bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Alpha proteobacteria of genusAnaplasma(Rickettsiales: Anaplasmataceae): Epidemiology and characteristics ofAnaplasmaspecies related to veterinary and public health importance
Authors: ATIF FARHAN AHMAD 
Published: March 2016

SUMMARYTheAnaplasmaspecies are important globally distributed tick-transmitted bacteria of veterinary and public health importance. These pathogens, cause anaplasmosis in domestic and wild animal species including humans.Rhipicephalus, Ixodes, DermacentorandAmblyommagenera of ticks are the important vectors ofAnaplasma.Acute anaplasmosis is usually diagnosed upon blood smear examination followed by antibodies and nucleic acid detection. All age groups are susceptible but prevalence increases with age. Serological cross-reactivity is one of the important issues amongAnaplasmaspecies. They co-exist and concurrent infections occur in animals and ticks in same geographic area. These are closely related bacteria and share various common attributes which should be considered while developing vaccines and diagnostic assays. Movement of susceptible animals from non-endemic to endemic regions is the major risk factor of bovine/ovine anaplasmosis and tick-borne fever. Tetracyclines are currently available drugs for clearance of infection and treatment in humans and animals. Worldwide vaccine is not yet available. Identification, elimination of reservoirs, vector control (chemical and biological), endemic stability, habitat modification, rearing of tick resistant breeds, chemotherapy and tick vaccination are major control measures of animal anaplasmosis. Identification of reservoirs and minimizing the high-risk tick exposure activities are important control strategies for human granulocytic anaplasmosis.
Vivre à l’intersection du VIH et du vieillissement : quelles répercussions sur les liens sociaux significatifs?
Authors: Wallach Isabelle , Ducandas Xuân , Martel Michel , Thomas Réjean 
Published: March 2016

ABSTRACTThis research examines obstacles faced by older people living with HIV in maintaining their significant social ties (family, friends) in the light of a double theoretical framework, inter-sectionality and the course of life. Favoring a qualitative methodology, this research is based on in-depth, semi-directed interviews with a diverse sample of 38 people living with HIV, aged 50-73 years. Analysis reveals that a significant proportion of participants have experienced ruptures or deterioration of close ties with intimates at the level of family or friends. The principal factors behind these difficulties are the past and present stigma associated with HIV and /or other social positions, long-term effects of HIV, issues related to aging and crosscutting effects of HIV and aging.
Connecting Socially Isolated Older Rural Adults with Older Volunteers through Expressive Arts
Authors: MacLeod Ann , Skinner Mark W. , Wilkinson Fay , Reid Heather 
Published: March 2016

RÉSUMÉUtilisant une approche participative basée sur la recherche dans le domaine des arts, nous avons examiné un programme novateur de l’Ontario rural, Canada, conçu pour répondre à l’isolement social chez les personnes âgées. Les personnes âgées qui étaient socialement isolées ont été jumelées à des bénévoles formés; en dyades, les huit paires ont créées de l’art expressif chez elles au cours des dix visites à domicile. Utilisant une enquête thematique et narrative, nous avons analysé les expériences et les perceptions du programme du chef, des participants plus âgés, et des bénévoles plus âgés à travers leurs créations artistiques, les journaux hebdomadaires, les évaluations et le carnet d’opérations.Les résultats révèlent une intervention réussie qui influencent positivement le bien-être des participants plus âgés et les bénévoles plus âgés, en particulier en ce qui concerne les relations, le développement personnel, et en la création du sens, ainsi que l’extension de l’impact de l’intervention au-delà de la durée du programme. Nous discutons aussi possibilités pour des programmes similaires pour la politique et permet des services sociaux positifs à l'isolement rural basés dans les communautés.
Zoonotic cutaneous leishmaniasis in northeastern Iran: a GIS-based spatio-temporal multi-criteria decision-making approach
Authors: MOLLALO A. , KHODABANDEHLOO E. 
Published: March 2016

