bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Prevalence and severity of vitamin D deficiency in patients with diabetic foot infection
Authors: Tiwari Shalbha , Pratyush Daliparthy D. , Gupta Balram , Dwivedi Awanindra , Chaudhary Sandeep , Rayicherla Rammohan K. , Gupta Sanjeev K. , Singh Surya Kumar
Published: April 2012

The aim of the present research was to study the prevalence and severity of vitamin D deficiency in patients with diabetic foot infection. Patients were enrolled in two groups: diabetic patients with foot infection (n 125) as cases and diabetic patients without the infection as controls (n 164). Serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D (25(OH)D) was measured by RIA. Data were presented as means and standard deviations unless otherwise indicated and were analysed by SPSS. Results revealed that 25(OH)D (nmol/l) was significantly lower (40·25 (sd 38·35) v. 50·75 (sd 33·00); P < 0·001) in cases than in controls. Vitamin D inadequacy (25(OH)D < 75 nmol/l) was equally common in cases and controls (OR 1·45, 95 % CI 0·8, 3·0; P = 0·32), but cases had a greater risk of vitamin D deficiency (25(OH)D < 50 nmol/l) than controls (OR 1·8, 95 % CI 1·1, 3·0; P = 0·02). Risk of severe vitamin D deficiency (25(OH)D < 25 nmol/l) was significantly higher in cases than in controls (OR 4·0, 95 % CI 2·4, 6·9; P < 0·0001). Age, duration of diabetes and HbA1c were significantly higher in cases than in controls and therefore adjusted to nullify the effect of these variables, if any, on study outcome. The study concluded that vitamin D deficiency was more prevalent and severe in patients with diabetic foot infection. This study opens up the issue of recognising severe vitamin D deficiency ( < 25 nmol/l) as a possible risk factor for diabetic foot infections and the need for vitamin D supplementation in such patients for a better clinical outcome. This could be substantiated by similar data from future studies.
Morphological variation of pallial organs at sites of differing turbidity: a case study of an arcid bivalve
Authors: Yoshino Kenji , Katano Toshiya , Hayami Yuichi , Hamada Takaharu , Kobayashi Genta
Published: April 2012

We investigated morphological differences in specimens of the arcid bivalve Scapharca kagoshimensis collected from two sites differing in turbidity in the inner part of Ariake Bay. First, we confirmed if the specimens collected from the two sites were the same species by comparing the sequences of their nuclear 18S ribosomal DNA (18S rDNA) and cytchrome c oxidase subunit I gene (COI) of mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA), since the closely related species S. inequivalvis could be distributed in one site. The results of DNA analyses showed that specimens from both sites belonged to the same species. Shell morphology, gill and posterior adductor muscle size did not differ between the two populations. However, the size of the labial palp was significantly larger in bivalves living in an area of high turbidity compared with those living in an area with low turbidity. This difference could not simply be attributed to differences in meat content because the total weight of the soft body parts did not differ between the two populations. The labial palp is an organ functioning in preingestive particle selection. Hence, the large palps would presumably be a response to high turbidity conditions in which the need for particle processes increases. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first study demonstrating palp size flexibility in arcid bivalves, and such flexibility could be a factor enabling S. kagoshimensis to successfully exploit a wide area of shallow water in the inner part of Ariake Bay.
The Dance of Exile: Jerzy Starzyński, Kyczera, and the Polish Lemkos
Authors: Black Cathy
Published: April 2012

Since at least the fourteenth century the Slavic ethnic minority population known as Polish Lemkos has claimed the northern slopes of the Carpathian Mountains as its homeland. Lemkos are part of a larger east Slavic population of Carpathian Rus' collectively known as Rusyns, who reside in the Lemko region (in Poland), the Prešov region (in Slovakia), and western Subcarpathian Rus' (in Ukraine) (see Figure I). Beyond the Carpathian homeland Rusyns live in Serbia, Croatia, the Czech Republic, Hungary, Romania, and outside of Europe in the United States, Canada, and Australia (Magocsi 2005, 433; 2006, II). By the outset of the twentieth century in the Lemko Region, the term “Lemko” was gradually adopted as an ethnonym instead of “Rusyn.” Some Rusyns in lands other than Poland also choose to refer to themselves as Lemkos.
Trio A in Europe
Authors: Burt Ramsay
Published: April 2012

Since the mid-1990s European dancers and audiences have played a significant role in the revival of interest in Yvonne Rainer's dance work. Two key examples of this are the restaging of Rainer's Continuous Project-Altered Daily (CP-AD) in 1996 by the French group Quatuor Albrecht Knust and the more recent creation and trial of the Labanotation score of Trio A in London. In her reminiscences printed above, Pat Catterson suggests that Trio A' s “relaxed natural quality, equality of parts, its tame simplicity, and durational patience may be out of synch with today's Zeitgeist.” During Charles Atlas's documentary, Rainer Variations, Rainer herself suggests today's audiences would no longer be prepared to sit through the long slow works she made during the Judson period. If this is currently the case with audiences in the United States, it is not so on the other side of the Atlantic. European audiences for innovative dance and live art seem prepared to take the time to experience and appreciate slow, demanding, experimental work.

