bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Evaluation of the sterility testing process of hematopoietic stem cells at Canadian Blood Services
Authors: Mastronardi Cherie , Yang Lin , Halpenny Mike , Toye Baldwin , Ramírez‐Arcos Sandra
Published: February 2012

BACKGROUND: Sterility testing of hematopoietic stem cells (HSCs) at The Canadian Blood Services Stem Cell Laboratory is performed using BacT/ALERT aerobic (SA) culture bottles. This study was conducted to verify the efficacy of this method and to assess the use of the BacT/ALERT aerobic (BPA) and anaerobic (BPN) culture bottles for microbial testing of HSCs.

STUDY DESIGN AND METHODS: HSC products, including cryopreserved apheresis peripheral blood, marrow, and cord blood and fresh cord blood, were spiked with four aerobic organisms including Staphylococcus epidermidis, Bacillus cereus, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, and Candida albicans, and the anaerobe Bacteroides fragilis at a target concentration of 100 colony‐forming units (CFUs)/mL. One to 2 mL of pre‐ and postspiked samples was inoculated into SA, BPA, and BPN bottles in duplicate and incubated for 5 to 10 days. The presence of the testing organisms in positive culture bottles was confirmed by plating on blood agar.

RESULTS: The BacT/ALERT system detected the aerobic organisms in all HSCs in SA and BPA bottles within 34.1 hours while B. fragilis was detected only in BPN bottles within 68.6 hours. The mean recovered concentration of microorganisms in the HSC products ranged from 55 to 352 CFUs/mL with the exception of B. cereus, which was greater than 103 CFUs/mL.

CONCLUSION: This study shows that the current sterility testing process at the Canadian Blood Services Stem Cell Laboratory detected the tested aerobic but not the anaerobic microbial contaminants in HSCs. The ability of the BacT/ALERT system using BPA and BPN bottles to detect bacterial contamination in HSCs was also demonstrated.
Using Stable Isotopes to Differentiate Trophic Feeding Channels within Soil Food Webs
Authors: Crotty Felicity V. , Adl Sina M. , Blackshaw Rod P. , Murray Philip J.
Published: February 2012

The soil is probably the most diverse habitat there is, with organisms ranging in sizes from less than 1 μm to several metres in length. However, it is increasingly evident that we know little about the interactions occurring between these organisms, the functions that they perform as individual species, or together within their different feeding guilds. These interactions between groups of organisms and physical and chemical processes shape the soil as a habitat and influence the nature of the soil food web with consequences for the above‐ground vegetation and food web. Protists are known as one of the most abundant groups of bacterivores within the soil; however, they are also consumers of a number of other food sources. Even though they are responsible for a large proportion of the mineralisation of bacterial biomass and have a large impact on the C and N cycles within the soil they are regularly overlooked when investigating the complete soil food web. Recently, stable isotopes have been used to determine trophic interactions and here we describe how this technique has been used to highlight linkages between protists and the soil food web.
The Color of Neoliberalism: The “Modern Southern Businessman” and Postwar Alabama’s Challenge to Racial Desegregation1
Authors: Hohle Randolph
Published: February 2012

Prior research on the origins and diffusion of the neoliberal project have emphasized the role of elite economists, yet no explanations have been provided as to why neoliberal reforms were attractive to the broader U.S. population. To fill this gap in the literature, this article focuses on the voluntary sector struggles against desegregation and corporate taxation in postwar Alabama. I examine the emergence of a language of privatization that degraded all things public as “black” and inferior and all things private as “white” and superior, which provided the pretext to attract national white support for the neoliberal turn. Empirically, the article focuses on the construction of the modern southern businessman that emerged from struggles to economically modernize the South, and the construction of a publicly financed private school system that emerged from the struggles to fight school desegregation. These two struggles fused under the George Wallace political umbrella, whose regional and national political career diffused the racial language from its origins in 1950s Alabama to the national level in the 1960s and early 1970s.
Singlehood, Waiting, and the Sociology of Time1
Authors: Lahad Kinneret
Published: February 2012

This article explores how a temporal analysis of singlehood can contribute both to new conceptualizations of singlehood as well as to the study of social time. Prevalent interpretations of waiting single women offer a useful case study as they highlight the temporal organization of social life. Waiting is examined as an interactive setting representing and producing societal symbols, timetables, and collective schedules. Furthermore, this particular form of waiting is mostly featured as an unexpected delay and, accordingly, strengthens the widespread understanding of singlehood as a temporary and transitory life phase. Based on a content analysis, this article seeks to theorize some of the temporal aspects of singlehood, analyze its discursive implications, and study how it reflects and structures dominant discourses of family and social life.
A review of continuing professional development for dentists in Europe
Authors: Barnes E. , Bullock A. D. , Bailey S. E. R. , Cowpe J. G. , Karaharju‐Suvanto T.
Published: February 2012

Aim:  To summarise findings from a literature review of dentists’ engagement in continuing professional development (CPD) and its effects on improving oral health care for patients.

Method:  The search strategy used key terms in a range of databases and an academic literature search engine, complemented by hand searching and citation follow‐up.