SUMMARYZoonotic cutaneous leishmaniasis (ZCL) constitutes a serious public health problem in many parts of the world including Iran. This study was carried out to assess the risk of the disease in an endemic province by developing spatial environmentally based models in yearly intervals. To fill the gap of underestimated true burden of ZCL and short study period, analytical hierarchy process (AHP) and fuzzy AHP decision-making methods were used to determine the ZCL risk zones in a Geographic Information System platform. Generated risk maps showed that high-risk areas were predominantly located at the northern and northeastern parts in each of the three study years. Comparison of the generated risk maps with geocoded ZCL cases at the village level demonstrated that in both methods more than 90%, 70% and 80% of the cases occurred in high and very high risk areas for the years 2010, 2011, and 2012, respectively. Moreover, comparison of the risk categories with spatially averaged normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI) images and a digital elevation model of the study region indicated persistent strong negative relationships between these environmental variables and ZCL risk degrees. These findings identified more susceptible areas of ZCL and will help the monitoring of this zoonosis to be more targeted.
Association ofStreptococcus pneumoniaenasopharyngeal colonization and other risk factors with acute otitis media in an unvaccinated Indian birth cohort
Authors: RUPA V. , ISAAC R. , REBEKAH G. , MANOHARAN A. 
Published: March 2016

SUMMARYIn order to study the epidemiology of acute otitis media (AOM) andStreptococcus pneumoniaenasopharyngeal colonization in the first 2 years of life, we followed up an unvaccinated birth cohort monthly and at visits when sick, with otoscopy to detect AOM and performed nasopharyngeal swabbing to detectS. pneumoniae. Serotyping of positive cultures was also performed. Of 210 babies who were enrolled at birth, 61 (29·05%) experienced 128 episodes of AOM [relative risk 2·63, 95% confidence interval (CI) 1·21–5·75] with maximum incidence in the second half of the first year of life. Episodes ranged from 1 to 7 (mean 2·1 episodes). Most (86·9%) babies with AOM had a positive culture swab giving an odds ratio (OR) of 1·93 (95% CI 1·03–3·62,P= 0·041) for this association. Other risk factors identified for AOM were winter season (OR 3·46, 95% CI 1·56–7·30,P= 0·001), upper respiratory infection (OR 2·43, 95% CI 1·43–4·51,P= 0·005); residents of small households were less likely to develop AOM (OR 0·32, 95% CI 0·17–0·57,P< 0·01). CommonS. pneumoniaeserotypes isolated during episodes were 19, 6, 15, 35, 7, 23, 9 and 10 which indicated a theoretical coverage for pneumococcal vaccines PCV10 and PCV13 constituent serotypes of 62·8%. We conclude that AOM in Indian infants is often associated withS. pneumoniaecolonization of the nasopharynx as well as other risk factors.
Incidence and viral aetiologies of acute respiratory illnesses (ARIs) in the United States: a population-based study
Authors: SZILAGYI P. G. , BLUMKIN A. , TREANOR J. J. , GALLIVAN S. , ALBERTIN C. , LOFTHUS G. K. , SCHNABEL K. C. , DONAHUE J. G. , THOMPSON M. G. , SHAY D. K. 
Published: March 2016

SUMMARYWe conducted prospective, community-wide surveillance for acute respiratory illnesses (ARIs) in Rochester, NY and Marshfield, WI during a 3-month period in winter 2011. We estimated the incidence of ARIs in each community, tested for viruses, and determined the proportion of ARIs associated with healthcare visits. We used a rolling cross-sectional design to sample participants, conducted telephone interviews to assess ARI symptoms (defined as a current illness with feverishness or cough within the past 7 days), collected nasal/throat swabs to identify viruses, and extracted healthcare utilization from outpatient/inpatient records. Of 6492 individuals, 321 reported an ARI within 7 days (4·9% total, 5·7% in Rochester, 4·4% in Marshfield); swabs were collected from 208 subjects. The cumulative ARI incidence for the entire 3-month period was 52% in Rochester [95% confidence interval (CI) 42–63] and 35% in Marshfield (95% CI 28–42). A specific virus was identified in 39% of specimens: human coronavirus (13% of samples), rhinovirus (12%), RSV (7%), influenza virus (4%), human metapneumovirus (4%), and adenovirus (1%). Only 39/200 (20%) had a healthcare visit (2/9 individuals with influenza). ARI incidence was ~5% per week during winter.
Determination of the complete genome and functional analysis of HPV6 isolate VBD19/10 from a patient with aggressive recurrent respiratory papillomatosis
Authors: SEEDAT R. Y. , COMBRINCK C. E. , BESTER P. A. , LEE J.-Y. , BURT F. J. 
Published: March 2016

