bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Home-based nursing: An endless journey
Authors: Öresland Stina , Määttä Sylvia , Norberg Astrid , Lützén Kim
Published: May 2011

The aim of this study was to explore metaphors for discovering values and norms held by nurses in home-based nursing care. Ten interviews were analysed and interpreted in accordance with a metaphor analytical method. In the analysis, metaphoric linguistic expressions and two entailments emerged, grounded in the conceptual metaphor ‘home-based nursing care is an endless journey’, which were created in a cross-domain mapping between the two conceptual domains of home-based nursing care and travel. The metaphor exposed home-based nursing care as being in constant motion, thereby requiring nurses to adjust to circumstances that demand ethical maturity. The study focuses on the importance of developing further theories supporting nurses’ expressions of their experiences of everyday ethical issues.
Rationing home-based nursing care: professional ethical implications
Authors: Tønnessen Siri , Nortvedt Per , Førde Reidun
Published: May 2011

The purpose of this study was to investigate nurses’ decisions about priorities in home-based nursing care. Qualitative research interviews were conducted with 17 nurses in home-based care. The interviews were analyzed and interpreted according to a hermeneutic methodology. Nurses describe clinical priorities in home-based care as rationing care to mind the gap between an extensive workload and staff shortages. By organizing home-based care according to tight time schedules, the nurses’ are able to provide care for as many patients as possible. Furthermore, legal norms set boundaries for clinical priority decisions, resulting in marginalized care. Hence, rationing care jeopardizes important values in the nurse-patient relationship, in particular the value of individualized and inclusive nursing care. The findings are highly relevant for clinical practice, since they have major implications for provision of nursing care. They revive debates about the protection of values and standards of care, and nurses’ role and responsibility when resources are limited.
Organizational ethics: A literature review
Authors: Suhonen Riitta , Stolt Minna , Virtanen Heli , Leino-Kilpi Helena
Published: May 2011

The aim of the study was to report the results of a systematically conducted literature review of empirical studies about healthcare organizations’ ethics and management or leadership issues. Electronic databases MEDLINE and CINAHL yielded 909 citations. After a two stage application of the inclusion and exclusion criteria 56 full-text articles were included in the review. No large research programs were identified. Most of the studies were in acute hospital settings from the 1990s onwards. The studies focused on ethical challenges, dilemmas in practice, employee moral distress and ethical climates or environments. Study samples typically consisted of healthcare practitioners, operational, executive and strategic managers. Data collection was mainly by questionnaires or interviews and most of the studies were descriptive, correlational and cross-sectional. There is need to develop conceptual clarity and a theoretical framework around the subject of organizational ethics and the breadth of the contexts and scope of the research needs to be increased.
Disarticulating feminism: Individualization, neoliberalism and the othering of ‘Muslim women’
Authors: Scharff Christina
Published: May 2011

In the cultural era of postfeminism, neoliberalism and individualization, feminism is not an identity easily claimed. This article discusses the findings of a qualitative study on young women’s engagements with feminism in Britain and Germany. In particular, it focuses on two processes through which feminism was disarticulated: individualization and the othering of Muslim women. Research participants showed awareness of gender inequalities, but argued that they could navigate structural constraints individually and self-responsibly. As the last section of this article shows, the respondents’ self-presentation as empowered contrasted sharply with the portrayal of ‘other’ women as victims of patriarchal oppression. The article concludes by demonstrating that the respondents’ construction of empowered selves is constituted by the othering of Muslim women.
Characterisation of VOC and Formaldehyde Emission from Building Materials in a Static Environmental Chamber: Model Development and Application
Authors: Jianyin Xiong  , Yinping Zhang  , Shaodan Huang
Published: May 2011

This paper first derives an analytical solution based on Laplace transformation for describing the volatile organic compounds (VOCs) and formaldehyde emission characteristics from building materials in a static chamber; the modelling method is then validated by application using previously reported experimental data. Based on the analytical solution and normalised analysis, the VOC emission characteristics can be advantageously deduced by scaling in dimensionless forms. The findings of this study shows that the dimensionless emission rate is a function of three dimensionless parameters: the ratio of the mass transfer Biot number to the partition coefficient; the mass transfer Fourier number; and the ratio of the VOC mass in the building material to that measured in the chamber at equilibrium. A group of dimensionless correlations for predicting the dimensionless emission rate were obtained through numerical simulation and characteristic parameter regression, and this was verified by experimental data. The dimensionless correlations are simple to use, and would allow scaling of the emission characteristics obtained from the static chamber to the more realistic conditions of a building and this would be useful for design engineer to minimize emissions of VOCs and formaldehyde in building environments.
Nonconvulsive status epilepticus: a diagnostic and therapeutic challenge in the intensive care setting
Authors: Holtkamp Martin , Meierkord Hartmut
Published: May 2011