Results:  One hundred and fourteen papers were reviewed. The majority of dentists engaged in CPD. Factors affecting participation included time since graduation, costs, work and home commitments, postgraduate qualification, interest and convenience. Learning needs identification and reflection on practice were rarely evidenced. Common modes of CPD were courses and journal reading; no one delivery method proved more effective. Few papers directly explored recommendations for topics although suggestions related to common areas of error and gaps in knowledge or skill. Studies of CPD effectiveness and impact‐on‐practice suggested that courses can result in widespread new learning and considerable self‐reported change in practice. However, significant barriers to implementing change in workplace practice were noted and included availability of materials, resources and support from colleagues.

Conclusion:  To ensure high standards of care, alongside recommending core or mandatory topics, more attention should be given to reflection on learning needs, the learner’s readiness to engage with education and training and the influence of the workplace environment.
Cancer‐associated fibroblasts and CD163‐positive macrophages in oral squamous cell carcinoma: their clinicopathological and prognostic significance
Authors: Fujii Nobuyuki , Shomori Kohei , Shiomi Tatsushi , Nakabayashi Motoki , Takeda Chikako , Ryoke Kazuo , Ito Hisao
Published: February 2012

J Oral Pathol Med (2012) 41: 444–451

Background:  Stromal cells are believed to affect cancer invasion and metastasis. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the distribution of cancer‐associated fibroblasts (CAFs) and the incidence of tumor‐associated macrophages (TAMs) in oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC), focusing on clinicopathological factors and patient prognosis, as well as cancer invasion.

Methods:  The study included 108 patients with OSCC. Anti‐α‐smooth muscle actin, CD68, and CD163 antibodies were used to identify CAFs and TAMs. CAFs were divided into 4 grades on the basis of staining intensity: negative (0), scanty (1), focal (2), and abundant (3). The most intensive areas of macrophage concentration in each tumor invasive stroma were also evaluated.

Results:  The cancer specimens were divided into Grade 0/1, Grade 2, and Grade 3 on the basis of CAF grade. In addition, they were divided into low‐ and high‐grade groups on the basis of the number of CD68‐positive and CD163‐positive macrophages. The latter were significantly increased in the Grade 2 CAF group compared to the Grade 0/1 group (P = 0.009). Kaplan–Meier and multivariate survival analyses revealed that Grade 2 CAFs (P = 0.003) and high CD163‐positive macrophage levels (P = 0.007) significantly correlated with a poor outcome in patients with OSCC, and that a high CD163‐positive macrophage level was a significant and an independent prognostic factor (P = 0.045).

Conclusions:  Cancer‐associated fibroblasts and CD163‐positive macrophages may be potential prognostic predictors of OSCC.
The dynamic healing profile of human periodontal ligament stem cells: histological and immunohistochemical analysis using an ectopic transplantation model
Authors: Kim Y.‐T. , Park J.‐C. , Choi S.‐H. , Cho K.‐S. , Im G.‐I. , Kim B.‐S. , Kim C.‐S.
Published: February 2012

Kim Y‐T, Park J‐C, Choi S‐H, Cho K‐S, Im G‐I, Kim B‐S, Kim C‐S. The dynamic healing profile of human periodontal ligament stem cells: histological and immunohistochemical analysis using an ectopic transplantation model. J Periodont Res 2012; 47: 514–524. © 2012 John Wiley & Sons A/S

Background and Objective:  Human periodontal ligament stem cells (hPDLSCs) have been reported to play the pivotal role in periodontal regeneration. However, the dynamic cellular healing process initiated by hPDLSCs still remains to be elucidated. In the present study, the sequence of regeneration by hPDLSCs was assessed using histological and immunohistochemical observation in an ectopic transplantation model, which is a well‐standardized assessment tool that excludes the innate healing factors from the animals.

Material and Methods:  Human periodontal ligament stem cells that were isolated and characterized from teeth (n = 12) extracted for the purpose of orthodontic treatment were transplanted with carriers into ectopic subcutaneous pouches in immunocompromised mice (n = 20). Animals were killed after several different healing periods: 3 d (n = 4), 1 (n = 4), 2 (n = 4), 4 (n = 4) and 8 wk (n = 4). Histological analysis for regenerated tissues formed by hPDLSCs was conducted using hematoxylin and eosin, Masson’s trichrome and picrosirius red staining. In addition, immunohistochemical staining was performed to observe the sequential expression of osteogenic/cementogenic and periodontal ligament tissue‐specific markers associated with periodontal regeneration.

Results:  The whole healing process by transplanted hPDLSCs could be broadly divided into four distinctive phases. In the first phase, proliferated hPDLSCs migrated evenly all over the carrier, and collagenous tissues appeared in the form of amorphous collagen matrices. In the second phase, collagen fibers were well arranged among the carriers, and cementoid‐like tissues were observed. In the third phase, the formation of mature collagen fibers, resembling Sharpey’s fibers, was associated with active mineralization of cementum‐like tissues, and in the fourth phase, the maturation of cementum‐like tissues was observed on carrier surfaces. Various osteogenic/cementogenic markers related to the regeneration processes were expressed in a well‐orchestrated time order. Interestingly, well‐organized cementum‐like and periodontal ligament fiber‐like tissues and cells with early and late osteogenic/cementogenic markers were frequently observed in the secluded area of carrier surfaces. We termed this area the cell‐rich zone.

