bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Make me proud! Singapore 2010 Youth Olympic Games and its effect on national pride of young Singaporeans
Authors: Leng Ho Keat , Kuo Tzu-Yin , Baysa-Pee Grain , Tay Josephine
Published: December 2012

Politicians and sports organizations have often relied on economic benefits to justify their decisions in hosting major sports events in their countries. Consequently, there are comparatively few studies on the non-economic benefits of hosting major sports events. The purpose of this research is to determine whether there is any change in the level of national pride in the hosting of the Youth Olympics Games held recently in Singapore in 2010. Two separate surveys were conducted among students from a tertiary education institution in Singapore two months prior to, and after, the event. Results showed a significant increase in the level of national pride. Specifically, the increases in the level of national pride were more pronounced among males and those who were more involved in sports. The results concur with previous studies that have reported an increase in national pride following the hosting of a major sports event. As this is a case study focusing on the Youth Olympic Games, which arguably is on a distinctly smaller scale compared to the Olympics or the FIFA World Cup, future research needs to be conducted on other major sports events to determine the generalizability of the findings.
Adult Learning Meets the Green Economy
Authors: Wagner Cecelia
Published: December 2012

The new green economy affects adult education and workforce development as adult workers seek skills and knowledge that will help them find success in work and life. Recent years have brought about increased interest in and discussion of training for green jobs. Since the introduction of the Green Jobs Act in 2007, questions about how exactly to train workers for jobs in the changing economy have drawn attention from legislators, educators, and the public at large. Demand for new skill sets and refocused expertise requires workers and educators to not only refine basic skills but also create learning opportunities that meet the needs of the contemporary workplace. This article examines issues, challenges, and implications related to the development of a model for green jobs education. The Green Jobs training project of the Institute for Career Development offers perspective on what education and training programs can do to help ready learners to enter the green economy.
Research on ultrafast wavelength conversion device by using tellurite glass
Authors: Mitachi Seiko , Nagahara Yuji
Published: December 2012

In the wavelength-division multiplexing network, high-performance optical wavelength converters are desired. This article will report very stable second harmonic generation by using tellurite glasses, second harmonic generation comparison in glass materials, and time-dependent change of second harmonic generation. We obtained 9 times larger second harmonic generation using TeO2 (60 mol%)–WO3 (30 mol%)–Bi2O3 (10 mol%) than using TeO2 (60 mol%)–WO3 (30 mol%)–PbO (10 mol%) glass. This value corresponds to 4.6 times higher than d11 constant of Y-cut quartz (0.4 pm/V). We have succeeded permanent poling by measurement of time-dependent change of second harmonic generation because there could not be found second harmonic generation intensity change after 6 months of poling at room temperature, and there was no decay of second harmonic generation intensity after 4 h of heating at 100°C.
Religious Value Priming, Threat, and Political Tolerance
Authors: Djupe Paul A. , Calfano Brian R.
Published: December 2012

The exploration of the religious underpinnings of intolerance has long focused on the effects of religious behaviors and beliefs, but has ignored a variety of important facets of the religious experience that should bear on tolerance judgments: elite communication, religious values about how the world should be ordered, and social networks in churches. We focus on the communication of religious values and argue specifically that values should affect threat judgments and thus affect tolerance judgments indirectly. We test these assertions using data gathered in a survey experiment and find that priming exclusive religious values augments threat and thus reduces tolerance.
Picture This . . . Safety, Dignity, and Voice—Ethical Research With Children
Authors: Phelan Shanon K. , Kinsella Elizabeth Anne
Published: December 2012

While engaged in a research project involving the use of visual methods with children, the authors discovered that there are many ethical considerations beyond what could have been predicted at the outset. Some of these considerations are important with respect to research with children in general, while others arise more particularly when using visual methods. Framed around the two broad categories of procedural ethics and ethics in practice, five areas of ethical concern are considered: (a) assent or willingness to participate, (b) informed consent and assent using visual methods, (c) issues of disclosure, (d) power imbalances, and (e) representations of the child. The authors propose that researcher reflexivity on ethically important moments lies at the heart of living ethical practice in qualitative research and that the ideals of enabling child safety, dignity, and voice serve as useful guides in the quest for ethical practices in research with children.
Problematizing a Researcher’s Performance of “Insider Status”
Authors: Scott Julie-Ann
Published: December 2012

This article struggles with the complications of a researcher claiming insider status in an analysis of physically disabled professionals’ narratives as performance of identity when some participants actively resist the idea that the researcher can access their experiences through her body that is more or less disabled than theirs. Through applying reflexive autoethnographic techniques the researcher interweaves stories from her past with the stories of three participants who compared their bodies to her own: one who identifies herself more disabled, one who identifies herself as less, and one who co-indentifies as having a similar embodied experience. The researcher explores the potential consequences of claiming “insider status” in qualitative research and how her body (noticeably disabled, but not requiring accommodation and often passing for an athletic injury), allows her privileges that can further marginalize those with more physical challenges and those who need accommodations but can pass for able-bodied.
Peckernite Poetry
Authors: Lahman Maria
Published: December 2012

