bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Workplace Collaborative Space Layout Typology and Occupant Perception of Collaboration Environment
Authors: Hua Ying , Loftness Vivian , Kraut Robert , Powell Kevin M
Published: March 2010

The value of effective collaboration has become increasingly critical for organizational performance and agility. Along with technical and managerial strategies, the workspace spatial environment needs to be recognized and studied for its impact on collaboration and interactive behavior at work. Most spatial parameters studied in the workplace research literature are workstation-scale characteristics. However, these may not sufficiently describe the variety of shared spaces in which collaborative work and interactions take place. Based on a two-year multiple-site field study of workplace settings, this paper explores the space typology of a wide spectrum of formal and informal collaborative spaces, and it introduces a new set of layout-scale quantitative indices to describe the amount and distribution of collaborative spaces in a workplace. This research tested layout-scale spatial variables and compared them with workstation-scale variables in order to determine how well these variables predict the occupants' perception of the support from their workplace spatial environment for collaborative work and the distractions from others' interactive behavior in the work environment. The design implications of the findings are explored, and future research directions are identified.
The Obligatory Nature of Holistic Processing of Faces in Social Judgments
Authors: Todorov Alexander , Loehr Valerie , Oosterhof Nikolaas N
Published: March 2010

Using a composite-face paradigm, we show that social judgments from faces rely on holistic processing. Participants judged facial halves more positively when aligned with trustworthy than with untrustworthy halves, despite instructions to ignore the aligned parts (experiment 1). This effect was substantially reduced when the faces were inverted (experiments 2 and 3) and when the halves were misaligned (experiment 3). In all three experiments, judgments were affected to a larger extent by the to-be-attended than the to-be-ignored halves, suggesting that there is partial control of holistic processing. However, after rapid exposures to faces (33 to 100 ms), judgments of trustworthy and untrustworthy halves aligned with incongruent halves were indistinguishable (experiment 4a). Differences emerged with exposures longer than 100 ms. In contrast, when participants were not instructed to attend to specific facial parts, these differences did not emerge (experiment 4b). These findings suggest that the initial pass of information is holistic and that additional time allows participants to partially ignore the task-irrelevant context.
Flexible working arrangements in prevocational training: implications for the delivery of safe and effective health care
Authors: Wang Louis W. , He Emily Y. J.
Published: March 2010

And the whole is greater than [the sum of] the part(s). ‘The Fifth Common Notion’ from Book I of Euclid’s ΣTOIXEIΩN (The Elements) 1
An ageing nursing workforce
Authors: Graham Elizabeth M. , Duffield Christine
Published: March 2010

There are well documented workforce shortages in nursing. Many strategies have been suggested to resolve the issue, including increasing migration or training places, changing skill mix or nurses’ roles, redesigning nursing work, and greater use of unregulated or unlicensed workers. One of the contributing and growing factors is the ageing of the workforce, but methods of retaining older employees have been given very little attention. This paper examines the impact of ageing on individuals, the ageing nursing workforce and the implications for government policy given its current status. What is known about the topic?A generation of ‘baby boomer’ nurses are reaching retirement age. The nursing workforce is in crisis due to there being less entrants to the workforce as a result of lower birth rates, wider choices of career, and nurses leaving the profession for less stressful, more satisfying jobs. What does this paper add?This paper outlines the necessity for the employment of retention strategies for older nurses in the workforce. It dispels myths about the functional capabilities of ageing nurses. What are the implications for practitioners?Health managers should canvass ageing nurses to discover strategies that would encourage them to extend their working life. Only then could it become feasible to plan practical solutions to ease the global nursing shortage.
Cost drivers of remote clinics: remoteness and population size
Authors: Zhao Yuejen , Malyon Rosalyn
Published: March 2010

This report examines the impact of remoteness and population size on the costs of providing primary health care services in remote Northern Territory Indigenous communities. For remote health clinics servicing a population of similar size, total expenditure increased as remoteness increased. Total expenditure in remote clinics increased with population size, but average per capita expenditure was highest in clinics servicing populations of less than 200 people and lowest for populations of between 600 and 999. Staffing costs comprised over 70% of expenses. The largest non-staffing cost was property management. The higher costs of clinics that are in more remote locations or servicing smaller populations need to be recognised in funding distribution methodologies. What is known about the topic?People in rural and remote locations tend to have poorer health status and poorer access to primary care services than those in urban areas. There has, however, been a lack of information on the relative cost of providing primary care services in remote areas and the nature of those costs, particularly in remote Indigenous communities. What does this paper add?This study analyses the costs of primary care services in Northern Territory remote Indigenous communities and their associations with two key cost drivers: remoteness and population size. What are the implications for practitioners?This paper provides information on the importance of including remoteness and population size in resource allocation formulas for primary care services in remote areas.
Impact of Enhanced Primary Care on equitable access to and economic efficiency of allied health services: a qualitative investigation
Authors: Haines Terry P. , Foster Michele M. , Cornwell Petrea , Fleming Jennifer , Tweedy Sean , Hart Alison , Mitchell Geoffrey
Published: March 2010

