bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Impact of farnesol and Corsodyl® on Candida albicans forming dual biofilm with Streptococcus mutans
Authors: Černáková L , Jordao L , Bujdáková H 
Published: April 2018

ObjectiveThis work studied the biofilm formed by Candida albicans and Streptococcus mutans on a hydroxyapatite surface after exposure to the quorum‐sensing molecule farnesol (200 μM) in comparison with the diluted mouthwash Corsodyl® (0.0001% chlorhexidine digluconate).Materials and MethodsThe cytotoxicity of farnesol was evaluated by Galleria mellonella surviving assay. The viability of biofilm cells after exposure to farnesol and Corsodyl® was determined by colony‐forming units. The morphology and structure of a dual‐species biofilm was evaluated by scanning electron microscopy.ResultsFarnesol did not exhibit a toxic effect on larval survival. While 200 μM farnesol effectively reduced the yeast‐to‐hyphae transition in the dual biofilm, it did not affect the growth of S. mutans. Additionally, despite the presence of farnesol, many blastospores were observed. Corsodyl® reduced S. mutans in the dual biofilm, but did not influence C. albicans.ConclusionThis study showed that 200 μM farnesol modulated C. albicans in a dual‐species biofilm with S. mutans, but did not exhibit antimicrobial activity against S. mutans. Moreover, it seems that S. mutans provides conditions that support the growth of the yeast form of C. albicans. The mouthwash Corsodyl® reduces S. mutans, but was not effective against C. albicans.
Breathlessness amplifies amygdala responses during affective processing
Authors: Stoeckel M. Cornelia , Esser Roland W. , Gamer Matthias , von Leupoldt Andreas 
Published: April 2018

AbstractBreathlessness is an aversive symptom in many prevalent somatic and psychiatric diseases and is usually experienced as highly threatening. It is strongly associated with negative affect, but the underlying neural processes remain poorly understood. Therefore, using fMRI, the present study examined the effects of breathlessness on the neural processing of affective visual stimuli within candidate brain areas including the amygdala, insula, and anterior cingulate cortex (ACC). During scanning, 42 healthy volunteers, mean (SD) age: 29.0 (6.0) years, 14 female, were presented with affective picture series of negative, neutral, and positive valence while experiencing either no breathlessness (baseline conditions) or resistive‐load induced breathlessness (breathlessness conditions). Respiratory measures and self‐reports suggested successful induction of breathlessness and affective experiences. Self‐reports of breathlessness intensity and unpleasantness were significantly higher during breathlessness conditions, mean (SD): 45.0 (16.6) and 32.3 (19.8), as compared to baseline conditions, mean (SD): 1.9 (3.0) and 2.9 (5.5). Compared to baseline conditions, stronger amygdala activations were observed during breathlessness conditions for both negative and positive affective picture series relative to neutral picture series, while no such effects were observed in insula and ACC. The present findings demonstrate that breathlessness amplifies amygdala responses during affective processing, suggesting an important role of the amygdala for mediating the interactions between breathlessness and affective states.
Conflicting goals and mixed rationales: A closer look at the objectives of EU environmental law in light of the Anthropocene
Authors: Alblas Edwin 
Published: April 2018

AbstractEnvironmental policymaking has conventionally aimed at preserving the integrity of the environment. To protect ourselves from the consequences of (man‐caused) environmental degradation and climatic change, however, intentional manipulation of the environment through means of technology appears more and more necessary. In this context, this research introduces the core objectives of EU environmental law – ‘preserving, protecting and improving the quality of the environment’ and ‘protecting human health’ – as increasingly conflictive. Taking an environmental ethics perspective, this research explains that both the letter of the law as well as the case law of the Court provide a mixed picture of environmental rationales captured in these two objectives. In the absence of clear legal and ethical direction, it becomes all the more necessary to closely re‐examine what goals ought to be pursued through EU environmental law in the Anthropocene.
Peptide Refinement by Using a Stochastic Search
Authors: Lewis Nicole H. , Hitchcock David B. , Dryden Ian L. , Rose John R. 
Published: April 2018