The author, a research poet, research professor, and Mennonite, through poetry reflects on her inherited faith and the inherent tension between the need/desire to publish empirical research of others and empirical research of oneself. The memory of the childhood insult Peckernite frames her poetic stance.
In His Own Time
Authors: Giorgio Grace
Published: December 2012

“In his own time: An autoethnographic memorial” pays tribute to how my life partner, “Jake,” toiled to rehabilitate his life after great loss and struggle, while rebuilding an old family house. As Jake cleaned the debris and tuck-pointed and laid brick, he also brought back to life a family heritage of honor and justice—“of doing right no matter the consequences.” Writing from what Ellen Fine (1988) calls “absent memory,” memory that is observed and felt in witnessing the lives of others, yet is silenced, allowed me to find my own voice and place in the family and on the family land. “In his own time: An autoethnographic memorial” invites the reader to witness the rejuvenation of lives lived and lost as represented by the remaking of an old family house into something of its own.
A Preliminary Investigation of the Relation Between Thyroid Functioning and Sluggish Cognitive Tempo in Children
Authors: Becker Stephen P. , Luebbe Aaron M. , Greening Leilani , Fite Paula J. , Stoppelbein Laura
Published: December 2012

Objective: To test the hypothesis that thyroid functioning would be uniquely associated with sluggish cognitive tempo (SCT) symptoms but not Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (4th ed.; DSM-IV) symptoms of ADHD. Method: Serum thyroid stimulating hormone (TSH) was collected from a sample of psychiatrically hospitalized children ( N = 570; ages = 6-12), with rates of TSH similar to those found in the normative pediatric population. Caregivers completed narrowband measures of SCT and ADHD symptoms and broadband measures of internalizing/externalizing symptoms. Results: A significant, positive relation was found between TSH concentration and SCT symptoms, but not between TSH and ADHD symptoms. Furthermore, regression analyses indicated that the association between TSH and SCT remained significant after controlling for child demographic characteristics, broadband measures of internalizing and externalizing symptoms, and ADHD symptoms. However, effects were small in magnitude. Conclusion: Although preliminary, results indicate that thyroid functioning may be related to SCT. Given the small effects, however, it is important for future research to examine other endocrine and biological correlates that may inform models of the developmental psychopathology of SCT.
Credit, time, and personality: The human challenges to sharing scholarly work using Web 2.0
Authors: Acord Sophia Krzys , Harley Diane
Published: December 2012

Funding bodies, the economics of publishing, and the affordances of Web 2.0 platforms have spurred learned societies, publishers, and scholars to experiment with new media venues for scholarly communication. Why, then, have we seen few widespread changes in how scholars disseminate research in most disciplines? Drawing on qualitative interview data from the Mellon-funded Future of Scholarly Communication Project (2005–2011), we describe how scholars share their work-in-progress and the disciplinary values driving these practices. We then discuss credit, time, and personality as significant barriers to change across disciplines, and we explore these obstacles through an examination of two new paradigms for sharing: open peer review and data sharing. By situating larger discussions about the future of scholarly communication in the everyday lives of scholars, we argue that integration with disciplinary cultures will be key to the success of new media initiatives.
Geography Education and Citizenship Education in Portugal
Authors: Esteves Maria Helena
Published: December 2012

The contribution of geography education to citizenship education is recognized by geography educators. Still, globalization created new territories and new “borders” not always easy to cross—but they all exist and coexist giving new meanings to the idea of space appropriation. Geographical space has gained all these dimensions and can no longer be viewed in terms of its materiality. This article addresses the concept of citizenship education for Portuguese geography teachers within the multicultural nature of Portuguese society and schools. A final reference is given to the importance of cities as places of citizenship education.
Inclusion of cow records in genomic evaluations and impact on bias due to preferential treatment
Authors: Dassonneville Romain , Baur Aurelia , Fritz Sébastien , Boichard Didier , Ducrocq Vincent
Published: December 2012

Background

Today, genomic evaluations are an essential feature of dairy cattle breeding. Initially, genomic evaluation targeted young bulls but recently, a rapidly increasing number of females (both heifers and cows) are being genotyped. A rising issue is whether and how own performance of genotyped cows should be included in genomic evaluations. The purpose of this study was to assess the impact of including yield deviations, i.e. own performance of cows, in genomic evaluations.

Methods

Two different genomic evaluations were performed: one including only reliable daughter yield deviations of proven bulls based on their non-genotyped daughters, and one including both daughter yield deviations for males and own yield deviations for genotyped females. Milk yield, the trait most prone to preferential treatment, and somatic cell count, for which such a bias is very unlikely, were studied. Data consisted of two groups of animals from the three main dairy breeds in France: 11 884 elite females genotyped by breeding companies and 7032 cows genotyped for a research project (and considered as randomly selected from the commercial population).

Results

For several measures that could be related to preferential treatment bias, the elite group presented a different pattern of estimated breeding values for milk yield compared to the other combinations of trait and group: for instance, for milk yield, the average difference between estimated breeding values with or without own yield deviations was significantly different from 0 for this group. Correlations between estimated breeding values with or without yield deviations were lower for elite females than for randomly selected cows for milk yield but were very similar for somatic cell count.