Nonconvulsive status epilepticus (NCSE) comprises a group of syndromes that display a great diversity regarding response to anticonvulsants ranging from virtually self-limiting variants to entirely refractory forms. Therefore, treatment on intensive care units (ICUs) is required only for a selection of cases. The aetiology and clinical form of NCSE are strong predictors for the overall prognosis. Absence status epilepticus is commonly seen in patients with idiopathic generalized epilepsy and is rapidly terminated by low-dose of benzodiazepines. The management of complex partial status epilepticus is straightforward in patients with pre-existing epilepsy, but poses major problems if occurring in the context of acute brain lesions. Subtle status epilepticus represents the late stage of undertreated previous overt generalized convulsive status epilepticus and always requires aggressive ICU treatment. Within the intensive care setting, the diagnostic challenge may be seen in the difficulty in delineating nonepileptic conditions such as posthypoxic, metabolic or septic encephalopathies from NCSE. Although all important forms are considered, the focus of this review lies on clinical presentations and electroencephalogram features of comatose patients treated on ICUs and possible diagnostic pitfalls.
Upper urinary tract urothelial carcinoma: what have we learned in the last 4 years?
Authors: Remzi Mesut , Shariat Shahrokh , Huebner Wilhelm , Fajkovic Harun , Seitz Christian
Published: May 2011

In the last 4 years many studies have been published on the topic of upper urinary tract urothelial carcinoma (UTUC). This is a recent review of the available literature of the last 3 years. A systematic Medline/PubMed search on UTUC including limits for clinical trials and randomized, controlled trials was performed for English-language articles using the keywords ‘upper urinary tract carcinoma’, ‘nephroureterectomy’, ‘laparoscopic’, ‘ureteroscopy’, ‘percutaneous’, ‘renal pelvis’, ‘ureter’ and their combinations from January 2008 to December 2010. Additional selected reports from 2007 were included. Case reports and non-English literature were excluded. Publications were mostly retrospective, including some large, multicentre studies from the Upper Tract Urothelial Carcinoma Collaboration (UTUCC). The authors of this article are members of the UTUCC. Altogether, 92 original articles dealing with UTUC were identified and summarized. The vast majority of the available literature has a low level of evidence (level IV), although many multicentre studies tried to overcome the problem of low numbers by pooling data. It was concluded that in the last 3 years our knowledge regarding UTUC has increased dramatically, although new study concepts allowing us to increase the level of evidence are needed.
Nursing Perspective of Transcatheter Aortic Valve Implantation
Authors: Hinterbuchner Lynne
Published: May 2011

Background. With an increasingly elderly population, we are seeing more patients with multiple comorbidities unable to have surgical repair of their aortic valves. Transcatheter aortic valve implantation (TAVI) is now an option available for these patients, and the cath labs need to get prepared. Objective. To provide the nurses who will soon be offering TAVI in their cath labs an inside look at our program to help them prepare for this new innovative procedure. Methods. Through a description of our practice and sharing my perspective of our TAVI program, cath lab staff will have a good idea of what to expect and how to prepare for a TAVI program. Conclusion. Sharing experiences is a positive way to initiate new programs in any hospital setting.
Seismic interferometry application to improve seismic reflection signals affected by ice-plate flexural noise
Authors: Del Molino Gilbert , Andreoletti Clara , Sandroni Stefano , Poletto Flavio , Petronio Lorenzo , Farina Biancamaria , Bellezza Cinzia , Lovo Massimo
Published: May 2011

Seismic interferometry based on cross-correlation of traces recorded at different positions makes it possible to recover new Green's functions and to obtain signals as if sources were placed at the receiver positions. This case history describes results obtained using sea-bottom hydrophone signals recorded in shallow water below the ice plate in an Alaska seismic survey. The aim was to simulate new shots at the sea-bottom receiver positions and to redatum the surface-generated seismic signals below the ice layer. The application was performed and the method investigated to attenuate the strong noise due to dispersive wave modes (mainly flexural waves) which propagate in the ice layer.
Enhanced refractor imaging by supervirtual interferometry
Authors: Mallinson Ian , Bharadwaj Pawan , Schuster Gerard , Jakubowicz Helmut
Published: May 2011

Refraction surveys are a well-established method of imaging subsurface velocities, both in terms of the deep crustal structure at global scales and in the shallow near surface. These surveys generally involve deploying an array of receivers on the surface (or water bottom) and recording arrivals from a seismic source initiated at or near the surface.
How can we use one fracture to locate another?
Authors: Poliannikov Oleg V. , Malcolm Alison , Djikpesse Hugues , Prange Michael
Published: May 2011

Hydraulic fracturing is an important tool that helps extract fluids from the subsurface. It is critical in applications ranging from enhanced oil recovery to geothermal energy production. As the goal of fracturing is to increase flow rates within the reservoir volume, and because the reservoir is typically heterogeneous, several fractures are often created. Because of confining stresses, most fractures that have been created and remain open are nearly vertical (Zoback et al., 2003). Creating a set of almost parallel fractures is quite common in situations with smoothly varying stress (Figure 1).
Toxic Animacies, Inanimate Affections
Authors: Chen Mel Y.
Published: May 2011

