bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Diffuse Ischemia in Noncontrast Computed Tomography Predicts Outcome in Patients in Intensive Care Unit
Authors: Chakraborty Santanu , Symons Sean P. , Chapman Martin , Aviv Richard I. , Fox Allan J.
Published: July 2011

Purpose

In the intensive care unit (ICU), prognosticating patients who are comatose or defining brain death can be challenging. Currently, the criteria for brain death are clinical supported by paraclinical tests. Noncontrast computed tomography (CT) shows diffuse loss of grey-white differentiation consistent with infarction. We hypothesize that the extent of hypodensity is predictive of poor neurologic outcome or brain death.

Materials and Methods

A total of 235 consecutive adult patients with cardiac arrest or with serious trauma admitted to ICU in 1 year were studied. Seventy met inclusion criteria. CT images were reviewed by multiple observers blinded to final outcome who assessed for loss of grey-white conspicuity. A modification of the validated Alberta Stroke Program Early CT Score (ASPECTS) was used to include non–middle cerebral artery territories. Primary outcome was death or functional disability at 3 months. Dichotomized CT scores were correlated with poor clinical status (Glasgow Coma Score < 5 and APACHE [Acute Physiology and Chronic Health Evaluation] score >19) and poor outcome (modified Rankin Scale >2).

Results

The CT score was ≤10 in 7 patients and >10 in 63 patients. The CT score value correlated with the severity of baseline clinical status on the Glasgow Coma Score ( r = 0.53, P < .01) and negatively with the APACHE-II score ( r = −0.27, P < .05). The CT score value negatively correlated with functional outcome ( r = −0.40, P < .01). All the patients with a CT score ≤10 died. The sensitivity of the CT score for functional outcome was 24%, and specificity was 100%. Agreement among observers for the CT score was good (Intraclass correlation coefficient = 0.77).

Conclusion

Diffuse loss of grey-white matter differentiation is subtle but specific for poor neurologic outcome, which may allow earlier prognostication of patients in whom clinical parameters are difficult to assess.
Comparison of pregnancy outcome among nulliparas with and without microalbuminuria at the end of the second trimester
Authors: Bahasadri Shohreh , Kashanian Maryam , Khosravi Zahra
Published: July 2011

Objective

To evaluate the rate of poor pregnancy outcome among nulliparas who had microalbuminuria at the end of the second trimester of their pregnancy.

Methods

A prospective cohort study was performed on 490 nulliparous women who were at the end of the second trimester of pregnancy. Urine tests for albuminuria and creatinine measurements were performed in all women and the albumin to creatinine ratio (ACR) was calculated. The women with microalbuminuria (exposed group) and those without microalbuminuria (nonexposed group) were monitored until the end of their pregnancy and compared for pregnancy outcome.

Results

Preterm labor (57.9% versus 13.5%), preeclampsia (50.0% versus 8.6%), intrauterine growth restriction (42.1% versus 6.4%), and preterm premature rupture of membranes (31.6% versus 10.2%) were significantly more common in the exposed group. The rates of gestational diabetes did not differ significantly between the 2 groups. In multivariate logistic regression analyses, microalbuminuria increased the risks for preterm labor (adjusted OR 2.4; 95% CI 1.1–5.5, P = 0.03) and preeclampsia (adjusted OR 9.5; 95% CI 4.6–19.3, P < 0.001).

Conclusion

Microalbuminuria at the end of the second trimester of pregnancy might increase the risks of preterm labor, preeclampsia, intrauterine growth restriction, and preterm premature rupture of membranes.
Single‐ versus double‐layer closure of the hysterotomy incision during cesarean delivery and risk of uterine rupture
Authors: Roberge Stéphanie , Chaillet Nils , Boutin Amélie , Moore Lynne , Jastrow Nicole , Brassard Normand , Gauthier Robert J. , Hudic Igor , Shipp Thomas D. , Weimar Charlotte H.E. , Fatusic Zlatan , Demers Suzanne , Bujold Emmanuel
Published: July 2011

Objective

To evaluate the best available evidence regarding the association between single‐layer closure and uterine rupture.

Methods

The PubMed, Embase, and Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials databases were searched for relevant observational and experimental studies that included women with a previous single, low, transverse cesarean delivery who had attempted a trial of labor (TOL). The risks of uterine rupture and uterine dehiscence were assessed by pooled odds ratios (OR) calculated with a random effects model.

Results

Nine studies including 5810 women were reviewed. Overall, the risk of uterine rupture during TOL after a single‐layer closure was not significantly different from that after a double‐layer closure (OR 1.71; 95% confidence interval [CI] 0.66–4.44). However, a sensitivity analysis indicated that the risk of uterine rupture was increased after a locked single‐layer closure (OR 4.96; 95% CI 2.58–9.52, P < 0.001) but not after an unlocked single‐layer closure (OR 0.49; 95% CI 0.21–1.16), compared with a double‐layer closure.

