bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
α9-Nicotinic Acetylcholine Receptors Contribute to the Maintenance of Chronic Mechanical Hyperalgesia, but Not Thermal or Mechanical Allodynia
Authors: Mohammadi Sarasa , Christie Macdonald J 
Published: October 2014

Background: The current pharmacological treatments for chronic pain are limited. The first analgesic drug approved for clinical use in decades that has a novel molecular target is the synthetic version of a naturally occurring conotoxin. Several conotoxins that target ion channels have progressed to clinical trials for the relief of pain. Vc1.1 and RgIA are analgesic α-conotoxins that target α9-subunit-containing nicotinic acetylcholine receptors (α9-nAChR) as well as GABAB receptor mechanisms. However, the evidence for the involvement of α9-nAChRs in pain is controversial. In the present study, the role of the α9-nAChR in pain was assessed using a battery of behavioural pain tests and pain models in α9-nAChR knockout (KO) mice. Results: α9-nAChR KO mice showed normal responses to acute noxious thermal and mechanical stimuli, and developed normal chronic cold and mechanical allodynia in inflammatory and nerve injury pain models. However, KO animals developed mechanical hyperalgesia to a lesser extent than their wild type (WT) counterparts in both inflammatory and neuropathic pain models. Chronic neuropathic pain is sustained in WT mice for at least 21 days post injury, while KO mice show significant recovery by 14 days post injury. KO sham mice were also resistant to the repeated-measures effect of the noxious pain test that caused a gradual onset of mild mechanical hyperalgesia in WT sham animals. Conclusions: The α9-nAChR is not involved in acute pain perception or chronic thermal or mechanical allodynia or thermal hyperalgesia but does contribute to the intensity and duration of chronic mechanical hyperalgesia, suggesting that pain-relieving actions of antagonists that target this site may be restricted to high threshold mechanosensation. The α9-nAChR appears to be a valid target for pharmacological compounds that alleviate long-term mechanical hyperalgesia and may be of use as a prophylactic drug to prevent the development of some symptoms of chronic pain.
Isolation of deer tick virus (Powassan virus, lineage II) from Ixodes scapularis and detection of antibody in vertebrate hosts sampled in the Hudson Valley, New York State
Authors: Dupuis II Alan P , Peters Ryan J , Prusinski Melissa A , Falco Richard C , Ostfeld Richard S , Kramer Laura D 
Published: October 2014

Abstract

Background
Deer tick virus, DTV, is a genetically and ecologically distinct lineage of Powassan virus (POWV) also known as lineage II POWV. Human incidence of POW encephalitis has increased in the last 15 years potentially due to the emergence of DTV, particularly in the Hudson Valley of New York State. We initiated an extensive sampling campaign to determine whether POWV was extant throughout the Hudson Valley in tick vectors and/or vertebrate hosts.

Methods
More than 13,000 ticks were collected from hosts or vegetation and tested for the presence of DTV using molecular and virus isolation techniques. Vertebrate hosts of Ixodes scapularis (black-legged tick) were trapped (mammals) or netted (birds) and blood samples analyzed for the presence of neutralizing antibodies to POWV. Maximum likelihood estimates (MLE) were calculated to determine infection rates in ticks at each study site.

Results
Evidence of DTV was identified each year from 2007 to 2012, in nymphal and adult I. scapularis collected from the Hudson Valley. 58 tick pools were positive for virus and/or RNA. Infection rates were higher in adult ticks collected from areas east of the Hudson River. MLE limits ranged from 0.2-6.0 infected adults per 100 at sites where DTV was detected. Virginia opossums, striped skunks and raccoons were the source of infected nymphal ticks collected as replete larvae. Serologic evidence of POWV infection was detected in woodchucks (4/6), an opossum (1/6), and birds (4/727). Lineage I, prototype POWV, was not detected.