European choreographers and dance artists who have been interested in Trio A often have a keen and sophisticated, if idiosyncratic, interest in dance history. Artists I have spoken to suggest this interest helps them build on what has already been done and makes them aware of a broader range of creative possibilities. Some say they find it useful to discover dance artists in the past who were working in ways that are similar to their own practices. For example, Xavier Le Roy, who took part in the 1996 restaging of Rainer's CP-AD, performed the “chair pillow” section from it during his 1999 performative lecture Product of Circumstances. His discovery of ordinary, task-based, and pedestrian movement in Rainer's work affirmed his own research into similar kinds of movement.
The Human Situation on Stage: Merce Cunningham, Theodor Adorno, and the Category of Expression
Authors: Noland Carrie
Published: April 2012

Where is expression in Cunningham's choreography? Are the moving bodies on stage expressive? If so, what are they expressing and how does such expression occur? Several of the finest theorists of dance—among them, Susan Leigh Foster, Mark Franko, and Dee Reynolds—have already approached the question of expressivity in the work of Merce Cunningham. Acknowledging the formalism and astringency of his choreography, they nonetheless insist that expression does indeed take place. Foster locates expression in the “affective significance” as opposed to the “emotional experience” of movement (1986, 38); Franko finds it in an “energy source … more fundamental than emotion, while just as differentiated” (1995, 80); and Reynolds identifies expression in the dancing subject's sensorimotor “faculties” as they are deployed “fully in the present” (2007, 169). Cunningham himself has defined expression in dance as an intrinsic and inevitable quality of movement, indicating that his search to capture, isolate, and frame this quality is central to his choreographic process. As a critical theorist (rather than a dance historian), I am interested in expression as a more general, or cross-media, category and therefore find the efforts by Cunningham and his critics to define expression differently, to free it from its subservience to the psyche, refreshing, unconventional, and suggestive. I have become increasingly convinced that Cunningham's practical and theoretical interventions can illuminate more traditional literary and philosophical discourses on the aesthetics of expression and that they have particular resonance when juxtaposed with the approach to expression developed by Theodor Adorno in his Aesthetic Theory of 1970. Similar to Cunningham, Adorno complicates the category of “expression” by shifting its location from subjectivity, understood primarily as a psychic phenomenon, to embodiment, understood as a function of locomotion and sensual existence (in Franko's words, “something more fundamental than emotion, while just as differentiated” [1995, 80]).
Failed Impressions: Diaghilev's Ballets Russes in America, 1916
Authors: Järvinen Hanna
Published: April 2012

In 1916 the Russian impresario Sergei Diaghilev (1872–1929) took the Ballets Russes out of war-torn Europe for a tour across the North American continent. The tour was scheduled to run from January to April 1916, with short seasons in New York at the beginning and the end. As it turned out, the company returned for a second tour that ran from late September to January 1917, during which time, however, Diaghilev's former lover and principal star dancer, Vaslav Nijinsky (1889–1950), replaced him as director.

In this article I discuss the cultural differences at the heart of the Ballets Russes' failure to conquer America in 1916–1917, and why that failure had to be edited out of history. Specifically, I look at three aspects of the publicity and critical reception: elitism, patriotism, and modernism. The publicists of the company both misunderstood and underestimated their audience, but in dance research, their prejudices have been taken for granted. The “eye-witness accounts” of Diaghilev's employees and the histories of the company written in the first half of the twentieth century have largely gone unquestioned since, but contemporary primary sources of the North American tours tell a different story. By contrasting the first tour with the second, which received less publicity and better reviews, I emphasize the practical experience of touring in the New World and how differently American critics evaluated the achievements of the two Russian directors of the company—Diaghilev (for the first tour) and Nijinsky (for the second).
Emotions in the Everyday Life of a Dance School: Articulating Unspoken Values
Authors: Löytönen Teija
Published: April 2012

In everyday thinking art is very often linked to emotion and, more generally, to a kind of emotional and spontaneous way of relating to the world that contrasts with the rational and controlled intellect that, for example, science is understood to cultivate. Emotion is also commonly linked, via bodily existence, to femininity and the private sphere—the home (see, for example, Heinämaa and Reuter 1994; Sihvola 1999. These conceptualizations reveal a tendency toward typically Western dichotomies between art and science, emotion and reason, body and mind, private and public, and woman and man (see also Domagalski 1999; Sandelans and Boudens 2000).

Furthermore, working life and emotion have long been seen as separate; only emotion-free employees and institutions have been perceived as being efficient because emotional control, self-restraint, and rationality bolster stability and predictability in working life. Thus, emotions belong somewhere else. In fact, Lloyd Sandelans and Connie Boudens (2000, 48) note that we have had the habit of building special quarters for the exercise and display of emotion such as concert halls, movie theaters, football fields, and therapist's offices. This does not mean, however, that emotions can be eliminated from working life, as many studies on emotion at work have shown (Ashkanasy, Hartel, and Zerbe 2000; Fineman 2000, 2003; Hochschild 1983).
Improved structural model of Pb-dopedγ-Bi2O3: (Bi23.68Pb0.32)(Bi1.28Pb0.72)O38.48
Authors: Dapčević Aleksandra , Poleti Dejan , Karanović Ljiljana
Published: April 2012

