bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Evaluation of Weight Loss Over Time in Cats with Chronic Kidney Disease
Authors: Freeman L.M. , Lachaud M.‐P. , Matthews S. , Rhodes L. , Zollers B. 
Published: August 2016

BackgroundThin body condition and weight loss are common in cats with chronic kidney disease (CKD). However, the time course and progression of weight loss before and after diagnosis have not been thoroughly evaluated.Hypothesis/ObjectivesTo describe weight loss in cats withCKDbefore and after diagnosis and its relationship to survival.AnimalsA total of 569 cats (55.5% females and 44.5% males) withCKDfrom 6USveterinary practices for which International Renal Interest Society (IRIS) stage, age, date ofCKDdiagnosis, and at least two body weight measurements were available.MethodsBody weight measurements were analyzed by time windows and polynomial growth curve analysis. Survival analysis was performed by Kaplan–Meier curves and log‐rank tests.ResultsMedian age at diagnosis was 14.9 years (range, 5.0–22.8 years). Cats were categorized at diagnosis asIRISstage 1 (n = 34 [6%]), stage 2 (n = 345 [61%]), stage 3 (n = 141 [25%]), and stage 4 (n = 49 [9%]). Median body weight at diagnosis was 4.2 kg (range, 1.6–9.9 kg). Cats lost a median of 8.9% of body weight in the 12 months before diagnosis, but weight loss was already present 3 years before diagnosis and accelerated after diagnosis ofCKD. Cats <4.2 kg at the time of diagnosis had significantly shorter survival time compared to cats ≥ 4.2 kg at diagnosis (P< .0001).Conclusions and Clinical ImportanceWeight loss can be detected in cats before diagnosis ofCKD, accelerates after diagnosis, and is associated with shorter survival. Tracking body weight may help clinicians in earlier diagnosis ofCKD.
The Effect of Moderate Dietary Protein and Phosphate Restriction on Calcium‐Phosphate Homeostasis in Healthy Older Cats
Authors: Geddes R.F. , Biourge V. , Chang Y. , Syme H.M. , Elliott J. 
Published: August 2016

BackgroundDietary phosphate and protein restriction decreases plasma PTH and FGF‐23 concentrations and improves survival time in azotemic cats, but has not been examined in cats that are not azotemic.HypothesisFeeding a moderately protein‐ and phosphate‐restricted diet decreases PTH and FGF‐23 in healthy older cats and thereby slows progression to azotemic CKD.AnimalsA total of 54 healthy, client‐owned cats (≥ 9 years).MethodsProspective double‐blinded randomized placebo‐controlled trial. Cats were assigned to test diet (protein 76 g/Mcal and phosphate 1.6 g/Mcal) or control diet (protein 86 g/Mcal and phosphate 2.6 g/Mcal) and monitored for 18 months. Changes in variables over time and effect of diet were assessed by linear mixed models.ResultsA total of 26 cats ate test diet and 28 cats ate control diet. There was a significant effect of diet on urinary fractional excretion of phosphate (P = 0.045), plasma PTH (P = 0.005), and ionized calcium concentrations (P = 0.018), but not plasma phosphate, FGF‐23, or creatinine concentrations. Plasma PTH concentrations did not significantly change in cats fed the test diet (P = 0.62) but increased over time in cats fed the control diet (P = 0.001). There was no significant treatment effect of the test diet on development of azotemic CKD (3 of 26 (12%) test versus 3 of 28 (11%) control, odds ratio 1.09 (95% CI 0.13–8.94), P = 0.92).Conclusions and Clinical ImportanceFeeding a moderately protein‐ and phosphate‐restricted diet has effects on calcium‐phosphate homeostasis in healthy older cats and is well tolerated. This might have an impact on renal function and could be useful in early chronic kidney disease.
Individual identification of wild giant pandas from camera trap photos – a systematic and hierarchical approach
Authors: Zheng X. , Owen M. A. , Nie Y. , Hu Y. , Swaisgood R. R. , Yan L. , Wei F. 
Published: August 2016

