bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Gingival crevicular fluid tissue/blood vessel‐type plasminogen activator and plasminogen activator inhibitor‐2 levels in patients with rheumatoid arthritis: effects of nonsurgical periodontal therapy
Authors: Kurgan Ş. , Önder C. , Balcı N. , Fentoğlu Ö. , Eser F. , Balseven M. , Serdar M. A. , Tatakis D. N. , Günhan M. 
Published: October 2016

Background and ObjectiveThe aim of this study was to evaluate the effect of nonsurgical periodontal therapy on clinical parameters and gingival crevicular fluid levels of tissue/blood vessel‐type plasminogen activator (t‐PA) and plasminogen activator inhibitor‐2 (PAI‐2) in patients with periodontitis, with or without rheumatoid arthritis (RA).Material and MethodsFifteen patients with RA and chronic periodontitis (RA‐P), 15 systemically healthy patients with chronic periodontitis (H‐P) and 15 periodontally and systemically healthy volunteers (C) were included in the study. Plaque index, gingival index, probing pocket depth, clinical attachment level, bleeding on probing, gingival crevicular fluid t‐PA and PAI‐2 levels, erythrocyte sedimentation rate, serum C‐reactive protein and disease activity score were evaluated at baseline and 3 mo after mechanical nonsurgical periodontal therapy.ResultsAll periodontal clinical parameters were significantly higher in the RA‐P and H‐P groups compared with the C group (p < 0.001) and decreased significantly after treatment (p < 0.001). Pretreatment t‐PA levels were highest in the RA‐P group and significantly decreased post‐treatment (p = 0.047). Pre‐ and post‐treatment PAI‐2 levels were significantly lower in controls compared with both periodontitis groups (p < 0.05). Gingival crevicular fluid volume and the levels of t‐PA and PAI‐2 were significantly correlated.ConclusionIn patients with periodontitis and RA, nonsurgical periodontal therapy reduced the pretreatment gingival crevicular fluid t‐PA levels, which were significantly correlated with gingival crevicular fluid PAI‐2 levels. The significantly higher t‐PA and PAI‐2 gingival crevicular fluid levels in periodontal patients, regardless of systemic status, suggest that the plasminogen activating system plays a role in the disease process of periodontitis.
Flowery Porn: Form and Desire in Erasmus Darwin's The Loves of the Plants
Authors: Connolly Tristanne 
Published: October 2016

AbstractWhen Erasmus Darwin announces that “the general design” of The Loves of the Plants “is to inlist Imagination under the banner of Science” (ii), an echo of the Song of Solomon (itself a touchstone for eroticized botanical imagery) reveals how charged the relationship is: “his banner over me was love” (2:4). This essay argues that taking The Loves of the Plants seriously as an erotic work reveals the essential importance of desire to the evolving diversity of vibrant life it envisions and to the interdisciplinarity it achieves. Not only does the poem popularize the Linnaean sexual system of taxonomy by infusing it with sensibility, creating a landscape driven by desire. The form of the poem makes a mixed marriage of art and science, verse and footnotes, in a tantalizingly episodic (non‐)structure which could be called pornographic. The relationships between the male and female parts of an overwhelming variety of flora are much more varied than the conventional gender roles later critics have often ascribed to the poem. Yet, while each vignette offers another sexual permutation, the cumulative effect blurs variety into sameness, an effect earlier recognized by John Cleland in Memoirs of a Woman of Pleasure. Cleland extends the boredom to style, citing the flatness, in inevitable repetition, of the vocabulary of pleasure. The descent of Darwin's poetry into unfashionability under Wordsworthian aesthetics is also the demise of an erotic interdisciplinarity. In addition to the stylistic simultaneity of variety and sameness, Darwin's footnotes, epic similes and tangents are driven from topic to topic by a kind of unchaste curiosity which flattens borders demarcating species, subject headings, legitimate attractions. “The Loves”, both desire and the poem itself, “laugh at all, but Nature's laws” (IV:486). Even Nature's laws play loose with categories, as pollinating insects are seduced by flowers. This article examines how The Loves of the Plants envisions a continuum of life forms and of disciplines by portraying and performing cross‐species erotic interaction. Personification of vegetable reproduction invites readers to conceive of their own desire in botanic terms (as, indeed, readers and parodists did). Fascination with hybridization epitomizes both Darwin's poetry and his science, from the remarkable love affair between nightingale and rose which produces the bird‐flower offspring fantastically described in Loves, to the painstaking study of cross‐breeding in the evolutionarily crucial chapter “Of Generation” in Zoonomia.
Signs of Change: Percy Shelley's Language of Mutability as Precursor to Darwin's Theory of Evolution
Authors: Harding Anthony John 
Published: October 2016