A polycrystalline single-phase sample with nominal composition Bi24PbO37was synthesized from Bi2O3and PbO by a high-temperature solid state reaction at 690 °C for 1.5 h. The compound adopts Bi12SiO20-type structure [cubic, space groupI23 (No. 197);a = 10.24957(3) Å] and was refined toRp = 7.96%,Rwp = 10.4%,Rexp = 8.43%,RB = 3.06%, andS = 1.23. The distributions of Pb2+and Bi3+over cationic sites based on the X-ray powder diffraction data were determined using a combination of the Rietveld refinement and bond valence calculations. The results showed that the asymmetric unit contains two mixed cation sites: the fully occupied 24fsite and the partly occupied 8csite, with the unit-cell content (Bi23.68Pb0.32)(Bi1.28Pb0.72)O38.48. The structural constraints favor a preference of Pb2+ion for the 8csite, i.e. only 1.3% of Bi3+is substituted by Pb2+at the 24fsite and 36% at the 8csite. At the 24fsite, the cations are surrounded by 5 + 2 or in a very small amount by 5 + 1 + 2 oxide ions, forming a base bicapped square pyramid or a bicapped highly deformed octahedron, respectively. At the 8csite, the cations with three oxide ions form a trigonal pyramid with the cations at the apex.
Glacial geomorphology and cosmogenic 10Be and 26Al exposure ages in the northern Dufek Massif, Weddell Sea embayment, Antarctica
Authors: Hodgson Dominic A. , Bentley Michael J. , Schnabel Christoph , Cziferszky Andreas , Fretwell Peter , Convey Peter , Xu Sheng
Published: April 2012

We studied the glacial geomorphology and geochronology of two ice-free valleys in the Dufek Massif (Antarctic Specially Protected Area 119) providing new constraints on past ice sheet thickness in the Weddell Sea embayment. 10Be and 26Al cosmogenic surface exposure dating provided chronological control. Seven glacial stages are proposed. These include an alpine glaciation, with subsequent (mid-Miocene?) over-riding by a warm-based ice sheet. Subsequent advances are marked by a series of minor drift deposits at 760 m altitude at > 1 Ma, followed by at least two later ice sheet advances that are characterized by extensive drift sheet deposition. An advance of plateau ice field outlet glaciers from the south postdated these drift sheets. The most recent advance involved the cold-based expansion of the ice sheet from the north at the Last Glacial Maximum, or earlier, which deposited a series of bouldery moraines during its retreat. This suggests at most a relatively modest expansion of the ice sheet and outlet glaciers dominated by a lateral ice expansion of just 2–3 km and maintaining a thickness similar to that of the northern ice sheet front. These observations are consistent with other reports of modest ice sheet thickening around the Weddell Sea embayment during the Last Glacial Maximum.
Possible multiple introductions ofCladonia borealisto King George Island
Authors: Park Chae Haeng , Jeong Gajin , Hong Soon Gyu
Published: April 2012

Many lichens have extensive distributional ranges covering several climatic zones and are able to colonize extreme habitats, including high alpine and polar regions.Cladonia borealis, one of the dominant lichen species on King George Island, is a cosmopolitan species inhabiting polar, subpolar, and alpine areas. It is usually found on soil, humus, and mosses, and is morphologically highly diverse. To understand the phylogeographic history ofC. borealison King George Island, we compared specimens from there with specimens from Norway and Chile. We conducted phylogenetic and haplotype network analyses of the partial SSU, ITS1-5.8S-ITS2, and partial LSU rDNA sequences including intron sequences in LSU rRNA genes. Nuclear rDNA locus ofC. borealisfrom King George Island was separated into two monophyletic lineages. It is suggested that they originated in multiple independent introduction events after long-distance dispersal from other continents.
United States – Certain measures affecting imports of poultry from China: the fascinating case that wasn't
Authors: BOHANES JAN
Published: April 2012

Professor Regan's paper on the US–Poultry (China) case provides highly interesting insight both into the facts of the case and the Panel's reasoning, as well as the broader systemic issues lurking behind them. The author has identified a number of thought-provoking aspects in a case that, at first glance, appears to be a relatively bland SPS dispute.
Climate models produce skillful predictions of Indian summer monsoon rainfall
Authors: DelSole Timothy , Shukla Jagadish
Published: April 2012

After more than one hundred years of statistical forecasting and fifty years of climate model development, this paper shows that the skill of predicting Indian monsoon rainfall with coupled atmosphere‐ocean models initialized in May is statistically significant, and much higher than can be predicted empirically from May sea surface temperatures (SSTs). The superior skill of dynamical models is attributed to the fact that slowly evolving sea surface temperatures are the primary source of predictability, and to the fact that climate models produce more skillful predictions of June‐September sea surface temperatures. The recent apparent breakdown in SST‐monsoon relation can be simulated in coupled models, even though the relation is significant and relatively constant on an ensemble mean basis, suggesting that the observed breakdown could be due, in large part, to sampling variability. Despite the observed breakdown, skillful predictions of monsoon rainfall can be constructed using sea surface temperaturespredictedby dynamical models. This fact opens the possibility of using readily available seasonal predictions of sea surface temperatures to make real‐time skillful predictions of Indian summer monsoon rainfall. In addition, predictors based on tendency of SST during spring information show skill during both the recent and historical periods and hence may provide more skillful predictions of monsoon rainfall than predictors based on a single month.
Magnetodielectric effect in CdS nanosheets grown within Na-4 mica
Authors: Mandal Amrita , Mitra Sreemanta , Datta Anindya , Banerjee Sourish , Chakravorty Dipankar
Published: April 2012

