bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Health value & perceived control over health: behavioural constructs to support Type 2 diabetes self‐management in clinical practice
Authors: Nugent Linda Elizabeth , Carson Maggie , Zammitt Nicola Naomi , Smith Graeme Drummond , Wallston Kenneth A 
Published: May 2015

Aims and objectivesTo explore health value and perceived control over health in relation to self‐management behaviours in adults with Type 2 diabetes mellitus.BackgroundHelping people to modify health related behaviour in diabetes is complex due to a multitude of factors. Exploring the meaning of the constructs of Modified Social Learning Theory could be beneficial to identifying people at risk of poor diabetes self‐management.DesignAn exploratory qualitative study.MethodsThirteen adults with insulin‐treated Type 2 diabetes mellitus were purposively sampled. Data were collected through semi‐structured interviews. An in‐depth thematic analysis was carried out.ResultsHealth became a value priority on diagnosis of Type 2 diabetes mellitus. Participants described holding both terminal (relating to desired end states) and instrumental (a means to an end) health values pre‐diagnosis but these became instrumental post‐diagnosis to meet new lifestyle needs and maintain their quality of life. Descriptions of ‘conflicts’ in locus of control beliefs when managing Type 2 diabetes mellitus demonstrated influences on levels of self‐efficacy and health value. Common themes that impacted on diabetes self‐management included co‐morbidities, medication management, blood glucose monitoring and reasoning for Type 2 diabetes mellitus.ConclusionsLocus of control beliefs, levels of self‐efficacy and health value were influenced by complications associated with Type 2 diabetes mellitus. The findings on Modified Social Learning Theory and instrumental health value as a moderator to health behaviour resulted in the development of a proposed framework with potential practical utility.Relevance to clinical practiceThis research demonstrates the relevance of exploring the constructs of Modified Social Learning Theory (MSLT) in relation to diabetes self‐management behaviours in Type 2 diabetes mellitus. The proposed Type 2 diabetes mellitus Self‐management Behaviour Support framework incorporates Modified Social Learning Theory and instrumental health value as the theoretical basis for development and could provide clinical nurses and doctors with a tool that will allow for in‐depth assessment and planning of Type 2 diabetes mellitus patients' self‐management behaviours.
NLRP3 gene polymorphisms in Iranian patients with recurrent aphthous stomatitis
Authors: Bidoki Alireza Zare , Harsini Sara , Sadr Maryam , Soltani Samaneh , Mohammadzadeh Mahsa , Najafi Shamsolmoulouk , Rezaei Nima 
Published: May 2015

BackgroundRecurrent aphthous stomatitis (RAS) is a common disorder with an unclear etiopathogenesis. Involvement of the immune system in the development of this condition is strongly suggested. As the variations in the inflammasome‐related NLRP3 gene have been suggested to affect immune system activity, this case–control study was performed to determine whether these genetic variants are associated with RAS.MethodsWe studied a group of 69 Iranian patients with RAS in comparison with 56 healthy controls. We determined four single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) of NLRP3 and performed association analyses of NLRP3. Genotyping was conducted using the TaqMan method.ResultsThe NLRP3 rs3806265 T allele was significantly more frequent in the patients with RAS than in the healthy controls (P = 0.003). While a significant negative association was found between the C allele at the same position with RAS (P = 0.003), the TT genotype was significantly more frequent at position rs3806265 in NLRP3 in patient group than in the controls (P = 0.002). However, the frequency of CT genotype at the same position was significantly higher in healthy controls than in the case category (P = 0.002).ConclusionsConsidering the high frequency of the presence of NLRP3 rs3806265 TT genotype in patients with RAS, it seems that this gene polymorphism could affect individual susceptibility to RAS.
Occurrence of Passalora Leaf Spot Caused by Passalora ampelopsidis on Virginia Creeper in Korea
Authors: Park Ji‐Hyun , Park Mi‐Jeong , Han Kyung‐Sook , Cho Sung‐Eun , Shin Hyeon‐Dong 
Published: May 2015

