bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Chlorophyll‐a concentrations and macroinvertebrate declines coincide with the collapse of overwintering diving duck populations in a large eutrophic lake
Authors: Tománková Irena , Harrod Chris , Fox Anthony D. , Reid Neil 
Published: October 2013

Summary

Lough Neagh is one of the most important non‐estuarine sites in the British Isles for overwintering wildfowl. A change in the waterbird assemblage following the winter of 2000/2001 was driven mainly by a rapid decline in the population of overwintering diving ducks. Sudden and discrete changes in resident as well as migratory waterbirds may suggest an intrinsic cause.

We compared the density and biomass of benthic macroinvertebrates, the food of overwintering diving ducks, in 2010 (following the diving duck population decline) with values from a baseline survey conducted in 1997/1998 (before the decline in diving ducks).

The mean total density of macroinvertebrates declined significantly by c. 65% from 15 300 m−2 in 1997/1998 to 5136 m−2 in 2010. There was a concomitant c. 70% decline in mean macroinvertebrate biomass from 15 667 mg m −2 to 5112 mg m−2. In terms of taxonomic composition, the relative contribution of Tanypodinae, Glyptotendipes spp. and Tanytarsini declined, while the relative contribution of Chironomus spp. increased.

We describe a shift in chlorophyll‐a concentration, a proxy of phytoplankton biomass, in the largest freshwater lake in the British Isles coincident with a significant reduction in macroinvertebrate density and biomass, with potential implications for ecosystem processes and ecologically and economically important consumer populations, including waterbirds and fishes.
The Impact of Modern Noninvasive Cardiac Imaging on Coronary Intervention Rates
Authors: FRÖHLICH GEORG M. , SCHOCH BORIS , WOLFRUM MATHIAS , OSRANEK MARTIN , ENSELEIT FRANK , HERZOG BERNHARD A. , HASUN MATHIAS , LÜSCHER THOMAS F. , MEIER PASCAL , GAEMPERLI OLIVER , KAUFMANN PHILIPP A. , CORTI ROBERTO 
Published: October 2013

AbstractObjectivesIt remains still unclear whether the use of modern noninvasive diagnostic modalities for evaluation of coronary artery disease (computed tomography coronary angiography (CTCA), nuclear myocardial perfusion imaging (MPI)) were able to change the “diagnostic yield” of invasive coronary angiography (ICA).MethodsThe total number of ICA in the years 2000–2009 was related to the number of percutaneous interventions (PCIs) and we assessed whether there was a significant trend over time using time series analyses. We compared these data with the number of patients undergoing CTCA and nuclear MPI in the same time period.ResultsDuring the 10‐year observational period, 23,397 ICA were performed. The proportion of purely diagnostic ICA (without PCI) remained stable over the whole study period (tau = −0.111, P = 0.721). A CTCA program was initiated in 2005 and 1,407 examinations were performed until 2009. Similarly, the number of nuclear MPI increased from 2,284 in the years 2000–2004 to 5,260 in the years 2005–2009 (P = 0.009).ConclusionDespite increasing availability, noninvasive testing modalities did not significantly alter the rate of purely diagnostic ICA, and still are underused as gatekeeper to ICA. Further effort is needed to optimize the use of noninvasive imaging modalities in the work‐up process for coronary artery disease. (J Interven Cardiol 2014;27:50–57)
Domestic and Trade Equivalences of State Trading Importers
Authors: McCorriston Steve , MacLaren Donald 
Published: October 2013

AbstractMarket intermediaries in importing countries in the form of state trading enterprises (STEs) involve government manipulation of market structure that can be designated a nontariff measure because they are perceived to affect market access. However, the trade effect may be only an unintended consequence of the pursuit of the domestic concerns towards which the objectives of the STE are targeted as well as the extent of the exclusive rights that it is given. These objectives may reflect concerns about domestic distortions or, where these do not exist, redistribution towards producers or consumers. To this end, identifying the domestic effects of STEs through the use of producer and consumer subsidy equivalents that complement measures of the trade distorting effect is important in gauging the overall impact of STEs. In this paper, we outline a method to measure these policy equivalences which can be readily applied to aid transparency in trade negotiations.
A Mixed Methods Examination of Adolescents' Reports of the Values Emphasized in Their Families
Authors: Wray‐Lake Laura , Flanagan Constance A. , Benavides Celina M. , Shubert Jennifer 
Published: October 2013