CdS nanosheets of thickness 0.6 nm were grown within the interlayer spaces of Na-4 mica. Magnetization measurements carried out in the temperature range 2–300 K showed the composites to have weak ferromagnetic-like properties even at room temperature. The saturation magnetization (MS) at room temperature was found to be higher than that reported for CdS nanoparticles. The higher value of MS may be ascribed to the presence of a large number defects in the present CdS system, due to a large surface to volume ratio in the nanosheets as compared to that of CdS nanoparticles. The nanocomposites exhibited a magnetodielectric effect with a dielectric constant change of 5.3% for a magnetic field of 0.5 T. This occurred due to a combination of magnetoresistance and Maxwell-Wagner effect as delineated in the model developed by Catalan.
Thermal transport in phononic crystals: The role of zone folding effect
Authors: Dechaumphai Edward , Chen Renkun
Published: April 2012

Recent experiments [Yu et al., Nature Nanotech 5, 718 (2010); Tang et al., Nano Lett. 10, 4279 (2010); Hopkins etal., Nano Lett. 11, 107(2011)] on silicon based nanoscale phononic crystals demonstrated substantially reduced thermal conductivity compared to bulk Si, which cannot be explained by incoherent phonon boundary scattering within the Boltzmann Transport Equation (BTE). In this paper, partial coherent treatment of phonons, where phonons are regarded as either wave or particles depending on their frequencies, was considered. Phonons with mean free path smaller than the characteristic size of phononic crystals are treated as particles and the transport in this regime is modeled by BTE with phonon boundary scattering taken into account. On the other hand, phonons with mean free path longer than the characteristic size are treated as waves. In this regime, phonon dispersion relations are computed using the Finite Difference Time Domain (FDTD) method and are found to be modified due to the zone folding effect. The new phonon spectra are then used to compute phonon group velocity and density of states for thermal conductivity modeling. Our partial coherent model agrees well with the recent experimental results on in-plane thermal conductivity of phononic crystals. Our study highlights the importance of zone folding effect on thermal transport in phononic crystals.
Polarization switching and patterning in self-assembled peptide tubular structures
Authors: Bdikin Igor , Bystrov Vladimir , Delgadillo Ivonne , Gracio José , Kopyl Svitlana , Wojtas Maciej , Mishina Elena , Sigov Alexander , Kholkin Andrei L.
Published: April 2012

Self-assembled peptide nanotubes are unique nanoscale objects that have great potential for a multitude of applications, including biosensors, nanotemplates, tissue engineering, biosurfactants, etc. The discovery of strong piezoactivity and polar properties in aromatic dipeptides [A. Kholkin, N. Amdursky, I. Bdikin, E. Gazit, and G. Rosenman, ACS Nano 4, 610 (2010)] opened up a new perspective for their use as biocompatible nanoactuators, nanomotors, and molecular machines. Another, as yet unexplored functional property is the ability to switch polarization and create artificial polarization patterns useful in various electronic and optical applications. In this work, we demonstrate that diphenylalanine peptide nanotubes are indeed electrically switchable if annealed at a temperature of about 150 °C. The new orthorhombic antipolar structure that appears after annealing allows for the existence of a radial polarization component, which is directly probed by piezoresponse force microscopy (PFM) measurements. Observation of the relatively stable polarization patterns and hysteresis loops via PFM testifies to the local reorientation of molecular dipoles in the radial direction. The experimental results are complemented with rigorous molecular calculations and create a solid background of electric-field induced deformation of aromatic rings and corresponding polarization switching in this emergent material.
Pressure-induced ferromagnetism in open structure alkali metals from first principles
Authors: Dong Shengjie , Zhao Hui
Published: April 2012

Magnetic properties of heavier alkali metals K, Rb, and Cs in simple cubic and simple hexagonal structures at ambient and elevated simulated uniform hydrostatic pressure have been investigated using first-principles density-functional theory. The calculations exhibit the occurrence of both ferromagnetism enhancement and collapse as pressure increases and illuminate that the spin polarized interstitial electron blobs are formed by both s and p electrons. The distortion and nesting of the Fermi surface is also presented with increasing pressure.
Electrical characteristics of multiwalled carbon nanotube arrays and influence of pressure
Authors: Singh L. T. , Nanda K. K.
Published: April 2012

We have investigated the current-voltage characteristics of carbon nanotube arrays and shown that the current through the arrays increases rapidly with applied voltage before the breakdown occurs. Simultaneous measurements of current and temperature at one end of the arrays suggest that the rapid increase of current is due to Joule heating. The current through the array and the threshold voltage are found to increase with decreasing pressure.
Wool staple tenacity in New Zealand Romney sheep: heritability estimates, correlated traits, and direct response to selection
Authors: Scobie D. R. , Bray A. R. , Smith M. C. , Woods J. L. , Morris C. A. , Hickey S. M.
Published: April 2012