AbstractThis essay argues that the poetry of Percy Shelley may have contributed to Charles Darwin's ability to conceptualize forces of change in the natural world. The work of Shelley occupies a key position in the development of pre‐Darwinian thought about change and transformation. His early interest in Lockean empiricism and his knowledge of the natural sciences have long been recognized by scholars working on romanticism and science. Less explored are the ways in which the poetry of Shelley has a bearing on the intellectual challenge Darwin faced in interpreting signs of change in the natural world. Shelley's poetry offers an account of how such change reveals itself: an account based not on a priori concepts of divine language, but on material evidence of the power of natural phenomena to convey information. In this way, poetry and science come into relation with each other.Like most young men of his time, Darwin would have been aware of Shelley's controversial reputation. What survives of the correspondence between the young Darwin and his friend the aspiring poet Henry Matthew, who was his contemporary at Cambridge, indicates that the two men had intense debates about Shelley's work, and about his notoriety as a materialist and atheist. Though no details are given, the correspondence does indicate that both of them read the poet's work and had conversations about it.Shelley's use of an evolving poetic/mythological vocabulary, putting pressure on the conventional meanings of words (a kind of linguistic change) to enable the reader to conceive of global processes of change, strongly advanced Romantic‐era thinking in this regard. Shelley's enthusiasm for the materialist philosophy of Lucretius provided him with good authority for the belief that the natural world was inhabited by forces that would powerfully impinge upon the minds of humans. His mature poetics remained open to the idea that observing the operations of these natural forces, traceable in the geological record, would reveal signs of terrestrial change and prepare the awakened mind for a future transformed world. Darwin (for all his well‐known anxiety about challenging Christian beliefs) would have had in Shelley's poetry a productive model for conceptualizing the processes of nature, combining in such works as “Mont Blanc” and Prometheus Unbound changes in the referentiality of linguistic signs with observed changes in the forms of nature.
Nietzsche on Nature
Authors: Handwerk Gary 
Published: October 2016

AbstractFriedrich Nietzsche's philosophy has traditionally been seen as oriented toward human (all too human) affairs, nature present in it as backdrop or atmosphere, but not on its own terms a central focus of his work. Yet Nietzsche was well informed about the natural science of his era and particularly attuned to the importance of figures such as Charles Darwin. Building upon John Richardson's Nietzsche's New Darwinism, this essay explores the relation between Nietzsche's ethics, psychology, and philosophy of history and Darwinian evolutionary theory – not just Darwin as understood by the 19th‐century reception of his ideas (heavily shaped by social Darwinist ideologies), but as foundational for a contemporary understanding of ecological and environmental concerns. Anticipating some of the implications of Darwinian thought in the 20th century, Nietzsche's writings help sharpen our awareness of the tensions between social and natural selection, biological and social diversity, and (genetic) fate and (willed) destiny – all crucial for environmental debates of the 21st century.
Charles Lyell's Geological Imagination
Authors: Manning Pascale McCullough 
Published: October 2016

AbstractIn his Principles of Geology (1830–33), Charles Lyell seeks to explain the processes by which the great geological monuments of the world – from mountains to river valleys – came to be as they are. Through his theory of uniformitarianism, which states that geological phenomena must be explained according to known and observable causes, Lyell develops in his Principles a narrative explaining the laws governing such phenomena. But because the processes of geological flux he seeks to describe cannot be observed in their totality, Lyell frequently appeals to the imagination to ford the many gaps in physical evidence. This article explores how Lyell's theory of uniformitarianism is built upon an original act of imaginative retrieval in which the geologist exercises mastery over the past through his imaginative reconstruction of prehistory, where “history” is understood to mean “belonging to human time.” I argue that in his careful delineation of the means by which the mind may come to know what is not necessarily verifiable, Lyell appeals to a principle of the imagination that closely resembles Samuel Taylor Coleridge's concept of the vital and generative power of the secondary imagination. Furthermore, I highlight Coleridge's own failure, in his reading of Lyell, to recognize this resemblance between the geologist's imaginative act and his own – a failure that led him to privilege the catastrophist theories that Lyell set out to (and indeed did) supplant.
Factors driving the variability in diving and movement behavior of migrating humpback whales (Megaptera novaeangliae): Implications for anthropogenic disturbance studies
Authors: Kavanagh Ailbhe S. , Noad Michael J. , Blomberg Simon P. , Goldizen Anne W. , Kniest Eric , Cato Douglas H. , Dunlop Rebecca A. 
Published: October 2016