Conclusion

Locked but not unlocked single‐layer closures were associated with a higher uterine rupture risk than double‐layer closure in women attempting a TOL.
Complex Partial Cluster Seizures in Cats with Orofacial Involvement
Authors: Pakozdy Akos , Gruber Andrea , Kneissl Sibylle , Leschnik Michael , Halasz Peter , Thalhammer Johann G
Published: July 2011

Seventeen cats were presented with acute onset of complex partial seizures with orofacial involvement (salivation, facial twitching, lip smacking, chewing, licking or swallowing), motor arrest (motionless starring) and behavioural changes. In 11 cats hippocampal necrosis (HN) was confirmed by histopathology. In a further six cats hippocampal changes were suggested by magnetic resonance imaging. The mean monitoring time of eight cats which were not euthanased in the acute phase of the disease, was 408 days (60–908): four cats are still alive. In all surviving cases, the owners reported a good quality of life. We conclude that an acute cluster of complex partial seizures with orofacial involvement are often associated with HN and that HN is not necessarily a fatal condition. Supportive and antiepileptic therapy can result in remission. The long-term outcome can be good to excellent; therefore, euthanasia should be avoided in the acute phase of the signs.
Relationship between remaining teeth and self‐rated chewing ability among population aged 45 years or older in Kaohsiung City, Taiwan
Authors: Hsu Kun‐Jung , Yen Yea‐Yin , Lan Shou‐Jen , Wu Yi‐Min , Chen Chun‐Min , Lee Huey‐Er
Published: July 2011

The purposes of this study were to (1) examine the relationship between the number of various types of healthy remaining natural teeth at different sites and self‐rated chewing ability and (2) evaluate the relationship between the number of functional tooth units (FTUs), comprising functional natural teeth (FNT) or fixed prostheses, and self‐rated chewing ability. A sample of 296 adults (122 men and 174 women), aged 45 years or older (average age, 56.6 ± 9.7), were recruited from seven dental clinics in Kaohsiung City. Dental information on the number and status of remaining teeth was obtained through examination by trained and calibrated dentists. Self‐assessment of chewing ability (masticatory score) was evaluated with a self‐administered questionnaire. Results showed that increased age is associated with a greater likelihood of difficulty in chewing. To avoid chewing difficulty, at least 24.7 FNT, 13.3 posterior‐FNT, 8.1 units of natural tooth‐FTUs, or 9.6 units of fixed tooth‐FTUs must remain. Age and the number of healthy remaining teeth, including natural teeth and fixed prostheses, are key factors in chewing ability. Given that aging is unavoidable, the preservation of healthy remaining teeth plays a relatively important role in the maintenance of chewing ability among middle‐aged and elderly people.
Multidimensional Diplomacy
Authors: Trager Robert F.
Published: July 2011

States often negotiate with each other over more than one issue at the same time. This article presents a model of multidimensional international crisis bargaining. Unlike unidimensional bargaining, with two issue dimensions states can send costless signals about their resolve that have dramatic effects on other states' beliefs and actions. One reason is that when states claim a willingness to fight over an issue they in fact are not willing to fight over, they may lose the opportunity to get what they really want without conflict. As a result, when there is a chance that adversaries may each be willing to fight over two issues, the states can even sometimes convey with certainty when they will fight for both issues. The model also leads to some surprising comparative statics, for example, decreases in the probability that the target is willing to fight can increase the probability of war.
THE HIGH SEX RATIO IN CHINA: WHAT DO THE CHINESE THINK?
Authors: ZHOU C. , WANG X. L. , ZHENG W. J. , ZHOU X. D. , LI L. , HESKETH T.
Published: July 2011

High sex ratios are well documented in many Asian countries, including China. This study was conducted in three Chinese provinces to explore awareness of the high sex ratios and its effects. Questionnaires were completed by 7435 respondents; 46% were urban and 53% were female. Sixty-four per cent were aware of the high sex ratio, and the majority were able to identify a range of consequences both for society and for unmarried men. These high levels of awareness of the negative impacts of high sex ratios should ultimately help to reduce the sex ratio at birth.
An historical document. Botanical observations on the Penny Highlands of Baffin Island
Authors: Schwarzenbach Fritz Hans
Published: July 2011

This book (Schwarzenbach 2011) has a strange and remarkable history, which explains the fact that it has now been published in 2011, 58 years after the fieldwork on the project that was undertaken in the summer of 1953.
A novel curvature-based method for analyzing the second-order immobility of frictionless grasp
Authors: Luo Chen , Zhu LiMin , Ding Han
Published: July 2011

This paper presents a new method to analyze frictionless grasp immobility based on defined surface-to-surface signed distance function. Distance function's differential properties are analyzed and its second-order Taylor expansion with respect to differential motion is deduced. Based on the non-negative condition of the signed distance function, the first- and second-order free motions are defined and the corresponding conditions for immobility of frictionless grasp are derived. As one benefit of the proposed method, the second-order immobility check can be formulated as a nonlinear programming problem. Numerical examples are used to verify the proposed method.
A knowledge-rich distributed decision support framework: a case study for brain tumour diagnosis
Authors: Dupplaw David , Croitoru Madalina , Dasmahapatra Srinandan , Gibb Alex , González-Vélez Horacio , Lurgi Miguel , Hu Bo , Lewis Paul , Peet Andrew
Published: July 2011