Objective.To evaluate new pathways to access allied health services introduced by the Enhanced Primary Care/Chronic Disease Management (EPC/CDM) initiative that may both increase or decrease equity to and efficiency in access. Design.A qualitative study consisting of semi-structured in-depth interviews with a purposively selected group of allied health practitioners. Participants and setting.Allied health practitioners in private practice in Queensland, Australia, from physiotherapy, occupational therapy, speech pathology, and exercise physiology backgrounds (n = 15). Main outcome measures.Interviews focused upon several issues including how referrals are made under the EPC/CDM initiative and what happens for patients once their five allotted sessions are expended. Results.The EPC/CDM initiative appeared to address two key barriers of access to allied health services – costs to patient of access and patient awareness of benefits. However, gap payments may still be deterring economically disadvantaged patients from attending. Discussion.The EPC/CDM initiative is increasing access to allied health services for people with chronic diseases. However, it is evident that this initiative may still not be meeting the needs of those most disadvantaged economically, and may lead to duplication of efforts by allied health practitioners when patients move between private and public health care sectors. What is known about the topic?Publicly funded subsidy of allied health services for people with chronic disease is a relatively new policy initiative in Australia. The success of such policy hinges on several factors, notably, its ability to improve equity of access to appropriate health care, generate improved health outcomes, and to do so efficiently. What does this paper add?This paper demonstrates how health professionals and patients are actually using the Enhanced Primary Care/Chronic Disease Management initiative to access allied health services. The strengths and weaknesses of current policy identified will inform future policy development and funding decisions. What are the implications for practitioners?Equitable access to allied health services for people with economic disadvantage is still limited due to gap payments. This initiative has facilitated patient exposure to the benefits of allied health services first hand, prompting some to continue paying for these services privately once the annual number of sessions permitted are exhausted.
Spiroheterocycles via Regioselective Cycloaddition Reactions of Nitrile Oxides with 5-Methylene-1H-pyrrol-2(5H)-ones
Authors: Beattie Nicola J. , Francis Craig L. , Liepa Andris J. , Savage G. Paul
Published: March 2010

Substituted 5-methylene-1H-pyrrol-2(5H)-ones underwent a 1,3-dipolar cycloaddition reaction with nitrile oxides to give the corresponding spiro heterocycles. Critical to this reaction was the development of a biphasic system for base-induced dehydrohalogenation of hydroximoyl chlorides, to give nitrile oxides, in the presence of a base-sensitive dipolarophile. A substituted N-tolyl 5-methylene-1H-pyrrol-2(5H)-one exhibited atropisomerism, which in turn led to a 4:1 facial selectivity during cycloaddition.
A pathway-based classification of human breast cancer
Authors: Gatza Michael L. , Lucas Joseph E. , Barry William T. , Kim Jong Wook , Wang Quanli , D. Crawford Matthew , B. Datto Michael , Kelley Michael , Mathey-Prevot Bernard , Potti Anil , Nevins Joseph R.
Published: March 2010

The hallmark of human cancer is heterogeneity, reflecting the complexity and variability of the vast array of somatic mutations acquired during oncogenesis. An ability to dissect this heterogeneity, to identify subgroups that represent common mechanisms of disease, will be critical to understanding the complexities of genetic alterations and to provide a framework to develop rational therapeutic strategies. Here, we describe a classification scheme for human breast cancer making use of patterns of pathway activity to build on previous subtype characterizations using intrinsic gene expression signatures, to provide a functional interpretation of the gene expression data that can be linked to therapeutic options. We show that the identified subgroups provide a robust mechanism for classifying independent samples, identifying tumors that share patterns of pathway activity and exhibit similar clinical and biological properties, including distinct patterns of chromosomal alterations that were not evident in the heterogeneous total population of tumors. We propose that this classification scheme provides a basis for understanding the complex mechanisms of oncogenesis that give rise to these tumors and to identify rational opportunities for combination therapies.
Metabolic cycling in single yeast cells from unsynchronized steady-state populations limited on glucose or phosphate
Authors: Silverman Sanford J. , Petti Allegra A. , Slavov Nikolai , Parsons Lance , Briehof Ryan , Thiberge Stephan Y. , Zenklusen Daniel , Gandhi Saumil J. , Larson Daniel R. , Singer Robert H. , Botstein David
Published: March 2010

Oscillations in patterns of expression of a large fraction of yeast genes are associated with the “metabolic cycle,” usually seen only in prestarved, continuous cultures of yeast. We used FISH of mRNA in individual cells to test the hypothesis that these oscillations happen in single cells drawn from unsynchronized cultures growing exponentially in chemostats. Gene-expression data from synchronized cultures were used to predict coincident appearance of mRNAs from pairs of genes in the unsynchronized cells. Quantitative analysis of the FISH results shows that individual unsynchronized cells growing slowly because of glucose limitation or phosphate limitation show the predicted oscillations. We conclude that the yeast metabolic cycle is an intrinsic property of yeast metabolism and does not depend on either synchronization or external limitation of growth by the carbon source.
An inductive model of technological progress
Authors: Enos John , Etheridge Alison
Published: March 2010

