bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Testing albendazole resistance in Fasciola hepatica: validation of an egg hatch test with isolates from South America and the United Kingdom
Authors: Canevari J. , Ceballos L. , Sanabria R. , Romero J. , Olaechea F. , Ortiz P. , Cabrera M. , Gayo V. , Fairweather I. , Lanusse C. , Alvarez L. 
Published: March 2013

AbstractThe main goal of the current work was to develop and validate an in vitro fluke egg hatch test, as a method for the detection of albendazole (ABZ) resistance in the liver fluke, Fasciola hepatica. Fluke eggs (200/ml, n= 5) from six different isolates were used in the current experimental work. They were obtained from different geographical locations and named Cullompton (UK), CEDIVE (Chascomus, Argentina), INTA-Bariloche (Bariloche, Argentina), Rubino (Uruguay), Cajamarca (Perú) and Río Chico (Catamarca, Argentina). The fluke eggs were incubated (25°C) for a 12-h period in the presence of either ABZ or its sulphoxide metabolite (ABZ.SO) (5, 0.5 or 0.05 nmol/ml). Untreated eggs were incubated as a control. Incubated eggs (with or without drug present) were kept in darkness at 25°C for 15 days. Afterwards, the trematode eggs were exposed to daylight over a 2-h period. Hatched and unhatched eggs were evaluated using an optical microscope, and the ovicidal activity was assessed for each fluke isolate. A very low ovicidal activity ( ≤ 13.4%) was observed in the ABZ-resistant CEDIVE isolate for both ABZ and ABZ.SO. Conversely, in the INTA-Bariloche and Río Chico isolates, which are suspected to be susceptible to ABZ, ovicidal activities ≥ 70.3% were observed after incubation with ABZ at the lowest concentration tested (0.05 nmol/ml). This finding correlates with that previously described for the ABZ-susceptible Cullompton. Finally, the Cajamarca and Rubino isolates behaved as ABZ resistant, since no ovicidal activity was observed after eggs were incubated with ABZ at 0.5 nmol/ml. Considering the specific results obtained for each isolate under assessment, the egg hatch test described here may be a suitable method for detection of ABZ resistance in F. hepatica.
Suicide in bipolar disorder in a national English sample, 1996–2009: frequency, trends and characteristics
Authors: Clements C. , Morriss R. , Jones S. , Peters S. , Roberts C. , Kapur N. 
Published: March 2013

BackgroundBipolar disorder (BD) has been reported to be associated with high risk of suicide. We aimed to investigate the frequency and characteristics of suicide in people with BD in a national sample.MethodSuicide in BD in England from 1996 to 2009 was explored using descriptive statistics on data collected by the National Confidential Inquiry into Suicide and Homicide by People with Mental Illness (NCI). Suicide cases with a primary diagnosis of BD were compared to suicide cases with any other primary diagnosis.ResultsDuring the study period 1489 individuals with BD died by suicide, an average of 116 cases/year. Compared to other primary diagnosis suicides, those with BD were more likely to be female, more than 5 years post-diagnosis, current/recent in-patients, to have more than five in-patient admissions, and to have depressive symptoms. In BD suicides the most common co-morbid diagnoses were personality disorder and alcohol dependence. Approximately 40% were not prescribed mood stabilizers at the time of death. More than 60% of BD suicides were in contact with services the week prior to suicide but were assessed as low risk.ConclusionsGiven the high rate of suicide in BD and the low estimates of risk, it is important that health professionals can accurately identify patients most likely to experience poor outcomes. Factors such as alcohol dependence/misuse, personality disorder, depressive illness and current/recent in-patient admission could characterize a high-risk group. Future studies need to operationalize clinically useful indicators of suicide risk in BD.
Increased risk of tuberculosis in patients with end-stage renal disease: a population-based cohort study in Taiwan, a country of high incidence of end-stage renal disease
Authors: HU H. Y. , WU C. Y. , HUANG N. , CHOU Y. J. , CHANG Y. C. , CHU D. 
Published: March 2013

