bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Using novel biomarkers to triage young adult women with minor cervical lesions: a cost‐effectiveness analysis
Authors: Pedersen K , Sørbye SW , Kristiansen IS , Burger EA 
Published: June 2016

ObjectiveTo evaluate the short‐term consequences and cost‐effectiveness associated with the use of novel biomarkers to triage young adult women with minor cervical cytological lesions.DesignModel‐based economic evaluation using primary epidemiological data from Norway, supplemented with data from European and American clinical trials.SettingOrganised cervical cancer screening in Norway.PopulationWomen aged 25–33 years with minor cervical cytological lesions detected at their primary screening test.MethodsWe expanded an existing simulation model to compare 12 triage strategies involving alternative biomarkers (i.e. reflex human papillomavirus (HPV) DNA/mRNA testing, genotyping, and dual staining) with the current Norwegian triage guidelines.Main outcome measuresThe number of high‐grade precancers detected and resource use (e.g. monetary costs and colposcopy referrals) for a single screening round (3 years) for each triage strategy. Cost‐efficiency, defined as the additional cost per additional precancer detected of each strategy compared with the next most costly strategy.ResultsFive strategies were identified as cost‐efficient, and are projected to increase the precancer detection rate between 18 and 57%, compared with current guidelines; however, the strategies did not uniformly require additional resources. Strategies involving HPV mRNA testing required fewer resources, whereas HPV DNA‐based strategies detected >50% more precancers, but were more costly and required twice as many colposcopy referrals compared with the current guidelines.ConclusionStrategies involving biomarkers to triage younger women with minor cervical cytological lesions have the potential to detect additional precancers, yet the optimal strategy depends on the resources available as well as decision‐makers' and women's acceptance of additional screening procedures.Tweetable abstractWomen with minor cervical lesions may be triaged more accurately and effectively using novel biomarkers.
Fluctuation in seed abundance has contrasting effects on the fate of seeds from two rapidly germinating tree species in an Asian tropical forest
Authors: CAO Lin , GUO Cong , CHEN Jin 
Published: June 2016

AbstractThe seed predator satiation hypothesis states that high seed abundance can satiate seed predators or seed dispersers, thus promoting seed survival. However, for rapidly germinating seeds in tropical forests, high seed abundance may limit dispersal as the seeds usually remain under parent trees for long periods, which may lead to high mortality due to rodent predation or fungal infestations. By tracking 2 species of rapidly germinating seeds (Pittosporopsis kerrii, family Icacinaceae; Camellia kissi, family Theaceae), which depend on dispersal by scatter‐hoarding rodents, we investigated the effects of seed abundance at the community level on predation and seed dispersal in the tropical forest of Xishuangbanna Prefecture, Southwest China. We found that high seed abundance at the community level was associated with delayed and reduced seed removal, decreased dispersal distance and increased pre‐dispersal seed survival for both plant species. High seed abundance was also associated with reduced seed caching of C. kissi, but it showed little effect on seed caching of P. kerrii. However, post‐dispersal seed survival for the 2 plant species followed the reverse pattern. High seed abundance in the community was associated with higher post‐dispersal survival of P. kerrii seeds, but with lower post‐dispersal survival of C. kissi seeds. Our results suggest that different plant species derive benefit from fluctuations in seed production in different ways.
The scaling of bite force and constriction pressure in kingsnakes (Lampropeltis getula): Proximate determinants and correlated performance
Authors: PENNING David A. 
Published: June 2016