AbstractThe scientific and conservation‐management value of using camera traps is greatly enhanced if the identity of individual animals ‘captured’ can be assigned. Identification of individuals is necessary to make unbiased estimates of population parameters, and can allow for the generation of more robust inferences from studies of spatial and behavioral ecology. Here we tested the utility of an approach to individually identify wild giant pandas Ailuropoda melanoleuca from camera trap images, by cataloguing and careful scrutiny of numerous traits. We developed our identification strategy first by analyzing images of known (captive) individuals (N = 7). We then deployed camera traps at 23 control sites and at seven camera trap arrays ‘baited’ with conspecific decoys, in Foping Nature Reserve, China. From a sample of 12 871 photographs, and using the method we developed with known individuals, we were able to identify 11 individual giant pandas. We tested the repeatability of this approach using a double blind test with 12 naïve volunteers, achieving a relatively high inter‐observer agreement of 80%, which was increased to 93% when observers reported a high degree of confidence. We also found that image quality was significantly higher at decoy sites than at control sites. We suggest that this approach will be useful for future field projects, allowing researchers to address a broader array of questions and provide new insights into panda ecology and conservation.
Human milk expression as a sole or ancillary strategy for infant feeding: a qualitative study
Authors: O'Sullivan Elizabeth J. , Geraghty Sheela R. , Rasmussen Kathleen M. 
Published: August 2016

AbstractIn the United States, a significant proportion of human milk (HM) is now fed to infants from bottles. This mode of infant feeding is rarely measured or described in research studies or monitored by national surveillance systems. Consequently, little is known about expressed‐HM feeding as an infant feeding strategy. Our objective was to understand how mothers use HM expression and expressed‐HM feeding as a sole strategy or in combination with at‐the‐breast feeding to feed HM to their infants. We conducted semi‐structured interviews with 41 mothers with experience of HM expression and infants under three years of age. Data were analysed using a grounded theory approach for sub‐themes related to the pre‐selected major themes of maternal HM production and infant HM consumption. Within the major theme of maternal HM production, sub‐themes related to maternal over‐production of HM. Many mothers produced more HM than their infant was consuming and stored it in the freezer. This enabled some infants to consume HM weeks or months after it was expressed. Within the major theme of infant HM consumption, the most salient sub‐theme related to HM‐feeding strategies. Four basic HM‐feeding strategies emerged, ranging from predominant at‐the‐breast feeding to exclusive expressed‐HM feeding. The HM‐feeding strategies and trajectories highlighted by this study are complex, and most mothers fed HM both at‐the‐breast and from a bottle—information that is not collected by the current national breastfeeding survey questions. To understand health outcomes associated with expressed‐HM feeding, new terminology may be needed.
Fluorescent reporter analysis revealed the timing and localization of AVR‐Pia expression, an avirulence effector of Magnaporthe oryzae
Authors: Sornkom Worawan , Miki Shinsuke , Takeuchi Saori , Abe Ayumi , Asano Kozo , Sone Teruo 
Published: August 2016

SummaryIn order to facilitate infection, the rice blast pathogen Magnaporthe oryzae secretes an abundance of proteins, including avirulence effectors, to diminish its host's defences. Avirulence effectors are recognized by host resistance proteins and trigger the host's hypersensitive response, which is a rapid and effective form of innate plant immunity. An understanding of the underlying molecular mechanisms of such interactions is crucial for the development of strategies to control disease. However, the expression and secretion of certain effector proteins, such as AVR‐Pia, have yet to be reported. Reverse transcription‐polymerase chain reaction (RT‐PCR) revealed that AVR‐Pia was only expressed during infection. Fluorescently labelled AVR‐Pia indicated that AVR‐Pia expression was induced during appressorial differentiation in the cells of both rice and onion, as well as in a penetration‐deficient (Δpls1) mutant capable of developing melanized appressoria, but unable to penetrate host cells, suggesting that AVR‐Pia expression is independent of fungal penetration. Using live‐cell imaging, we also documented the co‐localization of green fluorescent protein (GFP)‐labelled AVR‐Pia and monomeric red fluorescent protein (mRFP)‐labelled PWL2, which indicates that AVR‐Pia accumulates in biotrophic interfacial complexes before being delivered to the plant cytosol. Together, these results suggest that AVR‐Pia is a cytoplasmic effector that is expressed at the onset of appressorial differentiation and is translocated to the biotrophic interfacial complex, and then into the host's cytoplasm.
Mating senescence and male reproductive organ size in the Mexican fruit fly
Authors: Reyes‐Hernández Martha , Pérez‐Staples Diana 
Published: August 2016