This essay suggests that thinking, and feeling, with toxicity invites a recounting of the affectivity and relationality—indeed the bonds—of queerness as it is presently theorized. Approaching toxicity in three different modes, I first consider how vulnerability, safety, immunity, threat, and toxicity itself are sexually and racially instantiated in the recent panic about lead content in Chinese-manufactured toys exported the United States. This analysis, while seeming at first to hover somewhat outside queerness, is completed in the next section, where I interweave biopolitical considerations of immunity into an account of the peculiar intimacies and alienations of heavy metal poisoning, rendered in the first person. The essay ends by suggesting that the queering and racializing of material other than human amounts to a kind of animacy. Animacy is built on the recognition that abstract concepts, inanimate objects, and things in between can be queered and racialized without human bodies present, quite beyond questions of personification. Theorizing this animacy offers an alternative, or a complement, to existing biopolitical and recent queer-theoretical debates about life and death, while the idea of toxicity proposes an extant queer bond, one more prevalent today than is perhaps given credit. Such a toxic queer bond might complicate utopian imagining, as well as address how and where subject-object dispositions might be attributed to the relational queer figure.
Queer Sociality and Other Sexual Fantasies
Authors: Rodríguez Juana María
Published: May 2011

Through a consideration of the ephemeral archives of queer racialized feminine subjects, this essay considers how current debates in queer theory on the relationship between sociality and the sexual are transformed by the specifics of race, gender, location, and embodiment. In the process, it asks us to face unruly sexual fantasies of violence, abjection, and servitude that likewise trouble our psyche and sexual lives.
Remarks on “Queer Bonds”
Authors: Butler Judith
Published: May 2011

In these closing comments from the “Queer Bonds” conference (subtitled “A Symposium on Sexuality and Sociability”), the author suggests that the “sociability” staged at the conference itself depended on a certain forgetfulness, a certain “failure of transmission,” that may also be the condition of any sociability. She suggests that there is also a sociality at stake in human relationality that does not imply the intimate connotations of sociability. This sociality derives from the constitutive conditions of the body itself—a body always given over to others, which exists in a field of social norms and depends on those norms, and those others, for its survival. The ontology of the body is thus a social ontology: we are all over each other, and that is true from the start. The generalized condition of precariousness that characterizes all bodies—and that makes the possibility of both violence and eroticism their constitutive condition—is nevertheless differentially distributed and also politically exploited. Queer theory has played a special role in bringing to light this differential distribution of precariousness, and this means that queer theory is from the outset implicated in politics, indeed in political activism, and cannot be separated from its enactments. We exist in a relation of “queer bonds” with—and are obligated to—those “we” may never know or recognize.
Perverse Perversion
Authors: Lamb Kevin , Singy Patrick
Published: May 2011

As a field, the history of sexuality is often divided into Foucauldians and anti-Foucauldians. This essay, which reviews four recent contributions to the field, begins by showing that Michel Foucault's own methodology is ambiguous. Broad scholarly consensus rightly holds that Foucault took sexuality to be exclusively modern and its emergence, hence, to mark a sharp conceptual break with the past. Yet Foucault himself also traced successive “recodifications” of sexuality, offering a genealogy of practices that presupposed the continuity of sexuality with prior periods, from at least post-Tridentine confession to the present. In following his example, such distinguished and otherwise like-minded thinkers as Arnold Davidson and David Halperin differ remarkably in preferring one approach (whether conceptual rupture or genealogy) to the other. Yet, despite their internal differences, Foucault, Davidson, and Halperin as a group illustrate the continuing significance of a difficult, deliberate historiography to the history of sexuality. By way of conclusion, we gauge this significance by contrasting their approaches to that of Richard Sha, whose work on Romantic perversion rejects their historical claims while ignoring their methodological interventions.
Technical approaches for mouse models of human disease
Authors: Justice Monica J. , Siracusa Linda D. , Stewart A. Francis
Published: May 2011

The mouse is the leading organism for disease research. A rich resource of genetic variation occurs naturally in inbred and special strains owing to spontaneous mutations. However, one can also obtain desired gene mutations by using the following processes: targeted mutations that eliminate function in the whole organism or in a specific tissue; forward genetic screens using chemicals or transposons; or the introduction of exogenous transgenes as DNAs, bacterial artificial chromosomes (BACs) or reporter constructs. The mouse is the only mammal that provides such a rich resource of genetic diversity coupled with the potential for extensive genome manipulation, and is therefore a powerful application for modeling human disease. This poster review outlines the major genome manipulations available in the mouse that are used to understand human disease: natural variation, reverse genetics, forward genetics, transgenics and transposons. Each of these applications will be essential for understanding the diversity that is being discovered within the human population.
Optimization of wire electrical discharge machining of pure tungsten using neural network and response surface methodology
Authors: Tzeng C-J , Yang Y-K , Hsieh M-H , Jeng M-C
Published: May 2011

The present study analysed the dependence of the material removal rate and workpiece surface finish on process parameters during the manufacture of pure tungsten profiles by wire electrical discharge machining (WEDM). A hybrid method including a back-propagation neural network (BPNN), a genetic algorithm (GA), and response surface methodology (RSM) was proposed to determine optimal parameter settings of the WEDM process. Specimens were prepared under different WEDM processing conditions based on a Taguchi orthogonal array table. The results of 18 experimental runs were utilized to train the BPNN to predict the material removal rate and roughness average properties. Simultaneously, the RSM and GA approaches were individually applied to search for an optimal setting. In addition, analysis of variance was implemented to identify significant factors for the WEDM process parameters, and results from the BPNN with integrated GA were compared with those from the RSM approach. The results show that the RSM and BPNN/GA methods are both effective tools for the optimization of WEDM process parameters.
Asymmetric Synthesis of Stagonolide-D and Stagonolide-G
Authors: Mahapatra Tridib , Das Tapas , Nanda Samik
Published: May 2011