Conclusions

This study demonstrated that including own milk performance of elite females leads to biased (over-estimated) genomic evaluations. Thus, milk production records of elite cows require specific treatment in genomic evaluation.
Copy number variation signature to predict human ancestry
Authors: Pronold Melissa , Vali Marzieh , Pique-Regi Roger , Asgharzadeh Shahab
Published: December 2012

Background

Copy number variations (CNVs) are genomic structural variants that are found in healthy populations and have been observed to be associated with disease susceptibility. Existing methods for CNV detection are often performed on a sample-by-sample basis, which is not ideal for large datasets where common CNVs must be estimated by comparing the frequency of CNVs in the individual samples. Here we describe a simple and novel approach to locate genome-wide CNVs common to a specific population, using human ancestry as the phenotype.

Results

We utilized our previously published Genome Alteration Detection Analysis (GADA) algorithm to identify common ancestry CNVs (caCNVs) and built a caCNV model to predict population structure. We identified a 73 caCNV signature using a training set of 225 healthy individuals from European, Asian, and African ancestry. The signature was validated on an independent test set of 300 individuals with similar ancestral background. The error rate in predicting ancestry in this test set was 2% using the 73 caCNV signature. Among the caCNVs identified, several were previously confirmed experimentally to vary by ancestry. Our signature also contains a caCNV region with a single microRNA (MIR270), which represents the first reported variation of microRNA by ancestry.

Conclusions

We developed a new methodology to identify common CNVs and demonstrated its performance by building a caCNV signature to predict human ancestry with high accuracy. The utility of our approach could be extended to large case–control studies to identify CNV signatures for other phenotypes such as disease susceptibility and drug response.
Adaptive evolution by recombination is not associated with increased mutation rates in Maize streak virus
Authors: Monjane Adérito L , Pande Daniel , Lakay Francisco , Shepherd Dionne N , van der Walt Eric , Lefeuvre Pierre , Lett Jean-Michel , Varsani Arvind , Rybicki Edward P , Martin Darren P
Published: December 2012

Background

Single-stranded (ss) DNA viruses in the family Geminiviridae are proving to be very useful in real-time evolution studies. The high mutation rate of geminiviruses and other ssDNA viruses is somewhat mysterious in that their DNA genomes are replicated in host nuclei by high fidelity host polymerases. Although strand specific mutation biases observed in virus species from the geminivirus genus Mastrevirus indicate that the high mutation rates in viruses in this genus may be due to mutational processes that operate specifically on ssDNA, it is currently unknown whether viruses from other genera display similar strand specific mutation biases. Also, geminivirus genomes frequently recombine with one another and an alternative cause of their high mutation rates could be that the recombination process is either directly mutagenic or produces a selective environment in which the survival of mutants is favoured. To investigate whether there is an association between recombination and increased basal mutation rates or increased degrees of selection favoring the survival of mutations, we compared the mutation dynamics of the MSV-MatA and MSV-VW field isolates of Maize streak virus (MSV; Mastrevirus), with both a laboratory constructed MSV recombinant, and MSV recombinants closely resembling MSV-MatA. To determine whether strand specific mutation biases are a general characteristic of geminivirus evolution we compared mutation spectra arising during these MSV experiments with those arising during similar experiments involving the geminivirus Tomato yellow leaf curl virus (Begomovirus genus).

Results

Although both the genomic distribution of mutations and the occurrence of various convergent mutations at specific genomic sites indicated that either mutation hotspots or selection for adaptive mutations might elevate observed mutation rates in MSV, we found no association between recombination and mutation rates. Importantly, when comparing the mutation spectra of MSV and TYLCV we observed similar strand specific mutation biases arising predominantly from imbalances in the complementary mutations G → T: C → A.

Conclusions

While our results suggest that recombination does not strongly influence mutation rates in MSV, they indicate that high geminivirus mutation rates are at least partially attributable to increased susceptibility of all geminivirus genomes to oxidative damage while in a single stranded state.
Evolutionary mechanisms driving the evolution of a large polydnavirus gene family coding for protein tyrosine phosphatases
Authors: Serbielle Céline , Dupas Stéphane , Perdereau Elfie , Héricourt François , Dupuy Catherine , Huguet Elisabeth , Drezen Jean-Michel
Published: December 2012

Background

Gene duplications have been proposed to be the main mechanism involved in genome evolution and in acquisition of new functions. Polydnaviruses (PDVs), symbiotic viruses associated with parasitoid wasps, are ideal model systems to study mechanisms of gene duplications given that PDV genomes consist of virulence genes organized into multigene families. In these systems the viral genome is integrated in a wasp chromosome as a provirus and virus particles containing circular double-stranded DNA are injected into the parasitoids’ hosts and are essential for parasitism success. The viral virulence factors, organized in gene families, are required collectively to induce host immune suppression and developmental arrest. The gene family which encodes protein tyrosine phosphatases (PTPs) has undergone spectacular expansion in several PDV genomes with up to 42 genes.