AbstractAcross the diversity of vertebrates, bite force has been studied and suggested to have important ecological and evolutionary consequences. However, there is a notable lineage of vertebrates that use this performance trait yet are missing from the bite‐force literature: the snakes. Snakes often rely on biting during prey subjugation and handling. Many snakes bite and hold prey while a constriction coil is formed or while venom is being delivered, or both. Others use biting exclusively without employing any additional prey‐handling behaviors. In addition to biting, constriction is an important predation mechanism. Here, I quantify bite force and constriction pressure in kingsnakes (Lampropeltis getula). Furthermore, I explore the proximate determinants of bite force as well as the relationship between biting and constriction performance. Bite force increased linearly with all head and body measures. Of these, head height was the best predictor of bite force. Bite force in kingsnakes was within the range of values reported for lizards, but their relative performance was lower for their head size compared to lizards. Peak constriction pressure also increased with all body measures. Biting and constricting use 2 different parts of the musculoskeletal system and are positively and significantly correlated with one another. Future work targeting a greater diversity of snakes that rely more heavily on biting may reveal a greater range of bite performance in this diverse and successful vertebrate group.
Bacterial microbiomes from vertically transmitted fungal inocula of the leaf‐cutting ant Atta texana
Authors: Meirelles Lucas A. , McFrederick Quinn S. , Rodrigues Andre , Mantovani Joana D. , de Melo Rodovalho Cynara , Ferreira Henrique , Bacci Maurício , Mueller Ulrich G. 
Published: June 2016

SummaryMicrobiome surveys provide clues for the functional roles of symbiotic microbial communities and their hosts. In this study, we elucidated bacterial microbiomes associated with the vertically transmitted fungal inocula (pellets) used by foundress queens of the leaf‐cutting ant Atta texana as starter‐cultures for new gardens. As reference microbiomes, we also surveyed bacterial microbiomes of foundress queens, gardens and brood of incipient nests. Pseudomonas, Acinetobacter, Propionibacterium and Corynebacterium were consistently present in high abundance in microbiomes. Some pellet and ant samples contained abundant bacteria from an Entomoplasmatales‐clade, and a separate PCR‐based survey of Entomoplasmatales bacteria in eight attine ant‐genera from Brazil placed these bacteria in a monophyletic clade within the bacterial genus Mesoplasma. The attine ant‐Mesoplasma association parallels a similar association between a closely related, monophyletic Entomoplasmatales‐clade and army ants. Of thirteen A. texana nests surveyed, three nests with exceptionally high Mesoplasma abundance died, whereas the other nests survived. It is unclear whether Mesoplasma was the primary cause of mortality, or Mesoplasma became abundant in moribund nests for non‐pathogenic reasons. However, the consistent and geographically widespread presence of Mesoplasma suggests an important functional role in the association with attine ants.
Bacterial communities in Arctic first‐year drift ice during the winter/spring transition
Authors: Eronen‐Rasimus Eeva , Piiparinen Jonna , Karkman Antti , Lyra Christina , Gerland Sebastian , Kaartokallio Hermanni 
Published: June 2016

SummaryHorizontal and vertical variability of first‐year drift‐ice bacterial communities was investigated along a North–South transect in the Fram Strait during the winter/spring transition. Two different developmental stages were captured along the transect based on the prevailing environmental conditions and the differences in bacterial community composition. The differences in the bacterial communities were likely driven by the changes in sea‐ice algal biomass (2.6—5.6 fold differences in chl‐a concentrations). Copiotrophic genera common in late spring/summer sea ice, such as Polaribacter, Octadecabacter and Glaciecola, dominated the bacterial communities, supporting the conclusion that the increase in the sea‐ice algal biomass was possibly reflected in the sea‐ice bacterial communities. Of the dominating bacterial genera, Polaribacter seemed to benefit the most from the increase in algal biomass, since they covered approximately 39% of the total community at the southernmost stations with higher (>6 μg l−1) chl‐a concentrations and only 9% at the northernmost station with lower chl‐a concentrations (<6 μg l−1). The sea‐ice bacterial communities also varied between the ice horizons at all three stations and thus we recommend that for future studies multiple ice horizons be sampled to cover the variability in sea‐ice bacterial communities in spring.
Coexistence of two d‐lactate‐utilizing systems in Pseudomonas putida KT2440
Authors: Zhang Yingxin , Jiang Tianyi , Sheng Binbin , Long Yangdanyu , Gao Chao , Ma Cuiqing , Xu Ping 
Published: June 2016

