and functional features of the Escherichia coli hydroperoxide resistance protein OsmC
Authors: Lesniak Jacob , Barton William A. , Nikolov Dimitar B. 
Published: November 2003

AbstractThe osmotically inducible protein OsmC, like its better‐characterized homolog, the organic hydroperoxide protein Ohr, is involved in defense against oxidative stress caused by exposure to organic hydroperoxides. The crystal structure of Escherichia coli OsmC reported here reveals that the protein is a tightly folded domain‐swapped dimer with two active sites located at the monomer interface on opposite sides of the molecule. We demonstrate that OsmC preferentially metabolizes organic hydroperoxides over inorganic hydrogen peroxide. On the basis of structural and enzymatic similarities, we propose that the OsmC catalytic mechanism is analogous to that of the Ohr proteins and of the structurally unrelated peroxiredoxins, directly using highly reactive cysteine thiol groups to elicit hydroperoxide reduction.
Heraclitus on Religion
Authors: Adomenas Mantas 
Published: November 2003

AbstractThe article sets out to reinterpret Heraclitus' views on religion and, by implication, his position in the context of the Presocratic philosophers' relationship to the Greek cultural tradition. It does so by examining the fragments in which Heraclitus' attitude to the popular religion of his time is reflected. The analysis of the fragments 69, 68, 15, 14, 5, 96, 93 and 92 DK reveals that the target of Heraclitus' criticism is not the religious practices themselves, but their popular interpretation. Heraclitus' fragments are simultaneously shown to identify the underlying structure of the 'unity of opposites,' inherent in various religious practices. Heraclitus appears to reinterpret religious practices in terms of the conceptual structures of his own philosophy. On the other hand, religion provides him with the categories for the construction of his philosophical theology. Thus Heraclitus' treatment of religion is shown to be analogous to his treatment of ethics and politics, which he also tries to incorporate into his highly integrated vision of reality. In contrast to Xenophanes' radical critique of the traditional religion, Heraclitus emerges not as a reformer or an Aufklärer, but as an interpreter, who tries to discern the structures of meaning inherent in the existing practices, and to assume them into his own philosophical project.
POST-CONFLICT BEHAVIOUR OF WILD CHIMPANZEES (PAN TROGLODYTES SCHWEINFURTHII) IN THE BUDONGO FOREST, UGANDA
Authors: Arnold Kate , Whiten Andrew 
Published: November 2003

AbstractSince de Waal & van Roosmalen (1979) first documented the occurrence of reconciliation between former opponents in captive chimpanzees, the study of the post-conflict behaviour of primates has provided valuable information about some of the details of primate social organisation. The vast majority of these studies have been carried out on captive subjects and it has been assumed that these findings are representative of wild primates. We set out to investigate whether this was true for the Sonso community of wild chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes schweinfurthii) of the Budongo Forest, Uganda, using controlled procedures comparable with those used in captive studies. We found that these chimpanzees were much less likely to reconcile than their captive counterparts. Only one dimension of relationship quality had an effect on the likelihood of reconciliation. Individuals which were highly compatible, in terms of time spent affiliating, reconciled conflicts more often than those with weak relationships. Captive chimpanzees have also been shown to 'console' one another (de Waal & van Roosmalen, 1979; de Waal & Aureli, 1996), where uninvolved bystanders initiate affiliative contacts with victims of aggression. This study did not confirm that consolatory behaviour was characteristic of wild chimpanzee post-conflict behaviour. Nor did these chimpanzees use explicit gestures during post-conflict interactions as they have been shown to do in two out of three captive studies. We conclude that the post-conflict behaviour of chimpanzees is more variable than has previously been thought and is likely to be dependent on the prevailing social environment.
ONTOGENY OF VOCALISATIONS IN INFANT BLACK FLYING FOXES, PTEROPUS ALECTO
Authors: Van Parijs Sofie , Corkeron Peter 
Published: November 2003

