bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Methylentetrahydrofolatereductase (rs1801133) polymorphism and psoriasis: contribution to oxidative stress, lipid peroxidation and correlation with vascular adhesion protein 1, preliminary report
Authors: Asefi M. , Vaisi‐Raygani A. , Khodarahmi R. , Nemati H. , Rahimi Z. , Vaisi‐Raygani H. , Tavilani H. , Pourmotabbed T. 
Published: October 2013

AbstractBackgroundPsoriatic patients are at greater risk of oxidative stress and inflammation which is associated with abnormal plasma lipid metabolism and lipid peroxidation.There is not any information about the clinical significance of relation between methylentetrahydrofolatereductase (MTHFR) 677‐T allele with malondialdehyde (MDA), lipids, apolipoproteins and vascular adhesion protein‐1 (VAP‐1) partakes in the migration process of lymphocytes into sites of inflammation.ObjectivesThis study is the first investigation to examine the association of MTHFR (rs1801133) C677T polymorphism, serum level of MDA, VAP‐1, lipid‐lipoprotein and apolipoproteins with the risk of psoriasis.MethodsThe present case–control study consisted of 100 psoriatic patients and 100 gender‐ and age‐matched unrelated healthy controls from west population of Iran. MTHFR‐C677T (rs1801133) polymorphisms were detected by restriction fragment length polymorphism (PCR‐RFLP), VAP‐1 by ELISA, apolipoproteins by immunoprecipitation, lipid and apolipoproteins by spectrophotometery and MDA by HPLC.ResultsWe found that dominant/recessive model (CC + CT/TT) and T allele of MTHFR‐677 alleles significantly 7.45 and 1.76 times increased risk of psoriasis, respectively. The psoriasis patients with MTHFR‐677‐T (C/T + T/T) allele had significantly higher serum MDA, VAP‐1 and apolipoproteinsAPOB concentrations and ratio of APOB/APOA1 than the control subjects.The MTHFR‐677‐T allele frequencies in psoriasis patients were significantly higher than that in control group (28.5% vs. 18.5%; P = 0.018).We found a significant positive correlation between VAP‐1 with MDA (P = 0.047) and LP (a) (P = 0.025).ConclusionIn the present study, we demonstrated for the first time that the psoriasis patients with MTHFR‐677‐T (C/T + T/T) allele had higher serum levels of MDA, VAP‐1, APOB and ratio of APOB/APOA1 and dominant/recessive model (CC+CT/TT) and T allele of MTHFR‐677 are significantly more common in psoriasis and increased risk of psoriasis by 7.45 and 1.76 fold, respectively. These data suggest that psoriasis patients carrying of TT genotypes and T allele of MTHFR‐677 may be more susceptible to cardiovascular disease and myocardial infarction.
The efficacy in treatment of facial atrophic acne scars in Asians with a fractional radiofrequency microneedle system
Authors: Vejjabhinanta V. , Wanitphakdeedecha R. , Limtanyakul P. , Manuskiatti W. 
Published: October 2013

AbstractBackgroundTreatment of acne scars remains a challenge to dermatologists. Multiple modalities have been employed with variable results and adverse effects.ObjectiveTo determine the efficacy and adverse effects of a fractional radiofrequency microneedle system (FRMS) on acne scars in Asians at 1‐, 3‐ and 6‐month follow‐up visits after treatment.MethodsThirty subjects with atrophic acne scars for more than 6 months were enrolled in the study. All volunteers were treated with a FRMS on affected areas. The subjects were treated for a total number of three treatment sessions at 1‐month intervals. Subjective assessments were obtained at baseline, 1, 3 and 6 months after the last treatment session by self‐evaluation and two blinded dermatologists. Objective evaluation using an ultraviolet A‐light video camera was also performed. In addition, pain scores, immediate reactions, healing times and other adverse effects were evaluated.ResultsTwenty‐six subjects with skin phototypes III–V completed treatment protocol. The average mean scar age was 7 years (range: 0.5–15 years). At 6‐month follow‐up visit, the majority of the subjects (42.3%) reported a 26–50% improvement on their acne scars. Percent reduction in scar volume corresponded to clinical evaluation. Adverse reactions of the treatment included pain, immediate oedema/erythema, minimal scabbing and transient pigmentary alteration on treated areas. The average pain score was 5.6 of 10. Worsening of skin texture or new scar formation was not observed in any subjects.ConclusionFractional radiofrequency microneedle system is a safe and effective device for treating acne scars in Asians with minimal risk of downtime and adverse effects.
Histological features of localized scleroderma ‘en coup de sabre’: a study of 16 cases
Authors: Taniguchi T. , Asano Y. , Tamaki Z. , Akamata K. , Aozasa N. , Noda S. , Takahashi T. , Ichimura Y. , Toyama T. , Sugita M. , Sumida H. , Kuwano Y. , Miyazaki M. , Yanaba K. , Sato S. 
Published: October 2013