Conclusion:  The results from this study clearly demonstrated the sequential histological changes during periodontal tissue regeneration by hPDLSCs. Understanding of this process would potentially enable us to develop better cell‐based treatment techniques.
Resistin in gingival crevicular fluid and induction of resistin release by Porphyromonas gingivalis lipopolysaccharide in human neutrophils
Authors: Hiroshima Y. , Bando M. , Inagaki Y. , Mihara C. , Kataoka M. , Murata H. , Shinohara Y. , Nagata T. , Kido J.
Published: February 2012

Hiroshima Y, Bando M, Inagaki Y, Mihara C, Kataoka M, Murata H, Shinohara Y, Nagata T, Kido J. Resistin in gingival crevicular fluid and induction of resistin release by Porphyromonas gingivalis lipopolysaccharide in human neutrophils. J Periodont Res 2012; 47: 554–562. © 2012 John Wiley & Sons A/S

Background and Objective:  Resistin is an adipocytokine that induces insulin resistance and is predominantly expressed in adipocytes and peripheral blood mononuclear cells. Resistin expression increases in inflammatory diseases as well as diabetes mellitus, and is upregulated by bacterial pathogens and proinflammatory cytokines. The aim of this study was to identify resistin in human gingival crevicular fluid, to compare the resistin levels in gingival crevicular fluid between subjects with and without periodontitis and diabetes mellitus and to investigate the regulation of resistin release from human neutrophils by Porphyromonas gingivalis lipopolysaccharide (P‐LPS).

Material and Methods:  Gingival crevicular fluid samples were collected from patients with chronic periodontitis (n = 24), patients with diabetes mellitus‐related periodontitis (n = 18) and healthy subjects (n = 21). Resistin in gingival crevicular fluid was determined using western blot analysis and an ELISA kit. The glycated hemoglobin (HbA1c) value was obtained from patients with diabetes mellitus‐related periodontitis by a medical interview. Human neutrophils were cultured with P‐LPS (0–1000 ng/mL), or incubated with inhibitors of actin or microtubule polymerization in the absence or presence of P‐LPS. The medium and cellular fractions were used for determination of resistin by ELISA.

Results:  The resistin level in gingival crevicular fluid from patients with periodontitis or diabetes mellitus‐related periodontitis was significantly higher than that of healthy subjects. The resistin level in gingival crevicular fluid was correlated with gingival index score, but not blood HbA1c value. The P‐LPS increased resistin release from human neutrophils, and its induction was decreased by actin polymerization inhibitors.

Conclusion:  We show, for the first time, the presence of resistin in gingival crevicular fluid. A high resistin level in gingival crevicular fluid samples from periodontitis patients may to some extent be related to P‐LPS‐induced resistin release from neutrophils.
Re‘COG’nition at the Golgi
Authors: Miller Victoria J. , Ungar Daniel
Published: February 2012

The conserved oligomeric Golgi (COG) complex co‐ordinates retrograde vesicle transport within the Golgi. These vesicles maintain the distribution of glycosylation enzymes between the Golgi's cisternae, and therefore COG is intimately involved in glycosylation homeostasis. Recent years have greatly enhanced our knowledge of COG's composition, protein interactions, cellular function and most recently also its structure. The emergence of COG‐dependent human glycosylation disorders gives particular relevance to these advances. The structural data have firmly placed COG in the family of multi‐subunit tethering complexes that it shares with the exocyst, Dsl1 and Golgi-associated retrograde protein (GARP) complexes. Here, we review our knowledge of COG's involvement in vesicle tethering at the Golgi. In particular, we consider what this knowledge may add to our molecular understanding of vesicle tethering and how it impacts on the fine tuning of Golgi function, most notably glycosylation.
Lipid Droplet De Novo Formation and Fission Are Linked to the Cell Cycle in Fission Yeast
Authors: Long Allan P. , Manneschmidt Anna K. , VerBrugge Bobby , Dortch Mary R. , Minkin Steven C. , Prater Keith E. , Biggerstaff John P. , Dunlap John R. , Dalhaimer Paul
Published: February 2012

Cells sequester neutral lipids in bodies called lipid droplets. Thus, the formation and breakdown of the droplets are important for cellular metabolism; unfortunately, these processes are difficult to quantify. Here, we used time‐lapse confocal microscopy to track the formation, movement and size changes of lipid droplets throughout the cell cycle in fission yeast Schizosaccharomyces pombe. In theory, the number of lipid droplets in these cells must increase for daughter cells to have the same number of droplets as the parent at a reference point in the cell cycle. We observed stable droplet formation events in G2 phase that were divided evenly between de novo formation of nascent droplets and fission of preexisting droplets. The observations that lipid droplet number is linked to the cell cycle and that droplets can form via fission were both new discoveries. Thus, we scrutinized each fission event for multiple signatures to eliminate possible artifacts from our microscopy. We augmented our time‐lapse confocal microscopy with electron microscopy, which showed lipid droplet ‘intermediates’: droplets shaped like dumbbells that are potentially in transition states between two spherical droplets. Using these complementary microscopy techniques and also dynamic simulations, we show that lipid droplets can form by fission.
Detailed Analysis of Peripheral Blood Natural Killer Cells in Women with Repeated IVF Failure
Authors: Sacks Gavin , Yang Yang , Gowen Elizabeth , Smith Susan , Fay Louise , Chapman Michael
Published: February 2012

Problem

To analyse the peripheral blood NK cells in women with repeated IVF failure (RIF) and a fertile control group to determine which parameters best differentiate the two populations.