SummaryIt is advantageous for rhizosphere‐dwelling microorganisms to utilize organic acids such as lactate. Pseudomonas putida KT2440 is one of the most widely studied rhizosphere‐dwelling model organisms. The P. putida KT2440 genome contains an NAD‐dependent d‐lactate dehydrogenase encoding gene, but mutation of this gene does not play a role in d‐lactate utilization. Instead, it was found that d‐lactate utilization in P. putida KT2440 proceeds via a multidomain NAD‐independent d‐lactate dehydrogenase with a C‐terminal domain containing several Fe‐S cluster‐binding motifs (Fe‐S d‐iLDH) and glycolate oxidase, which is widely distributed in various microorganisms. Both Fe‐S d‐iLDH and glycolate oxidase were identified to be membrane‐bound proteins. Neither Fe‐S d‐iLDH nor glycolate oxidase is constitutively expressed but both of them can be induced by either enantiomer of lactate in P. putida KT2440. This study shows a case in which an environmental microbe contains two types of enzymes specific for d‐lactate utilization.
Restructuring of the sponge microbiome favors tolerance to ocean acidification
Authors: Ribes M. , Calvo E. , Movilla J. , Logares R. , Coma R. , Pelejero C. 
Published: June 2016

SummaryOcean acidification is increasing and affects many marine organisms. However, certain sponge species can withstand low‐pH conditions. This may be related to their complex association with microbes. We hypothesized that species with greater microbial diversity may develop functional redundancy that could enable the holobiont to survive even if particular microbes are lost at low‐pH conditions. We evaluated the effects of acidification on the growth and associated microbes of three ubiquitous Mediterranean sponges by exposing them to the present pH level and that predicted for the year 2100. We found marked differences among the species in the acquisition of new microbes, being high in Dysidea avara, moderate in Agelas oroides and null in Chondrosia reniformis; however, we did not observe variation in the overall microbiome abundance, richness or diversity. The relative abilities to alter the microbiomes contributes to survivorship in an OA scenario as demonstrated by lowered pH severely affecting the growth of C. reniformis, halving that of A. oroides, and unaffecting D. avara. Our results indicate that functional stability of the sponge holobiont to withstand future OA is species‐specific and is linked to the species’ ability to use horizontal transmission to modify the associated microbiome to adapt to environmental change.
The Value of Concept: Lessons from the Evolution of Antibiotic Resistance
Authors: Antonovics Janis 
Published: June 2016

AbstractThe evolution of resistance to antibiotics in disease causing pathogens is a major world‐wide threat to human health. This paper explores why regulatory, funding and institutional structures have inadequately addressed this issue, focusing on data from the US, but emphasizing that these issues are of global scope and applicability. There is an increasing call for serious acceptance of evolutionary biology by the medical community, but the failure to apply evolutionary ideas to the problem of antibiotic resistance continues. These ideas are deceptively simple in their basic formulation, but require sophisticated expertise when it comes to applying them in practice and to human health. The divergent histories of evolutionary biology and medical research have self‐referential constituencies in each field. The field of evolutionary biology does not see the applied issues associated with antibiotic resistance as part of its remit. At the biomedical research level, funding for research on evolution of antibiotic resistance is paltry compared to its importance as a health threat, regulatory requirements do not address evolutionary issues, institutional structures dealing with the issue are undeveloped, and there is even avoidance of the word ‘evolution’ in the context of antibiotic resistance. Current approaches to antibiotic resistance invoke evolutionary principles at a such a naive level that what is put forward are ineffective seat‐of‐the‐pants rules that have no strong theoretical basis and are almost always in desperate need of justification through evidence‐based research. Clear solutions exist but their implementation remains problematic.
The Limits of Cost/Benefit Analysis When Disasters Loom
Authors: Rose‐Ackerman Susan 
Published: June 2016

