bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Comparing four non‐invasive methods to determine the ventilatory anaerobic threshold during cardiopulmonary exercise testing in children with congenital heart or lung disease
Authors: Visschers Naomi. C. A. , Hulzebos Erik. H. , van Brussel Marco. , Takken Tim. 
Published: July 2014

SummaryBackgroundThe ventilatory anaerobic threshold (VAT) is an important method to assess the aerobic fitness in patients with cardiopulmonary disease. Several methods exist to determine the VAT; however, there is no consensus which of these methods is the most accurate.ObjectiveTo compare four different non‐invasive methods for the determination of the VAT via respiratory gas exchange analysis during a cardiopulmonary exercise test (CPET). A secondary objective is to determine the interobserver reliability of the VAT.MethodsCPET data of 30 children diagnosed with either cystic fibrosis (CF; N = 15) or with a surgically corrected dextro‐transposition of the great arteries (asoTGA; N = 15) were included.ResultsNo significant differences were found between conditions or among testers. The RER = 1 method differed the most compared to the other methods, showing significant higher results in all six variables. The PET‐O2 method differed significantly on five of six and four of six exercise variables with the V‐slope method and the VentEq method, respectively. The V‐slope and the VentEq method differed significantly on one of six exercise variables. Ten of thirteen ICCs that were >0·80 had a 95% CI > 0·70. The RER = 1 method and the V‐slope method had the highest number of significant ICCs and 95% CIs.ConclusionThe V‐slope method, the ventilatory equivalent method and the PET‐O2 method are comparable and reliable methods to determine the VAT during CPET in children with CF or asoTGA.
When and how do species achieve niche stability over long time scales?
Authors: Stigall Alycia L. 
Published: July 2014

Niche conservation is not ubiquitous among all species or all environmental changes. Identifying the underlying basis for variable species responses is important for conservation efforts and macroevolutionary theory and requires comparing multiple clades and types of environmental change. To examine this issue, niche stability was analyzed for a phylogenetically diverse suite of invertebrates that inhabited the epicontinental seas of eastern North America during the Late Ordovician Period (∼450 Ma). These taxa experienced fluctuating sea level and a regional biotic invasion event, the Richmondian invasion, during nine time slices spanning approximately three million years. Niche models were generated with Maxent and niche stability was assessed via geographic overlap, niche similarity, and environmental parameters.These taxa exhibited high fidelity habitat tracking and stable ecological niches during the pre‐invasion interval characterized by gradual sea‐level changes, whereas taxa exhibited statistically lower niche stability and more niche evolution during and after the Richmondian invasion. Conversely, environmental parameter similarity between niche models of adjacent time slices was lowest during the pre‐invasion interval and increased following the Richmondian invasion. Declining niche similarity and geographic stability coincident with increasing environmental parameter similarity indicates ecological niche change resulted from contracting species' realized niches to a subset of the original fundamental niche dimensions rather than shifting to new ecospace. Niche contraction is interpreted as a response to increased competition from invasive species, which may have arisen from adaptation, sorting (differential birth and death processes) and/or ecological fitting. These results indicate that consideration of multiple hierarchical levels, temporal scales and ecological contexts will yield new insights into the processes that generate both macroevolutionary and ecological patterns. They also suggest the widely employed assumption of niche conservatism through time and space may be more frequently valid for intervals of gradual abiotic change than for biotic changes caused by invasive species.
Differing contributions of density dependence and climate to the population dynamics of three eruptive herbivores
Authors: DAVIS THOMAS S. , ABATZOGLOU JOHN T. , BOSQUE‐PÉREZ NILSA A. , HALBERT SUSAN E. , PIKE KEITH , EIGENBRODE SANFORD D. 
Published: July 2014