Methods

Peripheral blood from the luteal phase of 171 women with RIF and 33 fertile controls was analysed by four‐colour flow cytometry for NK cell concentration, subset differentiation and the activation marker CD69.

Results

Women with RIF had significantly increased NK cell numbers as determined by concentration (P < 0.05) and percentage of lymphocytes (P < 0.001), increased concentration of the CD56dim subtype (P < 0.05), and increased concentration of activated CD56dim CD69+ cells (P = 0.0001). There was no correlation between any NK cell parameters with the length of infertility or number of embryo transfer cycles.

Conclusions

Peripheral blood NK cell activity is significantly higher in women with RIF than in fertile controls. Future trials of immune therapy in women undergoing IVF should target those with high NK activity.
Situating Scotland in Eighteenth‐Century Studies
Authors: Shields Juliet
Published: February 2012

This essay surveys general trends in book‐length studies of 18th‐century Scottish literature and culture to examine how moving Scotland from the peripheries to the centre of 18th‐century studies has transformed our understandings of the field. It describes three categories or phases of scholarship – canon formation, contextualization and comparison, and methodological reflection – and suggests what kind of work remains to be done in each category. It also discusses how new approaches to reading minor literatures, including those informed by postcolonial theory, Atlantic studies, and devolutionary criticism, have shaped and been shaped by scholarship on 18th‐century Scottish literature and culture over the past two decades.
Science and the Atlantic World in Early American Literary Studies
Authors: Wisecup Kelly
Published: February 2012

Although scientific literatures by British American colonists have not traditionally been included in studies of early American literature, recent work has begun to pay closer attention to the literary elements of natural, medical, and cartographic texts produced in the long 18th century. New approaches have expanded Eurocentric and nation‐based paradigms by positioning colonial science in an imperial and Atlantic World context that focuses upon transatlantic exchanges between the British Americas and England. These studies have investigated colonists’ efforts to obtain credit for their scientific contributions in England and the strategies with which colonists resisted metropolitan biases regarding their knowledge. Studies of the literature of place show how natural histories, cartographies, and nature writing rendered the New World familiar, even while establishing colonists’ relationship to and possession of the land. Meanwhile, an emerging focus on anxieties regarding mental and physical degeneration, spurred by theories of America’s degrading influences, offers new directions for investigating colonial subjectivity and racial theories of difference. Finally, examining the various roles that Native Americans and New World Africans played in colonial encounters may facilitate new approaches to non‐European contributions to colonial science.
Energy, Ecology, and Victorian Fiction
Authors: Gold Barri J.
Published: February 2012

This article discusses the state of ecocritical thinking in Victorian literary scholarship. It proposes a distinctive Victorian ecocriticism, informed by thermodynamics, wherein we may understand the living and non‐living, the biological and the physical to be both linguistically and energetically entangled.
Dialogue and Dialectic: A Response by Linda McJannet to Laura Doyle’s “Notes towards a Dialectical Method: Modernities, Modernisms, and the Crossings of Empire”
Authors: McJannet Linda
Published: February 2012

Volume 7, Issue 3, March 2010, Pages: 195–213; DOI: 10.1111/j.1741‐4113.2009.00688.x
Eighteenth‐Century Indians’ Travel Narratives and Cross‐Cultural Encounters with the West
Authors: Narain Mona
Published: February 2012

Though scholarship abounds on early modern Europeans’ first encounters with India and its people, any scholarship in general, and particularly in the English language, on their contemporary Indians’ first encounter with Europe and Indians’ view of the West is limited. The article discusses three 18th‐century Indian travelers’ travel narratives about Britain, Life and Adventures of Joseph Emin, 1726‐1809 by Joseph Emin; The Wonders of Vilayet: Being the Memoir, originally in Persian of a Visit to France and Britain in 1765 by Mirza Sheikh I’tesamuddin; and Westward Bound: Travels of Mirza Abu Taleb by Mirza Abu Taleb Khan to show that a two‐way flow of communication and representation existed between 18th‐century Britain and India. An analysis of these travel accounts reveals that depending on the shifting cultural point of view and geographical location of the Indian travelers, “home,” and the foreign or “vilayet” as it is called in Persian (Farsi), was a shifting perception for the writers. The writers found that Britons living in Britain had a more positive response to them than the condescending attitudes, a result of power and political dynamics, which the British living in India had toward Indians, thus revealing an important heterogeneity in British attitudes toward Indians in the 18th century. The writers’ exploration of gender and sexual relations and religious attitudes in Britain was both an important means of defining “home” and self identity as well as marking differences from Europeans. Identifying gender and religious differences with British culture through comparison provided the writers a means to assess and critique Indian culture.
Tumour necrosis factor receptor superfamily member 11B polymorphisms and association with knee osteoarthritis in women
Authors: Hulin‐Curtis S. L. , Bidwell J. L. , Perry M. J.
Published: February 2012

We examined single‐nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) across the tumour necrosis factor receptor superfamily member 11B (TNFRSF11B) gene and knee OA. We identified alleles in a VNTR region in intron 3 that was observed exclusively in women OA cases (P = 0.007, Pc = 0.042). Our results reveal that a previously unreported association between a VNTR genotype in TNFRSF11B and knee OA in women.
A Model to Predict Optimal Dialysate Flow
Authors: Alayoud Ahmed , Benyahia Mohammed , Montassir Dina , Hamzi Amine , Zajjari Yassir , Bahadi Abdelali , El Kabbaj Driss , Maoujoud Omar , Aatif Taoufik , Hassani Kawtar , Oualim Zouhir
Published: February 2012