A flock of New Zealand Romney sheep was established and selected as yearlings on the basis of fleece staple tenacity. The foundation flock was screened from contributing source flocks, with outliers of high or low staple tenacity as yearlings relative to the source flock mean contributing to a ‘high’ line and a ‘low’ line, respectively. A randomly selected control line was established because staple tenacity was known to be affected by yearly changes in feed supply. Staple tenacity of yearling fleeces was found to be heritable (0.41 ± 0.03). After 10 years of within-line selection, the line selected for increased staple tenacity had staples 53% stronger (33.9 N/mm2) than the control (22.1 N/mm2), while staples were 38% weaker in the line selected for decreased staple tenacity (13.8 N/mm2). Staple tenacity was genetically (0.67 ± 0.04) and phenotypically (0.44 ± 0.02) correlated with fibre diameter, and also with staple length (0.38 ± 0.07 and 0.32 ± 0.02, respectively). Longer, thicker fibres likely contributed to positive genetic (0.31 ± 0.07) and phenotypic (0.29 ± 0.02) correlations between staple tenacity and clean fleece weight. The indirect aim of selection was to improve fibre length after carding. Pooled wool samples were prepared from selection line groups of yearlings within sex each year, and a relationship between fibre length after carding measured on these samples and mean staple tenacity of the groups was observed (R2 = 0.514, P < 0.001). Within the tenth (last) year of selection, the high staple tenacity line produced the longest carded fibres (Hauteur: 103 mm) and the decreased staple tenacity line produced the shortest (87 mm), with the control line intermediate (96 mm).
Regulation of inflorescence architecture by intertissue layer ligand–receptor communication between endodermis and phloem
Authors: Uchida Naoyuki , Lee Jin Suk , Horst Robin J. , Lai Hung-Hsueh , Kajita Ryoko , Kakimoto Tatsuo , Tasaka Masao , Torii Keiko U.
Published: April 2012

Multicellular organisms achieve final body shape and size by coordinating cell proliferation, expansion, and differentiation. Loss of function in theArabidopsis ERECTA(ER) receptor-kinase gene confers characteristic compact inflorescence architecture, but its underlying signaling pathways remain unknown. Here we report that the expression ofERin the phloem is sufficient to rescue compacterinflorescences. We further identified twoEPIDERMAL PATTERNING FACTOR-LIKE(EPFL) secreted peptide genes,EPFL4andEPFL6/CHALLAH(CHAL), as redundant, upstream components ofER-mediated inflorescence growth. The expression ofEPFL4orEPFL6in the endodermis, a layer adjacent to phloem, is sufficient to rescue theer-like inflorescence ofepfl4 epfl6plants. EPFL4 and EPFL6 physically associate with ER in planta. Finally, transcriptome analysis oferandepfl4 epfl6revealed a potential downstream component as well as a role for plant hormones in EPFL4/6- and ER-mediated inflorescence growth. Our results suggest that intercell layer communication between the endodermis and phloem mediated by peptide ligands and a receptor kinase coordinates proper inflorescence architecture inArabidopsis.
Coupling of the fusion and budding of giant phospholipid vesicles containing macromolecules
Authors: Terasawa Hidetoshi , Nishimura Kazuya , Suzuki Hiroaki , Matsuura Tomoaki , Yomo Tetsuya
Published: April 2012

Mechanisms that enabled primitive cell membranes to self-reproduce have been discussed based on the physicochemical properties of fatty acids; however, there must be a transition to modern cell membranes composed of phospholipids [Budin I, Szostak JW (2011)
Proc Natl Acad Sci USA
108:5249–5254]. Thus, a growth-division mechanism of membranes that does not depend on the chemical nature of amphiphilic molecules must have existed. Here, we show that giant unilamellar vesicles composed of phospholipids can undergo the coupled process of fusion and budding transformation, which mimics cell growth and division. After gaining excess membrane by electrofusion, giant vesicles spontaneously transform into the budded shape only when they contain macromolecules (polymers) inside their aqueous core. This process is a result of the vesicle maximizing the translational entropy of the encapsulated polymers (depletion volume effect). Because the cell is a lipid membrane bag containing highly concentrated biopolymers, this coupling process that is induced by physical and nonspecific interactions may have a general importance in the self-reproduction of the early cellular compartments.
Evaluation of bactericidal effects of low‐temperature nitrogen gas plasma towards application to short‐time sterilization
Authors: Kawamura Kumiko , Sakuma Ayaka , Nakamura Yuka , Oguri Tomoko , Sato Natsumi , Kido Nobuo
Published: April 2012

To develop a novel low‐temperature plasma sterilizer using pure N2 gas as a plasma source, we evaluated bactericidal ability of a prototype apparatus provided by NGK Insulators. After determination of the sterilizing conditions without the cold spots, the D value of the BI of Geobacillus stearothermophilus endospores on the filter paper was determined as 1.9 min. However, the inactivation efficiency of BI carrying the same endospores on SUS varied to some extent, suggesting that the bactericidal effect might vary by materials of sterilized instruments. Staphylococcus aureus and Escherichia coli were also exposed to the N2 gas plasma and confirmed to be inactivated within 30 min. Through the evaluation of bactericidal efficiency in a sterilization bag, we concluded that the UV photons in the plasma and the high‐voltage pulse to generate the gas plasma were not concerned with the bactericidal effect of the N2 gas plasma. Bactericidal effect might be exhibited by activated nitrogen atoms or molecular radicals.
Sex differences in habitat use by African elephants (Loxodonta africana) in the Okavango Delta, Botswana: is size really the deciding factor?
Authors: Evans Kate , Harris Stephen
Published: April 2012