Results

Here, we present strong indications that PTP gene family expansion occurred via classical mechanisms: by duplication of large segments of the chromosomally integrated form of the virus sequences (segmental duplication), by tandem duplications within this form and by dispersed duplications. We also propose a novel duplication mechanism specific to PDVs that involves viral circle reintegration into the wasp genome. The PTP copies produced were shown to undergo conservative evolution along with episodes of adaptive evolution. In particular recently produced copies have undergone positive selection in sites most likely involved in defining substrate selectivity.

Conclusion

The results provide evidence about the dynamic nature of polydnavirus proviral genomes. Classical and PDV-specific duplication mechanisms have been involved in the production of new gene copies. Selection pressures associated with antagonistic interactions with parasitized hosts have shaped these genes used to manipulate lepidopteran physiology with evidence for positive selection involved in adaptation to host targets.
Comparison of metagenomic samples using sequence signatures
Authors: Jiang Bai , Song Kai , Ren Jie , Deng Minghua , Sun Fengzhu , Zhang Xuegong
Published: December 2012

Background

Sequence signatures, as defined by the frequencies ofk-tuples (ork-mers,k-grams), have been used extensively to compare genomic sequences of individual organisms, to identifycis-regulatory modules, and to study the evolution of regulatory sequences. Recently many next-generation sequencing (NGS) read data sets of metagenomic samples from a variety of different environments have been generated. The assembly of these reads can be difficult and analysis methods based on mapping reads to genes or pathways are also restricted by the availability and completeness of existing databases. Sequence-signature-based methods, however, do not need the complete genomes or existing databases and thus, can potentially be very useful for the comparison of metagenomic samples using NGS read data. Still, the applications of sequence signature methods for the comparison of metagenomic samples have not been well studied.

Results

We studied several dissimilarity measures, includingd2,d2*andd2Srecently developed from our group, a measure (hereinafter noted asHao) used in CVTree developed from Hao’s group (Qiet al., 2004), measures based on relative di-, tri-, and tetra-nucleotide frequencies as in Willneret al. (2009), as well as standardlpmeasures between the frequency vectors, for the comparison of metagenomic samples using sequence signatures. We compared their performance using a series of extensive simulations and three real next-generation sequencing (NGS) metagenomic datasets: 39 fecal samples from 33 mammalian host species, 56 marine samples across the world, and 13 fecal samples from human individuals. Results showed that the dissimilarity measured2Scan achieve superior performance when comparing metagenomic samples by clustering them into different groups as well as recovering environmental gradients affecting microbial samples. New insights into the environmental factors affecting microbial compositions in metagenomic samples are obtained through the analyses. Our results show that sequence signatures of the mammalian gut are closely associated with diet and gut physiology of the mammals, and that sequence signatures of marine communities are closely related to location and temperature.

Conclusions

Sequence signatures can successfully reveal major group and gradient relationships among metagenomic samples from NGS reads without alignment to reference databases. Thed2Sdissimilarity measure is a good choice in all application scenarios. The optimal choice of tuple size depends on sequencing depth, but it is quite robust within a range of choices for moderate sequencing depths.
How deep is deep enough for RNA-Seq profiling of bacterial transcriptomes?
Authors: Haas Brian J , Chin Melissa , Nusbaum Chad , Birren Bruce W , Livny Jonathan
Published: December 2012

Background

High-throughput sequencing of cDNA libraries (RNA-Seq) has proven to be a highly effective approach for studying bacterial transcriptomes. A central challenge in designing RNA-Seq-based experiments is estimating a priori the number of reads per sample needed to detect and quantify thousands of individual transcripts with a large dynamic range of abundance.

Results

We have conducted a systematic examination of how changes in the number of RNA-Seq reads per sample influences both profiling of a single bacterial transcriptome and the comparison of gene expression among samples. Our findings suggest that the number of reads typically produced in a single lane of the Illumina HiSeq sequencer far exceeds the number needed to saturate the annotated transcriptomes of diverse bacteria growing in monoculture. Moreover, as sequencing depth increases, so too does the detection of cDNAs that likely correspond to spurious transcripts or genomic DNA contamination. Finally, even when dozens of barcoded individual cDNA libraries are sequenced in a single lane, the vast majority of transcripts in each sample can be detected and numerous genes differentially expressed between samples can be identified.

Conclusions

Our analysis provides a guide for the many researchers seeking to determine the appropriate sequencing depth for RNA-Seq-based studies of diverse bacterial species.
Identification of a novel Getah virus by Virus-Discovery-cDNA random amplified polymorphic DNA (RAPD)
Authors: Hu Tingsong , Zheng Ying , Zhang Yan , Li Gangshan , Qiu Wei , Yu Jing , Cui Qinghua , Wang Yiyin , Zhang Chaoxiong , Zhou Xiaofang , Feng Ziliang , Zhou Weiguo , Fan Quanshui , Zhang Fuqiang
Published: December 2012

Background

The identification of new virus strains is important for the study of infectious disease, but current (or existing) molecular biology methods are limited since the target sequence must be known to design genome-specific PCR primers. Thus, we developed a new method for the discovery of unknown viruses based on the cDNA - random amplified polymorphic DNA (cDNA-RAPD) technique. Getah virus, belonging to the family Togaviridae in the genus Alphavirus, is a mosquito-borne enveloped RNA virus that was identified using the Virus-Discovery-cDNA RAPD (VIDISCR) method.

