bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Partial rootzone drying increases water-use efficiency of lemon Fino 49 trees independently of root-to-shoot ABA signalling
Authors: Pérez-Pérez J. G. , Dodd I. C. , Botía P.
Published: May 2012

To determine whether irrigation strategy altered the sensitivity of Citrus leaf gas exchange to soil, plant and atmospheric variables, mature (16-year-old) Fino 49 lemon trees (Citrus limon (L.) Burm. fil. grafted on Citrus macrophylla Wester) were exposed to three irrigation treatments: control (irrigated with 100% of crop potential evapotranspiration, ETc), deficit irrigation (DI) and partial rootzone drying (PRD) treatments,which received 75% ETc during the period of highest evaporative demand and 50% ETc otherwise. Furthermore, to assess the physiological significance of root-to-shoot ABA signalling, the seasonal dynamics of leaf xylem ABA concentration ([X-ABA]leaf) were evaluated over two soil wetting–drying cycles during a 2-week period in summer. Although stomatal conductance (gs) declined with increased leaf-to-air vapour pressure deficit (LAVPD), lower leaf water potential and soil water availability, [X-ABA]leaf was only related to stomatal closure in well irrigated trees under moderate (<2.5 kPa) atmospheric vapour pressure deficit (VPD). Differences in [X-ABA]leaf were not detected between treatments either before or immediately after (<12 h) rewatering the dry side of PRD trees. Leaf water potential was higher in control trees, but decreased similarly in all irrigation treatments as daily LAVPD increased. In contrast, DI and PRD trees showed lower stomatal sensitivity to LAVPD than control trees. Although DI and PRD decreased stomatal conductance and photosynthesis, these treatments did not significantly decrease yield, but PRD increased crop water use efficiency (WUE) by 83% compared with control trees. Thus PRD-induced enhancement of crop WUE in a semiarid environment seems to involve physiological mechanisms other than increased [X-ABA]leaf.
The Human Genome Project: Novel Approaches, Probable Reasoning, and the Advancement of Science
Authors: Robidoux Charlotte A.
Published: May 2012

The Human Genome Project (HGP), a 15-year study that began in 1990, expects to locate the 50,000 to 100,000 genes spanning our clmmasomes. According to many scientists, this effort will result in cures for genetic diseases. Yet throughout the course of genetic research, scientific findings have been surrounded by much uncertainty. Even when Watson and Crick announced the discovery of DNA, they acknowledged that their data mted on assumptions. How then do geneticists conduct research when strict proof is not always possible? When no one has directly observed DNA nucleotide sequeneces? Scientists often rely on probable reasoning to arrive at truth. In this essay, I examine discussions on the HGP through an Aristotelian lens to understand how rhetorical figures, such as metaphor and analogy, are wed as dialectical tooh to advance the frontiers of science.
Classical and Christian Conflicts in Keekennann's De rhetoricae ecclesiasticae utilitate
Authors: Lares Jameela
Published: May 2012

Little attention has been paid to the often profound differences between artes praedicandi written in the Europe of the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. While the sermon theorists loyal to Rome often employed classical rhetoric without any sense of disjunction, the Reformers' dedication to Scripture as a model of discourse impelled them to ratify any use of classical rhetoric in terms of Scripture and Christian commentary. In Bartholomew Keckermann's De rhetoricae ecclesiasticae utilitate, for instance, the author makes use of Aristotle's Rhetoric, but not without heavy reference to similar concerns in Augustine's De docfrina christiana and the epistles of St. Paul. Keckermann's procedures parallel those of other reformers such as Philip Melanchthon and Gerhard Andreas Hyperius, and stand in sharp contrast to the works of Erasmus and the Milanese cardinal Saint Charles Borromeo.
Improvement of 3D protein models using multiple templates guided by single-template model quality assessment
Authors: Buenavista Maria T. , Roche Daniel B. , McGuffin Liam J.
Published: May 2012

Motivation: Modelling the 3D structures of proteins can often be enhanced if more than one fold template is used during the modelling process. However, in many cases, this may also result in poorer model quality for a given target or alignment method. There is a need for modelling protocols that can both consistently and significantly improve 3D models and provide an indication of when models might not benefit from the use of multiple target-template alignments. Here, we investigate the use of both global and local model quality prediction scores produced by ModFOLDclust2, to improve the selection of target-template alignments for the construction of multiple-template models. Additionally, we evaluate clustering the resulting population of multi- and single-template models for the improvement of our IntFOLD-TS tertiary structure prediction method.

Results: We find that using accurate local model quality scores to guide alignment selection is the most consistent way to significantly improve models for each of the sequence to structure alignment methods tested. In addition, using accurate global model quality for re-ranking alignments, prior to selection, further improves the majority of multi-template modelling methods tested. Furthermore, subsequent clustering of the resulting population of multiple-template models significantly improves the quality of selected models compared with the previous version of our tertiary structure prediction method, IntFOLD-TS.

Availability and implementation: Source code and binaries can be freely downloaded from http://www.reading.ac.uk/bioinf/downloads/.

