bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Kawasaki disease: a matter of innate immunity
Authors: Hara T , Nakashima Y , Sakai Y , Nishio H , Motomura Y , Yamasaki S 
Published: June 2016

SummaryKawasaki disease (KD) is an acute systemic vasculitis of childhood that does not have a known cause or aetiology. The epidemiological features (existence of epidemics, community outbreaks and seasonality), unique age distribution and clinical symptoms and signs of KD suggest that the disease is caused by one or more infectious environmental triggers. However, KD is not transmitted person-to-person and does not occur in clusters within households, schools or nurseries. KD is a self-limited illness that is not associated with the production of autoantibodies or the deposition of immune complexes, and it rarely recurs. Regarding the underlying pathophysiology of KD, innate immune activity (the inflammasome) is believed to play a role in the development of KD vasculitis, based on the results of studies with animal models and the clinical and laboratory findings of KD patients. Animal studies have demonstrated that innate immune pathogen-associated molecular patterns (PAMPs) can cause vasculitis independently of acquired immunity and have provided valuable insights regarding the underlying mechanisms of this phenomenon. To validate this concept, we recently searched for KD-specific PAMPs and identified such molecules with high specificity and sensitivity. These molecules have structures similar to those of microbe-associated molecular patterns (MAMPs), as shown by liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry. We propose herein that KD is an innate immune disorder resulting from the exposure of a genetically predisposed individual to microbe-derived innate immune stimulants and that it is not a typical infectious disease.
Current differences in dental education between Chinese and Western models
Authors: Wang Y. H. , Zhao Q. , Tan Z. 
Published: June 2016

AbstractDental education is the foundation of a country's development of dental science. Economic conditions and cultural backgrounds vary across countries; hence, there are some differences in dental education between Chinese and Western models, including the education programmes, licensures, curricula, teaching methods, facilities. These differences may become obstacles for mutual communication and the development of dental education. In the last 5 years, China has introduced several policies and published some standards, such as the residency programmes and Accreditation Standards for Undergraduate Dental Education Programs. These actions aim to improve the current situation of dental education and reduce the gap between Chinese and Western education models. Indeed, some changes have been made. This article provides a brief introduction of the existing differences and changes and can, thus, serve as a reference for educators.
Eco‐evolutionary partitioning metrics: assessing the importance of ecological and evolutionary contributions to population and community change
Authors: Govaert Lynn , Pantel Jelena H. , De Meester Luc 
Published: June 2016

AbstractInterest in eco‐evolutionary dynamics is rapidly increasing thanks to ground‐breaking research indicating that evolution can occur rapidly and can alter the outcome of ecological processes. A key challenge in this sub‐discipline is establishing how important the contribution of evolutionary and ecological processes and their interactions are to observed shifts in population and community characteristics. Although a variety of metrics to separate and quantify the effects of evolutionary and ecological contributions to observed trait changes have been used, they often allocate fractions of observed changes to ecology and evolution in different ways. We used a mathematical and numerical comparison of two commonly used frameworks – the Price equation and reaction norms – to reveal that the Price equation cannot partition genetic from non‐genetic trait change within lineages, whereas the reaction norm approach cannot partition among‐ from within‐lineage trait change. We developed a new metric that combines the strengths of both Price‐based and reaction norm metrics, extended all metrics to analyse community change and also incorporated extinction and colonisation of species in these metrics. Depending on whether our new metric is applied to populations or communities, it can correctly separate intraspecific, interspecific, evolutionary, non‐evolutionary and interacting eco‐evolutionary contributions to trait change.
A role for brain size and cognition in food webs
Authors: Edmunds Nicholas B. , Laberge Frédéric , McCann Kevin S. 
Published: June 2016