Results

A novel Getah virus was identified by VIDISCR from suckling mice exposed to mosquitoes (Aedes albopictus) collected in Yunnan Province, China. The non-structural protein gene, nsP3, the structural protein gene, the capsid protein gene, and the 3'-untranslated region (UTR) of the novel Getah virus isolate were cloned and sequenced. Nucleotide sequence identities of each gene were determined to be 97.1–99.3%, 94.9–99.4%, and 93.6–99.9%, respectively, when compared with the genomes of 10 other representative strains of Getah virus.

Conclusions

The VIDISCR method was able to identify known virus isolates and a novel isolate of Getah virus from infected mice. Phylogenetic analysis indicated that the YN08 isolate was more closely related to the Hebei HB0234 strain than the YN0540 strain, and more genetically distinct from the MM2021 Malaysia primitive strain.
PyroTRF-ID: a novel bioinformatics methodology for the affiliation of terminal-restriction fragments using 16S rRNA gene pyrosequencing data
Authors: Weissbrodt David G , Shani Noam , Sinclair Lucas , Lefebvre Grégory , Rossi Pierre , Maillard Julien , Rougemont Jacques , Holliger Christof
Published: December 2012

Background

In molecular microbial ecology, massive sequencing is gradually replacing classical fingerprinting techniques such as terminal-restriction fragment length polymorphism (T-RFLP) combined with cloning-sequencing for the characterization of microbiomes. Here, a bioinformatics methodology for pyrosequencing-based T-RF identification (PyroTRF-ID) was developed to combine pyrosequencing and T-RFLP approaches for the description of microbial communities. The strength of this methodology relies on the identification of T-RFs by comparison of experimental and digital T-RFLP profiles obtained from the same samples. DNA extracts were subjected to amplification of the 16S rRNA gene pool, T-RFLP with the HaeIII restriction enzyme, 454 tag encoded FLX amplicon pyrosequencing, and PyroTRF-ID analysis. Digital T-RFLP profiles were generated from the denoised full pyrosequencing datasets, and the sequences contributing to each digital T-RF were classified to taxonomic bins using the Greengenes reference database. The method was tested both on bacterial communities found in chloroethene-contaminated groundwater samples and in aerobic granular sludge biofilms originating from wastewater treatment systems.

Results

PyroTRF-ID was efficient for high-throughput mapping and digital T-RFLP profiling of pyrosequencing datasets. After denoising, a dataset comprising ca. 10′000 reads of 300 to 500 bp was typically processed within ca. 20 minutes on a high-performance computing cluster, running on a Linux-related CentOS 5.5 operating system, enabling parallel processing of multiple samples. Both digital and experimental T-RFLP profiles were aligned with maximum cross-correlation coefficients of 0.71 and 0.92 for high- and low-complexity environments, respectively. On average, 63±18% of all experimental T-RFs (30 to 93 peaks per sample) were affiliated to phylotypes.

Conclusions

PyroTRF-ID profits from complementary advantages of pyrosequencing and T-RFLP and is particularly adapted for optimizing laboratory and computational efforts to describe microbial communities and their dynamics in any biological system. The high resolution of the microbial community composition is provided by pyrosequencing, which can be performed on a restricted set of selected samples, whereas T-RFLP enables simultaneous fingerprinting of numerous samples at relatively low cost and is especially adapted for routine analysis and follow-up of microbial communities on the long run.
Hepatitis B Infection among high risk population: a seroepidemiological survey in Southwest of Iran
Authors: Khosravani Abdolmajid , Sarkari Bahador , Negahban Halimeh , Sharifi Asghar , Toori Mehdi Akbartabar , Eilami Owrang
Published: December 2012

Background

Hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection remains a major global health problem. This study aimed to assess the prevalence and risk behaviors for HBV infection among high risk groups in Kohgiloyeh and Boyerahmad province, in Southwest of Iran.

Methods

Blood samples were collected from 2009 subjects, between 2009 and 2010 in Kohgiloyeh and Boyerahmad province, in southwest of Iran. Recruited subjects were the high risk groups for HBV infection, including inmates, injecting drug users, health care workers, patients on maintenance haemodialysis, hemophilic patients and patients with a history of blood transfusion. Their serum samples were tested for the presence of antibodies to hepatitis B core antigen (HBc IgM, IgG) by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). Seropositive specimens were tested for HBsAg. Demographic features of participants were recorded during sample collecting.

Results

HBsAg was detected in 24 of the 2009 subjects, giving an overall prevalence of 1.2%. All HBsAg positive cases were males. The prevalence of HBsAg among injection drug users was 3.2%. Significant correlation was found between HBV infection and drug abuse, level of education and place of residence (p<0.05), while no significant correlation was found between HBV infection and previous history of blood transfusion, unprotected sexual behavior, and thalassemia.

