bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Clinical study of Dermatophyte Test Strip, an immunochromatographic method, to detect tinea unguium dermatophytes
Authors: Tsunemi Yuichiro , Hiruma Masataro 
Published: March 2016

AbstractThe Dermatophyte Test Strip visualizes mycotic antigens by immunochromatography. It allows easy and fast detection of dermatophytes. A multicenter, single‐arm, comparative clinical study was designed to evaluate the capacity of Dermatophyte Test Strip to detect dermatophytes in suspected tinea unguium specimens in comparison with direct microscopy and polymerase chain reaction (PCR). Signed consent was obtained from 222 subjects and all subjects completed the study. With the Dermatophyte Test Strip, dermatophytes were detected in 201 of 222 (90.5%) specimens but not in 21 of 222 (9.5%) specimens. With direct microscopy, dermatophytes were detected in 170 of 222 (76.6%) specimens but not in 52 of 222 (23.4%). Of the 45 specimens that showed inconsistent results between the two methods, PCR gave further results for 40 specimens, of which 37 (92.5%) specimens were positive and three (7.5%) were negative for dermatophytes. The positive concordance rate, negative concordance rate and overall concordance rate between the Dermatophyte Test Strip and direct microscopy were 81.1%, 66.7% and 79.7%, respectively. When inconsistent results were corrected using the results of PCR, these rates were 97.5%, 71.4% and 95.0%, respectively. When five specimens that could not be tested by PCR because no piece for the PCR test was left were excluded from analysis, these rates were 99.0%, 78.9% and 97.2%, respectively. The present results indicate good detection capacity of the Dermatophyte Test Strip. The Dermatophyte Test Strip provides a reliable, convenient and quick method to test for tinea unguium.
Food, temperature and endurance: effects of food deprivation on the thermal sensitivity of physiological performance
Authors: Gilbert Anthony L. , Miles Donald B. 
Published: March 2016

Summary

Studies of thermal ecology and physiology (e.g. the change in performance with temperature) provide critical data for predicting the potential responses of ectothermic organisms to climate change. Projected modification of current ambient temperature in the future is expected to result in shifts in whole‐organismal performance, which could lead to a diminishment in individual fitness, resulting in demographic collapse.

The anticipated responses of ectothermic organisms to climate change focus on the direct effects of temperature and neglect other potential concomitant changes to the environment. Climate models forecast dramatic alteration in precipitation patterns, which in some regions will lead to prolonged drought. Rising temperatures coupled with decreased rainfall will disrupt patterns of net primary productivity and as a consequence alter the prey base and seasonal food availability. Individuals exposed to lower food availability are expected to adjust thermoregulatory behaviour to reduce their daily energetic expenditures.

The consequences of fasting in lizards have received scant attention; consequently, we examined the effects of alteration in food availability on both preferred body temperatures in a thermal gradient and the thermal sensitivity of locomotor performance in the lizard Urosaurus ornatus. We experimentally manipulated food access to two groups of lizards and compared thermal preference and thermal performance curves.

We found distinct shifts in preferred body temperature and locomotor performance when food availability is restricted. Fasted lizards exhibited reduced preferred body temperatures compared to fed lizards. The position and shape of thermal performance curves differed between fasted and fed lizards. Fasted lizards had lower optimal temperatures of performance and wider thermal performance breadths than fed lizards.

Restricted access to food resources leads to thermal biological patterns favouring lower temperatures. Lizards with low food access may be restricted to shaded regions of their habitat, unable to cope with the stressful situation of activity at warmer temperatures, and thus be at a selective disadvantage for procuring energetic or reproductive opportunities. By characterizing the interaction between thermal physiology and food availability, our study provides more clarification regarding the bioenergetic pressures likely to affect lizards in warmer environments.

A lay summary is available for this article.
Family morph matters: factors determining survival and recruitment in a long‐lived polymorphic raptor
Authors: Sumasgutner Petra , Tate Gareth J. , Koeslag Ann , Amar Arjun 
Published: March 2016

Summary

From an evolutionary perspective, recruitment into the breeding population represents one of the most important life‐history stages and ultimately determines the effective population size. In order to contribute to the next generation, offspring must survive to sexual maturity, secure a territory and find a mate.