AbstractBuilding on value socialization and personal values theories, this study examined adolescents' open‐ended reports of the values their families emphasize. Based on open‐ended reports of an ethnically and socioeconomically diverse sample of adolescents, we described adolescent‐reported familial values using qualitative and cluster analysis techniques. Adolescents' open‐ended responses about the values held by their families were coded using a prominent circumplex value model, and values largely, but not completely, aligned with this model. Using person‐oriented cluster analysis on the coded data, seven distinct value clusters were identified that captured various sets of values that adolescents hear from families. Several demographic differences emerged among the clusters, and mean differences by familial value cluster were found for adolescents' close‐ended reports of values of helping others and religiosity. Results suggest that adolescents are able to articulate values emphasized in their families in ways that fit a universal structure of values; these values are related in meaningful ways to the values that they themselves want to live by.
Motor unit recruitment by size does not provide functional advantages for motor performance
Authors: Dideriksen Jakob L. , Farina Dario 
Published: October 2013

Key points
Motor unit recruitment according to size (orderly recruitment) is almost universally observed in human muscles.
Using genetic optimization methods on neuromuscular models, we explored the functional basis for orderly recruitment.
We show that the key features for optimal muscle performance are the number of motor neurons innervating the muscle and the distribution of their innervation numbers, and that a random recruitment order is as effective as a recruitment ordered by size.
This implies that size‐ordered recruitment of motor neurons universally arises due to its intrinsic linkage to innervation number and not for function optimization.
These findings have implications for our understanding of human neural control of movement.
Abstract  It is commonly assumed that the orderly recruitment of motor units by size provides a functional advantage for the performance of movements compared with a random recruitment order. On the other hand, the excitability of a motor neuron depends on its size and this is intrinsically linked to its innervation number. A range of innervation numbers among motor neurons corresponds to a range of sizes and thus to a range of excitabilities ordered by size. Therefore, if the excitation drive is similar among motor neurons, the recruitment by size is inevitably due to the intrinsic properties of motor neurons and may not have arisen to meet functional demands. In this view, we tested the assumption that orderly recruitment is necessarily beneficial by determining if this type of recruitment produces optimal motor output. Using evolutionary algorithms and without any a priori assumptions, the parameters of neuromuscular models were optimized with respect to several criteria for motor performance. Interestingly, the optimized model parameters matched well known neuromuscular properties, but none of the optimization criteria determined a consistent recruitment order by size unless this was imposed by an association between motor neuron size and excitability. Further, when the association between size and excitability was imposed, the resultant model of recruitment did not improve the motor performance with respect to the absence of orderly recruitment. A consistent observation was that optimal solutions for a variety of criteria of motor performance always required a broad range of innervation numbers in the population of motor neurons, skewed towards the small values. These results indicate that orderly recruitment of motor units in itself does not provide substantial functional advantages for motor control. Rather, the reason for its near‐universal presence in human movements is that motor functions are optimized by a broad range of innervation numbers.
Ganciclovir-Resistant Cytomegalovirus Infections among Lung Transplant Recipients Are Associated with Poor Outcomes despite Treatment with Foscarnet-Containing Regimens
Authors: Minces Lucio R. , Nguyen M. Hong , Mitsani Dimitra , Shields Ryan K. , Kwak Eun J. , Silveira Fernanda P. , Abdel-Massih Rima , Pilewski Joseph M. , Crespo Maria M. , Bermudez Christian , Bhama Jay K. , Toyoda Yoshiya , Clancy Cornelius J. 
Published: October 2013