Conclusion

Based on the findings of this study, incarceration and drug abuse are the most important risk factors for acquiring HBV infection in this region. Modifying behavior, improving the individual education and expanding the HBV vaccination coverage may reduce the rate of infection in the region.
Negative effect of smoking on the performance of the QuantiFERON TB gold in tube test
Authors: Aabye Martine G , Hermansen Thomas Stig , Ruhwald Morten , PrayGod George , Faurholt-Jepsen Daniel , Jeremiah Kidola , Faurholt-Jepsen Maria , Range Nyagosya , Friis Henrik , Changalucha John , Andersen Aase B , Ravn Pernille
Published: December 2012

Background

False negative and indeterminate Interferon Gamma Release Assay (IGRA) results are a well documented problem. Cigarette smoking is known to increase the risk of tuberculosis (TB) and to impair Interferon-gamma (IFN-γ) responses to antigenic challenge, but the impact of smoking on IGRA performance is not known. The aim of this study was to evaluate the effect of smoking on IGRA performance in TB patients in a low and high TB prevalence setting respectively.

Methods

Patients with confirmed TB from Denmark (DK, n = 34; 20 smokers) and Tanzania (TZ, n = 172; 23 smokers) were tested with the QuantiFERON-TB Gold In tube (QFT). Median IFN-γ level in smokers and non smokers were compared and smoking was analysed as a risk factor for false negative and indeterminate QFT results.

Results

Smokers from both DK and TZ had lower IFN-γ antigen responses (median 0.9 vs. 4.2 IU/ml, p = 0.04 and 0.4 vs. 1.6, p < 0.01), less positive (50 vs. 86%, p = 0.03 and 48 vs. 75%, p < 0.01) and more false negative (45 vs. 0%, p < 0.01 and 26 vs. 11%, p = 0.04) QFT results. In Tanzanian patients, logistic regression analysis adjusted for sex, age, HIV and alcohol consumption showed an association of smoking with false negative (OR 17.1, CI: 3.0-99.1, p < 0.01) and indeterminate QFT results (OR 5.1, CI: 1.2-21.3, p = 0.02).

Conclusions

Cigarette smoking was associated with false negative and indeterminate IGRA results in both a high and a low TB endemic setting independent of HIV status.
Primitive neuroectodermal tumor of the kidney: case report and review of literature
Authors: Sun Chuanyu , Du Zunguo , Tong Shijun , Xu Ke , Ding Weihong , Sun Jianliang , Ding Qiang
Published: December 2012

Background

Renal primitive neuroectodermal tumor (rPNET) as a member of Ewing’s sarcoma family is extremely rare and usually occurs in children and young adults. Most literature about rPNET was isolated case reports.

Case presentation

We reported a case of 45-year-old man with the complaint of right flank pain. Computerized tomography (CT) scan demonstrated a large substantive tumor involving the lower pole of the right kidney. Then the patient underwent radical nephrectomy. Pathologic characteristics and immunohistochemical analysis confirmed the diagnosis of rPNET. Additionally, the patient received three cycles of chemotherapy, and was still alive without metastasis at 15-months follow-up.

Conclusion

rPNET is rare and presents aggressive clinical behavior and worse prognosis. We expect that further awareness and study of this rare tumor can be had by presenting our case.
Impact of leachate on groundwater pollution due to non-engineered municipal solid waste landfill sites of erode city, Tamil Nadu, India
Authors: Nagarajan Rajkumar , Thirumalaisamy Subramani , Lakshumanan Elango
Published: December 2012

Leachate and groundwater samples were collected from Vendipalayam, Semur and Vairapalayam landfill sites in Erode city, Tamil Nadu, India, to study the possible impact of leachate percolation on groundwater quality. Concentrations of various physicochemical parameters including heavy metals (Cd, Cr, Cu, Fe, Ni, Pb, Fe and Zn) were determined in leachate samples and are reported. The concentrations of Cl-, NO3
-, SO4
2-, NH4
+ were found to be in considerable levels in the groundwater samples particularly near to the landfill sites, likely indicating that groundwater quality is being significantly affected by leachate percolation. Further they were proved to be the tracers for groundwater contamination near Semur and Vendipalayam dumpyards. The presence of contaminants in groundwater particularly near the landfill sites warns its quality and thus renders the associated aquifer unreliable for domestic water supply and other uses. Although some remedial measures are suggested to reduce further groundwater contamination via leachate percolation, the present study demands for the proper management of waste in Erode city.
Genetic association between APOE*4 and neuropsychiatric symptoms in patients with probable Alzheimer's disease is dependent on the psychosis phenotype
Authors: Christie Drew , Shofer Jane , Millard Steven P , Li Ellen , DeMichele-Sweet Mary Ann , Weamer Elise A , Kamboh M Ilyas , Lopez Oscar L , Sweet Robert A , Tsuang Debby
Published: December 2012

Background

Neuropsychiatric symptoms such as psychosis are prevalent in patients with probable Alzheimer’s disease (AD) and are associated with increased morbidity and mortality. Because these disabling symptoms are generally not well tolerated by caregivers, patients with these symptoms tend to be institutionalized earlier than patients without them. The identification of protective and risk factors for neuropsychiatric symptoms in AD would facilitate the development of more specific treatments for these symptoms and thereby decrease morbidity and mortality in AD. The E4 allele of the apolipoprotein E (APOE) gene is a well-documented risk factor for the development of AD. However, genetic association studies of the APOE 4 allele and BPS in AD have produced conflicting findings.