AbstractAgeing can reduce the probability that individuals reproduce. The present study investigates whether ageing influences the mating frequency of mass‐reared fertile and sterile Mexican fruit flies Anastrepha ludens (Loew). The ability of males of different ages to inhibit female remating is also determined, and the growth of male reproductive organs is measured as they age. Young males (6 days old) have a lower mating frequency than older males, and also have a lower capacity to inhibit female remating than older males. However, 7‐day‐old males are as likely to inhibit female remating as older males. Young males also have smaller reproductive organs than middle‐aged (21‐day‐old) or senescent males (57‐day‐old). These results have implications for the sterile insect technique because sterilized males of A. ludens are released in the field 6 days after emergence. The highest mating frequency, the lowest mating latency and the largest size of testes are observed at 21 days of age. Older males (57 days old) have more sperm in their seminal vesicles than young males (6 and 9 days old). Accessory glands take longer to grow to their complete size compared with testes, and mating frequency is more closely associated with accessory gland size than testes size. Furthermore, there are more sperm in the seminal vesicles during the afternoon period of peak sexual activity than during the morning when sexual activity is absent. These results indicate that, even at the onset of reproductive senescence, mass‐reared males of A. ludens are still capable of mating, as well as inhibiting remating in females.
Motor‐evoked potentials reveal a motor‐cortical readout of evidence accumulation for sensorimotor decisions
Authors: Hadar Aviad A. , Rowe Paula , Di Costa Steven , Jones Alexander , Yarrow Kielan 
Published: August 2016

AbstractMany everyday activities require time‐pressured sensorimotor decision making. Traditionally, perception, decision, and action processes were considered to occur in series, but this idea has been successfully challenged, particularly by neurophysiological work in animals. However, the generality of parallel processing requires further elucidation. Here, we investigate whether the accumulation of a decision can be observed intrahemispherically within human motor cortex. Participants categorized faces as male or female, with task difficulty manipulated using morphed stimuli. Transcranial magnetic stimulation, applied during the reaction‐time interval, produced motor‐evoked potentials (MEPs) in two hand muscles that were the major contributors when generating the required pinch/grip movements. Smoothing MEPs using a Gaussian kernel allowed us to recover a continuous time‐varying MEP average, comparable to an EEG component, permitting precise localization of the time at which the motor plan for the responding muscle became dominant. We demonstrate decision‐related activity in the motor cortex during this perceptual discrimination task, suggesting ongoing evidence accumulation within the motor system even for two independent actions represented within one hemisphere.
Binary Auto-Regressive Geometric Modelling in a DNA Context
Authors: Gouveia Sónia , Scotto Manuel G. , Weiß Christian H. , Ferreira Paulo Jorge S. G. 
Published: August 2016

