bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Oral hypoglycaemic agents and the development of non‐fatal cardiovascular events in patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus
Authors: Hung Yi‐Chih , Lin Che‐Chen , Wang Tzu‐Yuan , Chang Man‐Ping , Sung Fung‐Chang , Chen Ching‐Chu 
Published: August 2013

AbstractAimsThis study aimed to assess the risk of non‐fatal cardiovascular events among patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) who are taking metformin, glimepiride or glyburide.Materials and methodsUsing the National Health Insurance Research database in Taiwan, this retrospective cohort study identified 1159 patients with newly diagnosed T2DM from 1998 to 2007, 30 years and older and without a history of cardiovascular disease at baseline. Patients with cancer, liver cirrhosis or chronic kidney disease were excluded. On the basis of prescription, patients were grouped into three medication subcohorts: metformin (N = 595), glimepiride (N = 234) or glyburide (N = 330) monotherapy for 100% of the follow‐up period without any oral anti‐diabetic agents added or changed, by the end of 2009. Incidence and hazard ratios of non‐fatal cardiovascular events including coronary artery disease, peripheral artery disease, stroke and heart failure among these three subcohorts were compared.ResultsThe overall incidence of non‐fatal cardiovascular events was the highest for patients taking glyburide (169.1 per 1000 person‐years), followed by for those taking glimepiride and metformin (95.2 and 49.1 per 1000 person‐years, respectively). Compared with the adjusted hazard ratio for patients taking glyburide, the adjusted hazard ratio for those taking glimepiride was 0.52 (95% CI 0.40–0.69) and for those taking metformin was 0.31 (95% CI 0.24–0.40).ConclusionsT2DM patients taking metformin and glimepiride are at lower risk of non‐fatal cardiovascular events than those taking glyburide. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Origin and demographic history of the endemic Taiwan spruce (Picea morrisonicola)
Authors: Bodare Sofia , Stocks Michael , Yang Jeng‐Chuann , Lascoux Martin 
Published: August 2013

AbstractTaiwan spruce (Picea morrisonicola) is a vulnerable conifer species endemic to the island of Taiwan. A warming climate and competition from subtropical tree species has limited the range of Taiwan spruce to the higher altitudes of the island. Using seeds sampled from an area in the central mountain range of Taiwan, 15 nuclear loci were sequenced in order to measure genetic variation and to assess the long‐term genetic stability of the species. Genetic diversity is low and comparable to other spruce species with limited ranges such as Picea breweriana, Picea chihuahuana, and Picea schrenkiana. Importantly, analysis using approximate Bayesian computation (ABC) provides evidence for a drastic decline in the effective population size approximately 0.3–0.5 million years ago (mya). We used simulations to show that this is unlikely to be a false‐positive result due to the limited sample used here. To investigate the phylogenetic origin of Taiwan spruce, additional sequencing was performed in the Chinese spruce Picea wilsonii and combined with previously published data for three other mainland China species, Picea purpurea, Picea likiangensis, and P. schrenkiana. Analysis of population structure revealed that P. morrisonicola clusters most closely with P. wilsonii, and coalescent analyses using the program MIMAR dated the split to 4–8 mya, coincidental to the formation of Taiwan. Considering the population decrease that occurred after the split, however, led to a much more recent origin.
Synthesis of Amides by Palladium‐Catalyzed Decarbonylative Coupling of Carboxylic Acids with Isocyanides
Authors: Huang Lin , Guo Haili , Pan Lingxia , Xie Chunsong 
Published: August 2013

AbstractAmides were synthesized from carboxylic acids and isocyanides under PdII/AgI/base catalytic conditions. The reaction conditions were optimized, and the scope was studied. Various carboxylic acids and aryl isocyanides are compatible with this reaction, but alkyl isocyanides are not. A plausible mechanism, which features distinctive PdII‐mediated decarbonylative coupling and unprecedented nucleophilic attack of carboxylates to PdII‐ligated isocyanides, was proposed to account for this reaction.
Templated Carbene Metathesis Reactions from the Modular Assembly of Enol‐diazo Compounds and Propargyl Acetates
Authors: Qian Yu , Shanahan Charles S. , Doyle Michael P. 
Published: August 2013