SummaryIdentifying a peptide on the basis of a scan from a mass spectrometer is an important yet highly challenging problem. To identify peptides, we present a Bayesian approach which uses prior information about the average relative abundances of bond cleavages and the prior probability of any particular amino acid sequence. The scoring function proposed is composed of two overall distance measures, which measure how close an observed spectrum is to a theoretical scan for a peptide. Our use of our scoring function, which approximates a likelihood, has connections to the generalization presented by Bissiri and co-workers of the Bayesian framework. A Markov chain Monte Carlo algorithm is employed to simulate candidate choices from the posterior distribution of the peptide sequence. The true peptide is estimated as the peptide with the largest posterior density.
Understanding Local Environmental Concern: The Importance of Place
Authors: Armstrong Andrea , Stedman Richard C. 
Published: April 2018

AbstractUrban‐rural differences in environmental concern are the primary way that place has been conceptualized within the social bases of environmental concern framework, yet there has been little convergence in empirical findings to support such differences. We assess the influence of place of permanent residence and other sociodemographic measures of the social bases of environmental concern approach alongside two social‐psychological constructs: place attachment and place outlook. Our work focuses on second homeowners in three rural, natural amenity communities of the northeastern United States (n = 405). Second homeowners who permanently reside in rural places exhibited lower levels of local environmental concern about their second home area than suburban and urban residents, when “rural” was defined at the county scale. We did not observe differences in local environmental concern based upon urban‐suburban‐rural permanent residence when place of permanent residence was defined at the tract, block group, or zip code levels. Place attachment and place outlook explain more variance in local environmental concern than all sociodemographic indicators combined. Our findings suggest that second homeowners' local environmental concern is not strongly or consistently shaped by the urbanity or rurality of their permanent residence, but that place‐based, social‐psychological constructs may offer mechanisms through which social‐structural forces shape environmental concern.
Aiming to keep poor Mexican families at the breadline (but no higher): The effects of minimum wage, tax, and social policy changes between 1994 and 2012
Authors: Velázquez Leyer Ricardo 
Published: April 2018

AbstractWelfare policy in Mexico has been transformed in recent decades. During the years of the import‐substitution industrialization economic strategy and the hegemonic party political regime, social policy was based on social insurance programs of limited coverage to urban formal sector workers and their families. In the mid‐1990s, an unprecedented expansion of social protection through social assistance programs was triggered, along with social insurance reform. This article assesses the effects at the household level of social policy changes, in combination with changes in taxes and the minimum wage, which also impact the welfare of the population. The research applies “model families” to establish effects of social, tax, and minimum wage policy changes across population groups, and their combined potential to combat poverty. Findings show that although taxation and social policy changes increased redistribution towards poor families, their capacity to lift and keep them above poverty thresholds was limited by the drop in the real value of the minimum wage and by strict targeting mechanisms, which exclude families that do not meet eligibility criteria but still fall below poverty lines. Social policy expansion merely subsidized the drop in real minimum wage, and poor families at best remained at similar income levels. Hence, the logic of the design of welfare policy changes can be characterized as aiming to keep poor families on the breadline, but no higher.
JC and BK virus DNA detection in archival slides of urine cytospin from renal transplant patients
Authors: Assis Patricia , Carvalho Carlos Eduardo , Silva Marcelo Soares , Ribeiro Bruna , Carvalho Maria da Gloria 
Published: April 2018