AbstractBackgroundEarly lesions of localized scleroderma are histologically characterized by perivascular lymphocytic infiltrate in the reticular dermis and swollen endothelial cells. However, there have been few information regarding histological features other than these findings in localized scleroderma.ObjectiveSince en coup de sabre (ECDS) is a certain subset of localized scleroderma with a relatively uniform clinical manifestation, we focused on this disease subset and evaluated its histopathological features.MethodsA total of 16 patients with ECDS were retrospectively evaluated on the basis of clinical and histological findings.ResultsRegardless of clinical manifestations, vacuolar degeneration was found in all of the ECDS patients. Importantly, keratinocyte necroses were restricted to early and active ECDS lesions. In early ECDS patients (disease duration of <3 years), moderate to severe perivascular and/or periappendageal lymphocytic infiltrate and vacuolar changes in follicular epithelium were more prominent, whereas epidermal atrophy was less frequently observed, than in late ECDS patients (disease duration of ≥6 years).ConclusionVacuolar degeneration at the dermoepidermal junction is a common histological feature in ECDS and perivascular and/or periappendageal lymphocytic infiltrate and vacuolar degeneration of follicular epithelium are characteristic especially in early ECDS, further supporting a canonical idea that the elimination of mutated epidermal cells by immune surveillance contributes to tissue damage and resultant fibrosis in localized scleroderma.
Adaptation and constraint in a stickleback radiation
Authors: Voje K. L. , Mazzarella A. B. , Hansen T. F. , Østbye K. , Klepaker T. , Bass A. , Herland A. , Bærum K. M. , Gregersen F. , Vøllestad L. A. 
Published: October 2013

AbstractThe evolution of threespine sticklebacks in freshwater lakes constitutes a well‐studied example of a phenotypic radiation that has produced numerous instances of parallel evolution, but the exact selective agents that drive these changes are not yet fully understood. We present a comparative study across 74 freshwater populations of threespine stickleback in Norway to test whether evolutionary changes in stickleback morphology are consistent with adaptations to physical parameters such as lake depth, lake area, lake perimeter and shoreline complexity, variables thought to reflect different habitats and feeding niches. Only weak indications of adaptation were found. Instead, populations seem to have diversified in phenotypic directions consistent with allometric scaling relationships. This indicates that evolutionary constraints may have played a role in structuring phenotypic variation across freshwater populations of stickleback. We also tested whether the number of lateral plates evolved in response to lake calcium levels, but found no evidence for this hypothesis.
Heritability of gonad size varies across season in a wild songbird
Authors: Schaper S. V. , Gienapp P. , Dawson A. , Visser M. E. 
Published: October 2013

