bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Polymicrobial endophthalmitis: prevalence, causative organisms, and visual outcomes
Authors: Jindal Animesh , Moreker Mayur R , Pathengay Avinash , Khera Manav , Jalali Subhadra , Majji Ajit , Mathai Annie , Sharma Savitri , Das Taraprasad , Flynn Harry W 
Published: January 2013

Abstract

Background
The purpose of the present study is to evaluate the prevalence, causative organisms, and visual acuity outcome in patients with culture-proven polymicrobial endophthalmitis. The method used in this study is the non-comparative, consecutive case series using a retrospective analysis of patients diagnosed with polymicrobial endophthalmitis for the period 2000 to 2010.

Results
Polymicrobial endophthalmitis was identified in 43/1,107 (3.88%) patients. Forty-two patients had two isolates, and one patient had grown three isolates, yielding a total of 87 isolates. Gram-positive cocci were the most common isolate (n = 53; 60.9%) including Staphylococcus epidermidis (n = 14/53; 16.1%) and Streptococcus pneumoniae (n = 13/53; 13.8%). The etiologies included posttraumatic (n = 31/43; 72.1%) and postoperative (n = 9/43; 20.9%) endophthalmitis. Antibiotic susceptibilities among Gram-positive bacteria were vancomycin (100%) and chloramphenicol (96%). Susceptibilities among Gram-negative bacteria were ciprofloxacin (86.4%) and ofloxacin (81.2%). A maximum number of secondary interventions were done in traumatic cases (38.7%) and cases having coinfection with Gram-negative bacteria and fungus (66.7%). Visual acuity (VA) < 20/200 was more frequently observed in posttraumatic cases (n = 27/31; 87.1%) as compared with postoperative cases (n = 4/9; 44.4%). Of the 43 patients, only 9 patients (20.9%) achieved a VA ≥ 20/200 on final follow-up. Four out of twelve patients (33.3%), with fungus as one of the isolates, had a VA ≥ 20/200.

Conclusions
Although polymicrobial infection in endophthalmitis is uncommon, it is generally associated with poor visual acuity outcomes especially in eyes with open-globe injuries. Coinfection with Gram-negative bacteria or fungi was associated with most unfavorable visual outcome.
Proteomic analysis of a disease-resistance-enhanced lesion mimic mutant spotted leaf 5 in rice
Authors: Chen Xifeng , Fu Shufang , Zhang Pinghua , Gu Zhimin , Liu Jianzhong , Qian Qian , Ma Bojun 
Published: January 2013

AbstractBackgroundA lesion-mimic mutant in rice (Oryza sativaL.),spotted leaf 5(spl5), displays a disease-resistance-enhanced phenotype, indicating that SPL5 negatively regulates cell death and resistance responses. To understand the molecular mechanisms ofSPL5mutation-induced cell death and resistance responses, a proteomics-based approach was used to identify differentially accumulated proteins between thespl5mutant and wild type (WT).ResultsProteomic data from two-dimensional gel electrophoresis showed that 14 candidate proteins were significantly up- or down-regulated in thespl5mutant compared with WT. These proteins are involved in diverse biological processes including pre-mRNA splicing, amino acid metabolism, photosynthesis, glycolysis, reactive oxygen species (ROS) metabolism, and defense responses. Two candidate proteins with a significant up-regulation inspl5– APX7, a key ROS metabolism enzyme and Chia2a, a pathogenesis-related protein – were further analyzed by qPCR and enzyme activity assays. Consistent with the proteomic results, both transcript levels and enzyme activities of APX7 and Chia2a were significantly induced during the course of lesion formation inspl5leaves.ConclusionsMany functional proteins involving various metabolisms were likely to be responsible for the lesion formation ofspl5mutant. Generally, inspl5, the up-regulated proteins involve in defense response or PCD, and the down-regulated ones involve in amino acid metabolism and photosynthesis. These results may help to gain new insight into the molecular mechanism underlyingspl5-induced cell death and disease resistance in plants.
MMP13 is a critical target gene during the progression of osteoarthritis
Authors: Wang Meina , Sampson Erik R , Jin Hongting , Li Jia , Ke Qiao H , Im Hee-Jeong , Chen Di 
Published: January 2013

Abstract
Introduction
Osteoarthritis (OA) is a degenerative joint disease affecting a large population of people. The mechanism of this highly prevalent disease is not fully understood. Currently there is no effective disease-modifying treatment for OA. The purpose of this study was two-fold: 1) to investigate the role of MMP13 in the development of OA; and 2) to evaluate the efficacy of the MMP13 inhibitor CL82198 as a pharmacologic treatment for preventing OA progression.