AbstractHumpback whales (Megaptera novaeangliae) undertake one of the longest migrations of any animal and while on a broad‐scale this journey appears direct, on a fine‐scale, behaviors associated with socializing and breeding are regularly observed. However, little is known about which social and environmental factors influence behavior during this time. Here we examined the effect of multiple factors on the movement (speed and course) and diving behavior (dive and surfacing duration) of humpback whales during migration off the eastern coast of Australia. Focal data (202 h) were collected on 94 different whale groups with simultaneous social and environmental context data. The environmental factors water depth and wind speed were found to be important predictors of dive and movement behavior, whereas social factors were less influential at this site. Groups tended to dive for longer with increased water depth but traveled more slowly in increasing wind speeds. These baseline studies are crucial when examining the effect of anthropogenic disturbance. Determining which natural factors significantly affect behavior ensures any observed behavioral changes are correctly attributed to the disturbance and are not a result of other factors. In addition, any responses observed can be put into biological context and their relative magnitude determined.
Tuberculosis morbidity at Haskell Institute, a Native American Youth Boarding School 1910–1940:∧
Authors: WILBUR RACHEL E. , CORBETT STEVEN M. , DRISKO JEANNE A. 
Published: October 2016

ObjectiveTo determine historical disparities in tuberculosis morbidity between Native American youth attending off‐reservation government boarding schools and the non‐Native American population.∧ Findings are placed within the context of documented health disparities in Native American populations, with implications for modern health.MethodsAnalysis performed on available epidemiologic data from Haskell Institute in Kansas and corresponding statewide data for points between the years 1910–1940.∧ Data on tuberculosis prevalence and enrollment for Haskell were collected via historical records. Tuberculosis morbidity rates were calculated, along with comparative tuberculosis morbidity for the state of Kansas.ResultsTuberculosis rates at Haskell Institute were significantly (p<0.0001) higher than for the state of Kansas from 1910 to 1940.∧ConclusionTuberculosis morbidity among Native American boarding school youth in the early 20th century was higher than among the general public. Entrenched social and historical determinants resulted in increased susceptibility to tuberculosis; these factors continue to be associated with cause increased rates of tuberculosis among Native Americans today.
Plasticity of gastrointestinal vagal afferent satiety signals
Authors: Page A. J. , Kentish S. J. 
Published: October 2016

AbstractThe vagal link between the gastrointestinal tract and the central nervous system (CNS) has numerous vital functions for maintaining homeostasis. The regulation of energy balance is one which is attracting more and more attention due to the potential for exploiting peripheral hormonal targets as treatments for conditions such as obesity. While physiologically, this system is well tuned and demonstrated to be effective in the regulation of both local function and promoting/terminating food intake the neural connection represents a susceptible pathway for disruption in various disease states. Numerous studies have revealed that obesity in particularly is associated with an array of modifications in vagal afferent function from changes in expression of signaling molecules to altered activation mechanics. In general, these changes in vagal afferent function in obesity further promote food intake instead of the more desirable reduction in food intake. It is essential to gain a comprehensive understanding of the mechanisms responsible for these detrimental effects before we can establish more effective pharmacotherapies or lifestyle strategies for the treatment of obesity and the maintenance of weight loss.
Ion channels, ion channel receptors, and visceral hypersensitivity in irritable bowel syndrome
Authors: Fuentes I. M. , Christianson J. A. 
Published: October 2016

