bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
The nervous systems of Tylodelphys metacercariae (Digenea: Diplostomidae) from the catfish Clarias gariepinus (Clariidae) in freshwater habitats of Tanzania
Authors: Chibwana F.D. , Nkwengulila G. 
Published: December 2015

AbstractThe nervous systems of three Tylodelphys metacercariae (T. mashonense, Tylodelphys spp. 1 and 2) co-occurring in the cranial cavity of the catfish, Clarias gariepinus, were examined by the activity of acetylthiocholine iodide (AcThI), with the aim of better understanding the arrangement of sensillae on the body surface and the nerve trunks and commissures, for taxonomic purposes. Enzyme cytochemistry demonstrated a comparable orthogonal arrangement in the three metacercariae: the central nervous system (CNS) consisting of a pair of cerebral ganglia, from which anterior and posterior neuronal pathways arise and inter-link by cross-connectives and commissures. However, the number of transverse nerves was significantly different in the three diplostomid metacercariae: Tylodelphys sp. 1 (30), Tylodelphys sp. 2 (21) and T. mashonense (15). The observed difference in the nervous system of the three metacercariae clearly separates them into three species. These findings suggest that consistent differences in the transverse nerves of digenean metacercariae could enable the differentiation of metacercariae to the species level in the absence of molecular techniques. This, however, might require further testing on a larger number of species of digenean metacercariae.
Local anaesthesia and conscious sedation for cochlear implantation: experience with 20 patients
Authors: Pateron B , Bakhos D , LeLouarn A , Bordure P , Bozorg Grayeli A , Godey B , Lescanne E 
Published: December 2015

AbstractObjective:Cochlear implantation is mostly performed under general anaesthesia. This study aimed to evaluate cochlear implantation performed under local anaesthesia and sedation.Method:Twenty patients had a cochlear implant fitted under combined local anaesthesia (local anaesthesia group) and 41 patients had one fitted under general anaesthesia (general anaesthesia group) for bilateral profound hearing loss, from 2011 to 2014. Surgical duration, period of post-operative hospitalisation and early post-operative symptoms were compared. In the local anaesthesia group, operative symptoms reported during the surgery and by questionnaire were analysed.Results:Mean surgical duration was significantly shorter in the local anaesthesia group: 87 versus 122 minutes (p< 0.001). No significant difference was observed between the local anaesthesia and general anaesthesia groups regarding mean post-operative hospitalisation and early post-operative symptoms. Under local anaesthesia, patients had no particular symptoms in 60 per cent of cases. The remaining patients in this group experienced vertigo (10 per cent), pain (20 per cent) and pain-related movement (10 per cent) during the intervention. These symptoms can be controlled with symptomatic treatment.Conclusion:Combined local anaesthesia for cochlear implantation is a good alternative to general anaesthesia for co-operating patients.
Depression as a systemic syndrome: mapping the feedback loops of major depressive disorder
Authors: Wittenborn A. K. , Rahmandad H. , Rick J. , Hosseinichimeh N. 
Published: December 2015

BackgroundDepression is a complex public health problem with considerable variation in treatment response. The systemic complexity of depression, or the feedback processes among diverse drivers of the disorder, contribute to the persistence of depression. This paper extends prior attempts to understand the complex causal feedback mechanisms that underlie depression by presenting the first broad boundary causal loop diagram of depression dynamics.MethodWe applied qualitative system dynamics methods to map the broad feedback mechanisms of depression. We used a structured approach to identify candidate causal mechanisms of depression in the literature. We assessed the strength of empirical support for each mechanism and prioritized those with support from validation studies. Through an iterative process, we synthesized the empirical literature and created a conceptual model of major depressive disorder.ResultsThe literature review and synthesis resulted in the development of the first causal loop diagram of reinforcing feedback processes of depression. It proposes candidate drivers of illness, or inertial factors, and their temporal functioning, as well as the interactions among drivers of depression. The final causal loop diagram defines 13 key reinforcing feedback loops that involve nine candidate drivers of depression.ConclusionsFuture research is needed to expand upon this initial model of depression dynamics. Quantitative extensions may result in a better understanding of the systemic syndrome of depression and contribute to personalized methods of evaluation, prevention and intervention.
Disruption of effective connectivity from the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex to the orbitofrontal cortex by negative emotional distraction in obsessive–compulsive disorder
Authors: Han H. J. , Jung W. H. , Yun J.-Y. , Park J. W. , Cho K. K. , Hur J.-W. , Shin N. Y. , Lee T. Y. , Kwon J. S. 
Published: December 2015