Methods

This study investigates the association between APOE and neuropsychiatric symptoms in a large sample of clinically well-characterized subjects with probable AD (n=790) who were systematically evaluated using the Consortium to Establish a Registry for Alzheimer’s Disease (CERAD) Behavioral Rating Scale for Dementia (BRSD).

Results

Our study found that hallucinations were significantly more likely to occur in subjects with no APOΕ 4 alleles than in subjects with two Ε4 alleles (15% of subjects and 5% of subjects, respectively; p=.0066), whereas there was no association between the occurrence of delusions, aberrant motor behavior, or agitation and the number of Ε4 alleles. However, 94% of the subjects with hallucinations also had delusions (D+H).

Conclusion

These findings suggest that in AD the Ε4 allele is differentially associated with D+H but not delusions alone. This is consistent with the hypothesis that distinct psychotic subphenotypes may be associated with the APOE allele.
Impact of pharmaceutical care on the quality of life of patients with Chagas disease and heart failure: randomized clinical trial
Authors: da Silva Gilberto M Sperandio , Chambela Mayara C , Sousa Andrea S , Sangenis Luiz Henrique C , Xavier Sergio S , Costa Andréa R , Brasil Pedro Emmanuel AA , Hasslocher-Moreno Alejandro M , Saraiva Roberto M
Published: December 2012

Background

Pharmaceutical care is the direct interaction between pharmacist and patient, in order to improve therapeutic compliance, promote adequate pharmacotherapeutic follow-up, and improve quality of life. Pharmaceutical care may be effective in reducing complications and in improving the quality of life of patients with chronic diseases, like Chagas heart disease, while bringing a positive impact on health system costs. The morbidity and mortality indexes for patients with Chagas heart disease are high, especially if this heart disease is complicated by heart failure. In this setting, we hypothesize that pharmaceutical care might be an important tool for the clinical management of these patients by improving their quality of life, as a better compliance to their treatment and the avoidance and prompt correction of drug-related problems will minimize their symptoms, improve their functional class, and decrease the number of hospital admissions. Therefore, the aim of this trial is to evaluate the contribution of pharmaceutical care to clinical treatment of patients with Chagas heart disease complicated by heart failure.

Methods/design

A prospective, single-center randomized clinical trial will be conducted in patients with Chagas heart disease complicated by heart failure. A total of 88 patients will be randomly assigned into two parallel groups: an intervention group will receive standard care and pharmaceutical care, and a control group will receive only standard care. Both groups will be subjected to a follow-up period of 12 months. The primary outcome of this trial is the evaluation of quality of life, measured by the 36-item short-form and the Minnesota Living with Heart Failure Questionnaire. Secondary outcomes include drug-related problems, exercise tolerance as measured by the standard six-minute-walk test, and compliance.

Discussion

Patients with Chagas heart disease complicated by heart failure under pharmaceutical care are expected to improve their quality of life, present with a lower incidence of drug-related problems, improve their functional capacity, and improve in their compliance to treatment.

Trial registration

ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier: NCT01566617
Uneven chances of breastfeeding in Spain
Authors: Río Isabel , Luque Álvaro , Castelló-Pastor Adela , Sandín-Vázquez María del Val , Larraz Rosana , Barona Carmen , Jané Mireia , Bolúmar Francisco
Published: December 2012

Background

No large scale studies on breastfeeding onset patterns have been carried out in Spain. This work aims to explore the prevalence and the risk factors for not initiating breastfeeding in hospitals from Catalonia (CAT) and Valencia (V), two regions accounting approximately for 30% of the annual births in Spain.

Methods

The prevalence of not initiating breastfeeding was calculated by maternal/neonatal characteristics and type of hospital, and logistic regression models were used to estimate crude and adjusted risks of not breastfeeding in each region.

Results

Prevalence of breastfeeding initiation was 81.7% and 82.5% in Catalonia and Valencia, respectively. We identified conspicuous regional differences in the adjusted-risk of not breastfeeding, especially for multiple [CAT = 3.12 (95% CI: 2.93, 3.31), V = 2.44 (95% CI: 2.23, 2.67)] and preterm and low birth weight deliveries [very preterm and very low birth weight: CAT = 7.61 (95% CI: 6.50, 8.92), V = 4.03 (95% CI: 3.13, 5.19); moderate preterm and moderate low birth weight: CAT = 4.28 (95% CI: 4.01, 4.57), V = 2.55 (95% CI:2.34, 2.79)].