First asymmetric synthesis of the naturally occurring epoxy noneolide stagonolide-D has been reported in this article. Ring-closing metathesis (RCM) by Grubbs second generation catalyst, Sharpless asymmetric epoxidation (SAE), and cis-selective Horner–Wadsworth–Emmons (HWE) olefination by Ando method are the key reactions successfully employed to achieve the target molecule in a divergent approach. Structurally related small ring macrolide stagonolide-G has also been synthesized by employing RCM and a metal–enzyme combined dynamic kinetic resolution (DKR) strategy starting from (S)-ethyl lactate as a chiral pool.
Growth of Diffusion Limited Aggregation (DLA)-Like Branched Patterns in a Belousov–Zhabotinskii Type Reaction System
Authors: Yadav Narendra , Srivastava Prem Kumar
Published: May 2011

The Belousov–Zhabotinskii (BZ) type reaction system with dual organic substrate, which leads to growth of tree/bush-like crystal patterns has been studied. The reaction system has been found to exhibit concentric ring patterns, starting with propagation of waves in the solution state. A colloidal state, composed of numerous fine solid particles, has been observed during the reaction. These particles have been found to initially form dendritic nucleation centers and subsequently grow into tree/bush-like crystal patterns by self-aggregation. A possible reaction mechanism has been proposed. Based on a diffusion limited aggregation (DLA) mechanism, fractal characteristics and aggregation behavior of tree/bush-like patterns are also discussed.
On the Photodegradation of Some 2H-Chromene Derivatives in Fluid Solution or in Polyurethane Matrix
Authors: Alberti Angelo , Campredon Mylène , Demadrille Renaud
Published: May 2011

The time profile of the optical density was monitored during the photodegradation of three derivatives of 2,2-diphenyl-2H-naphtho[1,2-b]pyran (1), namely 2,2-bis(4-methoxyphenyl)-5,6-dimethyl-2H-naphtho[1,2-b]pyran (2), 2,2-diphenyl-5-[(ethoxycarbonyl)methoxycarbonyl]-8-methyl-2H-naphtho[1,2-b]pyran (3), and 3,3-bis(4-methoxyphenyl)-6,11-dimethyl-13-hydroxy-13-isopropyl-3H-indeno[2,1-f]naphtho[1,2-b]pyran (4) either in toluene solution or in a polyurethane matrix. The photoproducts were identified using HPLC, GC/MS, and direct insertion MS techniques. High molecular weight oxygenated derivatives and new photoproducts deriving from a secondary oxidative pathway were characterized along with expected degradation derivatives. Some of the photoproducts considered responsible for the yellowing of the examined materials were identified. The effect exerted by two additives generally considered to have an inhibiting action toward radical processes was also evaluated.
Can an electronic prescribing system detect doctors who are more likely to make a serious prescribing error?
Authors: Coleman Jamie J , Hemming Karla , Nightingale Peter G , Clark Ian R , Dixon-Woods Mary , Ferner Robin E , Lilford Richard J
Published: May 2011

Objectives

We aimed to assess whether routine data produced by an electronic prescribing system might be useful in identifying doctors at higher risk of making a serious prescribing error.

Design

Retrospective analysis of prescribing by junior doctors over 12 months using an electronic prescribing information and communication system. The system issues a graded series of prescribing alerts (low-level, intermediate, and high-level), and warnings and prompts to respond to abnormal test results. These may be overridden or heeded, except for high-level prescribing alerts, which are indicative of a potentially serious error and impose a ‘hard stop’.

Setting

A large teaching hospital.

Participants

All junior doctors in the study setting.

Main outcome measures

Rates of prescribing alerts and laboratory warnings and doctors' responses.

Results

Altogether 848,678 completed prescriptions issued by 381 doctors (median 1538 prescriptions per doctor, interquartile range [IQR] 328–3275) were analysed. We identified 895,029 low-level alerts (median 1033 per 1000 prescriptions per doctor, IQR 903–1205) with a median of 34% (IQR 31–39%) heeded; 172,434 intermediate alerts (median 196 per 1000 prescriptions per doctor, IQR 159–266), with a median of 23% (IQR 16–30%) heeded; and 11,940 high-level ‘hard stop’ alerts. Doctors vary greatly in the extent to which they trigger and respond to alerts of different types. The rate of high-level alerts showed weak correlation with the rate of intermediate prescribing alerts (correlation coefficient, r = 0.40, P = <0.001); very weak correlation with low-level alerts (r = 0.12, P = 0.019); and showed weak (and sometimes negative) correlation with propensity to heed test-related warnings or alarms. The degree of correlation between generation of intermediate and high-level alerts is insufficient to identify doctors at high risk of making serious errors.