AbstractMost mega and microchiropteran bats live in large colonial roosts where potential intermingling of mother-infant pairs places immediate demands on their recognition systems. In microchiropteran bats, infants produce distinct isolation calls that appear to become less complex in structure in the latter stages of lactation. This results in a reduction in the capacity of females to locate their infants. Similar recognition pressures exist for both suborders therefore it might be expected that they would exhibit similarities in their vocal development. This study quantifies the vocal characteristics of infant black flying foxes, Pteropus alecto, to assess vocal development in this species. Recordings were made of 21 infants, nine males and twelve females, between 1 and 35 days in age. As in microchiropteran bats, infant black flying foxes produce individually distinctive calls, which persist throughout lactation. Unlike microchiropterans, calls remained stable in structure throughout lactation. Individuals produced one of three distinctive isolation call types. Whether mothers use this variation to recognise patches of infants that include their own within a camp or to locate their own infants requires further study.
SEQUENTIAL FORAGING BEHAVIOUR OF BOTTLENOSE DOLPHINS, TURSIOPS TRUNCATUS, IN SARASOTA BAY, FL
Authors: Nowacek Douglas 
Published: November 2003

AbstractDetailed analyses of dolphin foraging behaviour have typically been difficult due to researchers' inability to observe entire foraging sequences. Using a new observational tool I was able to observe sequences of behaviours leading to successful prey captures, including behaviours not previously described in Sarasota Bay dolphins. I defined a set of specific foraging behaviours and demonstrated their position in successful sequences by analyzing the conditional probability of their occurrence based the occurrence of a capture. The sequences of behaviours dolphins used were not deterministic, and individual dolphins displayed different behavioural repertoires. Foraging behaviours occurred at rates of up to 0.5 per minute during general activity categories commonly used in odontocete research, and the current results could assist in the interpretation of these activities.
INDIRECT COMPETITION BETWEEN A RESIDENT UNISEXUAL AND AN INVADING BISEXUAL GECKO
Authors: Brown Susan , Lebrun Roanne , Yamasaki Jacqueline , Ishii-Thoene Deborah 
Published: November 2003

Abstract
Established populations of the unisexual gecko, Lepidodactylus lugubris, decline around man-made lights when the bisexual gecko, Hemidactylus frenatus, invades the environment. Some of the decline in L. lugubris numbers could occur through the process of exploitative competition for food resources. Our experiments were designed to see if other variables were important in the decline. We found that L. lugubris were more likely to use a hiding platform in enclosures with 2 rather than 1 platform when conspecific or heterospecific pairs of geckos were housed in an enclosure. Additionally, when two H. frenatus were housed in the same enclosure, they maintained closer proximity to each other than when their cagemates were L. lugubris. L. lugubris developed and laid more eggs when housed with another L. lugubris than when housed with either a female or male H. frenatus. Most interestingly, L. lugubris housed in enclosures previously occupied by H. frenatus males required more time for egg development and laying than geckos housed in enclosures previously occupied by another L. lugubris. In conclusion, variables in addition to food competition may influence the declines in L. lugubris numbers when an area in which they are established is invaded by the bisexual gecko, H. frenatus. L. lugubris numbers may decline in response to their reluctance to share a hiding place with another gecko, leaving them more vulnerable to predators. Additionally, L. lugubris fecundity may be negatively affected by the exudates from H. frenatus femoral pores or the odors of their feces.
INDIVIDUAL DIFFERENCES IN BEHAVIOUR: A TEST OF 'COPING STYLE' DOES NOT PREDICT RESIDENT-INTRUDER AGGRESSIVENESS IN PIGS
Authors: D'Eath Richard , Burn Charlotte 
Published: November 2003

AbstractTemperament traits in animals are those which are stable across time and predictive of behaviour in other situations. Individuals can be identified as showing either active (pro-active) or passive (re-active) responses to a variety of challenges, and these are often referred to as 'coping styles'. Although most studied in rodents, coping styles are found in a variety of vertebrate species. In rodents, the resident-intruder aggressiveness test is a key measure of coping style, whereas in pigs, several recent studies have used a 'backtest' as the key measure of coping: A piglet is held on its back for one minute and the frequency of struggling bouts ('escape attempts') is recorded. In this study, we compared pig behaviour in backtests performed on 3 and 9 days of age, with aggressiveness was measured using 2 resident-intruder tests between 16 and 19 days post-weaning. A smaller unfamiliar intruder was introduced into part of the resident pig's home pen, and resident attack latency was recorded. Struggling bout frequency in the backtests showed a unimodal distribution. Data were analysed both as a continuous distribution and by comparing only the piglets from either extreme of the distribution (for comparison with other studies, top and bottom 25%). There was good repeatability of outcome (struggling frequency) over the two backtests, and over the two resident-intruder tests (attack latency and occurrence of resident attacks). However, no relationship was found between behaviour in the backtests and aggression in the resident-intruder tests, despite exhaustive analysis. Other authors have found that pigs show consistent responses to challenges, suggesting a degree of stable temperament. In line with the present findings though, most found no correlation between social and non-social responses. Other published experiments show that in pigs, the backtest can predict several physiological differences characteristic of coping styles. However, the present study shows that in pigs, aggressiveness and struggling in a backtest are not correlated, suggesting that they do not represent different expressions of the same underlying 'coping' trait.
RED JUNGLE FOWL HAVE MORE CONTRAFREELOADING THAN WHITE LEGHORN LAYERS: EFFECT OF FOOD DEPRIVATION AND CONSEQUENCES FOR INFORMATION GAIN
Authors: Lindqvist Christina , Schütz Karin , Jensen Per 
Published: November 2003