ABSTRACT

Ganciclovir-resistant cytomegalovirus (CMV) infections are reported infrequently among lung transplant recipients receiving extended valganciclovir prophylaxis. We performed a single-center, retrospective review of ganciclovir-resistant CMV infections in a program that employed valganciclovir prophylaxis for ≥6 months after lung transplant. CMV infections were diagnosed in 28% (170/607) of patients. UL97 mutations were detected in 9.4% (16/170) of CMV-infected patients at a median of 8.5 months posttransplant (range, 5 to 21) and despite prophylaxis for a median of 7 months (range, 4 to 21). UL97 mutations were canonical; 25% (4/16) of strains carried concurrent UL54 mutations. Ganciclovir-resistant CMV was more likely with breakthrough infections (75% [12/16] versus 19% [30/154];
P
= 0.00001) and donor positive/recipient negative (D+/R−) serostatus (75% versus 45% [69/154];
P
= 0.03). The median whole-blood CMV load was 4.13 log
10
copies/cm
3
(range, 2.54 to 5.53), and 93% (14/15) of patients had low-moderate immune responses (Cylex Immunoknow). Antiviral therapy was successful, failed, or eradicated viremia followed by relapse in 12% (2/16), 31% (5/16), and 56% (9/16) of patients, respectively. Eighty-seven percent (14/16) of patients were treated with foscarnet-containing regimens; toxicity developed in 78% (11/14) of these. Median viral load half-life and time to viremia eradication among foscarnet-treated patients were 2.6 and 23 days, respectively, and did not correlate with protection from relapse. Sixty-nine percent (11/16) of patients developed CMV pneumonitis, and 25% (4/16) died of it. Serum viral load was independently associated with death among foscarnet-treated patients (
P
= 0.04). In conclusion, ganciclovir-resistant CMV infections remained a major cause of morbidity and mortality following lung transplantation. Foscarnet-based regimens often eradicated viremia rapidly but were ineffective in the long term and limited by toxicity.
β-Lactams Enhance Vancomycin Activity against Methicillin-Resistant Staphylococcus aureus Bacteremia Compared to Vancomycin Alone
Authors: Dilworth Thomas J. , Ibrahim Omar , Hall Pamela , Sliwinski Jora , Walraven Carla , Mercier Renée-Claude 
Published: October 2013

ABSTRACT

Vancomycin (VAN) is often used to treat methicillin-resistant
Staphylococcus aureus
(MRSA) bacteremia despite a high incidence of microbiological failure. Recent
in vitro
analyses of β-lactams in combination with VAN demonstrated synergistic activity against MRSA. The goal of this study was to examine the impact of combination therapy with VAN and a β-lactam (Combo) on the microbiological eradication of MRSA bacteremia compared to VAN alone. This was a retrospective cohort study of patients with MRSA bacteremia who received Combo therapy or VAN alone. Microbiological eradication of MRSA, defined as a negative blood culture obtained after initiation of therapy, was used to evaluate the efficacy of each regimen. A total of 80 patients were included: 50 patients in the Combo group and 30 patients in the VAN-alone group. Microbiological eradication was achieved in 48 patients (96%) in the Combo group compared to 24 patients (80%) in the VAN-alone group (
P
= 0.021). In a multivariable model, the Combo treatment had a higher likelihood of achieving microbiological eradication (adjusted odds ratio, 11.24; 95% confidence interval, 1.7 to 144.3;
P
= 0.01). In patients with infective endocarditis (
n
= 22), 11/11 (100%) who received Combo therapy achieved microbiological eradication compared to 9/11 (81.8%) treated with VAN alone, but the difference was not statistically significant (
P
= 0.20). Patients with MRSA bacteremia who received Combo therapy were more likely to experience microbiological eradication of MRSA than patients who received VAN alone.
Evidence for Pyronaridine as a Highly Effective Partner Drug for Treatment of Artemisinin-Resistant Malaria in a Rodent Model
Authors: Henrich Philipp P. , O'Brien Connor , Sáenz Fabián E. , Cremers Serge , Kyle Dennis E. , Fidock David A. 
Published: October 2013