Conclusions

Routine data from an electronic prescribing system should not be used to identify doctors who are at risk of making serious errors. Careful evaluation of the kinds of quality assurance questions for which routine data are suitable will be increasingly valuable.
A case of widespread aortic thrombosis secondary to acute severe pancreatitis
Authors: Mishreki Andrew P , Bowles Matthew J
Published: May 2011

We offer this case for publication as we believe that this is the first report of widespread aortic thrombosis secondary to acute severe pancreatitis.
Coil migration – a rare complication of endovascular exclusion of visceral artery pseudoaneurysms and aneurysms
Authors: Skipworth JRA , Morkane C , Raptis DA , Kennedy L , Johal K , Pendse D , Brennand DJ , Olde Damink S , Malago M , Shankar A , Imber C
Published: May 2011

Introduction

We describe a case of metallic, angiographic coil migration, following radiological exclusion of a gastroduodenal artery pseudoaneurysm secondary to chronic pancreatitis.

Patients and Methods

A 55-year-old man presented to the out-patient clinic with chronic, intermittent, post-prandial, abdominal pain, associated with nausea, vomiting and weight loss. He was known to have chronic pancreatitis and liver disease secondary to alcohol abuse and previously underwent angiographic exclusion of a gastroduodenal artery pseudoaneurysm. During subsequent radiological and endoscopic investigation, an endovascular coil was discovered in the gastric pylorus, associated with ulceration and cavitation. This patient was managed conservatively and enterally fed via naso-jejunal catheter endoscopically placed past the site of the migrated coil. This patient is currently awaiting biliary bypass surgery for chronic pancreatitis, and definitive coil removal will occur concurrently.

Conclusions

Literature review reveals that this report is only the eighth to describe coil migration following embolisation of a visceral artery pseudoaneurysm or aneurysm. Endovascular embolisation of pseudoaneurysms and aneurysms is generally safe and effective. More common complications of visceral artery embolisation include rebleeding, pseudoaneurysm reformation and pancreatitis.
Management of median arcuate ligament syndrome in patients who require pancreaticoduodenectomy
Authors: Whistance Robert N , Shah Vallari , Grist Emily R , Shearman Clifford P , Pearce Neil W , Odurny Allan , Stedman Brian , Johnson Colin D
Published: May 2011

Pancreaticoduodenectomy is the standard treatment for localised neoplasms of the pancreatic head. The operation can be performed safely in specialist units but good outcome is compromised if postoperative blood flow to the liver and biliary tree is inadequate. Coeliac artery occlusion with blood supply to the liver arising from the superior mesenteric artery via the gastroduodenal artery is difficult to recognise, especially intraoperatively. Recognition of absent hepatic artery pulsation after occlusion of the gastroduodenal artery opens a dilemma: should the resection be abandoned or should vascular reconstruction be undertaken, adding risk to an already complex procedure? We describe two cases with a resectable pancreatic endocrine tumour in which coeliac artery occlusion caused by median arcuate ligament compression was identified from cross-sectional imaging and reconstructions. We highlight two different strategies to correct the vascular insufficiency and allow safe pancreatic resection.
Is primary endocrine therapy effective in treating the elderly, unfit patient with breast cancer?
Authors: Osborn G , Jones M , Champ C , Gower-Thomas K , Vaughan-Williams E
Published: May 2011

INTRODUCTION

Elderly patients with oestrogen receptor (ER)-positive breast cancer wishing to avoid surgery or those who are considered unsuitable for a general anaesthetic may be treated with primary endocrine therapy. We have reviewed all patients with ER-positive breast cancer who were initially treated with primary hormone therapy (PHT) at a district general hospital in south Wales and investigated their outcome in order to evaluate the appropriateness of this method of managing breast cancer.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

All patients with breast cancer who were initially treated with PHT between January 2002 and December 2008 were identified from a single consultant's prospectively maintained database. For each patient the Charlson co-morbidity index was calculated to give an estimate of ten-year survival. Patients who had died during the study period were identified from hospital and cancer registries.

RESULTS

A total of 83 cancers in 82 patients with a median age of 81 years (range: 62–93 years) were included. All cancers were ER-positive. Six patients (7%) had a greater than 50% chance of surviving ten years, calculated using the Charlson index. The median follow-up period was 24 months (range: 6–72 months). Twelve patients (15%) had disease progression while taking PHT. Twenty-three patients (28%) have died (median time from diagnosis to death of 10.5 months, range: 1–77 months). Two patients (2%) experienced disease progression within six months of starting PHT and the number of patients whose cancer progressed increased with increasing length of follow up. Fourteen patients (17%) eventually underwent a wide local excision under local anaesthetic.