AbstractContrafreeloading (CFL), i.e. choosing food which requires work over free food, occurs at a higher rate in red jungle fowl (Gallus gallus) compared to White Leghorn layers. We examined whether this difference between breeds was altered by food deprivation and whether it affected the information gained about alternative food sources. In a first experiment, twenty birds of each breed were deprived for zero, three and six hours and then allowed a choice of feeding from freely available food or food mixed with wood shavings. In both breeds, CFL tended to decrease after deprivation, but jungle fowl consistently showed more CFL than Leghorns also after food deprivation. This shows that differences in CFL between breeds were not altered by food deprivation, and the larger CFL in jungle fowl may represent a genetically based difference in feeding strategy. In a second experiment, we examined whether the differences in CFL affected how the birds acquired information about alternative food sites of different quality. Twenty birds of each breed were allowed to forage during three 10 min sessions in a four armed maze, where symbols in each end of the arms indicated the location of four different quality food sources; 'high gain' (freely available food), 'medium gain' (70% food, 30% wood shavings), 'low gain' (30% food), and 'no gain' (100% wood shavings). Each bird was then tested in the same maze when the 'high gain' food source and its symbol had been removed, and the other three sources contained only the symbols and wood shavings. Jungle fowl chose the symbol indicating the best available food source significantly more often than the Leghorns. The results indicate that Leghorn gain less information during foraging, which may have consequences for their adaptation capacity in a production environment. This could either be a consequence of Leghorns showing less CFL, or a generally impaired learning capacity of Leghorns compared to jungle fowl.
EFFECT OF HUNGER ON STARLINGS' PREFERENCES FOR FOOD SOURCES ASSOCIATED WITH VARIABILITY OR UNCERTAINTY
Authors: Talling Janet , Inglis Ian , Van Driel Katja , Young John , Giles Sarah 
Published: November 2003

Abstract
The information primacy hypothesis proposes that motivation to perform behaviours that reduce environmental uncertainty is continually present. It predicts that uncertain stimuli are attractive and that this attractiveness declines with increasing hunger. It also draws a distinction between the effects of stimulus uncertainty and those of stimulus variability per se (i.e. predictable variability). Two experiments investigated how hunger level affects the relative feeding preferences of starlings (Sturnus vulgaris) for two locations that always contained the same and equal amounts of food. In one experiment the locations differed in variability but not uncertainty (i.e. in one the position of a visible food item was fixed whilst in the other its position randomly varied between trials). In the second experiment the locations differed in uncertainty but not variability (i.e. in both the position of a food item varied randomly between trials but in one of them the food was not visible from the choice point and in the other it was). When satiated the birds significantly preferred to feed from (a) the variable rather than the constant location, and (b) the uncertain and variable location rather than the location that was just variable. When hungry the birds had (a) no significant preference between the constant and the variable locations, and (b) showed a shift in preference away from the uncertain location. In both experiments hunger increased the incidence of side preferences. These findings are considered in relation to both predictions derived from the information primacy hypothesis, and findings from risk-sensitive foraging experiments.
STRUCTURE, GEOGRAPHY AND ORIGIN OF DIALECTS IN THE TRADITIVE SONG OF THE FOREST WEAVER PLOCEUS BICOLOR SCLATERI IN NATAL, S. AFRICA
Authors: Wickler Wolfgang , Kleindienst Hans-Ulrich , Sonnenschein Edith , Seibt Uta 
Published: November 2003

