bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Natural and post‐European settlement variability in water quality of the lower Snowy River floodplain, eastern Victoria, Australia
Authors: MacGregor Angus J. , Gell Peter A. , Wallbrink Peter J. , Hancock Gary 
Published: March 2005

AbstractMillennial to decadal resolution palaeoenvironmental records from the terminal floodplain lakes of the lower Snowy River in eastern Victoria have been obtained to determine the water quality history of the lower Snowy River floodplain and more specifically, the ecological impact of the inter‐basin diversion of water from one of Australia's hallmark river systems. Lake Curlip, as evidenced through variations in the fossil‐diatom flora, has evolved through the Holocene from a saline (17–22 g salt/l) open system (c. 7000 years BP) as sea levels reached their maxima, to a brackish (5–10 g/l), and then a fresh (as low as 0.4 g/l), possibly acidic system prior to European settlement (c. 300 years BP). The upper post‐European sediments reveal a complex, highly variable, anthropogenically induced shift to a brackish and nutrient‐tolerant diatom flora, with recent diatom‐inferred salinities in the order of 20 g/l. Explained as a combination of land clearance, drainage practices, and more recently, the regulation of the Snowy River, recent changes are as pronounced as any experienced through the Holocene, but have occurred at a rate faster than any brought on by past climatic or geomorphic change. By quantifying the limnological changes before and after regulation this study informs on the relative benefits that may accrue from allocating environmental flows to the Snowy River. Copyright © 2005 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Effects of dam‐induced flow regime change on downstream river morphology and vegetation cover in the Hwang River, Korea
Authors: Choi Sung‐UK , Yoon Byungman , Woo Hyoseop 
Published: March 2005

AbstractThe Hapchon Dam, located in the headwaters of the Hwang River, Korea, was completed in 1988. Due to low storage levels, the spillway has not been operated over the past decade. Thus, a new ecosystem has become established in the river downstream of the dam. This is not a common phenomenon in Korean rivers. This study investigates the effect of flow regime change on the river morphology and vegetation cover in a reach downstream of the dam following its construction. Geomorphological effects shown by pre‐ and post‐construction surveys of the channel include channel incision over a stream length of approximately 25 km immediately downstream of the dam. Analysis of pre‐ and post‐construction aerial photography reveals significant encroachment of riparian vegetation onto previously active bar surfaces. Copyright © 2005 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Algal diversity and assemblages in arid zone rivers of the Lake Eyre Basin, Australia
Authors: Costelloe Justin F. , Powling Joan , Reid Julian R. W. , Shiel Russel J. , Hudson Peter 
Published: March 2005

AbstractThe responses of algal assemblages in arid zone rivers to flow events, drying and water quality changes are fundamental to our understanding of these unregulated rivers. We studied planktonic and other algae, identified to genus, in three rivers in the Lake Eyre Basin, where summer‐autumn floods typically occur on an annual basis. A moderately diverse algal flora was discovered with a total of 118 genera, containing at least 237 taxa, in seven phyla. Algal diversity was found to be highest during, or soon after flood events of varying sizes and in the summer following a large flood in the previous flood season. We suggest that the combination of germination of algae from channel and floodplain sediments and the transport of algae from aquatic refuges during flood events resulted in the observed increases in diversity. In addition, nutrient influxes associated with previous large floods, interact with the increase in temperature in the subsequent summer to provide optimum conditions for high algal production and, in some sites, high diversity. Multivariate analyses found that salinity was a significant driver of assemblage composition but only explained a small portion of the variance in generic richness. Within phyla, assemblage richness within the Chlorophyta and Euglenophyta showed a weak, but significant, negative correlation with increasing salinity, while in the Cyanophyta and Bacillariophyta richness was not significantly correlated because both latter groups contained salt‐tolerant taxa. Copyright © 2005 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Chemical state analysis employing sub‐natural linewidth resolution PIXE measurements of Kα diagram lines
Authors: Kavčič M. , Karydas A. G. , Zarkadas Ch. 
Published: March 2005