Contact:  l.j.mcguffin@reading.ac.uk

Supplementary information:  Supplementary data are available at Bioinformatics online. http://www.reading.ac.uk/bioinf/MTM_suppl_info.pdf
Low-pathogenic avian influenza virus A/turkey/Ontario/6213/1966 (H5N1) is the progenitor of highly pathogenic A/turkey/Ontario/7732/1966 (H5N9)
Authors: Ping Jihui , Selman Mohammed , Tyler Shaun , Forbes Nicole , Keleta Liya , Brown Earl G.
Published: May 2012

The first confirmed outbreak of highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) virus infections in North America was caused by A/turkey/Ontario/7732/1966 (H5N9); however, the phylogeny of this virus is largely unknown. This study performed genomic sequence analysis of 11 avian influenza isolates from 1956 to 1979 for comparison with A/turkey/Ontario/7732/1966 (H5N9). Phylogenetic and genetic analyses included these viruses in combination with all known full-genome sequences of avian viruses isolated before 1981. It was shown that a low-pathogenic avian influenza virus, A/turkey/Ontario/6213/1966 (H5N1), that had been isolated 3 months previously, was the closest known genetic relative with six genome segments of common lineage encoding the polymerase subunits PB2, PB1 and PA, nucleoprotein (NP), haemagglutinin (HA) and non-structural (NS) proteins. The lineages of these genome segments included reassortment with other North American turkey viruses that were all rooted in North American wild waterfowl with the HA gene originating from the H5N2 serotype. The phylogenies demonstrated adaptation from North American wild birds to turkeys with the possible involvement of domestic waterfowl. The turkey isolate, A/turkey/Wisconsin/1968 (H5N9), was the second most closely related poultry isolate to A/turkey/Ontario/7732/1966 (H5N9), possessing five common lineage genome segments (PB2, PB1, PA, HA and neuraminidase). The A/turkey/Ontario/6213/1966 (H5N1) virus was more virulent than A/turkey/Wisconsin/68 (H5N9) for chicken embryos and mice, indicating a greater biological similarity to A/turkey/Ontario/7732/1966 (H5N9). Thus, A/turkey/Ontario/6213/1966 (H5N1) was identified as the closest known ancestral relative of HPAI A/turkey/Ontario/7732/1966 (H5N9), which will serve as a useful reference virus for characterizing the early genetic and biological properties associated with the emergence of pathogenic avian influenza strains.
Whole-genomic analysis of a human G1P[9] rotavirus strain reveals intergenogroup-reassortment events
Authors: Ghosh Souvik , Shintani Tsuzumi , Urushibara Noriko , Taniguchi Koki , Kobayashi Nobumichi
Published: May 2012

Group A rotavirus (RVA) strain K8 (RVA/Human-tc/JPN/K8/1977/G1P[9]) was found to have Wa-like VP7 and NSP1 genes and AU-1-like VP4 and NSP5 genes. To determine the exact origin and overall genetic makeup of this unusual RVA strain, the remaining genes (VP1–VP3, VP6 and NSP2–NSP4) of K8 were analysed in this study. Strain K8 exhibited a G1-P[9]-I1-R3-C3-M3-A1-N1-T3-E3-H3 genotype constellation, not reported previously. The VP6 and NSP2 genes of strain K8 were related closely to those of common human Wa-like G1P[8] and/or G3P[8] strains, whilst its VP1–VP3, NSP3 and NSP4 genes were related more closely to those of AU-1-like RVAs and/or AU-1-like genes of multi-reassortant strains than to those of other RVAs. Therefore, strain K8 might have originated from intergenogroup-reassortment events involving acquisition of four Wa-like genes, possibly from G1P[8] RVAs, by an AU-1-like P[9] strain. Whole-genomic analysis of strain K8 has provided important insights into the complex genetic diversity of RVAs.
Limited effect on NS3–NS4A protein cleavage after alanine substitutions within the immunodominant HLA-A2-restricted epitope of the hepatitis C virus genotype 3a non-structural 3/4A protease
Authors: Ahlén Gustaf , Chen Antony , Roe Barbara , Falkeborn Tina , Frelin Lars , Hall William W. , Sällberg Matti , Söderholm Jonas
Published: May 2012

It has been well established that immunological escape mutations within the hepatitis C virus genotype (gt) 1a non-structural (NS) 3/4A protease are partly prevented by a reduction in viral protease fitness. Surprisingly little is known about whether similar mutations affect proteases from other genotypes. In the present study, we assessed both the HLA-A2-restricted CTL response and gt3a NS3/4A protease fitness. Similar to gt1, the 1073–1081 epitope was immunodominant within the gt3a-specific HLA-A2-restricted CTL response, despite sequence similarity of only 56 % between the gt1a and gt3a genes. However, unlike the gt1a NS3/4A protease, all residues within the gt3a 1073–1081 epitope could be replaced sequentially by alanine while retaining protease activity, at least in part.
Is the Goat a New Host for the G3 Indian Buffalo Strain ofEchinococcus granulosus?
Authors: Calderini Pietro , Gabrielli Simona , Cancrini Gabriella
Published: May 2012

Four goats bred in Central Italy (province of Rieti) revealed, in the liver, metacestodes ofEchinococcus granulosus. The cysts, unilocular and fertile, were examined by microscopy and molecular diagnostics. Morphological data on the rostellar hooks are in agreement with the original description of the strain found in buffaloes and are largely compatible with those reported in Europe for cattle and humans. Specific PCR followed by DNA sequencing of the mitochondrial cox1 gene revealed for all the isolates 99.5% identity to the reference strain G3 genotype and 99.3% and 99.1% to G2 and G1, respectively. Further genetic markers (nad1 and 12S rRNA) confirmed the identity of the goat isolates to the G3 strain. This genotype, here reported for the first time in goats, proved to have a wider than previously supposed host range, therefore its relevance in human hydatidosis is expected to be more often evidenced.
Plants' Metabolites as Potential Antiobesity Agents
Authors: Gooda Sahib Najla , Saari Nazamid , Ismail Amin , Khatib Alfi , Mahomoodally Fawzi , Abdul Hamid Azizah
Published: May 2012