The purposes of this paper are threefold: to suggest a conceptual scheme which encompasses innovations and improvements in industry; to express this scheme in the mathematical form of Poisson jump processes; and, finally, to illustrate it with a sequence of cost data drawn from three‐quarters of a century of company operations. In the stochastic process, three parameters summarise the events: (i) random intervals between innovations; (ii) different random intervals between improvements; and (iii) the rate at which the benefits of improvements decay over time. The fit between the model’s performance, on the one hand, and the cost data, on the other, is good: the theoretical deductions and the actual cost series bear a close resemblance. Most models of technological progress are based upon the mere passage of time, whereas this model stems from the events.
Dialectics of design: how ideas of ‘good design’ change
Authors: Tomes Anne , Armstrong Peter
Published: March 2010

This paper advances a first‐pass theory of change in the styling of objects of domestic utility. It is based on the idea that the expressive potential of design for the maker, the user and the designer exists in tension with other desirable properties of the designed artefact. Respectively these are mass availability, conformity to professionally‐defined ideas of good taste, and the demands of function and marketability. The theory is illustrated by reference to the emergence and subsequent dilution of three design movements; Arts and Crafts, Art Nouveau and certain versions of Modernism.
Development of Parafoveal Processing within and across Words in Reading: Evidence from the Boundary Paradigm
Authors: Häikiö Tuomo , Bertram Raymond , Hyönä Jukka
Published: March 2010

In this study we used the boundary paradigm to examine whether readers extract more parafoveal information within than across words. More specifically, we examined whether readers extract more parafoveal information from a compound word's second constituent than from the same word when it is the noun in an adjective–noun phrase (kummitustarina “ghost story” vs. lennokas tarina “vivid story”). We also examined whether the processing of compound word constituents is serial or parallel and how parafoveal word processing develops over the elementary school years. Participants were Finnish adults and 8-year-old second-, 10-year-old fourth-, and 12-year-old sixth-graders. The results showed that for all age groups more parafoveal information is extracted from the second constituent within compounds than from the noun in adjective–noun phrases. Moreover, for all age groups we found evidence for parallel processing of constituents within compounds, but only when the compounds were of high frequency. In sum, the present study shows that attentional allocation extends further to the right and is more simultaneous when words are linguistically and spatially unified, providing evidence that attention in text processing is flexible in nature.
Discontinuation of Contact Precautions for Patients No Longer Colonized with
Methicillin-Resistant Staphylococcus aureus
Authors: Vikram Holenarasipur R. , Dumigan Diane G. , Kohan Cynthia , Havill Nancy L. , Tauman Allison , Boyce John M.
Published: March 2010

To reduce the number of patients with known methicillin-resistant
Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) colonization who are
repeatedly placed in isolation on hospital readmission, we screened patients who
had no positive results for MRSA culture in the previous 6 months. Twenty-one
(21%) of 98 patients were no longer colonized and were removed from contact
precautions.
All together now: integrating customer data with MasterVision
Authors: CULLING James
Published: March 2010

A publisher's customer and user data typically comes in many forms and from many specialized repositories and systems. For sales and marketing staff in particular, there is considerable insight to be gained from analysing all of this data closely. However, achieving an integrated and complete ‘single customer view’ via a data warehouse solution can be a costly, time‐consuming and challenging undertaking. In this case study report, DataSalon's MasterVision is described as an alternative approach to solving this problem for publishers. Key to the solution is a dynamic data modelling philosophy, with both the underlying database and product interface configured for each publisher around the specific customer data supplied. A number of real‐life 'use cases' are explained and the value of Ringgold's Identify database of organizations, in addressing a number of integration challenges but also in adding to the intelligence that can be gleaned from source data, is discussed.
Write when hot — submit when not: seasonal bias in peer review or acceptance?
Authors: SHALVI Shaul , BAAS Matthijs , HANDGRAAF Michel J. J. , DE DREU Carsten K.W.
Published: March 2010

At a top psychology journal, Psychological Science (PS), submissions peak during the summer months. We tested whether this seasonal submission bias decreases the likelihood of a paper being accepted in that period. Month of submission data was obtained for all 575 publications in PS for the period 2003–2006. Whereas submissions to PS were higher in the summer, there was no evidence that most accepted publications were originally submitted in the summer. Thus, contributors submit to PS when the likelihood of acceptance is the lowest – creating their own entrance barrier. A similar seasonal pattern was not identified for Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, another top psychology journal. Using the Web of Knowledge database, we further assessed whether overcoming the seasonal entrance barrier influences the number of citations a paper receives in subsequent years. We discuss the possibility that the different rejections policies in the two journals, employing desk rejections or not, may explain this discrepancy, and explore a range of alternative hypotheses.
Reliability of reviewers' ratings when using public peer review: a case study
Authors: BORNMANN L. , DANIEL H.‐D.
Published: March 2010