AbstractA previously unknown leaf spot disease was observed on Virginia creeper (Parthenocissus quinquefolia) vines in Seoul, Korea. Affected plants exhibited leaf spots and discoloration, resulting in leaf blight and premature defoliation. The causal agent of the disease was identified as Passalora ampelopsidis by comparing morphological characteristics and analyzing the internal transcribed spacer region of the rDNA. Pathogenicity tests were conducted twice with the same results, fulfilling Koch's postulates. Passalora leaf spot on Virginia creeper vines was first recorded in the United States in 1878. Recent reports of Passalora leaf spots on Virginia creeper vines in 2005 in Germany, in 2012 in China and now in Korea indicate the prevalence of the disease.
Connecting genotypes, phenotypes and fitness: harnessing the power of CRISPR/Cas9 genome editing
Authors: Bono Jeremy M. , Olesnicky Eugenia C. , Matzkin Luciano M. 
Published: May 2015

AbstractOne of the fundamental goals in evolution and ecology is to identify the genetic basis of adaptive phenotypes. Unfortunately, progress towards this goal has been hampered by a lack of genetic tools available for nonmodel organisms. The exciting new development of the CRISPR (clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeat)/Cas9 (CRISPR‐associated nuclease 9) genome‐editing system now promises to transform the field of molecular ecology by providing a versatile toolkit for manipulating the genome of a wide variety of organisms. Here, we review the numerous applications of this groundbreaking technology and provide a practical guide to the creation of genetic knockouts, transgenics and other related forms of gene manipulation in nonmodel organisms. We also specifically discuss the potential uses of the CRISPR/Cas9 system in ecological and evolutionary studies, which will further advance the field towards the long‐standing goal of connecting genotypes, phenotypes and fitness.
A Nicotiana attenuata cell wall invertase inhibitor (NaCWII) reduces growth and increases secondary metabolite biosynthesis in herbivore‐attacked plants
Authors: Ferrieri Abigail P. , Arce Carla C. M. , Machado Ricardo A. R. , Meza‐Canales Ivan D. , Lima Eraldo , Baldwin Ian T. , Erb Matthias 
Published: May 2015

Summary

Plant invertases are sucrolytic enzymes that are essential for the regulation of carbohydrate metabolism and source–sink relationships. While their activity has been well documented during abiotic and biotic stresses, the role of proteinaceous invertase inhibitors in regulating these changes is unknown.

Here, we identify a putative Nicotiana attenuata cell wall invertase inhibitor (NaCWII) which is strongly up‐regulated in a jasmonate (JA)‐dependent manner following simulated attack by the specialist herbivore Manduca sexta. To understand the role of NaCWII in planta, we silenced its expression by RNA interference and measured changes in primary and secondary metabolism and plant growth following simulated herbivory.

NaCWII‐silenced plants displayed a stronger depletion of carbohydrates and a reduced capacity to increase secondary metabolite pools relative to their empty vector control counterparts. This coincided with the attenuation of herbivore‐induced CWI inhibition and growth suppression characteristic of wild‐type plants.

Together our findings suggest that NaCWII may act as a regulatory switch located downstream of JA accumulation which fine‐tunes the plant's balance between growth and defense metabolism under herbivore attack. Although carbohydrates are not typically viewed as key factors in plant growth and defense, our study shows that interfering with their catabolism strongly influences plant responses to herbivory.
Photophysics and Rotational Dynamics of a Hydrophilic Molecule in a Room Temperature Ionic Liquid
Authors: Chatterjee Aninda , Maity Banibrata , Ahmed Sayeed Ashique , Seth Debabrata 
Published: May 2015