Obesity and obesity-related complications are on the increase both in the developed and developing world. Since existing pharmaceuticals fail to come up with long-term solutions to address this issue, there is an ever-pressing need to find and develop new drugs and alternatives. Natural products, particularly medicinal plants, are believed to harbor potential antiobesity agents that can act through various mechanisms either by preventing weight gain or promoting weight loss amongst others. The inhibition of key lipid and carbohydrate hydrolyzing and metabolizing enzymes, disruption of adipogenesis, and modulation of its factors or appetite suppression are some of the plethora of targeted approaches to probe the antiobesity potential of medicinal plants. A new technology such as metabolomics, which deals with the study of the whole metabolome, has been identified to be a promising technique to probe the progression of diseases, elucidate their pathologies, and assess the effects of natural health products on certain pathological conditions. This has been applied to drug research, bone health, and to a limited extent to obesity research. This paper thus endeavors to give an overview of those plants, which have been reported to have antiobesity effects and highlight the potential and relevance of metabolomics in obesity research.
Leukoaraiosis Is a Chronic Atherosclerotic Disease
Authors: Ben-Assayag Einor , Mijajlovic Milija , Shenhar-Tsarfaty Shani , Bova Irena , Shopin Ludmila , Bornstein Natan M.
Published: May 2012

Background and Purpose.White matter changes (WMCs), or leukoaraiosis (LA), are associated with increased age, hypertension, diabetes mellitus, and history of stroke. Although several lines of evidence suggest a role of atherosclerosis in atherothrombotic vascular events, their involvement in LA remains to be determined. Our study examines this association in ischemic stroke patients.Methods.One hundred and seventy consecutive ischemic stroke or transient ischemic attack (TIA) patients were included. All patients underwent brain computed tomography (CT) with assessment of the extension and severity of WMCs, carotid arteries duplex scan with measurements of intima-media thickness (IMT) and plaques.Results.Seventy-two patients (42.4%) were found to have white matter lesions, of whom 28.8% had advanced LA. Mean IMT was significantly higher in patients with LA and with advanced LA (P=0.002,P=0.003, resp.). In addition, LA and LA severity were associated with existence of carotid plaque (P=0.007,P=0.004, resp.). In multivariate logistic regression analysis, including all vascular risk factors, LA was found to be associated with age and IMT.Conclusion.This study reinforces the tight association between LA and carotid atherosclerosis in ischemic stroke patients. We conclude that a chronic atherosclerotic disease underlies the pathophysiology of leukoaraiosis and its progression.
Chimeras taking shape: Potential functions of proteins encoded by chimeric RNA transcripts
Authors: Frenkel-Morgenstern Milana , Lacroix Vincent , Ezkurdia Iakes , Levin Yishai , Gabashvili Alexandra , Prilusky Jaime , del Pozo Angela , Tress Michael , Johnson Rory , Guigo Roderic , Valencia Alfonso
Published: May 2012

Chimeric RNAs comprise exons from two or more different genes and have the potential to encode novel proteins that alter cellular phenotypes. To date, numerous putative chimeric transcripts have been identified among the ESTs isolated from several organisms and using high throughput RNA sequencing. The few corresponding protein products that have been characterized mostly result from chromosomal translocations and are associated with cancer. Here, we systematically establish that some of the putative chimeric transcripts are genuinely expressed in human cells. Using high throughput RNA sequencing, mass spectrometry experimental data, and functional annotation, we studied 7424 putative human chimeric RNAs. We confirmed the expression of 175 chimeric RNAs in 16 human tissues, with an abundance varying from 0.06 to 17 RPKM (Reads Per Kilobase per Million mapped reads). We show that these chimeric RNAs are significantly more tissue-specific than non-chimeric transcripts. Moreover, we present evidence that chimeras tend to incorporate highly expressed genes. Despite the low expression level of most chimeric RNAs, we show that 12 novel chimeras are translated into proteins detectable in multiple shotgun mass spectrometry experiments. Furthermore, we confirm the expression of three novel chimeric proteins using targeted mass spectrometry. Finally, based on our functional annotation of exon organization and preserved domains, we discuss the potential features of chimeric proteins with illustrative examples and suggest that chimeras significantly exploit signal peptides and transmembrane domains, which can alter the cellular localization of cognate proteins. Taken together, these findings establish that some chimeric RNAs are translated into potentially functional proteins in humans.
Putting biogeography’s cart back behind taxonomy’s horse: a response to Triantis et al.
Authors: Carine Mark A. , Jones Katy , Moura Mónica , Graciete Belo Maciel M. , Rumsey Fred J. , Schaefer Hanno
Published: May 2012