1. Although both endogenous and exogenous processes regulate populations, the current understanding of the contributions from density dependence and climate to the population dynamics of eruptive herbivores remains limited.2. Using a 17‐year time series of three cereal aphid species [Rhopalosiphum padi L., Metopolophium dirhodum (Walker), and Diuraphis noxia (Kurdumov)] compiled from a trapping network spanning the northwestern U.S.A., temporal and spatial patterns associated with population fluctuations, and modelled density dependence in aphid abundances were tested. These models were used to analyse correlations between climate and aphid abundances in the presence and absence of residual variance as a result of density‐dependent effects.3. The temporal dynamics of aphid population fluctuations indicated periodicity, with no clear evidence for a spatial pattern underlying population fluctuations.4. Aphid abundances oscillated in a manner consistent with delayed density dependence for all three aphid species, although the strength of these feedbacks differed among species.5. Diuraphis noxia abundances were negatively correlated with increasing temperatures in the absence of density‐dependent effects, whereas M. dirhodum abundances were positively correlated with increasing cumulative precipitation in the presence of density‐dependent effects; yet, R. padi abundances were unrelated to climate variables irrespective of population feedbacks.6. Our analysis suggests that endogenous feedbacks differentially regulate aphid populations in the northwestern U.S.A., and these feedbacks may operate at an expansive spatial scale. It is concluded that the contributions of density dependence and climate to aphid population dynamics are species‐specific in spite of similar ecological niches, with implications for assessing species responses to climate variability.
Manipulating tropical fire ants to reduce the coffee berry borer
Authors: TRIBLE WARING , CARROLL RON 
Published: July 2014

1. The coffee berry borer Hypothenemus hampei (Coleoptera, Curculionidae) (Ferrari) is the most important pest of coffee production worldwide.2. The hypothesis that the tropical fire ant, Solenopsis geminata Westwood, indirectly protects the coffee berry borer by suppressing other ant species that are the coffee berry borer's primary predators was tested.3. It was found that removing S. geminata from coffee plots significantly increased the disappearance of adult coffee berry borer beetles from coffee berries compared with control plots. An average of 6% of beetles disappeared from plots with S. geminata whereas 23% of beetles disappeared from plots from which S. geminata was removed. This pattern was observed on two shade coffee farms with marked differences in ant species composition, one in the rainforest in central Costa Rica and one in the cloudforest in northwest Costa Rica.4. If the results of this small‐scale study can be replicated on the farm level, then S. geminata suppression may represent a new management technique for the coffee berry borer throughout Central and South America.
Tree diversity promotes predator but not omnivore ants in a subtropical Chinese forest
Authors: STAAB MICHAEL , SCHULDT ANDREAS , ASSMANN THORSTEN , KLEIN ALEXANDRA‐MARIA 
Published: July 2014

1. Epigeic ants are functionally important arthropods in tropical and subtropical forests, particularly by acting as predators. High predation pressure has been hypothesised to be a mechanism facilitating high diversity across trophic levels.2. In this study, standardised pitfall traps were used in a highly diverse subtropical forest to test if and how ant species richness is related to tree species richness and a comprehensive set of other environmental variables such as successional age, soil properties or elevation.3. A total of 13 441 ant individuals belonging to 3839 species occurrences and 71 species were collected, of which 26 species were exclusive predators and 45 species were omnivores.4. Occurrence and species richness of total and omnivore ants were positively related to soil pH. Predator ant occurrence was unrelated to all environmental variables tested.5. The species richness of predator ants increased with tree species richness but decreased with leaf functional diversity and shrub cover. Elevation negatively influenced only total ant species richness.6. The evenness of predators increased with tree species richness, while the evenness of all ants decreased with shrub cover. Omnivore ant evenness decreased with tree evenness, but increased with successional age.7. The results highlight the value of diverse forests in maintaining species richness and community evenness of a functionally important predator group. Moreover, the results stress the importance of analysing trophic groups separately when investigating biodiversity effects.
Burden of epilepsy in rural Kenya measured in disability‐adjusted life years
Authors: Ibinda Fredrick , Wagner Ryan G. , Bertram Melanie Y. , Ngugi Anthony K. , Bauni Evasius , Vos Theo , Sander Josemir W. , Newton Charles R. 
Published: July 2014

