bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Budesonide/formoterol via Turbuhaler® versus formoterol via Turbuhaler® in patients with moderate to severe chronic obstructive pulmonary disease: Phase III multinational study results
Authors: Fukuchi Yoshinosuke , Samoro Ronnie , Fassakhov Rustem , Taniguchi Hiroyuki , Ekelund Jan , Carlsson Lars‐Goran , Ichinose Masakazu 
Published: April 2013

AbstractBackground and objectiveThe efficacy and tolerability of budesonide/formoterol versus formoterol in patients with moderate to severe chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) was evaluated.MethodsIn this randomized, double‐blind, parallel‐group, phase III study (NCT01069289), patients with moderate to severe COPD for ≥2 years received either budesonide/formoterol 160/4.5 μg two inhalations twice daily via Turbuhaler® or formoterol 4.5 μg two inhalations twice daily via Turbuhaler® for 12 weeks. Salbutamol was available as reliever medication. Primary outcome variable: change from baseline to average during treatment in pre‐dose forced expiratory volume in 1 s (FEV1).ResultsOne thousand two hundred ninety‐three patients were randomized (budesonide/formoterol n = 636; formoterol n = 657). Both budesonide/formoterol and formoterol increased pre‐dose FEV1 versus baseline (improvements of 4.6% and 1.5% over baseline, respectively), with the increase from baseline being significantly greater with budesonide/formoterol versus formoterol (budesonide/formoterol:formoterol ratio 1.032; 95% confidence interval: 1.013–1.052; P = 0.0011). The budesonide/formoterol group had a significantly prolonged time to first exacerbation versus the formoterol group (hazard ratio: 0.679; 95% confidence interval: 0.507–0.909; P = 0.0094) and significantly greater improvements in many secondary outcome measures. Both treatments were well tolerated; the incidence and type of adverse events were similar: most commonly reported (budesonide/formoterol vs formoterol): COPD (8.0% vs 9.4%) and nasopharyngitis (5.5% vs 4.9%).ConclusionsBudesonide/formoterol 160/4.5 μg two inhalations twice daily was effective and well tolerated in patients with moderate to severe COPD, offering benefits over formoterol alone in terms of improved lung function and reduced risk of exacerbation.
Oral health of a child being treated for subtype I Gaucher's disease
Authors: Sousa Lucas Lopes Araújo , Rocha Moema Modesto Fonseca , Mendes Regina Ferraz , Junior Raimundo Rosendo Prado 
Published: April 2013

ABSTRACTGaucher disease (GD) is an autosomal recessive disorder characterized by the absence of glucosylceramidase. The accumulation of substrates of this enzyme in the cytoplasm of cells of the phagocytary system causes skeletal and hematologic disorders, and has oral repercussions. This report describes the findings of the oral cavity of an 8‐year‐old diagnosed with subtype I GD who has been receiving enzyme replacement therapy for the past 6 years without interruption. The report highlights that the child had none of the most common oral disease signs and symptoms, which demonstrates the importance of early diagnosis and continuous treatment. The article also emphasizes that it is important for dentists to recognize oral manifestations of GD (in order to assist in early diagnosis) and understand how to treat the likely oral health conditions of GD patients.
Show Them the Mission: A Comparison of Teacher Recruitment Incentives in High Need Communities
Authors: Shuls James , Maranto Robert 
Published: April 2013