The HealthAgents project aims to provide a decision support system for brain tumour diagnosis using a collaborative network of distributed agents. The goal is that through the aggregation of the small data sets available at individual hospitals, much better decision support classifiers can be created and made available to the hospitals taking part. In this paper, we describe the technicalities of the HealthAgents framework, in particular how the interoperability of the various agents is managed using semantic web technologies. On the broad scale the architecture is based around distributed data-mart agents that provide ontological access to hospitals’ underlying data that has been anonymized and processed from proprietary formats into a canonical format. Classifier producers have agents that gather the global data from participating hospitals such that classifiers can be created and deployed as agents. The design on a microscale has each agent built upon a generic-layered framework that provides the common agent program code, allowing rapid development of agents for the system. We believe that our framework provides a well-engineered, agent-based approach to data sharing in a medical context. It can provide a better basis on which to investigate the effectiveness of new classification techniques for brain tumour diagnosis.
A generic and extensible automatic classification framework applied to brain tumour diagnosis in HealthAgents
Authors: Sáez Carlos , García-Gómez Juan Miguel , Vicente Javier , Tortajada Salvador , Luts Jan , Dupplaw David , Van Huffel Sabine , Robles Montserrat
Published: July 2011

New biomedical technologies enable the diagnosis of brain tumours by using non-invasive methods. HealthAgents is a European Union-funded research project that aims to build an agent-based distributed decision support system (dDSS) for the diagnosis of brain tumours. This is achieved using the latest biomedical knowledge, information and communication technologies and pattern recognition (PR) techniques. As part of the PR development of HealthAgents, an independent and automatic classification framework (CF) has been developed. This framework has been integrated with the HealthAgents dDSS using the HealthAgents agent platform. The system offers (1) the functionality to search for distributed classifiers to solve specific questions; (2) automatic classification of new cases; (3) instant deployment of new validated classifiers; and (4) the ability to rank a set of classifiers according to their performance and suitability for the case in hand. The CF enables both the deployment of new classifiers using the provided Extensible Markup Language1 classifier specification, and the inclusion of new PR techniques that make the system extensible. These features may enable the rapid integration of PR laboratory results into industrial or research applications, such as the HealthAgents dDSS. Two classification nodes have been deployed and they currently offer classification services by means of dedicated servers connected to the HealthAgents agent platform: one node being located at the Katholieke Universiteit Leuven, Belgium and the other at the Universidad Politécnica de Valencia, Spain. These classification nodes share the current set of brain tumour classifiers that have been trained from in vivo magnetic resonance spectroscopy data. The combination of the CF with a distributed agent system constitutes the basis of the brain tumour dDSS developed in HealthAgents.
Acculturation, physical activity and television viewing in Hispanic women: findings from the 2005 California Women's Health Survey
Authors: Banna Jinan C , Kaiser Lucia L , Drake Christiana , Townsend Marilyn S
Published: July 2011

Objective

To assess the relationship of acculturation with physical activity and sedentary behaviours among Hispanic women in California.

Design

Data from the 2005 California Women's Health Survey (CWHS) – a cross-sectional telephonic survey of health indicators and health-related behaviours and attitudes – were used.

Setting

Using a random-digit dialling process, data were collected monthly from January to December 2005.

Subjects

A total of 1298 women aged ≥18 years in California who self-identified as Hispanic.

Results

Of the participants included in the analysis, 49 % were adherent to physical activity recommendations (with 150 min of weekly activity signifying adherence). There was no significant association between language acculturation and moderate or vigorous physical activity after controlling for potential confounders such as smoking, age and employment status. There was also no association between duration of residence in the USA and moderate or vigorous physical activity. Language acculturation was positively associated with television (TV) viewing, with highly acculturated women reporting more hours of TV viewing compared with women with an intermediate acculturation score (P = 0·0001), and those with an intermediate score reporting more hours of TV viewing compared with those with a low score (P = 0·003). This relationship persisted after inclusion of smoking, employment status, age and education in the model.

Conclusions

Higher levels of language acculturation may be associated with increased sedentary behaviours because of the influence of US culture on those women who have assimilated to the culture. Acculturation is an important factor to be taken into account when designing health education interventions for the Hispanic female population.
EDITORS' ANNOUNCEMENT
Authors: Capper Charles , La Vopa Anthony , Moyn Samuel
Published: July 2011

We are very pleased to announce that Dr Duncan Kelly, fellow of Jesus College and university senior lecturer in political theory at the University of Cambridge, has joined us as an editor of the journal.
JOHN LOCKE, CHRISTIAN MISSION, AND COLONIAL AMERICA
Authors: TURNER JACK
Published: July 2011

John Locke was considerably interested and actively involved in the promotion of Protestant Christianity among American Indians and African slaves, yet this fact goes largely unremarked in historical scholarship. The evidence of this interest and involvement deserves analysis—for it illuminates fascinating and understudied features of Locke's theory of toleration and his thinking on American Indians, African slaves, and English colonialism. These features include (1) the compatibility between toleration and Christian mission, (2) the interconnection between Christian mission and English geopolitics, (3) the coexistence of ameliorative and exploitative strands within Locke's stance on African slavery, and (4) the spiritual imperialism of Locke's colonial vision. Analyzing evidence of Locke's interest and involvement in Christian mission, this article brings fully to light a dimension of Locke's career that has barely been noticed. In so doing, it also illustrates how the roots of toleration in the modern West were partly evangelical.
C. WRIGHT MILLS, SOCIOLOGY, AND THE POLITICS OF THE PUBLIC INTELLECTUAL
Authors: BRICK HOWARD
Published: July 2011

