bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Oestrogen upregulates the sarcoplasmic reticulum Ca2+ATPase pump in coronary arteries
Authors: Hill Brent JF , Muldrew Edwin 
Published: March 2014

SummaryThe presence of circulating plasma 17β‐oestradiol (E2) is beneficial in women against abnormal vascular tone development, such as coronary arterial vasospasms. Several vascular diseases have demonstrated that increased expression of the sarcoplasmic reticulum Ca2+‐ATPase pump (SERCA2b) serves to limit the excessive accumulation of intracellular Ca2+. Therefore, the hypothesis of the present study was that E2 would increase SERCA2b expression in the coronary vasculature. Coronary arteries were dissected from hearts obtained from mature female pigs. Artery segments were cultured for 24 h in E2 (1 pmol/L or 1 nmol/L) and homogenized for western blot analysis. At 1 nmol/L, E2 induced an approximate 50% increase in immunoreactivity for SERCA2b. In addition, E2 increased the protein expression of the known SERCA regulatory proteins, protein kinase A (PKA) and protein kinase G (PKG). The E2‐induced increase in SERCA2b was attenuated when the culture medium was supplemented with the oestrogen receptor (ER) α/β antagonist ICI 182,780 and the PKG antagonist KT5823 (10 μmol/L, 24 h for both). The PKA antagonist (KT5720; 10 μmol/L, 24 h) had no effect on SERCA2b expression. Removal of the endothelium (using a wooden toothpick) from artery segments prior to culture decreased the E2‐mediated increase in SERCA2b and PKG expression by 45% and 47%, respectively. Overall, the findings suggest that one of the potential cardiovascular benefits of E2 in women is upregulation of SERCA2b, via activation of the classic ERα and ERβ pathway.
The Florey turns 50
Authors: Coghlan John P 
Published: March 2014

SummaryThe origins of the Howard Florey Laboratories of Experimental Physiology, Department of Physiology, The University of Melbourne, are tied to the ground‐breaking clinical work of Derek A Denton in 1947 and to the investigations of the initial scientific team into the control of salt and water balance in health and disease over the period 1947–1963 were Professor RD Wright, Drs JR Goding, IR McDonald, John P Coghlan, E Marelyn Wintour and John R Blair‐West. An Act of Parliament in 1971 by the Victorian State Government formally established the Institute named after Howard Florey, the Australian Nobel Prize winner who isolated penicillin. The Howard Florey Laboratories/Institute quickly became an international leader in the scientific areas of the physiological control of body fluids and electrolyte balance, especially sodium regulation and the regulation of the secretion of aldosterone, the adrenal salt‐retaining hormone; the micro measurement of hormones, in particular steroids and peptides; instinctive ingestive behaviour; fetal fluid regulation; hybridization histochemistry, and the hormone relaxin. Subsequently, the senior staff included, inter alia, Bruce Scoggins, Richard Weisinger, John McDougall, Brian Oldfield, Michael McKinley, Robin McAllen, Hugh Niall, Geoff Tregear and Felix Beck. During the 1990s, an explosion occurred in neuroscience and, in 1997, the Board made the strategic decision to change the focus of the Institute to brain disorders. From 1997 to 2007, Fred Mendelsohn steered the Florey to become one of Australia's premier brain research institutes and, under the current director (the eminent clinician and neuroscientist Geoffrey Donnan), this reputation has been further enhanced.
To settle or to move? The interplay between two classes of cyclic lipopeptides in the biocontrol strain Pseudomonas CMR12a
Authors: D'aes Jolien , Kieu Nam Phuong , Léclère Valérie , Tokarski Caroline , Olorunleke Feyisara Eyiwumi , De Maeyer Katrien , Jacques Philippe , Höfte Monica , Ongena Marc 
Published: March 2014

