bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Distribution and spread of pyrethroid and DDT resistance among the Anopheles gambiae complex in Tanzania
Authors: KABULA B. , TUNGU P. , MALIMA R. , ROWLAND M. , MINJA J. , WILILO R. , RAMSAN M. , MCELROY P. D. , KAFUKO J. , KULKARNI M. , PROTOPOPOFF N. , MAGESA S. , MOSHA F. , KISINZA W. 
Published: November 2013

AbstractThe development of insecticide resistance is a threat to the control of malaria in Africa. We report the findings of a national survey carried out in Tanzania in 2011 to monitor the susceptibility of malaria vectors to pyrethroid, organophosphate, carbamate and DDT insecticides, and compare these findings with those identified in 2004 and 2010. Standard World Health Organization (WHO) methods were used to detect knock‐down and mortality rates in wild female Anopheles gambiae s.l. (Diptera: Culicidae) collected from 14 sentinel districts. Diagnostic doses of the pyrethroids deltamethrin, lambdacyhalothrin and permethrin, the carbamate propoxur, the organophosphate fenitrothion and the organochlorine DDT were used. Anopheles gambiae s.l. was resistant to permethrin in Muleba, where a mortality rate of 11% [95% confidence interval (CI) 6–19%] was recorded, Muheza (mortality rate of 75%, 95% CI 66–83%), Moshi and Arumeru (mortality rates of 74% in both). Similarly, resistance was reported to lambdacyhalothrin in Muleba, Muheza, Moshi and Arumeru (mortality rates of 31–82%), and to deltamethrin in Muleba, Moshi and Muheza (mortality rates of 28–75%). Resistance to DDT was reported in Muleba. No resistance to the carbamate propoxur or the organophosphate fenitrothion was observed. Anopheles gambiae s.l. is becoming resistant to pyrethoids and DDT in several parts of Tanzania. This has coincided with the scaling up of vector control measures. Resistance may impair the effectiveness of these interventions and therefore demands close monitoring and the adoption of a resistance management strategy.
Prevalence of IgE sensitization in Danish children with suspected asthma
Authors: Hoffmann‐Petersen Benjamin , Høst Arne , Toksvig Larsen Kirsten , Ryttov Bergstein Katrine , Løgtholt Thomsen Martin , Brændholt Vagn , Halken Susanne 
Published: November 2013

AbstractObjectiveThe aim of this article was to estimate the prevalence of IgE sensitization in Danish children with suspected asthma and to characterize the pattern of sensitization.Study designWe performed a cross‐sectional study including 1744 children from 0 to 15 yr suspected of asthma who were referred to pediatric outpatient clinics in the region of southern Denmark from 2003 to 2005. The children were subjected to an extensive questionnaire‐based interview, clinical examination, and both skin prick testing (SPT) and IgE measurements for 17 allergens.ResultsAsthma was confirmed in 1024 of the 1744 children. Among the children in whom the asthma diagnosis was confirmed, sensitization to one or more of the 17 allergens tested was found in 67.5% by either SPT or s‐IgE ≥ class 2. Sensitization to any food allergen was found in 31.1%, to any outdoor allergen in 36.2%, and to any indoor allergen in 51.8%. Sensitization to cockroach and latex was rare. We found a weak correlation between SPT and s‐IgE among food allergens and a more distinct correlation among inhalant allergens. Surprisingly, 30.1% of children in whom the asthma diagnosis was disproven used inhaled corticosteroids (ICS). On the contrary, 32.5% of the children for whom the asthma diagnosis was verified were not treated with ICS.ConclusionWe have found a high prevalence of sensitization among children with verified asthma. Our study supports relevant allergy testing in all children with verified asthma and emphasizes the importance of a thorough asthma diagnosis before prescribing continuous inhaled corticosteroids to children.
Modelling Menstrual Cycle Length and Variability at the Approach of Menopause by Using Hierarchical Change Point Models
Authors: Huang Xiaobi , Elliott Michael R. , Harlow Siobán D. 
Published: November 2013