If a manuscript meets scientific standards and contributes to the advancement of science, it can be expected that two or more reviewers will agree on its value. Manuscripts are rated reliably when there is a high level of agreement between independent reviewers. This study investigates for the first time whether inter‐rater reliability, which is low with the traditional model of closed peer review, is also low with the new system of public peer review or whether higher coefficients can be found for public peer review. To investigate this question we examined the peer‐review process practiced by the interactive open access journal Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics (based on 465 manuscripts submitted between 2004 and 2006 receiving 1,058 reviews in total). The results of the study show that inter‐rater reliability is low (kappa coefficient) or reasonable (Intraclass Correlation Coefficient) in public peer review.
The Journal of Bone & Joint Surgery's CrossCheck experience
Authors: GRIFFIN Cathy
Published: March 2010

This case study reports on the results of implementing the CrossCheck plagiarism software. In the first six months, slightly less than 2% of submissions were refused on the grounds of unacceptable duplication. 3% were returned to authors for rephrasing, paraphrasing or adding citations. Most authors complied. Tools such as CrossCheck are a valuable resource. Our goal is to educate our authors, not punish them.
The economic downturn and libraries: an international survey
Authors: ROWLANDS Ian , NICHOLAS David
Published: March 2010

There is some concern that libraries, particularly university libraries, are facing a very bleak future because of the word‐wide economic downturn. Much of the evidence regarding the economic problems and consequent impacts is parochial, far from robust, and there is a suspicion of stakeholders talking the situation up. This paper presents robust and independent evidence on the extent to which libraries from around the world are experiencing financial hardship, the impacts that result, and what the future looks like. Comparative analyses are made on the grounds of country, sector, and size of institution. The particular situation of university libraries is highlighted and the implications of the findings are examined from the perspective of scholarly publishers.
Book Reviews
Authors: BOWES William
Published: March 2010

Digital Copyright: Law & Practice (3rd edn) Simon Stokes Oxford, Hart Publishing, 2009, 229 pp. ISBN: 978‐1‐84113‐932‐6, £35 pbk
Polarization of the Yeast Pheromone Receptor Requires Its Internalization but Not Actin-dependent Secretion
Authors: Suchkov Dmitry V. , DeFlorio Reagan , Draper Edward , Ismael Amber , Sukumar Madhushalini , Arkowitz Robert , Stone David E.
Published: March 2010

In the best understood models of eukaryotic directional sensing, chemotactic cells maintain a uniform distribution of surface receptors even when responding to chemical gradients. The yeast pheromone receptor is also uniformly distributed on the plasma membrane of vegetative cells, but pheromone induces its polarization into “crescents” that cap the future mating projection. Here, we find that in pheromone-treated cells, receptor crescents are visible before detectable polarization of actin cables and that the receptor can polarize in the absence of actin-dependent directed secretion. Receptor internalization, in contrast, seems to be essential for the generation of receptor polarity, and mutations that deregulate this process confer dramatic defects in directional sensing. We also show that pheromone induces the internalization and subsequent polarization of the mating-specific Gα and Gβ proteins and that the changes in G protein localization depend on receptor internalization and receptor–Gα coupling. Our data suggest that the polarization of the receptor and its G protein precedes actin polarization and is important for gradient sensing. We propose that the establishment of receptor/G protein polarity depends on a novel mechanism involving differential internalization and that this serves to amplify the shallow gradient of activated receptor across the cell.
EBImage—an R package for image processing with applications to cellular phenotypes
Authors: Pau Grégoire , Fuchs Florian , Sklyar Oleg , Boutros Michael , Huber Wolfgang
Published: March 2010

Summary: EBImage provides general purpose functionality for reading, writing, processing and analysis of images. Furthermore, in the context of microscopy-based cellular assays, EBImage offers tools to segment cells and extract quantitative cellular descriptors. This allows the automation of such tasks using the R programming language and use of existing tools in the R environment for signal processing, statistical modeling, machine learning and data visualization.

Availability: EBImage is free and open source, released under the LGPL license and available from the Bioconductor project (http://www.bioconductor.org/packages/release/bioc/html/EBImage.html).

Contact:  gregoire.pau@ebi.ac.uk
PathWave: discovering patterns of differentially regulated enzymes in metabolic pathways
Authors: Schramm Gunnar , Wiesberg Stefan , Diessl Nicolle , Kranz Anna-Lena , Sagulenko Vitalia , Oswald Marcus , Reinelt Gerhard , Westermann Frank , Eils Roland , König Rainer
Published: March 2010

Motivation: Gene expression profiling by microarrays or transcript sequencing enables observing the pathogenic function of tumors on a mesoscopic level.

Results: We investigated neuroblastoma tumors that clinically exhibit a very heterogeneous course ranging from rapid growth with fatal outcome to spontaneous regression and detected regulatory oncogenetic shifts in their metabolic networks. In contrast to common enrichment tests, we took network topology into account by applying adjusted wavelet transforms on an elaborated and new 2D grid representation of curated pathway maps from the Kyoto Enzyclopedia of Genes and Genomes. The aggressive form of the tumors showed regulatory shifts for purine and pyrimidine biosynthesis as well as folate-mediated metabolism of the one-carbon pool in respect to increased nucleotide production. We spotted an oncogentic regulatory switch in glutamate metabolism for which we provided experimental validation, being the first steps towards new possible drug therapy. The pattern recognition method we used complements normal enrichment tests to detect such functionally related regulation patterns.

