bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
First Report of Blackleg Caused by Leptosphaeria maculans on Canola in Idaho
Authors: Agostini A. , Johnson D. A. , Hulbert S. , Demoz B. , Fernando W. G. D. , Paulitz T. 
Published: May 2013

Canola (Brassica napus L.) is produced in the dryland agriculture areas of eastern Washington State and northern Idaho, often in rotation with cereal cropping systems. Canola is also used as a rotation crop in irrigated circles in the Columbia Basin of Washington and southern Idaho, where potato is the main cash crop. In 2011, 7,700 ha of canola were harvested in Idaho and 4,200 ha in Washington. One of the major diseases of canola around the world is blackleg, caused by Leptosphaeria maculans (aggressive) and L. biglobosa (non-aggressive). Both Washington and Idaho have been considered blackleg-free, and production of canola in Idaho is subject to government regulations. Canola seed originating from outside of Washington and Idaho should have a phytosanitary certificate. This disease is widespread in Canada and the U.S. Northern Plains, Midwest, and South, and is the major disease of canola in these areas. In August 2011, a sample from a canola field in Bonners Ferry, Idaho, was brought for diagnosis to Washington State University. The canola stems showed the typical gray to dark grey lesions with black pycnidia. The pycnidia and conidia were examined microscopically, and found to be similar to descriptions of Phoma lingam, the anamorph of L. maculans (2). Samples were sent to the University of Manitoba for confirmation with PCR. The pathogen was cultured out of stems on V8 juice agar amended with streptomycin and 22 single pynidiospore isolates were made from the cultures. DNA was extracted from the cultures using methods described in Fernando et al. (1) and a multiplex PCR was performed with species-specific primers for L. maculans and L. biglobosa. The reaction should produce a 330-bp amplicon for L. maculans and a 440-bp amplicon for L. biglobosa. Based on this, all 22 isolates were identified as L. maculans. The susceptible cultivar Westar was inoculated with the isolates, by wound inoculating 7-day-old cotyledons with a concentration of 107 spores/ml. Plants were kept in a moist chamber at 23°C. After 14 days, plants were rated for disease with a 0 to 9 scale, where 0 = no infection and 9 = tissue collapse and appearance of pycnidiospores. Isolates with rating ≥5 are considered virulent. All isolates produced a rating of 7 to 9, indicating a high level of virulence. The source of the seed used in the infested fields is not known at this time. This disease is seedborne, and may pose a threat to the two major vegetable and oilseed brassica seed production areas of Washington: the Skagit River valley of western Washington and the Columbia Basin area of central Washington. In addition, the susceptibility of Pacific Northwest varieties of canola and other brassica oilseeds is largely unknown. References: (1) W. G. D. Fernando et al. Plant Dis. 90:1337, 2006. (2) S. Roger Rimmer et al. Compendium of Brassica Diseases, APS Press, 2007.
Validation of the Modified Vesikari Score in Children With Gastroenteritis in 5 US Emergency Departments
Authors: Schnadower David , Tarr Phillip I. , Gorelick Marc H. , O'Connell Karen , Roskind Cindy G. , Powell Elizabeth C. , Rao Jayashree , Bhatt Seema , Freedman Stephen B. 
Published: May 2013

ABSTRACTObjectives:The burden of acute gastroenteritis (AGE) in US children is substantial. Research into outpatient treatment strategies has been hampered by the lack of easily used and validated gastroenteritis severity scales relevant to the populations studied. We sought to evaluate, in a US cohort, the reliability, construct validity, and generalizability of a gastroenteritis severity scale previously derived in a Canadian population, the modified Vesikari score (MVS).Methods:We conducted a prospective, cohort, clinical observational study of children 3 to 48 months of age with acute gastroenteritis presenting to 5 US emergency departments. A baseline MVS score was determined in the emergency department, and telephone follow‐up 14 days after presentation was used to assign the follow‐up MVS. We determined reliability using inter‐item correlations; construct validity via principal component factor analysis; cross‐sectional construct validity via correlations with the presence of dehydration, hospitalization, and day care and parental work absenteeism; and generalizability via score distribution among sites.Results:Two hundred eighteen of 274 patients (80%) were successfully contacted for follow‐up. Cronbach α was 0.63, indicating expectedly low internal reliability because of the multidimensional properties of the MVS. Factor analysis supported the appropriateness of retaining all variables in the score. Disease severity correlated with dehydration (P < 0.001), hospitalization (P < 0.001), and subsequent day care (P = 0.01) and work (P < 0.001) absenteeism. The MVS was normally distributed, and scores did not differ among sites.Conclusions:The MVS effectively measures global severity of disease and performs similarly in varying populations within the US health care system. Its characteristics support its use in multisite outpatient clinical trials.
Alopecia areata possibly induced by autoimmune reaction in a patient with human T‐cell lymphotropic virus‐1‐associated myelopathy
Authors: Ito Taisuke , Shimada Shinichiro , Mori Tatsuyoshi , Tokura Yoshiki 
Published: May 2013