SUMMARYHuman papillomavirus (HPV) types 6 and 11 are the aetiological agent of recurrent respiratory papillomatosis (RRP). The complete genome of an HPV6 isolate with a 170 base pair (bp) duplication identified within the long control region (LCR) from a patient with aggressive recurrent respiratory papillomatosis was determined. The promoter sequence from the HPV LCR including the 170 bp duplication was placed upstream of a heterologous reporter gene and the activity of the reporter gene product determined using transfected cells. In total, mutations were observed at 157 nucleotide positions of the complete genome and included nucleotide substitutions, deletions and insertions, resulting in amino acid changes at 43 residue positions. Reporter gene activity using an HPV-derived LCR region with a 170 bp duplication was significantly higher than that using an HPV-derived LCR region with no duplication within this region. The results suggest that novel HPV variants warrant further investigation for potential biomarkers of aggressive disease.
Bayesian latent class estimation of the incidence of chest radiograph-confirmed pneumonia in rural Thailand
Authors: LU Y. , BAGGETT H. C. , RHODES J. , THAMTHITIWAT S. , JOSEPH L. , GREGORY C. J. 
Published: March 2016

SUMMARYPneumonia is a leading cause of mortality and morbidity worldwide with radiographically confirmed pneumonia a key disease burden indicator. This is usually determined by a radiology panel which is assumed to be the best available standard; however, this assumption may introduce bias into pneumonia incidence estimates. To improve estimates of radiographic pneumonia incidence, we applied Bayesian latent class modelling (BLCM) to a large database of hospitalized patients with acute lower respiratory tract illness in Sa Kaeo and Nakhon Phanom provinces, Thailand from 2005 to 2010 with chest radiographs read by both a radiology panel and a clinician. We compared these estimates to those from conventional analysis. For children aged <5 years, estimated radiographically confirmed pneumonia incidence by BLCM was 2394/100 000 person-years (95% credible interval 2185–2574)vs.1736/100 000 person-years (95% confidence interval 1706–1766) from conventional analysis. For persons aged ⩾5 years, estimated radiographically confirmed pneumonia incidence was similar between BLCM and conventional analysis (235vs.215/100 000 person-years). BLCM suggests the incidence of radiographically confirmed pneumonia in young children is substantially larger than estimated from the conventional approach using radiology panels as the reference standard.
Defining well-being for Indigenous children in care
Authors: McMahon Anthony , Reck Lucinda , Walker Malcolm 
Published: March 2016

Indicators for children in care typically describe the administrative status of children, an approach that serves administrative decision-making more than the personal well-being of foster children. At the same time, there is little research on what constitutes indicators of the personal well-being of children in care, especially Indigenous children.This paper reports research that sought to define social, cultural and spiritual well-being indicators for Indigenous children in care by seeking the opinions and knowledge of Indigenous child protection workers and foster carers. The study examines a series of strategic change indicators that address Indigenous concerns about the social, cultural and spiritual development of Indigenous children in care.
A new plasmid-based microRNA inhibitor system that inhibits microRNA families in transgenic mice and cells: a potential new therapeutic reagent
Authors: Cao H , Yu W , Li X , Wang J , Gao S , Holton N E , Eliason S , Sharp T , Amendt B A 
Published: March 2016

Abstract
Current tools for the inhibition of microRNA (miR) function are limited to modified antisense oligonucleotides, sponges and decoy RNA molecules and none have been used to understand miR function during development. CRISPR/Cas-mediated deletion of miR sequences within the genome requires multiple chromosomal deletions to remove all functional miR family members because of duplications. Here, we report a novel plasmid-based miR inhibitor system (PMIS) that expresses a new RNA molecule, which inhibits miR family members in cells and mice. The PMIS engineered RNA optimal secondary structure, flanking sequences and specific antisense miR oligonucleotide sequence bind the miR in a stable complex to inhibit miR activity. In cells, one PMIS can effectively inhibit miR family members that share the same seed sequence. The PMIS shows no off-target effects or toxicity and is highly specific for miRs sharing identical seed sequences. Transgenic mice expressing both PMIS-miR-17-18 and PMIS-miR-19-92 show similar phenotypes of miR-17-92-knockout mice. Interestingly, mice only expressing PMIS-miR-17-18 have developmental defects distinct from mice only expressing PMIS-miR-19-92 demonstrating usefulness of the PMIS system to dissect different functions of miRs within clusters. Different PMIS miR inhibitors can be linked together to knock down multiple miRs expressed from different chromosomes. Inhibition of the miR-17-92, miR-106a-363 and miR-106b-25 clusters reveals new mechanisms and developmental defects for these miRs. We report a new tool to dissect the role of miRs in development without genome editing, inhibit miR function in cells and as a potential new therapeutic reagent.
Volcanic ash melting under conditions relevant to ash turbine interactions
Authors: Song Wenjia , Lavallée Yan , Hess Kai-Uwe , Kueppers Ulrich , Cimarelli Corrado , Dingwell Donald B. 
Published: March 2016