How are we to grasp the genealogy of the “public intellectual”? When, how, and at whose hands did this term first come into use, framing an ideal of democratic responsibility for those who devote their work life to fostering knowledge and criticism—an image usually raised as a reproach to academic insularity though also sometimes assailed for encouraging an evasion of scholarly rigor? At first blush, the phrase seems redundant: the emergence of “intellectual”simpliciteris usually linked to a particular episode—the Dreyfusards’ defense of the French republic—that already implied a commitment by writers, thinkers, and artists to political or civic action. From that time and place, the term traveled quickly across borders and before long to the United States, occasioning controversies from the start over who represented the “intellectual” as a social type and who did not, what activities or purposes best defined the role, and whether that role deserved respect, derision, or reinvention. To be sure, the social, cultural, and political world of “modern” societies has always featured individuals noted for scholarly, creative, speculative, or critical work that resonates with literate audiences attuned to key issues of the moment—whether such people were known as ministers,philosophes, journalists, poets, men or women of letters, Transcendentalists, or even, in some eighteenth-and nineteenth-century usages, natural philosophers or scientists. Nonetheless, the emergence of the noun “intellectual” (and its plural) from the early twentieth century, and its widening use since the 1920s, spawned a persistent and self-conscious discourse concerning the character, value or virtue of such figures. A skeptic might conclude that the addition of the modifier “public” has perpetuated old, tangled debates about intellectuals as such, without bringing with it much greater clarity. Words nonetheless are signs of historical troubles and social discontents. Excavating the usages of “public intellectual” over time can highlight some of the dilemmas that have confronted writers, critics, citizens, and political actors, past and present.
THE WARREN COMMISSION AND THE DONS: AN ANGLO-AMERICAN MICROHISTORY
Authors: KIDD COLIN
Published: July 2011

Distortion in intellectual history is not a direct function of distance from the present. The recent past can create its own problems of perspective. The assassination of President John F. Kennedy is a case in point. Is the controversy surrounding the assassination a worthy subject for an intellectual historian? After all, there is now little serious debate as to what happened in Dallas on 22 November 1963. Mainstream historians regard the case as closed, an issue settled by the exhaustive and fair-minded deliberations of the Warren Commission, whose report, issued in the autumn of 1964, concluded that a lone gunman, Lee Harvey Oswald, a sad and unsettled individual from a dysfunctional background, had killed the president. However, as we know, the topic remains, almost half a century later, a matter of huge fascination, but only outside the gates of the academy. The study of Kennedy's assassination is now best known to academics as a counterculture, which grossly caricatures the best practices of the academy and where extravagant theories tend to trump sound scholarship, plausibility and common sense. Indeed, this disjunction between the obsessions of amateur historians, known as buffs, and the reluctance of academic historians to lose caste by exploring subjects such as the Kennedy assassination which the wider public—but only the wider public—seems to find worthy of further research and explanation is, as Professor W. D. Rubinstein notes, an interesting sociological and historiographical phenomenon in its own right. Writing in 1994, Max Holland, the journalist and intelligence historian, noted that the history of the Kennedy era was “bifurcated”. For academic historian writing on the Kennedy presidency the assassination is “treated as a footnote or afterthought if it is addressed at all”, while “very few of the more than 450 books and tens of thousands of articles that compose the vast assassination literature published since 1964 have been written by historians.”
TEXTING A NATION?
Authors: SHIELDS DAVID S.
Published: July 2011

Since its publication in 2007, Trish Loughran's The Republic in Print has earned a reputation as a trenchant critique of the vision of the pre-1876 United States as a state whose national integrity depended upon the dissemination of print. Commentators fixed particularly on its argument that the early republic never manifested that degree of integration of internal improvements, roads, print technology, and local interests to materialize the Federalist vision of nationhood. In some circles it was hailed as a salutary counter to historians who embrace Benedict Anderson's account of the national imaginary—a virtual nationhood irradiating citizens’ imaginations through reading newspapers and novels that impute national being. Loughran marshaled evidence that no newspaper, certainly no novel, and not even that most legendarily popular imprint, Thomas Paine's Common Sense, enjoyed sufficiently broad distribution to invoke even a coherent fantasy of national identity. In print-culture studies she has emerged as the most vocal chronicler of the fragmented republic. She has earned the respect of those political historians who have pondered the incapacity of public-sphere historiography to account for the republic's drift into the contending sections of the 1830s and the warring states of the 1860s.
WHO WERE THE SANS-CULOTTES?
Authors: SCURR RUTH
Published: July 2011

Who were the sans-culottes? What were their concerns and purposes? And what role did they play in the unfolding of events collectively known as the French Revolution? Michael Sonenscher first engaged directly with these questions in the 1980s (in an article for Social History 9 (1984), 303) when social historians were experimenting with the possibilities opened up by discourse analysis, and when the traditions of eighteenth-century civic, or republican, language seemed particularly exciting:

The social history of the French Revolution owes much to the deepening insistence with which the discourse of the Revolution itself referred to, and postulated, necessary connections between everyday circumstances and public life. From Sieyes’ equation of aristocratic privilege with unproductive parasitism in 1788 to the Thermidorian caricature of the architects of the Terror as the dregs of society, the Revolution produced its own “social interpretation.”