AbstractA 38‐year‐old female patient suffered from alopecia areata totalis followed by human T‐cell lymphotropic virus‐1‐associated myelopathy (HAM). These two diseases have recently been considered to be related to cell‐mediated autoimmune reactions. Immunohistochemistry revealed accumulation of CXCR3+ CD8+ T cells around hair bulbs in alopecic lesions. Furthermore, flow cytometric analysis showed the elevated frequency of CD8+ human leukocyte antigen DR+‐activated T cells at the initial time and declined at the hair regrowth phase with HAM. CD4+ CD25+ adult T‐cell leukemia/lymphoma cells were elevated at hair loss phase and decreased after improvement of hair loss. These results suggest that autoreactive and cytotoxic CD8+ T cells induce not only alopecia areata but also HAM in ATL patients. This case highlights that the autoimmune reactions may play an important role in the pathogenesis of alopecia areata and HAM.
Evaluation of the double‐disk synergy test for New Delhi metallo‐β‐lactamase‐1 and other metallo‐β‐lactamase producing gram‐negative bacteria by using metal‐ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid complexes
Authors: Fujisaki Momoko , Sadamoto Shinya , Hishinuma Akira 
Published: May 2013

AbstractNew Delhi metallo‐β‐lactamase‐1 (NDM‐1), one of the metallo‐β‐lactamases (MBLs), has been identified from clinical isolates worldwide. Rapid detection of NDM‐1 producers is necessary to prevent their dissemination. Seven types of EDTA complexes were evaluated as MBL inhibitors in double‐disk synergy tests (DDSTs), resulting in detection of the first isolate of NDM‐1‐producing Escherichia coli (NDM‐1 Dok01) in Japan. NDM‐1 Dok01 was detected when EDTA magnesium disodium salt tetrahydrate (Mg‐EDTA), EDTA calcium disodium salt dihydrate, EDTA cobalt disodium salt tetrahydrate and EDTA copper disodium salt tetrahydrate were used as MBL inhibitors. The sensitivity and specificity of DDSTs using Mg‐EDTA for 75 MBL producers and 25 non‐MBL producers were 96.0% and 100%, respectively. These findings indicate that the DDST method using Mg‐EDTA can detect MBL‐producing strains, including NDM‐1 producers.
An alternative receptor to poly I:C on cell surfaces for interferon induction
Authors: Yoshida Itsuro , Azuma Masanobu 
Published: May 2013

ABSTRACTNot‐self or denatured nucleic acids are recognized by pattern recognition receptors localized mainly in endosomes and cytoplasm, such as Toll‐like receptor (TLR) 3, TLR7, TLR9, retinoic acid‐inducible gene‐I, DNA‐dependent activator of IFN‐regulatory factors and other receptors. The binding of polyriboinosinic:polyribocytidylic acid (poly I:C), a synthetic dsRNA that robustly induces type I interferon, to a putative cell‐surface receptor on a rabbit kidney cell line, RK13, has been analyzed by the authors and RK13 cells found to capture poly I:C in a specific fashion with sufficient affinity. These findings suggest that an alternative receptor to poly I:C participates in the induction of type 1 interferon, which localizes on cell surfaces. Although the nature of this molecule has not yet been identified, accumulating evidence has led the present authors to speculate that there are undefined classes of RNA‐recognition molecules on cell surfaces and that these are unlikely to be categorized as previously reported dsRNA receptors. Although many years have passed since this possibility was first reported by the present authors, it remains attractive. In this article, previously reported cell‐surface dsRNA receptors are reviewed in comparison with other receptors reported to date that are firmly involved in the innate immune‐sensing of nucleic acids.
Allee effects in ants
Authors: Luque Gloria M. , Giraud Tatiana , Courchamp Franck 
Published: May 2013