ABSTRACT

The increasing prevalence in Southeast Asia of
Plasmodium falciparum
infections with delayed parasite clearance rates, following treatment of malaria patients with the artemisinin derivative artesunate, highlights an urgent need to identify which of the currently available artemisinin-based combination therapies (ACTs) are most suitable to treat populations with emerging artemisinin resistance. Here, we demonstrate that the rodent
Plasmodium berghei
SANA strain has acquired artemisinin resistance following drug pressure, as defined by reduced parasite clearance and early recrudescence following daily exposure to high doses of artesunate or the active metabolite dihydroartemisinin. Using the SANA strain and the parental drug-sensitive N strain, we have interrogated the antimalarial activity of five ACTs, namely, artemether-lumefantrine, artesunate-amodiaquine, artesunate-mefloquine, dihydroartemisinin-piperaquine, and the newest combination artesunate-pyronaridine. By monitoring parasitemia and outcome for 30 days following initiation of treatment, we found that infections with artemisinin-resistant
P. berghei
SANA parasites can be successfully treated with artesunate-pyronaridine used at doses that are curative for the parental drug-sensitive N strain. No other partner drug combination was as effective in resolving SANA infections. Of the five partner drugs tested, pyronaridine was also the most effective at suppressing the recrudescence of SANA parasites. These data support the potential benefit of implementing ACTs with pyronaridine in regions affected by artemisinin-resistant malaria.
Occurrence of
rpoB
Mutations in Isoniazid-Resistant but Rifampin-Susceptible Mycobacterium tuberculosis Isolates from Germany
Authors: Andres Sönke , Hillemann Doris , Rüsch-Gerdes Sabine , Richter Elvira 
Published: October 2013

ABSTRACT

Four out of 143 phenotypically isoniazid-resistant but rifampin-susceptible
Mycobacterium tuberculosis
strains that were isolated from patients in Germany in 2011 had mutations in the rifampin resistance-determining region of
rpoB
. After performing drug susceptibility testing (DST) with two methods, the proportion method on Löwenstein-Jensen medium and using the Bactec 960 Mycobacteria Growth Indicator Tube system, we conclude that the two methods are equally reliable for phenotypic DST and MIC determination.
Streptococcus pyogenes Arginine and Citrulline Catabolism Promotes Infection and Modulates Innate Immunity
Authors: Cusumano Zachary T. , Watson Michael E. , Caparon Michael G. 
Published: October 2013

ABSTRACT

A bacterium's ability to acquire nutrients from its host during infection is an essential component of pathogenesis. For the Gram-positive pathogen
Streptococcus pyogenes
, catabolism of the amino acid arginine via the arginine deiminase (ADI) pathway supplements energy production and provides protection against acid stress
in vitro
. Its expression is enhanced in murine models of infection, suggesting an important role
in vivo
. To gain insight into the function of the ADI pathway in pathogenesis, the virulence of mutants defective in each of its enzymes was examined. Mutants unable to use arginine (ΔArcA) or citrulline (ΔArcB) were attenuated for carriage in a murine model of asymptomatic mucosal colonization. However, in a murine model of inflammatory infection of cutaneous tissue, the ΔArcA mutant was attenuated but the ΔArcB mutant was hyperattenuated, revealing an unexpected tissue-specific role for citrulline metabolism in pathogenesis. When mice defective for the arginine-dependent production of nitric oxide (iNOS
−/−
) were infected with the ΔArcA mutant, cutaneous virulence was rescued, demonstrating that the ability of
S. pyogenes
to utilize arginine was dispensable in the absence of nitric oxide-mediated innate immunity. This work demonstrates the importance of arginine and citrulline catabolism and suggests a novel mechanism of virulence by which
S. pyogenes
uses its metabolism to modulate innate immunity through depletion of an essential host nutrient.
Comparative clinical and radiographic study of the lumbar spine between parachute infantry soldiers and non-parachute infantry soldiers in Japanese Ground Self-Defense forces
Authors: Nemoto Osamu , Kitada A , Naitou S , Tsuchihara T , Ito Y , Tachibana A 
Published: October 2013