In a recent paper, two of us discussed diversity patterns and diversification processes in the Azores flora. Triantis et al. (2012, Journal of Biogeography, 39, 1179–1184) challenged our hypothesis that palaeoclimatic differences had an effect on diversification rates and suggested that area, island age and isolation explain diversity patterns. They did not, however, fully address the results from our subsequent paper, in which we showed that diversity patterns evident from phylogeographic studies differ markedly from those suggested by checklists. Checklists are working hypotheses and we suggest that the discrepancies evident between molecular data and checklists may be indicative of deficiencies in our taxonomic understanding of the Azores flora. Patterns of molecular and morphological diversity need to be better understood, and the discrepancies between checklists and molecular data accounted for, before we can establish the relative importance of factors such as palaeoclimate, area, island age or isolation in generating endemic diversity patterns in the Azores flora.
Stressors and coping mechanisms in live‐related renal transplantation
Authors: Gill Paul
Published: May 2012

Aim. To explore donor and recipient experiences of stressors and coping mechanisms associated with live‐related renal transplantation.

Background. Live‐related renal transplantation is an effective and efficient treatment for end‐stage kidney disease, but is also associated with a variety of stressors.

Design. Longitudinal, phenomenological study.

Methods. Eleven live kidney donors and their recipients (n = 22) were recruited from a regional renal transplant centre in South‐West England. Data were collected through three recorded, semi‐structured interviews, conducted pretransplant and at three and 10 months post‐transplant. Interviews were transcribed verbatim, analysed using a process of thematic analysis and validated through a constructive process of inter‐rater reliability.

Results. End‐stage kidney disease, dialysis and live transplantation produced a variety of stressors for donors and recipients. Common stressors included the live transplantation decision‐making process, the prospect of surgery and postoperative recovery, follow‐up care for donors and, in particular, concern for each other, especially amongst recipients. The main stressor, however, was fear of transplant failure. Participants used a variety of problem‐ and emotion‐focused coping mechanisms to deal with these stressors and donors and recipients actively supported each other through the transplantation process.

Conclusion. Renal transplantation remains the treatment of choice for most patients with end‐stage kidney disease but is a source of considerable stress for donors and especially recipients and subsequently requires a range of coping mechanisms, including social support.

Relevance to clinical practice. Patients need to be adequately informed of the risks associated with transplantation and provided with appropriate emotional care and support throughout the transplantation process. Health professionals also need to be mindful of assessing the needs and managing realistic expectations of patients and their families.
The book, the stories, the people: an ongoing dialogic narrative inquiry study combining a practice development project. Part 1: the research context
Authors: GRANT A. , BILEY F. C. , LEIGH‐PHIPPARD H. , WALKER H.
Published: May 2012

Accessible summary

The idea for this research and practice development project emerged from the production of a recently published book of recovery narratives, written by a community of people broadly working in the mental health recovery movement.

The research component of this project, described in this paper, sits within: narrative inquiry as a moral endeavour in the human sciences; the pedagogy of suffering in the sociology of health and illness; and mental health narrative recovery.

Two inter‐related data sources will be used in the research. The first is chapters contributed by authors to the book. The second is interview data from those authors.

Integrative textual and interview transcript analysis will extend to the end of 2012.

The research component of this project represents a commitment to a mental health nursing practice allied to recovery as narrative healing as opposed to forms of psychiatric nursing which endorse and tacitly support abuses committed in the name of institutional psychiatry.

This paper, part one of a two paper report, describes key aspects of the research context of an ongoing practice development project, conducted on two UK sites. The paper begins with a discussion of the project's origins within a community of people working in the recovery paradigm, including the contributory strand of the first author's recovery and survivor writing. The discussion then turns to three inter‐related areas within which the research component sits and which provide it with philosophical, theoretical and conceptual coherence. Each area will be unpacked and its significance explained. This will provide a platform for discussing the focus, methodology and methods of the research, and related assumptions governing both data collection and analysis. The paper concludes with a research commitment to a mental health nursing practice allied to recovery as narrative healing. Links are made to the second paper which describes the context and specifics of a Writing for Recovery project for users, survivors and carers. This shares with, and builds on, the overall project's research context and its assumptions.
Role in metal homeostasis of CtpD, a Co2+transporting P1B4‐ATPase ofMycobacterium smegmatis
Authors: Raimunda Daniel , Long Jarukit E. , Sassetti Christopher M. , Argüello José M.
Published: May 2012

Genetic studies in the tuberculosis mouse model have suggested that mycobacterial metal efflux systems, such as the P1B4‐ATPase CtpD, are important for pathogenesis. The specificity for substrate metals largely determines the function of these ATPases; however, various substrates have been reported for bacterial and plant P1B4‐ATPases leaving their function uncertain. Here we describe the functional role of the CtpD protein ofMycobacterium smegmatis. AnM. smegmatismutant strain lacking thectpDgene was hypersensitive to Co2+and Ni2+and accumulated these metals in the cytoplasm.ctpDtranscription was induced by both Co2+and superoxide stress. Biochemical characterization of heterologously expressed, affinity‐purified CtpD showed that this ATPase is activated by Co2+, Ni2+and to a lesser extend Zn2+(20% of maximum activity). The protein was also able to bind one Co2+, Ni2+or Zn2+to its transmembrane transport site. These observations indicate that CtpD is important for Co2+and Ni2+homeostasis inM. smegmatis, and thatM. tuberculosisCtpD orthologue could be involved in metal detoxification and resisting cellular oxidative stress by modulating the intracellular concentration of these metals.
An extensive photometric study of the Blazhko RR Lyrae star RZ Lyr*
Authors: Jurcsik J. , Sódor Á. , Hajdu G. , Szeidl B. , Dózsa Á. , Posztobányi K. , Smitola P. , Belucz B. , Fehér V. , Kővári Zs. , Kriskovics L. , Kun E. , Molnár L. , Nagy I. , Vida K. , Görög N.
Published: May 2012

