bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Intraspecific functional differentiation suggests local adaptation to long‐term climate change in a calcareous grassland
Authors: Ravenscroft Catherine H. , Fridley Jason D. , Grime J. Philip 
Published: October 2013

Summary

Populations of the common perennial herb Plantago lanceolata L. have been exposed to nearly two decades of summer drought at the Buxton Climate Change Experiment (BCCIL), a controlled manipulation of climate factors in a species‐rich limestone grassland in northern England.

We used a common garden approach to test for evidence of selection for different suites of functional traits in P. lanceolata populations exposed to chronic summer drought and across a soil depth gradient.

The main axis of functional variation reflected a trade‐off between reproductive and vegetative allocation, consistent with drought avoidance and competitive strategies, respectively. Avoidance strategies were more prominent in droughted populations, whereas competitive strategies were more prominent in populations from control treatments. Treatment differences were more pronounced in shallower soils. Deeper soils in both control and drought treatments promoted functional differentiation associated with competitive strategies, suggesting that selective pressures imposed by different climate treatments are modified by fine‐scale edaphic heterogeneity.

Synthesis. Results suggest that population‐level shifts can be a mechanism of resistance to local climate‐induced extinction. Trait differentiation with respect to fine‐scale variation in soil depth suggests that edaphic heterogeneity fosters high local genetic diversity, which provides a range of local phenotypes upon which drought‐based selection may act.
Occupational therapy services for people with autism spectrum disorders: Current state of play, use of evidence and future learning priorities
Authors: Ashburner Jill , Rodger Sylvia , Ziviani Jenny , Jones Judy 
Published: October 2013

BackgroundA dramatic increase in the prevalence of autism spectrum disorders and increased funding to support children with autism spectrum disorders have added to the demand for occupational therapy services. This study explored current practices and future learning priorities of Queensland occupational therapists who work in this field.MethodA survey in relation to occupational therapy services for people with autism spectrum disorders was distributed to all registered Queensland occupational therapists (N = 2547). The development of the survey was informed by a series of focus groups comprising occupational therapy clinicians, supervisors and academics. The survey covered demographics, caseload composition, collaboration, context/setting, service‐delivery models, information gathering, goal setting, interventions, perceived challenges and confidence, use of evidence, and experience of professional development and support, and future learning priorities.ResultsOf 818 surveys returned, 235 respondents provided services to clients with autism spectrum disorders, with young children being more likely to receive a service than adolescents or adults. A pervasive focus on sensory processing was apparent in relation to assessment, intervention, and key areas of knowledge. Around half the respondents indicated that they lacked confidence at least some of the time. Autism spectrum disorders‐specific experience was a significant predictor of confidence. Many therapists reported challenges in finding useful information in the literature and reliance on conferences or workshops as their main source of evidence. Commonly identified learning priorities included new developments in the field, early intervention, school support, sensory processing and clinical reasoning.ConclusionThis research highlights the need for comprehensive autism spectrum disorders‐specific, face‐to‐face training focusing on evidence‐based and occupation‐centred practices.
Amoeba host‐Legionella synchronization of amino acid auxotrophy and its role in bacterial adaptation and pathogenic evolution
Authors: Price Christopher T. D. , Richards Ashley M. , Von Dwingelo Juanita E. , Samara Hala A. , Abu Kwaik Yousef 
Published: October 2013

SummaryLegionella pneumophila, the causative agent of Legionnaires' disease, invades and proliferates within a diverse range of free‐living amoeba in the environment, but upon transmission to humans, the bacteria hijack alveolar macrophages. Intracellular proliferation of L. pneumophila in two evolutionarily distant hosts is facilitated by bacterial exploitation of conserved host processes that are targeted by bacterial protein effectors injected into the host cell. A key aspect of microbe–host interaction is microbial extraction of nutrients from the host, but understanding of this is still limited. AnkB functions as a nutritional virulence factor and promotes host proteasomal degradation of polyubiquitinated proteins generating gratuitous levels of limiting host cellular amino acids. Legionella pneumophila is auxotrophic for several amino acids including cysteine, which is a metabolically preferred source of carbon and energy during intracellular proliferation, but is limiting in both amoebae and humans. We propose that synchronization of bacterial amino acids auxotrophy with the host is a driving force in pathogenic evolution and nutritional adaptation of L. pneumophila and other intracellular bacteria to life within the host cell. Understanding microbial strategies of nutrient generation and acquisition in the host will provide novel antimicrobial strategies to disrupt pathogen access to essential sources of carbon and energy.
Diet alters probiotic Lactobacillus persistence and function in the intestine
Authors: Tachon Sybille , Lee Bokyung , Marco Maria L. 
Published: October 2013