SUMMARYThis nationwide population-based cohort study investigated the risk of tuberculosis (TB) in patients with end-stage renal disease (ESRD) and receiving dialysis. The evaluations included 4131 incident ESRD patients receiving dialysis and 16 524 age- and gender-matched controls, recruited between 1998 and 2009. We used Cox proportional hazards regression analysis to measure the association between TB and ESRD. Compared to the controls, the ESRD cohort had a significantly higher risk of TB within 1 year [incident rate ratio (IRR) 4·13], and 1–2 years (IRR 2·12), of occurrence of ESRD. The Cox proportional hazards model revealed that ESRD [hazard ratio (HR) 2·40], age >65 years (HR 2·41), male sex (HR 1·94), diabetes mellitus (HR 1·36), silicosis (HR 7·70) and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (HR 1·61) are independent risk factors for TB. Patients with ESRD are associated with an increased risk of TB, and should thus be monitored more carefully for TB, especially within 2 years of onset of ESRD.
Retinal morphological and functional changes in an animal model of retinitis pigmentosa
Authors: LU BIN , MORGANS CATHERINE W. , GIRMAN SERGEY , LUND RAYMOND , WANG SHAOMEI 
Published: March 2013

AbstractThe P23H-1 transgenic rat carries a mutated mouse opsin gene, in addition to endogenous opsin genes, and undergoes progressive photoreceptor loss that is generally characteristic of human autosomal dominant retinitis pigmentosa (RP). Here, we examined morphological changes correlated with visual function that is comparable to clinical application in the pigmented P23H-1 rat retina as photoreceptor degeneration progressed. We found that rod function was compromised as early as postnatal day 28 and was a good indicator for tracking retinal degeneration. Cone function was normal and did not change until the thickness of the photoreceptor layer was reduced by 75%. Similar to the threshold versus intensity curves used to evaluate vision of RP patients, light-adaptation curves showed that cone thresholds depended on the number of remaining functioning cones, but not on its length of outer segments (OS). By 1 year of age, both rod and cone functions were significantly compromised. Correlating with early abnormal rod function, rods and related secondary neurons also underwent progressive degeneration, including shortening of inner and OS of photoreceptors, loss of rod bipolar and horizontal cell dendrites, thickening of the outer Müller cell processes, and reduced density of pre- and postsynaptic markers. Similar early morphological modifications were also observed in cones and their related secondary neurons. However, cone function was maintained at nearly normal level for a long period. The dramatic loss of rods at late stage of degeneration may contribute to the dysfunction of cones. Attention has to be focused on preserving cone function and identifying factors that damage cones when therapeutic regimes are applied to treat retinal degeneration. As such, these findings provide a foundation for future studies involving treatments to counter photoreceptor loss.
The Nature of a Communist-Based Legal System and the Post-18th Party Congress Implications
Authors: Poon Czarina 
Published: March 2013

AbstractChina is entering a new era; after the 12th National People's Congress, which is to be held in March 2013, China's fifth generation of power transition will be complete. Czarina Poon offers the LIM readership an overview of the political and economic developments within China and outlines the governmental and legal structures for a nation that is one of the last five remaining Communist countries.
MODEL-THEORETIC CHARACTERIZATION OF INTUITIONISTIC PROPOSITIONAL FORMULAS
Authors: OLKHOVIKOV GRIGORY K. 
Published: March 2013

AbstractNotions of k-asimulation and asimulation are introduced as asymmetric counterparts to k-bisimulation and bisimulation, respectively. It is proved that a first-order formula is equivalent to a standard translation of an intuitionistic propositional formula iff it is invariant with respect to k-asimulations for some k, and then that a first-order formula is equivalent to a standard translation of an intuitionistic propositional formula iff it is invariant with respect to asimulations. Finally, it is proved that a first-order formula is equivalent to a standard translation of an intuitionistic propositional formula over the class of intuitionistic Kripke models iff it is invariant with respect to asimulations between intuitionistic models.
Dependence of the magnetocaloric effect on the A-site ionic radius in isoelectronic manganites
Authors: Rocco D. L. , Coelho A. A. , Gama S. , Santos M. de C. 
Published: March 2013