The analysis of recent, extended multicolour CCD and archive photoelectric, photographic and visual observations has revealed several important properties of RZ Lyr, an RRab-type variable exhibiting large-amplitude Blazhko modulation. On the time base of ∼110 yr, a strict anticorrelation between the pulsation- and modulation-period changes is established. The light curve of RZ Lyr shows a remarkable bump on the descending branch in the small-amplitude phase of the modulation, similarly to the light curves of bump Cepheids. We speculate that the stellar structure temporally suits a 4:1 resonance between the periods of the fundamental and one of the higher order radial modes in this modulation phase. The light-curve variation of RZ Lyr can be correctly fitted with a two-modulation-component solution; the 121-d period of the main modulation is nearly but not exactly four times longer than the period of the secondary modulation component. Using the inverse photometric method, the variations in the pulsation-averaged values of the physical parameters in different phases of both modulation components are determined.
Plant ERD2‐like proteins function as endoplasmic reticulum luminal protein receptors and participate in programmed cell death during innate immunity
Authors: Xu Guoyong , Li Sizhun , Xie Ke , Zhang Qiang , Wang Yan , Tang Yang , Liu Dong , Hong Yiguo , He Chenyang , Liu Yule
Published: May 2012

The hypersensitive response (HR), a form of programmed cell death (PCD), is a tightly regulated innate immune response in plants that is hypothesized to restrict pathogen growth and disease development. Although considerable efforts have been made to understand HR PCD, it remains unknown whether the retrograde pathway from the Golgi to the endoplasmic reticulum (ER) is involved. Here we provide direct genetic evidence that two Nicotiana benthamiana homologs, ERD2a and ERD2b, function as ER luminal protein receptors and participate in HR PCD. Virus‐induced gene silencing (VIGS) of ERD2a and/or ERD2b caused escape of ER‐resident proteins from the ER, and resulted in plants that were more sensitive to ER stress. Silencing of ERD2b delayed HR PCD induced by the non‐host pathogens Xanthomonas oryzae pv. oryzae and Pseudomonas syringae pv. tomato DC3000. However, both silencing of ERD2a and co‐silencing of ERD2a and ERD2b exacerbated HR PCD. Individual and combined suppression of ERD2a and ERD2b exaggerated R gene‐mediated cell death. Nevertheless, silencing of ERD2a and/or ERD2b had no detectable effects on bacterial growth. Furthermore, VIGS of several putative ligands of ERD2a/2b, including the ER quality control (ERQC) component genes BiP, CRT3 and UGGT, had different effects on HR PCD induced by different pathogens. This indicates that immunity‐related cell death pathways are separate with respect to the genetic requirements for these ERQC components. These results suggest that ERD2a and ERD2b function as ER luminal protein receptors to ensure ERQC and alleviate ER stress, thus affecting HR PCD during the plant innate immune response.
Geographic Variation in Note Composition and Use ofchick‐a‐deeCalls of Carolina Chickadees (Poecile carolinensis)
Authors: Freeberg Todd M.
Published: May 2012

The aim of this study was to determine whether geographic variation exists in the composition of note types in thechick‐a‐deecall of Carolina chickadees. This determination is of interest for two reasons: earlier studies with a related species suggested minimal geographic variation in note composition, and geographic variation in social signals may represent important developmental or selection processes shaping signal use. Carolina chickadees were recorded in a naturalistic observation study in west‐central Indiana.Chick‐a‐deecalls were analyzed and compared to calls from an eastern Tennessee population that had been described in a previously published study (Auk, 125, 2008, 896). Despite much similarity in the basic rules by which notes are organized to compose calls, there were several significant differences in how calls of the two populations were structured. Furthermore, birds from Indiana used theirchick‐a‐deecalls in certain contexts in different ways compared to birds from Tennessee. These findings suggest interesting population‐level variation in this call system, and future research should be able to determine whether these differences are driven by evolutionary, ecological, or developmental factors, or some combination of these factors.
The effect of Phlebiopsis gigantea and urea stump treatment against spore infection of Heterobasidion spp. on hybrid larch (Larix × eurolepis) in southern Sweden
Authors: Wang L.Y , Pålsson H. , Ek E. , Rönnberg J.
Published: May 2012