Diffusive clearance depends on blood (Qb) and dialysate flow (Qd) rates and the overall mass transfer area coefficient (KoA) of the dialyzer. In this article we describe a model to predict an appropriated AutoFlow (AF) factor (AF factor = Ratio Qd/Qb), that is able to provide adequate Kt/V for hemodialysis patients (HDP), while consuming lower amounts of dialysate, water and energy during the treatment. We studied in vivo the effects of three various Qd on the delivered dose of dialysis in 33 stable HDP. Hemodialysis was performed at Qd of 700 mL/mn, 500 mL/mn, and with AF, whereas specific dialysis prescriptions (treatment time, blood flow rate [Qb], and type and size of dialyzer) were kept constant. The results showed that increasing the dialysate flow rate more than the model of AF predicted had a small effect on the delivered dose of dialysis. The Kt/V (mean ± SD) was 1.52 ± 0.16 at Qd 700, 1.50 ± 0.16 at Qd 500, and 1.49 ± 0.15 with AF. The use of the AF function leads to a significant saving of dialysate fluid. The model predicts the appropriate AF factor that automatically adjusts the dialysate flow rate according to the effective blood flow rate of the patient to achieve an appreciable increase in dialysis dose at the lowest additional cost.
Effects of Peripheral Blood Mononuclear Cells Morphology on Vascular Calcification in Uremic Patients on Maintenance Hemodialysis
Authors: Chen Danyan , Gan Hua , Huang Xiaolong , Shen Qing , Du Xiaogang , Tang Weixue , Yang Xueheng
Published: February 2012

We used high‐resolution atomic force microscopy (AFM) to examine possible changes in the morphology of peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs), and to investigate their influence on vascular calcification in uremic patients on maintenance hemodialysis (MHD). 36 uremic patients had cardiovascular diseases after MHD (MHD group1) and 30 uremic patients did not (MHD group 2), and 20 healthy volunteers were the control group. The extent of coronary artery calcification was assessed with coronary artery calcification score (CACS). AFM was used to analyze PBMCs nuances. Concentrations of bone morphogenetic protein‐2 (BMP‐2) in PBMC supernatants were detected by ELISA. Protein expressions of BMP‐2 were measured by Western blot. No significant differences in PBMC morphology were observed among groups by light microscopy. AFM images revealed that uremic patients exhibited significant differences of PBMC morphology and vascular calcification when compared with healthy volunteers. The PBMCs in uremic patients were larger in volume, mean height, half‐maximum amplitude, average roughness and higher concentrations and expression of BMP‐2 and CACS (P < 0.05), with granular processes or caveolae of uneven size distributed over cell surfaces. These differences were also significant between MHD group 1 and group 2 (P < 0.05). PBMC volume, mean height, half‐maximum amplitude, and average roughness were positively correlated with BMP‐2 and CACS. Moreover, the correlation PBMC with BMP‐2 was higher than with CACS. PBMC morphology in MHD patients was related to the degree of vascular calcification. The larger mean height, half‐maximum amplitude, average roughness and cell volume were, the higher degree of vascular calcification was.
Geriatric Nutritional Risk Index May Be a Significant Predictor of Mortality in Korean Hemodialysis Patients: A Single Center Study
Authors: Park Jin Hee , Kim Sung Bin , Shin Ho Sik , Jung Yeon Soon , Rim Hark
Published: February 2012

Our objective was to examine the association between the Geriatric Nutritional Risk Index (GNRI) and mortality in Korean hemodialysis (HD) patients. We examined the GNRI of 120 maintenance HD patients and followed these patients for 120 months. Predictors for all‐cause death were examined using life table analysis and the Cox proportional hazards model. Life table analysis revealed that subjects with a GNRI < 90 (n = 19) had a marginally lower survival rate than did those with a GNRI ≥ 90 (n = 101) (Wilcoxon test, P = 0.048). Multivariate Cox proportional hazards analyses demonstrated that the GNRI was a significant predictor of mortality (hazard ratio 0.966, 95% confidence interval 0.945–0.995, P = 0.018), after adjusting for age, sex, presence of diabetes mellitus, and body weight. These results demonstrate that the GNRI may be a significant predictor of mortality in Korean HD patients.
A Reappraisal of Stroke Mortality Trends in Brazil (1979–2009)
Authors: Lotufo Paulo A. , Goulart Alessandra C. , Fernandes Tiotrefis G. , Benseñor Isabela M.
Published: February 2012

Background

Brazil has one of the highest cerebrovascular death rates in the Western Hemisphere. We investigated temporal trends according to gender and stroke subtypes.

Methods

We analyzed mortality rates between 1979 and 2009 for different stroke subtypes. Data were stratified by gender and age (35–74 years). The annual percent change and significant changes in the trends were identified with Poisson regression.