ObjectiveMost public organizations use both materialistic and idealistic appeals to attract valued employees, with the latter being particularly important for difficult jobs. Teaching in high poverty communities is one such job, though none have studied whether successful high poverty schools such as the Knowledge Is Power Program (KIPP) schools make relatively greater use of public service appeals in teacher recruitment. In education, we identify these materialistic and idealistic appeals as teacher‐centered and student‐centered incentives. Teacher‐centered incentives are those that appeal to a teacher's desire for higher compensation or advancement opportunities, whereas student‐centered appeals attempt to attract teachers with a public service mission.MethodWe compare the use of teacher‐centered and student‐centered appeals in teacher recruitment by the universe of KIPP networks (n = 33) and neighboring traditional public school districts (n = 34), each serving disadvantaged populations. Coders record personnel website use of four teacher‐centered appeals (including salary and benefits) and four student‐centered appeals.ResultsChi‐square tests show that KIPP schools make less use of teacher‐centered appeals, especially monetary compensation, and more use of student‐centered appeals in teacher recruitment.ConclusionSupplemented by fieldwork, findings suggest that appeals to mission may work better than merit pay in recruiting effective teachers for high poverty schools.
The Influence of Race, Class, and Metropolitan Area Characteristics on African‐American Residential Segregation
Authors: Spivak Andrew L. , Monnat Shannon M. 
Published: April 2013

ObjectivesSociologists and other scholars have debated the causes of continuing residential segregation for several decades. Social class has been largely discounted as a substantial determinant of residential segregation by race, but recent studies have brought renewed attention to class variables. The present study reassesses the role of social class, using household income, while also considering metropolitan area characteristics.MethodsThis study expands on prior research by examining residential segregation between black‐alone and white‐alone households with 2000 decennial Census data for all U.S. Metropolitan Statistical Areas (MSAs) with at least 200,000 or more black population or 1,000,000 total population (60 MSAs total), using both spatial unevenness (dissimilarity) and two types of experiential (i.e., contextual) indicators (exposure indices), measuring socioeconomic status (SES) with a greater range and number of income levels than in past research, and using multivariate models to account for metropolitan area characteristics.ResultsWe find that both dissimilarity and exposure measures are significantly associated with household income—black households with higher household incomes live in neighborhoods with greater exposure to whites and lower isolation from other blacks than do black households with lower incomes. Additionally, a number of MSA‐level characteristics—several of which have not been considered in previous research—are substantially associated with black/white residential segregation.ConclusionWe interpret these findings in the context of spatial assimilation and place stratification perspectives, and conclude that racial segregation is at least partly based on class.
Minority Chairs and Congressional Attention to Minority Issues: The Effect of Descriptive Representation in Positions of Institutional Power
Authors: Ellis William Curtis , Wilson Walter Clark 
Published: April 2013

ObjectivesMarginalization of minority issues from the congressional agenda is widely recognized as a hurdle to the functional representation of African Americans and Latinos. This article examines whether the descriptive representation of minorities in positions of influence helps to address this marginalization.MethodsLogistic regression analysis of over 27,000 hearings held in the U.S. House of Representatives between 1979 and 2008 examines whether congressional hearings addressing minority interest issues were more likely to occur under Latino and African‐American committee and subcommittee chairs.ResultsFindings reveal hearings chaired by Latinos and African Americans were more likely to address civil rights, social welfare, and housing issues.ConclusionThese findings confirm that descriptive representation in positions with influence over committee agendas facilitates institutional attention to minority issues, and suggests that the acquisition of institutional power by black and Latino representatives is critical to the functional representation of minority interests.
The effects of thermal stress and fluid pressure on induced seismicity during stimulation to production within fractured reservoirs
Authors: Izadi Ghazal , Elsworth Derek 
Published: April 2013

AbstractWe use a continuum model of reservoir evolution to explore the interaction of coupled thermal, hydraulic and chemical processes that influence the evolution of seismicity within a fractured reservoir from stimulation to production. Events occur from energy release on seeded fractures enabling moment magnitude, frequency and spatial distribution to be determined with time. Event magnitudes vary in the range −2 to +2 with the largest event size (~2) corresponding to the largest fracture size (~500 m) and a prescribed stress drop of 9 MPa. Modelled b‐values (~0.6–0.7) also correspond to observations (~0.7–0.8) for response in the Cooper Basin (Australia). We track the hydrodynamic and thermal fronts to define causality in the triggering of seismicity. The hydrodynamic front moves twice as fast as the thermal front and envelops the triggered seismicity at early time (days to month) – with higher flow rates correlating with larger magnitude events. For later time (month to years), thermal drawdown and potentially chemical influences principally trigger the seismicity, but result in a reduction in both the number of events and their magnitudes.
Interplay between metamorphic strengthening and structural softening in inclusion‐bearing layered rocks
Authors: Adamuszek Marta , Dabrowski Marcin , Schmid Daniel W. 
Published: April 2013