SummaryWe investigated the effects of host diet on the intestinal persistence and gene expression of Lactobacillus plantarum WCFS1 in healthy and health‐compromised, 2,4,6‐trinitrobenzene sulfonic acid (TNBS)‐treated mice. Mice fed either a low‐fat chow diet (CD) or high fat and sucrose Western diet (WD) received 109 L. plantarum WCFS1 cells for five consecutive days. Lactobacillus plantarum persistence was 10‐ to 100‐fold greater in the intestines of WD‐fed compared with CD‐fed mice. TNBS, an intestinal irritant that induces the development of inflammatory bowel disease‐like symptoms, resulted in up to a 104‐fold increase in L. plantarum survival in the digestive tract relative to healthy animals. Expression levels of 12 metabolic and gut‐inducible L. plantarum genes were differentially affected by diet and TNBS administration. Pyrosequencing of 16S rRNA transcripts from the indigenous intestinal microbiota showed that WD resulted in significant reductions in proportions of metabolically active indigenous Lactobacillus species and increases in the Desulfovibrionaceae family. Feeding L. plantarum WCFS1 resulted in lower levels of colitis and higher concentrations of colonic IL‐10 and IL‐12 in WD and not CD‐fed mice. Interactions between probiotics, nutritional components and the intestinal bacteria should be considered when examining for probiotic‐mediated effects and elucidating mechanisms of probiotic function in the mammalian gut.
Genomic signatures of obligate host dependence in the luminous bacterial symbiont of a vertebrate
Authors: Hendry Tory A. , de Wet Jeffrey R. , Dunlap Paul V. 
Published: October 2013

SummaryThe majority of bacteria engaged in bioluminescent symbiosis are environmentally acquired and facultatively symbiotic. A few enigmatic bioluminescent symbionts have not been successfully cultured, which has led to speculation that they may be obligately dependent on their hosts. Here, we report the draft genome of the uncultured luminous symbiont of an anomalopid flashlight fish, ‘Candidatus Photodesmus katoptron’. The genome of the anomalopid symbiont is reduced by 80% compared with close relatives and lacks almost all genes necessary for amino acid synthesis and for metabolism of energy sources other than glucose, supporting obligate dependence on the host for growth. ‘Candidatus Photodesmus katoptron’ is the first described obligate mutualistic symbiont of a vertebrate. Unlike most other obligate mutualists, the anomalopid symbiont genome has retained complete pathways for chemotaxis and motility as well as most genes involved in cell wall production, consistent with the hypothesis that these bacteria may be transmitted environmentally during an extra‐host phase.
TheCrcprotein inhibits the production of polyhydroxyalkanoates inPseudomonas putidaunder balanced carbon/nitrogen growth conditions
Authors: La Rosa Ruggero , de la Peña Fernando , Prieto María Axiliadora , Rojo Fernando 
Published: October 2013

