bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Chronological changes in renal vascular reactivity in portal hypertensive rats
Authors: Chuang Chiao‐Lin , Huang Hui‐Chun , Chang Ching‐Chih , Lee Fa‐Yauh , Wu Jaw‐Ching , Lee Shou‐Dong 
Published: December 2012

AbstractBackgroundCirculatory dysfunction in portal hypertension is characterized by increased cardiac output, decreased systemic vascular resistance, a fall in mean arterial pressure secondary to splanchnic and systemic vasodilation and hence renal hypoperfusion. Previous studies have disclosed that renal vasculatures of portal hypertensive rats had lower perfusion pressure and hyporesponsiveness to endogenous vasoconstrictors. However, the sequences of altered renal haemodynamics have never been described. This study aimed to explore the evolution of renal vascular hyporeactivity and associated mechanisms during portal hypertension.Materials and methodsAll rats were randomized into partial portal vein ligation (PVL) or shamed surgery. Isolated kidney perfusion was performed at postoperative day 1, 4, 7 and 14, respectively, to evaluate chronologically renal vascular response to endothelin‐1. Renal arteries and kidneys were harvested for further analysis.ResultsImpaired renal vascular reactivity to endothelin‐1 developed 1 week following PVL. There were extensive up‐regulations of vasodilative nitric oxide synthase (NOS) and cyclooxygenase‐2 in renal arteries of PVL rats. Among them, the changes in endothelial NOS paralleled with the evolution of renal vascular hyporesponsiveness. Preincubation of NOS inhibitor attenuated the renal vascular hyporeactivity in PVL rats. Up‐regulated NOS and down‐regulated cyclooxygenase‐2 in kidneys of PVL rats might play a critical role to maintain renal circulation and body fluid homoeostasis in response to systemic hypotension.ConclusionsThis investigation highlights the versatile nature of renal vasculatures in portal hypertension, which is replete with compensatory mechanisms. It may help to unveil potential mechanisms of severe renal dysfunction in advanced liver disease.
Pancytopenia in two horses following administration of potentiated sulfonamide antimicrobials
Authors: Cudmore L. , Jalim S. , Williamson M. M. , McKinnon A. O. 
Published: December 2012

SummaryAdverse drug reactions to potentiated sulfonamide antimicrobial drug combinations have been reported in many species, including horses. This report describes the occurrence of pancytopenia in 2 horses, one subsequent to an immune mediated reaction and the other bone marrow aplasia following the administration of trimethoprim and sulfadimidine. These cases highlight the importance of judicious use of antimicrobial agents and describe adverse drug reactions in horses receiving potentiated sulfonamide antimicrobials.
Subchondral bone cyst of the apical portion of the proximal sesamoid bone as a cause of severe lameness in aWarmblood filly
Authors: Beccar Varela A. M. , Patipa L. A. , Eggleston R. B. 
Published: December 2012

SummaryA 20‐month‐oldWarmblood filly was evaluated for acute onset of a nonweightbearing lameness and swelling of the left hindlimb. Clinical and lameness evaluation and diagnostic intrasynovial anaesthesia isolated the lameness to the left hind metatarsophalangeal region. Radiography and ultrasonography revealed a subchondral cystic lesion of the apical portion of the lateral proximal sesamoid bone associated with oedema and synovial effusion of the metatarsophalangeal joint. Arthroscopic surgical debridement of the subchondral cystic lesion resulted in immediate post operative improvement in the lameness score. Rest and controlled exercise achieved complete resolution of the lameness with the filly being able to start training without apparent lameness. Subchondral cystic lesions of the proximal sesamoid bones can be a cause of nonweightbearing lameness. Surgical debridement resulted in complete resolution of the lameness with a favourable outcome in this case.
In vitro characterization of recombinant factor VIII concentrates reveals significant differences in protein content, activity and thrombin activation profile
Authors: Pahl S. , Pavlova A. , Driesen J. , Müller J. , Pötzsch B. , Oldenburg J. 
Published: December 2012