Sonenscher argued that while the identification of the figure of the sans-culotte with that of the artisan was “the achievement of the generation of historians—Richard Cobb, George Rudé and Albert Soboul—who reintroduced the popular movement into the historiography of the French Revolution”, there was always something problematic (or circular) in the underlying assumption that it was possible to equate the representation of artisan production found in the political language of the sans-culottes during the Revolution with what actually existed in the workshops of Paris or other towns of eighteenth-century France. Back in the 1980s what Sonenscher hoped was that a more accurate understanding of the actual dynamics of workshop production would produce “a better explanation of the meaning of the language of the sans-culottes”. His own expectation, as a social historian, was that the causality, in both explanatory and historical terms, would run from the social to the political sphere.
RELIGION, SCIENCE, AND POLITICAL RELIGION IN THE SOVIET CONTEXT
Authors: DAVID-FOX MICHAEL
Published: July 2011

The intellectual movement to interpret fascism, Nazism, and Stalinism as “political religions” has generated lively debates and an intensive publication program for over a decade. The scholarly trend has been closely associated with a revival of the concept of totalitarianism, reconfigured to account for the popular appeal and violent fervor of twentieth-century mass movements of the extreme right and left. As theoreticians of political religion have been preoccupied with arguments about the definition of religion and the problems of comparison, two stumbling blocks have become increasingly apparent. First, historians of Soviet communism, who since the early 1990s have empirically and conceptually transformed the study of Stalinism and Soviet history, have either exhibited “utter neglect” of the political-religion concept or have shunned it due to the scientism and official atheism of the regime. As a result, comparisons in the political-religion mode have generally been carried out by scholars not expert in Soviet history. Second, and closely related to this, even sympathetic critics have found secular religion too blunt a tool and too generic a concept to probe the “novel, supranational, but historically specific . . . sense of mission” produced by radical interwar regimes. Soviet communism as a project, more than fascism, was deeply invested in viewing its own ideology as genuinely scientific.
Cluster randomised trials
Authors: Barbui C. , Cipriani A.
Published: July 2011

Although randomised controlled trials are the reference methodology to assess the effects of therapeutic interventions, for interventions that naturally occur in groups of individuals random allocation of participants may be inappropriate. In these cases, the unit of random allocation may be the group or cluster, rather than the individual. Clinical trials that randomly allocate groups or clusters of individuals are called cluster randomised trials. This article briefly presents the main implications of cluster randomisation with respect to the following methodological aspects: generalisability, concealment of allocation, comparability at baseline, blindness, loss of clusters and intra-class correlation.
Mapping of sea ice production in the Arctic coastal polynyas
Authors: Tamura Takeshi , Ohshima Kay I.
Published: July 2011

High ice production in coastal polynyas over the continental shelves in the Arctic Ocean is responsible for the formation of cold saline water, which contributes to the maintenance of the Arctic Ocean halocline. The accurate detection of coastal polynyas, including an estimate of thin ice thickness, is essential for the estimation of sea ice production. This paper presents an algorithm that estimates thin ice thickness using Special Sensor Microwave/Imager (SSM/I) data in the Arctic Ocean. Detection and estimation of sea ice thicknesses of <0.15 m are based on the SSM/I 85 and 37 GHz polarization ratios (PR85 and PR37) through a comparison with sea ice thicknesses estimated from the advanced very high resolution radiometer (AVHRR) data in the three different Arctic coastal polynyas. Thus, for the entire Arctic Ocean, the algorithm can be used for the detection of coastal polynyas and for the estimation of sea ice production through combination with heat‐flux calculation. This study provides the first circumpolar mapping of sea ice production in coastal polynyas over the entire Arctic Ocean. High ice production is confined to the major Arctic coastal polynyas, with the highest ice production rate being in the North Water Polynya. This study also presents the interannual variability of sea ice production in the 10 major coastal polynyas from 1992 to 2007. In general, interannual variability in sea ice production has good correlation with polynya extent rather than surface air temperature. The mapping also provides surface heat‐ and salt‐ flux conditions in the ice‐covered region, which have not been well understood to date.
Ionosphere geomagnetic field: Comparison of IGRF model prediction and satellite measurements 1991–2010
Authors: Matteo N. A. , Morton Y. T.
Published: July 2011

The geomagnetic field is an important parameter in space physics. The International Geomagnetic Reference Field (IGRF) is a model of the Earth's main field. Current sources in the ionosphere, the interplanetary magnetic field, annual and diurnal variation, and other sporadic and unmodeled effects may alter the actual B field distribution. We investigate whether the model is nevertheless sufficiently accurate for computing ionospheric effects on radio frequency signals. Detailed analysis of scalar intensity is presented based on direct measurements of the magnetic field taken from UARS, SAC‐C, Ørsted, and CHAMP, all satellites with magnetometers orbiting between 200 and 1000 km altitude. Our results indicate that the IGRF model is within 1% accuracy of the measured ionosphere B field, 92.80% of the time. Quality control issues associated with the scalar data are also discussed.
Temporal dynamics of model parameter sensitivity for computationally expensive models with the Fourier amplitude sensitivity test
Authors: Reusser D. E. , Buytaert W. , Zehe E.
Published: July 2011