AbstractA Lewis acid mediated coupling reaction of enol‐diazo nucleophiles and propargyl acetates has provided rapid and diverse access to complex alkynyl‐tethered diazocarbonyl compounds. The ability of the coupling reaction to vary critical functionality flanking the diazo group was explored as a way to direct the outcome of a series of metal‐catalyzed carbene metathesis cascade reactions. These cascade reactions provided diverse, biologically interesting carbocyclic and heterocyclic compounds in only a few steps from readily available materials.
Pd–Co/MWCNTs Catalyst for Electrooxidation of Hydrazine in Alkaline Solution
Authors: Liu J. , Liu R. , Yuan C. L. , Wei X. P. , Yin J. L. , Wang G. L. , Cao D. X. 
Published: August 2013

AbstractMultiwall carbon nanotubes supported Pd–Co electrocatalysts (Pd–Co/MWCNTs) for hydrazine electrooxidation in alkaline electrolytes were prepared. Their morphology and structure were characterized by scanning electron microscopy, transmission electron microscope, and X‐ray diffraction. The effect of the mass ratio of Pd to Co on the catalytic performance was examined via cyclic voltammetric and chronoamperometric measurements. The Pd–Co/MWCNTs with a mass ratio of 1:1 for Pd:Co shows higher catalytic performance than both Pd/MWCNTs and Co/MWCNTs and it has good stability for catalyzing the electrooxidation of hydrazine. The gas collection measurements indicated that hydrazine electrooxidation on Pd–Co/MWCNTs proceeded via a near 4‐electron pathway.
COST‐OFFSETS OF PRESCRIPTION DRUG EXPENDITURES: DATA ANALYSIS VIA A COPULA‐BASED BIVARIATE DYNAMIC HURDLE MODEL
Authors: Deb Partha , Trivedi Pravin K. , Zimmer David M. 
Published: August 2013

SUMMARYIn this paper, we estimate a copula‐based bivariate dynamic hurdle model of prescription drug and nondrug expenditures to test the cost‐offset hypothesis, which posits that increased expenditures on prescription drugs are offset by reductions in other nondrug expenditures. We apply the proposed methodology to data from the Medical Expenditure Panel Survey, which have the following features: (i) the observed bivariate outcomes are a mixture of zeros and continuously measured positives; (ii) both the zero and positive outcomes show state dependence and inter‐temporal interdependence; and (iii) the zeros and the positives display contemporaneous association. The point mass at zero is accommodated using a hurdle or a two‐part approach. The copula‐based approach to generating joint distributions is appealing because the contemporaneous association involves asymmetric dependence. The paper studies samples categorized by four health conditions: arthritis, diabetes, heart disease, and mental illness. There is evidence of greater than dollar‐for‐dollar cost‐offsets of expenditures on prescribed drugs for relatively low levels of spending on drugs and less than dollar‐for‐dollar cost‐offsets at higher levels of drug expenditures. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Long‐term hydrological response to reforestation in a large watershed in southeastern China
Authors: Li Shuo , Xu Ming , Sun Bo 
Published: August 2013

AbstractThe long‐term hydrological response to reforestation is critical to regional water management, especially in areas where large‐scale reforestation has been practiced. In this study, we investigated the long‐term hydrological response to reforestation in the 579 km2 basin in southeastern China through ground‐based monitoring of water yield, sedimentation, vegetation cover and climate in the basin. The vegetation dynamics were also examined by remote sensing data (MSS, Landsat and AVHRR NDVI). We found that forest cover increased 23% or 13 593 ha from 1975 to 2002. Meanwhile, annual water yield decreased 86–88 mm from 1971–1983 (i.e. pre‐reforestation) to 1984–2009 (i.e. post‐reforestation). These decreases were significant statistically according to both regression and double mass analyses. Time series analysis demonstrated that there was a clear decline in annual sediment yield and an increase in annual evapotranspiration (ET) over the period from 1971 to 2009. We concluded that reforestation could significantly reduce annual water yield and sediment yield in the basin because of the forest cover change and forest growth. This conclusion is consistent with findings from widely paired‐watershed studies and literatures published on the impact of reforestation in large watersheds. Our results also have important strategic implications and provide insight into more sustainable forest management practices for the future. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Volcanic sulfur dioxide plume forecasts based on UV satellite retrievals for the 2011 Grímsvötn and the 2010 Eyjafjallajökull eruption
Authors: Flemming Johannes , Inness Antje 
Published: August 2013