BackgroundObsessive–compulsive disorder (OCD) has been associated with abnormal cognitive and emotional functions and these dysfunctions may be dependent on the disruption of dynamic interactions within neuronal circuits associated with emotion regulation. Although several studies have shown the aberrant cognitive–affective processing in OCD patients, little is known about how to characterize effective connectivity of the disrupted neural interactions. In the present study, we applied effective connectivity analysis using dynamic causal modeling to explore the disturbed neural interactions in OCD patients.MethodA total of 20 patients and 21 matched healthy controls performed a delayed-response working memory task under emotional or non-emotional distraction while undergoing functional magnetic resonance imaging.ResultsDuring the delay interval under negative emotional distraction, both groups showed similar patterns of activations in the amygdala. However, under negative emotional distraction, the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC) and the orbitofrontal cortex (OFC) exhibited significant differences between groups. Bayesian model averaging indicated that the connection from the DLPFC to the OFC was negatively modulated by negative emotional distraction in patients, when compared with healthy controls (p< 0.05, Bonferroni-corrected).ConclusionsExaggerated recruitment of the DLPFC may induce the reduction of top-down prefrontal control input over the OFC, leading to abnormal cortico-cortical interaction. This disrupted cortico-cortical interaction under negative emotional distraction may be responsible for dysfunctions of cognitive and emotional processing in OCD patients and may be a component of the pathophysiology associated with OCD.
The association between childhood relocations and subsequent risk of suicide attempt, psychiatric problems, and low academic achievement
Authors: Bramson L. M. , Rickert M. E. , Class Q. A. , Sariaslan A. , Almqvist C. , Larsson H. , Lichtenstein P. , D'Onofrio B. M. 
Published: December 2015

BackgroundGiven the frequency with which families change residences, the effects of childhood relocations have gained increasing research attention. Many researchers have demonstrated that childhood relocations are associated with a variety of adverse outcomes. However, drawing strong causal claims remains problematic due to uncontrolled confounding factors.MethodWe utilized longitudinal, population-based Swedish registers to generate a nationally representative sample of offspring born 1983–1997 (n= 1 510 463). Using Cox regression and logistic regression, we examined the risk for numerous adverse outcomes after childhood relocation while controlling for measured covariates. To account for unmeasured genetic and environmental confounds, we also compared differentially exposed cousins and siblings.ResultsIn the cohort baseline model, each annual relocation was associated with risk for the adverse outcomes, including suicide attempt [hazard ratio (HR) 1.19, 95% confidence interval (CI) 1.19–1.20]. However, when accounting for offspring and parental covariates (HR 1.08, 95% CI 1.07–1.09), as well as genetic and environmental confounds shared by cousins (HR 1.07, 95% CI 1.05–1.09) and siblings (HR 1.00, 95% CI 0.97–1.04), the risk for suicide attempt attenuated. We found a commensurate pattern of results for severe mental illness, substance abuse, criminal convictions, and low academic achievement.ConclusionsPrevious research may have overemphasized the independent association between relocations and later adverse outcomes. The results suggest that the association between childhood relocations and suicide attempt, psychiatric problems, and low academic achievement is partially explained by genetic and environmental confounds correlated with relocations. This study demonstrates the importance of using family-based, quasi-experimental designs to test plausible alternate hypotheses when examining causality.
Speech rates converge in scripted turn-taking conversations
Authors: SCHULTZ BENJAMIN G. , O’BRIEN IRENA , PHILLIPS NATALIE , McFARLAND DAVID H. , TITONE DEBRA , PALMER CAROLINE 
Published: December 2015