SummaryPseudomonas putidasynthesizes polyhydroxyalkanoates (PHAs) as storage compounds.PHAsynthesis is more active when the carbon source is in excess and the nitrogen source is limiting, but can also occur at a lower rate under balanced carbon/nitrogen ratios. This work shows thatPHAsynthesis is controlled by theCrcglobal regulator, a protein that optimizes carbon metabolism by inhibiting the expression of genes involved in the use of non‐preferred carbon sources.Crcacts post‐transcriptionally. ThemRNAsof target genes contain characteristic catabolite activity (CA) motifs near the ribosome binding site. Sequences resemblingCAmotifs can be predicted for thephaC1gene, which codes for aPHApolymerase, and forphaIandphaF, which encode proteins associated toPHAgranules. Our results show thatCrcinhibits the translation ofphaC1mRNA, but not that ofphaIorphaF, reducing the amount ofPHAaccumulated in the cell.CrcinhibitedPHAsynthesis during exponential growth in media containing a balanced carbon/nitrogen ratio. No inhibition was seen when the carbon/nitrogen ratio was imbalanced. This extends the role ofCrcbeyond that of controlling the hierarchical utilization of carbon sources and provides a link betweenPHAsynthesis and the global regulatory networks controlling carbon flow.
Gendered Nature and Urban Culture: The Dialectics of Gated Developments in Izmir, Turkey
Authors: Datta Ayona 
Published: October 2013

AbstractThis article adds to recent debates on the emergence of new forms of private gated developments in Turkey that specifically target the upper middle classes. In particular, it focuses on the rise of residential gated developments along the Izmir‐Ceşme expressway to highlight how the dialectics between gender, nature and culture are reinforced in these places. The article, based on a case study of three gated developments in this region, suggests that their production is made possible through a series of dualisms between nature and culture, mobility and fixity, urban public life and gendered domesticity, urban modernity and rural parochialism, polluted city and healthy town. Based on interviews with architects, developers and residents, as well as local‐authority officials in Urla town who sanction these developments, this article argues that contradictions between different sets of dualisms form a central aspect of the processes through which these developments were designed, produced, marketed and inhabited. Taken collectively, these contradictions point broadly to the limits of gated communities in creating stable, adaptable and sustainable patterns of development in Turkey and the global South.
Risky Businesses? Young People in Informal Self‐Employment in Sofia
Authors: Chavdarova Tanya 
Published: October 2013

AbstractThis article studies how perceptions of the risks associated with informal self‐employment depend on the interplay between the institutional, structural (network) and cultural embeddedness of economic action. Informal self‐employment should create at least three types of risk. The first concerns the possible legal and social sanctions that stem from the illegal character of the entrepreneurial action. The second is related to the complete lack of social security protection among those for whom informal self‐employment is their sole employment. The third is connected with the lack of guarantees concerning contract enforcement, which may increase the probability of opportunistic behaviour by business partners and clients. On the basis of a qualitative study of young, highly educated, informally self‐employed workers in Bulgaria's capital Sofia, I argue that these risks are compensated by the specific network and cultural embeddedness of the economic action. This compensation takes the form of various types of insurance against risks. Its core is the replacement of the vacuum of institutional‐system trust with interpersonal trust. Thus, the specific constellation of institutional, network and cultural embeddedness is able to solve the problem of opportunism, as well as to create the perception that the informally self‐employed are faced with not much greater risks than registered self‐employed workers.
How Do Squatters Deal with the State? Legalization and Anomalous Institutionalization in Madrid
Authors: A. Martínez Miguel 
Published: October 2013

AbstractRadical and autonomous urban movements like the European squatters' movement tend to resist integration into the institutions of the state, although particular legal and political conditions in each country or city may significantly alter this tendency. In this article, I examine the controversial issue of ‘institutionalization’ among squatters, focusing on the few cases of legalized squats (social centres) in the city of Madrid. Negotiations with the state authorities and processes of legalization are the major forms of institutionalization involving squatters. However, an anomalous kind of institutionalization also emerges once squats, whether legalized or not, become consolidated and socially accepted. For squatting to have a successful impact, then, depends on both the type of autonomy achieved by squatters and the different outcomes of the processes of institutionalization. The case of Madrid provides empirical evidence that: (1) negotiations with state authorities were very frequent among squatters, but most were defensive; (2) the few cases of legalization were due to specific conditions such as the urban centrality of the squats, single‐issue identities, social network solidarity, favourable media coverage, formal organizations working as facilitators and the squatters' leadership of the process. Furthermore, legalized squats in Madrid preserved a high degree of autonomy, self‐management and ties to other radical social movements. In conclusion, both the legalized squats and the squatters' movement in Madrid as a whole, avoided ‘terminal institutionalization’ and, instead, gave shape to a ‘flexible’ one.
Remaking Equality: Community Governance and the Politics of Exclusion in Bogota's Public Spaces
Authors: Galvis Juan Pablo 
Published: October 2013