AbstractBackgroundAlthough identifying cytological viral inclusions (decoy cells) in the urine is relatively easy, distinguishing between Polyomaviruses BKV and JCV is not possible. Few studies have been published regarding JCV detection in kidney transplant recipients.ObjectiveTo evaluate the incidence of BKV and JCV DNA in archival slides of urine cytospin material from renal transplant patients.MethodsA total of 44 urine specimens were evaluated cytologically for the presence of viral inclusions (decoy cells) and by nested polymerase chain reaction to differentiate between JCV and BKV in DNA isolated from archival slides of urine cytospin material.ResultsOf the 44 urine specimen donors, 9 (20.5%) patients had at least 1 sample with alterations suggestive of or compatible with viral infection (decoy cells), and 3 had urine samples with cellular atypias/neoplasias. Additionally, 24/44 (54.5%) patients had PCR‐positive DNA for Polyomavirus in at least 1 sample, including 11/44 who were positive for BKV (25%) and 16/44 who were positive for JCV (36.36%), with 3 (6.8%) patients showing viral coinfection. Regarding transplantation time, only JCV was statistically significant (P = .019) for periods longer than 10 years.ConclusionsThe results highlight the potential use of archival slides of urine cytospin material to differentiate BKV and JCV and demonstrate the importance of improved JCV detection for later kidney transplant recipients.
Adherence and immune response to revaccination following hematopoietic stem cell transplantation at a pediatric onco‐hematology reference center
Authors: Gouveia‐Alves Fernanda , Gouveia Roseane , Ginani Valéria C. , Seber Adriana , Kuramoto Danielle A. , Murad Gabriel F.A. , Spina Fernanda G. , Petrilli Antonio S. , Zecchin Victor G. , Granato Celso , Carlesse Fabianne , de Moraes‐Pinto Maria Isabel 
Published: April 2018

AbstractBackgroundRevaccination after hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HSCT) is necessary to compensate for the loss of immunological memory. The aims of this study were to evaluate the adherence to revaccination schedule and the humoral immune response to different vaccine antigens in HSCT pediatric and young adult patients.MethodsPatients submitted to HSCT for over 3 years were recruited. After written informed consent, a questionnaire was filled in, the vaccination card was analyzed, a blood sample was collected and tested by ELISA for diphtheria, Haemophilus influenzae type b (Hib), hepatitis A, hepatitis B, tetanus, measles, rubella, and varicella antibodies.ResultsSixty‐three patients (mean age at HSCT, 10.7 years) were evaluated. Forty‐one (65%) were male; 34 (54%) had allogeneic and 29 (46%), autologous HSCT. Complete adherence to diphtheria revaccination was found in 79.4% patients and seropositivity was found in 92% of those who completed the revaccination schedule; for Hib, 68.3% adherence and 95.3% seropositivity were observed; for hepatitis A, 63.5% adherence and 92.5% seropositivity; for 3 doses of hepatitis B, 86.8% adherence and 79.2% seropositivity; for tetanus, 79.4% adherence and 100% seropositivity; for measles and rubella, 17.5% adherence and 100% seropositivity; for varicella, 7.9% adherence and 100% seropositivity. The existence of a Vaccination Center for Special Immunobiologicals in patients' municipality was positively associated with completed vaccine schedule; on the other hand, chronic GVHD was negatively associated with revaccination adherence.ConclusionHematopoietic stem cell transplantation patients showed good seropositivity rates after complete vaccination schedule. However, a low coverage rate was observed for live attenuated antigens.
Visual outcome in cats with hypertensive chorioretinopathy
Authors: Young Whitney M , Zheng Chaowen , Davidson Michael G , Westermeyer Hans D 
Published: April 2018

AbstractPurposeTo investigate factors associated with long‐term visual outcome in cats with hypertensive chorioretinopathy.Animals studiedEighty‐eight client‐owned cats diagnosed with hypertensive chorioretinopathy.ProcedureMedical records from cats with systemic hypertension and associated retinal lesions were reviewed.ResultsMost cats (61%) were blind in both eyes at presentation. Presence of menace response at last follow‐up evaluation was positively correlated with presence of menace response at presentation (P = .0025), time to complete retinal reattachment (P < .0001), and gender (P = .0137). Seventy‐six of 132 eyes (57.6%) that were blind at presentation regained some vision following treatment. At the time of last evaluation, 101/176 eyes (60%) had a positive menace response, while 34/46 (74%) eyes with a follow‐up of >6 months had a positive menace response. Eyes that had a menace response at presentation were 17 and 37 times more likely to have a menace response at last examination compared to eyes blind for less than 2 weeks and eyes blind greater than 2 weeks, respectively. Female cats were overrepresented (62.5% of cases), and male cats were 4.2 times more likely to be visual at time of last examination compared to female cats.ConclusionsWith treatment, the prognosis for long‐term vision in cats with hypertensive chorioretinopathy, even following complete retinal detachment, is good.
World Englishes and Second Language Acquisition
Authors: Bolton Kingsley 
Published: April 2018