Results

After excluding deaths due to sequel from stroke for men, the annual percent changes (95% confidence intervals) were as follows: 1979–1984, 0·7 (−0·8 to 2·1); 1984–1994, −1·8 (−2·4 to −1·2); 1994–2007, −5·0 (−5·4 to −4·7); and 2007–2009, −0·8 (−7·0 to 5·8). For women, the annual percent changes were as follows: 1979–1994, −1·9 (−2·2 to −1·6); 1994–1997, −7·5 (−14·0 to −0·6); 1997–2007, −4·0 (−4·6 to −3·3); and 2007–2009, 1·6 (−5·5 to 9·2). For the 2006–2009 period, the average annual percent change (95% confidence interval) for all strokes was −3·1 (−3·3 to −2·9) for men and −2·9 (−3·1 to −2·8) for women. For the same period, the average annual percent change of death rates for stroke subtypes were, for men and women, respectively: intracerebral hemorrhage, −4·0 (−4·9 to −3·1) and −2·9 (−3·4 to −2·3); and ischemic stroke, −3·2 (−3·3 to −3·0) and −1·4 (−2·0 to −0·9).

Conclusion

Stroke mortality rates are declining in Brazil for all stroke subtypes.
Museums and Philosophy – Of Art, and Many Other Things Part II
Authors: Gaskell Ivan
Published: February 2012

This two‐part article examines the very limited engagement by philosophers with museums, and proposes analysis under six headings: cultural variety, taxonomy, and epistemology in Part I, and teleology, ethics, and therapeutics and aesthetics in Part II. The article establishes that fundamental categories of museums established in the 19th century – of art, of anthropology, of history, of natural history, of science and technology – still persist. Among them, it distinguishes between hegemonic (predominantly Western) and subaltern (minority or Indigenous) museums worldwide. It argues that relations between hegemonic and subaltern museums are often agonistic, and are compromised by claims of universalism on the part of proponents of the former. The article observes that most discussion of museums focuses exclusively and misleadingly on their public exhibition function, and contends that scholarship – not exhibition – is central to all museums. However, that predominantly taxonomic scholarship, while innovative and central to a dominant epistemology based on the observation of tangible things in the 19th century, was compromised by the epistemic shift to abstraction and experimentation in the 20th, which resulted in a loss of initiative and authority. Although epistemological changes currently in progress favor a renewed attention to tangible things as complex matrices to which museums ought to contribute significantly, the fundamental taxonomy of museums by collection type is a clog on the ability of museum scholars to engage with and themselves produce big ideas. In order to function well as sites of scholarship in the future, museums will have to be far more adaptable and attentive to a wider range of things and ideas (including Indigenous ideas incompatible with Western assumptions) than their existing collection divisions permit.
Clotrimazole and enilconazole distribution within the frontal sinuses and nasal cavity of nine dogs with sinonasal aspergillosis
Authors: Sharman M. , Lenard Z. , Hosgood G. , Mansfield C.
Published: February 2012

Objectives:Multiple topical treatments are often required for clinical cure of mycotic rhinosinusitis in dogs. The objective of this study was to describe the distribution and retention of enilconazole and clotrimazole solutions using a temporary trephination protocol.

Methods:Nine client‐owned dogs diagnosed with mycotic rhinosinusitis between March 2008 and December 2009 were prospectively enrolled and were sequentially allocated to receive treatment with either clotrimazole (1% in polyethylene glycol) or enilconazole (10% solution), after imaging and rhinoscopic assessment. Both frontal sinuses were trephined, debrided and flushed with saline. Infusion was administered via frontal sinuses with dogs in sternal recumbency and computed tomography (CT) performed 5 minutes after completion. Distribution was scored 1 to 4 at the canine tooth, premolar 4, cribriform plate and frontal sinus on both sides, for a maximum score of 32.

Results:Distribution of antifungal agents to all regions of the nasal cavity and frontal sinuses was achievable, but varied considerably. Retention was poor in 10 of 18 regions assessed.

ClinicalSignificance:Distribution of antifungal agents within the frontal sinuses is achievable using temporary trephination; however, distribution is variable and retention is often poor.
Common variable immunodeficiency (CVID): exploring the multiple dimensions of a heterogeneous disease
Authors: Salzer Ulrich , Unger Susanne , Warnatz Klaus
Published: February 2012

Common variable immunodeficiency (CVID) represents a large heterogeneous group of antibody deficiency syndromes associated with a plethora of clinical features and as yet largely undefined molecular causes. We are now seeing this heterogeneous group being increasingly defined into single‐gene and polygenic disorders after stratification into homogeneous patient subgroups based on improved clinical and immunological criteria, including molecular, functional, immunohistological, and longitudinal and outcome information. In this perspective, we highlight recent developments in CVID, addressing mainly its genetic and immunological dimensions.
Primary immunodeficiency diseases in the Middle East
Authors: Al‐Muhsen Saleh , Alsum Zobaida
Published: February 2012

Reports on primary immunodeficiency diseases (PIDs) have clearly shown wide geographic and ethnic variations. Understanding these variations is expected to play a major role in improving the diagnosis and management of such diseases, and will also affect research on PIDs. In this short review, we explore the unique aspects of primary immunodeficiencies in the Middle East.
Antimicrobial Activity of Lauric Arginate‐Coated Polylactic Acid Films against Listeria monocytogenes and Salmonella Typhimurium on Cooked Sliced Ham
Authors: Theinsathid Pornpun , Visessanguan Wonnop , Kruenate Jittiporn , Kingcha Yutthana , Keeratipibul Suwimon
Published: February 2012