CONCLUSIONS

PHT can be considered an effective treatment in this elderly, unfit population with the aim of stopping disease progression so that these patients die with their breast cancer, not of it.
Papers that have Changed the Face of Modern Surgery
Authors: Alderson Derek
Published: May 2011

The last hundred years have resulted in more surgical innovation than in the preceding two millennia. Many surgeons probably believe that the scientific basis for contemporary surgical practice goes back to the pioneering physiologists and pathologists of the 18th and 19th centuries and while there are plenty of examples that support this notion, much of today's surgery is actually based on relatively recent scientific discovery.
Genetic Variation and Inheritance of Diapause Induction in Two Distinct Voltine Ecotypes of Ostrinia nubilalis (Lepidoptera: Crambidae)
Authors: Ikten Cengiz , Skoda Steven R , Hunt Thomas E , Molina-Ochoa Jaime , Foster John E
Published: May 2011

European corn borer, Ostrinia nubilalis (Hübner) (Lepidoptera: Crambidae), displays a larval diapause in response to short photoperiods and is adapted to a variety of local conditions throughout North America. Hence, the effective photoperiod inducing larval diapause will differ among geographic ecotypes. This study considers the inheritance of photoperiodic larval diapause induction by hybridization and backcrossing two latitudinally distinct ecotypes of the European corn borer collected between 41° N, 96° W and 48° N, 96° W and under a range of photoperiods representative of their respective locations: from 14:10 to16:8 (L:D) h. The ecotype adapted to a bivoltine habitat (southeastern Nebraska) exhibited a shorter critical photoperiod (1480 h) than the ecotype (1533 h), originating from a univoltine habitat (northwestern Minnesota). Reciprocal F1 crosses exhibited intermediate values with indication of sex-linked inheritance. In addition, the male parent had significantly more influence on diapause incidence of subsequent progeny than the female. The F2 and backcross progeny further supported the supposition that diapause response is a sex-linked inheritance. The minimum number of genes estimates, and the response from backcross progeny, suggest that diapause response of European corn borer larva may be controlled by only a few loci. The overall results indicated that both ecotypes had adopted unique diapause responses, which ultimately lead to seasonal synchrony in their ecosystems.
Genetic Markers Indicate a New Species Complex of Emerging Pest Mites in Australian Grains
Authors: Arthur Aston L , Miller Adam D , Weeks Andrew R
Published: May 2011

Balaustium medicagoense Meyer & Ryke (Acari: Erythraeidae) and Bryobia spp. Koch (Acari: Tetranychidae) are significant emerging pests in Australian grains and pastures. Despite this, there is limited information known on their basic biology, such as species status and reproductive modes, making it difficult to develop effective and sustainable control strategies. The species/strain status of Balaustium and Bryobia mites from southern Australia was examined using a combination of mitochondrial and nuclear DNA sequence data. In addition, the amplified fragment length polymorphism (AFLP) method was used to examine the reproductive mode and genetic diversity of Ba. medicagoense from 16 populations within southern Australia. Results indicate that there is only one species of Balaustium (Ba. medicagoense) and as many as seven species of Bryobia mites currently present in grain crops, pastures and roadsides within southern Australia. The Bryobia species complex consists of four recently described lineages (Bryobia sp. I, Bryobia sp. IV, Bryobia sp. VII, and Bryobia praetiosa Koch) and three additional genetic lineages (Bryobia sp. VIII, Bryobia sp. IX, and Bryobia sp. X) that have not been described previously. Bryobia sp. VIII, B. sp. IX, and B. sp. I seem to be the most abundant species present in Australian broadacre agriculture (i.e., land suitable for farms practicing large-scale crop [agriculture] operations). The AFLP data revealed that Ba. medicagoense reproduces asexually and that genetic diversity was low with only 10 genotypes found. These findings indicate a new complex of pest mites are present within Australian grain crops and pastures and this has implications for their control.
Eggs and Egg Loads of Field-Collected Ctenoplematinae (Hymenoptera: Ichneumonidae): Evidence for Phylogenetic Constraints and Life-History Trade-Offs
Authors: Cummins Heather M , Wharton Robert A , Colvin Aubrey M
Published: May 2011

Ctenoplematine Ichneumonidae were sampled with Malaise traps, primarily from central Texas, and dissected to explore variation in reproductive tract morphology, egg size, and egg load. A few species representing the subfamilies Xoridinae, Labeninae, Poemeniinae, Ophioninae, Banchinae, and Tryphoninae were examined for comparison. All ctenopelmatines were synovigenic, but egg size and egg load were highly variable among species. Eggs of koinobionts were always smaller than eggs of the idiobiont taxa Labena, Podoschistus, and Xorides, even after adjustment for body size. Egg loads of koinobionts were significantly larger than those of idiobionts. We discuss our findings in the context of the idiobiont/koinobiont dichotomy and associated life-history traits.
Redescription of Anopheles (Nyssorhynchus) Lutzii, and Resurrection of Anopheles guarani from Synonymy with An. lutzii (Diptera: Culicidae)
Authors: Nagaki Sandra S , Silva Allan M Da , Sallum Maria Anice Mureb
Published: May 2011