SummaryRecombinant factor VIII (rFVIII) concentrates differ due to cell lines, culture conditions, presence of the B domain and authorized potency assays. This study characterizes three commercially available rFVIII concentrates: a second‐generation full length (A), a third‐generation full length (B) and a third‐generation B domain‐deleted (BDD) product (C). rFVIII concentrates were characterized for FVIII activity (FVIII:C) by one‐stage clotting and chromogenic assays, FVIII antigen (FVIII:Ag), thrombin activation profile and FXa‐generation assay. The rFVIII concentrates exhibited significant differences with regard to FVIII:C, FVIII:Ag and thrombin activation profile. Product A had significantly greater FVIII:C and FVIII:Ag relative to the measured values of products B and C. In addition, product A demonstrated faster and more complete activation by thrombin than the two others. BDD product C had the slowest measured thrombin activation rate. Product A exhibited a greater in vitro FXa generation than products B and C. We found no differences in FXa generation among all three products when FXa generation was normalized for FVIII:Ag. The greater FVIII:C and FVIII:Ag values for product A compared with that for products B and C are due to application of different authorized potency assays (one‐stage assay for A vs. chromogenic assay for B and C). The variation in thrombin activation profiles may arise from differences in cell line‐dependent posttranslational modifications of the various recombinant proteins.
What is the evidence base for public involvement in health‐care policy?: results of a systematic scoping review
Authors: Conklin Annalijn , Morris Zoë , Nolte Ellen 
Published: December 2012

AbstractBackgroundPublic involvement in health‐care policy has been advocated as a means to enhance health system responsiveness, yet evidence for its impact has been difficult to ascertain.ObjectivesTo review the peer‐reviewed empirical evidence on outcomes of public involvement in health‐care policy.MethodsWe systematically searched PsychINFO and PubMed from November 2000 to April 2010 for empirical studies that reported on original research only; studies in languages other than English, German or French were excluded. Data were extracted using a standardized evidence table with a priori determined headings.Main resultsNineteen studies were identified as eligible for inclusion in our review. We found that sound empirical evidence of the outcomes of public involvement activities in health care remains underdeveloped. The concept and the indicators used to examine and determine outcomes remain poorly specified and inconsistent, as does the reporting of the evidence. There was some evidence for the developmental role of public involvement, such as enhancing awareness, understanding and competencies among lay participants. Evidence for instrumental benefits of public involvement initiatives was less well documented.ConclusionsDespite the growing body of work on public involvement in health‐care policy, evidence of its impact remains scarce; thus, firm conclusions about involvement activities that are appropriate and effective for policy development are difficult to draw. However, focus on outcomes risks missing the normative argument that involving the public in the health‐care policy process may be seen to be of intrinsic value.
Counterblast: Death Penalty Resistance Revisited in the Post‐Trust Era
Authors: Lilly J. Robert 
Published: December 2012

AbstractA decade ago this journal reported that support for the death penalty in the United States had begun to wane. This follow‐up confirms the continuation of that trend and brings the earlier article up to date. Concern about executing the innocent and racial disparity persists amid evidence that the public is in a post‐trust era where government decisions are highly suspect.
Successful treatment of macrophage activation syndrome complicating adult Still disease with anakinra
Authors: Loh N. K. , Lucas M. , Fernandez S. , Prentice D. 
Published: December 2012

AbstractA previously healthy 20‐year‐old man presented with adult Still disease (ASD). He developed life‐threatening macrophage activation syndrome (MAS), which was refractory to standard immunosuppression but responded dramatically to the IL‐1 receptor antagonist anakinra. Subsequent immunological investigations included assessment of the perforin expression of natural killer (NK) cells and CD8+ T cells, which confirmed MAS.
Discriminating the effects of phylogenetic hypothesis, tree resolution and clade age estimates on phylogenetic signal measurements
Authors: Seger G. D. S. , Duarte L. D. S. , Debastiani V. J. , Kindel A. , Jarenkow J. A. 
Published: December 2012