ABSTRACTWhen speakers engage in conversation, acoustic features of their utterances sometimes converge. We examined how the speech rate of participants changed when a confederate spoke at fast or slow rates during readings of scripted dialogues. A beat-tracking algorithm extracted the periodic relations between stressed syllables (beats) from acoustic recordings. The mean interbeat interval (IBI) between successive stressed syllables was compared across speech rates. Participants’ IBIs were smaller in the fast condition than in the slow condition; the difference between participants’ and the confederate's IBIs decreased across utterances. Cross-correlational analyses demonstrated mutual influences between speakers, with greater impact of the confederate on participants’ beat rates than vice versa. Beat rates converged in scripted conversations, suggesting speakers mutually entrain to one another's beat.
Intergenerational inequity arguments and the implications for state-funded financial support of older people
Authors: HURLEY KAREN , BREHENY MARY , TUFFIN KEITH 
Published: December 2015

ABSTRACTAs population demographics shift towards an older population structure in the Western world, concerns about the future costs of pensions are apparent in politics, media and everyday conversations. In New Zealand, the universal state-funded pension paid to all citizens over the age of 65 years is often considered to be unsustainable in the context of population ageing. To examine the arguments surrounding universal superannuation, rhetorical analysis was undertaken on two New Zealand newspaper articles that discussed the future cost of pensions, and the 233 public responses these articles generated. The cost of superannuation was used to emphasise the different characteristics of each generational cohort and the ways that this produced inequity across generations. Claims of intergenerational inequity generated antagonism and widened divisions between generational groups. Foregrounding generational inequity in the discussion of superannuation has profound implications for state-funded income support for older people which relies upon widespread public support. Intergenerational inequity ignores the significant inequity in health and social circumstances in retirement among older New Zealanders and overlooks the significant impact of universal superannuation on protecting older New Zealanders from poverty in later life.
ELLSBERG’S PARADOX AND THE VALUE OF CHANCES
Authors: Bradley Richard 
Published: December 2015

Abstract:What value should we put on our chances of obtaining a good? This paper argues that, contrary to the widely accepted theory of von Neumann and Morgenstern, the value of a chance of some good G may be a non-linear function of the value of G. In particular, chances may have diminishing marginal utility, a property that is termed chance uncertainty aversion. The hypothesis that agents are averse to uncertainy about chances explains a pattern of preferences often observed in the Ellsberg paradox. While these preferences have typically been taken to refute Bayesian decision theory, it is shown that chance risk aversion is perfectly compatible with it.
EXPLOITATION AND DISADVANTAGE
Authors: Ferguson Benjamin 
Published: December 2015

Abstract:According to some accounts of exploitation, most notably Ruth Sample’s (2003) degradation-based account and Robert Goodin’s (1987) vulnerability-based account, exploitation occurs when an advantaged party fails to constrain their advantage in light of another’s disadvantage, regardless of the cause of this disadvantage. Because the duty of constraint in these accounts does not depend on the cause of the disadvantage, the advantaged’s duty of constraint is what I call a ‘come-what-may’ duty. I show that come-what-may duties create moral hazards that can themselves be exploited by the disadvantaged parties. In such cases these accounts of exploitation are either self-frustrating or over-demanding.
Individual status quo modelling for a rural water service in Rwanda: application of a choice experiment
Authors: Uwera Claudine , Stage Jesper 
Published: December 2015