Methods
To investigate the role of the endogenous Mmp13 gene in OA development, tamoxifen was administered to two-week-old Col2CreER;Mmp13
fx/fx
(Mmp13
Col2ER
) and Cre-negative control mice for five days. OA was induced by meniscal-ligamentous injury (MLI) when the mice were 10 weeks old and MLI or sham-operated joints were harvested 4, 8, 12, or 16 weeks after surgery. To evaluate the efficacy of CL82198, MLI surgery was performed on 10-week-old wild type mice. CL82198 or saline was administered to the mice daily beginning immediately after the surgery for up to 16 weeks. The joint tissues collected from both experiments were evaluated by cartilage grading, histology/histomorphometry, immunohistochemistry (IHC), and terminal deoxynucleotidyl transferase dUTP nick end labeling (TUNEL) staining. The ability of CL82198 to inhibit MMP13 activity in vitro was confirmed by ELISA.

Results
The OA progression was decelerated in Mmp13
Col2ER
mice 8, 12, and 16 weeks post-surgery. Cartilage grading by blinded observers confirmed decreased articular cartilage degeneration in Mmp13
Col2ER
mice at 8, 12 and 16 weeks compared to Cre-negative mice. Histomorphometric analysis demonstrated that Mmp13
Col2ER
mice had a higher articular cartilage area and thickness at 12 and 16 weeks post-surgery compared to the control mice. Results of IHC revealed greater type II collagen and proteoglycan expression in Mmp13
Col2ER
mice. Chondrocyte apoptosis, as determined by TUNEL staining, was higher in control mice compared to Mmp13
Col2ER
mice. CL82198 inhibited MMP13 activity in conditioned media from vehicle (> 85%) or bone morphogenetic protein 2 (BMP2)-treated (> 90%) primary murine sternal chondrocytes. Intraperitoneal injection of CL82198 decelerated MLI-induced OA progression, increased type II collagen and proteoglycan levels, and inhibited chondrocyte apoptosis compared to saline treatment as determined by OA grading, histology, histomorphometry, IHC, and TUNEL staining, respectively.

Conclusions
Mmp13 is critical for OA progression and pharmacologic inhibition of MMP13 is an effective strategy to decelerate articular cartilage loss in a murine model of injury-induced knee OA.
Prognostic impact of coronary microcirculation abnormalities in systemic sclerosis: a prospective study to evaluate the role of non-invasive tests
Authors: Vacca Alessandra , Montisci Roberta , Garau Pietro , Siotto Paolo , Piga Matteo , Cauli Alberto , Ruscazio Massimo , Meloni Luigi , Iliceto Sabino , Mathieu Alessandro 
Published: January 2013

Abstract
Introduction
Microcirculation dysfunction is a typical feature of systemic sclerosis (SSc) and represents the earliest abnormality of primary myocardial involvement. We assessed coronary microcirculation status by combining two functional tests in SSc patients and estimating its impact on disease outcome.

Methods
Forty-one SSc patients, asymptomatic for coronary artery disease, were tested for coronary flow velocity reserve (CFR) by transthoracic-echo-Doppler with adenosine infusion (A-TTE) and for left ventricular wall motion abnormalities (WMA) by dobutamine stress echocardiography (DSE). Myocardial multi-detector computed tomography (MDCT) enabled the presence of epicardial stenosis, which could interfere with the accuracy of the tests, to be excluded. Patient survival rate was assessed over a 6.7- ± 3.5-year follow-up.

Results
Nineteen out of 41 (46%) SSc patients had a reduced CFR (≤2.5) and in 16/41 (39%) a WMA was observed during DSE. Furthermore, 13/41 (32%) patients showed pathological CFR and WMA. An inverse correlation between wall motion score index (WMSI) during DSE and CFR value (r = -0.57, P <0.0001) was observed; in addition, CFR was significantly reduced (2.21 ± 0.38) in patients with WMA as compared to those without (2.94 ± 0.60) (P <0.0001). In 12 patients with abnormal DSE, MDCT was used to exclude macrovasculopathy. During a 6.7- ± 3.5-year follow-up seven patients with abnormal coronary functional tests died of disease-related causes, compared to only one patient with normal tests.