SummarySymbolic or categorical sequences occur in many contexts and can be characterized, for example, by integer-valued intersymbol distances or binary-valued indicator sequences. The analysis of these numerical sequences often sheds light on the properties of the original symbolic sequences. This work introduces new statistical tools for exploring auto-correlation structure in the indicator sequences, for the specific case of deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) sequences. It is known that the probability distribution of internucleotide distances of DNA sequences deviates significantly from the distribution obtained by assuming independent random placement (i.e. the geometric distribution) and that the deviations can be used either to discriminate between species or to build phylogenetic trees. To investigate the extent to which auto-correlation structure explains these deviations, the 0–1 indicator sequence of each nucleotide (A, C, G and T) is endowed with a binary auto-regressive (AR) model of optimum order. The corresponding binary AR geometric distribution is derived analytically and compared with the observed internucleotide distance distribution by appropriate goodness-of-fit testing. Results in 34 mitochondrial DNA sequences show that the hypothesis of equal observed/expected frequencies is seldom rejected when a binary AR model is considered instead of independence (76/136 versus 125/136 rejections at the 1% level), in spite of χ2-testing tending to reject for large samples, regardless of how close observed/expected values are. Furthermore, binary AR structure also leads to a median discrepancy reduction of 90% for G, 80% for C, 60% for T and 30% for nucleotide A. Therefore, these models are useful to describe the dependences within a given nucleotide and encourage the development of a model-based framework to compact internucleotide distance information and to understand DNA differences among species further.
Critical Components in Implementing Evidence‐based Practice: A Multiple Case Study of Individual Placement and Support for People with Psychiatric Disabilities
Authors: Bergmark Magnus , Bejerholm Ulrika , Markström Urban 
Published: August 2016

AbstractWhen developing Community Mental Health Services to support people with psychiatric disabilities, European countries are advocating evidence‐based practice (EBP). Individual Placement and Support (IPS) is an evidence‐based model designed to support people in acquiring and maintaining competitive employment. Implementation science is a growing research field, with a focus on components that impact the process of implementing EBP programmes. In this multiple case study, we have followed three IPS demonstration sites for two years, in order to describe and analyze barriers and facilitators for implementation, according to constructs described in the Consolidated Framework for Implementation Research (Damschroder et al. 2009). The results highlight the importance of strategic networking, as well as the need for planning and preparations carried out before the start of an EBP programme, since deficiencies related to these constructs are difficult to compensate for.
An open source GIS‐based Planning Support System: Application to the land use plan of La Troncal, Ecuador
Authors: Santé Inés , Pacurucu Natalia , Boullón Marcos , García Andrés Manuel , Miranda David 
Published: August 2016

AbstractPlanning Support Systems (PSS) comprise a wide variety of geo‐technological tools related to GIS and spatial modeling aimed at addressing land planning processes. This article describes the OpenRules system, a PSS based on a previous system called RULES. Among OpenRules new features are its architecture, based exclusively on free and open source software, and its applicability to all land use types, including rural and urban uses. In addition, OpenRules incorporates an unlimited number of land evaluation factors and a new objective in land use spatial allocation. OpenRules has been programmed in Java and implemented as a module of the free GIS software gvSIG, with full integration between the GIS and the decision support tools. Decision support tools include multicriteria evaluation, multiobjective linear programming and heuristic techniques, which support three basic stages of land use planning processes, namely land suitability evaluation, land use area optimization and land use spatial allocation. The application of OpenRules to the region of La Troncal, Ecuador, demonstrates its capability to generate alternative and coherent solutions through a scientific and justified procedure at low cost in terms of time and resources.
The human platelet alloantigen profile in blood donors from Amazonas, Brazil
Authors: Portela C. N. , Schriefer A. , Albuquerque S. R. L. , Perdomo R. T. , Parente A. F. A. , Weber S. S. 
Published: August 2016