The efficacy of stump treatment with 40% urea solution and spore suspension of Phlebiopsis gigantea against primary infection by Heterobasidion spp. on hybrid larch (Larix × eurolepis) was tested in two field studies in southern Sweden. In the first study, stumps treated with urea or P. gigantea were sampled by cutting a cross‐section disc after 3 months following exposure to natural conditions, and in the second study, stumps treated with only P. gigantea were sampled after 2 months. Spore traps made from hybrid larch, Norway spruce (Picea abies) and Scots pine (Pinus sylvestris) were used to estimate the abundance of ambient spores of Heterobasidion spp. in the second study. Urea significantly reduced infection frequency of Heterobasidion spp. compared to the control. Phlebiopsis gigantea was less effective at reducing infection frequency in the first study than in the second study. Infections were caused by both H. parviporum and H. annosum sensu stricto. The amount of H. annosum infection in proportion to Heterobasidion spp. was significantly lower on the stumps treated with P. gigantea compared to the control; however, the proportion of H. parviporum on the treated stumps was not higher than the control in the first study. Spore traps made of Scots pine had a significantly higher frequency of infection than Norway spruce and hybrid larch. Only the spore traps made of hybrid larch showed significant correlation with the control stumps in terms of relative infected area. Conclusively, it seems prudent to protect hybrid larch stumps from primary infection by Heterobasidion spp., and both urea and P. gigantea can be recommended as stump treatment agents on hybrid larch, even if urea seemed to present more stable results.
Variability in step training enhances locomotor recovery after a spinal cord injury
Authors: Shah Prithvi K. , Gerasimenko Yury , Shyu Andrew , Lavrov Igor , Zhong Hui , Roy Roland R. , Edgerton Victor R.
Published: May 2012

Performance of a motor task is improved by practicing a specific task with added ‘challenges’ to a training regimen. We tested the hypothesis that, in the absence of brain control, the performance of a motor task is enhanced by training using specific variations of that task. We utilized modifications of step performance training to improve the ability of spinal rats to forward step. After a complete thoracic spinal cord transection, 20 adult rats were divided randomly to bipedally step on a treadmill in the forward, sideward, or backward direction for 28 sessions (20 min, 5 days/week) and subsequently tested for their ability to step in the forward direction. Although the animals from all trained groups showed improvement, the rats in the sideward‐trained and backward‐trained groups had greater step consistency and coordination along with higher peak amplitudes and total integrated activity of the rectified electromyographic signals from selected hindlimb muscles per step during forward stepping than the rats in the forward‐trained group. Our results demonstrate that, by retaining the fundamental features of a motor task (bipedal stepping), the ability to perform that motor task can be enhanced by the addition of specific contextual variations to the task (direction of stepping). Our data suggest that the forward stepping neuronal locomotor networks are partially complemented by synchronous activation of interneuronal/motoneuronal populations that are also a part of the sideward or backward stepping locomotor networks. Accordingly, the overlap and interaction of neuronal elements may play a critical role in positive task transference.
Breaking camouflage: responses of neurons in the middle temporal area to stimuli defined by coherent motion
Authors: Lui Leo L. , Dobiecki Anouska E. , Bourne James A. , Rosa Marcello G. P.
Published: May 2012

Camouflaged animals remain inconspicuous only insofar as they remain static. This demonstrates that motion is a powerful cue for figure–ground segregation, allowing detection of moving objects even when their luminance and texture characteristics are matched to the background. We investigated the neural processes underlying this phenomenon by testing the responses of neurons in the middle temporal area (MT) to ‘camouflaged’ bars, which were rendered visible by motion. These responses were compared with those elicited by ‘solid’ bars, which also differed from background in terms of their mean luminance. Most MT neurons responded strongly to camouflaged bars, and signaled their direction of motion with precision, with direction‐tuning curves being only slightly wider than those measured with solid bars. However, the tuning of most MT cells to stimulus length and speed depended on the type of stimulus – in comparison with solid bars, responses to camouflaged bars typically showed more extensive length summation, weak end‐inhibition, and stronger attenuation at high speeds. Moreover, the emergence of direction selectivity was delayed in trials involving camouflaged bars, relative to solid bars. Comparison with results obtained in the first (V1) and second (V2) visual areas, using similar stimuli, indicates that neural computations performed in MT result in significantly stronger and more accurate signals about camouflaged objects, particularly in situations in which these are relatively large and slow moving. These computations are likely to represent an important step in enabling cue‐invariant perception of moving objects, particularly in biologically relevant situations.
The response of marine picoplankton to ocean acidification
Authors: Newbold Lindsay K. , Oliver Anna E. , Booth Tim , Tiwari Bela , DeSantis Todd , Maguire Michael , Andersen Gary , van der Gast Christopher J. , Whiteley Andrew S.
Published: May 2012

Since industrialization global CO2 emissions have increased, and as a consequence oceanic pH is predicted to drop by 0.3–0.4 units before the end of the century – a process coined ‘ocean acidification’. Consequently, there is significant interest in how pH changes will affect the ocean's biota and integral processes. We investigated marine picoplankton (0.2–2 µm diameter) community response to predicted end of century CO2 concentrations, via a ‘high‐CO2’ (∼ 750 ppm) large‐volume (11 000 l) contained seawater mesocosm approach. We found little evidence of changes occurring in bacterial abundance or community composition due to elevated CO2 under both phytoplankton pre‐bloom/bloom and post‐bloom conditions. In contrast, significant differences were observed between treatments for a number of key picoeukaryote community members. These data suggested a key outcome of ocean acidification is a more rapid exploitation of elevated CO2 levels by photosynthetic picoeukaryotes. Thus, our study indicates the need for a more thorough understanding of picoeukaryote‐mediated carbon flow within ocean acidification experiments, both in relation to picoplankton carbon sources, sinks and transfer to higher trophic levels.
Secondary diabetes associated with 5‐fluorouracil‐based chemotherapy regimens in non‐diabetic patients with colorectal cancer: results from a single‐centre cohort study
Authors: Feng J.‐P. , Yuan X.‐L. , Li M. , Fang J. , Xie T. , Zhou Y. , Zhu Y.‐M. , Luo M. , Lin M. , Ye D.‐W.
Published: May 2012

Aim  The aim of the study was to analyse the prevalence and characteristics of secondary diabetes induced by 5‐fluorouracil (5‐FU) based chemotherapy in non‐diabetic patients with colorectal cancer (CRC).