AbstractMany organisms advance their seasonal reproduction in response to global warming. In birds, which regress their gonads to a nonfunctional state each winter, these shifts are ultimately constrained by the time required for gonadal development in spring. Gonadal development is photoperiodically controlled and shows limited phenotypic plasticity in relation to environmental factors, such as temperature. Heritable variation in the time required for full gonadal maturation to be completed, based on both onset and speed of development and resulting in seasonally different gonad sizes among individuals, is thus a crucial prerequisite for an adaptive advancement of seasonal reproduction in response to changing temperatures. We measured seasonal gonadal development in climate‐controlled aviaries for 144 great tit (Parus major) pairs, which consisted of siblings obtained as whole broods from the wild. We show that the extent of ovarian follicle development (follicle size) in early spring is highly heritable (h2 = 0.73) in females, but found no heritability of the extent of testis development in males. However, heritability in females decreased as spring advanced, caused by an increase in environmental variance and a decrease in additive genetic variation. This low heritability of the variation in a physiological mechanism underlying reproductive timing at the time of selection may hamper genetic adaptation to climate change, a key insight as this great tit population is currently under directional selection for advanced egg‐laying.
The role of learning by a predator, Rivulus hartii, in the rare‐morph survival advantage in guppies
Authors: Fraser B. A. , Hughes K. A. , Tosh D. N. , Rodd F. H. 
Published: October 2013

AbstractNegative frequency‐dependent selection (NFDS), where rare types are favoured by selection, can maintain diversity. However, the ecological processes that mediate NFDS are often not known. Male guppies (Poecilia reticulata) exhibit extreme diversity of colour patterning and, in a previous field experiment, rare morphs had a survival advantage. Here, we test the hypothesis that predators impose NFDS because they are efficient at capturing familiar prey morphs, but are less efficient at capturing unfamiliar morphs. Over a series of trials, we presented Rivulus hartii, a natural predator of guppies, with male guppies with the same colour patterning (A trials); then, for a second series of trials, we presented the rivulus with guppies with a new colour pattern (B trials). The success of rivulus at capturing guppies on the first attack increased over successive A trials. First attack success decreased significantly for the early B trials, and then increased during successive B trials, eventually reaching the same level as in the best A trials. This experiment demonstrates that learning, perhaps through long‐term search image formation, plays a role in predation success on familiar vs. unfamiliar prey morphs. These results support the hypothesis that predator learning contributes to the maintenance of the extreme male guppy polymorphism seen in nature.
The oxidative costs of territory quality and offspring provisioning
Authors: Guindre‐Parker S. , Baldo S. , Gilchrist H. G. , Macdonald C. A. , Harris C. M. , Love O. P. 
Published: October 2013

AbstractThe costs of reproduction are an important constraint that shapes the evolution of life histories, yet our understanding of the proximate mechanism(s) leading to such life‐history trade‐offs is not well understood. Oxidative stress is a strong candidate measure thought to mediate the costs of reproduction, yet empirical evidence supporting that increased reproductive investment leads to oxidative stress is equivocal. We investigated whether territory quality and offspring provisioning increase oxidative stress in male snow buntings (Plectrophenax nivalis) using a repeated sampling design. We show that arrival oxidative stress is not a constraint on territory quality or the number of offspring fledged. Nevertheless, owners of higher‐quality territories experienced an oxidative cost, with this cost increasing more rapidly in younger males. Males that provisioned offspring at a high rate also experienced increased oxidative stress. Together, these findings support the potential role of oxidative stress in mediating life‐history trade‐offs. Future work should consider that reproductive workload is not limited to offspring care, and other activities – including territory defence – may contribute significantly to the costs of reproduction.
Effectiveness of health education programs on exercise behavior among patients with heart disease: a systematic review and meta‐analysis
Authors: Zhu Li‐Xia , Ho Shuk‐Ching , Wong Thomas KS 
Published: October 2013