AbstractPredators tend to be large and mobile, enabling them to forage in spatially distinct food web compartments (e.g. littoral and pelagic aquatic macrohabitats). This feature can stabilise ecosystems when predators are capable of rapid behavioural response to changing resource conditions in distinct habitat compartments. However, what provides this ability to respond behaviourally has not been quantified. We hypothesised that predators require increased cognitive abilities to occupy their position in a food web, which puts pressure to increase brain size. Consistent with food web theory, we found that fish relative brain size increased with increased ability to forage across macrohabitats and increased relative trophic positions in a lacustrine food web, indicating that larger brains may afford the cognitive capacity to exploit various habitats flexibly, thus contributing to the stability of whole food webs.
Infection risk decreases with increasing mismatch in host and pathogen environmental tolerances
Authors: Nowakowski A. Justin , Whitfield Steven M. , Eskew Evan A. , Thompson Michelle E. , Rose Jonathan P. , Caraballo Benjamin L. , Kerby Jacob L. , Donnelly Maureen A. , Todd Brian D. 
Published: June 2016

AbstractThe fungal pathogen Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis (Bd) has caused the greatest known wildlife pandemic, infecting over 500 amphibian species. It remains unclear why some host species decline from disease‐related mortality whereas others persist. We introduce a conceptual model that predicts that infection risk in ectotherms will decrease as the difference between host and pathogen environmental tolerances (i.e. tolerance mismatch) increases. We test this prediction using both local‐scale data from Costa Rica and global analyses of over 11 000 Bd infection assays. We find that infection prevalence decreases with increasing thermal tolerance mismatch and with increasing host tolerance of habitat modification. The relationship between environmental tolerance mismatches and Bd infection prevalence is generalisable across multiple amphibian families and spatial scales, and the magnitude of the tolerance mismatch effect depends on environmental context. These findings may help explain patterns of amphibian declines driven by a global wildlife pandemic.
Laboratory comparison of cyclic fatigue resistance of WaveOne Gold, Reciproc and WaveOne files in canals with a double curvature
Authors: Topçuoğlu H. S. , Düzgün S. , Aktı A. , Topçuoğlu G. 
Published: June 2016

AbstractAimTo compare the resistance to cyclic fatigue of WaveOne Gold (WOG), Reciproc and WaveOne (WO) nickel–titanium files in an artificial root canal with a double (S‐shaped) curvature.MethodologyA total of 120 new WOG primary, Reciproc R25 and WO primary files were tested in an artificial, stainless steel canal with an S‐shape (diameter, 1.4 mm and length, 18 mm). Forty files from each system were rotated until fracture to calculate the number of cycles to failure (NCF). The length of each fractured fragment was recorded. Data were analysed using one‐way analysis of variance and Tukey's post hoc tests.ResultsThe WOG primary (apical curvature: 928.87 ± 293.69; coronal curvature 1102.32 ±397.39 NCF) had higher cyclic fatigue resistance than Reciproc R25 and WO primary in the apical and coronal curvatures (P < 0.05). The Reciproc R25 file (745.63 ± 253.49 NCF) had significantly greater cyclic fatigue resistance than the WO primary (583.89 ± 183.38 NCF) in the apical curvature (P < 0.05). There was no significant difference in the cyclic fatigue resistance of the Reciproc R25 and WO files in the coronal curvature (883.63 ± 282.56 and 916.53 ± 268.21 NCF, respectively) (P > 0.05). There was no difference in fractured fragment lengths of the WOG primary, Reciproc R25, and WO primary files in either the apical or coronal curvature (P > 0.05).ConclusionsWaveOne Gold primary files exhibited greater cyclic fatigue resistance than Reciproc R25 and WO primary in an artificial canal with an S‐shape.
Cerebrospinal fluid total tau concentration predicts clinical phenotype in Huntington's disease
Authors: Rodrigues Filipe Brogueira , Byrne Lauren , McColgan Peter , Robertson Nicola , Tabrizi Sarah J. , Leavitt Blair R. , Zetterberg Henrik , Wild Edward J. 
Published: June 2016