AbstractUnderstanding how species traits evolved over time is the central question to comprehend assembly rules that govern the phylogenetic structure of communities. The measurement of phylogenetic signal (PS) in ecologically relevant traits is a first step to understand phylogenetically structured community patterns. The different methods available to estimatePSmake it difficult to choose which is most appropriate. Furthermore, alternative phylogenetic tree hypotheses, node resolution and clade age estimates might influencePSmeasurements. In this study, we evaluated to what extent these parameters affect different methods ofPSanalysis, and discuss advantages and disadvantages when selecting which method to use. We measured fruit/seed traits and flowering/fruiting phenology of endozoochoric species occurring inSouthernBrazilianAraucariaforests and evaluated theirPSusingMantel regressions, phylogenetic eigenvector regressions (PVR) andKstatistic. Mantel regressions always gave less significant results compared toPVRandKstatistic in all combinations of phylogenetic trees constructed. Moreover, a better phylogenetic resolution affectedPS, independently of the method used to estimate it. Morphological seed traits tended to show higherPSthan diaspores traits, whilePSin flowering/fruiting phenology depended mostly on the method used to estimate it. This study demonstrates that differentPSestimates are obtained depending on the chosen method and the phylogenetic tree resolution. This finding has implications for inferences on phylogenetic niche conservatism or ecological processes determining phylogenetic community structure.
Changes in the population of seed bacteria of transgenerationally Cd‐exposed Arabidopsis thaliana
Authors: Truyens S. , Weyens N. , Cuypers A. , Vangronsveld J. 
Published: December 2012

AbstractPlant‐associated bacteria can have beneficial effects on the growth and health of their host. Nevertheless, the role of endophytic bacteria present in seeds has not been investigated in depth. In this study, the cultivable endophytic population of seeds from Arabidopsis thaliana exposed to 2 μm cadmium for several generations (Cd seeds) was compared with a population isolated from seeds of plants that were never exposed to Cd (control seeds). We observed obvious differences between the two types of seed concerning genera present and phenotypic characteristics of the different isolates. Sinorhizobium sp. and Micrococcus sp. were only found in control seeds, while Pseudomonas sp., Bosea sp. and Paenibacillus sp. were only found in Cd seeds. Sphingomonas sp., Rhizobium sp., Acidovorax sp., Variovorax sp., Methylobacterium sp., Bacillus sp. and Staphylococcus sp. occurred in varying numbers in both types of seed. Metal tolerance and 1‐aminocyclopropane‐1‐carboxylate deaminase activity were predominantly found in strains isolated from Cd seeds, while the production of siderophores, indole‐3‐acetic acid and organic acids was more prevalent in endophytes isolated from control seeds. These data support the hypothesis that certain endophytes are selected for transfer to the next generation and that their presence might be important for subsequent germination and early seedling development.
Source localization of posterior slow waves of youth using dipole modeling
Authors: Ohoyama Keiko , Motomura Eishi , Inui Koji , Nishimura Yukika , Ushiro Kengo , Matsushima Nobuyoshi , Maeda Masayuki , Tanii Hisashi , Suzuki Dai , Hamanaka Kenji , Kakigi Ryusuke , Okada Motohiro 
Published: December 2012

AimPosterior slow waves of youth have a well‐known electroencephalographic pattern that peaks in adolescence and usually disappears in adulthood. In general, posterior slow waves of youth are regarded as normal, but some reports have suggested that their presence is related to immature personalities or inappropriate social behavior. The physiological significance of this electroencephalographic pattern, however, remains unclear. The purpose of this study was to investigate the neural origins of posterior slow waves of youth using dipole source modeling.MethodsElectroencephalographic epochs, including clear posterior slow waves of youth, were visually selected from electroencephalograms obtained from six normal adolescents using 25 scalp electrodes. The selected epochs were then averaged by arranging the negative peak of the slow waves at the occipital area of each epoch on the time axis. The averaged waveforms consisting of six right and one left posterior slow waves of youth were used for dipole source analysis. A single equivalent current dipole was estimated for the averaged waveforms.ResultsThe best equivalent current dipoles were estimated to be located in or around the fusiform and middle occipital gyrus ipsilateral to the posterior slow waves of youth.ConclusionsThe location of the estimated dipoles of posterior slow waves of youth was on the so‐called ventral visual pathway. Further research is required to clarify the physiological significance of posterior slow waves of youth with respect to their origin.
Testing Monotonicity of Regression Functions – An Empirical Process Approach
Authors: BIRKE MELANIE , NEUMEYER NATALIE 
Published: December 2012

