bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Diabetes mellitus and decompensated cirrhosis: Risk of hepatic encephalopathy in different age groups (糖尿病与失代偿性肝硬化：不同年龄组的肝性脑病风险)
Authors: Butt Zeeshan , Jadoon Nauman A. , Salaria Osman N. , Mushtaq Kamran , Riaz Irbaz B. , Shahzad Ahmed , Hashmi Ali M. , Sarwar Shahid 
Published: June 2013

AbstractBackgroundThe aim of the present study was to examine the association of diabetes mellitus (DM) with the prevalence and severity of hepatic encephalopathy (HE) in patients with decompensated cirrhosis (DC) and determine the impact of age and gender on this relationship.MethodsWest Haven criteria was used to prospectively evaluate 352 consecutive patients with DC for the presence of HE. Detailed clinicobiochemical profiling of patients was performed. Categorical data and ordered categorical variables were evaluated using the Chi‐squared test for independence and trend, respectively. Continuous normal and non‐parametric data were evaluated using the t‐test and Mann–Whitney U‐test, respectively.ResultsAt the time of admission, HE was present in 50.3% of patients. In all, 118 patients had DM (33.5%). Patients with DM had a significantly higher prevalence (58.5% vs 42.6%; P = 0.03) and severity of HE (Ptrend = 0.01) than patients without DM. However, there were no significant differences between the two groups in terms of Child‐Pugh class, MELD scores, the presence of ascites and esophageal varices. Patients with DM had higher platelet counts than those without DM (Ptrend = 0.003). In age and gender subgroup analyses, older patients and men with DM had significantly greater evidence of HE (P = 0.02 and 0.03, respectively). Multivariate analysis showed that DM (P = 0.03) and older age (P = 0.006) were independently related to HE, whereas the association of gender was non‐significant.ConclusionBoth DM and older age are independently associated with HE in patients with cirrhosis.
Does Pharmacogenetic Testing for CYP450 2D6 and 2C19 Among Patients with Diagnoses within the Schizophrenic Spectrum Reduce Treatment Costs?
Authors: Herbild Louise , Andersen Stig E. , Werge Thomas , Rasmussen Henrik B. , Jürgens Gesche 
Published: June 2013

AbstractThe effect of pharmacogenetic testing for CYP450 2D6 and 2C19 on treatment costs have not yet been documented. This study used Danish patient registers to calculate healthcare costs of treating patients with diagnoses within the schizophrenic spectrum for 1 year with or without pharmacogenetic testing for polymorphisms in the genes for the CYP2D6 and CYP2C19 enzymes. In a randomized, controlled trial, stratified with respect to metabolizer genotype, 104 patients were assigned to treatment based on pharmacogenetic testing and 103 patients to treatment as usual. Random exclusion of extensive and intermediate metabolizers was used to increase the frequency of extreme metabolizers (poor metabolizers and ultrarapid metabolizers for CYP2D6) to 20% in both groups. Cost differences were analysed at several levels including (i) overall healthcare expenditure, (ii) psychiatric hospital cost (iii) nonpsychiatric hospital cost, (iv) primary care spending and (v) pharmaceuticals. Statistically significant differences in costs of psychiatric care dependent on metabolizer status were found between intervention groups. Pharmacogenetic testing significantly reduced costs among the extreme metabolizers (poor metabolizers and ultrarapid metabolizers) to 28%. Use of primary care services and pharmaceuticals was also affected by the intervention.This study confirms earlier findings that extreme metabolizers (poor and ultrarapid metabolizers) incur higher costs than similar patients with a normal metabolizer genotype. However, this study shows that these excess costs can be reduced by pharmacogenetic testing. Pharmacogenetic testing for CYP2D6 and CYP2C19 could thus be considered as a means of curtailing high psychiatric treatment costs among extreme metabolizers.
Effective and ineffective uses of emerging technologies: Towards a transformative pedagogical model
Authors: Ng'ambi Dick 
Published: June 2013

AbstractAlthough there is an increasing use of emerging technologies (ETs) in higher education internationally and in South Africa in particular, there is little evidence that their use is transforming teaching and learning practice. Anecdotal evidence shows that there is a dichotomy between the technologies supported and used in higher education institutions (HEIs) on one hand, and technologies owned and predominately in use among students. Thus, the gulf between technologies supported and used for teaching and the technologies used by students for learning has created pressure for educators to “play catch‐up,” resulting in a continuum of pedagogically ineffective to effective uses of ETs. This paper argues that pedagogically sound uses of ETs leverage the broader context of existing practices (cultural‐historical context) to design learning activities that transform both the teaching and learning practices. The paper draws data from a national survey on uses of ETs among educators in higher education to propose a pedagogical model of use that has the potential to transform practice.
Using mobile instant messaging to leverage learner participation and transform pedagogy at aSouthAfricanUniversity ofTechnology
Authors: Rambe Patient , Bere Aaron 
Published: June 2013