Conclusions
A-TTE and DSE tests are useful tools to detect non-invasively pre-clinical microcirculation abnormalities in SSc patients; moreover, abnormal CFR and WMA might be related to a worse disease outcome suggesting a prognostic value of these tests, similar to other myocardial diseases.
A Nonparametric Approach to Modeling Choice with Limited Data
Authors: Farias Vivek F. , Jagabathula Srikanth , Shah Devavrat 
Published: January 2013

Choice models today are ubiquitous across a range of applications in operations and marketing. Real-world implementations of many of these models face the formidable stumbling block of simply identifying the “right” model of choice to use. Because models of choice are inherently high-dimensional objects, the typical approach to dealing with this problem is positing, a priori, a parametric model that one believes adequately captures choice behavior. This approach can be substantially suboptimal in scenarios where one cares about using the choice model learned to make fine-grained predictions; one must contend with the risks of mis-specification and overfitting/underfitting. Thus motivated, we visit the following problem: For a “generic” model of consumer choice (namely, distributions over preference lists) and a limited amount of data on how consumers actually make decisions (such as marginal information about these distributions), how may one predict revenues from offering a particular assortment of choices? An outcome of our investigation is a nonparametric approach in which the data automatically select the right choice model for revenue predictions. The approach is practical. Using a data set consisting of automobile sales transaction data from a major U.S. automaker, our method demonstrates a 20% improvement in prediction accuracy over state-of-the-art benchmark models; this improvement can translate into a 10% increase in revenues from optimizing the offer set. We also address a number of theoretical issues, among them a qualitative examination of the choice models implicitly learned by the approach. We believe that this paper takes a step toward “automating” the crucial task of choice model selection. This paper was accepted by Yossi Aviv, operations management.
Effect of Active Magnesia on the Properties of Cementitious Binders
Authors: Zhu Jing , Ye Nan , Liu Jianwen , Li Yalin , Yang Jiakuan 
Published: January 2013

ABSTRACTReactive magnesium oxide (magnesia, MgO) was produced by calcining magnesite at comparatively low temperature, less than 800 ℃C. The reactive MgO and fly ash were used as additives to cementitious binder. The reactive MgO-ordinary Portland cement-fly ash is referred to as MgO-OPC-FA cement in further. The hydration expansion effect of active magnesia on the properties of cementitious binder in different mixing ratio was investigated. It is known that the “dead burnt” MgO reacts with water very slowly, which causes the expansion after the solidification of cement. Therefore, the MgO content in ordinary cement is commonly restricted to less than 5%. Effects of reactive MgO on the expansion properties of the cementitious binders were studied. Hydrated products of reactive MgO cements were investigated by X-ray diffraction (XRD) and Scanning electron microscope (SEM) analysis. The MgO-OPC-FA cement was sound, although the content of reactive MgO in cement was about 8 wt. %. Reactive MgO was hydrated at early age in 24 hours, thus causing rapid expansion. Mg(OH)2appeared on initial stage of cement hydration for active magnesia. The hydration rate of active magnesia was not equal to that of the dead burnt magnesia. The hydration of reactive MgO has a negative effect on the mechanical properties of reactive MgO-ordinary Portland cement-fly ash system, in spite of the inhibitive effect of the expansion of MgO hydration produced by fly ash. Our results shed light on the potential utilization of reactive MgO in the manufacturing of cementitious binders.
Maastrichtian marine reptiles of the Mediterranean Tethys: a palaeobiogeographical approach
Authors: Bardet Nathalie 
Published: January 2013