In this study, we explore factors influencing both offspring survival and their subsequent recruitment into the local breeding population in a long‐lived urban raptor, the black sparrowhawk (Accipiter melanoleucus). Adult black sparrowhawks show discrete colour polymorphism (dark and light morphs), and in South Africa, morphs are distributed clinally with the highest proportion of dark morphs (c.75%) present in our study population on the Cape Peninsula.

Parental morph was associated with both survival and recruitment. For survival, parental morph combination was important – with young produced by pairs of contrasting morphs having higher survival rates than young fledged from like‐pairs. The association between recruitment and morph was more complex; with an interaction between male morph and breeding time, whereby recruitment of offspring from dark morph fathers was more likely when fledging earlier in the season. The opposite relationship was found for light morph fathers, with their offspring more likely to be recruited if fledged later in the season.

This interaction may be due to differential morph‐specific hunting success of fathers (males contribute most food provisioning), linked to background matching and crypsis in different weather conditions. Dark morph males may hunt more successfully in rainier and cloudier conditions, which occur more frequently earlier in the breeding season, and light morph males may be more successful later on, when weather conditions become increasingly brighter and drier. Our results reveal a complex situation whereby the family morph combination influences survival, and the father morphs specifically recruitment, revealing morph‐specific benefits dependent on the timing of breeding. These empirical data are among the first to support the idea that differential fitness consequence of morph combination may explain balanced polymorphism in a vertebrate population.
Tailored flower strips promote natural enemy biodiversity and pest control in potato crops
Authors: Tschumi Matthias , Albrecht Matthias , Collatz Jana , Dubsky Viktor , Entling Martin H. , Najar‐Rodriguez Adriana J. , Jacot Katja 
Published: March 2016

Summary

Sown flower strips are increasingly implemented within agri‐environment schemes (AES) to increase functional biodiversity and ecosystem services such as pollination or natural pest control, but their effectiveness in achieving these goals remains poorly studied.

We tested the performance of experimentally sown annual flower strips specifically designed to promote natural enemies of aphids and their pest control services (tailored flower strips) in adjacent potato crops (n = 8) compared with control fields (n = 10). Flower strips consisted of 11 plant species providing abundant floral and extra‐floral resources.

The abundance of key natural enemies of aphids (hoverflies, lacewings and ladybirds) and hoverfly species richness was greatly enhanced in tailored flower strips compared with potato control strips. This resulted in an average increase in the number of eggs deposited by hoverflies and lacewings by 127% and 48%, respectively, and a reduction in the number of aphids by 75% in adjacent potato crops.

Synthesis and applications. We conclude that tailored flower strips can be an effective agri‐environmental measure to enhance natural enemies and aphid control in nearby crops. Indeed, tailored flower strips may help to reduce insecticide input in potato production as they significantly decrease the probability that action thresholds are reached. Promoting natural enemy abundance and diversity, as observed for hoverflies, may increase the stability of pest control and provide additional benefits to agro‐ecosystems in terms of natural enemy conservation. We thus recommend establishing tailored flower strips as a promising management option to reconcile the objectives of ecological intensification and biodiversity conservation.
Plant toxin levels in nectar vary spatially across native and introduced populations
Authors: Egan Paul A. , Stevenson Phillip C. , Tiedeken Erin Jo , Wright Geraldine A. , Boylan Fabio , Stout Jane C. 
Published: March 2016

Summary

Secondary compounds in nectar can function as toxic chemical defences against floral antagonists, but may also mediate plant–pollinator interactions. Despite their ecological importance, few studies have investigated patterns of spatial variation in toxic nectar compounds in plant species, and none outside their native range.

Grayanotoxin I (GTX I) occurs in nectar of invasive Rhododendron ponticum where it is toxic to honeybees and some solitary bee species. We examined (i) geographic variation in the composition of nectar GTX I, as well as GTX III (which is not toxic to these species), in the native and introduced range of R. ponticum, (ii) how their expression is structured at patch and landscape scales within ranges, and (iii) whether climatic and environmental factors underpin spatial patterns.