Abstract:  A novel type of environmentally friendly packaging with antibacterial activity was developed from lauric arginate (LAE)‐coating of polylactic acid (PLA) films after surface activation using a corona discharge. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM)‐based analysis of the LAE/PLA films confirmed the successful coating of LAE on the PLA surface. The mechanical properties of the LAE/PLA films with different levels of LAE‐coating (0% to 2.6%[w/w]) were essentially the same as those of the neat PLA film. The antibacterial activity of the LAE/PLA films against Listeria monocytogenes and Salmonella enterica Serovar Typhimurium (S. Typhimurium) was confirmed by a qualitative modified agar diffusion assay and quantitative JIS Z 2801:2000 method. Using the LAE/PLA film as a food‐contact antimicrobial packaging for cooked cured ham, as a model system, suggested a potential application to inhibit L. monocytogenes and S. Typhimurium on ham with a 0.07% (w/w) LAE coating on the PLA when high transparency is required, as evidenced from the 2 to 3 log CFU/tested film lower pathogen growth after 7 d storage but even greater antibacterial activity is obtained with a LAE coating level of 2.6% (w/w) but at the cost of a reduced transparency of the finished product. This article shows how we can simply develop functional green packaging of PLA for food with effective and efficient antimicrobial activity by use of LAE coating on the surface via corona discharge.

Practical Application:  The effectiveness of an innovative antimicrobial LAE‐coated PLA film against foodborne pathogens was demonstrated. Importantly, the application of the LAE to form the LAE‐coated PLA film can be customized within current film manufacturing lines.
Clinical differences between early‐ and late‐onset social anxiety disorders
Authors: Lim Se‐Won , Ha Juwon , Shin Young‐Chul , Shin Dong‐Won , Bae Seung‐Min , Oh Kang‐Seob
Published: February 2012

Aim: The aim of this study was to elucidate the clinical differences between early‐ and late‐onset social anxiety disorder (SAD) in the Korean population.

Methods: Three hundred and eighty‐seven outpatients diagnosed with SAD participated in this study. Confirmation of SAD diagnosis was based on the Mini International Neuropsychiatric Interview. All subjects completed the Liebowitz Social Anxiety Scale and anxiety‐trait‐related scales such as the Anxiety Sensitivity Index, Retrospective Self‐Report of Inhibition, Trait Form of the State‐Trait Anxiety Inventory, and Beck Depression Inventory.

Results: The early‐onset group (n = 209) consisted of subjects aged up to 18 years at the time of onset, whereas the late‐onset group (n = 178) consisted of subjects older than 18 years at the time of onset. Early‐onset SAD patients were more likely to have the generalized subtype and to visit clinics with chief complaints other than social anxiety symptoms. They exhibited more severe symptoms and higher behavioural inhibitions. After adjusting for age and symptom severity, behavioural inhibition was the only significant difference between the two groups. The degree of behavioural inhibitions was associated with earlier onset age.

Conclusion: Symptom severity and behavioural inhibitions, especially in social/school situations, were clinical characteristics that differentiated between early‐ and late‐onset SAD.
A bile‐inducible membrane protein mediates bifidobacterial bile resistance
Authors: Ruiz Lorena , O'Connell‐Motherway Mary , Zomer Aldert , de los Reyes‐Gavilán Clara G. , Margolles Abelardo , van Sinderen Douwe
Published: February 2012

Bbr_0838 from Bifidobacterium breve UCC2003 is predicted to encode a 683 residue membrane protein, containing both a permease domain that displays similarity to transporters belonging to the major facilitator superfamily, as well as a CBS (cystathionine beta synthase) domain. The high level of similarity to bile efflux pumps from other bifidobacteria suggests a significant and general role for Bbr_0838 in bile tolerance. Bbr_0838 transcription was shown to be monocistronic and strongly induced upon exposure to bile. Further analysis delineated the transcriptional start site and the minimal region required for promoter activity and bile regulation. Insertional inactivation of Bbr_0838 in B. breve UCC2003 resulted in a strain, UCC2003:838800, which exhibited reduced survival upon cholate exposure as compared with the parent strain, a phenotype that was reversed when a functional, plasmid‐encoded Bbr_0838 gene was introduced into UCC2003:838800. Transcriptome analysis of UCC2003:838800 grown in the presence or absence of bile demonstrated that transcription of Bbr_0832, which is predicted to encode a macrolide efflux transporter gene, was significantly increased in the presence of bile, representing a likely compensatory mechanism for bile removal in the absence of Bbr_0838. This study represents the first in‐depth analysis of a bile‐inducible locus in bifidobacteria, identifying a key gene relevant for bifidobacterial bile tolerance.
Amaranthus powellii subsp. cacciatoi comb. et stat. nov. (Amaranthaceae)
Authors: Iamonico Duilio
Published: February 2012

Amaranthus powellii S. Watson subsp. cacciatoi (Aellen ex Cacciato) Iamonico comb. et stat. nov. (Amaranthaceae) is proposed based on morphometric and taxonomic studies on the type material and other specimens. A detailed description is provided and the new taxon is compared with A. powellii S. Watson subsp. powellii and subsp. bouchonii (Thell.) Costea & Carretero.
Phylogeny of Siberian species of Carex sect. Vesicariae based on nuclear and plastid markers
Authors: Shekhovtsov Sergei V. , Shekhovtsova Irina N. , Peltek Sergei E.
Published: February 2012