Many sexually dimorphic mammals show sexual segregation of habitat use. We studied habitat selection and use by male and female elephants in the Okavango Delta, and males of different ages and therefore sizes, to assess whether size was a driving force behind any sex differences in habitat selectivity. There was variation in habitat choices, with males preferring island vegetation and mopane woodland and avoiding grassland/floodplain and Terminalia woodland; females showed no selection for or against most habitats other than selecting for mopane woodland in the rainy season. Male habitat choice changed dramatically during the dry season, when resources were most limited and there was the least sexual difference in habitat selection. Females were more selective in the flood season, when access to resources was restricted. Contrary to other studies and the forage selection hypothesis, males showed greater habitat selectivity than females, but age, and therefore size, did not affect their habitat selection. Whilst our data suggested that males were superior competitors, we could not discount that females excluded males from preferred habitats. In the Okavango Delta, habitat selection by male elephants may be more dependent on social groupings, and hence the decisions of others, than individual size and energetic requirements.
Challenging behaviour in out‐of‐home care: use of attachment ideas in practice
Authors: McLean Sara , Riggs Damien , Kettler Lisa , Delfabbro Paul
Published: April 2012

Children in out‐of‐home care that demonstrate challenging behaviour are often thought of as ‘attachment disordered’. Our understanding of what this might mean for practice is not well developed. In this study, 92 South Australian stakeholders were interviewed about how they understood extremely challenging behaviour amongst school‐age children in out‐of‐home care. Participants consistently described behaviour as arising from attachment difficulties. Despite this, there were a variety of ways that a child's attachment needs were conceptualized, which appeared to be inconsistent with contemporary attachment theory. Thematic analysis yielded four implicit views about children's attachment: attachment as capacity that is limited, attachment as skill that children can learn and transfer to other relationships, attachment as unachievable for some children and an idealized view of attachment as a close and trusting relationship. These possible misconceptions about attachment and attachment needs and their relationship to the development of challenging behaviour are discussed in terms of attachment informed research and theory. The possible implications for placement practice and policy for children in out‐of‐home care are discussed.
The complexity of allergic patients' IgE repertoire correlates with serum concentration of allergen‐specific IgE
Authors: Willumsen N. , Holm J. , Christensen L. H. , Würtzen P. A. , Lund K.
Published: April 2012

Background

The governing factor of both effector‐cell activation and facilitated antigen presentation is IgE‐repertoire complexity (IgE‐clonality, ‐affinity and ‐concentration). Yet, the compositions of individual IgE repertoires and correlation between IgE‐repertoire complexity and establishment of allergic sensitization remain to be determined.

Objective

In complex formation assays with recombinant IgE, allergen and CD23+ B cells, we assess the composition of serum IgE repertoires and examine the correlation between IgE‐titre and IgE‐repertoire complexity.

Methods

The capacity of sera, from house dust mite‐sensitized individuals, to mediate IgE–Der p 2–CD23 complex formation on CD23+ B cells was measured. In parallel experiments, the effect of supplementing each serum with one or more Der p 2‐specific monoclonal recombinant IgE antibodies on complex formation was determined.

Results

Only sera with the highest concentration of Der p 2‐specific IgE resulted in complex formation without supplementary recombinant IgE. Intermediately titred sera supported complex formation to various degrees when supplemented with individual recombinant IgE. The degree of complex formation depended on the affinity and epitope specificity of the recombinant IgE. Complex formation by combining serum and recombinant IgEs could not be obtained with sera of relatively low titres of specific IgE. However, these sera had the capacity to dramatically enhance the low complex formation achieved with pairs of affinity‐engineered recombinant IgEs.

Conclusion and Clinical Relevance

Serum IgE complexity can be indirectly assessed by combining sera with defined monoclonal IgEs in IgE–allergen–CD23 complex assays. The observed differences in epitope‐coverage of Der p 2‐specific serum‐IgE in sera of different specific IgE titres indicate that increased IgE titres correlate with increased complexity of the IgE‐repertoire. A detailed knowledge of the composition and complexity of allergen‐specific IgE repertoires (and the relation to IgE titre), particularly in the early phase of sensitization, may be used to improve the prediction of the persistence and severity of allergic symptoms, as well as the progression of the Allergic March.
The relationship between body composition and fracture risk using the FRAX model in central south Chinese postmenopausal women
Authors: Zhang Zhimin , Shen Xiangmin , Zhang Hongbing , Li Shuang , Zhou Houde , Wu Xiyu , Sheng Zhifeng , Liao Eryuan
Published: April 2012

Objectives

To assess the relationship between body composition and fracture risk as determined by the FRAX® model in postmenopausal women in central south China.

Methods

A cross‐sectional study was conducted in 779 women. Bone mineral density (BMD) of the left femur and total body composition were measured by dual X‐ray absorptiometry. All clinical information was available for incorporation into the FRAX model to assess the 10‐year fracture probability.

Results

In the FRAX model, when BMD values were included, the 10‐year probability of major osteoporotic fractures and hip fractures was 3·4% and 1·0%, respectively, which was significantly higher than the probability rates of 2·7% and 0·8%, respectively, for the same events when BMD values were not included (P < 0·01). Both fat mass and lean mass were negatively correlated with the predicted 10‐year probability of fracture (P < 0·01), and femoral neck BMD was the most significant determinant of the predicted 10‐year fracture probability. Compared with fat mass, lean mass had more impact on the 10‐year probability of both major and hip osteoporotic fractures.