Conclusions
These data demonstrate widespread enzootic transmission of DTV throughout the Hudson Valley, in particular areas east of the river. High infection rates were detected in counties where recent POW encephalitis cases have been identified, supporting the hypothesis that lineage II POWV, DTV, is responsible for these human infections.
Unbiased bootstrap error estimation for linear discriminant analysis
Authors: Vu Thang , Sima Chao , Braga-Neto Ulisses M , Dougherty Edward R 
Published: October 2014

AbstractConvex bootstrap error estimation is a popular tool for classifier error estimation in gene expression studies. A basic question is how to determine the weight for the convex combination between the basic bootstrap estimator and the resubstitution estimator such that the resulting estimator is unbiased at finite sample sizes. The well-known 0.632 bootstrap error estimator uses asymptotic arguments to propose a fixed 0.632 weight, whereas the more recent 0.632+ bootstrap error estimator attempts to set the weight adaptively. In this paper, we study the finite sample problem in the case of linear discriminant analysis under Gaussian populations. We derive exact expressions for the weight that guarantee unbiasedness of the convex bootstrap error estimator in the univariate and multivariate cases, without making asymptotic simplifications. Using exact computation in the univariate case and an accurate approximation in the multivariate case, we obtain the required weight and show that it can deviate significantly from the constant 0.632 weight, depending on the sample size and Bayes error for the problem. The methodology is illustrated by application on data from a well-known cancer classification study.
Development of a Novel Stem-loop-type Molecular Beacon Probe Possessing Polyamine-connected Deoxyuridine and Silylated Pyrene
Authors: Chowdhury Jakir Ahmed , Moriguchi Tomohisa , Shinozuka Kazuo 
Published: October 2014

Abstract
A novel molecular beacon (MB)-type probe possessing polyamine-bearing deoxyuridine and silylated pyrene in a short stem-portion was synthesized. The probe is assumed to form a pseudo dumbbell-type structure in near physiological conditions. The fluorescent signal of the probe was efficiently quenched while the probe stays alone. On the other hand, the signal was significantly increased under the presence of the oligoDNA complementary to the loop portion.
MALDI-TOF MS for the Diagnosis of Infectious Diseases
Authors: Patel Robin 
Published: October 2014

Abstract

BACKGROUND
First introduced into clinical microbiology laboratories in Europe, MALDI-TOF MS is being rapidly embraced by laboratories around the globe. Although it has multiple applications, its widespread adoption in clinical microbiology relates to its use as an inexpensive, easy, fast, and accurate method for identification of grown bacteria and fungi based on automated analysis of the mass distribution of bacterial proteins.

CONTENT
This review provides a historical perspective on this new technology. Modern applications in the clinical microbiology laboratory are reviewed with a focus on the most recent publications in the field. Identification of aerobic and anaerobic bacteria, mycobacteria, and fungi are discussed, as are applications for testing urine and positive blood culture bottles. The strengths and limitations of MALDI-TOF MS applications in clinical microbiology are also addressed.

SUMMARY
MALDI-TOF MS is a tool for rapid, accurate, and cost-effective identification of cultured bacteria and fungi in clinical microbiology. The technology is automated, high throughput, and applicable to a broad range of common as well as esoteric bacteria and fungi. MALDI-TOF MS is an incontrovertibly beneficial technology for the clinical microbiology laboratory.
Translating Sanger-Based Routine DNA Diagnostics into Generic Massive Parallel Ion Semiconductor Sequencing
Authors: Diekstra Adinda , Bosgoed Ermanno , Rikken Alwin , van Lier Bart , Kamsteeg Erik-Jan , Tychon Marloes , Derks Ronny C , van Soest Ronald A , Mensenkamp Arjen R , Scheffer Hans , Neveling Kornelia , Nelen Marcel R 
Published: October 2014

Abstract

BACKGROUND
Dideoxy-based chain termination sequencing developed by Sanger is the gold standard sequencing approach and allows clinical diagnostics of disorders with relatively low genetic heterogeneity. Recently, new next generation sequencing (NGS) technologies have found their way into diagnostic laboratories, enabling the sequencing of large targeted gene panels or exomes. The development of benchtop NGS instruments now allows the analysis of single genes or small gene panels, making these platforms increasingly competitive with Sanger sequencing.

METHODS
We developed a generic automated ion semiconductor sequencing work flow that can be used in a clinical setting and can serve as a substitute for Sanger sequencing. Standard amplicon-based enrichment remained identical to PCR for Sanger sequencing. A novel postenrichment pooling strategy was developed, limiting the number of library preparations and reducing sequencing costs up to 70% compared to Sanger sequencing.