AbstractA high‐energy resolution crystal spectrometer in Johansson geometry, which allows energy resolution below the natural linewidth of the Kα diagram lines, was employed in the measurements of proton‐induced Kα x‐ray emission spectra of titanium and sulfur pure and compound targets. The results demonstrate a clear dependence of the Kα energy shifts on the chemical state of the element in the sample. This dependence permits the chemical state speciation of low‐Z elements in an unknown sample by employing high‐resolution PIXE measurements of the Kα line. The potential of the technique in speciation studies is demonstrated in the case of an aerosol sample. The analysis of the Kα line obtained from the high‐energy resolution proton‐induced S Kα x‐ray spectrum allowed the identification of sulfur in the aerosol sample as sulfate ([SO4]2−). Copyright © 2005 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
PIXE determination of element distribution in Fomes fomentarius
Authors: Král J. , Voltr J. , Proška J. , Gabriel J. , Baldrian P. , Černý J. , Švejda J. 
Published: March 2005

AbstractThe element distribution in the fruit body of a wood‐rotting fungus was studied. Samples of Fomes fomentarius were collected in nature, together with bark and a piece of substrate wood. For PIXE analysis, slices were cut from the fruit body. The slices were analyzed using a proton beam at many points from the fruit body surface to the core, or across the fruit–substrate interface. The analysis was performed with an external proton beam in a low‐pressure nitrogen atmosphere; 9–12 elements heavier than silicon were found above the limit of quantitation. Manganese showed interesting systematic behavior. The suitability and usefulness of PIXE analysis for studying the distribution of heavy elements in fruit bodies of wood‐rotting fungi are discussed. Copyright © 2005 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Indexing the health of the environment for breeding seabirds in the Benguela ecosystem
Authors: Underhill L.G. , Crawford R.J.M. 
Published: March 2005

Abstract
Time-series of the sizes of breeding populations of 10 species of seabird were used to develop indices of the health of the Western Cape seabird community of South Africa. For each species, a target range was defined running from some minimum value to infinity or to some maximum value for species that may cause harm to other species or be a nuisance to humans. If populations were within the target range, their individual health index was set at 1, whereas outside the range, this index decreased linearly with population size. These individual indices were integrated into one for the total community, also running from 0 to 1 and therefore allowing representation as a percentage of the overall management target (=1). Three indices were developed, weighting each species equally and using different weighting methods to account for the IUCN conservation status of the species. All indices increased between the 1950s and 1970s and then decreased again, the lowest values being observed in the late 1990s.
The Niger delta: ‘petro violence’ and ‘partnership development’1
Authors: Zalik Anna 
Published: March 2005

This article examines the globalisation of corporate strategic philanthropy as played out in the Niger Delta of Nigeria — a region that has been marked by a history of state and petroleum industry collusion both in social repression and environmental destruction. Social control of the Delta has rested largely on what Watts (2001) conceptualises as ‘petro violence’, the joint security imposed by the Nigerian military and oil companies to police their installations and the environment of social unrest that surrounds petroleum extraction. In examining the extractive industry's response to social dislocation, this study focuses on the adoption of a model of partnership and participatory development by Shell Nigeria. The implementation of the social stabilisation project promoted by Shell's partnership model and facilitated by international donors and state institutions (understood in corporate strategy as a ‘leveraged buy in’), exemplifies the reciprocal formation of the corporate social governance projects and development assistance in the Nigerian context. Yet this new model's attempt to achieve social consent is partially contradicted by the corporate requirement of profit maximisation served by rising prices associated with perceived and real threats to oil supplies. The oil companies’ pursuit of a social ‘licence to operate’ thus rests uneasily with an industry whose underlying logic profits from the upward movement of oil prices, dependent on instability and violence.Her dissertation project, concerning social welfare interventions associated with the oil industry in the Mexican Gulf and the Niger Delta, is based on 16 months of field research funded by the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada, the Mario Einaudi Center for International Studies and the Latin American Studies Program at Cornell University
Evidence of Increased Homocysteine Levels in Alcoholism: The Franconian Alcoholism Research Studies (FARS)
Authors: Bleich Stefan , Carl Marco , Bayerlein Kristina , Reulbach Udo , Biermann Teresa , Hillemacher Thomas , Bönsch Dominikus , Kornhuber Johannes 
Published: March 2005