AbstractAdvances in estimating the costs and benefits of climate change policies are a welcome development, but a full‐scale cost/benefit analysis that seeks to reduce complex value trade‐offs to a single metric of net benefit maximization hides many important public policy issues, especially for disasters and catastrophes that are large, discontinuous, irreversible and uncertain. States should obtain public input on such policies. These policies involve value trade‐offs that can be informed by technocratic estimates of costs, benefits and risk. However, such analyses cannot, in principle, be reduced to a single recommendation that ‘maximizes net benefits’. Politicians must make value trade‐offs informed both by technocrats and by public input.
The Tragedy of the Uncommons: On the Politics of Apocalypse
Authors: Wiener Jonathan B. 
Published: June 2016

AbstractThe ‘tragedy of the commons’ is a classic type of problem, involving multiple actors who face individual incentives to deplete shared resources and thereby impose harms on others. Such tragedies can be overcome if societies learn through experience to mobilize collective action. This article formulates a distinct type of problem: ‘the tragedy of the uncommons’, involving the misperception and mismanagement of rare catastrophic risks. Although the problem of rare and global catastrophic risk has been much discussed, its sources and solutions need to be better understood. Descriptively, this article identifies psychological heuristics and political forces that underlie neglect of rare catastrophic ‘uncommons’ risks, notably the unavailability heuristic, mass numbing, and underdeterrence. Normatively, the article argues that, for rare catastrophic risks, it is the inability to learn from experience, rather than uncertainty, that offers the best case for anticipatory precaution. The article suggests a twist on conventional debates: in contrast to salient experienced risks spurring greater public concern than expert concern, rare uncommons risks exhibit greater expert concern than public concern. Further, optimal precaution against uncommons risks requires careful analysis to avoid misplaced priorities and potentially catastrophic risk–risk trade‐offs. The article offers new perspectives on expert vs public perceptions of risk; impact assessment and policy analysis; and precaution, policy learning and foresight.
Beyond Resilience: How to Better Prepare for the Profound Disruption of the Anthropocene
Authors: Kareiva Peter , Fuller Emma 
Published: June 2016

AbstractHuman activity is dramatically shaping all of Earth's natural systems, producing unprecedented challenges for people and nature. Climate disruption, altered hydrology, and ecosystem degradation reflect both threats to human wellbeing and changes in the ‘rules of the game’ that make management difficult. While ecologists, conservationists and environmental scientists clamor for radical action to reverse these threats, their own management actions in response to climate are too often business as usual. I hypothesize that restrictive and often unspoken mental models of ecological and environmental science are robbing these managers and their institutions of the flexibility required to respond to the Anthropocene's uncertain changes. The three most profound mental traps are: (1) an undue emphasis on historical reference points; (2) an ecological concept of resilience that fails to reckon with the Anthropocene's dynamism; and (3) a precautionary bias against new technologies and dramatic interventions. Caught in these mental traps, environmentalists too often reject entrepreneurial experimental approaches that could make them more relevant to policymakers, corporations and other institutions that seek to respond more proactively to impending disruption.
Medication Palatability Affects Physician Prescribing Preferences for Common Pediatric Conditions
Authors: Bradshaw Hans , Mitchell Michael J. , Edwards Christopher J. , Stolz Uwe , Naser Oday , Peck Amanda , Patanwala Asad E. 
Published: June 2016

AbstractObjectivesThe objective of this study was to determine if physicians would alter their prescribing preferences after sampling liquid formulations of medications for common pediatric diagnoses.MethodsThis was a prospective interventional before/after study conducted at an academic medical center in the United States. The participants of interest included emergency, family medicine, and pediatric physicians. Participants initially completed a brief survey for their primary oral liquid medication of choice for the treatment of selected disease states. These included otitis media, sinusitis, cellulitis, asthma, colitis, and pneumonia. Participants were asked to choose one of the medication options for each disease and then were given all medications to sample for a taste test. The prescribing preference survey was then repeated. The primary outcome was change in prescribing. McNemar's test was used to evaluate change in proportion of medications chosen before and after taste testing.ResultsThere were 101 physicians who participated in the study. There were three conditions for which participants changed their prescribing preferences significantly. These were otitis media (change from amoxicillin to cefdinir, difference = 13.2%, 95% confidence interval [CI] = 5.5% to 21.0%), asthma exacerbation (change from dexamethasone or prednisone to prednisolone, 28%, 95% CI = 15.9% to 40.1%), and pneumonia (change from azithromycin to amoxicillin, 16.0%, 95% CI = 6.4% to 25.6%). There was no significant change with respect to the other scenarios.ConclusionsPhysicians showed preferences for certain pediatric medications based on taste and showed significant changes in prescribing preferences for some common pediatric diagnoses after tasting different medications for these conditions.
Alotanypus wilhelmensis sp. nov., a new Tanypodinae (Diptera: Chironomidae) from high mountain lakes in Papua New Guinea
Authors: da Silva Fabio Laurindo 
Published: June 2016