SummaryAs women approach menopause, the patterns of their menstrual cycle lengths change. To study these changes, we need to model jointly both the mean and the variability of cycle length. Our proposed model incorporates separate mean and variance change points for each woman and a hierarchical model to link them together, along with regression components to include predictors of menopausal onset such as age at menarche and parity. Additional complexity arises from the fact that the calendar data have substantial missingness due to hormone use, surgery and failure to report. We integrate multiple imputation and time-to-event modelling in a Bayesian estimation framework to deal with different forms of the missingness. Posterior predictive model checks are applied to evaluate the model fit. Our method successfully models patterns of women's menstrual cycle trajectories throughout their late reproductive life and identifies change points for mean and variability of segment length, providing insight into the menopausal process. More generally, our model points the way towards increasing use of joint mean–variance models to predict health outcomes and to understand disease processes better.
Fibrinogen recovery and changes in fibrin‐based clot firmness after cryoprecipitate administration in patients undergoing aortic surgery involving deep hypothermic circulatory arrest
Authors: Lee Sang Hyun , Lee Sangmin M. , Kim Chung Su , Cho Hyun Sung , Lee Jong‐Hwan , Lee Cheol Hee , Kim Eunhee , Sung Kiick , Solomon Cristina , Kang Jingu , Kim Young Ri 
Published: November 2013

BackgroundCryoprecipitate may be used to treat bleeding in cardiac surgery. Its effects on plasma fibrinogen and fibrin clotting in this setting are poorly defined.Study Design And MethodsPatients undergoing on‐pump aortic surgery with deep hypothermic circulatory arrest (DHCA) were recruited prospectively. After protamine reversal, cryoprecipitate was administered to patients with bleeding, and fibrin deficit was indicated by thromboelastometry (ROTEM)‐based FIBTEM test. Coagulation was assessed using ROTEM‐based tests and standard laboratory tests before and after cryoprecipitate.ResultsThirteen patients were included. Cryoprecipitate significantly elevated EXTEM A10 from (mean ± standard deviation) 29.4 ± 5.8 to 34.8 ± 5.9 mm (p = 0.01), FIBTEM A10 from 3.5 ± 0.9 to 5.8 ± 1.7 mm (p = 0.04), and plasma fibrinogen concentration from 154.2 ± 25.6 to 193.4 ± 30.5 mg/dL (p = 0.01). EXTEM clot elasticity at 10 minutes (CE10) increased from 42.5 ± 12.0 to 54.7 ± 14.9 mm after cryoprecipitate (30.0% increase). FIBTEM CE10 increased from 3.7 ± 0.9 to 6.2 ± 2.0 mm (53.0% increase). A fibrinogen dose of 13.2 ± 5.2 mg/kg was required to increase FIBTEM A10 by 1 mm. In vivo recovery of fibrinogen was 61.6 ± 31.2%.ConclusionsCryoprecipitate increased plasma fibrinogen levels and fibrin‐based clotting in bleeding patients undergoing aortic surgery with DHCA. In vivo recovery of fibrinogen was considerably below 100% and fibrinogen content varied between cryoprecipitate units. Trials are needed to assess whether cryoprecipitate impacts clinical outcomes and to evaluate its safety.
Texture analysis improves level set segmentation of the anterior abdominal wall
Authors: Xu Zhoubing , Allen Wade M. , Baucom Rebeccah B. , Poulose Benjamin K. , Landman Bennett A. 
Published: November 2013

Purpose:The treatment of ventral hernias (VH) has been a challenging problem for medical care. Repair of these hernias is fraught with failure; recurrence rates ranging from 24% to 43% have been reported, even with the use of biocompatible mesh. Currently, computed tomography (CT) is used to guide intervention through expert, but qualitative, clinical judgments, notably, quantitative metrics based on image‐processing are not used. The authors propose that image segmentation methods to capture the three‐dimensional structure of the abdominal wall and its abnormalities will provide a foundation on which to measure geometric properties of hernias and surrounding tissues and, therefore, to optimize intervention.Methods:In this study with 20 clinically acquired CT scans on postoperative patients, the authors demonstrated a novel approach to geometric classification of the abdominal. The authors’ approach uses a texture analysis based on Gabor filters to extract feature vectors and follows a fuzzy c‐means clustering method to estimate voxelwise probability memberships for eight clusters. The memberships estimated from the texture analysis are helpful to identify anatomical structures with inhomogeneous intensities. The membership was used to guide the level set evolution, as well as to derive an initial start close to the abdominal wall.Results:Segmentation results on abdominal walls were both quantitatively and qualitatively validated with surface errors based on manually labeled ground truth. Using texture, mean surface errors for the outer surface of the abdominal wall were less than 2 mm, with 91% of the outer surface less than 5 mm away from the manual tracings; errors were significantly greater (2–5 mm) for methods that did not use the texture.Conclusions:The authors’ approach establishes a baseline for characterizing the abdominal wall for improving VH care. Inherent texture patterns in CT scans are helpful to the tissue classification, and texture analysis can improve the level set segmentation around the abdominal region.
Specificity Residues Determine Binding Affinity for Two-Component Signal Transduction Systems
Authors: Willett Jonathan W. , Tiwari Nitija , Müller Susanne , Hummels Katherine R. , Houtman Jon C. D. , Fuentes Ernesto J. , Kirby John R. 
Published: November 2013