Availability and Implementation: PathWave is implemented in a package for R (www.r-project.org) version 2.6.0 or higher. It is freely available from http://www.ichip.de/software/pathwave.html

Contact:  r.koenig@dkfz.de; r.eils@dkfz.de

Supplementary information:  Supplementary data are available at Bioinformatics online.
Acupuncture for Cancer‐Induced Bone Pain?
Authors: Paley Carole A. , Bennett Michael I. , Johnson Mark I.
Published: March 2010

Bone pain is the most common type of pain in cancer. Bony metastases are common in advanced cancers, particularly in multiple myeloma, breast, prostate or lung cancer. Current pain‐relieving strategies include the use of opioid‐based analgesia, bisphosphonates and radiotherapy. Although patients experience some pain relief, these interventions may produce unacceptable side‐effects which inevitably affect the quality of life. Acupuncture may represent a potentially valuable adjunct to existing strategies for pain relief and it is known to be relatively free of harmful side‐effects. Although acupuncture is used in palliative care settings for all types of cancer pain the evidence‐base is sparse and inconclusive and there is very little evidence to show its effectiveness in relieving cancer‐induced bone pain (CIBP). The aim of this critical review is to consider the known physiological effects of acupuncture and discuss these in the context of the pathophysiology of malignant bone pain. The aim of future research should be to produce an effective protocol for treating CIBP with acupuncture based on a sound, evidence‐based rationale. The physiological mechanisms presented in this review suggest that this is a realistic objective.
Development and Testing of a CD‐ROM Program for Improving Adolescent Knowledge of Inflammatory Bowel Disease
Authors: Boamah Lynelle M , Bohren Janet R , Pentiuk Scott , Baker Raymond , Yi Michael , Moyer M Susan
Published: March 2010

Objective:

The aim of this study was to design a theory‐based educational program for adolescents with inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) using an interactive multimedia CD‐ROM and to test its effectiveness in improving knowledge in IBD.

Materials and Methods:

Curriculum‐based instruction using educational theory and principles was designed for adolescents on an interactive multimedia CD‐ROM. Twenty subjects completed summative evaluation of the CD‐ROM measuring gain in knowledge about IBD immediately and 9 months after instruction.

Results:

Subjects found the CD‐ROM to be informative, appealing, and easy to use. The mean baseline score of the adolescents on the Crohn's and Colitis Knowledge questionnaire was 12.2 (standard deviation 5.14, range 3–24). After an average of 30 minutes of self‐directed learning, adolescent subjects increased their posttest score to a mean of 19.8, a gain of 7.6 points over baseline (95% confidence interval 5.2–10.1, P < 0.0001). Knowledge of medications, disease complications, and gastrointestinal structure and function was gained and retained upon retesting at 9 months with a mean Crohn's and Colitis Knowledge questionnaire score of 17.5 (standard deviation 3.9, range 12–26), which was still an improvement over the mean pretest knowledge score of 12.2 (P < 0.001).

Conclusions:

Adolescents with IBD have low baseline knowledge about their disease. A rigorously developed interactive educational tool is now available for instructing adolescent patients about their IBD.
Immune Suppression by Cyclosporin A Inhibits Phytohemagglutinin‐induced Precocious Gut Maturation in Suckling Rats
Authors: Prykhod'ko Olena , Pierzynowski Stefan G , Weström Björn R
Published: March 2010

Objectives:

Enteral exposure to the lectin phytohemagglutinin (PHA) provokes precocious gut maturation in suckling rats coinciding with an early expansion of intestinal mucosal T and B lymphocytes. Here, the role of the immune system in neonatal gut growth and maturation was further studied.

Materials and Methods:

The effects of immunosuppression by cyclosporine A (CyA), 7.5 μg/g of body weight, injected 12 hours before and then daily after the intragastric gavage of PHA, 100 μg/g body weight, to 14‐day‐old suckling rats were studied after 4 and 12 hours and later after 72 hours.

Results:

At 4 hours after PHA feeding, an early rapid increase in the intestinal levels of the proinflammatory cytokines interleukin‐6, interleukin‐1β, and tumor necrosis factor was obtained, and the CyA treatment did not prevent the temporary PHA‐induced intestinal disturbance seen at 12 hours. Later, at 72 hours after PHA gavage the CyA treatment significantly counteracted the PHA‐induced gut changes with a decrease in small intestinal growth, a delay in the appearance of adult‐phenotype enterocytes in the distal small intestinal, and total inhibition of the PHA‐induced pancreas development. Additionally, the increase in plasma level of the acute phase protein, haptoglobin, after PHA feeding was dampened by CyA.

Conclusions:

The results indicate that proinflammatory cytokines are involved in the early recruitment of lymphocytes to the gut after PHA challenge, and that the ensuing precocious gut maturation is dependent on activation of the immune system, presumably T cells, in suckling rats.
Supplementation With Fatty Acids Influences the Airway Nitric Oxide and Inflammatory Markers in Patients With Cystic Fibrosis
Authors: Keen Christina , Olin Anna‐Carin , Eriksson Susanne , Ekman Anna , Lindblad Anders , Basu Samar , Beermann Christopher , Strandvik Birgitta
Published: March 2010

Objectives:

To obtain a balance in the fatty acid (FA) metabolism is important for the inflammatory response and of special importance in cystic fibrosis (CF), which is characterized by impaired FA metabolism, chronic inflammation, and infection in the airways. Nitric oxide (NO) has antimicrobial properties and low nasal (nNO) and exhaled NO (FENO), commonly reported in CF that may affect bacterial status. The present study investigates the effect of different FA blends on nNO and FENO and immunological markers in patients with CF.