Background:A limited number of investigations have studied clearly defined patients with alcoholism and blood alcohol concentrations with their correlation to plasma homocysteine values and differentiated actively drinking patients from those with early abstinence. Therefore, this power analysis–based study was undertaken to determine whether plasma homocysteine levels are evidently altered in actively drinking alcoholic patients and patients with early abstinence.Methods:Two groups of patients with an established diagnosis of alcohol dependence. For both groups, a power of 90% (α= 0.05) was applied. Group A comprised 144 consecutively admitted actively drinking patients with alcoholism. Group B consisted of 56 patients with alcoholism who had abstained from alcohol for 24 to 72 hr before admission to the hospital.Results:Plasma homocysteine levels were significantly (t test: df= 198, t=−8.6, p < 0.0001) higher at admission when comparing group A with group B. The highly increased homocysteine levels in actively drinking patients with alcoholism were based on a strong significant positive correlation with the blood alcohol concentration (multiple regression analysis, p < 0.0001).Conclusions:Plasma homocysteine levels are evidently altered in actively drinking patients with alcoholism. Even though it has been described, the authors found no evidence for an increase of homocysteine levels in alcoholic patients with early abstinence. The current results emphasize the proposed pathogenetic role of increased plasma homocysteine levels in alcohol‐related disorders (i.e., brain atrophy, alcohol withdrawal seizures).
Deletion of the α7 Nicotinic Receptor Subunit Gene Results in Increased Sensitivity to Several Behavioral Effects Produced by Alcohol
Authors: Bowers Barbara J. , McClure‐Begley Tristan D. , Keller Jason J. , Paylor Richard , Collins Allan C. , Wehner Jeanne M. 
Published: March 2005

Background:The finding that most people with alcoholism are also heavy smokers prompted several research groups to evaluate the effects of ethanol on neuronal nicotinic acetylcholine receptor (nAChR) function. Data collected in vitro indicate that physiologically relevant concentrations of ethanol inhibit the functional activation of homomeric α7 nAChRs, which are one of the most abundant nAChR subtypes expressed in the mammalian brain. The studies outlined here used α7 gene knockout (null mutant) mice to evaluate the potential role of α7 nAChRs in modulating selected behavioral and physiological effects produced by ethanol.Methods:Current evidence indicates that many responses to ethanol are not genetically correlated. Therefore, the authors measured the effects of acute administration of ethanol on several behaviors that are altered by both ethanol and nicotine: two tests of locomotor activity, acoustic startle, prepulse inhibition of acoustic startle, and body temperature. Ethanol‐induced durations of loss of righting reflex and ethanol elimination rates were also determined. These studies used null mutant (α7−/−) and wild‐type (α7+/+) mice.Results:Relative to α7+/+ mice, α7−/− mice were more sensitive to the activating effects of ethanol on open‐field activity, ethanol‐induced hypothermia, and duration of loss of the righting response. Deletion of the α7 gene did not influence the effects of ethanol on Y‐maze crossing or rearing activities, acoustic startle, or prepulse inhibition of startle. Gene deletion did not alter ethanol metabolism.Conclusions:These results indicate that some but not all of the behavioral effects of ethanol are mediated in part by effects on nAChRs that include the α7 subunit and may help to explain the robust association between alcohol consumption and the use of tobacco.
Developmental Differences in Childhood Motor Coordination Predict Adult Alcohol Dependence: Proposed Role for the Cerebellum in Alcoholism
Authors: Manzardo Ann M. , Penick Elizabeth C. , Knop Joachim , Nickel Elizabeth J. , Hall Sandra , Jensen Per , Gabrielli William F. 
Published: March 2005