In this work, we explore the magnetocaloric and magnetic properties of isoelectronic manganites R0.6Sr0.4MnO3 (R = La, Pr, Nd, and Sm). Upon substitution of La3+ by smaller rare-earth ions, the average ionic radius 〈rA〉 of the A-site (A = (R, Sr)) elements systematically decreases. It is found that, with decreasing 〈rA〉, the magnetic-ordering temperature decreases from 341 K for La0.6Sr0.4MnO3 to 126 K for Sm0.6Sr0.4MnO3. Interestingly, the magnetic-entropy change increases with decreasing 〈rA〉, reaching ΔSM=−8.4 J/kg  K for ΔH=0−20  kOe for Sm0.6Sr0.4MnO3. For manganites, this is a high value of ΔSM, and it is related to the fact that the compound exhibits first-order magnetic transition. In contrast, the three other compounds exhibit a second order transition. The results indicate that the structural distortions caused by the decreasing 〈rA〉 couple the spin subsystem to the lattice, thus, inducing a first-order magnetic transition.
Activity-enhancing mutations in an E3 ubiquitin ligase identified by high-throughput mutagenesis
Authors: Starita Lea M. , Pruneda Jonathan N. , Lo Russell S. , Fowler Douglas M. , Kim Helen J. , Hiatt Joseph B. , Shendure Jay , Brzovic Peter S. , Fields Stanley , Klevit Rachel E. 
Published: March 2013

Significance
Ubiquitin is a 76 residue protein that is attached to target proteins as a posttranslational modification. This modification is dependent on the successive activity of three enzymes, designated E1, E2, and E3. We developed a high-throughput mutagenesis strategy to probe the mechanism of E3-catalyzed transfer of ubiquitin from the E2 to the target protein. By scoring the effect of nearly 100,000 mutations in an E3, we identified mutations that affect direct and allosteric interactions between the E3 and the E2. These results highlight the general utility of high-throughput mutagenesis in delineating the molecular basis of enzyme activity.
W. V. O. Quine
Authors: Kemp Gary 
Published: March 2013

Willard Van Orman Quine (b. 1908–d. 2000) was the main agenda setter in post–World War II philosophy of language and related fields. He was also a highly active logician; if his views on formal and mathematical logic did not shape the field in quite the same way as his work on language, epistemology, and metaphysics, the latter largely sprang from his work on logic and the related domain of the foundations of mathematics. His doctoral thesis (“The Logic of Sequences,” 1933) attempted to clean up and generalize yet boil down the great Principia Mathematica of Bertrand Russell and Alfred North Whitehead (Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press, 1910, 1927). Quine’s subsequent works—including A System of Logistic (Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1934), Mathematical Logic (1940, 1951; Quine 1951, cited under Quine’s Monographs), “New Foundations for Mathematical Logic” (1937, 1953, 1961; Quine 1961, cited under Logic and Set Theory), and Set Theory and Its Logic (1963, 1969; Quine 1969, cited under Quine’s Textbooks)—developed more refined and original ideas on largely the same topics. In philosophy he is known most generally for his commitment to extensionalism, which, for scientific purposes, rules out as inadmissible that two expressions could have the same truth-value or extension or refer to the same object yet not be interchangeable in containing sentences without affecting the truth-values of the containing sentences. Closely related are his celebrated criticisms of the unexplicated reliance on the concepts “meaning,” the “a priori,” and “analyticity” among empiricist philosophers; pressed harder, Quine believed, those notions cannot support the edifices empiricists had envisaged. A scientifically rigorous attitude toward language shows that the notion of the meaning of a sentence, in the intuitive sense that sustains the idea that two correct translations of a given foreign sentence must be in some clear sense be equivalent, must be discarded; meaning in that sense is “indeterminate.” In metaphysics, specifically ontology, he is celebrated for formulating a clear and seemingly rigorous test for ontological commitment in his “On What There Is” (1948; Quine 1961, cited under Ontology): existence is equated with being the value of variable in the first-order predicate calculus. Less well known but equally interesting are his later views concerning the question of what exists; he held that certain considerations undermine the idea that there is a single answer to the question “What is there?” Finally, the notion that epistemology should be “naturalized” and more generally that philosophy itself should be thought of as taking its place within natural science has caused considerable commentary and indeed controversy.
Peatlands
Authors: Vitt Dale H. 
Published: March 2013