AbstractOne of the most complicated academic endeavours in transmission pedagogies is to generate democratic participation of all students and public expression of silenced voices. While the potential of mobile phones, particularly mobile instant messaging (MIM), to trigger broadened academic participation is increasingly acknowledged in literature, integratingMIMinto classrooms and out‐of‐the‐classroom tasks has often been confronted with academic resistance. Academic uncertainty aboutMIMis often predicated on its perceived distractive nature and potential to trigger off‐task social behaviours. This paper argues thatMIMhas potential to create alternative dialogic spaces for student collaborative engagements in informal contexts, which can gainfully transform teaching and learning. An instance of aMIM,WhatsApp, was adopted for an information technology course at aSouthAfrican university with a view to heighten lecturer–student and peer‐based participation, and enhance pedagogical delivery and inclusive learning in formal (lectures) and informal spaces. The findings suggest heightened student participation, the fostering of learning communities for knowledge creation and progressive shifts in the lecturer's mode of pedagogical delivery. However, the concomitant challenge of usingMIMincluded mature adults' resentment of the merging of academic and family life occasioned byWhatsApp consultations after hours. Students also expressed ambivalence aboutMIM's wide‐scale roll‐out in different academic programmes.
Antagonism of histamine H4 receptors exacerbates clinical and pathological signs of experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis
Authors: Ballerini C , Aldinucci A , Luccarini I , Galante A , Manuelli C , Blandina P , Katebe M , Chazot P L , Masini E , Passani M B 
Published: June 2013

Background and PurposeThe histamine H4 receptor has a primary role in inflammatory functions, making it an attractive target for the treatment of asthma and refractory inflammation. These observations suggested a facilitating action on autoimmune diseases. Here we have assessed the role of H4 receptors in experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis (EAE) a model of multiple sclerosis (MS).Experimental ApproachWe induced EAE with myelin oligodendrocyte glycoprotein (MOG35–55) in C57BL/6 female mice as a model of MS. The histamine H4 receptor antagonist 5‐chloro‐2‐[(4‐methylpiperazin‐1‐yl)carbonyl]‐1H‐indole (JNJ7777120) was injected i.p. daily starting at day 10 post‐immunization (D10 p.i.). Disease severity was monitored by clinical and histopathological evaluation of inflammatory cells infiltrating into the spinal cord, anti‐MOG35–55 antibody production, assay of T‐cell proliferation by [3H]‐thymidine incorporation, mononucleate cell phenotype by flow cytometry, cytokine production by elisa assay and transcription factor quantification of mRNA expression.Key ResultsTreatment with JNJ7777120 exacerbated EAE, increased inflammation and demyelination in the spinal cord of EAE mice and increased IFN‐γ expression in lymph nodes, whereas it suppressed IL‐4 and IL‐10, and augmented expression of the transcription factors Tbet, FOXP3 and IL‐17 mRNA in lymphocytes. JNJ7777120 did not affect proliferation of anti‐MOG35–55 T‐cells, anti‐MOG35–55 antibody production or mononucleate cell phenotype.Conclusions and ImplicationsH4 receptor blockade was detrimental in EAE. Given the interest in the development of H4 receptor antagonists as anti‐inflammatory compounds, it is important to understand the role of H4 receptors in immune diseases to anticipate clinical benefits and also predict possible detrimental effects.Linked ArticlesThis article is part of a themed issue on Histamine Pharmacology Update. To view the other articles in this issue visit http://dx.doi.org/
10.1111/bph.2013.170.issue‐1
Activation of KCa3.1 by SKA‐31 induces arteriolar dilatation and lowers blood pressure in normo‐ and hypertensive connexin40‐deficient mice
Authors: Radtke Josephine , Schmidt Kjestine , Wulff Heike , Köhler Ralf , de Wit Cor 
Published: June 2013