AbstractBogota's public space policy is often credited with promoting inclusionary principles. In this article, I explore critically the content of Bogota's articulation of equality in public space policy. In so doing, I present a critical view of the work Bogota's insistence on equality does to mediate class relations in the city, relying on deeply held conceptions of both social extremes. This results in the construction of a version of social harmony in public space that at once depoliticizes the claims to public space of subjects such as street vendors and the homeless and claims a new role for the middle class in the city. The analysis focuses on two examples of community governance schemes, documenting the logics and methods used by communities to implement official visions of equality and justify the exclusion of street vendors and homeless people from the area. By looking at the articulation of these exclusions in local class politics through seemingly inclusionary rhetoric, the article accounts for ‘post‐revanchist’ turns in contemporary urban policy, while anchoring its production in local processes of community governance.
Anterior colporrhaphy compared with collagen‐coated transvaginal mesh for anterior vaginal wall prolapse: a randomised controlled trial
Authors: Rudnicki M , Laurikainen E , Pogosean R , Kinne I , Jakobsson U , Teleman P 
Published: October 2013

ObjectiveTo investigate the anatomical cure rate and complications related to collagen‐coated mesh for cystocele, compared with a conventional anterior colporrhaphy.DesignA randomised controlled study.SettingSix departments of obstetrics and gynaecology in Norway, Sweden, Finland, and Denmark.PopulationWomen aged 55 years or older, referred for surgery with a prolapse of the anterior vaginal wall of stage 2 or higher.MethodsWomen scheduled for primary cystocoele surgery were randomised to either anterior colporrhaphy or a collagen‐coated Prolene mesh. Power analysis indicated that 130 patients had to be randomised. All patients were evaluated using the Pelvic Organ Prolapse‐Quantification (POP‐Q) measurement. Quality of life, symptoms, and sexual function were evaluated using the Pelvic Floor Impact Questionnaire, the Pelvic Floor Distress Inventory, and the Pelvic Organ Prolapse/Urinary Incontinence Sexual Questionnaire.Main outcome measuresThe primary outcome was objective cure, defined as prolapse below POP‐Q stage 2 at the 12‐months follow‐up. Secondary outcomes were quality of life, symptoms, and presence (or not) of complications.ResultsIn total, 161 women were randomised to either anterior colporrhaphy or mesh (participant ages 64.9 ± 6.4 years versus 64.7 ± 6.6 years, respectively; mean ± SD). The objective cure rate was 39.8% (95% CI 28.6–50.9%) in the anterior colporrhaphy group, compared with 88.1% (95% CI 80.7–95.6%) in the mesh group (P < 0.001). Vaginal mesh exposure occurred in ten women (13.3%) and dyspareunia occurred in two women (2.7%, not significant) in the mesh group at the 12‐months follow‐up. Questionnaires revealed no difference between the groups.ConclusionsOur study demonstrates a significantly improved objective cure rate associated with a high exposure rate among women with mesh surgery as opposed to conventional surgery.
Re‐evaluating the relationship between electoral rules and ideological congruence
Authors: Golder Matt , Lloyd Gabriella 
Published: October 2013

AbstractTwo new studies challenge the prevailing consensus that proportional representation (PR) systems produce greater ideological congruence between governments and their citizens than majoritarian ones. This has led to what has become known as the ‘ideological congruence controversy’. G. Bingham Powell claims to resolve this controversy in favour ofPRsystems. Specifically, he argues that the results from the two new studies are based on an anomalous decade and thatPRsystems generally do produce greater government congruence. In addition, he also asserts thatPRsystems exhibit less variability in government congruence. In this article, the empirical evidence for these two claims is re‐evaluated using exactly the same data as employed by Powell. The analysis indicates that althoughPRsystems produce better and more consistent representation in the legislature, they do not hold an advantage when it comes to representation at the governmental level.
Going green: Explaining issue competition on the environment
Authors: Spoon Jae‐Jae , Hobolt Sara B. , de Vries Catherine E. 
Published: October 2013