AbstractThe sulfur dioxide plumes released by the eruptions of the Icelandic volcanoes Eyjafjallajökull in May 2010 and Grímsvötn in May 2011 were studied using satellite observations from the Second Global Ozone Monitoring Experiment (GOME‐2), Ozone Monitoring Instrument (OMI), and Scanning Imaging Absorption Spectrometer for Atmospheric Chartography and modeled with the Integrated Forecasting System of the European Centre for Medium‐Range Weather Forecasts (ECMWF). The retrievals of SO2 total columns (TCSO2) were (i) used to estimate emission rate and injection height of the two eruptions and (ii) assimilated with ECMWF's four‐dimensional variational data assimilation algorithm to obtain initial conditions for subsequent forecasts. The OMI retrievals provided the highest plume observation values, and GOME‐2 had the best coverage. The emission parameters were estimated by comparing TCSO2 observations with an ensemble of test tracers injected at different heights. The applied methodology led to emission estimates of 0.25 Tg over 20 days in May 2010 and 0.32 Tg over 2 days in May 2011. The SO2 analyses produced by assimilating GOME‐2 TCSO2 retrievals captured the plume maxima well but exaggerated the plume area. The injection height estimate was used during the assimilation to determine the height of the assimilated plume. Plume forecasts were evaluated by means of hit‐rate and plume‐size statistics for different TCSO2 thresholds. Plume forecasts using either the emission parameters or the SO2 analyses as initial conditions agreed reasonably with the observations, but using both led to the best forecast performance. The initialization with SO2 analysis fields improved, in particular, the forecast of the Grímsvötn plume after the end of the eruption. The developed forecast and assimilation system can be applied for near–real‐time forecasting of volcanic SO2 plumes.
Delirium superimposed on dementia is associated with prolonged length of stay and poor outcomes in hospitalized older adults
Authors: Fick Donna M. , Steis Melinda R. , Waller Jennifer L. , Inouye Sharon K. 
Published: August 2013

BACKGROUNDCurrent literature does not identify the significance of underlying cognitive impairment and delirium in older adults during and 30 days following acute care hospitalization.OBJECTIVEDescribe the incidence, risk factors, and outcomes associated with incident delirium superimposed on dementia.DESIGNA 24‐month prospective cohort study.SETTINGCommunity hospital.PATIENTSA total of 139 older adults (>65 years) with dementia.METHODSThis prospective study followed patients daily during hospitalization and 1 month posthospital. Main measures included dementia (Modified Blessed Dementia Rating score, Informant Questionnaire on Cognitive Decline in the Elderly), daily mental status change, dementia stage/severity (Clinical Dementia Rating, Global Deterioration Scale), delirium (Confusion Assessment Method), and delirium severity (Delirium Rating Scale‐Revised‐98). All statistical analysis was performed using SAS 9.3, and significance was an α level of 0.05. Logistic regression, analysis of covariance, or linear regression was performed controlling for age, gender, and dementia stage.RESULTSThe overall incidence of new delirium was 32% (44/139). Those with delirium had a 25% short‐term mortality rate, increased length of stay, and poorer function at discharge. At 1 month follow‐up, subjects with delirium had greater functional decline. Males were more likely to develop delirium, and for every 1 unit increase in dementia severity (Global Deterioration Scale), subjects were 1.5 times more likely to develop delirium.CONCLUSIONSDelirium prolongs hospitalization for persons with dementia. Thus, interventions to increase early detection of delirium have the potential to decrease the severity and duration of delirium and to prevent unnecessary suffering and costs from the complications of delirium and unnecessary readmissions to the hospital. Journal of Hospital Medicine 2013;8:500–505. © 2013 Society of Hospital Medicine
High level of HIV‐2 false positivity in KwaZulu‐Natal province: A region of South Africa with a very high HIV‐1 subtype C prevalence
Authors: Singh Lavanya , Parboosing Raveen , Manasa Justen , Moodley Pravi , de Oliveira Tulio 
Published: August 2013