Anopheles lutzii Cruz (Diptera: Culicidae) is redescribed using specimens collected in Pariquera-Açu, Vale do Ribeira, state of Säo Paulo, southeastern Mata Atlântica, Brazil. Specimens of An. lutzii from Vale do Ribeira and two females from Nova Friburgo, Rio de Janeiro, are compared with three syntypes of An. lutzii, deposited in the Instituto Oswaldo Cruz, Rio de Janeiro. Comparisons of external morphology of specimens from the type locality of Anopheles guarani Shannon demonstrate it is a valid species, and that Anopheles niger Theobald is conspecific with Anopheles guarani stat. rev. The adult male, male terminalia, fourth-instar larva, and pupa of An. guarani stat. rev. are described for the first time. Diagnostic characters of the male and female, male terminalia, fourth-instar larva and pupa of An. lutzii and An. guarani stat. rev. are illustrated. An. guarani stat. rev. is herein resurrected from the synonymy with An. lutzii, and Anopheles niger comb. nov. is transferred from the synonymy with An. lutzii to the synonymy of An. guarani stat. rev.
Detection and Relative Titer ofCandidatusLiberibacter asiaticus in the Salivary Glands and Alimentary Canal ofDiaphorina citri(Hemiptera: Psyllidae) Vector of Citrus Huanglongbing Disease
Authors: Ammar El-Desouky , Shatters Robert G , Lynch Christine , Hall David G
Published: May 2011

Candidatus Liberibacter asiaticus (CLas) bacterium has been strongly implicated as the causative agent of huanglongbing (HLB), or citrus greening, which is currently the most devastating citrus disease worldwide. HLB is transmitted by the Asian citrus psyllid, Diaphorina citri Kuwayama (Hemiptera: Psyllidae), in a persistent manner. We used quantitative-polymerase chain reaction (PCR) to detect CLas in dissected organs of individual D. citri adults infected with HLB in the laboratory or collected from field-infected citrus trees in South Florida. The proportion of infected (CLas-positive) dissected organs was 47–70% for the salivary glands, 72–80% for the alimentary canal, and 79–97.5% for the rest of the insect body. Statistical analysis indicated that, in both field- and laboratory-infected D. citri, the proportion of infected salivary glands was significantly lower than that of other parts in the insect body. With field-collected psyllids, the relative copy number of CLas genomes, compared with psyllid genomic DNA in each sample, was significantly higher in both the salivary gland and alimentary canal compared with that in the rest of the insect body for both males and females. These results provide the first PCR confirmation of CLas in the alimentary canal and salivary glands of D. citri and strongly suggest that the salivary glands constitute an important transmission barrier to CLas in the psyllid vector. Our results also suggest that CLas may replicate or accumulate in both the alimentary canal and salivary glands of D. citri.
First Microsatellites fromSpodoptera frugiperda(Lepidoptera: Noctuidae) and Their Potential use for Population Genetics
Authors: Arias Renée S , Blanco Carlos A , Portilla Maribel , Snodgrass Gordon L , Scheffler Brian E
Published: May 2011

This is the first report of sequence-specific microsatellite markers (simple sequence repeats [SSRs]) of fall armyworm, Spodoptera frugiperda (J.E. Smith) (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae), an economically important pest of crops on the Americas. We isolated 192 microsatellite markers by using pyrosequencing and screened 15 individuals from eight isofamilies collected from three geographical areas: Puerto Rico (PR), Texas (TX), and Mississippi (MS). Isofamilies resistant to Cry toxins from Bacillus thuringiensis (Berliner) (Bacillales: Bacillaceae) also were included. Cluster analysis was performed to determine the potential use of these SSRs in discriminating populations, and colonies were grouped with a reliability of 100% estimated by bootstrap. In this analysis, colonies from TX grouped away from those from PR, but the two MS isofamilies grouped with TX and PR separately. Genetic distance within isofamilies ranged between 0.22 and 0.56, and the minimum distance between isofamilies was 0.83. Unique pattern informative combination (UPIC) scores were calculated, and the 80 SSR markers that had UPIC scores of ≥1 are listed according to their discriminating potential. UPIC scores allow reducing costs by choosing fewer and highly informative markers for future studies. From the best 125 markers, 103 had a maximum of two alleles per sample, making them ideal candidates for population genetic studies. BLAST screening of the sequences points to potential biological meaning of marker polymorphisms. The percentage of alleles shared by the three geographic areas was 14%. The markers reported will significantly enrich the pool of molecular markers available for S. frugiperda. In addition, they could be used for monitoring migration of populations, in the development of biocontrol agents and for management practices in general.
Concurrent Parasitism Alters Thermoregulation in Honey Bee (Hymenoptera: Apidae) Winter Clusters
Authors: Schäfer Marc O , Ritter Wolfgang , Pettis Jeff S , Neumann Peter
Published: May 2011

Thermoregulation is crucial for honey bee, Apis mellifera L. (Hymenoptera: Apidae), colony survival in temperate regions, but possible interference by parasites is currently unknown. The small hive beetle, Aethina tumida Murray (Coleoptera: Nitidulidae), and the ectoparasitic mite Varroa destructor Anderson & Trueman are honey bee parasites and both overwinter in host colonies. The efficiency of thermoregulation might thus be affected in infested host winter clusters, due to altered worker activity. Here, we show for the first time that parasites can alter honey bee thermoregulation. Moreover, the data suggest that only combined infestations with V. destructor and A. tumida result in higher thermal maxima in the winter clusters, whereas infestations with one parasite alone had no significant effect compared with the controls. Due to the ubiquitous mite V. destructor combined infestations with parasites or combined infections with pathogens are almost inevitable. Therefore, our data indicate that an altered thermoregulation due to multiple infestations might be another widespread factor contributing to winter losses of honey bee colonies.
Influence of Temperature, Humidity, and Plant Terpenoid Profile on Life History Characteristics of Boreioglycaspis melaleucae (Hemiptera: Psyllidae), a Biological Control Agent of the Invasive Tree Melaleuca quinquenervia
Authors: Chiarelli R N , Pratt P D , Silvers C S , Blackwood J S , Center T D
Published: May 2011