Background and PurposeThe calcium‐activated potassium channel KCa3.1 is expressed in the vascular endothelium where its activation causes endothelial hyperpolarization and initiates endothelium‐derived hyperpolarization (EDH)‐dependent dilatation. Here, we investigated whether pharmacological activation of KCa3.1 dilates skeletal muscle arterioles and whether myoendothelial gap junctions formed by connexin40 (Cx40) are required for EDH‐type dilatations and pressure depressor responses in vivo.Experimental ApproachWe performed intravital microscopy in the cremaster muscle microcirculation and blood pressure telemetry in Cx40‐deficient mice.Key ResultsIn wild‐type mice, the KCa3.1‐activator SKA‐31 induced pronounced concentration‐dependent arteriolar EDH‐type dilatations, amounting to ∼40% of maximal dilatation, and enhanced the effects of ACh. These responses were absent in mice devoid of KCa3.1 channels. In contrast, SKA‐31‐induced dilatations were not attenuated in mice with endothelial cells deficient in Cx40 (Cx40fl/fl:Tie2‐Cre). In isolated endothelial cell clusters, SKA‐31 induced hyperpolarizations of similar magnitudes (by ∼38 mV) in Cx40fl/fl:Tie2‐Cre, ubiquitous Cx40‐deficient mice (Cx40‐/‐) and controls (Cx40fl/fl), which were reversed by the specific KCa3.1‐blocker TRAM‐34. In normotensive wild‐type and Cx40fl/fl:Tie2‐Cre as well as in hypertensive Cx40‐/‐ animals, i.p. injections of SKA‐31 (30 and 100 mg·kg−1) decreased arterial pressure by ∼32 mmHg in all genotypes. The depressor response to 100 mg·kg−1 SKA‐31 was associated with a decrease in heart rate.Conclusions and ImplicationsWe conclude that endothelial hyperpolarization evoked by pharmacological activation of KCa3.1 channels induces EDH‐type arteriolar dilatations that are independent of endothelial Cx40 and Cx40‐containing myoendothelial gap junctions. As SKA‐31 reduced blood pressure in hypertensive Cx40‐deficient mice, KCa3.1 activators may be useful drugs for severe treatment‐resistant hypertension.
Cladistic biogeography of theNeotropical region: identifying the main events in the diversification of the terrestrial biota
Authors: Morrone Juan J. 
Published: June 2013

AbstractA cladistic biogeographical analysis was undertaken to identify the main events in the biotic diversification of the terrestrialNeotropical biota. For the 36 animal and plant taxa analysed, a component × area matrix was constructed, associating geographical data only with informative nodes, and it was analysed under implied weights using the softwareTNT. The general area cladogram obtained shows that the Neotropical region constitutes a monophyletic unit, with a first split separating the Antilles and a second one dividing the continental areas into a north‐western and a south‐eastern component. Within the north‐western component the areas split following the sequence northernAmazonia, south‐westernAmazonia, north‐westernSouthAmerica, andMesoamerica. Within the south‐eastern component the areas split following the sequence south‐easternAmazonia,Chaco, andParana. The three main components are treated as subregions:Antillean,Amazonian (northernAmazonian, south‐westernAmazonian,Mesoamerican, and north‐westernSouthAmerican dominions), andChacoan (south‐easternAmazonian,Chacoan, and Parana dominions). Dispersal and vicariant events postulated to explain these pattens might have occurred during the Cretaceous, when the Caribbean plate collided with theAmericas, a combination of eustatic sea‐level changes and tectonic deformations of the continental platform exposed large parts ofSouthAmerica to episodes of marine transgressions, and the Andean uplift reconfigured theAmazonian area. Tertiary andQuaternary events are assumed to have later induced the diversification within these large biogeographical units.
Healing outcomes of large (>50%) traumatic membrane perforations with inverted edges following no intervention, edge approximation and fibroblast growth factor application; a sequential allocation, three‐armed trial
Authors: Lou Z.‐C. , Wang Y.‐B.‐Z. 
Published: June 2013