AbstractBackground and ObjectiveRegular exercise has been shown to be beneficial to patients with heart disease. Previous studies have indicated that health education can effectively increase participants’ physical activity. However, no systematic review was conducted to evaluate the effectiveness of health education programs on changing exercise behavior among patients with heart disease. The aim of this study was to examine the effectiveness of health education programs on exercise behavior among heart disease patients.MethodPotential studies were retrieved in the Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials, MEDLINE, CINAHL, EMbase, PsycINFO, the British Nursing Index and Archive, Science Direct, and ERIC via EBSCOhost. Meta‐analysis was done using the random‐effect model.ResultsThirty‐seven studies were identified. Only 12 studies delivered health education based on various theories/models. Twenty‐eight studies were included in the meta‐analyses. The results showed that health education had significantly positive effects on exercise adherence (risk ratio = 1.35 to 1.48), exercise duration (SMD = 0.25 to 0.69), exercise frequency (MD = 0.54 to 1.46 session/week), and exercise level (SMD = 0.25), while no significant effects were found on exercise energy expenditure and cognitive exercise behavior.ConclusionHealth education has overall positive effects on changing exercise behavior among heart disease patients. Few theoretical underpinning studies were conducted for changing exercise behavior among heart disease patients. The findings suggest that health education improves exercise behavior for heart disease patients. Health professionals should reinforce health education programs for them.
Mass‐rearing conditions do not affect responsiveness to sex pheromone and flight activity in sweetpotato weevils
Authors: Kuriwada T. , Kumano N. , Shiromoto K. , Haraguchi D. 
Published: October 2013

AbstractFor ensuring the effectiveness of sterile insect technique (SIT) programmes, maintaining the reproductive competitiveness and dispersal ability of mass‐reared sterile males is essential. Inadvertent selection is an important genetic process that frequently occurs during mass rearing to produce sterile males. We investigated the effect of mass‐rearing conditions on the responsiveness to sex pheromones and spontaneous flight activity of males of the sweetpotato weevil Cylas formicarius (Coleoptera: Brentidae). There were no significant differences in the responsiveness to sex pheromones and spontaneous flight activity between wild and mass‐reared strains. These results indicate that mass‐reared strains of C. formicarius might not cause serious problems for implementing SIT programmes.
Sublethal effects of deltamethrin exposure of parental generations on physiological traits and overwintering in Leptinotarsa decemlineata
Authors: Piiroinen S. , Boman S. , Lyytinen A. , Mappes J. , Lindström L. 
Published: October 2013

AbstractAlthough the evolution of insecticide resistance has received a lot of attention, less is known about sublethal effects of insecticide stress experienced by the preceding generations on the performance of pest populations. We investigated whether three generations of parental exposure to a deltamethrin insecticide influences physiological traits and overwintering success of offspring in Leptinotarsa decemlineata (Say) (Coleoptera: Chrysomelidae). Beetles descending from insecticide‐exposed parents had lower adult body mass but higher relative lipid content and resting metabolic rate than those descending from non‐insecticide‐exposed parents. Also, a higher proportion of beetles descending from insecticide‐exposed parents than from control parents overwintered on the soil surface, which was associated with very low overwintering survival. When burrowed into the soil for overwintering, both groups had similar probability to survive the overwintering period. Parental insecticide exposure can reduce overall overwintering survival in the next generation by disturbing overwintering behaviour. Although beetles descending from insecticide‐exposed parents were small, the overwintering conditions seem to select for high lipid content, which could override the negative effects of small weight, and possibly improve fitness in the following growing season. Thus, insecticide application may have unintended consequences, which should be considered in pest management.
White spot syndrome virus epizootic in cultured Pacific white shrimp Litopenaeus vannamei (Boone) in Taiwan
Authors: Cheng L , Lin W‐H , Wang P‐C , Tsai M‐A , Hsu J‐P , Chen S‐C 
Published: October 2013