We investigated how environmental variables influence development and survivorship of Boreioglycaspis melaleucae Moore (Hemiptera: Psyllidae) by quantifying life history characteristics of adults, eggs, and nymphs when held at eight constant temperatures, four relative humidities, and on plants that differed in foliar terpenoid profiles. There is insufficient evidence to conclude that terpenoid profiles or humidity influence B. melaleucae development. Although longevity of adult psyllids is greater on plants that contain E-nerolidol versus viridiflorol profiles, this does not translate to a longer ovipositional period or increased fecundity. Similarly, humidity treatments had a limited and inconsistent effect on B. melaleucae developmental rates and nymphal survivorship. In contrast, developmental rates increased linearly with increasing temperature to an optimum 25°C, whereas greater temperatures caused total developmental rates to decrease. Temperature also affected nymphal survivorship, with no individuals completing development below 10 or above 30°C. Mean maximum daily temperatures in southern Florida commonly exceeded 30°C, with maximum temperatures ranging from 30 to 35°C (in Broward Co.) during 138 d in 2006. Therefore, we conclude that lethal upper temperature thresholds will limit population growth rates during summer.
A new arthropodJugatacaris agilisn. gen. n. sp. from the Early Cambrian Chengjiang biota, South China
Authors: Fu Dongjing , Zhang Xingliang
Published: May 2011

A new arthropodJugatacaris agilisn. gen. n. sp. with excellent soft anatomy is reported from the Early Cambrian Chengjiang biota. Its “bivalved” carapace with a dorsal fin-like fusion is distinct from those of other Cambrian arthropods. A pair of stalked eyes and a prominent median eye protrudes the carapace anteriorly. The cephalon, attaching to the carapace through the lateral adductor muscles at maxillary segment, bears an antennule, antenna and mandible. The trunk is comprised of a large number of segments (varying from 55 to 65), two-thirds of which is covered by the carapace. Each segment, except for the posterior three to five, carries a pair of uniform biramous appendages. The endopodite is composed of 30 podomeres and a terminal claw. The oar-shaped exopododite is fringed with filaments and distally bears a broad setiferous lobe. Trunk terminates with a conical telson and a pair of broad furcal rami serving as steering devices. Internal features like gonad and gut have also been found. The presence of the food groove combined with other morphological features indicates thatJugatacariswas a filter feeder. The appendages design associated with the overall body-plan supports the view thatJugatacarisis a crustaceanomorph. The accurate phylogenic assessment will remain the subject of debate until more information becomes available.
Opertochasma somaensisn. sp. (Bivalvia: Pholadidae) from the Upper Jurassic in Japan: a perspective on pholadoidean early evolution
Authors: Haga Takuma , Kase Tomoki
Published: May 2011

The evolutionary history of the major boring-bivalve superfamily Pholadoidea remains unclear.Opertochasma somaensisn. sp., preserved in situ in fossilized wood from upper Kimmeridgian to lower Tithonian strata within the Upper Jurassic shallow marine Nakanosawa Formation, northeast Japan, is described. This new species represents one of the oldest body fossils of pholadoidean boring-bivalves and the first fossil record from the Jurassic in the circum-Pacific regions. The authochthonous occurrence in fossilized wood, the presence of microscopic file-like sculpture on the anterior shell slope, the short clavate burrow, and other shell features demonstrate thatO. somaensisn. sp. was a filter-feeding, obligate wood-borer with anterior-boring locomotion, and also that the complex shell morphology unique to Pholadoidea was established by the Late Jurassic. The documentation of the new species and taxonomic review on the Jurassic species previously described, show that the superfamily Pholadoidea was widely distributed along the Northern Hemisphere middle latitudes in the latest Jurassic. The Pholadoidea likely evolved by exploiting woody substrata which had become abundant during the Late Jurassic with floral diversification in the middle latitudes. It is notable that the xylophagous mode of life, referable to modern Teredinidae and Xylophagaidae, was most probably established in the Jurassic and provided an important background for the establishment of chemosynthesis-based, sunken wood-associated communities.
Shell microstructure of the basal pectinid Pleuronectites laevigatus: implications for pectinoid phylogeny (Mollusca: Bivalvia: Pteriomorphia)
Authors: Carter Joseph G. , Hautmann Michael
Published: May 2011

New shell microstructure data for the Triassic pectinid Pleuronectites reinforce shell morphological data suggesting that its family Pectinidae was derived from the superfamily Aviculopectinoidea and not from the Pernopectinidae-Entolioidesidae-Entoliidae clade. This would make the superfamily Pectinoidea, as defined by recent authors, polyphyletic. This would also imply that alivincular-alate ligaments evolved independently in the Pernopectinidae-Entolioidesidae-Entolidae and Pectinidae clades.