SummaryObjectivesThe burden of epilepsy, in terms of both morbidity and mortality, is likely to vary depending on the etiology (primary [genetic/unknown] vs. secondary [structural/metabolic]) and with the use of antiepileptic drugs (AEDs). We estimated the disability‐adjusted life years (DALYs) and modeled the remission rates of active convulsive epilepsy (ACE) using epidemiologic data collected over the last decade in rural Kilifi, Kenya.MethodsWe used measures of prevalence, incidence, and mortality to model the remission of epilepsy using disease‐modeling software (DisMod II). DALYs were calculated as the sum of Years Lost to Disability (YLD) and Years of Life Lost (YLL) due to premature death using the prevalence approach, with disability weights (DWs) from the 2010 Global Burden of Disease (GBD) study. DALYs were calculated with R statistical software with the associated uncertainty intervals (UIs) computed by bootstrapping.ResultsA total of 1,005 (95% UI 797–1,213) DALYs were lost to ACE, which is 433 (95% UI 393–469) DALYs lost per 100,000 people. Twenty‐six percent (113/100,000/year, 95% UI 106–117) of the DALYs were due to YLD and 74% (320/100,000/year, 95% UI 248–416) to YLL. Primary epilepsy accounted for fewer DALYs than secondary epilepsy (98 vs. 334 DALYs per 100,000 people). Those taking AEDs contributed fewer DALYs than those not taking AEDs (167 vs. 266 DALYs per 100,000 people). The proportion of people with ACE in remission per year was estimated at 11.0% in males and 12.0% in females, with highest rates in the 0–5 year age group.SignificanceThe DALYs for ACE are high in rural Kenya, but less than the estimates of 2010 GBD study. Three‐fourths of DALYs resulted from secondary epilepsy. Use of AEDs was associated with 40% reduction of DALYs. Improving adherence to AEDs may reduce the burden of epilepsy in this area.
High‐pressure processing of Manuka honey: brown pigment formation, improvement of antibacterial activity and hydroxymethylfurfural content
Authors: Fauzi Noor Akhmazillah , Farid Mohammed M. 
Published: July 2014

SummaryThis work was undertaken to assess the effects of high‐pressure processing on brown pigment formation, antibacterial activity and hydroxymethylfurfural (HMF) content in Manuka honey. The honey was subjected to different pressures (200–600 MPa) at ambient temperatures (25–33 °C) and with moderate temperatures (53–74 °C) for holding times (10–30 min). The brown pigment formation in high‐pressure‐treated sample showed a significant increase (0.16–0.17, P < 0.05), whereas maximum percentage inhibition of Staphylococcus epidermidis (84.34 ± 7.62%) was achieved when honey was subjected to 600 MPa as compared to the control (64.15 ± 5.86%). The percentage inhibition in high‐pressure‐treated samples correlated linearly (r = 0.941) with brown pigment. No significant increase in HMF as affected by high pressure was found (P > 0.05). Thus, high‐pressure processing has no adverse effect on the honey quality because it can control HMF concentration during process. Increasing brown pigment formation is associated with the enhancement of antibacterial activity.
Cocoa polyphenols accelerate vitamin B12 degradation in heated chocolate milk
Authors: Johns Paul W. , Das Ananya , Kuil Esther M. , Jacobs Wesley A. , Schimpf Karen J. , Schmitz Daniel J. 
Published: July 2014

SummaryThe rate of vitamin B12 loss was 3X greater in heated, chocolate‐flavoured milk than in unflavoured milk. Studies of B12 stability in the presence of cocoa powder components were performed to identify the reactive agents. Cocoa polyphenols with a strong capacity both for reduction and for peroxide generation accelerated B12 destruction as much as 20‐fold vs. polyphenols without both capacities. Polyphenols with both capacities include the cocoa polyphenol (+)‐catechin and oligomers thereof, but also the structurally related polyphenols gallic acid, caffeic acid and (−)‐epigallocatechin gallate. The demonstrated physical affinity of cocoa powder for B12 was a significant factor in the destructive process. B12 may exhibit decreased stability in heated, neutral pH, polyphenol‐fortified foods.
Is it Morally Wrong to Defend Unjust Causes as a Lawyer?
Authors: Rivera‐López Eduardo 
Published: July 2014

AbstractThe question I address in this article is whether it is morally wrong for a lawyer to represent a client whose purpose is immoral or unjust. My answer to this question is that it is wrong, prima facie. This conclusion holds, even accepting certain traditional principles of lawyer's professional ethics, such as the right of defence and the so‐called principle of ‘adversarial’ litigation. Both the adversarial system and the right of defence are sufficient to support or justify the right of potential clients (and citizens in general) to defend their interests in the judicial system and to do so with the technical assistance of a lawyer. This right includes a right to pursue unjust or immoral purposes (within the law). However, having a right to do X does not mean that it is morally permissible to do X. We can have a right to do something morally wrong. This being so, the fundamental moral reason for a lawyer not to accept representation for a client with an immoral purpose is that it is, prima facie, morally wrong to help someone do something wrong.
TNF‐α‐induced cardiomyocyte apoptosis contributes to cardiac dysfunction after coronary microembolization in mini‐pigs
Authors: Chen Zhang‐Wei , Qian Ju‐Ying , Ma Jian‐Ying , Chang Shu‐Fu , Yun Hong , Jin Hang , Sun Ai‐Jun , Zou Yun‐Zeng , Ge Jun‐Bo 
Published: July 2014