AbstractThe ingestion of volcanic ash by jet engines is widely recognized as a potentially fatal hazard for aircraft operation. The high temperatures (1,200–2,000 °C) typical of jet engines exacerbate the impact of ash by provoking its melting and sticking to turbine parts. Estimation of this potential hazard is complicated by the fact that chemical composition, which affects the temperature at which volcanic ash becomes liquid, can vary widely amongst volcanoes. Here, based on experiments, we parameterize ash behaviour and develop a model to predict melting and sticking conditions for its global compositional range. The results of our experiments confirm that the common use of sand or dust proxy is wholly inadequate for the prediction of the behaviour of volcanic ash, leading to overestimates of sticking temperature and thus severe underestimates of the thermal hazard. Our model can be used to assess the deposition probability of volcanic ash in jet engines.
Biochemical reconstitution of TET1–TDG–BER-dependent active DNA demethylation reveals a highly coordinated mechanism
Authors: Weber Alain R. , Krawczyk Claudia , Robertson Adam B. , Kuśnierczyk Anna , Vågbø Cathrine B. , Schuermann David , Klungland Arne , Schär Primo 
Published: March 2016

AbstractCytosine methylation in CpG dinucleotides is an epigenetic DNA modification dynamically established and maintained by DNA methyltransferases and demethylases. Molecular mechanisms of active DNA demethylation began to surface only recently with the discovery of the 5-methylcytosine (5mC)-directed hydroxylase and base excision activities of ten–eleven translocation (TET) proteins and thymine DNA glycosylase (TDG). This implicated a pathway operating through oxidation of 5mC by TET proteins, which generates substrates for TDG-dependent base excision repair (BER) that then replaces 5mC with C. Yet, direct evidence for a productive coupling of TET with BER has never been presented. Here we show that TET1 and TDG physically interact to oxidize and excise 5mC, and proof by biochemical reconstitution that the TET–TDG–BER system is capable of productive DNA demethylation. We show that the mechanism assures a sequential demethylation of symmetrically methylated CpGs, thereby avoiding DNA double-strand break formation but contributing to the mutability of methylated CpGs.
Observation of a three-dimensional quasi-long-range electronic supermodulation in YBa2Cu3O7−x/La0.7Ca0.3MnO3 heterostructures
Authors: He Junfeng , Shafer Padraic , Mion Thomas R. , Tra Vu Thanh , He Qing , Kong J. , Chuang Y.-D. , Yang W. L. , Graf M. J. , Lin J.-Y. , Chu Y.-H. , Arenholz E. , He Rui-Hua 
Published: March 2016

AbstractRecent developments in high-temperature superconductivity highlight a generic tendency of the cuprates to develop competing electronic (charge) supermodulations. While coupled with the lattice and showing different characteristics in different materials, these supermodulations themselves are generally conceived to be quasi-two-dimensional, residing mainly in individual CuO2 planes, and poorly correlated along the c axis. Here we observed with resonant elastic X-ray scattering a distinct type of electronic supermodulation in YBa2Cu3O7−x (YBCO) thin films grown epitaxially on La0.7Ca0.3MnO3 (LCMO). This supermodulation has a periodicity nearly commensurate with four lattice constants in-plane, eight out of plane, with long correlation lengths in three dimensions. It sets in far above the superconducting transition temperature and competes with superconductivity below this temperature for electronic states predominantly in the CuO2 plane. Our finding sheds light on the nature of charge ordering in cuprates as well as a reported long-range proximity effect between superconductivity and ferromagnetism in YBCO/LCMO heterostructures.
Spatio-temporal assembly of functional mineral scaffolds within microbial biofilms
Authors: Oppenheimer-Shaanan Yaara , Sibony-Nevo Odelia , Bloom-Ackermann Zohar , Suissa Ronit , Steinberg Nitai , Kartvelishvily Elena , Brumfeld Vlad , Kolodkin-Gal Ilana 
Published: March 2016