While both GTXs varied within ranges, variation in GTX I, but not GTX III, was detected between ranges. GTX I expression was thus markedly lower or (in 18% of cases) absent from nectar in introduced plants. Spatial autocorrelation was apparent at both patch and landscape scales and in part related to heat load interception by plants (a function of latitude, aspect and slope).

As expression of nectar GTXs was generally robust to environmental variation, and aggregated in space, this trait has the potential to be spatially discriminated by consumers. Given the specificity of change to GTX I, and its differential toxicity to some bee species, we conclude that its expression was likely to have been influenced during invasion by interaction with herbivores/consumers, either via pollinator‐mediated selection or enemy release from floral antagonists.

Synthesis. As the first demonstration of large‐scale geographic variation and spatial structure in toxic nectar compounds, this work deepens our understanding of the chemical ecology of floral interactions in native and introduced species. Spatially explicit studies of nectar secondary compounds are thus required to show how the extent and structure of spatial variation may affect floral ecology. Future development of invasion theory should incorporate a holistic view of plant defence, beyond antagonistic interactions, which integrates the consequences of chemically defended mutualist rewards.
Work participation for people with severe mental illnesses: An integrative review of factors impacting job tenure
Authors: Williams Anne E. , Fossey Ellie , Corbière Marc , Paluch Tamar , Harvey Carol 
Published: March 2016

BackgroundEnabling people with severe mental illness to sustain employment remains a challenge. This is despite most wishing to be employed, and the development of effective vocational interventions and employment supports for this population. To better understand how to enable their sustained involvement in the workforce, this review sought to identify, analyse and summarise studies investigating the factors that impact the job tenure of workers with severe mental illness, irrespective of the type of employment support they received.MethodsAn integrative literature review approach was employed to locate, appraise and synthesise quantitative and qualitative research focused on job tenure published in the 20 years up to 2013. Findings from nineteen studies were extracted and integrated using thematic analytic strategies.ResultsJob tenure was mostly conceptualised across the reviewed studies as time spent in individual jobs rather than as ongoing participation in the workforce. Three themes describe the factors contributing to job tenure: (1) the worker's experience of doing the current job; (2) natural supports in the workplace; and (3) strategies for integrating work, recovery and wellness, each of which could either support or impede ongoing employment.ConclusionOccupational therapists, other vocational specialists and mental health staff can use these factors as a guide to supporting people with severe mental illness in employment. More detailed examination of job tenure is required in future research not only on job duration but also on the quality of jobs held, their value for career development and the role of services in supporting tenure.
β‐asarone and levodopa co‐administration increase striatal dopamine level in 6‐hydroxydopamine induced rats by modulating P‐glycoprotein and tight junction proteins at the blood‐brain barrier and promoting levodopa into the brain
Authors: Huang Liping , Deng Minzhen , He Yuping , Lu Shiyao , Ma Ruanxin , Fang Yongqi 
Published: March 2016

SummaryLevodopa (L‐dopa) is widely considered as one of the most effective drug constituents in the treatment of Parkinson's disease (PD), but the blood‐brain barrier (BBB) permeability of L‐dopa is <5%, which causes low efficacy. Neuroprotective effects of β‐asarone on 6‐hydroxydopamine (6‐OHDA)‐induced PD rats were demonstrated by our previous studies. Co‐administration of β‐asarone and L‐dopa has not been explored until being investigated on PD rats in this study. PD rats were divided into four groups: untreated, L‐dopa‐treated, β‐asarone‐treated and co‐administered‐treated groups. All of the treatments were administered to the rats twice per day for 30 days. The L‐dopa, dopamine (DA), 3,4‐dihydroxyphenylacetic acid (DOPAC) and homovanillic acid (HVA), S100β and neuron‐specific enolase (NSE) levels were subsequently determined. The P‐glycoprotein (P‐gp), zonula occludens‐1 (ZO‐1), claudin‐5, occludin and actin expression was also assessed in cortex. Changes in BBB ultrastructure were observed using transmission electron microscopy. Our results showed that the co‐administered treatment increased levels of L‐dopa, DA, DOPAC and HVA in striatum, and S100β in plasma, but down‐regulated NSE, P‐gp, ZO‐1, occludin, actin and claudin‐5 in cortex. Crevices were observed between capillary endothelial cells at intercellular tight junction of the striatum in co‐administered‐treated group, while the endothelial cells in untreated group were tightly jointing each other. In addition, the correlations of L‐dopa or DA and P‐gp or tight junction proteins respectively were significantly negative in co‐administered‐ and β‐asarone‐treated groups. These findings suggest that co‐administered treatment may enhance the L‐dopa BBB permeability and attenuate brain injury, which may be beneficial to PD treatment.
A Simple Model of Contract Enforcement Institutions
Authors: Kunieda Takuma , Okada Keisuke , Shibata Akihisa 
Published: March 2016