RESULTS
A total of 1224 known pathogenic variants were analyzed, yielding an analytical sensitivity of 99.92% and specificity of 99.99%. In a second experiment, a total of 100 patient-derived DNA samples were analyzed using a blind analysis. The results showed an analytical sensitivity of 99.60% and specificity of 99.98%, comparable to Sanger sequencing.

CONCLUSIONS
Ion semiconductor sequencing can be a first choice mutation scanning technique, independent of the genes analyzed.
Crisis of sovereignty in recent Greek cinema
Authors: Lykidis Alex 
Published: October 2014

Abstract
Greek cinema is on the rise during a period of deepening economic and political crisis. Films such as Dogtooth, Attenberg and Alps have won critical acclaim and awards at international film festivals. They have been produced under increasingly difficult conditions, at a time when funding for social and cultural programmes in Greece is being cut precipitously. What is the relationship between this cinematic resurgence and the crisis? To what extent are these films a response to the troubles that grip the country? This essay relates the depiction of agency in Lanthimos’s and Tsangari’s films to the decline of popular sovereignty in European politics, Greek peripheral modernity and epochal transformations in Greek film culture.
Tracking timbral changes in metal productions from 1990 to 2013
Authors: Williams Duncan 
Published: October 2014

Abstract
The metal scene has undergone an evolution in sonic characteristics that is partially rooted in music technology developments and associated production techniques that have given rise to a set of identifiably distinct ‘metal’ timbres. The science of psychoacoustics provides a measurable way of assessing these perceptual changes. This article proposes a methodology for psychoacoustic analysis in order to track the evolution of metal-specific timbres, and to speculate on the development of, and applications for, timbral metering in metal production. Sampling, synthesis and digital editing techniques have given rise to entirely new genres of music, yet metal as a genre has remained ostensibly with much the same musical format. Nevertheless, the sonic fingerprint of modern metal production often bears the hallmark of these computer-aided developments. In particular, the metal audience is now, consciously or not, used to the sound of triggered drum samples and sound replacement, ‘re-amping’ guitar and bass signals, and the restricted dynamic range of the ‘loudness war’. As a genre that is known for taking joy in all things loud, both anecdotally and in academic research, the issue of manipulating dynamic range compression in order to increase perceptual loudness in modern music production is perhaps even more pertinent to the metal genre than in other popular music forms.
The Trooper or the Sandman? Iron Maiden’s conservatism versus Metallica’s experimentalism in their philosophies towards musical creativity
Authors: Puri Samir 
Published: October 2014

Abstract
This article considers the differing philosophies towards artistic expression of Metallica and Iron Maiden, two defining bands in the heavy metal genre. It explores the contrasting mentalities that have seen Metallica adapt their musical style on numerous occasions, while Iron Maiden have stuck doggedly to a particular musical path. This article has two aims. First, it sheds light on why two of the heavy metal genres most load-bearing creative and commercial pillars are so unevenly fashioned in terms of creative ethos. Second, it extrapolates wider insights into notions of authenticity in heavy metal music. What are the implications of a band relying on a self-referential sense of how its music ought to be fashioned, versus welcoming in outside influences to reshape one’s artistic core?
A pond water use planning tool for integrated farming in an alternating wet–dry season tropical climate
Authors: Sukchan U. , Oda M. , Caldwell J. S. , Taweekul K. , Suphanchaimat N. , Chongpraditnun P. 
Published: October 2014

Abstract
A tool was developed for farmers to estimate water volume in farm ponds and plan pond water use for dry-season crop and animal production leaving adequate reserve water for rice at the start of the wet season. The tool is used to determine pond water volume at the start of the planning cycle; to determine the quantity of pond reserve water desired at the end of the planning cycle; to determine pond water evaporation during the planning period; to determine expected water consumption by desired crops and cattle; and to adjust water use if the remaining water predicted by the tool is less than the desired reserve quantity. Water use based on plans made with the tool by ten farmers was monitored from 29 December 2008 to 5 October 2009. The tool was more accurate in predicting reserve water when no rainfall added water into farm ponds, and less accurate when rainfall added water to the ponds. Prediction of reserve water in the upper paddy topographical position was more accurate compared with lower paddy and upland positions. The tool is most appropriate for dry-season diversification in upper paddy topographical positions where many new ponds have been constructed during the past twenty years.
Diagnostic performance study of an antigen microarray for the detection of antiphospholipid antibodies in human serum
Authors: Schindler Aline R. , Bleher Oliver , Thaler Markus A. , Kocot Carmen J. , Steigerwald Udo , Proll Günther , Gauglitz Günter , Luppa Peter B. 
Published: October 2014