AbstractThis experimental study was designed to clarify the relationship between cardiomyocyte apoptosis and tumour necrosis factor‐alpha (TNF‐α) expression, and confirm the effect of TNF‐α on cardiac dysfunction after coronary microembolization (CME) in mini‐pigs. Nineteen mini‐pigs were divided into three groups: sham‐operation group (n = 5), CME group (n = 7) and adalimumab pre‐treatment group (n = 7; TNF‐α antibody, 2 mg/kg intracoronary injection before CME). Magnetic resonance imaging (3.0‐T) was performed at baseline, 6th hour and 1 week after procedure. Cardiomyocyte apoptosis was detected by cardiac‐TUNEL staining, and caspase‐3 and caspase‐8 were detected by RT‐PCR and immunohistochemistry. Furthermore, serum TNF‐α, IL‐6 and troponin T were analysed, while myocardial expressions of TNF‐α and IL‐6 were detected. Both TNF‐α expression (serum level and myocardial expression) and average number of apoptotic cardiomyocyte nuclei were significantly increased in CME group compared with the sham‐operation group. Six hours after CME, left ventricular end‐systolic volume (LVESV) was increased and the left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF) was decreased in CME group. Pre‐treatment with adalimumab not only significantly improved LVEF after CME (6th hour: 54.9 ± 2.3% versus 50.4 ± 3.9%, P = 0.036; 1 week: 56.7 ± 4.2% versus 52.7 ± 2.9%, P = 0.041), but also suppressed cardiomyocyte apoptosis and the expression of caspase‐3 and caspase‐8. Meanwhile, the average number of apoptotic cardiomyocytes nuclei was inversely correlated with LVEF (r = −0.535, P = 0.022). TNF‐α‐induced cardiomyocyte apoptosis is likely involved in cardiac dysfunction after CME. TNF‐α antibody therapy suppresses cardiomyocyte apoptosis and improves early cardiac function after CME.
Clinical comparison and complete cure rates of terbinafine efficacy in affected onychomycotic toenails
Authors: Shemer A. , Sakka N. , Baran R. , Scher R. , Amichai B. , Norman L. , Farhi R. , Magun R. , Brazilai A. , Daniel R. 
Published: July 2014

AbstractBackgroundClinical studies regarding complete cure rate of onychomycosis using oral Terbinafine have a very broad range (14–90%) based solely on response to treatment on the big toenail.ObjectiveTo evaluate the efficacy of Terbinafine in all affected onychomycotic toenails and, furthermore, to evaluate differences in mycological, clinical and complete cure rate between affected onychomycotic toenails.Patients and methodsInclusion criteria are as follows: distolateralsubungual onychomycotic involvement of the hallux and additional involvement of at least two more toenails of the same foot. Exclusion criteria are as follows: patients with nail traumata and hypersensitivity to Terbinafine. Patients were treated with oral Terbinafine 250 mg/day for 16 weeks. Mycological analysis was performed using direct microscopy and culture. Clinical improvement was assessed using digital photography.ResultsStatistically significant difference was found in clinical improvement between the great toenail and all other involved toenails. The rate of complete cure (100% clinical cure and mycological cure) of the big toenail was lower (23%) as compared to the second (65%), third (51%) and the fourth toenail (67%).LimitationsThis is a case series study that was based on a single‐centre cohort.ConclusionsOur results support findings that efficacy of Terbinafine should be based on all involved onychomycotic toenails; the big toenail is not superior in response compared to other affected toenails.
Testing the correlated response hypothesis for the evolution and maintenance of male mating preferences in Drosophila serrata
Authors: Gosden T. P. , Rundle H. D. , Chenoweth S. F. 
Published: July 2014