AbstractThis article starts with an overview of the broad field of studies concerned with world Englishes (WE), before moving on to a discussion of current debates on world Englishes, and the central issue of world Englishes and Second Language Acquisition. The later sections of this article then consider various ways of bridging the gap between the fields of world Englishes and Second Language Acquisition, highlighting the importance of a multilingual perspective in this context.
English as a spatial resource and the claimed competence of Chinese STEM professionals
Authors: Canagarajah Suresh 
Published: April 2018

AbstractThis interview‐based study of 24 Chinese STEM scholars in a midwestern US university explores their competence for professional communication in their workplace. Though they acknowledge a lack of advanced grammatical proficiency in English, they state that they are successful in professional communication. Their success results from their use of diverse semiotic resources beyond language, and the strategic alignment of semiotic resources with spatial and social ecologies in their communication. To explain this competence, the article argues that we have to adopt a spatial orientation to communication as an activity, shifting from structuralist models which prioritize grammar as an autonomous system.
Fibroadenomas and breast carcinoma: a possible answer to a frequently asked question. A pictorial essay
Authors: Ciurea Anca Ileana , Herţa Hanelore Argentina , Iacoban Cătălin George , Fetica Bogdan , Rogojan Liliana , Ciortea Cristiana Augusta 
Published: April 2018

Fibroadenomas (FAs) are the most frequently encountered benign breast lesions in young women and due to the age of the patients, they are usually diagnosed by ultrasound. Although they rarely undergo malignant transformation, the patients remain concerned about the possibility of malignant transformation. The aim of this pictorial essay is to illustrate the appearance of classic and complex fibroadenomas, to discuss the risk factors and to highlight the imaging characteristics that raise the suspicion of malignant transformation. In other words, we try to answer, according to our experience and literature data, to a frequently asked question in daily practice: “Is there any risk thatmy fibroadenoma will become malignant?”
Effectiveness of Superb Microvascular Imaging for the differentiation of intraductal breast lesions
Authors: Bakdik Suleyman , Arslan Serdar , Oncu Fatih , Durmaz Mehmet Sedat , Altunkeser Aysegul , Eryilmaz Mehmet Ali , Unlu Yasar 
Published: April 2018

Aims: The aim of this study was to compare the diagnostic performance of superb microvascular imaging (SMI) and power Doppler imaging (PDI) for the differentiation of intraductal breast lesions.Materials and methods: A total of 54 intraductal breast lesions (39 benign, 10 atypical, and 5 malignant) in 53 patients were examined using B-mode ultrasonography, PDI, and SMI. Vascularity grading, distribution of microvessels, and penetrating vessels were evaluated using each Doppler technique. The diagnostic performances of both methods were compared.Results: SMI was more efficient in detecting flow signals than PDI (p=0.004). The highest diagnostic accuracy rates were achieved with SMI using vascular grading. When hypervascularity was used as a cut-off value to differentiate malignant and atypical lesions from benign lesions, the sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value, negative predictive value, and accuracy were 66.6%, 80.7%, 66.6%, 80.7%, and 75.6%for PDI, and 86.6%, 76.9%, 68.4%, 90.9%, and 80.4% for SMI, respectively. Conclusions: SMI is more sensitive than PDI for detecting subtle blood flow in intraductal breast lesions with statistical significance. This novel and promising vascular imaging technique may be helpful in B-mode ultrasonography to distinguish intraductal breast lesions.
Analysis of Clinical Drug-Drug Interaction Data To Predict Magnitudes of Uncharacterized Interactions between Antiretroviral Drugs and Comedications
Authors: Stader Felix , Kinvig Hannah , Battegay Manuel , Khoo Saye , Owen Andrew , Siccardi Marco , Marzolini Catia 
Published: April 2018