AbstractThe parallelization of clinically relevant antigens in a microarray format is of growing importance due to the ability to measure multiple antigen-antibody interactions. With the development of a microarray for the detection of antiphospholipid antibodies we focussed on one important autoimmune disease that is still diagnostically challenging. Reasons are the heterogeneity of the autoantibodies and the unspecific clinical symptoms.For the covalent immobilization of antigenic structures, glass transducers were coated with 11-aminoundecyltrimethoxysilane (11-AUTMS). In total 35 antiphospholipid syndrome (APS) patients, six patients with lupus erythematosus and 24 healthy controls were investigated on a microarray format using polarized imaging reflectometric interference spectroscopy.The novel surface modification based on the short derivative 11-AUTMS resulted in a selective biosensor allowing a clear differentiation of patient and control samples. It combined proteinogenic as well as phospholipid-derived antigens, namely βMultiplexed determination of serological parameters has a great potential. We have shown that our biosensor is capable of detecting four different APS relevant antibodies in parallel exhibiting a sensitivity and specificity comparable to existing ELISA methods.
Plasma visfatin/nicotinamide phosphoribosyltransferase (visfatin/NAMPT) concentration is not related to kidney function in elderly subjects
Authors: Kocelak Piotr , Olszanecka-Glinianowicz Magdalena , Owczarek Aleksander , Bozentowicz-Wikarek Maria , Brzozowska Aniceta , Mossakowska Malgorzata , Skalska Anna , Wiecek Andrzej , Chudek Jerzy 
Published: October 2014

AbstractStudies assessing plasma visfatin/nicotinamide phosphoribosyltransferase (NAMPT) concentrations in chronic kidney disease with the ELISA method are restricted mainly to subjects with end-stage kidney disease. Therefore, little is known about to what extent glomerular filtration rate (GFR) affects the plasma levels of visfatin/NAMPT. The aim of this study was to assess the relations between circulating visfatin/NAMPT levels and estimated GFR (eGFR), independently of potential confounders such as inflammation, nutritional status, and insulin resistance in the elderly population.The analysis included 3023 elderly subjects (1076 with impaired kidney excretory function – eGFR <60 mL/min/1.73 mSimilar plasma visfatin/NAMPT levels were found in subjects with eGFR ≥60 and <60 mL/min/1.73 mThe results of our study suggest that plasma visfatin/NAMPT levels are not affected by impaired kidney excretory function in elderly subjects.
Accuracy of GFR estimating equations combining standardized cystatin C and creatinine assays: a cross-sectional study in Sweden
Authors: Björk Jonas , Grubb Anders , Larsson Anders , Hansson Lars-Olof , Flodin Mats , Sterner Gunnar , Lindström Veronica , Nyman Ulf 
Published: October 2014

AbstractThe recently established international cystatin C calibrator makes it possible to develop non-laboratory specific glomerular filtration rate (GFR) estimating (eGFR) equations. This study compares the performance of the arithmetic mean of the revised Lund-Malmö creatinine and CAPA cystatin C equations (MEANThe study included 1200 examinations in 1112 adult Swedish patients referred for measurement of GFR (mGFR) 2008–2010 by plasma clearance of iohexol (median 51 mL/min/1.73 mCombined marker equations were unbiased and had higher precision and accuracy than single marker equations. Overall results of MEANCombining cystatin C and creatinine assays improves GFR estimations with P
Comparison of analytical sensitivity and women’s interpretation of home pregnancy tests
Authors: Johnson Sarah , Cushion Michael , Bond Sharon , Godbert Sonya , Pike Joanna 
Published: October 2014