AbstractMate preferences are abundant throughout the animal kingdom with female preferences receiving the most empirical and theoretical attention. Although recent work has acknowledged the existence of male mate preferences, whether they have evolved and are maintained as a direct result of selection on males or indirectly as a genetically correlated response to selection for female choice remains an open question. Using the native Australian species Drosophila serrata in which mutual mate choice occurs for a suite of contact pheromones (cuticular hydrocarbons or CHCs), we empirically test key predictions of the correlated response hypothesis. First, within the context of a quantitative genetic breeding design, we estimated the degree to which the trait values favoured by male and female choice are similar both phenotypically and genetically. The direction of sexual selection on male and female CHCs differed statistically, and the trait combinations that maximized male and female mating success were not genetically correlated, suggesting that male and female preferences target genetically different signals. Second, despite detecting significant genetic variance in female preferences, we found no evidence for genetic variance in male preferences and, as a consequence, no detectable correlation between male and female mating preferences. Combined, these findings are inconsistent with the idea that male mate choice in D. serrata is simply a correlated response to female choice. Our results suggest that male and female preferences are genetically distinct traits in this species and may therefore have arisen via different evolutionary processes.
Time‐scale of deformation and intertectonic phases revealed byP–T–D–trelationships in the orogenic middle crust of the Orlica‐Śnieżnik Dome, Polish/Czech Central Sudetes
Authors: Skrzypek E. , Lehmann J. , Szczepański J. , Anczkiewicz R. , Štípská P. , Schulmann K. , Kröner A. , Białek D. 
Published: July 2014

AbstractA section of the orogenic middle crust (Orlica‐Śnieżnik Dome, Polish/Czech Central Sudetes) was examined to constrain the duration and significance of deformation (D) and intertectonic (I) phases. In the studied metasedimentary synform, three deformation events produced an initial subhorizontal foliation S1 (D1), a subsequent subvertical foliation S2 (D2) and a late subhorizontal axial planar cleavage S3 (D3). The synform was intruded by pre‐, syn‐ and post‐D2granitoid sheets. Crystallization–deformation relationships in mica schist samples document I1–2garnet–staurolite growth, syn‐D2staurolite breakdown to garnet–biotite–sillimanite/andalusite, I2–3cordierite blastesis and late‐D3chlorite growth. Garnet porphyroblasts show a linear Mn–Ca decrease from the core to the inner rim, a zone of alternating Ca–Y‐ and P‐rich annuli in the inner rim, and a Ca‐poor outer rim. The Ca–Y‐rich annuli probably reflect the occurrence of the allanite‐to‐monazite transition at conditions of the staurolite isograd, whereas the Ca‐poor outer rim is ascribed to staurolite demise. The reconstructedP–Tpath, obtained by modelling the stability of parageneses and garnet zoning, documents near‐isobaric heating from ~4 kbar/485 °C to ~4.75 kbar/575 °C during I1–2. This was followed by a progression to 4–5 kbar/580–625 °C and a subsequent pressure decrease to 3–4 kbar during D2. Pressure decrease below 3 kbar is ascribed to I2–3, whereas cooling below ~500 °C occurred during D3. In the dated mica schist sample, garnet rims show strong Lu enrichment, oscillatory Lu zoning and a slight Ca increase. These features are also related to allanite breakdown coeval with staurolite appearance. As Lu‐rich garnet rims dominate the Lu–Hf budget, the 344 ± 3 Ma isochron age is ascribed to garnet crystallization at staurolite grade, near the end of I1–2. For the dated sample of amphibole–biotite granitoid sheet, a Pb–Pb single zircon evaporation age of 353 ± 1 Ma is related to the onset of plutonic activity. The results suggest a possible Devonian age for D1, and a Carboniferous burial‐exhumation cycle in mid‐crustal rocks that is broadly coeval with the exhumation of neighbouringHProcks during D2. In the light of published ages, a succession of telescoping stages with time spans decreasing fromc. 10 to 2–3 Ma is proposed. The initially long period of tectonic quiescence (I1–2phase,c. 10 Ma) inferred in the middle crust contrasts with contemporaneous deformation at deeper levels and points to decoupledP–T–Dhistories within the orogenic wedge. An elevated gradient of ~30 °C km−1and assumed high heating rates ofc. 20 °C Ma−1are explained by the protracted intrusion of granitoid sheets, with or without deformation, whereas fast vertical movements (2–3 Ma, D2phase) in the crust require the activity of deformation phases.