AbstractIon channels are expressed throughout the gastrointestinal system and regulate nearly every aspect of digestion, including fluid secretion and absorption, motility, and visceral sensitivity. It is therefore not surprising that in the setting of functional bowel disorders, such as irritable bowel syndrome (IBS), ion channels are often altered in terms of expression level and function and are a target of pharmacological intervention. This is particularly true of their role in driving abdominal pain through visceral hypersensitivity (VH), which is the main reason IBS patients seek medical care. In the study by Scanzi et al., in the current issue of this journal, they provide evidence that the T‐type voltage‐gated calcium channel (Cav) Cav3.2 is upregulated in human IBS patients, and is necessary for the induction of an IBS‐like disease state in mice. In this mini‐review, we will discuss the contribution of specific ion channels to VH in IBS, both in human patients and rodent models. We will also discuss how Cav3.2 may play a role as an integrator of multiple environmental stimuli contributing toward VH.
The impact of irritable bowel syndrome on daily functioning: Characterizing and understanding daily consequences of IBS
Authors: Ballou S. , Keefer L. 
Published: October 2016

AbstractBackgroundDespite the well‐documented economic and psychosocial burden of irritable bowel syndrome (IBS), few studies have focused on the impact of IBS on daily activities. This study aims to quantitate impairment in daily activities among IBS patients and to evaluate the relationship between impairment, IBS, quality of life, and psychiatric symptoms.MethodsA total of 179 participants meeting ROME‐III criteria for IBS completed an online research survey evaluating the following variables: (i) the impact of IBS on daily activities, (ii) comorbid psychiatric diagnoses, (iii) symptom severity, (iv) quality of life, and (v) symptom‐specific cognitive affective factors related to IBS.Key ResultsThis sample reported a high degree of impairment due to IBS, with 76% of the sample reporting some degree of IBS‐related impairment in at least five different domains of daily life. Rates of impairment were significantly higher for participants who met criteria for anxiety, depression, and/or panic disorder.Conclusions & InferencesThis study contributes to existing literature by demonstrating a high level of daily impairment among patients with IBS, particularly those who meet criteria for anxiety, depression, and panic disorder. These findings support the importance of integrated psychosocial and medical care for IBS patients, and highlight the utility of evaluation and intervention for behavioral avoidance/impairment especially among those who exhibit signs or symptoms of psychiatric diagnoses.
Tumor necrosis factor alpha derived from classically activated “M1” macrophages reduces interstitial cell of Cajal numbers
Authors: Eisenman S. T. , Gibbons S. J. , Verhulst P. ‐J. , Cipriani G. , Saur D. , Farrugia G. 
Published: October 2016

AbstractBackgroundDelayed gastric emptying in diabetic mice and humans is associated with changes in macrophage phenotype and loss of interstitial cells of Cajal (ICC) in the gastric muscle layers. In diabetic mice, classically activated M1 macrophages are associated with delayed gastric emptying, whereas alternatively activated M2 macrophages are associated with normal gastric emptying. This study aimed to determine if secreted factors from M1 macrophages could injure mouse ICC in primary culture.MethodsCultures of gastric ICC were treated with conditioned medium (CM) from activated bone marrow‐derived macrophages (BMDMs) and the effect of CM was quantified by counting ICC per high‐powered field.Key ResultsBone marrow‐derived macrophages were activated to a M1 or M2 phenotype confirmed by qRT‐PCR. Conditioned medium from M1 macrophages reduced ICC numbers by 41.1%, whereas M2‐CM had no effect as compared to unconditioned, control media. Immunoblot analysis of 40 chemokines/cytokines found 12 that were significantly increased in M1‐CM, including tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNF‐α). ELISA detected 0.697±0.03 ng mL−1 TNF‐α in M1‐CM. Recombinant mouse TNF‐α reduced Kit expression and ICC numbers in a concentration‐dependent manner (EC50 = 0.817 ng mL−1). Blocking M1‐CM TNF‐α with a neutralizing antibody preserved ICC numbers. The caspase inhibitor Z‐VAD.fmk partly preserved ICC numbers (cells/field; 6.63±1.04, 9.82±1.80 w/Z‐VAD.fmk, n=6, P<.05).Conclusions & InferencesThis work demonstrates that TNF‐α secreted from M1 macrophages can result in Kit loss and directly injure ICC in vitro partly through caspase‐dependent apoptosis and may play an important role in ICC depletion in diabetic gastroparesis.
The emergence of the IL‐36 cytokine family as novel targets for inflammatory diseases
Authors: Walsh Patrick T. , Fallon Padraic G. 
Published: October 2016