AbstractWe have studied the photophysics and rotational diffusion of hydrophilic solute 7‐(N, N′‐diethylamino)coumarin‐3‐carboxylic acid (7‐DCCA) in a room temperature ionic liquid methyltrioctylammonium bis(trifluoromethylsulfonyl) imide ([N1888][NTf2]). Comparison of activation energies of viscous flow and nonradiative decay shows that the photophysical properties of 7‐DCCA are not guided by the bulk viscosity of the medium but are dependent on the specific solute solvent interaction and structural heterogeneity of the medium. The rotational relaxation behaviour of 7‐DCCA in [N1888][NTf2] shows significant deviation from the Stokes Einstein Debye hydrodynamic model of rotational diffusion. This is indicative of the influence of specific solute solvent interaction on the rotational relaxation behaviour of 7‐DCCA. Comparison of activation energy of rotational relaxation with activation energy of viscous flow clearly reinforces our assumption that the structural heterogeneity of the medium and specific solute solvent interaction plays a dominant role on the rotational diffusion instead of bulk viscosity.
The Trade Consequences of Maritime Insecurity: Evidence from Somali Piracy
Authors: Burlando Alfredo , Cristea Anca D. , Lee Logan M. 
Published: May 2015

AbstractIn the past decade (2000–2010), pirates from Somalia have carried out thousands of attacks on cargo ships sailing through the Gulf of Aden and the Indian Ocean, causing what others have identified as significant damage to maritime trade. In this paper, we use variations in the spread and intensity of Somali piracy to estimate its effect on the volume of international trade. By comparing trade volume changes along shipping routes located in pirate waters to those that are not, we estimate that Somali piracy reduced bulk commodities trade passing through the Gulf of Aden by 4.1% per year from 2000 to 2010. We find smaller reductions in total trade, consistent with the fact that not all goods are shipped by sea or are targets of pirate attacks. While our estimates suggest that the trade costs of piracy are much lower than what has been suggested in the existing literature, we find that they remain significant and unevenly distributed, with five countries and the EU shouldering 70% of the total costs.
Teaching telehealth consultation skills
Authors: Rienits Helen , Teuss Greg , Bonney Andrew 
Published: May 2015

SummaryBackgroundAlthough teleconsultations have been used for many years in Australia, there has been a recent increase following new government incentives. There is a paucity of literature on enabling medical students to acquire the relevant skills. With a focus on equipping students for practice in rural and remote areas, our medical school has developed an innovative clinical skills lesson to prepare our students for their rural practice placements.MethodsThis lesson was delivered to all students in their third year of training in small groups to enable interactive learning. The objectives of the lesson were to familiarise students with: the various methods of conducting teleconsultations currently in use; the legal and ethical considerations; the technical and procedural issues; and the barriers and benefits for patients and doctors. Students rotated through four different stations over 2 hours and the lesson was evaluated using a student survey.ResultsMedical students self‐reported statistically significant improvements in understanding the issues and procedures, and in confidence in conducting a telehealth consultation.DiscussionAnalysis of the results and student comments demonstrated that students recognise the value of telemedicine learning, and benefit from formal teaching on all aspects of telemedicine, including technology, ethics and protocols. Interestingly, the students found the opportunity to discuss areas such as the ethics of, and barriers to, the use of teleconsultations to be the most challenging and helpful of all of the stations.There is a paucity of literature on enabling medical students to acquire the relevant [teleconsultation] skills
Competitive ability of ALS‐inhibitor herbicide‐resistant Fimbristylis miliacea
Authors: Schaedler C E , Burgos N R , Noldin J A , Alcober E A , Salas R A , Agostinetto D 
Published: May 2015

SummaryFimbristylis miliacea, a weed in rice, has evolved resistance to acetolactate synthase (ALS) inhibitors. This study aimed to investigate the competitive abilities of ALS‐resistant (R) and ALS‐susceptible (S) F. miliacea with rice. A replacement series experiment was conducted in the glasshouse at the Federal University of Pelotas, Brazil. The proportions of rice to F. miliacea were 100:0, 75:25, 50:50, 25:75 and 0:100, with 1060 plants m−2. The experimental units were arranged in a completely randomised design with four replications. A follow‐up study was conducted at the University of Arkansas, Fayetteville, USA, in a split‐plot design with four replications. The main plot was species mixture (rice × R, rice × S, R × S). The subplot was competition partitioning (below‐ and above‐ground, below‐ground only, above‐ground only and no interspecific competition). Leaf area, plant height and shoot dry mass were recorded. Rice was more competitive than the R or S F. miliacea. In equal proportions of rice and F. miliacea, regardless of ecotype, the relative leaf area, height and dry mass of rice were greater than that of F. miliacea. The ALS‐resistant ecotype was less competitive with rice than the S ecotype. Intraspecific competition among rice plants was stronger than rice competition with F. miliacea. Competition for below‐ground resources was the most critical aspect of interference among rice and F. miliacea. In production fields, high infestation levels of F. miliacea results in significant yield losses; thus, resistance to ALS inhibitors needs to be curtailed.
Indirect activation elicits strong correlations between light and electrical responses in ON but not OFF retinal ganglion cells
Authors: Im Maesoon , Fried Shelley I. 
Published: May 2015