The quest for improved hydrological models is one of the big challenges in hydrology. When discrepancies are observed between simulated and measured discharge, it is essential to identify which algorithms may be responsible for poor model behavior. Particularly in complex hydrological models, different process representations may dominate at different moments and interact with each other, thus highly complicating this task. This paper investigates the analysis of the temporal dynamics of parameter sensitivity as a way to disentangle the simulation of a hydrological model and identify dominant parameterizations. Three existing methods (the Fourier amplitude sensitivity test, the extended Fourier amplitude sensitivity test, and Sobol's method) are compared by applying them to a TOPMODEL implementation in a small mountainous catchment in the tropics. For the major part of the simulation period, the three methods give comparable results, while the Fourier amplitude sensitivity test is much more computationally efficient. This method is also applied to the complex hydrological model WaSiM‐ETH implemented in the Weisseritz catchment, Germany. A qualitative model validation was performed on the basis of the identification of relevant model components. The validation revealed that the saturation deficit parameterization of WaSiM‐ETH is highly susceptible to parameter interaction and lack of identifiability. We conclude that temporal dynamics of model parameter sensitivity can be a powerful tool for hydrological model analysis, especially to identify parameter interaction as well as the dominant hydrological response modes. Finally, an open source implementation of the Fourier amplitude sensitivity test is provided.
Huanglongbing alters the structure and functional diversity of microbial communities associated with citrus rhizosphere
Authors: Trivedi Pankaj , He Zhili , Van Nostrand Joy D , Albrigo Gene , Zhou Jizhong , Wang Nian
Published: July 2011

The diversity and stability of bacterial communities present in the rhizosphere heavily influence soil and plant quality and ecosystem sustainability. The goal of this study is to understand how ‘Candidatus Liberibacter asiaticus’ (known to cause Huanglongbing, HLB) influences the structure and functional potential of microbial communities associated with the citrus rhizosphere. Clone library sequencing and taxon/group-specific quantitative real-time PCR results showed that ‘Ca. L. asiaticus’ infection restructured the native microbial community associated with citrus rhizosphere. Within the bacterial community, phylum Proteobacteria with various genera typically known as successful rhizosphere colonizers were significantly greater in clone libraries from healthy samples, whereas phylum Acidobacteria, Actinobacteria and Firmicutes, typically more dominant in the bulk soil were higher in ‘Ca. L. asiaticus’-infected samples. A comprehensive functional microarray GeoChip 3.0 was used to determine the effects of ‘Ca. L. asiaticus’ infection on the functional diversity of rhizosphere microbial communities. GeoChip analysis showed that HLB disease has significant effects on various functional guilds of bacteria. Many genes involved in key ecological processes such as nitrogen cycling, carbon fixation, phosphorus utilization, metal homeostasis and resistance were significantly greater in healthy than in the ‘Ca. L. asiaticus’-infected citrus rhizosphere. Our results showed that the microbial community of the ‘Ca. L. asiaticus’-infected citrus rhizosphere has shifted away from using more easily degraded sources of carbon to the more recalcitrant forms. Overall, our study provides evidence that the change in plant physiology mediated by ‘Ca. L. asiaticus’ infection could elicit shifts in the composition and functional potential of rhizosphere microbial communities. In the long term, these fluctuations might have important implications for the productivity and sustainability of citrus-producing agro-ecosystems.
Phylodynamics and movement of Phycodnaviruses among aquatic environments
Authors: Gimenes Manuela V , Zanotto Paolo M de A , Suttle Curtis A , da Cunha Hillândia B , Mehnert Dolores U
Published: July 2011

Phycodnaviruses have a significant role in modulating the dynamics of phytoplankton, thereby influencing community structure and succession, nutrient cycles and potentially atmospheric composition because phytoplankton fix about half the carbon dioxide (CO2) on the planet, and some algae release dimethylsulphoniopropionate when lysed by viruses. Despite their ecological importance and widespread distribution, relatively little is known about the evolutionary history, phylogenetic relationships and phylodynamics of the Phycodnaviruses from freshwater environments. Herein we provide novel data on Phycodnaviruses from the largest river system on earth—the Amazon Basin—that were compared with samples from different aquatic systems from several places around the world. Based on phylogenetic inference using DNA polymerase (pol) sequences we show the presence of distinct populations of Phycodnaviridae. Preliminary coarse-grained phylodynamics and phylogeographic inferences revealed a complex dynamics characterized by long-term fluctuations in viral population sizes, with a remarkable worldwide reduction of the effective population around 400 thousand years before the present (KYBP), followed by a recovery near to the present time. Moreover, we present evidence for significant viral gene flow between freshwater environments, but crucially almost none between freshwater and marine environments.
Proficiency Deficiency: Mastery of Fundamental Movement Skills and Skill Components in Overweight and Obese Children
Authors: Cliff Dylan P. , Okely Anthony D. , Morgan Philip J. , Jones Rachel A. , Steele Julie R. , Baur Louise A.
Published: July 2011