ABSTRACT

Two-component systems (TCS) comprise histidine kinases and their cognate response regulators and allow bacteria to sense and respond to a wide variety of signals. Histidine kinases (HKs) phosphorylate and dephosphorylate their cognate response regulators (RRs) in response to stimuli. In general, these reactions appear to be highly specific and require an appropriate association between the HK and RR proteins. The
Myxococcus xanthus
genome encodes one of the largest repertoires of signaling proteins in bacteria (685 open reading frames [ORFs]), including at least 127 HKs and at least 143 RRs. Of these, 27 are
bona fide
NtrC-family response regulators, 21 of which are encoded adjacent to their predicted cognate kinases. Using system-wide profiling methods, we determined that the HK-NtrC RR pairs display a kinetic preference during both phosphotransfer and phosphatase functions, thereby defining cognate signaling systems in
M. xanthus
. Isothermal titration calorimetry measurements indicated that cognate HK-RR pairs interact with dissociation constants (
K

d

) of approximately 1 µM, while noncognate pairs had no measurable binding. Lastly, a chimera generated between the histidine kinase, CrdS, and HK1190 revealed that residues conferring phosphotransfer and phosphatase specificity dictate binding affinity, thereby establishing discrete protein-protein interactions which prevent cross talk. The data indicate that binding affinity is a critical parameter governing system-wide signaling fidelity for bacterial signal transduction proteins.

IMPORTANCE
Using
in vitro
phosphotransfer and phosphatase profiling assays and isothermal titration calorimetry, we have taken a system-wide approach to demonstrate specificity for a family of two-component signaling proteins in
Myxococcus xanthus
. Our results demonstrate that previously identified specificity residues dictate binding affinity and that phosphatase specificity follows phosphotransfer specificity for cognate HK-RR pairs. The data indicate that preferential binding affinity is the basis for signaling fidelity in bacterial two-component systems.
Sequence-Defined Transposon Mutant Library of Burkholderia thailandensis
Authors: Gallagher Larry A. , Ramage Elizabeth , Patrapuvich Rapatbhorn , Weiss Eli , Brittnacher Mitch , Manoil Colin 
Published: November 2013

ABSTRACT

We constructed a near-saturation transposon mutant library for
Burkholderia thailandensis
, a low-virulence surrogate for the causative agent of melioidosis (
Burkholderia pseudomallei
). A primary set of nearly 42,000 unique mutants (~7.5 mutants/gene) was generated using transposon Tn
5
derivatives. The strains carry insertions in 87% of the predicted protein-coding genes of the organism, corresponding to nearly all of those nonessential for growth on nutrient agar. To achieve high genome coverage, we developed procedures for efficient sequence identification of insertions in extremely GC-rich regions of DNA. To facilitate strain distribution, we created a secondary library with two mutants per gene for which most transposon locations had been confirmed by resequencing. A map of mutations in the two-allele library and procedures for obtaining strains can be found at
http://tools.nwrce.org/tn_mutants/
and
http://www.gs.washington.edu/labs/manoil/
. The library should facilitate comprehensive mutant screens and serve as a source of strains to test predicted genotype-phenotype associations.