Patients and Methods:

Forty‐three patients with CF and “severe” mutations were consecutively enrolled in a randomized double‐blind placebo‐controlled study with 3 FA blends containing mainly n‐3 or n‐6 FA or saturated FA acting as placebo. FENO, nNO, serum phospholipid concentrations of FA, and biomarkers of inflammation were measured before and after 3 months of supplementation.

Results:

Thirty‐five patients in clinically stable condition completed the study. The serum phospholipid FA pattern changed significantly in all 3 groups. An increase of the n‐6 FA, arachidonic acid, was associated with a decrease of FENO and nNO. The inflammatory biomarkers, erythrocyte sedimentation rate, and interleukin‐8 decreased after supplementation with n‐3 FA and erythrocyte sedimentation rate increased after supplementation with n‐6 FA.

Conclusions:

This small pilot study indicated that the composition of dietary n‐3 and n‐6 FA influenced the inflammatory markers in CF. FENO and nNO were influenced by changes in the arachidonic acid concentration, supporting previous studies suggesting that both the lipid abnormality and the colonization with Pseudomonas influenced NO in the airways.
Bovine Colostrum in the Management of Nonorganic Failure to Thrive: A Randomized Clinical Trial
Authors: Panahi Yunes , Falahi Gholamhossein , Falahpour Morteza , Moharamzad Yashar , Khorasgani Mohammad Rabbani , Beiraghdar Fatemeh , Naghizadeh Mohammad Mehdi
Published: March 2010

Objective:

The objective of the study was to evaluate the clinical efficacy of oral bovine colostrum in the management of nonorganic failure to thrive (FTT).

Materials and Methods:

In a randomized clinical trial, 120 children (1–10 years of age) of either sex with mild or moderate nonorganic FTT were divided into 2 groups. Both groups were matched with regard to age, sex, weight, and height. One group (control) received routine treatments for FTT and the other group (case), besides routine treatments, received supplementary bovine colostrum at the dose of 40 mg · kg−1 · day−1 for a 3‐month period. Following the initial visit, subsequent visits were completed following 1, 2, and 3 months of supplementation. For quantitative measurements, Waterlow I (height for age) and Gomez (weight for age) indices were used.

Results:

The mean value of Gomez index in the case group (81.72) was significantly higher than the control group (77.12) at the end of the third month of supplementation (P = 0.003). Such a difference was not reported based on Waterlow I index between the case and control groups (92.91 vs 91.71; P = 0.094). According to Gomez index 12 patients (20%) who received colostrum became healthy at the end of the third month, which was significantly higher than the control group (2 cases, 3.3%); P = 0.006.

Conclusions:

Bovine colostrum supplementation for a 3‐month period is a useful method without any side effects, in addition to known medical and psychological treatments, to increase the weight of children with nonorganic FTT.
Development of a Quality of Life Instrument for Pediatric Gastroesophageal Reflux Disease: Qualitative Interviews
Authors: Acierno SP , Chilcote HC , Edwards TC , Goldin AB
Published: March 2010

Objectives:

Antireflux procedures (ARP) are commonly performed in children and there is no disease‐specific quality of life (QOL) instrument for gastroesophageal reflux (GERD) in children. The aim of this study was to identify the relevant domains for developing such an instrument. These domains will be validated in a future study.

Patients and Methods:

Parents of 19 patients (age 2 months–18 years) clinically diagnosed with GERD were recruited to complete semistructured interviews. Seven patients with adequate verbal skills were also interviewed. Patients were treated medically (13 patients) or with an ARP (6 patients). The interviews were analyzed using grounded theory.

Results:

GERD affects QOL through the following domains: symptom severity, feeding quality, sleep quality, hygiene, growth and development, social quality, self‐image, coping skills, family QOL, health care usage, and impact of ARP. A greater‐than‐expected effect on parental QOL and remarkable use of accommodation were identified.

Conclusions:

A pediatric GERD‐specific instrument cannot rely on QOL perception alone, but must address broadly the impact of the disease and the effect of coping skills on the child and his or her family in their activities of daily living and interaction with society. We have identified reproducible domains that will serve as the foundation for such an instrument.
Celiac Disease Seropositivity in Saharawi Children: A Follow‐up and Family Study
Authors: Teresi Saverio , Crapisi Mimì , Vallejo Maria Dolores Cantarero , Castellaneta Stefania Paola , Francavilla Ruggiero , Iacono Giuseppe , Ravelli Alberto , Menegazzi Patrizia , Louali Mahana , Catassi Carlo
Published: March 2010

Background:

Celiac disease (CD) is a common disease in the Saharawi population of Arab‐Berber origin. Saharawi patients with CD and their families were invited to participate in a follow‐up study aimed at checking the CD serology status in patients being treated with the gluten‐free diet (GFD) and investigating the prevalence of CD in first‐degree relatives.