Conclusion

In postmenopausal women in central south China, both fat mass and lean mass were negatively correlated with the predicted 10‐year fracture probability. The effect of lean mass and fat mass on fracture risk may be mediated through their impact on BMD. Compared with fat mass, lean mass had more of an impact on the risk of both major osteoporotic and hip fractures, showing that physical activity is an important component in the prevention of osteoporotic fracture.
Enhanced growth at low population density in Daphnia: the absence of crowding effects or relief from visual predation?
Authors: GLIWICZ Z. MACIEJ , MASZCZYK PIOTR , USZKO WOJCIECH
Published: April 2012

1. It has been suggested that chemical information from crowded populations of an animal such as Daphnia carries a cue indicating imminent food limitation, and we suggest that in the presence of fish kairomones, it may also convey a hint of the need to enhance antipredation defences.

2. We performed two‐factorial experiments with Daphnia grown in flow‐through plankton chambers in medium containing high levels of Scenedesmus food plus chemical information on either low or high population density levels and in the presence or absence of fish chemical cues (kairomones) and recorded (i) the effects on Daphnia growth rate and reproduction, and (ii) the effects on Daphnia depth selection. Further depth‐selection experiments were performed to test the reaction of Daphnia to crowding information at different Daphnia concentrations and to test its effect on daytime and night‐time depth selection by different Daphnia instars in the presence of kairomones.

3. The effects of crowding information alone (in the absence of kairomones) were weak and were not significantly strengthened by the addition of kairomones. The effects of kairomones alone (in the absence of crowding information) were much stronger and were increased by the presence of crowding chemicals: Daphnia selected greater depths in daylight (the later the instar and the larger its body size, the greater the depth), their body growth was slower and daily reproductive investment reduced, compared with Daphnia grown in the absence of crowding information. This suggested that crowding chemicals carry a cue indicating the need to invest more into antipredation defences.

4. The adaptive significance of these effects was confirmed by the differential vulnerability to predation of the Daphnia when offered as prey to live roach after being grown for 6 days either in the presence (higher vulnerability) or in the absence (lower vulnerability) of information on high density.

5. The strong interaction between crowding information and fish kairomones may be explained either as the reaction to a cue indicating impending food stress or as the reaction to a signal of increased predation risk. While the former scenario is already known from crowding studies, the latter is a novel idea that stems from the old concept of ‘low‐density anti‐predation refuge’. The two scenarios are not mutually exclusive: each stems from the need to invest in survival rather than in growth and reproduction [Corrections were made to this paragraph after first online publication on 4 April 2012].
SCCA‐IC serum levels are predictive of clinical response in HCV chronic hepatitis to antiviral therapy: a multicentric prospective study
Authors: Fransvea E. , Trerotoli P. , Sacco R. , Bernabucci V. , Milella M. , Napoli N. , Mazzocca A. , Renna E. , Quaranta M. , Angarano G. , Villa E. , Antonaci S. , Giannelli G.
Published: April 2012

Summary.  The combination of pegylated interferon (Peg‐IFN) and ribavirin is currently the gold standard therapy in patients with HCV chronic infection. The duration of therapy, as well as the therapeutic dosage, depend on the genotype. Identification of the genotype and rapid virological response (RVR) are widely accepted as the most important predictors of clinical outcome during antiviral therapy but to optimize cost‐benefits and to reduce possible side effects, further prognostic factors are needed. Squamous cell carcinoma antigens immunocomplex (SCCA‐IC) has been reported to be increased in the serum of patients with liver cancer. In this multicentric prospective study, we investigated the serum levels of SCCA‐IC in 103 patients with HCV chronic infection. Serum HCV‐RNA was detected before the beginning of treatment, after 4, 12, 24 or 48 weeks, and at week 24 during follow‐up. RVR, early virological response and sustained virological response (SVR) were assessed following the international guidelines. SCCA‐IC levels were higher in responders (238 AU, interquartile difference 130–556 AU) and decreased significantly to 125 AU (70–290 AU). The mean baseline value in nonresponders was 149 AU (86.5–306.5 AU), but after 4 weeks of treatment the serum levels decreased to 115 AU (80–280 AU): the profile of reduction was different between patients with or without a positive SVR. Logistic regression with SVR as dependent variable identified as significant independent variables: the reduction in SCCA‐IC after 1 month (OR = 4.82; 95% CI 1.39–16.67; P = 0.131) and a genotype other than 1 (OR = 0.094; 95% CI 0.21–0.42; P = 0.002); sex and age were also significant factors influencing SVR. SCCA‐IC seems to be a reliable independent prognostic marker of therapeutic effectiveness in anti‐HCV positive patients undergoing antiviral therapy.
Parental genome imbalance in Brassica oleracea causes asymmetric triploid block
Authors: Stoute Andrew I. , Varenko Valentyna , King Graham J. , Scott Roderick J. , Kurup Smita
Published: April 2012