AbstractWhite spot syndrome virus (WSSV) has caused significant losses in shrimp farms worldwide. Between 2004 and 2006, Pacific white shrimp Litopenaeus vannamei (Boone) were collected from 220 farms in Taiwan to determine the prevalence and impact of WSSV infection on the shrimp farm industry. Polymerase chain reaction (PCR) analysis detected WSSV in shrimp from 26% of farms. Juvenile shrimp farms had the highest infection levels (38%; 19/50 farms) and brooder shrimp farms had the lowest (5%; one of 20 farms). The average extent of infection at each farm was as follows for WSSV‐positive farms: post‐larvae farms, 71%; juvenile farms, 61%; subadult farms, 62%; adult farms, 49%; and brooder farms, 40%. Characteristic white spots, hypertrophied nuclei and basophilic viral inclusion bodies were found in the epithelia of gills and tail fans, appendages, cephalothorax and hepatopancreas, and virions of WSSV were observed. Of shrimp that had WSSV lesions, 100% had lesions on the cephalothorax, 96% in gills and tail fans, 91% on appendages and 17% in the hepatopancreas. WSSV was also detected in copepoda and crustaceans from the shrimp farms. Sequence comparison using the pms146 gene fragment of WSSV showed that isolates from the farms had 99.7–100% nucleotide sequence identity with four strains in the GenBank database – China (AF332093), Taiwan (AF440570 and U50923) and Thailand (AF369029). This is the first broad study of WSSV infection in L. vannamei in Taiwan.
Pharmacokinetics and residue depletion of erythromycin in rainbow trout Oncorhynchus mykiss (Walbaum)
Authors: Di Salvo A , della Rocca G , Cagnardi P , Pellegrino R M 
Published: October 2013

AbstractErythromycin (ERY) is a drug active against Gram‐positive bacteria such as Lactococcus garvieae, a pathogen responsible for an important disease that may cause a substantial decrease in rainbow trout Oncorhynchus mykiss (Walbaum) production, the species of fish most commonly produced in Italy. In the literature, studies on the kinetics behaviour of ERY in fish are limited. Therefore, the aim of the present study was to evaluate the pharmacokinetics of ERY in rainbow trout after a single oral treatment with 75 mg kg−1 body weight (b.w.) of ERY and the residue depletion after multiple oral administration of 75 mg kg−1 b.w. day−1 of ERY for 10 days. Blood concentrations of ERY increased up to 20.24 ± 13.32 μg mL−1 at 6 h, then decreased to 5.97 ± 3.89 μg mL−1 at 24 h. The time during which the antibiotic remains in the bloodstream at concentrations exceeding the MIC (T > MIC) and the area under the serum concentration–time curve (AUC)/MIC are both pharmacokinetic–pharmacodynamic (PK/PD) predictors of ERY efficacy, and the data obtained allowed us to hypothesize that a dosage of 75 mg kg−1 b.w. day−1 of ERY could treat the lactococcosis in trout. Regarding the study of ERY depletion, rapid elimination was observed in tissue (muscle plus adherent skin); in fact the concentrations were below the limit of quantification in all samples (except two) by day 10 post‐treatment. ERY is not licensed in Europe for use in aquaculture, and its use is possible only by off‐label prescription with a precautionary withdrawal time of 500 degree‐days, as established by Directive 2004/28/EC. From the data obtained in this study, a withdrawal time of 8.90 days was calculated, corresponding, in our experimental conditions, to 117.5 degree‐days, a value significantly lower than that established by the European directive.
A new type of lordosis and vertebral body compression in Gilthead sea bream, Sparus aurata L.: aetiology, anatomy and consequences for survival
Authors: Loizides M , Georgiou A N , Somarakis S , Witten P E , Koumoundouros G 
Published: October 2013

AbstractA new type of vertebral malformation is described, consisting of deformed cartilaginous neural and haemal processes and the compression and fusion of vertebral bodies. The malformation is designated as haemal vertebral compression and fusion (haemal VCF). We studied the aetiology of the malformations and described microanatomical histopathological alterations. The malformations were detected during routine quality control in one of six monitored Gilthead sea bream populations. Haemal VCF affected the posterior part of the vertebral column (haemal vertebrae). In 20% of the deformed specimens, haemal VCF was combined with lordosis. At 35 dph (days post‐hatching), early anatomical signs of the haemal VCF consisted of abnormal centrum mineralization, malformed cartilaginous neural and haemal processes and developing lordotic alterations. The histological examination of the deformed individuals revealed that haemal VCF is preceded by notochord abnormalities. The frequency of deformed individuals was three times higher at 35 than at 61 dph (50.3% vs. 17.2%, n = 157 and n = 250, respectively). No signs of repair or reversion of malformations have been observed. Thus, the steep decrease in deformities in older animals suggests that haemal VCF is linked to high mortality rates. The results are discussed in respect of the possible causative factors of haemal VCF.