SummaryPseudomonas CMR12a is a biocontrol strain that produces phenazine antibiotics and as yet uncharacterized cyclic lipopeptides (CLPs). The CLPs of CMR12a were studied by chemical structure analysis and in silico analysis of the gene clusters encoding the non‐ribosomal peptide synthetases responsible for CLP biosynthesis. CMR12a produces two different classes of CLPs: orfamides B, D and E, whereby the latter two represent new derivatives of the orfamide family, and sessilins A–C. The orfamides are made up of a 10 amino acid peptide coupled to a β‐hydroxydodecanoyl or β‐hydroxytetradecanoyl fatty acid moiety, and are related to orfamides produced by biocontrol strain Pseudomonas protegens Pf‐5. The sessilins consist of an 18‐amino acid peptide linked to a β‐hydroxyoctanoyl fatty acid and differ in one amino acid from tolaasins, toxins produced by the mushroom pathogen Pseudomonas tolaasii. CLP biosynthesis mutants were constructed and tested for biofilm formation and swarming motility. Orfamides appeared indispensable for swarming while sessilin mutants showed reduced biofilm formation, but enhanced swarming motility. The interplay between the two classes of CLPs fine tunes these processes. The presence of sessilins in wild type CMR12a interferes with swarming by hampering the release of orfamides and by co‐precipitating orfamides to form a white line in agar.
Perennial crops under stochastic water supply
Authors: Feinerman Eli , Tsur Yacov 
Published: March 2014

AbstractPerennial crops require substantial initial investment in groundwork and planting, as well as a multiyear gestation period without commercial yield. Therefore, a crop's cycle (from planting to felling) should be long enough in order to cover the fixed cost and become profitable. The problem becomes involved when the cycle's duration is stochastic due to occurrence of uncertain event that terminates the cycle prematurely. Studying orchard management under stochastic drought events, we show that to each perennial crop that is profitable without drought hazard, there exists a critical drought hazard above which the crop turns loss making. We refer to this critical drought hazard as the crop's drought vulnerability index and show that it increases with the length of the gestation period, the ratio of fixed cost to average annual profit and the interest rate, and decreases with the natural (uninterrupted) cycle length. We then investigate the economic value of a stable water source, such as recycled water, that stabilizes the water supply and diminishes the drought hazard. An empirical application in northern Israel reveals that the stabilization value of recycled water due to its role in eliminating the drought hazard far exceeds its supply cost.
The interaction of speculators and index investors in agricultural derivatives markets
Authors: Guilleminot Benoît , Ohana Jean‐Jacques , Ohana Steve 
Published: March 2014

AbstractThrough the analysis of the weekly Commodity Futures Trading Commission reports on 12 US traded agricultural commodities, we revisit the heated debate on the impact of index flows on commodities prices. After introducing a novel stock‐to‐use proxy that may be used to represent inventory variations at the intra‐month level, we show that speculators, contrary to index investors, are sensitive to commodity‐specific fundamental information. Their endogeneity to commodities markets hinders the estimation of their market impact. Regarding the market impact of index flows, the endogeneity problem is alleviated in two ways: first, we restrict the scope to agricultural commodities, for which index flows are more exogenous to market prices; second, we introduce two novel instrumental variables that are computed from index flows outside the market under analysis. We find that index investment flows are offset by commercial players, not speculators. The serial correlation of index flows may explain the tendency of speculators to synchronize with index investors. There is strong evidence of an index flows' impact in those commodities markets where speculative and index positions are the most correlated. The market impact of index flows is located in periods of liquidity stress, as is the correlation between speculative and index positions. Overall, our results demonstrate an impact of index investors on some agricultural prices and suggest that the synchronicity between speculative and index positions is an important determinant of this impact.
Effect of serum interleukin 21 on the development of coronary artery disease
Authors: Ding Ru , Gao Wenwu , He Zhiqing , Liao Mingfang , Wu Feng , Zou Sili , Ma Lan , Liang Chun , Wu Zonggui 
Published: March 2014