AbstractA new species of Alotanypus Roback from high mountain lakes in Papua New Guinea is described and illustrated. Alotanypus wilhelmensis sp. nov. is described from male, female and pupa. The generic diagnoses for the male and immature stages are emended based on the new species and published descriptions of Gressittius and Guassutanypus, both recently suggested as junior synonyms of Alotanypus. Keys to known males, pupae and larvae of Alotanypus are provided.
Apoptotic Process Induced by Oxaliplatin in Rat Hippocampus Causes Memory Impairment
Authors: Bianchi Enrica , Di Cesare Mannelli Lorenzo , Micheli Laura , Farzad Mersedez , Aglianò Margherita , Ghelardini Carla 
Published: June 2016

AbstractAspects of memory involved in cognitive mechanisms were investigated in rat after oxaliplatin (OX) chemotherapy using animal behavioural assessment of passive avoidance and social learning paradigms, which are both hippocampus‐sensitive. Rodents, previously subjected to 2‐week OX treatment, showed passive avoidance and social learning impairment and apoptotic processes in the hippocampus. Apoptosis rate significantly increased in cultured hippocampal cells exposed to OX at increasing doses, and this effect was dose‐dependent. Ex vivo experiments showed that cell damage and apoptosis were blocked in the hippocampus from OX rats cotreated with copper sulphate (CS) which precludes OX transport inside the cell. In vivo, passive avoidance and social learning impairment could not be observed in OX rats co‐administered with CS. Thus, a site of action of OX treatment on memory impairment appears to be located at the hippocampus. These findings strongly support that cellular damage induced by OX in rodent hippocampus underlies the weakening of some memory functions.
The influence of baseline characteristics and disease stage on health‐related quality of life in multiple myeloma: findings from six randomized controlled trials
Authors: Robinson Don , Esseltine Dixie‐Lee , Regnault Antoine , Meunier Juliette , Liu Kevin , van de Velde Helgi 
Published: June 2016

This descriptive, cross‐sectional analysis evaluated the impact of baseline characteristics on health‐related quality of life (HR‐QoL) at different stages of multiple myeloma (MM). The bortezomib clinical‐trial programme evaluated HR‐QoL early and consistently, producing a large multi‐study dataset. Baseline data, captured using the European Organization for Research and Treatment of Cancer (EORTC) quality‐of‐life questionnaire (QLQ‐C30), were pooled from six bortezomib randomized trials conducted in different disease‐stage categories: ‘New’ (previously untreated; n = 753), ‘Early’ (1–3 prior therapies; n = 1569) and ‘Late’ (≥4 prior therapies; n = 239) disease. Mean EORTC global health scores were similar across the three stages. Unexpectedly, emotional, physical and role functioning were higher in the later stages, indicating better perceived health. Symptom scores, including pain, were largely similar or lower in the later versus earlier stages, signifying a lower symptom burden/better symptom control with more advanced disease. Notable variation in HR‐QoL was observed by age and clinical parameters within and across stages. Multivariate modelling indicated that opioid use and performance status were key factors driving overall HR‐QoL across stages. Using an age‐restricted analysis, transplant eligibility had little impact on HR‐QoL in New disease patients. Thus, changes in HR‐QoL over the treatment course of MM are complex and impacted by baseline factors. A prospective observational international inception cohort study that captures key clinical, HR‐QoL and demographic characteristics, along with safety and supportive care information, is needed.