AbstractThis study addresses the dynamics of the issue space in multiparty systems by examining to what extent, and under what conditions, parties respond to the issue ownership of other parties on the green issue. To understand why some issues become part and parcel of the political agenda in multiparty systems, it is crucial not only to examine the strategies of issue entrepreneurs, but also the responses of other parties. It is argued that the extent to which other parties respond to, rather than ignore, the issue mobilisation of green parties depends on two factors: how much of an electoral threat the green party poses to a specific party; and the extent to which the political and economic context makes the green issue a potential vote winner. To analyse the evolution of the green issue, a time‐series cross‐section analysis is conducted using data from theComparativeManifestosProject for 19WestEuropean countries from 1980–2010. The findings have important implications for understanding issue evolution in multiparty systems and how and why the dynamics of party competition on the green issue vary across time and space.
Volume Determination of Fresh and Dried Bloodstains by Means of Optical Coherence Tomography
Authors: Laan Nick , Bremmer Rolf H. , Aalders Maurice C.G. , de Bruin Karla G. 
Published: October 2013

AbstractThe volume of bloodstains found on crime scenes may help forensic investigators reconstruct the location and kinematics of bloodletting events, as stain size, volume, and impact velocity are related. Optical coherence tomography was used as a method to determine the volume and volume ratio of dried and fresh bloodstains on both glass and irregular surfaces or deposited with an impact velocity. The volume of blood drops deposited on smooth glass surfaces was measured within a deviation of 2%. This deviation increased for droplets on irregular surfaces or deposited with an impact velocity. The volume ratio of dried and fresh bloodstains was equal to 19–28% depending on the individual donor and on the use of an anticoagulant. Optical coherence tomography is a good method to determine the volume of fresh and dried bloodstains in laboratory conditions and allows accurate determination of the dry/fresh ratio.
A Rare Case of Sudden Death Due to Hypotension during Cesarean Section in a Woman Suffering from Pheochromocytoma and Neurofibromatosis
Authors: Cecchi Rossana , Frati Paola , Capri Oriana , Cipolloni Luigi 
Published: October 2013

AbstractSudden death following acute hypotension due to an undiagnosed pheochromocytoma (PHEO) is a rare event. Moreover, histopathology of the myocardium in such cases is rarely reported. We present a case of a woman who died during delivery. A 37‐year‐old parturient, who was 38 weeks pregnant, suffering from neurofibromatosis underwent a cesarean section following peridural anesthesia. Acute hypotension, acute intra‐operative pulmonary edema and supraventricular paroxysmal tachyarrhythmia occurred during delivery, followed by death. The autopsy revealed the presence of a PHEO, confirmed immunohistochemically with chromogranin‐A (CgA), CD20 antibody (L26), anti‐Keratocan antibody (KER‐1) and neuron‐specific enolase (NSE), and a PHEO‐induced cardiomyopathy. The physiopathology of both stress‐induced cardiomyopathy and PHEO‐induced cardiomyopathy, as well as the role of anesthesia in provoking the death, are discussed. The association of an undiagnosed PHEO with neurofibromatosis as the cause of sudden death in pregnancy is an obstetric urgency that raises forensic pathology issues.
Photogrammetric Documentation of Regions of Interest at Autopsy—A Pilot Study
Authors: Slot Liselott , Larsen Peter K. , Lynnerup Niels 
Published: October 2013

AbstractIn this pilot study, the authors tested whether photogrammetry can replace or supplement physical measurements made during autopsies and, based on such measurements, whether virtual computer models may be applicable in forensic reconstructions. Photogrammetric and physical measurements of markers denoting wounds on five volunteers were compared. Virtual models of the volunteers were made, and the precision of the markers' locations on the models was tested. Twelve of 13 mean differences between photogrammetric and physical measurements were below 1 cm, which indicates that the photogrammetric method has a high accuracy. The precision of the markers' location on the models was somewhat less, although the method is still promising and potentially superior to the current procedures used for reconstructions. The possibility to measure any distance on a body, even after the autopsy is concluded and the corpse is no longer available, is one of the biggest benefits of photogrammetry.