SUMMARYBackgroundHuman platelet antigens (HPAs) are alloantigens derived from polymorphisms in platelet‐surface glycoproteins. The occurrence of alloantibodies against HPAs can lead to platelet destruction and subsequent thrombocytopenia. Brazilians have a high rate of racial admixture, and the knowledge of HPA polymorphisms in particular donors from north Brazil, who have a large Amerindian influence, is a relevant strategy to prevent alloimmunisation.ObjectiveOur aim was investigate the HPA allele's frequencies in the Amazonas blood donors.MethodsWe performed HPA genotyping among 200 Amazonas blood donors by microarray for 11 HPA biallelic systems, including six of the most clinically significant systems (HPA‐1 to ‐5 and ‐15) and five others (HPA‐6 to ‐9 and ‐11) that have been also associated with alloimmunisation, amounting to 22 HPA alleles.ResultsThe obtained allele frequencies were compared with data of 38 populations worldwide to determine the hierarchical relationship and estimated the probability of mismatch platelets. The allele frequencies were 0·862 for HPA‐1a, 0·137 for HPA‐1b, 0·852 for HPA‐2a, 0·147 for HPA‐2b, 0·665 for HPA‐3a, 0·335 for HPA‐3b, 0·995 for HPA‐4a, 0·005 for HPA‐4b, 0·892 for HPA‐5a, 0·107 for HPA‐5b, 0·997 for HPA‐9a, 0·005 for HPA‐9b, 0·502 for HPA‐15a and 0·497 for HPA‐15b. The incompatibility risks are higher for HPA‐15 and HPA‐3, followed by HPA‐1, ‐2 and ‐5.ConclusionWe found differences among populations worldwide, and it is interesting to note the indigenous and European influences in this region, reinforcing the heterogeneity in the ancestry of Brazilians. The results will be helpful in providing information for platelet transfusion to avoid alloimmunisation.
Platelet concentrate functionality assessed by thromboelastography or rotational thromboelastometry
Authors: Arbaeen Ahmad F. , Serrano Katherine , Levin Elena , Devine Dana V. 
Published: August 2016

BACKGROUNDThere is poor correlation between in vivo platelet concentrate (PC) transfusion outcome and in vitro tests, which typically do not test the functional effectiveness of platelets (PLTs), but rather measure PLT characteristics. We hypothesize that the application of thromboelastography (TEG) or rotational thromboelastometry (ROTEM) to evaluate the procoagulant activity of stored PLTs can predict PLT quality and, ultimately, distinguish among hyper‐ and nonresponsive PCs. Additionally, we hypothesize that due to their procoagulant properties, PLT microvesicles (PMVs) contribute to the clot signature in these methods.STUDY DESIGN AND METHODSAfter the TEG assays were validated, buffy coat PCs were evaluated during the storage time and reconstituted with frozen plasma to different PLT concentrations. Poor quality PCs were generated and assessed by TEG and other in vitro tests. The contribution of PMVs to the TEG clot signature was assessed.RESULTSHemostatic analysis showed no significant change in maximum amplitude (MA) during storage of PCs up to Day 10. On Day 8 of storage, PCs that had been manipulated to have poor quality showed a significant decrease in MA. PMV‐rich samples contributed to a significant increase in MA, and PMV count showed a significant correlation with maximum clot formation (r = 0.51, p < 0.01).CONCLUSIONTEG was optimized for use with buffy coat PCs, although it was found to lack sensitivity to detect normal storage‐related quality changes. Hemostatic measurement was sufficiently sensitive to dissect PLT and PMV contributions to clot formation and to detect PCs stored under poor conditions.
Impact of Climatic Conditions on Physical Activity: A 2-Year Cohort Study in the Arabian Gulf Region
Authors: Al-Mohannadi Abdulla S. , Farooq Abdulaziz , Burnett Angus , Van Der Walt Mercia , Al-Kuwari Mohamed Ghaith 
Published: August 2016

Background:Little is known about the effects that climatic conditions, especially extreme heat, have on physical activity (PA) levels. The aim of this 2-year cohort analysis undertaken in the Arabian Gulf region was to assess changes in objectively-assessed PA as a result of changes in climatic conditions.Methods:A total of 2088 adults (1390 men and 698 women) from many regions of the world were enrolled in a community health program in Qatar, were included in this study. For 2 years participants recorded daily step count using an Omron HJ-720 ITC pedometer. Daily climate parameters included temperature, relative humidity and other conditions.Results:From linear mixed model analysis it was evident that higher average temperature and humidity, and the Wet bulb Globe Temperature (WbGT), resulted in a reduction of the number of steps taken per day. Analysis of interaction effects also revealed that the effects of heat stress were equivalent across gender, age, and the region participants came from according to a World Health Organization classification scheme.Conclusions:Increased temperature and humidity are associated with a reduction in the number of steps taken per day. Community-based PA programs in hot hot/humid climates should consider novel approaches to increase PA levels.