SummaryAllee effects occur when the aggregation of individuals result in mutually beneficial intraspecific interactions whereby individual fitness, or per capita growth rate, increases with the number of individuals. Allee effects are common in social species due to their cooperative behaviours, such as breeding, feeding or defence. Allee effects have important implications for many aspects of basic and applied ecology. Over the past decades, the study of Allee effects has influenced population dynamics, community ecology, endangered species management and invasion biology.Despite the fact that cooperation is the basis of their social structure, Allee effects have received little attention among eusocial insects. Extreme cooperation is common, and reproductive specialization of individuals occurs due to division of labour. These life‐history traits suggest that the potential contribution of each caste to reproduction and survival may be differential and nonadditive.We studied Allee effects in the invasive Argentine ant (Linepithema humile). In this species, many queens and workers are present in colonies, which allowed us to explore the differential effects of castes on the presence of Allee effects. In the laboratory, we measured brood production and individual survival in experimental colonies that differed in the initial numbers of queens and workers.Our results highlight the differential effect of queens and workers on survival and productivity. We found three positive density‐dependent relationships indicative of component Allee effects at the colony level: both workers and queens had a positive effect on the productivity of the other caste, and queens had a positive effect on worker survivorship.Our experimental results suggest a potential positive feedback between worker and queen abundance, which may have contributed to the evolution of large colony sizes. Our study provides the first evidence of Allee effects in eusocial insects and highlights the need to consider castes separately in population dynamics. Division of labour and differential reproductive rates are factors that should be integrated into the study of Allee effects.
An improved cell separation technique for marine subsurface sediments: applications for high‐throughput analysis using flow cytometry and cell sorting
Authors: Morono Yuki , Terada Takeshi , Kallmeyer Jens , Inagaki Fumio 
Published: May 2013

SummaryDevelopment of an improved technique for separating microbial cells from marine sediments and standardization of a high‐throughput and discriminative cell enumeration method were conducted. We separated microbial cells from various types of marine sediment and then recovered the cells using multilayer density gradients of sodium polytungstate and/or Nycodenz, resulting in a notably higher percent recovery of cells than previous methods. The efficiency of cell extraction generally depends on the sediment depth; using the new technique we developed, more than 80% of the total cells were recovered from shallow sediment samples (down to 100 meters in depth), whereas ∼ 50% of cells were recovered from deep samples (100–365 m in depth). The separated cells could be rapidly enumerated using flow cytometry (FCM). The data were in good agreement with those obtained from manual microscopic direct counts over the range 104–108 cells cm−3. We also demonstrated that sedimentary microbial cells can be efficiently collected using a cell sorter. The combined use of our new cell separation and FCM/cell sorting techniques facilitates high‐throughput and precise enumeration of microbial cells in sediments and is amenable to various types of single‐cell analyses, thereby enhancing our understanding of microbial life in the largely uncharacterized deep subseafloor biosphere.
On Elimination in Contests: A Perspective on Output Maximization
Authors: Jiao Qian 
Published: May 2013

AbstractThis paper investigates the desirability of adding a preliminary elimination stage for output maximization in a winner‐take‐all contest framework in which the contestant who achieves the highest (random) output wins. We find that, generally, the desirability of an elimination stage does not monotonically depend on the productivity of the effort; adding a preliminary stage can improve output for both concave and convex production functions. This result contrasts sharply with current insight from effort maximization, which argues that adding a preliminary stage can increase effort supply only if the production function is concave.
Exit and Voice: A Game‐theoretic Analysis of Customer Complaint Management
Authors: Liang Pinghan 
Published: May 2013

AbstractThe present study develops a multi‐agent communication model involving participation decisions to address customer complaint behaviour and the corresponding management policy. Privately informed customers choose among complaining, which is costly, keeping silent and exiting. A firm determines complaint barriers and decides whether to undertake corrective action. It is shown that customers truthfully complain only under a moderate complaint barrier. The observed low complaint/dissatisfaction ratio and costly complaints arise as one equilibrium outcome. Customers' expectations, the precision of signals and the temptation of outside options are identified as the determinants of complaint management policy. Firms are likely to set socially‐excessive complaint barriers.
Decentralization is Dead, Long Live Decentralization! Capital City Reform and Political Rights in Kampala, Uganda
Authors: Gore Christopher D. , Muwanga Nansozi K. 
Published: May 2013

