bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Incorporation of Potential Probiotic Lactobacillus plantarum Isolated from Fermented Cocoa Beans into Dark Chocolate: Bacterial Viability and Physicochemical Properties Analysis
Authors: Foong Yei Jin , Lee Shoo Thien , Ramli Nazaruddin , Tan Yen Nee , Ayob Mohd Khan 
Published: May 2013

AbstractThe purpose of this study was to develop a chocolate product incorporating a potential probiotic Lactobacillus plantarum isolated from fermented cocoa beans. L. plantarum was successfully isolated and its identity was 99.9% confirmed via the phenotypic API 50 CHL system, microscopic and biochemical analyses. The organism was then incorporated into dark chocolate confectionery. A reduction in L. plantarum colony count was observed after 3 months storage at 4C from the initial 8 log cfu/g to 6.5 log cfu/g (81.25% survival). Probiotic dark chocolate was found to be more viscous than control dark chocolate (without live cells), but of similar hardness (with the exception of samples on day 56, 70 and 84 of storage), pH, color (L*, a* and b* values) and water activity (Aw). Overall, dark chocolate is suitable for use as a carrier for the potential probiotic L. plantarum isolated from fermented cocoa beans.Practical ApplicationsThe lipid fraction of cocoa butter is believed to contain high levels of protective ingredients. Thus, it is possible to use chocolate as a carrier for probiotics as chocolate was proven an excellent carrier for oral delivery of a probiotic mixture of L. helveticus and Bifidobacterium longum. In this study, dark chocolate was tested as a carrier for the oral delivery of a potential probiotic L. plantarum isolated from fermented cocoa beans. The findings not only demonstrate the feasibility of dark chocolate as a carrier for Lactobacillus species, but also contribute to the search for new strains of Lactobacillus probiotics. This information will be useful in developing and fulfilling the growing demand for functional foods with specific health functions in the future.
A qualitative study of hospital patients' understanding of health promotion
Authors: Shoqirat Noordeen , Cameron Shona 
Published: May 2013

Aims and objectivesTo examine hospital patients' understanding of health promotion in Jordan.BackgroundIncreasingly, hospital nurses are urged to promote patients' health and meet their needs. Yet, internationally, little is known about how patients themselves understand health promotion, and no Jordanian study has been undertaken in this area.DesignA qualitative design was used.MethodsFocus group discussions (n = 4) were undertaken with hospital patients. All discussions were digitally recorded, transcribed verbatim and analysed using qualitative thematic analysis.ResultsThree images of health promotion emerged. These include health promotion as having adequate health knowledge, economic independency and good environment. It was also found that gender and spirituality affected patients' conceptualisations.ConclusionsHospital patients' understanding and expectations of health promotion are complex and go beyond the disease management approach. Therefore, if health promotion is to meet patients' needs and operate at empowerment and socio‐economic levels, the images identified in this article should be considered. The study limitations and recommendations for practice and future research are also outlined.Relevance to clinical practiceThere is a need for a framework of health promotion that integrates patients' beliefs in general and particularly those related to religion and gender roles within the daily philosophy of care. Having achieved this, hospital nurses will be able to deliver culturally competent and wide‐reaching health promotion.
The validation and application of the Chinese version of perceived nursing work environment scale
Authors: Zhao Peng , Chen Fen Ju , Hui Jia Xiao , Lv Hui , Cheng Piao Piao , Zhang Li Ping 
Published: May 2013

Aims and objectivesTo improve the development of the Chinese version of Perceived Nursing Work Environment (C‐PNWE) scale by examination and application and to explore the nurses' perception of their working environment in a hospital.BackgroundThe C‐PNWE scale was translated and revised from the PNWE scale. The least of perfection is that the development of C‐PNWE ignored that the psychometric properties of the PNWE instrument were established of critical care nurses and further application and testing of the PNWE in various patient care settings were recommended.DesignThis is a cross‐sectional design. Nurses from different departments of a hospital were sampled by convenience sampling and investigated by self‐administrated questionnaire.MethodsData obtained through questionnaires were analysed by descriptive statistical analyses and profile analyses using the Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS) Chinese version 17.0 software.ResultsThe coincident and level profile analyses indicated that these groups can merge into one group, and the profile of measurement result of this merged group would not exhibit flatness. Among six dimensions of C‐PNWE scale, the Staffing and Resource Adequacy got the lowest average score. Among 41 items, ‘Opportunity for staff nurse to participate in policy decisions’ got the lowest mean.ConclusionsThe C‐PNWE scale shows good psychometric properties and can be used to explore nurses' perspectives of the nursing practice environment in China. And the situation of nurses' perceived working environment in China needs further study.Relevance to clinical practiceShaping nursing practice environments to promote desired outcomes requires valid and reliable measures to assess practice environments prior to, during and following efforts to implement change. The C‐PNWE scale can be a useful measurement tool for administrators to improve the nursing work environment in China.
The effects of schema on recognition memories and subjective experiences for actions and objects
Authors: Yamada Ryoma , Itsukushima Yukio 
Published: May 2013