BackgroundThe long-term effect of repetitive trauma by military parachuting on the lumbar spine is not well investigated. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to examine the development of lumbar degenerative changes during a 30-year follow-up in Japanese Ground Self Defense Forces (JGSDF) parachute infantry soldiers with normal lumbar radiographs at entry by comparison with those with non-parachute infantry soldiers.Methods79 non-parachutists and 65 parachutists were included for radiological examination and questionnaires for low back pain (LBP). All subjects were non-commissioned officers with similar socioeconomic status and life styles. The number of parachuting descent during the 30-year in the parachute group ranged from 208 to 630, with an average of 322.ResultsThe mean age of the subjects was 18.3 ± 0.5 years at entry and 48.5 ± 0.3 years at follow-up. LBP had been experienced by 37% in the non-parachute group and 25% in the parachute group with no significant difference. The nature of their LBP was judged as mild. The prevalence rate of degenerative changes was similar in both groups. Disc space narrowing was detected 37 subjects (47%) in non-parachute group an 23 subjects (35%) in parachute group without significant difference. Vertebral osteophytes were detected in 52 subjects (67%) in non-parachute group and 47 subjects (72%) in parachute group without significant difference.ConclusionsThis study did not identify any significant differences in the development of lumbar degenerative changes between the parachutists and non-parachutists over a 30-year follow-up, suggesting that military parachuting itself does not accelerate the development of intervertebral disc degeneration. Further studies are needed using large cohorts assessed by MRI as well as plain X-ray.
Comparison of Dental Health of Patients with Head and Neck Cancer Receiving IMRT vs Conventional Radiation
Authors: Duarte Victor M. , Liu Yuan F. , Rafizadeh Sassan , Tajima Tracey , Nabili Vishad , Wang Marilene B. 
Published: October 2013

ObjectiveTo analyze the dental health of patients with head and neck cancer who received comprehensive dental care after intensity‐modulated radiation therapy (IMRT) compared with radiation therapy (RT).Study DesignHistorical cohort study.SettingVeteran Affairs (VA) hospital.Subjects and MethodsIn total, 158 patients at a single VA hospital who were treated with RT or IMRT between 2003 and 2011 were identified. A complete dental evaluation was performed prior to radiation treatment, including periodontal probing, tooth profile, cavity check, and mobility. The dental treatment plan was formulated to eliminate current and potential dental disease. The rates of dental extractions, infections, caries, mucositis, xerostomia, and osteoradionecrosis (ORN) were analyzed, and a comparison was made between patients treated with IMRT and those treated with RT.ResultsOf the 158 patients, 99 were treated with RT and 59 were treated with IMRT. Compared with those treated with IMRT, significantly more patients treated with RT exhibited xerostomia (46.5% vs 16.9%; P <. 001; odds ratio [OR], 0.24; 95% confidence interval [CI], 0.11‐0.52), mucositis (46.5% vs 16.9%; P <. 001; OR, 0.24; 95% CI, 0.11‐0.52), and ORN (10.1% vs 0%; P =. 014; OR, 0.07; 95% CI, 0.00‐1.21). However, significantly more patients treated with IMRT were edentulous by the conclusion of radiation treatment (32.2% vs 11.1%; P =. 002; OR, 3.8; 95% CI, 1.65‐8.73).ConclusionPatients who were treated with IMRT had fewer instances of dental disease, more salivary flow, and fewer requisite posttreatment extractions compared with those treated with RT. The number of posttreatment extractions has been reduced with the advent of IMRT and more so with a complete dental evaluation prior to treatment.