Patients and Methods:

We investigated 975 subjects (62.8% females and 37.2% males, age range 0.7 to 75.4 years, median age 13.4 years) belonging to 212 families, by determining the serum immunoglobulin A anti‐transglutaminase and anti‐endomysial antibody levels. Thirty‐two first‐degree relatives were already receiving GFD when tested.

Results:

Overall, 42.2% of the 244 treated subjects with CD showed a borderline/positive anti‐transglutaminase determination, and 36.6% were also anti‐endomysial positive. The serologic family screening detected 33 previously undiagnosed CD cases. The 65 affected first‐degree relatives were sibling (42), mother (12), son/daughter (7), and father (4). The overall prevalence of CD among first‐degree relatives was 65 of 763 (8.5%, 95% confidence interval 6.5–10.5). Based on our previous estimate of CD prevalence in the pediatric Saharawi population (5.6%), the sibling relative risk was 1.5.

Conclusions:

The risk of CD in the Saharawis is only modestly increased in first‐degree relatives compared with the general population, probably because of the higher frequency of CD predisposing genes in the general population. Saharawi patients with CD receiving GFD showed poor adherence to the treatment, which could contribute to residual CD‐related morbidity and mortality.
Lactobacillus reuteri Modulates Cytokines Production in Exhaled Breath Condensate of Children With Atopic Dermatitis
Authors: Miniello Vito Leonardo , Brunetti Luigia , Tesse Riccardina , Natile Miria , Armenio Lucio , Francavilla Ruggiero
Published: March 2010

We measured the concentration of interferon‐γ and interleukin‐4 in the exhaled breath condensate of children with atopic and nonallergic dermatitis receiving a probiotic supplementation (Lactobacillus reuteri ATCC 55730) or placebo for 8 weeks. We demonstrated that the levels of these cytokines increased and decreased respectively only in atopic subjects receiving active treatment. Our data suggest that the oral administration of a specific probiotic strain in patients with atopic dermatitis can modulate in vivo the cytokine pattern at a different site from intestine.
Differential sensitivity to conspecific and allospecific cues in chimpanzees and humans: a comparative eye-tracking study
Authors: Hattori Yuko , Kano Fumihiro , Tomonaga Masaki
Published: March 2010

Previous studies have shown that a variety of animals including humans are sensitive to social cues from others and shift their attention to the same objects attended to by others. However, little is known about how animals process conspecifics' and another species' actions, although primates recognize conspecific faces better than those of another species. In this study, using unrestrained eye-tracking techniques, we first demonstrated that conspecific social cues modulated looking behaviours of chimpanzees more than human cues, whereas human observers were equally sensitive to both species. Additionally, first pass gaze duration at the face indicates that chimpanzees looked at the chimpanzees' face longer than the human face, suggesting that chimpanzees might extract more referential information from a conspecific face. These results also imply that a unique ability for extracting referential information from a variety of social objects has emerged during human evolution.
Evolutionary optimality in stochastic search problems
Authors: Preston Mark D. , Pitchford Jonathan W. , Wood A. Jamie
Published: March 2010

‘Optimal’ behaviour in a biological system is not simply that which maximizes a mean, or temporally and spatially averaged, fitness function. Rather, population dynamics and demographic and environmental stochasticity are fundamental evolutionary ingredients. Here, we revisit the problem of optimal foraging, where some recent studies claim that organisms should forage according to Lévy walks. We show that, in an ecological scenario dominated by uncertainty and high mortality, Lévy walks can indeed be evolutionarily favourable. However, this conclusion is dependent on the definition of efficiency and the details of the simulations. We analyse measures of efficiency that incorporate population-level characteristics, such as variance, superdiffusivity and heavy tails, and compare the results with those generated by simple maximizing of the average encounter rate. These results have implications on stochastic search problems in general, and also on computational models of evolutionary optima.
Projected impacts of climate change on regional capacities for global plant species richness
Authors: Sommer Jan Henning , Kreft Holger , Kier Gerold , Jetz Walter , Mutke Jens , Barthlott Wilhelm
Published: March 2010

Climate change represents a major challenge to the maintenance of global biodiversity. To date, the direction and magnitude of net changes in the global distribution of plant diversity remain elusive. We use the empirical multi-variate relationships between contemporary water-energy dynamics and other non-climatic predictor variables to model the regional capacity for plant species richness (CSR) and its projected future changes. We find that across all analysed Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change emission scenarios, relative changes in CSR increase with increased projected temperature rise. Between now and 2100, global average CSR is projected to remain similar to today (+0.3%) under the optimistic B1/+1.8°C scenario, but to decrease significantly (−9.4%) under the ‘business as usual’ A1FI/+4.0°C scenario. Across all modelled scenarios, the magnitude and direction of CSR change are geographically highly non-uniform. While in most temperate and arctic regions, a CSR increase is expected, the projections indicate a strong decline in most tropical and subtropical regions. Countries least responsible for past and present greenhouse gas emissions are likely to incur disproportionately large future losses in CSR, whereas industrialized countries have projected moderate increases. Independent of direction, we infer that all changes in regional CSR will probably induce on-site species turnover and thereby be a threat to native floras.
Enamel thickness in the Middle Miocene great apesAnoiapithecus,PierolapithecusandDryopithecus
Authors: Alba D. M. , Fortuny J. , Moyà-Solà S.
Published: March 2010