AbstractAfrican cities are currently experiencing some of the highest population growth rates in the world. Accompanying this growth is constant and continuing pressure on national and local governments to develop political and institutional structures that respond to the multiple demands this demographic change provokes in relation to service delivery, economic development and social wellbeing. In response to these challenges, national governments are reviewing the political and administrative structures of their capital cities, sometimes recentralizing authority. This article examines the reforms to Kampala, capital city of Uganda. The article explains how the national government gradually created the legal conditions necessary to take over the capital city directly, and the political rhetoric and conflict that ensued. We argue that while Kampala had deep internal problems and fared poorly in service delivery, matters were exacerbated by the national government's historical indifference to the city. Moreover, past service delivery failures offered an easy rationale for recentralizing authority. We demonstrate that this recentralization was a well‐planned effort by the central government to regain political control of the capital city. This article illustrates how the national government's recentralization of authority in Kampala is a significant departure from its longstanding policy of democratic decentralization.
Racial/Ethnic Differences in Receipt of Timely Adjuvant Therapy for Older Women with Breast Cancer: Are Delays Influenced by the Hospitals Where Patients Obtain Surgical Care?
Authors: Freedman Rachel A. , He Yulei , Winer Eric P. , Keating Nancy L. 
Published: May 2013

ObjectiveTo examine whether hospitals where patients obtain care explain racial/ethnic differences in treatment delay.Data SourceSurveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results data linked with Medicare claims.Study DesignWe examined delays in adjuvant chemotherapy or radiation for women diagnosed with stage I–III breast cancer during 1992–2007. We used multivariable logistic regression to assess the probability of delay by race/ethnicity and included hospital fixed effects to assess whether hospitals explained disparities.Principal FindingsAmong 54,592 women, black (11.9 percent) and Hispanic (9.9 percent) women had more delays than whites (7.8 percent, p < .0001). After adjustment, black (vs. white) women had higher odds of delay (odds ratio = 1.25, 95 percent confidence interval = 1.10–1.42), attenuated somewhat by including hospital fixed effects (OR = 1.17, 95 percent CI = 1.02–1.33).ConclusionsHospitals are the important contributors to racial disparities in treatment delay.
Trends in Racial Disparities for Injured Patients Admitted to Trauma Centers
Authors: Glance Laurent G. , Osler Turner M. , Mukamel Dana B. , Meredith J. Wayne , Li Yue , Qian Feng , Dick Andrew W. 
Published: May 2013

ObjectiveTo determine whether outcome disparities between black and white trauma patients have decreased over the last 10 years.Data SourcePennsylvania Trauma Outcome Study.Study DesignWe performed an observational cohort study on 191,887 patients admitted to 28 Level 1 and Level II trauma centers. The main outcomes of interest were (1) death, (2) death or major complication, and (3) failure‐to‐rescue. Hospitals were categorized according to the proportion of black patients. Multivariate regression models were used to estimate trends in racial disparities and to assess whether the source of racial disparities was within or between hospitals.Principal FindingsTrauma patients admitted to hospitals with high concentrations of blacks (>20 percent) had a 45 percent higher odds of death (adj OR: 1.45, 95 percent CI: 1.09–1.92) and a 73 percent higher odds of death or major complication (adj OR: 1.73, 95 percent CI: 1.42–2.11) compared with patients admitted to hospitals treating low proportions of blacks. Blacks and whites admitted to the same hospitals had no difference in mortality (adj OR: 1.05, 95 percent CI: 0.87, 1.27) or death or major complications (adj OR: 1.01; 95 percent CI: 0.90, 1.13). The odds of overall mortality, and death or major complications have been reduced by 32 percent (adj OR: 0.68; 95 percent CI: 0.54–0.86) and 28 percent (adj OR: 0.72; 95 percent CI: 0.60–0.85) between 2000 and 2009, respectively. Racial disparities did not change over 10 years.ConclusionDespite the overall improvement in outcomes, the gap in quality of care between black and white trauma patients in Pennsylvania has not narrowed over the last 10 years. Racial disparities in trauma are due to the fact that black patients are more likely to be treated in lower quality hospitals compared with whites.
Patient‐controlled analgesia‐based pain control strategy for minimally‐invasive pectus excavatum repair
Authors: Bogert James N. , Potter Donald Dean , Moir Christopher R. , Haile Dawit , Wilder Robert T. 
Published: May 2013