IMPORTANCE
The Gram-negative bacterium
Burkholderia pseudomallei
is a biothreat agent due to its potential for aerosol delivery and intrinsic antibiotic resistance and because exposure produces pernicious infections. Large-scale studies of
B. pseudomallei
are limited by the fact that the organism must be manipulated under biological safety level 3 conditions. A close relative of
B. pseudomallei
called
Burkholderia thailandensis
, which can be studied under less restrictive conditions, has been validated as a low-virulence surrogate in studies of virulence, antibiotic resistance and other traits. To facilitate large-scale studies of
B. thailandensis
, we created a near-saturation, sequence-defined transposon mutant library of the organism. The library facilitates genetic studies that identify genotype-phenotype associations conserved in
B. pseudomallei
.
Two Distinct N-Glycosylation Pathways Process the Haloferax volcanii S-Layer Glycoprotein upon Changes in Environmental Salinity
Authors: Kaminski Lina , Guan Ziqiang , Yurist-Doutsch Sophie , Eichler Jerry 
Published: November 2013

ABSTRACT

N-glycosylation in
Archaea
presents aspects of this posttranslational modification not seen in either
Eukarya
or
Bacteria
. In the haloarchaeon
Haloferax volcanii
, the surface (S)-layer glycoprotein can be simultaneously modified by two different N-glycans. Asn-13 and Asn-83 are modified by a pentasaccharide, whereas Asn-498 is modified by a tetrasaccharide of distinct composition, with N-glycosylation at this position being related to environmental conditions. Specifically, N-glycosylation of Asn-498 is detected when cells are grown in the presence of 1.75 but not 3.4 M NaCl. While deletion of genes encoding components of the pentasaccharide assembly pathway had no effect on the biosynthesis of the tetrasaccharide bound to Asn-498, deletion of genes within the cluster spanning
HVO
_
2046
to
HVO
_
2061
interfered with the assembly and attachment of the Asn-498-linked tetrasaccharide. Transfer of the “low-salt” tetrasaccharide from the dolichol phosphate carrier upon which it is assembled to S-layer glycoprotein Asn-498 did not require AglB, the oligosaccharyltransferase responsible for pentasaccharide attachment to Asn-13 and Asn-83. Finally, although biogenesis of the low-salt tetrasaccharide is barely discernible upon growth at the elevated salinity, this glycan was readily detected under such conditions in strains deleted of pentasaccharide biosynthesis pathway genes, indicative of cross talk between the two N-glycosylation pathways.

IMPORTANCE
In the haloarchaeon
Haloferax volcanii
, originally from the Dead Sea, the pathway responsible for the assembly and attachment of a pentasaccharide to the S-layer glycoprotein, a well-studied glycoprotein in this species, has been described. More recently, it was shown that in response to growth in low salinity, the same glycoprotein is modified by a novel tetrasaccharide. In the present study, numerous components of the pathway used to synthesize this “low-salt” tetrasaccharide are described. As such, this represents the first report of two N-glycosylation pathways able to simultaneously modify a single protein as a function of environmental salinity. Moreover, and to the best of our knowledge, the ability to N-glycosylate the same protein with different and unrelated glycans has not been observed in either
Eukarya
or
Bacteria
or indeed beyond the halophilic archaea, for which similar dual modification of the
Halobacterium salinarum
S-layer glycoprotein was reported.
Sp100 Provides Intrinsic Immunity against Human Papillomavirus Infection
Authors: Stepp Wesley H. , Meyers Jordan M. , McBride Alison A. 
Published: November 2013

ABSTRACTMost DNA viruses associate with, and reorganize, nuclear domain 10 (ND10) bodies upon entry into the host nucleus. In this study, we examine the roles of the ND10 components PML, Sp100, and Daxx in the establishment of human papillomavirus type 18 (HPV18) infection of primary human keratinocytes. HPV18 DNA or HPV18 quasivirus was introduced into primary human keratinocytes depleted of each ND10 protein by small interfering RNA technology, and genome establishment was determined by using a quantitative immortalization assay and measurements of viral transcription and DNA replication. Keratinocyte depletion of Sp100 resulted in a substantial increase in the number of HPV18-immortalized colonies and a corresponding increase in viral transcription and DNA replication. However, Sp100 repressed viral transcription and replication only during the initial stages of viral establishment, suggesting that Sp100 acts as a repressor of incoming HPV DNA.IMPORTANCEThe intrinsic immune system provides a first-line defense against invading pathogens. Host cells contain nuclear bodies (ND10) that are important for antiviral defense, yet many DNA viruses localize here upon cell entry. However, viruses also disrupt, reorganize, and modify individual components of the bodies. In this study, we show that one of the ND10 components, Sp100, limits the infection of human skin cells by human papillomavirus (HPV). HPVs are important pathogens that cause many types of infection of the cutaneous and mucosal epithelium and are the causative agents of several human cancers. Understanding how host cells counteract HPV infection could provide insight into antimicrobial therapies that could limit initial infection.
Analysis of Interspike Interval of Dorsal Horn Neurons Evoked by Different Needle Manipulations at St36
Authors: Zhou Tao , Wang Jiang , Han Chun-Xiao , Torao Ishida , Guo Yi 
Published: November 2013