AbstractHuntington's disease (HD) is a hereditary neurodegenerative condition with no therapeutic intervention known to alter disease progression, but several trials are ongoing and biomarkers of disease progression are needed. Tau is an axonal protein, often altered in neurodegeneration, and recent studies pointed out its role on HD neuropathology. Our goal was to study whether cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) tau is a biomarker of disease progression in HD. After informed consent, healthy controls, pre‐symptomatic and symptomatic gene expansion carriers were recruited from two HD clinics. All participants underwent assessment with the Unified HD Rating Scale ’99 (UHDRS). CSF was obtained according to a standardized lumbar puncture protocol. CSF tau was quantified using enzyme‐linked immunosorbent assay. Comparisons between two groups were tested using ancova. Pearson's correlation coefficients were calculated for disease progression. Significance level was defined as p < 0.05. Seventy‐six participants were included in this cross‐sectional multicenter international pilot study. Age‐adjusted CSF tau was significantly elevated in gene expansion carriers compared with healthy controls (p = 0.002). UHDRS total functional capacity was significantly correlated with CSF tau (r = −0.29, p = 0.004) after adjustment for age, and UHDRS total motor score was significantly correlated with CSF tau after adjustment for age (r = 0.32, p = 0.002). Several UHDRS cognitive tasks were also significantly correlated with CST total tau after age‐adjustment. This study confirms that CSF tau concentrations in HD gene mutation carriers are increased compared with healthy controls and reports for the first time that CSF tau concentration is associated with phenotypic variability in HD. These conclusions strengthen the case for CSF tau as a biomarker in HD.
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In the era of novel targeted approaches to Huntington's disease, reliable biomarkers are needed. We quantified Tau protein, a marker of neuronal death, in cerebrospinal fluid and found it was increased in patients with Huntington's disease and predicted motor, cognitive, and functional disability in patients. It is therefore likely to be a biomarker of disease progression, and possibly of therapeutic response.Read the Editorial Highlight for this article on page 9.
Deficits in remembering the past and imagining the future in patients with prefrontal lesions
Authors: Rasmussen Katrine W. , Berntsen Dorthe 
Published: June 2016

ObjectiveNeuroimaging studies suggest that remembering the past and imagining the future engage a common brain network including several areas of the prefrontal cortex. Although patients with prefrontal damage often are described as blind to the future consequences of their decisions, and inclined to ‘live in the here and now’, little is known as to how the prefrontal cortex mediates past and future mental time travel.MethodNine patients with prefrontal lesions and nine healthy controls generated past and future events in response to different time periods. Event transcriptions were scored using the Autobiographical Interview protocol (Levine, Svoboda, Hay, Winocur, & Moscovitch, 2002), which provides a reliable system for categorizing internal (episodic) and external (semantic) information. For each event, participants answered a series of questions to assess self‐reported phenomenal characteristics.ResultsPatients with prefrontal lesions exhibited deficits in both remembering past events and imagining future events by generating fewer internal details than controls. This effect of group was larger in the past condition than in the future condition. In contrast, no group differences were seen in the number of external details, which were at the same level for patients and controls for both temporal conditions. There were no group differences in ratings of phenomenal characteristics.ConclusionOur findings suggest that damage to prefrontal structures adversely affects the retrieval of past and the construction of future events. In particular, prefrontal structures are critical for the production of episodic event‐specific details when engaging in past and future mental time travel.
Long‐Term Contrast Echocardiography and Clinical Follow‐Up after Percutaneous Closure of Patent Foramen Ovale Using Two Different Atrial Septal Occluder Devices
Authors: Scalise Filippo , Auguadro Carla , Sorropago Giovanni , Sorropago Antonio , Novelli Eugenio , Finizio Marica , Specchia Giuseppe 
Published: June 2016