AbstractA global comparison of coeval Maastrichtian marine reptiles (squamates, plesiosaurs, chelonians and crocodyliformes) of Europe, New Jersey, northwestern Africa and Middle-East has been performed. More than twenty outcrops and fifty species (half of them being mosasaurids) have been recorded. PEA and Cluster Analysis have been performed using part of this database and have revealed that marine reptile faunas (especially the mosasaurid ones) from the Mediterranean Tethys are clearly segregated into two different palaeobiogeographical provinces: 1) The northern Tethys margin province (New Jersey and Europe), located around palaeolatitudes 30-40°N and developping into warm-temperate environments, is dominated by mosasaurid squamates and chelonioid chelonians; it is characterized by the mosasaurid association of Mosasaurus hoffmanni and Prognathodon sectorius. 2) The southern Tethys margin province (Brazil and the Arabo-African domain), located between palaeolatitudes 20°N-20°S and developping into intertropical environments, is dominated by mosasaurid squamates and bothremydid chelonians; it is characterized by the mosasaurid association of Globidens phosphaticus as well as by Halisaurus arambourgi and Platecarpus (?) ptychodon (Arabo-African domain). These faunal differences are interpreted as revealing palaeoecological preferences probably linked to differences in palaeolatitudinal gradients and/or to palaeocurrents.On a palaeoecological point on view and concerning mosasaurids, the mosasaurines (Prognathodon, Mosasaurus, Globidens and Carinodens) prevail on both margins but with different species. The ichthyophageous plioplatecarpines Plioplatecarpus (Northern margin) and Platecarpus (?) ptychodon (Southern margin) characterise respectively each margin. The halisaurine Halisaurus is present on both margins but with different species. Of importance, the tylosaurines remain currently unknown on the southern Tethys margin and are restricted to higher palaeolatitudes. Chelonians (bothremydids and chelonioids) are respective of each margin, which probably indicates lower dispersal capabilities compared to mosasaurids. The relative scarcity of plesiosaurs and crocodyliformes could be linked to different ecological preferences. The noteworthy crocodyliforme diversity increase in the Palaeogene is probably linked to mosasaurid extinction during the biological crisis of the K/Pg boundary.
Evaluation of Sorghum Genotypes Compatibility with Fusarium oxysporum under Striga Infestation
Authors: Rebeka Gebretsadik , Shimelis Hussein , Laing Mark D. , Tongoona Pangirayi , Mandefro Nigussie 
Published: January 2013

ABSTRACTCombined use of host resistance and Fusarium oxysporum as a biocontrol agent may provide enhanced management of Striga hermonthica (Delile) Benth. in sorghum [Sorghum bicolor (L.) Moench]. The objective of this study was to identify sorghum genotypes compatible with F. oxysporum and to determine the potential of this biocontrol agent for controlling Striga. Fifty sorghum genotypes were evaluated in the greenhouse in Striga‐infested soils with and without inoculation by F. oxysporum. A supplementary laboratory study was conducted to investigate the growth and proliferation of F. oxysporum in the soil and sorghum roots. Data were recorded on crop growth parameters, Striga incidence and colonization, and the persistence of F. oxysporum in the soil and on plant roots, using samples taken at 45 and 60 d after planting. Inoculation with F. oxysporum significantly shortened days to maturity compared to noninoculated plants. Plant height, biomass, panicle length, and seed yield per plant were higher in F. oxysporum treated pots. Striga emergence was delayed and vigor and overall incidence of the parasite was significantly reduced in Fusarium‐treated pots. The number of Fusarium colony forming units obtained from soil and plant samples were significantly different between genotypes. Three principal components (PCs) contributed to 67.31% of the total variation among the genotypes. Principal component 1, PC2, and PC3 contributed 27, 23, and 18%, respectively, to the total variance. Days to Striga emergence and Striga count and height correlated with PC1 while sorghum panicle length and plant height with PC2 and days to sorghum flowering and maturity with PC3. Thus, 12 promising sorghum lines were identified with farmer‐preferred agronomic traits and with F. oxysporum compatibility. This result is valuable in the development of Striga control in sorghum through integration of host resistance and F. oxysporum inoculation.
Identification of Soybean Aphid Resistance in Early Maturing Genotypes of Soybean
Authors: Bhusal Siddhi J. , Jiang Guo‐Liang , Tilmon Kelley J. , Hesler Louis S. 
Published: January 2013

ABSTRACTSoybean aphid (SA) (Aphis glycines Matsumura) has been an important pest of soybean [Glycine max (L.) Merr.] in the United States since 2000. Identification and genetic characterization of SA resistance in early maturing soybean germplasm will facilitate development of aphid‐resistant cultivars in the northern region. To identify new sources of SA resistance in early maturing soybeans, a total of 334 soybean genotypes including resistant and susceptible checks were tested in the greenhouse and field. Caged (no‐choice) and noncaged tests were used in greenhouse screening under artificial inoculation of SA, and field evaluations were performed relying on natural aphid infestation with or without artificial SA inoculation. In the greenhouse, four genotypes (PI 603712, PI 464911, PI 430491, and PI 603432B) of maturity group (MG) 0 or 00 exhibited low levels of aphid colonization similar to resistant checks, with 17 to 52 aphids per plant 2 wk after inoculation, and three genotypes (PI 612759B, PI 200595, and PI 603426D) of MG 0 were moderately resistant. In the field, however, only PI 603712 and PI 430491 exhibited a resistance reaction with fewer than 100 or 100 to 200 aphids per plant at peak infestation. Plant Introduction 603712 was the only genotype that consistently exhibited resistance to SA in all tests—even higher than that of other known sources of SA resistance in the field. This suggests that PI 603712 might be a new source of SA resistance. In addition, the relatively high levels of SA colonization on a Rag1 genotype (PI 548663 or ‘Dowling’) in greenhouse tests suggest that the colony used in greenhouse tests might be virulent on Rag1 and therefore might be biotype 2. High levels of SA infestation on Rag1 and Rag2 genotypes in field tests also imply that biotypes 2 and 3 may have been present in the eastern South Dakota field.
Intercropping Time of Corn and Palisadegrass or Guineagrass Affecting Grain Yield and Forage Production
Authors: Borghi E. , Crusciol C. A. C. , Mateus G. P. , Nascente A. S. , Martins P. O. 
Published: January 2013