Key points
To improve the quality of vision elicited by retinal prosthetics, elicited neural activity should resemble physiological signalling patterns; here, we hypothesized that electric stimulation that activates the synaptic circuitry of the retina would lead to closer matches than that which activates ganglion cells directly.
We evaluated this hypothesis by comparing light and electrical responses in different types of ganglion cells.
In contrast to the similarity in their light responses, electrical responses in ON and OFF cells of the same type were quite distinct. Further, electrical and light responses in the same cell were much better correlated in ON vs. OFF ganglion cells. Stimuli that activated photoreceptors yielded better correlations than those which activated bipolar cells.
Our results suggest that the closer match to physiology in the ON signal transmitted to the brain may help to explain preferential reports of ‘bright’ phosphenes during earlier clinical trials.
AbstractTo improve the efficacy of microelectronic retinal prosthetics it will be necessary to better understand the response of retinal neurons to electric stimulation. While stimulation that directly activates ganglion cells generally has the lowest threshold, the similarity in responsiveness across cells makes it extremely difficult for such an approach to re‐create cell‐type specific patterns of neural activity that arise normally in the healthy retina. In contrast, stimulation that activates neurons presynaptic to ganglion cells utilizes at least some of the existing retinal circuitry and therefore is thought to produce neural activity that better matches physiological signalling. Surprisingly, the actual benefit(s) of this approach remain unsubstantiated. Here, we recorded from ganglion cells in the rabbit retinal explant in response to electrical stimuli that activated the network. Targeted cells were first classified into known types via light responses so that the consistency of electrical responses within individual types could be evaluated. Both transient and sustained ON ganglion cells exhibited highly consistent electrical response patterns which were distinct from one another. Further, properties of the response (interspike interval, latency, peak firing rate, and spike count) in a given cell were well correlated to the corresponding properties of the light response for that same cell. Electric responses in OFF ganglion cells formed two groups, distinct from ON groups, and the correlation levels between electric and light responses were much weaker. The closer match in ON pathway responses may help to explain some preferential reporting of bright stimuli during psychophysical testing.
Herpes Simplex Virus 1 Suppresses the Function of Lung Dendritic Cells via Caveolin-1
Authors: Wu Bing , Geng Shuang , Bi Yanmin , Liu Hu , Hu Yanxin , Li Xinqiang , Zhang Yizhi , Zhou Xiaoyu , Zheng Guoxing , He Bin , Wang Bin 
Published: May 2015