There has been more and more evidence to confirm the essential role of inflammatory processes in the development of coronary artery disease (CAD). Interleukin‐21 (IL‐21), the most recently discovered CD132‐dependent cytokine, plays a key role in regulating inflammation. The aim of the study was to understand the effect of peripheral IL‐21 on the pathogenesis and progression of CAD. Serum level of IL‐21 in 92 CAD patients and 73 controls was measured by the enzyme‐linked immunosorbent assay. Data showed that IL‐21 expression was significantly increased in CAD than in controls (p < 0.001). Interestingly, when comparing IL‐21 level with different genders, male subjects revealed higher IL‐21 than female subjects (p = 0.024). Also, we observed that patients with hypertension had upregulated level of serum IL‐21 (p = 0.002). Moreover, serum level of IL‐21 was positively correlated with total cholesterol level (p = 0.015) or low‐density lipoprotein cholesterol (p = 0.0009) of CAD cases. In addition, we analyzed IL‐21 level with the severity of CAD, and identified that cases with 3‐vessel affected had significantly elevated level of IL‐21 than those with 1‐vessel or 2‐vessel affected. These data suggested that serum level of IL‐21 may be closely associated with the development and progression of CAD.
Bridging the research‐to‐practice gap in education: A software‐mediated approach for improving classroom instruction
Authors: Weston Mark E. , Bain Alan 
Published: March 2014

AbstractThis study reports findings from a matched‐comparison, repeated‐measure for intact groups design of the mediating effect of a suite of software on the quality of classroom instruction provided to students by teachers. The quality of instruction provided by teachers in the treatment and control groups was documented via observations that were conducted by an independent research team at pre, mid and postintervals of a 225‐day study period. Analysis of the data that was generated revealed no statistically significant differences at pretest between the quality of instruction provided by teachers in the treatment and control groups. Over three occasions, no statistically significant differences were found for the control group. Statistically significant differences were found for the overall treatment group at mid and postintervals. Moreover, overall differences between the control and treatment groups were statistically significant at mid and posttreatment including a posttreatment effect size of 1.54. Analysis indicates the treatment had a mediating effect on the quality of classroom instruction and the effect scaled to single and multiple school levels. These results suggest that the field of education's long‐standing challenges with improving instructional quality could be resolved by information and communications technology effectively mediating research and practice.A video abstract of this article can be viewed at http://youtu.be/iaWZ23yJGH8
The Potential Risk of Conical Implant‐Abutment Connections: The Antirotational Ability of Cowell Implant System
Authors: Yao Kuang‐Ta , Kao Hung‐Chan , Cheng Cheng‐Kung , Fang Hsu‐Wei , Huang Chang‐Hung , Hsu Ming‐Lun 
Published: March 2014

AbstractBackgroundConical implant‐abutment connections are popular because of good antibending performance. However, the cross section is round, and the antirotational ability is questionable because restorations in the oral cavity also have to bear torsional moments resulting from chewing patterns.PurposeThe purpose of this study was to investigate the antirotational ability of conical implant‐abutment connections with and without an index.Materials and MethodsConical connection implant system (Cowell Medi, Busan, South Korea) was selected. Two kinds of cyclic loading, a bending moment with (C) and without (L) a torsional moment, were respectively applied to two kinds of abutments, pure cone (N‐Octa) and cone with an octagonal index (Octa). The number of cycles to fatigue and the failure modes was recorded. Morphologies of the abutments were examined with scanning electron microscopy.ResultsOnly group C(N‐Octa) passed the fatigue test, whereas the other three groups failed because of different failure modes. In group L(N‐Octa), all abutments generated rotation within 150 cycles. In groups C(Octa) and L(Octa), all abutments fractured but in different areas.ConclusionsIn Cowell implant system (taper angle = 7°), there was no antirotational ability in purely conical connections. Adding an octagonal index could provide an antirotational function but could compromise the antibending strength of the abutment.
Linear Measurement Accuracy of Eight Cone Beam Computed Tomography Scanners
Authors: Kosalagood Pasupen , Silkosessak Onanong C , Pittayapat Pisha , Pisarnturakit Pagaporn , Pauwels Ruben , Jacobs Reinhilde 
Published: March 2014