AbstractHuman immunodeficiency virus 2 (HIV‐2) is found predominantly in West Africa. It is not unlikely, however, that HIV‐2 may also be found in South Africa, due to the influx of immigrants into this country. It is important to distinguish between HIV‐1 and HIV‐2 since the clinical courses and treatment responses of these viruses are different. Routine serological methods for diagnosing HIV do not differentiate between HIV‐1 and ‐2 infections, while rapid tests, viral load quantification and PCR are HIV‐type—specific. The objective of this study was to describe the seroprevalence and molecular epidemiology of HIV‐2 in KwaZulu‐Natal, one of the regions with the highest HIV prevalence in the world and home of the two largest harbors in South Africa. HIV‐1 positive samples were screened for antibodies against HIV‐2, using a rapid test. The confirmation of HIV‐2 positive samples was done by PCR. Of the 2,123 samples screened, 319 (15%) were identified as positive by the rapid test. None of these samples were confirmed positive by PCR. To explore this discrepancy in the results, a subset (n = 52) of the rapid HIV‐2 positive samples was subjected to Western blotting. Thirty‐seven (71%) of these were positive, yielding an overall HIV‐2 seroprevalence of 10.6%. Three out of 28 (10.7%) Western blot positive samples were positive by a Pepti‐LAV assay. This discrepancy between serological and molecular confirmation may be attributed to non‐specific or cross‐reacting antibodies. The use of rapid tests and Western blots for HIV‐2 diagnosis in South Africa should be interpreted with caution. J. Med. Virol. 85:2065–2071, 2013. © 2013 The Authors. Journal of Medical Virology published by Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
Effects of local, synoptic and large‐scale climate conditions on daily nitrogen dioxide concentrations in Auckland, New Zealand
Authors: Jiang Ningbo , Dirks Kim N. , Luo Kehui 
Published: August 2013

ABSTRACTAs with many urban centres around the world, nitrogen dioxide (NO2) is of concern in Auckland, New Zealand because of its possible link to respiratory and heart disease. It has also been associated with the frequent occurrence of brown haze in the region. This article examines quantitatively the differential effects of the local‐, synoptic‐ and large‐scale (El Niño‐Southern Oscillation—ENSO, Southern Annular Mode—SAM) climate conditions on daily NO2 concentrations in urban Auckland under the framework of generalized linear models. The local meteorology is found to be the most important driver of the daily NO2 concentrations in Auckland, primarily through the coupling of local‐scale atmospheric flow and stability conditions with local emissions and chemical processes. Both the synoptic circulation and large‐scale climate modes play significant roles in determining the local air pollution. Synoptic circulations, even after controlling for the local meteorological conditions, modulate the daily NO2 at a regional level via two main mechanisms: (1) blocking types facilitate the transport of clean oceanic air over the Auckland landmass, leading to generally low NO2 concentrations; (2) westerly cyclonic types contribute to region‐wide increases in NO2 concentrations due to the enhanced mixing‐in and/or downward transport of ozone (O3) from the upper troposphere or stratosphere. The large‐scale climate modes, ENSO and SAM, modulate the regional air quality through changing the frequency of occurrence and air‐mass characteristics of synoptic systems over New Zealand. Overall, this study demonstrates a holistic approach to understand how atmospheric circulations of different scales affect local air quality and thus provides useful information for the formulation of effective public health management and planning strategies in response to future climate variability and change.
Live and death of streptomyces in soil—what happens to the biomass?
Authors: Schütze Eileen , Miltner Anja , Nietzsche Sandor , Achtenhagen Jan , Klose Michael , Merten Dirk , Greyer Matthias , Roth Martin , Kästner Matthias , Kothe Erika 
Published: August 2013