Abstract.We propose several new tests for monotonicity of regression functions based on different empirical processes of residuals and pseudo‐residuals. The residuals are obtained from an unconstrained kernel regression estimator whereas the pseudo‐residuals are obtained from an increasing regression estimator. Here, in particular, we consider a recently developed simple kernel‐based estimator for increasing regression functions based on increasing rearrangements of unconstrained non‐parametric estimators. The test statistics are estimated distance measures between the regression function and its increasing rearrangement. We discuss the asymptotic distributions, consistency and small sample performances of the tests.
Asymmetries in Price‐Setting Behavior: New Microeconometric Evidence from Switzerland
Authors: HONORÉ BO E. , KAUFMANN DANIEL , LEIN SARAH 
Published: December 2012

ABSTRACTIn this paper, we follow the recent empirical literature that has specified reduced‐form models for price setting that are closely tied to (S, s)‐pricing rules. Our contribution to the literature is twofold. First, we propose an estimator that relaxes distributional assumptions on the unobserved heterogeneity. Second, we use the estimator to examine the prevalence of positive price changes in a low‐inflation environment. Our model estimates suggest that, if inflation falls from 0.9% to zero, the share of positive price changes in all price changes falls from 63.6% to 56.2%.
Off‐farm Work among Rural Households: A Case Study in theBrazilianAmazon
Authors: VanWey Leah , Vithayathil Trina 
Published: December 2012

AbstractThis article analyzes off‐farm work among subsistence‐level farmers in theSantarém region of theBrazilianAmazon. We build on the literature on rural livelihoods in theGlobalSouth by exploring how the opportunity to work off the farm is embedded in social relationships. We additionally differentiate our analysis by type of off‐farm work, and examine how other characteristics such as human capital, the available labor supply, and access to infrastructure vary by work outcome. In general, the factors that contribute to more secure, relatively higher‐paying work differ from those important in understanding patterns of lower‐paying, daily wage work. We find that on‐farm social capital, measured as the presence of a co‐resident on the property who works off the farm, increases an individual's probability of working off the farm, but has a stronger effect for lower‐wage work. We also find that the farm owner's relationship to households on the farm property plays a significant role in predicting patterns of off‐farm work. These findings suggest that social capital plays an important role in providing access to employment and therefore to cash income, but that farm‐level social capital does not necessarily provide pathways to stable or high‐paying jobs outside agriculture.
Consumption, ageing and identity: New Zealander's narratives of gifting, ridding and passing on
Authors: Mansvelt Juliana 
Published: December 2012

AbstractConsumption practices involving disposal can provide important insights into how ‘being’ is accumulated. Analysis of 36 semi‐structured interviews with 13 individuals aged 59–70 in the Manawatu, Kapiti, Rangitikei and Horowhenua regions of the North Island in New Zealand illustrates how practices of gifting, ridding and passing on goods as legacy contribute to the production of familial and individual subjectivities. The research revealed that practices of disposal are performative, with both the absent presence of the objects placed away and the practices by which this occurs having agentic effects. The places that objects were assumed to occupy in the real and imagined lives of others and the moving of things away contributed to older adults' identities as caring parents, productive citizens and individuals of significance. Disposal practices consequently enabled participants to stabilise and order parent and child relations and one's relative position in the life course.
Georg Forster in Tahiti: Enlightenment, Sentiment and the Intrusion of the South Seas
Authors: ZHANG CHUNJIE 
Published: December 2012