AbstractThe recently discovered interleukin (IL)‐36 family of cytokines form part of the broader IL‐1 family and are emerging as important mediators of inflammatory disease. The IL‐36 subfamily consists of three ligands—IL‐36α, IL‐36β, and IL‐36γ—and the natural antagonist IL‐36Ra. The cytokines exert their effects through a specific IL‐36 receptor consisting of IL‐36R and IL‐1RAcP chains. IL‐36 cytokines can direct both innate and adaptive immune responses by acting on parenchymal, stromal, and specific immune cell subsets. In humans, inactivating mutations in the gene encoding the IL‐36R antagonist, which lead to unregulated IL‐36R signaling, lead to an autoinflammatory condition termed deficiency of the IL‐36R antagonist, which primarily manifests as a severe form of pustular psoriasis. While such discoveries have prompted deeper mechanistic studies highlighting the important role of IL‐36 cytokines in psoriatic skin inflammation, it is now evident that IL‐36 cytokines can also play important roles in inflammatory disorders in other organs, such as the gastrointestinal tract and the lungs. Given these emerging roles, strategies to specifically target the expression and activity of the IL‐36 family have the potential to uncover novel therapeutic approaches aimed at treating inflammatory diseases in humans.
Feedback negativity and decision‐making behavior in the Balloon Analogue Risk Task (BART) in adolescents is modulated by peer presence
Authors: Kessler Luisa , Hewig Johannes , Weichold Karina , Silbereisen Rainer K. , Miltner Wolfgang H. R. 
Published: October 2016

AbstractAdolescent risk taking is strongly influenced by peer presence. The aim of the present study was to investigate the effect of peer presence on the ERP after negative and positive feedback in the time range of the feedback‐related negativity (FRN). Eighteen male adolescents completed a version of the Balloon Analogue Risk Task (BART) under two conditions: playing alone and while observed by a peer. We recorded the ERPs after success or failure feedback and analyzed risk‐taking behavior under both conditions. Behavioral results show that the participants were more cautious when being watched by a peer, especially after success. ERPs show that participants under peer presence exhibit more negative FRN after failure feedback than in the single condition, but no greater positivities after success feedback in the observed condition compared to the single condition. Results are in line with reinforcement learning theory and psychological aspects of loss prevention. The results suggest that the effect of peer presence on risk‐taking behavior depends on the specific situational context.
YKL‐40, CCL18 and SP‐D predict mortality in patients hospitalized with community‐acquired pneumonia
Authors: Spoorenberg Simone M.C. , Vestjens Stefan M.T. , Rijkers Ger T. , Meek Bob , van Moorsel Coline H.M. , Grutters Jan C. , Bos Willem Jan W. ,   Ovidius Study Group
Published: October 2016

ABSTRACT
Background and objectiveThe aim of this study was to investigate the prognostic value of four biomarkers, YKL‐40, chemokine (C‐C motif) ligand 18 (CCL18), surfactant protein‐D (SP‐D) and CA 15‐3, in patients admitted with community‐acquired pneumonia (CAP). These markers have been studied extensively in chronic pulmonary disease, but in acute pulmonary disease their prognostic value is unknown.MethodsA total of 289 adult patients who were hospitalized with CAP and participated in a randomized controlled trial were enrolled. Biomarker levels were measured on the day of admission. Intensive care unit admission, 30‐day, 1‐year and long‐term mortality (median follow‐up of 5.4 years, interquartile range (IQR): 4.7–6.1) were recorded as outcomes.ResultsMedian YKL‐40 and CCL18 levels were significantly higher and levels of SP‐D were significantly lower in CAP patients compared to healthy controls. Significantly higher YKL‐40, CCL18 and SP‐D levels were found in patients classified in pneumonia severity index classes 4–5 and with a CURB‐65 score ≥2 compared to patients with less severe pneumonia. Furthermore, these three markers were significant predictors for long‐term mortality in multivariate analysis and compared with C‐reactive protein and procalcitonin level on admission, area under the curves were higher for 30‐day, 1‐year and long‐term mortality. CA 15‐3 levels were less predictive.Conclusion
YKL‐40, CCL18 and SP‐D levels were higher in patients with more severe pneumonia, possibly reflecting the extent of pulmonary inflammation. Of these, YKL‐40 most significantly predicts mortality for CAP.