ObjectiveThe goal of this study was to evaluate the effects of perforation edge approximation and direct application of basic fibroblast growth factor (bFGF) each alone on the healing of large traumatic tympanic membrane perforations with inverted edges in humans.Study DesignProspective, sequential allocation, three‐armed, controlled clinical study.SettingUniversity‐affiliated teaching hospital.ParticipantsFifty‐eight patients with large traumatic tympanic membrane perforations (i.e. affecting >50% of the surface area) with inverted edges were recruited. They were sequentially allocated to three groups: no intervention (n = 18), edge approximation alone (n = 20) and direct application of bFGF (n = 20). Otoscopy were performed before the treatment and at follow‐up visits.Main outcome measuresThe closure rate, closure time and rate of otorrhoea.ResultsApplication of bFGF yielded a significantly higher average rate of perforation closure (100%) than edge approximation (60%) and no intervention (56%) (P < 0.05). It also significantly shortened the average closure time (12.4 ± 3.6 days) as compared to edge approximation (46.3 ± 8.7 days) and no intervention control (48.2 ± 5.3 days) (P < 0.05). Purulent otorrhoea was observed in none of the three groups.ConclusionEdge approximation of inverted edges has little benefit in improving the healing outcome of large traumatic tympanic membrane perforations and thus is not an ideal treatment option for large traumatic tympanic membrane perforations. Application of bFGF materially improves the closure rate of large traumatic tympanic membrane perforations and significantly shortens the closure time.
Clinical features of post‐polypectomy bleeding associated with heparin bridge therapy
Authors: Inoue Takuya , Nishida Tsutomu , Maekawa Akira , Tsujii Yoshiki , Akasaka Tomofumi , Kato Motohiko , Hayashi Yoshito , Yamamoto Shunsuke , Kondo Jumpei , Yamada Takuya , Shinzaki Shinichiro , Iijima Hideki , Tsujii Masahiko , Takehara Tetsuo 
Published: June 2013

Background Heparin is given to patients undergoing colonoscopic polypectomy at high risk for thromboembolism. Little is known, however, about how heparin bridge therapy (HB) affects post‐polypectomy bleeding (PPB). The present study aimed to identify the clinical features of PPB associated with HB.Patients and MethodsData of consecutive inpatients who underwent colonoscopic polypectomy with antithrombotic therapy at Osaka University Hospital were retrospectively collected and categorized into a HB group or a non‐HB group. The incidence and characteristics of PPB were analyzed.ResultsA total of 117 patients with 279 lesions were identified, and the HB group included 45 patients. Nine of 10 patients with PPB were in the HB group, and the incidence of PPB was significantly higher in the HB group than in the non‐HB group (20.0% vs 1.4%, respectively). PPB onset was later in the HB group than inthe non‐HB group (median postoperative day: 4 vs 1, respectively). Five of the nine patients with PPB (55.6%) in the HB group experienced recurrent bleeding. One patient in the HB group required a blood transfusion as a result of massive PPB. All bleeding was eventually controlled endoscopically. Hospitalization was significantly longer in the HB group than in the non‐HB group (median hospitalization: 14 vs 4 days, respectively). The univariate analysis showed that the predictors of PPB were warfarin use, HB and pedunculated polyps.ConclusionsPPB associated with HB is characterized by high incidence, late onset and recurrent bleeding, resulting in long hospitalization.
Processing of the maize Bt toxin in the gut of Mythimna unipuncta caterpillars
Authors: Pérez‐Hedo Meritxell , Reiter Dániel , López Carmen , Eizaguirre Matilde 
Published: June 2013

AbstractMythimna unipuncta Haworth (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae) is a well‐known moth species whose larvae can cause devastating damage to some Poaceae crops, including maize (Zea mays L.). The low susceptibility to the Bacillus thuringiensis Berliner (Bt) toxin observed in L6 larvae of this species has been the object of several studies. This study aimed to clarify whether the toxin eliminated from the content of the peritrophic membrane is degraded or excreted and whether the effects of the Bt toxin depend on the doses ingested. To this end, L6 larvae were fed on diets with different amounts of lyophilized Bt or non‐Bt maize leaves. The effect of the Bt concentrations on larval development was measured and the fate of the toxin in the larval tissues was tracked. Results indicated that the larvae of M. unipuncta fed on the various diets showed few differences in weight gain, duration of development, or pupal weight between sublethal Bt concentrations. The larvae rapidly excreted a large part of the toxin ingested, whereas inside the peritrophic membrane the toxin was eliminated, degraded, or sequestered at a rate that increased with the dose and the duration of feeding. As a consequence, little toxin reached the midgut epithelium and therefore the binding sites of the toxin. Moreover, larvae fed on the Bt toxin recovered quickly when they were transferred to a non‐Bt diet.
Dispersal and dormancy strategies among insect species competing for a pulsed resource
Authors: PÉLISSON PIERRE‐FRANÇOIS , BERNSTEIN CARLOS , FRANÇOIS DEBIAS , MENU FRÉDÉRIC , VENNER SAMUEL 
Published: June 2013