The purpose of this observational study was to compare the mastery of 12 fundamental movement skills (FMS) and skill components between a treatment‐seeking sample of overweight/obese children and a reference sample from the United States. Mastery of six locomotor and six object‐control skills (24 components in each subdomain) were video‐assessed by one assessor using the test of gross motor development‐2 (TGMD‐2). The 153 overweight/obese children (mean ± s.d. age = 8.3 ± 1.1 years, BMI z‐score = 2.78 ± 0.69, 58% girls, 77% obese) were categorized into age groups (for the underhand roll and strike: 7–8 years and 9–10 years; all other FMS: 6–7 years and 8–10 years) and mastery prevalence rates were compared with representative US data (N = 876) using χ2 analysis. For all 12 skills in all age groups, the prevalence of mastery was lower among overweight/obese children compared with the reference sample (all P < 0.05). This was consistent for 18 locomotor and upto 21 object‐control skill components (all P < 0.05). Differences were largest for the run, slide, hop, dribble, and kick. Specific movement patterns that could be targeted for improvement include positioning of the body and feet, the control or release of an object at an optimal position, and better use of the arms to maintain effective force production during the performance of FMS. Physical activity programs designed for overweight and obese children may need to address deficiencies in FMS proficiency to foster the movement capabilities required for participation in health‐enhancing physical activity.
Incident Cardiovascular Disease Events in Metabolically Benign Obese Individuals
Authors: Ogorodnikova Alexandra D. , Kim Mimi , McGinn Aileen P. , Muntner Paul , Khan Unab , Wildman Rachel P.
Published: July 2011

Nearly one‐third of obese individuals are classified as metabolically benign; however whether this subgroup is at a lower risk of cardiovascular disease (CVD) is unclear. Using pooled data from the Atherosclerosis Risk in Communities and Cardiovascular Health Studies, we assessed incident CVD (coronary heart disease and stroke) using three definitions of the metabolically benign phenotype: (i) the ATP‐III metabolic syndrome definition (≤2 of the ATP‐III components, excluding abdominal obesity (ii) the expanded ATP‐III definition (≤1 of: any ATP‐III components, insulin resistance (IR), or systemic inflammation), and (iii) the IR‐based definition (sex‐specific lowest quartile of the HOMAIR distribution). The sample included 6,106 normal weight, 7,115 overweight, and 4,323 obese participants. Among obese, 27.0%, 18.1%, and 20.4% were metabolically benign by the three definitions, respectively. The CVD incidence rates (mean follow‐up 11.8 years) were 7.1, 5.8, and 8.4 per 1,000 person‐years in metabolically benign obese via the three definitions, respectively, compared to 14.3, 13.8, and 13.3 in at‐risk obese, and 7.5, 6.7, and 8.2 in metabolically benign normal weight participants. Multivariable‐adjusted hazard ratios of incident CVD in metabolically benign obese compared to their at‐risk obese counterparts were 0.59 (95% CI 0.47–0.73), 0.52 (0.39–0.68), and 0.71 (0.57–0.90), respectively; and 1.24 (0.99–1.57), 1.16 (0.86–1.56), and 1.28 (1.01–1.62) compared to metabolically benign normal weight individuals. Only 28.7% of obese participants classified as metabolically benign by at least one definition were “metabolically benign” by all three definitions. Despite similar CVD risk estimates, the three definitions identified different subgroups of the obese population, perhaps suggesting distinct etiologies.
Phosphoinositide phosphatase SHIP-1 regulates apoptosis induced by edelfosine, Fas ligation and DNA damage in mouse lymphoma cells
Authors: Alderliesten Maaike C. , Klarenbeek Jeffrey B. , van der Luit Arnold H. , van Lummel Menno , Jones David R. , Zerp Shuraila , Divecha Nullin , Verheij Marcel , van Blitterswijk Wim J.
Published: July 2011

S49 mouse lymphoma cells undergo apoptosis in response to the ALP (alkyl-lysophospholipid) edelfosine (1-O-octadecyl-2-O-methyl-rac-glycero-3-phosphocholine), FasL (Fas ligand) and DNA damage. S49 cells made resistant to ALP (S49AR) are defective in sphingomyelin synthesis and ALP uptake, and also have acquired resistance to FasL and DNA damage. However, these cells can be re-sensitized following prolonged culturing in the absence of ALP. The resistant cells show sustained ERK (extracellular-signal-regulated kinase)/Akt activity, consistent with enhanced survival signalling. In search of a common mediator of the observed cross-resistance, we found that S49AR cells lacked the PtdIns(3,4,5)P3 phosphatase SHIP-1 [SH2 (Src homology 2)-domain-containing inositol phosphatase 1], a known regulator of the Akt survival pathway. Re-sensitization of the S49AR cells restored SHIP-1 expression as well as phosphoinositide and sphingomyelin levels. Knockdown of SHIP-1 mimicked the S49AR phenotype in terms of apoptosis cross-resistance, sphingomyelin deficiency and altered phosphoinositide levels. Collectively, the results of the present study suggest that SHIP-1 collaborates with sphingomyelin synthase to regulate lymphoma cell death irrespective of the nature of the apoptotic stimulus.
Induction of an incomplete autophagic response by cancer-preventive geranylgeranoic acid (GGA) in a human hepatoma-derived cell line
Authors: Okamoto Kyoko , Sakimoto Yoko , Imai Katsuyuki , Senoo Haruki , Shidoji Yoshihiro
Published: July 2011