Objectives Previous research has suggested that different manual acupuncture (MA) manipulations may have different physiological effects. Recent studies have demonstrated that neural electrical signals are generated or changed when acupuncture is administered. In order to explore the effects of different MA manipulations on the neural system, an experiment was designed to record the discharges of wide dynamic range (WDR) neurons in the spinal dorsal horn evoked by MA at different frequencies (0.5, 1, 2 and 3 Hz) at ST36. Methods Microelectrode extracellular recordings were used to record the discharges of WDR neurons evoked by different MA manipulations. Approximate firing rate and coefficient of variation of interspike interval (ISI) were used to extract the characteristic parameters of the neural electrical signals after spike sorting, and the neural coding of the evoked discharges by different MA manipulations was obtained. Results Our results indicated that the neuronal firing rate and time sequences of ISI showed distinct clustering properties for different MA manipulations, which could distinguish them effectively. Conclusions The combination of firing rate and ISI codes carries information about the acupuncture stimulus frequency. Different MA manipulations appear to change the neural coding of electrical signals in the spinal dorsal horn through WDR neurons.
Gag Reflex Control through Acupuncture: A Case Series
Authors: Bilello Giuseppa , Fregapane Antonella 
Published: November 2013

Background Many patients avoid dental appointments because of severe gagging when they have work performed, such as taking impressions. There are several methods known to alleviate gagging, and some studies have suggested that acupuncture may be effective in reducing gag reflex. The aim of the present study therefore was to evaluate whether acupuncture can produce a reduction of the gag reflex. Methods A total of 20 patients, aged between 19 and 80 years, with history of gag reflex on taking dental impressions, were recruited. All patients fulfilling the inclusion criteria had an upper and lower dental alginate impression taken without acupuncture, and a second upper and lower alginate impression taken immediately after acupuncture based on traditional Chinese medicine. After each impression, the patients recorded their emetic sensation using a visual analogue scale (VAS). Results The results showed a significant (p<0.05) reduction in the gag reflex scores after acupuncture. For upper impressions, they fell from 6.8 (1.1) to 1.1 (1.1); and for lower impressions, from 5.45 (1.0) to 0.4 (0.7) (mean (SD)). Conclusions The findings from our study suggest that acupuncture may be useful for preventing and treating gag reflex, and justifies further study.
A bottom-up, knowledge-aware approach to integrating and querying web data services
Authors: Quarteroni Silvia , Brambilla Marco , Ceri Stefano 
Published: November 2013

As a wealth of data services is becoming available on the Web, building and querying Web applications that effectively integrate their content is increasingly important. However, schema integration and ontology matching with the aim of registering data services often requires a knowledge-intensive, tedious, and error-prone manual process.
We tackle this issue by presenting a bottom-up, semi-automatic service registration process that refers to an external knowledge base and uses simple text processing techniques in order to minimize and possibly avoid the contribution of domain experts in the annotation of data services. The first by-product of this process is a representation of the domain of data services as an entity-relationship diagram, whose entities are named after concepts of the external knowledge base matching service terminology rather than being manually created to accommodate an application-specific ontology. Second, a three-layer annotation of service semantics (service interfaces, access patterns, service marts) describing how services “play” with such domain elements is also automatically constructed at registration time. When evaluated against heterogeneous existing data services and with a synthetic service dataset constructed using Google Fusion Tables, the approach yields good results in terms of data representation accuracy.
We subsequently demonstrate that natural language processing methods can be used to decompose and match simple queries to the data services represented in three layers according to the preceding methodology with satisfactory results. We show how semantic annotations are used at query time to convert the user's request into an executable logical query. Globally, our findings show that the proposed registration method is effective in creating a uniform semantic representation of data services, suitable for building Web applications and answering search queries.