On the basis of industrial computed tomography, relative enamel thickness (RET) is computed in three Middle Miocene (ca11.9–11.8 Ma) hominoids from Abocador de Can Mata (Vallès-Penedès Basin, Catalonia, Spain):Pierolapithecus catalaunicusfrom BCV1 andAnoiapithecus brevirostrisfrom C3-Aj, interpreted as stem hominids; andDryopithecus fontanifrom C3-Ae of uncertain phylogenetic affinities.Pierolapithecusdisplays an average RET value of 19.5,Anoiapithecusof 18.6 andDryopithecusof 10.6. The thick-enamelled condition ofPierolapithecusandAnoiapithecusis also characteristic of afropithecids, including the more derived kenyapithecins from the early Middle Miocene of Eurasia (GriphopithecusandKenyapithecus). Given the presence of other dentognathic and craniofacial similarities, thick enamel may be interpreted as a symplesiomorphy of the Hominidae (the great ape and human clade), which would have been later independently modified along several lineages. Given the correlation between thick enamel and hard-object feeding, our results suggest that thick enamel might have been the fundamental adaptation that enabled the out-of-Africa dispersal of great-ape ancestors and their subsequent initial radiation throughout Eurasia. The much thinner enamel ofDryopithecusis difficult to interpret given phylogenetic uncertainties, being either a hominine synapomorphy or a convergently developed feature.
Natural selection drives the accumulation of amino acid tandem repeats in human proteins
Authors: Mularoni Loris , Ledda Alice , Toll-Riera Macarena , Albà M. Mar
Published: March 2010

Amino acid tandem repeats are found in a large number of eukaryotic proteins. They are often encoded by trinucleotide repeats and exhibit high intra- and interspecies size variability due to the high mutation rate associated with replication slippage. The extent to which natural selection is important in shaping amino acid repeat evolution is a matter of debate. On one hand, their high frequency may simply reflect their high probability of expansion by slippage, and they could essentially evolve in a neutral manner. On the other hand, there is experimental evidence that changes in repeat size can influence protein–protein interactions, transcriptional activity, or protein subcellular localization, indicating that repeats could be functionally relevant and thus shaped by selection. To gauge the relative contribution of neutral and selective forces in amino acid repeat evolution, we have performed a comparative analysis of amino acid repeat conservation in a large set of orthologous proteins from 12 vertebrate species. As a neutral model of repeat evolution we have used sequences with the same DNA triplet composition as the coding sequences—and thus expected to be subject to the same mutational forces—but located in syntenic noncoding genomic regions. The results strongly indicate that selection has played a more important role than previously suspected in amino acid tandem repeat evolution, by increasing the repeat retention rate and by modulating repeat size. The data obtained in this study have allowed us to identify a set of 92 repeats that are postulated to play important functional roles due to their strong selective signature, including five cases with direct experimental evidence.
CELLULOSE SYNTHASE9 Serves a Nonredundant Role in Secondary Cell Wall Synthesis in Arabidopsis Epidermal Testa Cells
Authors: Stork Jozsef , Harris Darby , Griffiths Jonathan , Williams Brian , Beisson Fred , Li-Beisson Yonghua , Mendu Venugopal , Haughn George , DeBolt Seth
Published: March 2010

Herein, we sought to explore the contribution of cellulose biosynthesis to the shape and morphogenesis of hexagonal seed coat cells in Arabidopsis (Arabidopsis thaliana). Consistent with seed preferential expression of CELLULOSE SYNTHASE9 (CESA9), null mutations in CESA9 caused no change in cellulose content in leaves or stems, but caused a 25% reduction in seeds. Compositional studies of cesa9 seeds uncovered substantial proportional increases in cell wall neutral sugars and in several monomers of cell wall-associated polyesters. Despite these metabolic compensations, cesa9 seeds were permeable to tetrazolium salt, implying that cellulose biosynthesis, via CESA9, is required for correct barrier function of the seed coat. A syndrome of depleted radial wall, altered seed coat cell size, shape, and internal angle uniformity was quantified using scanning electron micrographs in cesa9 epidermal cells. By contrast, morphological defects were absent in cesa9 embryos, visually inspected from torpedo to bent cotyledon, consistent with no reduction in postgermination radical or hypocotyl elongation. These data implied that CESA9 was seed coat specific or functionally redundant in other tissues. Assessment of sections from glutaraldehyde fixed wild-type and cesa9 mature seeds supported results of scanning electron micrographs and quantitatively showed depletion of secondary cell wall synthesis in the radial cell wall. Herein, we show a nonredundant role for CESA9 in secondary cell wall biosynthesis in radial cell walls of epidermal seed coats and document its importance for cell morphogenesis and barrier function of the seed coat.