GGA (geranylgeranoic acid) is a natural polyprenoic acid, derivatives of which has been shown to prevent second primary hepatoma. GGA induces mitochondria-mediated PCD (programmed cell death), which may be relevant to cancer prevention. To gain further insights into GGA-induced PCD, autophagy processes were examined in human hepatoma-derived HuH-7 cells. Treatment of HuH-7/GFP (green fluorescent protein)–LC3 cells with GGA induced green fluorescent puncta in the cytoplasm within 30 min and their massive accumulation at 24 h. After 15 min of GGA treatment, a burst of mitochondrial superoxide production occurred and LC3β-I was appreciably converted into LC3β-II. GGA-induced early stages of autophagy were unequivocally confirmed by electron-microscopic observation of early/initial autophagic vacuoles. On the other hand, LC3β-II as well as p62/SQSTM1 (sequestosome 1) continuously accumulated and co-localized in the cytoplasmic puncta after GGA treatment. Furthermore, GGA treatment of HuH-7/mRFP (monomeric red fluorescent protein)–GFP–LC3 cells showed yellow fluorescent puncta, whereas glucose deprivation of the cells gave red fluorescent puncta. These results strongly suggest that GGA induces the initial phase of autophagy, but blocks the maturation process of autolysosomes or late stages of autophagy, insomuch that GGA provides substantial accumulation of autophagosomes under serum-starvation conditions in human hepatoma cells.
Transgenic expression of human matrix metalloproteinase-1 attenuates pulmonary arterial hypertension in mice
Authors: George Joseph , Sun Jie , D'Armiento Jeanine
Published: July 2011

PAH (pulmonary arterial hypertension) is a debilitating and life-threatening disease, often affecting young people. We specifically expressed human MMP-1 (matrix metalloproteinase-1) in mouse macrophages and examined its effects in attenuating the decompensating features of MCT (monocrotaline)-induced PAH. Measurement of RV (right ventricular) pressure revealed a 2.5-fold increase after treatment with MCT, which was reduced to 1.5-fold in MMP-1 transgenic mice. There was conspicuous pulmonary inflammation with chronic infiltration of mononuclear cells after the administration of MCT, which was significantly diminished in transgenic mice. Furthermore, transgenic mice showed decreased collagen deposition compared with WT (wild-type). Staining for Mac-3 (macrophage-3) and α-SMA (α-smooth muscle actin) revealed extensive infiltration of macrophages and medial hypertrophy of large pulmonary vessels with complete occlusion of small arteries respectively. These changes were markedly reduced in MMP-1 transgenic mice compared with WT. Western blotting for molecules involved in cell multiplication and proliferation depicted a significant decrease in the lung tissue of transgenic mice after the treatment with MCT. In conclusion, the present study demonstrated that transgenic expression of human MMP-1 decreased proliferation of smooth muscle cells and prevented excessive deposition of collagen in the pulmonary arterial tree. Our results indicate that up-regulation of MMP-1 could attenuate the debilitation of human PAH and provide an option for therapeutic intervention.
Prevalence and importance of sensitivity to the Stagonospora nodorum necrotrophic effector SnTox3 in current Western Australian wheat cultivars
Authors: Waters Ormonde D. C. , Lichtenzveig Judith , Rybak Kasia , Friesen Timothy L. , Oliver Richard P.
Published: July 2011

Stagonospora nodorum is a major pathogen of wheat in many parts of the world and particularly in Western Australia. The pathosystem is characterised by interactions of multiple pathogen necrotrophic effectors (NE) (formerly host-specific toxins) with corresponding dominant host sensitivity loci. To date, five NE interactions have been reported in S. nodorum. Two proteinaceous NE (ToxA and SnTox3) have been cloned and expressed in microbial systems. The identification of wheat cultivars lacking sensitivity to one or more NE is a promising way to identify cultivars suitable for use in breeding for increased resistance to this economically important pathogen.
The prevalence of sensitivity to the NE SnTox3 was investigated in 60 current Western Australian-adapted bread wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) cultivars. Infiltration of SnTox3 into seedling leaves caused a moderate or strong necrotic response in 52 cultivars. Six cultivars were insensitive and two cultivars exhibited a weak chlorotic response. Five of the cultivars that were insensitive or weakly sensitive to SnTox3 were noticeably more resistant to the disease. The 60 cultivars gave a very similar reaction to SnTox3 and to the crude S. nodorum SN15 culture filtrate demonstrating that SnTox3 is the dominant NE in this isolate. We conclude that a simple screen using both SnTox3 and ToxA effectors combined with simple greenhouse disease evaluation, will allow breeders to select cultivars that are more resistant to the disease, allowing them to concentrate resources on other still intractable breeding objectives.