ABSTRACTIntercropping corn (Zea mays L.) with forages, such as palisadegrass {Urochloa brizantha (Hochst. ex A. Rich.) R. D. Webster [syn. Brachiaria brizantha (Hochst. ex A. Rich.) Stapf]} or guineagrass [Megathyrsus maximus (Jacq.) B. K. Simon & S. W. L. Jacobs (syn. Panicum maximum Jacq.)], provides large amounts of biomass for use as straw in no‐tillage systems or as pasture. However, it is important to evaluate what time these forages have to be sown into corn systems to avoid reductions in both corn and forage production. This study, conducted for three growing seasons at Botucatu, Brazil, evaluated nutrient concentration and yield of corn as affected by time of forage intercropped as well as forage's dry matter production. Our data showed that intercropping systems did not reduce leaf nutrient concentrations and grain yield of corn in relation to sole corn. The simultaneous intercropping of corn and guineagrass resulted in the lowest plant population (51,200 plant ha−1), number of ears per plant (1.0), and, consequently, the lowest corn grain yield (9801 kg ha−1). Guineagrass seeded at the time of corn fertilizer topdressing resulted in the highest plant population (59,400 plants ha−1), number of ears per plant (1.2), and corn grain yield (12,077 kg ha−1). Forage production was highest when intercrop was done simultaneously. Palisadegrass could be intercropped with corn both simultaneously or at topdressing fertilization stage. In contrast, it is recommended that guineagrass should only be intercropped with corn at topdressing fertilization.
The Participation and Web Visibility of University Digital Repositories in the European Context
Authors: Calderón-Martínez Aurora , Ruiz-Conde Enar 
Published: January 2013

This study focuses on academic institutional repositories as tools that allow us open access to scientific and academic production. Specifically, we analyze the Top 50 European University repositories differentiating, firstly, those repositories linked to Spanish universities compared to those belonging to universities throughout Europe and, secondly, repositories that only include research content as opposed to those that also include teaching content. Specifically, this work complements previous studies on the consolidation of the repositories, focusing on the analysis of the competitive environment by considering their participation and relative visibility shares. The analysis, using competitive maps and comparative advantage method, allows us to identify European university repositories that lead their segments, in terms of their levels of participation and web visibility in the market. In general, without distinguishing by segments, results show that the leadership at European level in terms of participation is held by the University College of London (UK) and the repository of the University of Umea (Sweden) is the leader in visibility.El presente estudio se centra en los repositorios institucionales universitarios como instrumentos que posibilitan el acceso en abierto a la producción científica y académica. Se analizan los Top50 repositorios universitarios europeos diferenciando, en primer lugar, aquellos repositorios vinculados a universidades españolas frente a los pertenecientes a universidades del resto de Europa y, en segundo lugar, los repositorios que incluyen en sus contenidos exclusivamente resultados de investigación frente a aquéllos que también albergan recursos docentes. En concreto, este trabajo complementa estudios previos sobre la consolidación de los repositorios, profundizando en el análisis del entorno competitivo a partir de sus cuotas relativas de participación y de visibilidad web. El análisis efectuado, a través del diseño de mapas competitivos y la aplicación del método de la ventaja relativa, permite identificar los repositorios universitarios europeos líderes en sus segmentos respecto a sus niveles de participación y visibilidad web en el mercado. A nivel general, sin establecer diferencias por segmentos, los resultados muestran que el liderazgo a nivel europeo, en términos de participación, lo ostenta el University College of London (Reino Unido), mientras que el repositorio de la Universidad de Umea (Suecia) es líder en visibilidad.