ABSTRACTDespite their high potential for drug-drug interactions (DDI), clinical DDI studies of antiretroviral drugs (ARVs) are often lacking, because the full range of potential interactions cannot feasibly or pragmatically be studied, with some high-risk DDI studies also being ethically difficult to undertake. Thus, a robust method to screen and to predict the likelihood of DDIs is required. We developed a method to predict DDIs based on two parameters: the degree of metabolism by specific enzymes, such as CYP3A, and the strength of an inhibitor or inducer. These parameters were derived from existing studies utilizing paradigm substrates, inducers, and inhibitors of CYP3A to assess the predictive performance of this method by verifying predicted magnitudes of changes in drug exposure against clinical DDI studies involving ARVs. The derived parameters were consistent with the FDA classification of sensitive CYP3A substrates and the strength of CYP3A inhibitors and inducers. Characterized DDI magnitudes (n= 68) between ARVs and comedications were successfully quantified, meaning 53%, 85%, and 98% of the predictions were within 1.25-fold (0.80 to 1.25), 1.5-fold (0.66 to 1.48), and 2-fold (0.66 to 1.94) of the observed clinical data. In addition, the method identifies CYP3A substrates likely to be highly or, conversely, minimally impacted by CYP3A inhibitors or inducers, thus categorizing the magnitude of DDIs. The developed effective and robust method has the potential to support a more rational identification of dose adjustment to overcome DDIs, being particularly relevant in an HIV setting, given the treatment's complexity, high DDI risk, and limited guidance on the management of DDIs.
Long-Term Survival and Thermal Death Kinetics of Enterohemorrhagic Escherichia coli Serogroups O26, O103, O111, and O157 in Wheat Flour
Authors: Forghani Fereidoun , den Bakker Meghan , Futral Alexandra N. , Diez-Gonzalez Francisco 
Published: April 2018

ABSTRACT

Wheat flour has been associated with outbreaks of enterohemorrhagic
Escherichia coli
(EHEC), but little is known on EHEC's survival during storage and thermal processing. The objective of this study was to determine long-term viability and thermal inactivation kinetics of EHEC serogroups O26, O103, O111, and O157. Wheat flour samples were inoculated with a cocktail of five strains of a single serogroup and stored at 23 and 35°C. Inoculated samples were heated at 55, 60, 65, and 70°C. Viability was determined by plate counting. Decimal reduction time (
D
) and first decimal reduction time (δ) values were calculated with log-linear and Weibull models, respectively. At 23°C, EHEC counts declined gradually for 84 days and samples tested positive from 84 to 280 days. The thermal resistance (
D
and δ) values ranged from 7.5 to 8.2 and 3.1 to 5.3 days, respectively, but there were no significant differences among serogroups (
P
≤ 0.05). At 35°C, no EHEC was quantifiable by day 7 and no positive samples were detected after 49 days. Heating at 55 and 65°C resulted in δ-value ranges of 15.6 to 39.7 min and 3.0 to 3.9 min, respectively, with no significant difference among serogroups either. Z values were 12.6, 6.7, 10.2, and 13.4°C for O26, O103, O111, and O157, respectively. Thermal death kinetics of EHEC in flour were better described using the Weibull model. Survival and inactivation rates of four serogroups were remarkably similar. These findings indicated that all EHEC serovars tested remained viable for at least 9 months at room temperature and survived for up to 60 min at 70°C in wheat flour.

IMPORTANCE
Enterohemorrhagic
Escherichia coli
(EHEC) and
Salmonella
have recently caused several gastroenteritis outbreaks and recalls of wheat flour. Because EHEC can cause illness with very low doses and there is very scarce information regarding their ability to survive storage and heating in flour, the present study was undertaken to assess the long-term survival of EHEC serogroups O26, O103, O111, and O157 in flour. These findings are relevant, as we report that EHEC can survive for more than 9 months in wheat flour during storage. In addition, results obtained suggest that thermal inactivation at 65°C for 30 min or 2 months of storage at 35°C may be feasible strategies to mitigate the risk of most EHEC serovars in wheat flour.