ABSTRACTCaveolin-1 (Cav-1), the principal structural protein of caveolae, has been implicated as a regulator of virus-host interactions. Several viruses exploit caveolae to facilitate viral infections. However, the roles of Cav-1 in herpes simplex virus 1 (HSV-1) infection have not fully been elucidated. Here, we report that Cav-1 downregulates the expression of inducible nitric oxide synthase (iNOS) and the production of nitric oxide (NO) in dendritic cells (DCs) during HSV-1 infection. As a result, Cav-1 deficiency led to an accelerated elimination of virus and less lung pathological change following HSV-1 infection. This protection was dependent on iNOS and NO production in DCs. Adoptive transfer of DCs with Cav-1 knockdown was sufficient to confer the protection to wild-type (WT) mice. In addition, Cav-1 knockout (KO) (Cav-1−/−) mice treated with an iNOS inhibitor exhibited significantly reduced survival compared to that of the nontreated controls. We found that Cav-1 colocalized with iNOS and HSV-1 in caveolae in HSV-1-infected DCs, suggesting their interaction. Taken together, our results identified Cav-1 as a novel regulator utilized by HSV-1 to evade the host antiviral response mediated by NO production. Therefore, Cav-1 might be a valuable target for therapeutic approaches against herpesvirus infections.
Pediatric Staphylococcus aureus Isolate Genotypes and Infections from the Dawn of the Community-Associated Methicillin-Resistant S. aureus Epidemic Era in Chicago, 1994 to 1997
Authors: David Michael Z. , Acree Mary Ellen , Sieth Julia J. , Boxrud Dave J. , Dobbins Ginette , Lynfield Ruth , Boyle-Vavra Susan , Daum Robert S. 
Published: May 2015

ABSTRACT

Widespread infections with community-associated (CA) methicillin-resistant
Staphylococcus aureus
(MRSA) have occurred in the United States with the dissemination of the USA300 strain beginning in 2000. We examined 105 isolates obtained from children treated at the University of Chicago from 1994 to 1997 (75 methicillin-susceptible
S. aureus
[MSSA] and 30 MRSA isolates) in order to investigate for possible evidence of USA300 during this period. Infections were defined epidemiologically based on medical record review. The isolates underwent multilocus sequence typing (MLST), as well as assays for the Panton-Valentine leukocidin (PVL) genes, the protein A gene (
spa
), and
arcA
and
opp3
, proxy markers for the arginine catabolic mobile element (ACME), characteristic of USA300 MRSA. MRSA isolates also underwent staphylococcal cassette chromosome
mec
(SCC
mec
) typing and pulsed-field gel electrophoresis (PFGE) subtyping. MSSA isolates belonged to 17 sequence type (ST) groups. The 12 epidemiologically defined CA-MRSA infection isolates were either ST1 (
n
= 4) or ST8 (
n
= 8). They belonged to 3 different PFGE types: USA100 (
n
= 1), USA400 (
n
= 5), and USA500 (
n
= 6). Among the CA-MRSA infection isolates, 8 (67%) were PVL
+
. None of the MRSA or MSSA isolates contained
arcA
or
opp3
. Only one MRSA isolate was USA300 by PFGE. This was a health care-associated (HA) MRSA isolate, negative for PVL, that carried SCC
mec
type II. USA300 with its characteristic features was not identified in the collection from the years 1994 to 1997.
Rapid High-Resolution Melt Analysis of Cytauxzoon felis CytochromebTo Aid in the Prognosis of Cytauxzoonosis
Authors: Schreeg Megan E. , Marr Henry S. , Tarigo Jaime L. , Cohn Leah A. , Levy Michael G. , Birkenheuer Adam J. 
Published: May 2015

ABSTRACTCytauxzoon felisis a virulent, tick-transmitted, protozoan parasite that infects felines. Cytauxzoonosis was previously thought to be uniformly fatal in domestic cats. Treatment combining atovaquone and azithromycin (A&A) has been associated with survival rates of over 60%. Atovaquone, a ubiquinone analogue, targetsC. feliscytochromeb(cytb), of which 30 unique genotypes have been identified. TheC. feliscytbgenotypecytb1is associated with increased survival rates in cats treated with A&A. The purpose of this study was to design a PCR panel that could distinguishC. felis cytb1from other cytochromebgenotypes. Primer pairs were designed to span five different nucleotide positions at which single-nucleotide polymorphisms in theC. felis cytbgene had been identified. Through the use of high-resolution melt analysis, this panel was predicted to distinguishcytb1from othercytbgenotypes. Assays were validated using samples from 69 cats with cytauxzoonosis for which theC. felis cytbgenotypes had been characterized previously. The PCR panel identifiedC. felis cytb1with 100% sensitivity and 98.2% specificity. High-resolution melt analysis can rapidly provide prognostic information for clients considering A&A treatment in cats with cytauxzoonosis.