Peatland ecosystems are characterized by a substantial accumulation of organic matter in soil (peat), resulting from long-term excess of net primary production at the surface compared to decomposition throughout the peat column. Globally, peatlands cover 3–4 percent of the earth’s land surface, yet they store 25–30 percent of the world’s soil carbon (about 455 Pg of C) and 9–16 percent of the world’s soil nitrogen (8–15 Pg of N) in peat. These large stores of C and N are especially vulnerable to global climate change. Although peatlands occur from the tropics to the Arctic, it is in the boreal region where peatlands are most abundant. The presence of a well-developed ground layer of mosses along with either abundant shrubs or sedges makes the population and community ecology of these ecosystems interesting and challenging. The high water table, presence of anoxia, and isolation from all nutrient inputs—except the atmosphere in some peatlands (bogs)—present unique opportunities to study the hydrology and biogeochemistry.
Community Ecology
Authors: Verhoef Herman A. 
Published: March 2013

At the beginning of the 20th century there was much debate about the “nature” of communities. The driving question was whether the community was a self-organized system of co-occurring species or simply a haphazard collection of populations with minimal functional integration. At that time, two extreme views dominated the discussion: one view considered a community as a superorganism, the member species of which were tightly bound together by interactions that contributed to repeatable patterns of species abundance in space and time. This concept led to the assumption that communities are fundamental entities, to be classified as the Linnaean taxonomy of species. Frederick E. Clements was one of the leading proponents of this approach, and his view became known as the organismic concept of communities. This assumes a common evolutionary history for the integrated species. The opposite view was the individualistic continuum concept, advocated by H. A. Gleason. His focus was on the traits of individual species that allow each to live within specific habitats or geographical ranges. In this view a community is an assemblage of populations of different species whose traits allow persisting in a prescribed area. The spatial boundaries are not sharp, and the species composition can change considerably. Consequently, it was discussed whether ecological communities were sufficiently coherent entities to be considered appropriate study objects. Later, consensus was reached: that properties of communities are of central interest in ecology, regardless of their integrity and coherence. From the 1950s and 1960s onward, the discussion was dominated by the deterministic outcome of local interactions between species and their environments and the building of this into models of communities. This approach, indicated as “traditional community ecology,” led to a morass of theoretical models, without being able to provide general principles about many-species communities. Early-21st-century approaches to bringing general patterns into community ecology concern (1) the metacommunity approach, (2) the functional trait approach, (3) evolutionary community ecology, and (4) the four fundamental processes. The metacommunity approach implicitly recognizes and studies the important role of spatiotemporal dynamics. In the functional trait approach, four themes are focused upon: traits, environmental gradients, the interaction milieu, and performance currencies. This functional, trait-focused approach should have a better prospect of understanding the effects of global changes. Evolutionary community ecology is an approach in which the combination of community ecology and evolutionary biology will lead to a better understanding of the complexity of communities and populations. The four fundamental processes are selection, drift, speciation, and dispersal. This approach concerns an organizational scheme for community ecology, based on these four processes to describe all existing specific models and frameworks, in order to make general statements about process–pattern connections.
PT
-symmetric quantum state discrimination
Authors: Bender Carl M. , Brody Dorje C. , Caldeira João , Günther Uwe , Meister Bernhard K. , Samsonov Boris F. 
Published: March 2013

The objective of this paper is to explain and elucidate the formalism of

quantum mechanics by applying it to a well-known problem in conventional Hermitian quantum mechanics, namely the problem of state discrimination. Suppose that a system is known to be in one of two quantum states, |
ψ
1
〉 or |
ψ
2
〉. If these states are not orthogonal, then the requirement of unitarity forbids the possibility of discriminating between these two states with one measurement; that is, determining with one measurement what state the system is in. In conventional quantum mechanics, there is a strategy in which successful state discrimination can be achieved with a single measurement but only with a success probability
p
that is less than unity. In this paper, the state-discrimination problem is examined in the context of

quantum mechanics and the approach is based on the fact that a non-Hermitian

-symmetric Hamiltonian determines the inner product that is appropriate for the Hilbert space of physical states. It is shown that it is always possible to choose this inner product so that the two states |
ψ
1
〉 and |
ψ
2
〉 are orthogonal. Using

quantum mechanics, one cannot achieve a better state discrimination than in ordinary quantum mechanics, but one can instead perform a
simulated
quantum state discrimination, in which with a single measurement a perfect state discrimination is realized with probability
p
.
Migration phenology and seasonal fidelity of an Arctic marine predator in relation to sea ice dynamics
Authors: Cherry Seth G. , Derocher Andrew E. , Thiemann Gregory W. , Lunn Nicholas J. 
Published: March 2013

Summary

Understanding how seasonal environmental conditions affect the timing and distribution of synchronized animal movement patterns is a central issue in animal ecology.