AbstractWe demonstrate that in highly productive economies contract enforcement institutions are endogenously established, and partnership contracts correct inefficient land allocation. In less productive economies, however, such institutions are not established, and partnership contracts are not formed. In economies with intermediate productivity levels, multiple Nash equilibria exist; that is, contract enforcement institutions are established in the high Nash equilibrium whereas they are not formed in the low Nash equilibrium. In this case, institutional quality can be diverse across economies. We also prove that improvement in institutional quality reduces within‐country inequality. All these outcomes are consistent with cross‐country observations.
World Trade and the Environment: Issues and Policies
Authors: Chang Winston W. 
Published: March 2016

AbstractThis paper provides an overview of trade, environmental and related public issues and policies. It discusses the pollution problem, the recent global warming trend, the attempts of various institutions, including the United Nations, the World Trade Organization, regional, national and other organizations, to solve the global trade and environmental issues. The paper also discusses a number of basic theoretical issues and empirical findings, such as the free‐rider problem, the tragedy of the commons, the theory of second best, the relative efficacy of price and quantity control, carbon leakage, border carbon adjustments, the cap‐and‐trade system, the pollution haven hypothesis, the optimal social discount rate and the environmental Kuznets curve. Some computable general equilibrium models are reviewed and several notable World Trade Organization environmental and health‐related trade dispute cases are analysed, including the tuna–dolphin, shrimp–turtle, eco‐labelling, beef‐hormone and genetically modified organism cases.
Monetary policy regime change and regional inflation dynamics: looking through the lens of sector‐level data for Korea
Authors: Choi Chi‐Young , Lee Joo Yong , O'Sullivan Róisín 
Published: March 2016

AbstractThis paper explores the impact of the adoption of inflation targeting (IT) on the dynamics of city‐level inflation in Korea using both aggregate and sector‐level data. When looking at aggregate regional inflation, we find that the mean, volatility and persistence fell in all cities in the wake of the monetary policy regime change, consistent with other evidence in the literature. Delving more deeply into the disaggregate data reveals additional insights however. For most of the changes we observe in the dynamics of regional inflation, we find that the aggregate effects are being driven primarily by sectors that fall into the ‘Services’ category. We posit that the impact of better anchored inflationary expectations is primarily on the less‐traded services sectors of the economy, where the domestic monetary policy framework has a relatively larger influence. When it comes to the increased co‐movement observed across regions under an IT regime, however, it is the ‘Commodities’ sectors rather than ‘Services’ that are responsible, probably because services inflation becomes relatively more influenced by local factors once it has stabilized within the target range. Therefore, adoption of IT may not necessarily increase all measures of regional synchronization even when the goal of better‐anchored inflationary expectations is achieved.
Provider Experience and the Comparative Safety of Laparoscopic and Open Colectomy
Authors: Sheetz Kyle H. , Norton Edward C. , Birkmeyer John D. , Dimick Justin B. 
Published: March 2016