Carex sect. Vesicariae is a group of about 30 sedge species widespread in temperate and cold regions of Eurasia and North America. In this study we performed a phylogenetic analysis of ten taxa (9 species and one subspecies) found in Siberia based on two plastid sequences (matK and atpF‐H) and the nuclear ribosomal ITS2 sequence. We also developed a novel sequence marker for the genus Carex, an intron of the nuclear hsp90 gene, which was found to be several times more variable than plastid and nuclear ribosomal sequences. Total nucleotide variation within the Vesicariae section was found to be very low, comparable to that within single other sedge species. Phylogenetic analysis supported the existence of two groups within this section: clade A (C. vesicata, C. vesicaria, both subspecies of C. saxatilis and C. pamirica) and clade B (C. rostrata, C. mollissima, C. jacutica, C. rotundata and C. membranacea). Carex rhynchophysa holds an intermediate position between these groups. The main morphological difference between these clades lies in the nature of the transition of the utricle into the beak: it is gradual in clade A and abrupt in clade B. This division is in good accordance with the results of previous allozyme studies and with current taxonomy. These results may become the basis for consideration of subsectional taxa within this section.
Aberrant Pectoralis Minor Tendon and Surgery around the Coracoid Process
Authors: Higgins Mark A. , Tambe Amol
Published: February 2012

The coracoid process of the scapula is a vital landmark in shoulder surgery and has become increasingly popular as a basis for acromioclavicular joint (ACJ) stabilizations and bone transfer in the treatment of shoulder instability (Bristow–Latarjet procedure). As such, it is important that the anatomy and anatomical aberrations are well understood. We describe an aberrant structure noted during routine ACJ stabilization of a 24-year-old man using a coracoclavicular sling technique.
Mass analysis of biological macromolecular complexes by STEM
Authors: Thomas Daniel , Schultz Patrick , Steven Alasdair C , Wall Joseph S
Published: February 2012

Scanning transmission electron microscopy (STEM) provides a superbly versatile method of measuring the masses of macromolecular complexes ranging in size from single protein subunits to large virus particles. The physical basis of the method is the elastic scattering of electrons by the component atoms of the specimen. Unstained molecules yield a dark‐field signal that is proportional to their local mass density, thus allowing direct measurements of the total mass of an individual particle, as well as of the masses of its resolved domains by integrating over appropriate regions of the image. In this review, we present an introduction to the STEM method of mass analysis from a practical standpoint, stressing the essential points of specimen preparation, as well as the scope and current limitations of the method. Its potentialities are illustrated by applications to several classes of macromolecules: isolated oligomeric proteins (the envelope glycoprotein of HIV), nucleoprotein complexes (SV40 minichromosome, transcription factor TFIIIC), membranous specimens (clathrin‐coated membranes, the VDAC channel), and viruses (vesicular stomatitis virus; herpes simplex virus). In the case of multicomponent complexes, STEM mass measurements of both the intact complex and of defined biochemical derivatives (for instance, after extraction of specific components), allow one to compile complete and precise molecular inventories. Finally, we briefly anticipate future advances that should allow even more precise and detailed mass mappings, the labelling of specific sites with heavy atom clusters, and elemental mapping based on weak inelastic signals acquired in parallel with the relatively intense dark‐field signals that have been so successfully exploited to date.
Research on polychaete annelid osmoregulatory peptide(s) by immunocytochemical and physiological approaches. Computer reconstruction of the brain and evidence for a role of angiotensin‐like molecules in Nereis (Hediste) diversicolor OF Müller
Authors: Fewou Jean , Dhainaut‐Courtois Nicole
Published: February 2012

Summary— Immunohistochemical and physiological studies were carried out on Nereis (Hediste) diversicolor OF Müller in order to obtain evidence concerning the neuroendocrine control of polychaete osmoregulation. The occurrence in this animal of peptides immunologically related to mammalian angiotensin II and I (AII and AI) and oxytocin (OT) was demonstrated in the brain and the ventral nerve cord (VNC) perikarya and nerve fibres as well as in a few peripheral structures (peripheral nerves, epithelial cells, nuchal organ, intestine and nephridia). The exact localization of immunoreactive cells was achieved by serial sections of brain and ventral nerve cord followed by a three‐dimensional reconstruction of brain ganglionic nuclei using the CATIA (‘Conception Assistée Tridimensionnelle Inter Active’) Dassault system program. Injections of polyclonal antisera against AII or OT provoked a partial inhibition of the increase in body weight in Nereis exposed to hypo‐osmotic medium. The effect of a‐AII seemed more pronounced than that of a‐OT. In a subsequent test, injections of synthetic AII and AII‐amide (peptide recently isolated from an achaete (Salzet et al (1995) J Biol Chem 270, 1575–1582) enhanced the increase in body weight and, therefore, strenghthened the hypothesis of the neuroendocrine control of Nereis osmoregulation. The antidiuretic effect of both synthetic peptides in this study was indicative of the exact role of Nereis endogenous melecule(s). AII was less potent than its amidated form. If AI‐like can easily be struck off the list of putative endogenous osmoregulaory factors, the role of OT‐like substance in Nereis osmoregulation, which is partially demonstrated in this study, needs to be clarified by further physiological experiments using injection of synthetic peptide(s) or endogenous substance(s). All these results are discussed and compared to those recently obtained in an achaete annelid (Salzet et al (1993) Brain Res 631, 247–255; Salzet et al (1993) Brain Res 601, 173–184; Salzet et al (1995) J Biol Chem 270, 1575–1582.