Method  A total of 422 consecutive CRC patients who received 5‐FU‐based chemotherapy were retrospectively analysed. Fasting plasma glucose (FPG) levels were determined before each cycle of chemotherapy during active treatment and regular follow‐up. The prevalence and characteristics of secondary hyperglycaemia were investigated, with special focus on the clinical outcome.

Results  Among the 422 CRC patients, 60 had pre‐existing hyperglycaemia. In the remaining 362 with normal FPG levels before chemotherapy, 42 (11.6%) and 41 (11.3%) patients developed diabetes and impaired fasting glucose during the study period. Among the 42 secondary diabetic patients, 22 (52.4%) received anti‐diabetes drug therapy, in 7 (16.7%) cases the FPG level returned to normal without any active intervention, and 13 (30.9%) cases received diet control and physiotherapy. Thirty‐one (8.6%) patients developed diabetes. Based on the Common Terminology Criteria for Adverse Events, an adverse event over Grade 3 occurred in seven cases during follow‐up. Diabetes‐related adverse events had a serious negative impact on chemotherapy in six cases. Diabetes‐related death occurred in three patients.

Conclusions  Secondary diabetes associated with 5‐FU‐based chemotherapy occurs in around 10% of CRC patients, with a significant negative impact on treatment and clinical outcome. 5‐FU‐related diabetes should be regarded as a common side effect of 5‐FU treatment.
Insulin degludec: four times lower pharmacodynamic variability than insulin glargine under steady‐state conditions in type 1 diabetes
Authors: Heise T. , Hermanski L. , Nosek L. , Feldman A. , Rasmussen S. , Haahr H.
Published: May 2012

Aims

Insulin degludec (IDeg) is a new‐generation basal insulin with an ultra‐long duration of action. We compared the pharmacodynamic (PD) variability of IDeg and insulin glargine (IGlar) under steady‐state conditions.

Methods

Day‐to‐day variability in glucose‐lowering effect was investigated in 54 subjects with type 1 diabetes who underwent a 24‐h euglycaemic glucose clamp on the 6th, 9th and 12th day of treatment with 0.4 U/kg of IDeg or IGlar once daily. Within‐subject variability was estimated using a linear mixed model on log‐transformed PD endpoints derived from the glucose infusion rate (GIR) profiles during the clamps.

Results

For IDeg the day‐to‐day variability in glucose‐lowering effect was four‐times lower than for IGlar for total metabolic effect (AUCGIR,0‐24h,SS, CV 20% vs. 82%) and for the last 22 h [AUCGIR,2‐24h,SS (not influenced by intravenous insulin during the clamp), CV 22% vs. 92%]. Furthermore, lower variability in the maximum effect was observed for IDeg vs. IGlar (GIRmax,SS, CV 18% vs. 60%). The lower within‐subject variability of IDeg was consistent over time (CVs of 33% for AUCGIR,0‐2h,SS, 32% for AUCGIR,10‐12h,SS and 33% for AUCGIR,22‐24h,SS), whereas the variability of IGlar was higher and increased substantially 8 h post‐dosing (CVs of 60% for AUCGIR,0‐2h,SS, 135% for AUCGIR,10‐12h,SS and 115% for AUCGIR,22‐24h,SS).

Conclusions

These results show that IDeg has a significantly more predictable glucose‐lowering effect from day to day than IGlar.
Dorsal vaginal graft urethroplasty for female urethral stricture disease
Authors: Petrou Steven P. , Rogers Alexandra E. , Parker Alexander S. , Green Kristin M. , McRoberts J. William
Published: May 2012

Study Type – Therapy (case series)

Level of Evidence 4

What's known on the subject? and What does the study add?

Female urethral stricture disease has been described for almost 200 years. The symptoms of female stricture disease may range from clinically insignificant to severe and debilitating with the exact aetiology being unclear. No strict criteria for diagnosis have been established with the diagnosis often relying on a combination of presenting symptoms and objective findings. Initial therapy for female urethral stricture disease has often rested on urethral dilatations and self‐intermittent catheterisation with surgery reserved for patients that failed conservative measures. Female urethroplasty currently is a topic of increasing attention with multiple surgical approaches described including use of both grafts (vaginal wall, buccal mucosal membrane, lingual mucosa, and labia minus) and flaps (vaginal vestibule, anterior vagina, and lateral vagina).

We describe our approach to female urethroplasty using a suprameatal (dorsal) approach (described by Tsivian and Sidi) with an autologous vaginal epithelium inlay graft. The technique and modern approaches to female urethroplasty are contrasted and discussed. The success of the approach including continence rates and lack of need for long‐term self‐intermittent catheterisation is noted.

OBJECTIVE

To review the technique and outcomes of using a dorsal vaginal graft to perform urethroplasty for the treatment of urethral strictures in women.

PATIENTS AND METHODS

This is a retrospective chart review of 11 women who were treated with a dorsal vaginal graft urethroplasty by one surgeon.