ObjectiveTo evaluate the comparative safety of laparoscopic and open colectomy across surgeons varying in experience with laparoscopy.Data SourcesNational Medicare data (2008–2010) for beneficiaries undergoing laparoscopic or open colectomy.Study DesignUsing instrumental variable methods to address selection bias, we evaluated outcomes of laparoscopic and open colectomy. Our instrument was the regional use of laparoscopy in the year prior to a patient's operation. We then evaluated outcomes stratified by surgeons' annual volume of laparoscopic colectomy.Principal FindingsLaparoscopic colectomy was associated with lower mortality (OR: 0.75, 95 percent CI: 0.70–0.78) and fewer complications than open surgery (OR: 0.82, 95 percent CI: 0.79–0.85). Increasing surgeon volume was associated with better outcomes for both procedures, but the relationship was stronger for laparoscopy. The comparative safety depended on surgeon volume. High‐volume surgeons had 40 percent lower mortality (OR: 0.60, 95 percent CI: 0.55–0.65) and 30 percent fewer complications (OR: 0.70, 95 percent CI: 0.67–0.74) with laparoscopy. Conversely, low‐volume surgeons had 7 percent higher mortality (OR: 1.07, 95 percent CI: 1.02–1.13) and 18 percent more complications (OR: 1.18, 95 percent CI: 1.12–1.24) with laparoscopy.ConclusionsThis population‐based study demonstrates that the comparative safety of laparoscopic and open colectomy is influenced by surgeon volume. Laparoscopic colectomy is only safer for patients whose surgeons have sufficient experience.
DNA Profiling Success Rates from Degraded Skeletal Remains in Guatemala
Authors: Johnston Emma , Stephenson Mishel 
Published: March 2016

AbstractNo data are available regarding the success of DNA Short Tandem Repeat (STR) profiling from degraded skeletal remains in Guatemala. Therefore, DNA profiling success rates relating to 2595 skeletons from eleven cases at the Forensic Anthropology Foundation of Guatemala (FAFG) are presented. The typical postmortem interval was 30 years. DNA was extracted from bone powder and amplified using Identifiler and Minifler. DNA profiling success rates differed between cases, ranging from 50.8% to 7.0%, the overall success rate for samples was 36.3%. The best DNA profiling success rates were obtained from femur (36.2%) and tooth (33.7%) samples. DNA profiles were significantly better from lower body bones than upper body bones (p = <0.0001). Bone samples from males gave significantly better profiles than samples from females (p = <0.0001). These results are believed to be related to bone density. The findings are important for designing forensic DNA sampling strategies in future victim recovery investigations.
Trends in computed tomography utilisation in the emergency department: A 5 year experience in an urban medical centre in northern Taiwan
Authors: Chang Julia Chia‐Yu , Lin Yan‐Ying , Hsu Teh‐Fu , Chen Yen‐Chia , How Chorng‐Kuang , Huang Mu‐Shun 
Published: March 2016

AbstractBackgroundSteady increase in computed tomography (CT) utilisation in the ED was observed in countries such as the USA, Canada, China and Korea; however, limited empirical data are available regarding Taiwan.ObjectiveThe objective of the present study is to quantify and compare trends in CT utilisation in the ED over a 5 year period in a medical centre in Taiwan.MethodsElectronic chart review was performed in a medical centre with an annual ED census of 80 000 patients. Subjects >20 years of age who underwent CT scans during ED visits from 1 January 2005 to 31 December 2009 were identified.ResultsAmong the 333 673 adult ED visits, 43 635 received CT scans, with a utilisation rate of 131 per 1000. Within the 5 year span, patient volume increased by 7.7%, whereas CT utilisation increased by 42.7%. The rates of increase in patient volume and CT utilisation were 5.0% and 32.4% in non‐trauma; 19.7% and 97.8% in trauma. CT scans were mostly performed on the head (47%), abdomen (36%), followed by chest (10%) and miscellaneous (7%). An increase of 168% in spinal CTs for trauma patients was observed. An increase in CT utilisation was found in all age groups with a proportionate increase with increasing age in both trauma and non‐trauma.ConclusionED CT utilisation has increased at a rate far exceeding the growth in ED patient volume. This may be attributed to the improved utility of CT in diagnosing serious pathology, more diagnostic indications for CT, ready availability and the necessity for diagnostic certainty in the ED.