AbstractThe formation of soil organic matter (SOM) has been proposed to depend on fragmentation of biomass after cell death. However, this is hard to mimic in laboratory experiments showing the process directly. We used heavy metal contamination in order to provide an environment in which one Streptomyces strain, the heavy metal resistant S. mirabilis P16B‐1, could survive while the sensitive strain S. lividans TK24 was expected to die and disintegrate; the necromass fragments would then contribute to SOM formation. Both strains were grown for 30 d in sterile mesocosms containing either highly metal‐contaminated soil from a former uranium‐mining site in Ronneburg, Germany, or control soil from a municipal park, Jena, Germany. The fate and morphology of living and dead bacterial biomass (necromass) was observed using scanning electron microscopy. Attachment of soil particles to the intact mycelium as well as decay of dead biomass was observed. Dead bacterial biomass was identified in form of patchy fragments while the superordinate filamentous structure of the hyphae was still visible and obviously stabilized in soil. The fate of cytosolic compounds was followed using the example of a nickel‐containing superoxide dismutase (NiSOD) which was found to be released after death of cells grown in liquid soil‐extract medium. Activity of the enzyme was proven for concentrated media supernatant by a gel‐based qualitative activity assay. This indicates that NiSOD remains active in soil after cell death. Hence, bacterial cell death results in the release of cytosolic compounds, e.g., intact proteins, as well as the formation of residual cell‐envelope fragments contributing to SOM formation.
Calcification of aortic human valves studied in situ by Raman microimaging: following mineralization from small grains to big deposits
Authors: Pilarczyk Marta , Czamara Krzysztof , Baranska Malgorzata , Natorska Joanna , Kapusta Przemysław , Undas Anetta , Kaczor Agnieszka 
Published: August 2013

AbstractA Raman microimaging‐based approach has been used in the current study to evaluate formation and progression of calcification in situ in human stenotic aortic valves obtained during surgical valve replacement. The capability of the method to visualize distribution of the calcified deposits resulted in structural characterization of deposits in the various phases of development. A high spatial resolution of the method along with the confocal depth profiling enabled to identify extremely small salt inclusions (of ca. 0.5 µm in diameter), formed probably at the very early stage of calcification. Structurally, these inclusions are built from an octacalcium phosphate‐like compound that during grains' growth transforms into tricalcium phosphate, mixed with the salt containing the acidic phosphate groups (HPO42−) and, finally, into stable B‐type hydroxyapatite that is the only salt present in large‐area calcium salt deposits. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Estimates of scattered electromagnetic fields
Authors: Wellander N. , Kristensson G. 
Published: August 2013

AbstractWe present some general estimates of the scattered electromagnetic fields for a general bounded scattering domain Ω in the anisotropic materials setting. In particular, it is shown that the ‐ norm and sup norm of the scattered field in an arbitrary finite exterior domain Ωs is bounded by the H(curl,Ω) norm of the incident field. Moreover, several estimates of the traces of the scattered field on the boundary are presented. These estimates have bearing on estimations on cloaking. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Use of antiepileptic drugs and risk of hypothyroidism
Authors: Lai Edward Chia‐Cheng , Yang Yea‐Huei Kao , Lin Swu‐Jane , Hsieh Cheng‐Yang 
Published: August 2013

ABSTRACTPurposeThis study aimed to investigate the risk of clinically significant hypothyroidism among all the currently available antiepileptic drugs (AED).MethodsThe Taiwan National Health Insurance Research Database (NHIRD) from 2004 to 2010 was analyzed using a prescription sequence symmetry analysis, and thyroxine treatment was used as a proxy to identify a hypothyroidism event. A cohort of patients who have been treated with both AED and thyroxine was selected, and the chronological order of AED and thyroxine use constituted the basis of the prescription sequence symmetry analysis. A causal relationship was suspected if there was a significantly higher proportion of patients who initiated thyroxine after AED than those who initiated thyroxine before AED. The ratio of the two proportions was described as a sequence ratio. To benchmark the effect size of AEDs on thyroid function, amiodarone was selected as the reference indicator.ResultsA total of 1,878,189 AED users was found in the database, with 16,200 of them also used thyroxine. The adjusted sequence ratio of thyroxine use after each AED was 1.75 (99% confidence interval, 1.58–1.94) for phenytoin, 1.34 (1.20–1.49) for valproate, 1.25 (1.15–1.36) for phenobarbital, 1.21 (1.08–1.34) for carbamazepine, and 1.22 (1.03–1.46) for oxcarbazepine. The risk of hypothyroidism from phenytoin use within a shorter time frame was similar that associated with amiodarone use. No association was shown in most of the new generation AEDs.ConclusionThe results indicated an increased risk of hypothyroidism among patients using AEDs, especially phenytoin, valproate, phenobarbital, carbamazepine, and oxcarbazepine. The findings also provided strong grounds for further investigations on acute thyroid adverse effect induced by phenytoin. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.