All women underwent preoperative evaluation that included history, physical examination, fluoro‐urodynamics and urethral calibration.

After surgery interviews, physical examinations, and urinary flow and postvoid residual urine volumes (PVRs) were obtained.

RESULTS

In all, 11 women who had undergone dorsal vaginal graft urethroplasty were identified for review. The mean (range) age was 60.6 (39–75) years. The mean (range) follow‐up was 22.7 (6–46) months.

There were no cases of new onset stress urinary incontinence. The mean PVRs before and after surgery were 187.1 mL and 75.8 mL, respectively (P= 0.003). The mean urinary flows before and after surgery were 7.3 mL/s and 21.8 mL/s, respectively (P= 0.001).

No patient has required repeat surgery.

Self‐reporting satisfaction scores using the Patient Global Impression of Improvement showed that four patients scored 1 (very much better), three scored 2 (much better), two patients scored 3 (a little better), and one scored 4 (no change). Only one patient scored a 5 (worse).

CONCLUSION

Dorsal graft urethroplasty with vaginal mucosa may be considered as a first‐line option for definitive management of female urethral stricture disease. No consensus exists for the surgical treatment of female urethral stricture disease.
Microcredit and Women's Empowerment: Through the Lens of Time‐Use Data from Rural India
Authors: Garikipati Supriya
Published: May 2012

This study examines the impact of microcredit on male and female time use, and draws on this analysis to explore the linkages between credit and women's empowerment. A study of time use can help understand these linkages, because if credit is intended to improve women's livelihoods, it can also be expected to influence the way women allocate their time. Its other advantages are that it does not suffer from much time lag and can be objectively measured. Using household survey data from rural India, the findings show that while microcredit has little impact on women's time use, it helps their husbands move away from wage work (associated with bad pay and low status) to self‐employment. This is because women's loans are typically used to enhance male ownership of the household's productive assets. Further, it is found that it is only women who use loans in self‐managed enterprises who are able to allocate more time to self‐employment. If credit is intended to increase the value of women's work time, it follows that it is not access to loans but use of loans that matters. Ensuring women's control over loan‐created assets must therefore be a critical policy objective.
Explaining the Causes and Effects of Dynamic Capabilities Generation: A Multiple‐Indicator Multiple‐Cause Modelling Approach
Authors: Barrales‐Molina Vanesa , Bustinza Óscar F. , Gutiérrez‐Gutiérrez Leopoldo J.
Published: May 2012

The purpose of this paper is to develop a multiple‐indicator multiple‐cause model to explain dynamic capabilities generation. We use one of the main common effects of dynamic capabilities (operational, structural and strategic flexibility) to design a measurement tool for dynamic capabilities generation. Based on this measurement tool, we test the influence of several factors identified in the specialized literature as potential causes that trigger and promote dynamic capabilities generation. We use data from a survey of 200 CEOs of Spanish firms to test the model. The results show that only organizations whose managers have perceived a high degree of environmental dynamism have generated dynamic capabilities. The results also show that knowledge codification and technical innovation are significantly related to dynamic capabilities generation. We attempt to shed light on current theoretical debates about dynamic capabilities generation and provide a practical guide to explain the origin and results of dynamic capabilities that have been tested empirically.
Measuring the Value of Sociology? Some Notes on Performative Metricization in the Contemporary Academy
Authors: Kelly Aidan , Burrows Roger
Published: May 2012

The performative co-construction of academic life through myriad metrics is now a global phenomenon as indicated by the plethora of university research or journal ranking systems and the publication of ‘league’ tables based on them. If these metrics are seen as actively constituting the social world, can an analysis of this ‘naturally occurring’ data reveal how these new technologies of value and measure are recursively defining the practices and subjects of university life? In the UK higher education sector, the otherwise mundane realities of academic life have come to be recursively lived through a succession of research assessment exercises (RAEs). Lived through not only in the RAEs themselves, but also through the managed incremental changes to the academic and organizational practices linked to the institutional imaginings of planning for, and anticipating the consequences of, the actual exercises. In the ‘planning for’ mode an increasing proportion of formerly sociology submissions have shifted into ‘social policy’. This is one instance of how institutional ‘game-playing’ in relation to the RAE enacts the social in quite fundamental ways. Planning an RAE 2008 submission in Sociology required anticipation of how a panel of 16 peers would evaluate 39 institutions by weighted, relative worth of: aggregated data from 1,267 individuals who, between them cited a total of 3,729 ‘outputs’; the detailed narrative and statistical data on the research environment; and a narrative account of academic ‘esteem’. This data provided such institutional variables as postgraduate student numbers, sources of student funding, and research income from various sources. To evaluate the ‘quality’ of outputs various measures of the ‘impact’ and/or ‘influence’ of journals, as developed from the Thomson-Reuters Journal Citation Reports, was linked to the data. An exploratory modelling exercise using these variables to predict RAE 2008 revealed that despite what we might like to think about the subtle nuances involved in peer review judgements, it turns out that a fairly astonishing 83 per cent of the variance in outcomes can be predicted by some fairly simple ‘shadow metrics’: quality of journals in the submission, research income per capita and scale of research activity. We conclude that measuring the value of sociology involves multiple mutual constructions of reality within which ever more nuanced data assemblages are increasingly implicated and that analysis of this data can make explicit some of the parameters of enactment within which we operate in the contemporary academy.