AbstractWe employ numerical and analytical methods to investigate the effect of the presence of rigid porphyroblasts such as garnets on layer strengthening and the folding instability. We use a 50% fraction of non‐overlapping, circular‐shaped inclusions with a wide size distribution. These inclusions cause a fourfold effective viscosity increase and can significantly promote the folding instability. This is not only due to the increased viscosity but also due to the layer interface roughness generation driven by relative movement of inclusions. The increase in layer viscosity promotes strengthening of the whole system. However, with progressive fold development, the system undergoes an effective softening that may counteract the strengthening effect of the porphyroblast growth.
Recycling of pyridoxine (vitamin B6) by PUP1 in Arabidopsis
Authors: Szydlowski Nicolas , Bürkle Lukas , Pourcel Lucille , Moulin Michael , Stolz Jürgen , Fitzpatrick Teresa B. 
Published: April 2013

SummaryVitamin B6 is a cofactor for more than 140 essential enzymatic reactions and was recently proposed as a potent antioxidant, playing a role in the photoprotection of plants. De novo biosynthesis of the vitamin has been described relatively recently and is derived from simple sugar precursors as well as glutamine. In addition, the vitamin can be taken up from exogenous sources in a broad range of organisms, including plants. However, specific transporters have been identified only in yeast. Here we assess the ability of the family of Arabidopsis purine permeases (PUPs) to transport vitamin B6. Several members of the family complement the growth phenotype of a Saccharomyces cerevisiae mutant strain impaired in both de novo biosynthesis of vitamin B6 as well as its uptake. The strongest activity was observed with PUP1 and was confirmed by direct measurement of uptake in yeast as well as in planta, defining PUP1 as a high affinity transporter for pyridoxine. At the tissue level the protein is localised to hydathodes and here we use confocal microscopy to illustrate that at the cellular level it is targeted to the plasma membrane. Interestingly, we observe alterations in pyridoxine recycling from the guttation sap upon overexpression of PUP1 and in a pup1 mutant, consistent with the role of the protein in retrieval of pyridoxine. Furthermore, combining the pup1 mutant with a vitamin B6 de novo biosynthesis mutant (pdx1.3) corroborates that PUP1 is involved in the uptake of the vitamin.
Acetylcholinesterase and butyrylcholinesterase activities in obese Beagle dogs before and after weight loss
Authors: Tvarijonaviciute Asta , Ceron Jose J. , Tecles Fernando 
Published: April 2013

BackgroundObesity is the most common nutritional disorder in today's dog population and the major risk factor for a number of related diseases. However, the exact pathogenesis of obesity‐related complications is not always clear. In people, butyrylcholinesterase (BChE) is suspected to be involved in lipoprotein metabolism and has also been associated with the pathogenesis of inflammatory disease, one of the potential complications related to obesity.ObjectivesThe aim of the study was to evaluate the effect of experimentally induced weight loss onBChE and acetylcholinesterase (AChE) in obese dogs to elucidate the possible relationship between these 2 enzymes and obesity.MethodsSix obese intact female Beagle dogs were allocated to a weight loss program for 3 months.BChE was measured in serum samples using butyrylcholine as substrate, whereasAChE was measured in whole blood after inhibition ofBChE with ethopropazine and using acetylcholine as a substrate.ResultsAfter rapid weight loss serumBChE activities were statistically significantly lower (P < .05), whereasAChE activities were higher (P < .01). There was a positive correlation between serumBChE activity and concentrations of total cholesterol (TCHOL,P < .001), low‐density lipoprotein‐cholesterol (LDL‐C,P < .001), and triglycerides (P < .05). A negative correlation was detected between serumBChE andAChE activities (P < .0001), and betweenAChE activity and serum levels ofTCHOL(P < .01),LDL‐C (P < .01) and high‐density lipoprotein‐cholesterol (P < .05).ConclusionsShort‐term weight loss in obese intact female Beagle dogs resulted in opposite effects in 2 cholinesterase isoenzyme activities, namely lowerBChE and higherAChE activities.
Continuous non‐destructive monitoring of Cyperus rotundus development using a minirhizotron
Authors: Shilo T , Rubin B , Ephrath J E , Eizenberg H 
Published: April 2013