IntroductionPercutaneous patent foramen ovale (PFO) closure by means of a septal occluder device (SOD) is a well‐known therapeutic strategy for the secondary prevention of paradoxical embolic neurological events. The aim of this study was to provide long‐term echocardiographic and clinical follow‐up data on patients who had undergone percutaneous PFO closure with 2 different SOD.MethodsWe selected 2 groups of patients treated with 2 different SOD: Group A: 52 patients with an Amplatzer® PFO Occluder and Group B: 49 patients with a Figulla Flex® device. All patients underwent follow‐up Bubble Test Transthoracic Echocardiography (BTTE) and clinical examination. The results were compared with those recently reported in a group of patients with similar characteristics, but that had been treated conservatively, which acted as a control group.ResultsThe mean follow‐up after PFO closure was 53 months. The Amplatzer® PFO Occluder and the Figulla Flex were used in 52 (51.5%) and 49 (48.5%) of patients, respectively. We found no significant difference in the rate of effective PFO closure between the devices: Amplatzer 91.4%, Figulla 93.9% (P = 0.71). One patient (1.0%) suffered a recurrent neurologic event. BTTE was positive (BTTE+) in 8 patients (8%), 5 with an Amplatzer, and 3 with a Figulla device (P = 0.516). Only 1 patient with BTTE+ had a recurrent TIA (12.5%). No significant relationship was found between device dimensions and BTTE+ (P = 0.062). In the control group (163 patients), the recurrence of neurologic events was 9.2% (15 events), that was significantly higher in respect to the patients who had undergone percutaneous closure of the PFO.ConclusionsPercutaneous PFO closure was associated with a remarkably low risk of recurrent embolic neurological events, and no long‐term device‐related major complications. No statistically significant difference emerged between the 2 different SODs regarding BTTE positivity. Long‐term follow‐up showed that the recurrence of neurological events has been significantly higher in the group treated in a conservative way.
Elevational diversity patterns as an example for evolutionary and ecological dynamics in ferns and lycophytes
Authors: Kessler Michael , Karger Dirk Nikolaus , Kluge Jürgen 
Published: June 2016

AbstractEvolutionary processes such as adaptation, ecological filtering, and niche conservatism involve the interaction of organisms with their environment and are thus commonly studied along environmental gradients. Elevational gradients have become among the most studied environmental gradients to understand large‐scale patterns of species richness and composition because they are highly replicated with different combinations of geographical, environmental and historical factors. We here review the literature on using elevational gradients to understand evolutionary processes in ferns. Some phylogenetic studies of individual fern clades have considered elevation in the analysis or interpretation and postulated that fern diversification is linked to the colonization of mountain habitats. Other studies that have linked elevational community composition and hence ecological filtering with phylogenetic community composition and morphological traits, usually only found limited phylogenetic signal. However, these studies are ultimately only correlational, and there are few actual tests of the evolutionary mechanisms leading to these patterns. We identify a number of challenges for improving our understanding of how evolutionary and ecological processes are linked to elevational richness patterns in ferns: i) limited information on traits and their ecological relevance, ii) uncertainties on the dispersal kernels of ferns and hence the delimitation of regional species pools from which local assemblages are recruited, iii) limited genomic data to identify candidate genes under selection and hence actually document adaptation and selection, and iv) conceptual challenges in developing clear and testable hypotheses to how specific evolutionary processes can be linked to patterns in community composition and species richness.
Impact of viral eradication with sofosbuvir‐based therapy on the outcome of post‐transplant hepatitis C with severe fibrosis
Authors: Martini Silvia , Sacco Marco , Strona Silvia , Arese Daniele , Tandoi Francesco , Dell Olio Dominic , Stradella Davide , Cocchis Donatella , Mirabella Stefano , Rizza Giorgia , Magistroni Paola , Moschini Pamela , Ottobrelli Antonio , Amoroso Antonio , Rizzetto Mario , Salizzoni Mauro , Saracco Giorgio M. , Romagnoli Renato 
Published: June 2016