AbstractBackgroundInformation regarding linear accuracy is necessary for efficient treatment evaluation, especially for maxillofacial reconstruction or implants.PurposeTo investigate the accuracy of linear measurements from multiple cone beam computed tomography (CBCT) devices.Materials and MethodsA RANDO® phantom was scanned with eight CBCT scanners (11 modes). The viewing software accompanying each scanner was employed for measurements in mediolateral, anteroposterior, and supero‐inferior dimensions by two dentomaxillofacial radiologists. Digital caliper measurements were used as a “gold standard.” ANOVA with Scheffé post hoc analysis and intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC) were utilized for statistical analyses. The level of confidence was 95%.ResultsDifferences from the gold standard among 11 acquisition modes were statistically significant (p < .001). Measurements from one unit were always underestimated compared with all others (p < .001). The range of absolute measurement errors for tested units was −2.56 to 0.54 mm (mean ± SD 0.45 ± 0.71) including the outlier and −0.34 to 0.54 mm (0.16 ± 0.11) excluding the outlier. Slightly more values were underestimated than overestimated (41 of 66 measurements, 7 out of 11 CBCT modes). ICC scores for inter‐ and intraobserver agreement were perfect (1.000).ConclusionsTreatment planning from large‐volume CBCT was found to be reliable in all except one of the investigated scanners. New CBCT scanners should always be tested for geometric accuracy.
Demographic and clinical characteristics of young people seeking help at youth mental health services: baseline findings of the Transitions Study
Authors: Purcell Rosemary , Jorm Anthony F. , Hickie Ian B. , Yung Alison R. , Pantelis Christos , Amminger G. Paul , Glozier Nick , Killackey Eoin , Phillips Lisa J. , Wood Stephen J. , Harrigan Susy , Mackinnon Andrew , Scott Elizabeth , Hermens Daniel F. , Guastella Adam J. , Kenyon Amanda , Mundy Laura , Nichles Alissa , Scaffidi Antoinette , Spiliotacopoulos Daniela , Taylor Lara , Tong Janet P.Y. , Wiltink Suzanne , Zmicerevska Natalia , McGorry Patrick D. 
Published: March 2014

AbstractAimThe Transitions Study was designed to establish a cohort of young people (12–25 years) seeking help for mental health problems, in order to longitudinally explore and refine a clinical staging model of the development and progression of mental disorders. This paper presents the baseline demographic and clinical characteristics of the cohort, particularly the nature and severity of psychopathology.MethodAll eligible young people attending one of four headspace clinical services were invited to participate, and completed a battery of self‐report and interviewer‐administered measures of psychopathology and functional impairment at baseline, which will be repeated at the annual follow up.ResultsOf 1615 eligible clients, 802 young people (66% women; mean age = 18.3 years) consented to participate and completed baseline assessments (participation rate = 50%). The severity of mental health problems varied, with 51% meeting the criteria for probable caseness related to generalized anxiety, 45% presenting with moderate to severe depressive symptoms and over a third experiencing subthreshold psychotic symptomatology. Disordered eating (32%) and problematic tobacco (56%), cannabis (30%) and alcohol (38%) use also affected a significant proportion. Overall, 39% of the cohort were classed as being functionally impaired at baseline.ConclusionThe Transitions Study recruited a heterogeneous cohort at baseline in relation to the nature and severity of mental health problems and levels of functional impairment. The variation in clinical presentations within the cohort, from mild, through moderate to severe levels of psychopathology and impairment, increases the likelihood of the Transitions Study ultimately being able to achieve its aims of empirically testing a clinical staging model for mental disorders.
Does it Pay to Care?: Exploring the Costs and Benefits of Parental Care in the Hibiscus Harlequin BugTectocoris diophthalmus(Heteroptera: Scutelleridae)
Authors: Giffney Raelene A. , Kemp Darrell J. 
Published: March 2014