SummaryA new method for non‐destructive monitoring of the subsurface development of Cyperus rotundus (purple nutsedge) is described. A minirhizotron (MR) system was adopted for use to observe vegetative growth of the weed in a net‐house and under field conditions. In particular, the key stages of tuber production and sprouting were monitored and quantified. The MR system allowed non‐destructive repeated measurements of the key stages in C. rotundus subsurface development, serving as a both quantitative and qualitative tool in the study of C. rotundus. A comparison between the MR method and a destructive method revealed that the former reduces experimental variance, thus providing a more accurate prediction of the sprouting process. The techniques presented in the current study offer advanced methodologies for continuous monitoring of C. rotundus development under the soil surface. The novelty of this method lies in its simplicity and efficiency, allowing continuous observation of specific organs of this noxious weed and potentially of other geophytes.
Assessment of Human Exposures to Animal Vaccines Using Poison Control Records, 2000–2009
Authors: Edison L. , Schulte J. , Schauben J. , Kay R. , Rubin C. 
Published: April 2013

SummaryTo characterize human exposures to vaccines intended for animals, evaluate the human risk due to these exposures and determine whether there is sufficient surveillance in place to monitor them. Retrospective analysis of surveillance data (2000–2009). Information collected by poison specialists during calls reporting human exposure to an animal vaccine product, made to one of the 57 United States Poison Control Centers. Data from the National Poison Data System were analysed to determine the number of calls due to human exposures to animal vaccines, and descriptive statistics were generated to characterize the exposures by age, gender, medical outcome, exposure site, exposure route, vaccine type and intended species, aetiologic agent, call date and exposure reason. Overall, the human health effects were minor, primarily due to unintentional parenteral exposure. Less than 15% of the reports were classified as occupational, and 80% of the exposures took place outside of a workplace or healthcare facility. Almost 60% of calls were due to exposure to the West Nile Virus vaccine; the others distributed among a variety of vaccines. Unintentional exposure to animal vaccines appears to occur almost exclusively among untrained individuals who may benefit from more effective education about the risks and benefits of administering vaccines. Improved reporting of adverse outcomes is essential to adequately define the extent of human exposure and risks associated with availability of new vaccines.
ConMem
Authors: Zhang Wei , Sun Chong , Lim Junghee , Lu Shan , Reps Thomas 
Published: April 2013