AbstractInternationally there are no defined standards for expressing the performance of home-based pregnancy tests, nor any pre-defined accuracy standard requirements. The aim of this study was to evaluate the accuracy of a selection of home-based pregnancy tests relative to their packaging/product insert claims.Eight home-based pregnancy tests were evaluated using human chorionic gonadotrophin (hCG) urine standards (0, 15, 25 mlU/mL). Testing was performed by a technician and results were read by a technician and a panel of consumer volunteers (each blinded to the expected result) and compared with the expected result based on the manufacturer’s claimed accuracy. Volunteers also completed questionnaires relating to various device attributes.The overall agreement between the technician reading and expected reading from the hCG concentration was >90% for the ClearblueMany home-based pregnancy tests commonly used by women are not as accurate as their packaging information claims. International test standards which define appropriate performance characteristics for home pregnancy tests are urgently required.
Laboratory medicine as the science that underpins medicine: the “high-sensitivity” troponin paradigm
Authors: Ferraro Simona , Panteghini Mauro 
Published: October 2014

AbstractThe availability of so-called high-sensitivity troponin assays (hsTn) has scored a compelling goal for laboratory medicine, allowing the safe clinical application of international recommendations for the definition of acute myocardial infarction (AMI). However, the introduction of hsTn has not been welcomed by clinicians, claiming an increase in false-positive results. Here we critically trace back the steps following the introduction of hsTn by referring to the 5-year practical experience in our academic hospital and to suitable information available in the literature. In agreement with published data, we found that hsTn introduction was associated with an increased number of AMI diagnoses, whereas the test volume, the revascularization rate, and the proportion of cases with negative angiography findings remained virtually unchanged. Fast-track protocols for ruling out AMI have been further optimized to recommend sampling at presentation and after 3 h only. We focus on a cost-effective use of hsTn that can account for all clinical variables increasing the pre-test probability in order to ensure that tests are ordered only for patients at medium to high risk for acute coronary syndrome (ACS). To guide interpretation of results, hsTn typical release patterns suggestive for AMI should be identified by evaluating the significance of concentration changes. hsTn have markedly shortened the time to rule out or rule in AMI and has the potential to improve the prognostic assessment of critical patients in clinical contexts different from ACS.
Geschichte, Negativismus und Skepsis als Herausforderungen politischer Theorie: Judith N. Shklar
Authors: Liebsch Burkhard , Bajohr Hannes 
Published: October 2014

Abstract
This introduction to the special issue on Judith N. Shklar starts with a brief outline of her early life, her emigration, and the academic circumstances of and influences on her major works. A second part elucidates how the negativism and skepticism that constitute the central tenets of her political thought can best be described as a “phenomenology of the vulnerability of the Other.” Her emphasis on active historical remembrance, wariness towards communitarianism, and distrust of overly harmonious models of society puts her in the company of recent theories of political dissensus. A final look at the problems arising from her negativism identifies the weak spots in Shklar’s argument, drawing out the difficulty of institutionalizing such a position and the internal incoherence of a perspective that historically is aimed at the twentieth century and theoretically at the seventeenth.
Judith Shklar über die Philosophie des Völkerstrafrechts
Authors: Moyn Samuel 
Published: October 2014

Abstract
Judith Shklar’s “negative” politics made her a vigilant critic of other modes of liberalism. In what she called her “favorite” book, Legalism (1964), Shklar took up legal philosophy, and it remains one of the most neglected corners of her oeuvre. And yet it is highly relevant today, because she took as her test case for legal philosophy the inter¬national political trials that took place after World War II at Nuremberg and Tokyo. This essay reconstructs her narrow and instrumentalist theory of law, which led her to be a profound critic of Hans Kelsen’s positivism but also of its traditional rival, which has now taken the form of a jurisprudence of moral principle (and which Shklar ultimately associated with Ronald Dworkin). The contemporary pertinence of her thought lies perhaps most of all in the realist strictures that it places upon internalist accounts of law (whether positivist or normative) and especially in the much-debated current return to international justice, in the form of the International Criminal Court and related institutions. Her remarks on Nuremberg show why her negative politics deserve a place of honor in current debates about international justice.