AbstractIn Rwanda, rural water supply is not uniformly distributed. Rural areas are characterized by differences in the distance to the nearest water point and in water quality for domestic water, by watering frequency and water availability for irrigation water, and by the price for both. A household's perception of further improvements in water supply will, therefore, depend heavily on the situation it currently faces. The authors used a choice experiment to model how the individual status quo (SQ) affects preferences. Accounting for individual SQ information improves model significance relative to simply using the generic SQ parameter in the model, and the willingness to pay increases. Not using this information leads to a downward bias – and, in some cases, statistical insignificance – in estimates of households’ valuation of health improvements linked to improved domestic water availability, as well as of increased watering frequency linked to the improved availability of irrigation water.
A genome-wide IR-induced RAD51 foci RNAi screen identifies CDC73 involved in chromatin remodeling for DNA repair
Authors: Herr Patrick , Lundin Cecilia , Evers Bastiaan , Ebner Daniel , Bauerschmidt Christina , Kingham Guy , Palmai-Pallag Timea , Mortusewicz Oliver , Frings Oliver , Sonnhammer Erik , Helleday Thomas 
Published: December 2015

AbstractTo identify new regulators of homologous recombination repair, we carried out a genome-wide short-interfering RNA screen combined with ionizing irradiation using RAD51 foci formation as readout. All candidates were confirmed by independent short-interfering RNAs and validated in secondary assays like recombination repair activity and RPA foci formation. Network analysis of the top modifiers identified gene clusters involved in recombination repair as well as components of the ribosome, the proteasome and the spliceosome, which are known to be required for effective DNA repair. We identified and characterized the RNA polymerase II-associated protein CDC73/Parafibromin as a new player in recombination repair and show that it is critical for genomic stability. CDC73 interacts with components of the SCF/Cullin and INO80/NuA4 chromatin-remodeling complexes to promote Histone ubiquitination. Our findings indicate that CDC73 is involved in local chromatin decondensation at sites of DNA damage to promote DNA repair. This function of CDC73 is related to but independent of its role in transcriptional elongation.
Privatization of cooperative benefits stabilizes mutualistic cross-feeding interactions in spatially structured environments
Authors: Pande Samay , Kaftan Filip , Lang Stefan , Svatoš Aleš , Germerodt Sebastian , Kost Christian 
Published: December 2015

Abstract
Metabolic cross-feeding interactions are ubiquitous in natural microbial communities. However, it remains generally unclear whether the production and exchange of metabolites incurs fitness costs to the producing cells and if so, which ecological mechanisms can facilitate a cooperative exchange of metabolites among unrelated individuals. We hypothesized that positive assortment within structured environments can maintain mutualistic cross-feeding. To test this, we engineered Acinetobacter baylyi and Escherichia coli to reciprocally exchange essential amino acids. Interspecific coculture experiments confirmed that non-cooperating types were selectively favoured in spatially unstructured (liquid culture), yet disfavoured in spatially structured environments (agar plates). Both an individual-based model and experiments with engineered genotypes indicated that a segregation of cross-feeders and non-cooperating auxotrophs stabilized cooperative cross-feeding in spatially structured environments. Chemical imaging confirmed that auxotrophs were spatially excluded from cooperative benefits. Together, these results demonstrate that cooperative cross-feeding between different bacterial species is favoured in structured environments such as bacterial biofilms, suggesting this type of interactions might be common in natural bacterial communities.
ENPP1-Fc prevents mortality and vascular calcifications in rodent model of generalized arterial calcification of infancy
Authors: Albright Ronald A. , Stabach Paul , Cao Wenxiang , Kavanagh Dillon , Mullen Isabelle , Braddock Alexander A. , Covo Mariel S. , Tehan Martin , Yang Guangxiao , Cheng Zhiliang , Bouchard Keith , Yu Zhao-Xue , Thorn Stephanie , Wang Xiangning , Folta-Stogniew Ewa J. , Negrete Alejandro , Sinusas Albert J. , Shiloach Joseph , Zubal George , Madri Joseph A. , De La Cruz Enrique M. , Braddock Demetrios T. 
Published: December 2015