AbstractHistorically, multicellular bacterial communities, known as biofilms, have been thought to be held together solely by a self-produced extracellular matrix. Our study identified a novel mechanism maintainingBacillus subtilisandMycobacterium smegmatisbiofilms—active production of calcite minerals. We studied, for the first time, the effects of mutants defective in biomineralization and calcite formation on biofilm development, resilience and morphology. We demonstrated that an intrinsic rise in carbon dioxide levels within the biofilm is a strong trigger for the initiation of calcite-dependent patterning. The calcite-dependent patterns provide resistance to environmental insults and increase the overall fitness of the microbial community. Our results suggest that it is highly feasible that the formation of mineral scaffolds plays a cardinal and conserved role in bacterial multicellularity.
Spin Circuit Model for 2D Channels with Spin-Orbit Coupling
Authors: Hong Seokmin , Sayed Shehrin , Datta Supriyo 
Published: March 2016

AbstractIn this paper we present a general theory for an arbitrary 2D channel with “spin momentum locking” due to spin-orbit coupling. It is based on a semiclassical model that classifies all the channel electronic states into four groups based on the sign of the z-component of the spin (up (U), down (D)) and the sign of the x-component of the velocity (+, −). This could be viewed as an extension of the standard spin diffusion model which uses two separate electrochemical potentials for U and D states. Our model uses four: U+, D+, U− and D−. We use this formulation to develop an equivalent spin circuit that is also benchmarked against a full non-equilibrium Green’s function (NEGF) model. The circuit representation can be used to interpret experiments and estimate important quantities of interest like the charge to spin conversion ratio or the maximum spin current that can be extracted. The model should be applicable to topological insulator surface states with parallel channels as well as to other layered structures with interfacial spin-orbit coupling.
FgSsn3 kinase, a component of the mediator complex, is important for sexual reproduction and pathogenesis in Fusarium graminearum
Authors: Cao Shulin , Zhang Shijie , Hao Chaofeng , Liu Huiquan , Xu Jin-Rong , Jin Qiaojun 
Published: March 2016

AbstractFusarium graminearum is an important pathogen of wheat and barley. In addition to severe yield losses, infested grains are often contaminated with harmful mycotoxins. In this study, we characterized the functions of FgSSN3 kinase gene in different developmental and infection processes and gene regulation in F. graminearum. The FgSSN3 deletion mutant had a nutrient-dependent growth defects and abnormal conidium morphology. It was significantly reduced in DON production, TRI gene expression and virulence. Deletion of FgSSN3 also resulted in up-regulation of HTF1 and PCS1 expression in juvenile cultures and repression of TRI genes in DON-producing cultures. In addition, Fgssn3 was female sterile and defective in hypopodium formation and infectious growth. RNA-seq analysis showed that FgSsn3 is involved in the transcriptional regulation of a wide variety genes acting as either a repressor or activator. FgSsn3 physically interacted with C-type cyclin Cid1 and the cid1 mutant had similar phenotypes with Fgssn3, indicating that FgSsn3 and Cid1 form the CDK-cyclin pair as a component of the mediator complex in F. graminearum. Taken together, our results indicate that FgSSN3 is important for secondary metabolism, sexual reproduction and plant infection, as a subunit of mediator complex contributing to transcriptional regulation of diverse genes.
The energy-level crossing behavior and quantum Fisher information in a quantum well with spin-orbit coupling
Authors: Wang Z. H. , Zheng Q. , Wang Xiaoguang , Li Yong 
Published: March 2016

AbstractWe study the energy-level crossing behavior in a two-dimensional quantum well with the Rashba and Dresselhaus spin-orbit couplings (SOCs). By mapping the SOC Hamiltonian onto an anisotropic Rabi model, we obtain the approximate ground state and its quantum Fisher information (QFI) via performing a unitary transformation. We find that the energy-level crossing can occur in the quantum well system within the available parameters rather than in cavity and circuit quantum eletrodynamics systems. Furthermore, the influence of two kinds of SOCs on the QFI is investigated and an intuitive explanation from the viewpoint of the stationary perturbation theory is given.