AimThe minimally‐invasive Nuss procedure has become the preferred technique for pectus excavatum repair. This procedure is still associated with significant postoperative pain, and an optimal pain‐management strategy is yet to be determined. The purpose of this study was to compare the efficacy of patient‐controlled analgesia (PCA) to thoracic epidural analgesia (TEA).Patients and MethodsWe retrospectively reviewed 112 charts from a single paediatric centre. Patients were grouped according to pain‐management strategy: 90 patients received a PCA, and 22 patients received TEA. Outcomes included length of hospitalization and daily pain scores, operating room time and duration of Foley catheterization.ResultsDemographic data were similar between the two groups. The daily pain scores were not statistically different between the groups. Length of hospitalization was similar (PCA: 4.6 days, epidural: 4.3 days, P = 0.33). The PCA group required less operating room time (2:44 vs 2:58, P = 0.04) and shorter Foley catheter duration (2.1 days vs 2.5 days, P = 0.04).ConclusionIn our patient population, TEA for the Nuss procedure does not offer an advantage over PCA‐centred analgesia in terms of subjective daily pain scores or length of hospital stay. The potential risks of TEA need to be carefully considered in this patient population.
Development of Emergency Medicine in Europe
Authors: Totten Vicken , Bellou Abdelouahab 
Published: May 2013

AbstractEmergency medicine (EM) is emerging worldwide. Its development as a recognized specialty is proceeding at difference rates in different countries. Europe is a region with complex political affiliations and is composed of countries both within and outside the European Union (EU). Europe is seeking greater standardization (harmonization) for mutually improved economic development. Medicine in general, and EM in particular, is no exception. In Europe, as in other regions, EM is struggling for acceptance as a valid field of specialization. The European Union of Medical Specialists requires that once two‐fifths of countries acknowledge a specialty, all EU countries must address the question. EM had achieved the needed majority by 2011. This article briefly describes the European road to specialty acceptance.
Improving Telephone Follow‐up for Patients Discharged from the Emergency Department: Results of a Randomized Controlled Trial
Authors: Menchine Michael , Oberfoell Stephanie , Schriger David , Walker Christopher , Riddell Jeff , Arora Sanjay 
Published: May 2013

AbstractObjectivesReliable telephone follow‐up offers physicians a timely method to notify patients of unexpected laboratory and imaging results, clarify discharge instructions, evaluate health status changes, and potentially boost patient satisfaction. This study sought to determine if verifying telephone numbers, obtaining best contact times, and informing patients that they will be contacted would increase the proportion of emergency department (ED) patients contacted at 48 to 72 hours postdischarge. Secondary outcomes included estimating successful postdischarge follow‐up across demographic categories.MethodsThis was a prospective, randomized controlled trial of adult patients in an inner‐city, public hospital ED. Patients were excluded for critical illness, no telephone number, non–English‐ or non–Spanish‐speaking, or anyone admitted as an inpatient. All subjects completed a demographic questionnaire. In the intervention arm, research assistants (RAs) verified the telephone number, obtained best contact times, and informed subjects that they would be called. In the control arm, telephone numbers were obtained from registration materials and were not verified, and subjects were not informed that postdischarge telephone calls were planned. RAs made four telephone attempts to contact each subject 48 to 72 hours after discharge.ResultsThe intervention did not significantly improve postdischarge contact. Most subjects, 72.8% in the intervention group and 68.2% in the control group, were successfully contacted (difference = 4.6%, 95% confidence interval [CI] = –2.2% to 11.4%). On multivariate analysis, Hispanic ethnicity and owning a mobile phone were associated with increased odds of successful postdischarge follow‐up.ConclusionsVerifying contact information, obtaining best contact times, and notifying patients of impending follow‐up calls did not substantially improve postdischarge telephone contact rates.