AbstractReading German world traveller Georg Forster's influential A Voyage Round the World (1777), this essay discusses the typical conflict between Enlightenment ideology of progress and civilisation, which assigns Oceanian culture to a lower development stage, and the sentimental praise of the island Tahiti as the earthly paradise. Challenging the interpretive method of controlling coloniser and passive colonised, this essay stresses the real‐world significance of Oceania in the transformation of Forster's cultural identity as it is manifested in his travel narrative. Hence Forster's travel account is less a distortion of Pacific history than a pivotal documentation of cultural transformation around 1800.
Reframing Regicide: Symbolic Politics and the Sentimental Trial of James Hadfield (1800)
Authors: RAMSEY NEIL 
Published: December 2012

AbstractThis article considers the political significance of sentimental language in the treason trial of James Hadfield. It argues that the sentimental resolution of the trial needs to be understood in relation to the pressures of modern war on the British nation and the political instability associated with the figure of the returned soldier. The trial dispelled the threat of revolution that Hadfield's attack on the king presented, but it also helped establish a new form of symbolic body politics in Britain that valorised both the king and the soldier as figures of manly self‐command.
Biocompatibility of various dental materials in contemporary dentistry: a narrative insight
Authors: Mallineni Sreekanth K. , Nuvvula Sivakumar , Matinlinna Jukka P. , Yiu Cynthia K. , King Nigel M. 
Published: December 2012

AbstractIn the past few decades, there has been an increase in demand for safety evaluation and control of dental materials used daily in dentistry; however, this task is difficult and cumbersome. Dental materials that are passive and do not react with the oral environment will be more stable and have superior durability. It is expected that dental materials will be universally accepted and will not cause harm or injury to the surrounding structures in the oral cavity. This is an entirely negative approach to the material tolerance and biocompatibility, and hides the possibility that some positive gains can be achieved. Side‐effects of dental materials are believed to be rare, and generally, those that have been reported are mild. There are wide varieties of materials used in dentistry, which include liners, irrigants, intracanal filling materials, intracanal medicaments, prosthetic materials, restorative materials, subgingival implants, and mouth rinses. Therefore, in this study, the biocompatibility of various commonly‐used clinical materials used in contemporary dentistry was discussed.
Neural tube defects and their significance in clinical dentistry: a mini review
Authors: Garg Anuradha , Utreja Ashok , Singh Satinder P. , Angurana Suresh K. 
Published: December 2012

AbstractNeural tube defects are common congenital malformations that could be apparent at birth or manifested in later stages of life. Morbidity is high in anencephaly, whereas in spina bifida, there are neurological and motor disorders. These defects deserve paramount importance in clinical dentistry. Latex allergy, dental caries, difficulty in mouth opening, and sitting in a dental chair are common problems. There is a high risk of anaphylactic response during anaesthesia. There could be associated craniosynostosis causing maxillary deficiency, and malformed sella turcica might be seen. An association of the defects has been linked with orofacial clefts and Down syndrome.
Mental Health Services for Adults with Intellectual Disabilities – What Do Service Users and Staff Think of Them?
Authors: Kroese Biza Stenfert , Rose John , Heer Kuljit , O'Brien Alexis 
Published: December 2012

AimThe current qualitative study was funded by the Judith Trust to investigate service users', support staff and community team members' views of the services currently provided to adults with intellectual disabilities and mental health problems and what they consider to be desirable qualities for staff to possess.MethodIn the first stage of the study, two focus groups were conducted with service users who have intellectual disabilities and mental health problems in addition to two focus groups with a variety of staff, all of who had recent experience of intellectual disabilities services. In the second stage, individual interviews were conducted with staff members employed in residential and community intellectual disabilities services. The number of participants totalled 54 (16 service users and 38 staff). A qualitative analysis (IPA) was adopted to identify dominant themes in the discourse of these stakeholder groups.ResultsThe analysis produced a number of themes that include: ‘being interested’, ‘communication’, ‘competence‐promoting support’, ‘past/present/future links’, ‘prevention’, ‘reviews and liaison’, ‘working with carers’, ‘looking after staff’, ‘staff training/supervision’ and ‘interface between services’.ConclusionA number of suggestions for improving services are identified and discussed in the context of current service policies and procedures.