Background:The Danish Longitudinal Study of Alcoholism has identified a number of early biological indicators that predicted alcohol dependence 30 years later. In light of recent evidence linking deficits of the cerebellum to certain neuropsychiatric disorders often comorbid with alcoholism, we hypothesized that developmental deficits in the cerebellar vermis may also play a role in the initiation of adult alcohol dependence. The present study evaluated whether measures of motor development in the first year of life predict alcohol dependence three decades later.Methods:A total of 241 subjects of the original 330 infants who were entered into this study completed the 30‐year follow‐up (12 had died). The subjects were men who were drawn from a large birth cohort born in Copenhagen, Denmark, from 1959 to 1961. A comprehensive series of measures were obtained on each subject before, during, and shortly after birth as well as at 1 year of age. Muscle tone at birth and day 5 as well as 1‐year measures of motor coordination—age to sitting, standing, and walking—were examined. A DSM‐III‐R diagnosis of alcohol dependence and a measure of lifetime problem drinking served as the 30‐year outcome variables.Results:Several measures of childhood motor development significantly predicted alcohol dependence at 30 years of age. These included deficits in muscle tone 5 days after birth, delays in the age to sitting, and delays in the age to walking.Conclusions:Relationships found between adult alcoholism and early delays in motor development offer support for the theory that cerebellar deficits may play a causal role in the addiction process.
Interactive Effect of Alcohol and Nicotine on Developing Cerebellum: An Investigation of the Temporal Pattern of Alcohol and Nicotine Administration
Authors: Chen Wei‐Jung A. , Harle Lindsey K. 
Published: March 2005

Background:Among individuals who use alcohol and tobacco products, pregnant women represent a unique subpopulation that generates a greater concern because of the toxic effects of alcohol and nicotine (from cigarettes and tobacco products) on the health of both the pregnant woman and her fetus. Therefore, it is imperative to understand the interactive effects of these two substances on the fetus. Previously, we found that concurrent exposure to alcohol and nicotine did not result in the loss of greater numbers of Purkinje cells compared with each drug treatment alone, possibly as a result of a nicotine‐mediated decline in peak blood alcohol concentration (BAC). The present study tested the validity of this hypothesis.Methods:On postnatal day (PD) 4, Sprague‐Dawley rat pups were assigned to five groups, GC (no alcohol ALC, no nicotine NIC), ALC (4 g/kg/day), NIC (6 mg/kg/day), ALC/NIC (ALC and NIC given concurrently), or ALC‐NIC (NIC administered 6 hr after ALC exposure). These rat pups were reared in an artificial‐rearing apparatus from PDs 4 to 9, and the cerebellar tissues were obtained on PD 10. The total number of cerebellar Purkinje cells in the vermis was estimated using stereological methods.Results:The results showed that alcohol significantly reduced Purkinje cell numbers. The coexposure of alcohol and nicotine did not lead to further reduction in Purkinje cell number regardless of administration method, concurrent or sequential. However, alcohol and nicotine administered concurrently but not sequentially significantly lowered the BAC.Conclusion:These findings suggest that the lack of increased Purkinje cell loss after the coexposure of alcohol and nicotine is independent of nicotine's ability to lower the BAC. An alternative hypothesis might be that alcohol and nicotine target the same subpopulation of Purkinje cells; therefore, no additional Purkinje cells were lost from the coexposure of these two drugs.
Binge Drinking, Cognitive Performance and Mood in a Population of Young Social Drinkers
Authors: Townshend Julia M. , Duka Theodora 
Published: March 2005