Conclusions

Our results suggest the existence of regional variations in breastfeeding initiation in Spain. Taking into account the known short and long-term benefits of breastfeeding it is recommended that further research should explore these differences in order to prevent potential inequities in neonatal, child and adult health.
Role of stem/progenitor cells in reparative disorders
Authors: Pretheeban Thavaneetharajah , Lemos Dario R , Paylor Benjamin , Zhang Regan-Heng , Rossi Fabio M
Published: December 2012

Adult stem cells are activated to proliferate and differentiate during normal tissue homeostasis as well as in disease states and injury. This activation is a vital component in the restoration of function to damaged tissue via either complete or partial regeneration. When regeneration does not fully occur, reparative processes involving an overproduction of stromal components ensure the continuity of tissue at the expense of its normal structure and function, resulting in a “reparative disorder”. Adult stem cells from multiple organs have been identified as being involved in this process and their role in tissue repair is being investigated. Evidence for the participation of mesenchymal stromal cells (MSCs) in the tissue repair process across multiple tissues is overwhelming and their role in reparative disorders is clearly demonstrated, as is the involvement of a number of specific signaling pathways. Transforming growth factor beta, bone morphogenic protein and Wnt pathways interact to form a complex signaling network that is critical in regulating the fate choices of both stromal and tissue-specific resident stem cells (TSCs), determining whether functional regeneration or the formation of scar tissue follows an injury. A growing understanding of both TSCs, MSCs and the complex cascade of signals regulating both cell populations have, therefore, emerged as potential therapeutic targets to treat reparative disorders. This review focuses on recent advances on the role of these cells in skeletal muscle, heart and lung tissues.
The impact of voluntary exercise on relative telomere length in a rat model of developmental stress
Authors: Botha Martmari , Grace Laurian , Bugarith Kishor , Russell Vivienne A , Kidd Martin , Seedat Soraya , Hemmings Sian MJ
Published: December 2012

Background

Exposure to early adverse events can result in the development of later psychopathology, and is often associated with cognitive impairment. This may be due to accelerated cell aging, which can be catalogued by attritioned telomeres. Exercise enhances neurogenesis and has been proposed to buffer the effect of psychological stress on telomere length. This study aimed to investigate the impact of early developmental stress and voluntary exercise on telomere length in the ventral hippocampus (VH) and prefrontal cortex (PFC) of the rat. Forty-five male Sprague–Dawley rats were categorised into four groups: maternally separated runners (MSR), maternally separated non-runners (MSnR), non-maternally separated runners (nMSR) and non-maternally separated non-runners (nMSnR). Behavioural analyses were conducted to assess anxiety-like behaviour and memory performance in the rats, after which relative telomere length was measured using qPCR.

Results

Maternally separated (MS) rats exhibited no significant differences in either anxiety levels or memory performance on the elevated-plus maze and the open field compared to non-maternally separated rats at 49 days of age. Exercised rats displayed increased levels of anxiety on the day that they were removed from the cages with attached running wheels, as well as improved spatial learning and temporal recognition memory compared to non-exercised rats. Exploratory post-hoc analyses revealed that maternally separated non-exercised rats exhibited significantly longer telomere length in the VH compared to those who were not maternally separated; however, exercise appeared to cancel this effect since there was no difference in VH telomere length between maternally separated and non-maternally separated runners.

Conclusions

The increased telomere length in the VH of maternally separated non-exercised rats may be indicative of reduced cellular proliferation, which could, in turn, indicate hippocampal dysfunction. This effect on telomere length was not observed in exercised rats, indicating that voluntary exercise may buffer against the progressive changes in telomere length caused by alterations in maternal care early in life. In future, larger sample sizes will be needed to validate results obtained in the present study and obtain a more accurate representation of the effect that psychological stress and voluntary exercise have on telomere length.
Cancer patients on Twitter: a novel patient community on social media
Authors: Sugawara Yuya , Narimatsu Hiroto , Hozawa Atsushi , Shao Li , Otani Katsumi , Fukao Akira
Published: December 2012

Background

Patients increasingly turn to the Internet for information on medical conditions, including clinical news and treatment options. In recent years, an online patient community has arisen alongside the rapidly expanding world of social media, or “Web 2.0.” Twitter provides real-time dissemination of news, information, personal accounts and other details via a highly interactive form of social media, and has become an important online tool for patients. This medium is now considered to play an important role in the modern social community of online, “wired” cancer patients.

Results

Fifty-one highly influential “power accounts” belonging to cancer patients were extracted from a dataset of 731 Twitter accounts with cancer terminology in their profiles. In accordance with previously established methodology, “power accounts” were defined as those Twitter accounts with 500 or more followers. We extracted data on the cancer patient (female) with the most followers to study the specific relationships that existed between the user and her followers, and found that the majority of the examined tweets focused on greetings, treatment discussions, and other instances of psychological support. These findings went against our hypothesis that cancer patients’ tweets would be centered on the dissemination of medical information and similar “newsy” details.

Conclusions

At present, there exists a rapidly evolving network of cancer patients engaged in information exchange via Twitter. This network is valuable in the sharing of psychological support among the cancer community.