AbstractBackground & AimsSeveral studies have shown that new direct‐acting antivirals maintain their efficacy in liver transplant (LT) recipients with severe hepatitis C virus (HCV) recurrence. We determined the clinical impact of sofosbuvir/ribavirin in LT through the changes in liver function and fibrosis state at 24 and 48 weeks after treatment.MethodsBetween June 2014 and July 2015, 126 patients (30 F3, 96 F4 Metavir stage) were enrolled to receive sofosbuvir + ribavirin (24 weeks, 118 patients) or sofosbuvir + simeprevir + ribavirin (12 weeks, 8 patients); treatment was initiated at a median time of 4.3 years from LT. Median follow‐up after therapy completion was 461 days.ResultsAll 30 F3 patients achieved a sustained virological response at week 24 after treatment (SVR24) and showed a distinct amelioration of the AST‐to‐platelet ratio index (APRI), FIB‐4 and liver stiffness at elastography by week 24 post‐therapy, which were maintained at week 48.Of the 96 F4 cirrhotic patients, 72 (75%) achieved SVR24 accompanied by significant improvement of liver function, which was maintained at week 48 (Child B‐C 22% baseline, 11% week 24, 7% week 48); APRI, FIB‐4 and liver stiffness further improved significantly between weeks 24 and 48 of follow‐up. Among the 77 responders (27 F3, 50 F4) who underwent elastography at baseline and at the end of follow‐up, 39 (50.6%; 18 F3, 21 F4) exhibited a regression in fibrosis stage.ConclusionAt about 1 year from the completion of successful sofosbuvir‐based therapy, patients with post‐LT HCV and severe fibrosis experienced a long‐term liver function improvement accompanied by a regression of fibrosis stage in half of them.
sandflyDST: a dynamic web‐based decision support tool for the morphological identification of sandflies present in Anatolia and mainland Europe, and user study
Authors: KARAKÜLAH G. , KARAKUŞ M. , SUNER A. , DEMİR S. , ARSERİM S. K. , TÖZ S. , ÖZBEL Y. 
Published: June 2016

AbstractSpecies identification of sandflies is mainly performed according to morphological characters using classical written identification keys. This study introduces a new web‐based decision support tool (sandflyDST) for guiding the morphological identification of sandfly species present in Anatolia and mainland Europe and classified in the Phlebotomus and Sergentomyia genera (both: Diptera: Psychodidae). The current version of the tool consists of 111 questions and 36 drawings obtained from classical written keys, and 107 photographs for the quick and easy identification of 26 species of the genus Phlebotomus and four species of the genus Sergentomyia. The tool guides users through a decision tree using yes/no questions about the morphological characters of the specimen. The tool was applied by 30 individuals, who then completed study questionnaires. The results of subsequent analyses indicated that the usability () and users' level of appreciation (86.6%) of the tool were quite high; almost all of the participants considered recommending the tool to others. The tool may also be useful in training new entomologists and maintaining their level of expertise. This is a dynamic tool and can be improved or upgraded according to feedback. The tool is now available online at
http://parasitology.ege.edu.tr/sandflyDST/index.php.
The miR393a/target module regulates seed germination and seedling establishment under submergence in rice (Oryza sativa L.)
Authors: Guo Fu , Han Ning , Xie Yakun , Fang Ke , Yang Yinong , Zhu Muyuan , Wang Junhui , Bian Hongwu 
Published: June 2016

AbstractThe conserved miRNA393 family is thought to be involved in root elongation, leaf development and stress responses, but its role during seed germination and seedling establishment remains unclear. In this study, expression of the MIR393a/target module and its role in germinating rice (Oryza sativa L.) seeds were investigated. β‐Glucuronidase (GUS) analysis showed that MIR393a and OsTIR1 had spatial–temporal transcriptional activities in radicle roots, coleoptile tips and stomata cells, corresponding to a dynamic auxin response. miR393a promoted primary root elongation when rice seeds were germinated in air and inhibited coleoptile elongation and stomatal development when seeds were submerged. Under submergence, the expression of miR393a was inhibited, and then the auxin response was induced. In the process, OsTIR1 and OsAFB2, auxin receptor genes, were negatively regulated by miR393. We found that miR393a inhibited stomatal development and coleoptile elongation but promoted free indole acetic acid (IAA) accumulation in the rice coleoptile tips. In addition, exogenous abscisic acid (ABA) enhanced the expression of miR393 and inhibited coleoptile growth. Together, miR393a/target plays a role in coleoptile elongation and stomatal development via modulation of auxin signalling during seed germination and seedling establishment under submergence. This study provides new perspectives on the direct sowing of rice seeds in flooded paddy fields.