Background:Binge drinking may lead to brain damage and have implications for the development of alcohol dependence. The aims of the present study were to determine individual characteristics as well as to compare mood states and cognitive function between binge and nonbinge drinkers and thus further validate the new tool used to identify these populations among social drinkers.Methods:The lowest and the highest 33.3% from a database of 245 social drinkers’ binge scores derived from the Alcohol Use Questionnaire (AUQ) were used as cutoff points to identify nonbinge drinkers and binge drinkers in a further population of 100 young healthy volunteers. Personality characteristics, expectations of the effects of alcohol and current mood were evaluated. Cognitive performance was tested with a Matching to Sample Visual Search task (MTS) and a Spatial Working Memory task (SWM) both from the CANTAB battery, and a Vigilance task from the Gordon Diagnostic System.Results:The binge drinkers had less positive mood than the nonbinge drinkers. In the MTS choice time on an 8‐pattern condition and movement time on an 8‐ and 4‐pattern condition was found to be faster in the binge drinkers compared to nonbinge drinkers. A gender by binge drinking interaction in the SWM and the Gordon Diagnostic System task revealed that female binge drinkers were worse on both these tasks than the female nonbinge drinkers.Conclusions:These results confirm previous findings in binge drinkers and suggest that in a nondependent alcohol‐drinking group, differences can be seen in mood and cognitive performance between those that binge drink and those that do not.
Towards a cognitive foundation for knowledge representation
Authors: Evermann Joerg 
Published: March 2005

Abstract.Knowledge engineering, knowledge management and conceptual modelling are concerned with representing knowledge of business and organizational domains. These research areas use ontologies for knowledge representation. Ontologies are understood either in the philosophical sense as firm metaphysical commitments or in the looser sense of dictionaries or taxonomies.This paper critically examines the understanding and use of ontologies and knowledge representation languages in information systems (IS) research and application. As ontologies are intended to be conceptualizations of a perceived reality, they should reflect the empirically observed reality. This motivates proposing psychology of language as a reference discipline for knowledge engineering and knowledge management. Natural language is argued to reflect the cognitive concepts we use to think about and perceive the world around us. These cognitive concepts are the relevant terms with which to structure and represent knowledge about the world.Psychology of language can provide empirical justification for a particular set of concepts to represent knowledge. This paper draws on psycho‐linguistic research to develop a proposal for a system of cognitive structures. This is argued to provide the relevant concepts on which to found knowledge representation schemata for knowledge engineering, knowledge management and conceptual modelling.
Molecular characterization of the safracin biosynthetic pathway from Pseudomonas fluorescens A2‐2: designing new cytotoxic compounds
Authors: Velasco Ana , Acebo Paloma , Gomez Alicia , Schleissner Carmen , Rodríguez Pilar , Aparicio Tomas , Conde Susana , Muñoz Rosario , De La Calle Fernando , Garcia Jose Luis , Sánchez‐Puelles Jose M 
Published: March 2005

SummarySafracin is an antibiotic with anti‐tumour activity produced by Pseudomonas fluorescens A2‐2. The entire safracin synthetic gene cluster spanning 17.5 kb has been identified, cloned and sequenced. The safracin cluster comprises 10 open reading frames (ORFs) encoding proteins for three non‐ribosomal peptide synthetases (NRPS), three safracin precursor biosynthetic enzymes, two safracin tailoring enzymes, a safracin resistance protein and a small hypothetical protein of unknown function. These genes are organized in two divergent operons of eight and two genes respectively. This pathway exhibits unusual features when compared with other NRPS systems. We have demonstrated by heterologous expression of the cluster that it is able to direct the synthesis of safracin in other strains. Cross‐feeding experiments have confirmed that 3‐hydroxy‐5‐methyl‐O‐methyltyrosine is the precursor of two amino acids of the molecule. Genetic analyses have allowed us to demonstrate that the bicistronic operon encodes the hydroxylation and N‐methylation activities of the pathway. The cloning and expression of the safracin cluster has settled the basis for the in vivo and in vitro production of a wide variety of compounds, such as the promising ecteinascidins anti‐cancer compounds.