Interploidy crosses fail in many plant species due to abnormalities in endosperm development. In the inbreeding species Arabidopsis thaliana, both paternal and maternal excess interploidy crosses usually result in viable seed that exhibit parent‐of‐origin effects on endosperm development and final seed size. Paternal excess crosses result in extended proliferation of the endosperm and larger seeds, while conversely maternal excess crosses result in early endosperm cellularisation and smaller seeds. Investigations into the effect of parental gene dosage on seed development have revealed that MADS box transcription factors, particularly the AGAMOUS‐like family, play important roles in controlling endosperm proliferation. The important crop genus Brassica contains self‐incompatible outbreeding species and has a larger and more complex genome than the closely related Arabidopsis. Here we show that although Brassica oleracea displays strong parent‐of‐origin effects on seed development, triploid block due to lethal disruption of endosperm development was restricted to paternal excess, with maternal excess crosses yielding viable seed. In addition, transcriptome analyses of Brassica homologues of Arabidopsis genes linked to parent‐of‐origin effects revealed conservation of some mechanisms controlling aspects endosperm behaviour in the two species. However, there were also differences that may explain the failure of the paternal excess cross in B. oleracea.
How twins differ: multiple pregnancy and the use of health care in the 2008 Nigeria Demographic and Health Survey
Authors: McDonald Andrea M. , Campbell Oona M. R.
Published: April 2012

Objectives  To (i) document the incidence of multiplicity in Nigeria, (ii) compare healthcare utilization during pregnancy and at delivery for singleton and multiple pregnancies (iii)and investigate whether antenatal care modifies the relationship between multiplicity and likelihood of having skilled attendance.

Methods  This observational study was a secondary analysis of the 2008 Nigeria Demographic and Health Survey and included 17 635 women who gave birth to a live infant between 2003 and 2008. Multivariate logistic regression with adjustment for weighting, clustering and confounding was used to investigate associations and look for effect modification.

Results  There were 18.5 multiple pregnancies per 1000 maternities. Multiple births had nearly six times the chance of neonatal mortality (AOR 5.74). Mothers with multiple births had more skilled attendance (AOR 1.75), but similar antenatal care utilization (AOR 0.95) as women with a singleton pregnancy. Women with multiple pregnancies attending antenatal care had more visits (mean 9.0 vs. 8.2), blood pressure checks (OR 1.52) and urine tests (OR 1.51). Although antenatal care was strongly associated with skilled attendance, there was no evidence that this was more so for twins than singletons.

Conclusions  Multiplicity in Nigeria is not just a common occurrence, but an indicator of a high‐risk pregnancy. The fact that the use of antenatal care by women with a multiple pregnancy is not associated with a disproportionately greater use of skilled delivery care raises questions about the quality of antenatal services. Services should encourage and link all women and especially high‐risk women to skilled attendance at delivery.
Co‐morbidity of complex genetic disorders and hypersomnias of central origin: lessons from the underlying neurobiology of wake and sleep
Authors: Weselake SV , Wevrick R
Published: April 2012

Appropriate wake and sleep cycles are important to physical well‐being, and are modulated by neuronal networks in the brain. A variety of medical conditions can disrupt sleep or cause excessive daytime sleepiness. Clinical diagnostic classification schemes have historically lumped genetic disorders together into a category that considers the sleep dysfunction to be secondary to a medical condition. The unique nature of sleep endophenotypes that occur more frequently in particular genetic disorders has been underappreciated. Increased understanding of the pathophysiology of wake/sleep dysfunction in rare genetic disorders could inform studies of the neurological mechanisms that underlie more common forms of wake and sleep dysfunction. In this review, we highlight genetic developmental disorders in which sleep endophenotypes have been described, and then consider genetic neurodegenerative disorders with sleep characteristics that set them apart from the disruptions to sleep that are typically associated with aging and dementia.
Initiation of the synthesis of ‘stress’ ABA by (+)‐[2H6]ABA infiltrated into leaves of Commelina communis
Authors: Georgopoulou Zoe , Milborrow Barry V.
Published: April 2012

The ‘fettered’ fraction of abscisic acid (ABA) that is held within the chloroplasts of unwilted bean and Commelina communis leaves is released when the leaves wilt and it is this ‘free’ ABA that is now proposed to cause the stomata to close within 2 or 3 min, well before the rise in total ABA can be detected. The large increase in ‘stress’ ABA begins 2–3 h later. The fettered ABA in a centrifuged homogenate is released by hyperosmotic solutions of mannitol (0.8 M) and NaCl (0.4 M). Dilute solution of halothane (10 mM) and colchicine (1 mM), the detergent sodium dodecyl sulphate (1 mM) the herbicide 2,4‐d (0.1 mM) and dithiothreitol (0.01 mM) also caused ABA to be released. Zeatin (0.01 mM), cumene hydroperoxide (0.01 mM) and CaCl2(1 mM) had negligible effects. It was postulated that the ABA released from the chloroplasts by wilting could be the signal that initiates the synthesis of the dioxygenase and other enzymes necessary to produce the rise (up to 40‐fold) in the amount of stress ABA that is seen 2–3 h later. To test this hypothesis, a solution of (+)‐[2H6]ABA was vacuum infiltrated into unwilted Commelina leaves to mimic the rise in ABA caused by wilting and gas chromatography/mass spectrometry of the ABA in the extract after 3 h showed that concentrations of (+)‐[2H6]ABA of up to 0.3 µM stimulated synthesis of endogenous [1H]ABA by 15‐fold in the unwilted leaves. A 0.5 µM solution blocked the increase in the amount of ABA formed and also reduced the amount of ABA formed in response to a 0.8 M mannitol solution.