Migration, a behavioural adaptation to seasonal environmental fluctuations, is a fundamental part of the life history of numerous species. However, global climate change can alter the spatiotemporal distribution of resources and thus affect the seasonal movement patterns of migratory animals.

We examined sea ice dynamics relative to migration patterns and seasonal geographical fidelity of an Arctic marine predator, the polar bear (Ursus maritimus). Polar bear movement patterns were quantified using satellite‐linked telemetry data collected from collars deployed between 1991–1997 and 2004–2009.

We showed that specific sea ice characteristics can predict the timing of seasonal polar bear migration on and off terrestrial refugia. In addition, fidelity to specific onshore regions during the ice‐free period was predicted by the spatial pattern of sea ice break‐up but not by the timing of break‐up. The timing of migration showed a trend towards earlier arrival of polar bears on shore and later departure from land, which has been driven by climate‐induced declines in the availability of sea ice.

Changes to the timing of migration have resulted in polar bears spending progressively longer periods of time on land without access to sea ice and their marine mammal prey. The links between increased atmospheric temperatures, sea ice dynamics, and the migratory behaviour of an ice‐dependent species emphasizes the importance of quantifying and monitoring relationships between migratory wildlife and environmental cues that may be altered by climate change.
Relative influence of human harvest, carnivores, and weather on adult female elk survival across western North America
Authors: Brodie Jedediah , Johnson Heather , Mitchell Michael , Zager Peter , Proffitt Kelly , Hebblewhite Mark , Kauffman Matthew , Johnson Bruce , Bissonette John , Bishop Chad , Gude Justin , Herbert Jeff , Hersey Kent , Hurley Mark , Lukacs Paul M. , McCorquodale Scott , McIntire Eliot , Nowak Josh , Sawyer Hall , Smith Douglas , White P.J. 
Published: March 2013

Summary

Well‐informed management of harvested species requires understanding how changing ecological conditions affect demography and population dynamics, information that is lacking for many species. We have limited understanding of the relative influence of carnivores, harvest, weather and forage availability on elk Cervus elaphus demography, despite the ecological and economic importance of this species. We assessed adult female survival, a key vital rate for population dynamics, from 2746 radio‐collared elk in 45 populations across western North America that experience wide variation in carnivore assemblage, harvest, weather and habitat conditions.

Proportional hazard analysis revealed that ‘baseline’ (i.e. not related to human factors) mortality was higher with very high winter precipitation, particularly in populations sympatric with wolves Canis lupus. Mortality may increase via nutritional stress and heightened vulnerability to predation in snowy winters. Baseline mortality was unrelated to puma Puma concolor presence, forest cover or summer forage productivity.

Cause‐specific mortality analyses showed that wolves and all carnivore species combined had additive effects on baseline elk mortality, but only reduced survival by <2%. When human factors were included, ‘total’ adult mortality was solely related to harvest; the influence of native carnivores was compensatory. Annual total mortality rates were lowest in populations sympatric with both pumas and wolves because managers reduced female harvest in areas with abundant or diverse carnivores.

Mortality from native carnivores peaked in late winter and early spring, while harvest‐induced mortality peaked in autumn. The strong peak in harvest‐induced mortality during the autumn hunting season decreased as the number of native carnivore species increased.

Synthesis and applications. Elevated baseline adult female elk mortality from wolves in years with high winter precipitation could affect elk abundance as winters across the western US become drier and wolves recolonize portions of the region. In the absence of human harvest, wolves had additive, although limited, effects on mortality. However, human harvest, and its apparent use by managers to offset predation, primarily controls overall variation in adult female mortality. Altering harvest quotas is thus a strong tool for offsetting impacts of carnivore recolonization and shifting weather patterns on elk across western North America.