Multicore technology is making concurrent programs increasingly pervasive. Unfortunately, it is difficult to deliver reliable concurrent programs, because of the huge and nondeterministic interleaving space. In reality, without the resources to thoroughly check the interleaving space, critical concurrency bugs can slip into production versions and cause failures in the field. Approaches to making the best use of the limited resources and exposing severe concurrency bugs before software release would be desirable.
Unlike previous work that focuses on bugs caused by specific interleavings (e.g., races and atomicity violations), this article targets concurrency bugs that result in one type of severe effect: program crashes. Our study of the error-propagation process of real-world concurrency bugs reveals a common pattern (50% in our nondeadlock concurrency bug set) that is highly correlated with program crashes. We call this pattern concurrency-memory bugs: buggy interleavings directly cause memory bugs (NULL-pointer-dereferences, dangling-pointers, buffer-overflows, uninitialized-reads) on shared memory objects.
Guided by this study, we built ConMem to monitor program execution, analyze memory accesses and synchronizations, and predictively detect these common and severe concurrency-memory bugs. We also built a validator,ConMem-v, to automatically prune false positives by enforcing potential bug-triggering interleavings.
We evaluated ConMem using 7 open-source programs with 10 real-world concurrency bugs. ConMem detects more tested bugs (9 out of 10 bugs) than a lock-set-based race detector and an unserializable-interleaving detector, which detect 4 and 6 bugs, respectively, with a false-positive rate about one tenth of the compared tools. ConMem-v further prunes out all the false positives. ConMem has reasonable overhead suitable for development usage.
Research directions in agent communication
Authors: Chopra Amit K. , Artikis Alexander , Bentahar Jamal , Colombetti Marco , Dignum Frank , Fornara Nicoletta , Jones Andrew J. I. , Singh Munindar P. , Yolum Pinar 
Published: April 2013

Increasingly, software engineering involvesopensystems consisting of autonomous and heterogeneous participants oragentswho carry out loosely coupled interactions. Accordingly, understanding and specifying communications among agents is a key concern. A focus on ways to formalizemeaningdistinguishes agent communication from traditional distributed computing: meaning provides a basis for flexible interactions and compliance checking.Over the years, a number of approaches have emerged with some essential and some irrelevant distinctions drawn among them. As agent abstractions gain increasing traction in the software engineering of open systems, it is important to resolve the irrelevant and highlight the essential distinctions, so that future research can be focused in the most productive directions.This article is an outcome of extensive discussions among agent communication researchers, aimed at taking stock of the field and at developing, criticizing, and refining their positions on specific approaches and future challenges. This article serves some important purposes, including identifying (1) points of broad consensus; (2) points where substantive differences remain; and (3) interesting directions of future work.
Association Between Physician Follow-Up and Outcomes of Care After Chest Pain Assessment in High-Risk Patients
Authors: Czarnecki Andrew , Chong Alice , Lee Douglas S. , Schull Michael J. , Tu Jack V. , Lau Ching , Farkouh Michael E. , Ko Dennis T. 
Published: April 2013

Background—
Assessment of chest pain is one of the most common reasons for emergency department visits in developed countries. Although guidelines recommend primary care physician (PCP) follow-up for patients who are subsequently discharged, little is known about the relationship between physician follow-up and clinical outcomes.

Methods and Results—
An observational study was conducted on patients with higher baseline risk, defined as having diabetes mellitus or established cardiovascular disease, who were evaluated for chest pain, discharged, and without adverse clinical outcomes for 30 days in Ontario from 2004 to 2010. Multivariable proportional hazard models were constructed to adjust for potential confounding between physician groups (cardiologist, PCP, or none). Among 56767 included patients, 17% were evaluated by cardiologists, 58% were evaluated by PCPs alone, and 25% had no physician follow-up. The mean age was 66±15 years, and 53% were male. The highest rates of diagnostic testing, medical therapy, and coronary revascularization were seen among patients treated by cardiologists. At 1 year, the rate of death or MI was 5.5% (95% confidence interval, 5.0–5.9) in the cardiology group, 7.7% (95% confidence interval, 7.4–7.9) in the PCP group, and 8.6% (95% confidence interval, 8.2–9.1) in the no-physician group. After adjustment, cardiologist follow-up was associated with significantly lower adjusted hazard ratio of death or MI compared with PCP (hazard ratio, 0.85; 95% confidence interval, 0.78–0.92) and no physician (hazard ratio, 0.79; 95% confidence interval, 0.71–0.88) follow-up.

Conclusions—
Among patients with higher baseline cardiovascular risk who were discharged from the emergency department after evaluation for chest pain in Ontario, follow-up with a cardiologist was associated with a decreased risk of all-cause mortality or hospitalization for MI at 1 year compared with follow-up with a PCP or no physician follow-up.