AbstractKnowledge of the selective pressures favouring parental care can inform our understanding of the evolutionary origins and transitions of sociality in insects. Here, we report upon investigations designed to estimate the costs and benefits of parental care in the egg‐guarding hibiscus harlequin bugTectocoris diophthalmus(Heteroptera:Scutelleridae). We found that the presence of a guarding female had no effect on hatching success under benign laboratory conditions. In the wild, however, guarding decreased the likelihood of total clutch failure, and produced a fourfold greater egg‐hatching rate relative to unguarded clutches. Females guarded against generalist invertebrate egg predators, including conspecific nymphs, but were ineffective against hymenopteran egg parasitoids. Females continued to feed during the guarding period and exhibited no signs of weight loss or increased mortality due to this behaviour. We did not observe the production of subsequent clutches in any experimental females; therefore, the lifetime fecundity costs of providing parental care inT. diophthalmusremain indeterminate. Overall, maternal egg guarding appears to function as a relatively low cost–low benefit strategy that increases hatching success by protecting against predation – but not parasitism.
Female Remating Behavior in a Lekking Moth
Authors: Engqvist Leif , Cordes Nils , Schwenniger Janina , Bakhtina Svetlana , Schmoll Tim 
Published: March 2014

AbstractIn polyandrous species, male reproductive success will at least partly be determined by males' success in sperm competition. To understand the potential for post‐mating sexual selection, it is therefore important to assess the extent of female remating. In the lekking moth Achroia grisella, male mating success is strongly determined by female choice based on the attractiveness of male ultrasonic songs. Although observations have indicated that some females will remate, only little is known about the level of sperm competition. In many species, females are more likely to remate if their first mating involved an already mated male than if the first male was virgin. Potentially, this is because mated males are less well able to provide an adequate sperm supply, nutrients, or substances inhibiting female remating. This phenomenon will effectively reduce the strength of pre‐copulatory sexual selection because attractive males with high mating success will be more susceptible to sperm competition. We therefore performed an experiment designed both to provide a more precise estimate of female remating probability and simultaneously to test the hypothesis that female remating is influenced by male mating history. Overall, approximately one of five females remated with a second male. Yet, although females mated to non‐virgin males were somewhat more prone to remate, the effect of male mating history was not significant. The results revealed, however, that heavier females were more likely to remate. Furthermore, we found that females' second copulations were longer, suggesting that, in accordance with theory, males may invest more sperm in situations with an elevated risk of sperm competition.
The Roles of Colour and Shape in Pollinator Deception in the Orchid Mantis Hymenopus coronatus
Authors: O'Hanlon James C. 
Published: March 2014

AbstractThe orchid mantis Hymenopus coronatus (Insecta: Mantodea) is a deceptive predator that attracts pollinators as prey. Their resemblance to a flower has given rise to the hypothesis that they are flower mimics. However, floral mimicry as a predatory strategy, and in particular, how predatory floral mimicry functions at a mechanistic level is poorly understood. Two main morphological characteristics are thought to make orchid mantises appear similar to flowers and thus attractive to pollinators: (1) their ‘flower‐like’ white colouration and (2) their ‘petal‐shaped’ expansions of exoskeleton on their mid‐femur and hind femur (femoral lobes). I investigated the contribution of these colour and shape characteristics to pollinator attraction using artificial orchid mantis models. Models with the ‘flower‐like’ white colouration of the orchid mantis had higher rates of pollinator inspection than brown models. Manipulating overall body shape by removing or changing the orientation of the ‘petal‐shaped’ femoral lobes did not affect the attractiveness of models. As certain flower‐like characteristics (symmetry and petals) did not affect the attractiveness of models, pollinators may not necessarily cognitively misclassify orchid mantises as flowers. Rather, mantises may be exploiting sensory biases of their pollinator prey, and their UV‐absorbing white colouration may be sufficient to lure pollinators. The effectiveness of using artificial models established here provides a basis for future research into orchid mantis morphology and the fine‐scale interactions between orchid mantises and pollinators.