AbstractDiseases of ectopic calcification of the vascular wall range from lethal orphan diseases such as generalized arterial calcification of infancy (GACI), to common diseases such as hardening of the arteries associated with aging and calciphylaxis of chronic kidney disease (CKD). GACI is a lethal orphan disease in which infants calcify the internal elastic lamina of their medium and large arteries and expire of cardiac failure as neonates, while calciphylaxis of CKD is a ubiquitous vascular calcification in patients with renal failure. Both disorders are characterized by vascular Mönckeburg’s sclerosis accompanied by decreased concentrations of plasma inorganic pyrophosphate (PPi). Here we demonstrate that subcutaneous administration of an ENPP1-Fc fusion protein prevents the mortality, vascular calcifications and sequela of disease in animal models of GACI, and is accompanied by a complete clinical and biomarker response. Our findings have implications for the treatment of rare and common diseases of ectopic vascular calcification.
A redox signalling globin is essential for reproduction in Caenorhabditis elegans
Authors: De Henau Sasha , Tilleman Lesley , Vangheel Matthew , Luyckx Evi , Trashin Stanislav , Pauwels Martje , Germani Francesca , Vlaeminck Caroline , Vanfleteren Jacques R. , Bert Wim , Pesce Alessandra , Nardini Marco , Bolognesi Martino , De Wael Karolien , Moens Luc , Dewilde Sylvia , Braeckman Bart P. 
Published: December 2015

AbstractModerate levels of reactive oxygen species (ROS) are now recognized as redox signalling molecules. However, thus far, only mitochondria and NADPH oxidases have been identified as cellular sources of ROS in signalling. Here we identify a globin (GLB-12) that produces superoxide, a type of ROS, which serves as an essential signal for reproduction in C. elegans. We find that GLB-12 has an important role in the regulation of multiple aspects in germline development, including germ cell apoptosis. We further describe how GLB-12 displays specific molecular, biochemical and structural properties that allow this globin to act as a superoxide generator. In addition, both an intra- and extracellular superoxide dismutase act as key partners of GLB-12 to create a transmembrane redox signal. Our results show that a globin can function as a driving factor in redox signalling, and how this signal is regulated at the subcellular level by multiple control layers.
The higher order auditory cortex is involved in the assignment of affective value to sensory stimuli
Authors: Grosso Anna , Cambiaghi Marco , Renna Annamaria , Milano Luisella , Roberto Merlo Giorgio , Sacco Tiziana , Sacchetti Benedetto 
Published: December 2015

AbstractThe sensory cortex participates in emotional memory but its role is poorly understood. Here we show that inactivation of the higher order auditory cortex Te2 in rats during early memory consolidation impairs remote first- and second-order fear memories but not the association between two neutral cues. Furthermore, Te2 inactivation prevents changes in the valence of such information. Following the presentation of two auditory cues previously paired with either pleasant or painful stimuli, a large percentage of cells responds to both experiences but also a small fraction of neurons responds exclusively to one of them. The latter type of neurons signals the valence rather than the salience or the motor responses associated with the stimuli, and reflects selective associative processes. Pharmacogenetic silencing of memory-activated neurons causes amnesia. Thus, Te2 represents a crucial node for the assignment of the affective value to sensory stimuli and for the storage of such information.
Social dynamics within decomposer communities lead to nitrogen retention and organic matter build-up in soils
Authors: Kaiser Christina , Franklin Oskar , Richter Andreas , Dieckmann Ulf 
Published: December 2015

AbstractThe chemical structure of organic matter has been shown to be only marginally important for its decomposability by microorganisms. The question of why organic matter does accumulate in the face of powerful microbial degraders is thus key for understanding terrestrial carbon and nitrogen cycling. Here we demonstrate, based on an individual-based microbial community model, that social dynamics among microbes producing extracellular enzymes (‘decomposers’) and microbes exploiting the catalytic activities of others (‘cheaters’) regulate organic matter turnover. We show that the presence of cheaters increases nitrogen retention and organic matter build-up by downregulating the ratio of extracellular enzymes to total microbial biomass, allowing nitrogen-rich microbial necromass to accumulate. Moreover, increasing catalytic efficiencies of enzymes are outbalanced by a strong negative feedback on enzyme producers, leading to less enzymes being produced at the community level. Our results thus reveal a possible control mechanism that may buffer soil CO2 emissions in a future climate.