AbstractFrom a 21-year-long combined field and laboratory study we describe the general song structure and local song dialects of this species. These dialects differ in syntactic and phonological charateristics. Within its first 24 months the individual learns a song from its parents and keeps that song constant throughout life. In free-living populations dialects remained constant over the total study period. We could exclude that the dialects are an acoustic window phenomenon. We found individual song variations within dialects which suggest a derivation of local dialects from family-specific songs, enhanced by man-induced habitat fragmentation.
Perceptions of a Dental Career among Successful Applicants for Dentistry Compared with those of Fifth-Year Dental Students
Authors: Skelly Ann M , Fleming Garry JP 
Published: November 2003

Purpose of the study A focused and vocational university programme such as dentistry may limit the opportunities for graduates who find that clinical dentistry is not for them. It is important that those advising and recruiting people into the profession should ascertain whether applicants have a realistic idea of what lies ahead. Basic procedures On the presumption that final-year undergraduate students have acquired a more realistic impression of the profession than potential entrants, it was of interest to investigate possible differences in the perceptions of dentistry between the two groups. The perceptions of dentistry have been categorised and compared by anonymous questionnaire between final-year dental students (n=79) and successful undergraduate applicants (n=109) at the same institution in the United Kingdom. The overall response rate was 100% in both cases. Main findings It is clear that both groups are concerned with personal and professional matters followed by career opportunities and financial matters, respectively. Health matters pose the least concern. However a number of significant differences have emerged. Significantly fewer students (p=0.001) considered the dental career as a positive contribution to society. A greater proportion of applicants considered the study of mathematics at school to be useful (p=0.001). Significantly more applicants valued technical and manual skills as contributing to a ‘good’ dentist (p=0.001). More students mentioned occupational flexibility, security and independence as a positive aspect of a career (p=0.001); however students identified more job stresses in dentistry (p=0.001). Principal conclusion Applicants appeared to have a more ‘idealistic’ view of dentistry than the senior students, however similarities between the responses of students and applicants are encouraging for the future of the profession.
Introducing Problem-based Learning to Special Needs Dentistry—A Case Study
Authors: Bedi Raman , Champion Jackie A , Davies Roger 
Published: November 2003

Introduction In order to promote training and education in special-needs dentistry an attempt was made to introduce problem-based learning (PBL) as a method of postgraduate dental education. The aim of this paper was to review the principles of PBL and report on a case study using this methodology. Method The case study was of a PBL session, on the subject of ‘problems of obtaining appropriate dental care for people with epilepsy’, undertaken at a national conference. Delegates were asked to complete a pre- and post-session questionnaire on PBL and their attitudes to the session. Results The session received a mixed response. Only 33 (35%) thought the session was valuable and only 20 (31%) thought it was better than conventional teaching methods and yet over half (55%) said they would like to attend more PBL in special-needs dentistry. Professionals complementary to dentistry were more likely to find the PBL session of value and to prefer the method to a more conventional format than dentists were (chi-square=5.5, df=1, p<0.05 and chi-square=5.9, df=1, p<0.05 respectively). Conclusion Valuable feedback was received from delegates. This will enable improvements to be made in future courses so that the effectiveness of PBL can be optimised.
Outcomes Associated with Restored and Unrestored Deciduous Molar Teeth
Authors: Milsom Keith M , Tickle Martin , King David , Kearney-Mitchell Paula , Blinkhorn Anthony S 
Published: November 2003

Introduction Most dental treatment for children in the United Kingdom (UK) is provided by general dental practitioners (GDPs) working in the National Health Service (NHS). A working party of the British Society of Paediatric Dentistry, in a special publication from the Dental Practice Board, has suggested that failure to provide restorative care for the deciduous dentition is unacceptable, yet GDPs are filling fewer teeth in young children. The study aimed to evaluate the health outcomes obtained from restoring carious deciduous molar teeth. Method The dental records of 677 children cared for by 50 GDPs in the north west of England were analysed. Results The results showed that 18.8% of deciduous molars with unrestored caries and 17.0% with a history of restorative care went on to be extracted because of pain or sepsis. Conclusion The results suggest that the risk of carious deciduous molars being extracted is similar whether these teeth receive restorative care or not.