Abstract
Dormancy and dispersal are thought to be major adaptive mechanisms that enable short‐lived organisms to cope with environmental stochasticity. The few empirical investigations that have explored the relationship between these two strategies in disturbed environments have focused mainly on communities of annual desert plants and suggest that dispersal plays a negligible role, as compared with dormancy, in reducing the risk of genotype extinction.
We predict that the relative advantage of dormancy versus dispersal is likely to be more balanced in species that disperse actively to select their reproductive locality.
To examine this prediction, we explored the dormancy and dispersal capacities of four actively dispersing sibling weevil species (Curculio spp.) that exploit the same, highly variable resource (oak acorns). The ability of each species to spread risks over time was estimated from the variability of dormancy duration within cohorts, while their ability to disperse spatially was quantified by flight performance.
We show that a first species, C. elephas, which was able to spread risk over time through dormancy, exhibited only medium flight capacities. In contrast, a second species, C. glandium, was able to fly over very long distances, but was hardly capable of spreading risk over time. Surprisingly, the two remaining species (C. venosus and C. pellitus) proved inefficient in spreading risk either in space or in time and seem to exhibit risk avoidance rather than risk‐spreading strategy. We conclude that this strong diversification of dispersal–dormancy strategies observed among these four sibling species might contribute to stabilising their coexistence.
Natural killer expansion, human leukocyte antigens‐E expression and CD14+CD56+ monocytes in a myelodysplastic syndrome patient
Authors: Terrazzano Giuseppe , Rubino Valentina , Palatucci Anna Teresa , Giovazzino Angela , Annunziatella Mariangela , Vitagliano Orsola , Alfinito Fiorella , Ruggiero Giuseppina 
Published: June 2013

AbstractMyelodysplastic syndromes (MDS) are clonal disorders characterized by ineffective hematopoiesis and possible evolution to acute leukemia. Occurrence of stem cell defects and of immune‐mediated mechanisms was evidenced as relevant for pathophysiology of MDS. Here, we described one case of MDS patient carrying CD14+CD56+ monocytes in bone marrow (BM), in the presence of a defective human leukocyte antigen (HLA)‐E expression on peripheral blood (PB) cells and of natural killer (NK) cell expansion in PB and BM. The defective HLA‐E expression and the NK expansion are proposed to be relevant for the pathogenesis of myelodysplasia in those patients showing CD14+CD56+ monocytes in BM.
Effects of river control structures on the juvenile migration of Macrobrachium ohione
Authors: Olivier Tyler J. , Handy Kolby Q. , Bauer Raymond T. 
Published: June 2013

Summary

Macrobrachium ohione is an amphidromous species (i.e. lives and breeds in fresh water with larval development in estuarine, brackish or coastal waters) that has experienced population declines in the Mississippi River (MR) System, possibly due to extensive human modification (e.g. wing dikes, levees, channelisation and dams). Old River Control (ORC) is a complex of locks and dams in Louisiana that separates and controls the volume of water that flows into the Atchafalaya River (AR) from the MR. In this study, we tested the hypothesis that ORC impedes or prevents movement of juvenile M. ohione from the AR into the MR.

Juvenile migrants were sampled using unbaited traps placed in the channels leading into and out of the river control structures. Variables such as location (above or below structure), water temperature and channel discharge were documented to determine their effects on juvenile migration. Migrant densities were significantly affected by the interaction between trap location and channel discharge. The densities of juveniles in the channels leading into the structures (downstream) were greater than those leading out of the structures (upstream). In addition, the densities of juveniles were consistently greater in the channels where channel discharge was the greatest. These results suggest that upstream juvenile migration is impeded by the structures, reducing the recruitment of shrimps from the AR into the MR.

As a possible solution to allow shrimps to bypass the river control structures, this study tested the hypothesis that M. ohione juveniles are able climb up structures, a behaviour observed in several amphidromous species. A laboratory experiment tested the climbing ability of juvenile migrants (i.e. number of individuals on the ramp) and climbing performance (i.e. number of individuals that completed the climb) when presenting the shrimps for 1 h with a 1.5 m ramp at various ramp angles (30°, 40°, 60°) and water velocities (0, 45, 65, 140 cm s−1). Most shrimps were observed climbing when water velocity was 65 and 140 cm s−1. Climbing performance was also influenced by the angle of the ramp, with the greater number of shrimps climbing at inclinations of 30° and 40°. Our results suggest that the installation of shrimp ladders and migratory conduits at river control structures could contribute to the restoration of M. ohione populations in the upper MR.