AbstractWe examined how the schema affects recognition memories and subjective experiences for actions and objects. First, participants watched consecutive slides that described a man in the kitchen. In the slides, the man performed schema‐consistent actions and schema‐inconsistent actions, and schema‐consistent objects and schema‐inconsistent objects were left in the kitchen space. After watching the slides, participants completed a recognition test, a remember/know test, and a Perception/Thought/Emotion/Context questionnaire. For objects, the discrimination between targets and distracters was more accurate for schema‐inconsistent items than for schema‐consistent items, owing to perceptual, thought, and emotional recollections for schema‐inconsistent object targets. For actions, schema‐consistent targets were more frequently recognized than schema‐inconsistent targets, with more remember judgments based on perceptual and contextual recollections. While item‐specific information of schema‐inconsistent targets could be elaborated for objects, the perceptual details and the contextual relationship of schema‐consistent targets could be elaborated for actions. We also found less false recognitions for schema‐consistent action distracters than for schema‐consistent object distracters. The retrieval of the perceptual details of schema‐consistent action targets could prevent false recognitions for schema‐consistent action distracters.
Clinical Evaluation and Endoscopic Classification of Bronchomalacia in Dogs
Authors: Bottero E. , Bellino C. , De Lorenzi D. , Ruggiero P. , Tarducci A. , D'Angelo A. , Gianella P. 
Published: May 2013

BackgroundLittle information is available about the association between bronchomalacia and historical or clinicopathologic data. Also, studies applying an endoscopic classification scheme that differentiates between static and dynamic bronchial collapse and based on a scoring system are lacking.ObjectivesTo describe the clinical presentation of bronchomalacia in dogs, to classify endoscopic findings, and to evaluate associations among historical, clinicopathologic data, and endoscopic findings.AnimalsFifty‐nine client‐owned dogs with an endoscopic diagnosis of bronchomalacia.MethodsIn this retrospective study, medical records were analyzed and video documentation was reviewed to assign a score to endoscopic findings. Univariate analysis was performed on categorical variables organized in contingency tables, and a stepwise logistic regression model was used for multivariate analysis.ResultsOf the 59 dogs included in the study, 2 were affected by static bronchial collapse (SBC), 35 by dynamic bronchial collapse (DBC), and 22 by bothSBCandDBC. The association betweenSBCandDBCwas more frequently seen in the dogs with higher body weight, pulmonary hypertension, a bronchial type of radiographic pattern, and nodularity at endoscopic examination. Thirty‐one dogs were presented with tracheomalacia and bronchomalacia; an association emerged between these concurrent disorders in dogs living indoors. Multivariate analysis of the endoscopic scores showed a correlation betweenDBCseverity and cough duration.Conclusion and Clinical ImportanceResults of this study provide evidence for 2 different types of bronchial collapse. Endoscopic scoring scheme has proved to be promising in the bronchomalacia classification, although further evaluation of its applicability in larger canine populations is needed.
Chromium isotope anomaly in an impactite sample from the El'gygytgyn structure, Russia: Evidence for a ureilite projectile?
Authors: Foriel Julien , Moynier Frederic , Schulz Toni , Koeberl Christian 
Published: May 2013

AbstractThe 3.6 Ma, 18‐km‐diameter El'gygytgyn impact structure (Arctic Russia) is unique among the currently known terrestrial impact craters in that it is the only one that was formed in acid volcanic rocks. Previous analyses of impactites from El'gygytgyn showed minor enrichments of the siderophile elements, including Ir, which, together with distinct Cr enrichments, gave rise to speculation that an achondritic projectile was involved. We studied the major and trace element composition in samples from the new ICDP drill core obtained near the center of the structure, as well as the chromium isotopic composition of an impact glass sample collected on the surface. Several suevitic breccias from the upper part of the suevite sequence in the drill core show higher Cr and Ni contents compared with felsic volcanic rocks in the lower part of the core and from surface samples. However, it is difficult to unambiguously establish a meteoritic component from trace element data, as input from (rare) mafic target rocks is a possibility. In contrast, the Cr isotopic composition of the impact glass sample yielded a nonterrestrial ε54Cr value of −0.72 ± 0.31 (2 std. err.). This negative ε54Cr is different from known carbonaceous chondrite values (ε54Cr of +0.95 to +1.65), but is nearly identical to reported values for ureilites (approximately −0.77). The value is, however, also within analytical error of eucrites (approximately −0.38) and ordinary chondrites (approximately −0.42). Given the chemical signatures found in previous analyses of El'gytgytgyn impactites and the similarity of our Cr isotopic data to ureilites, we suggest that the impacting asteroid could have been an F‐type asteroid of mixed composition, similar to the recent Almahata Sitta fall in Sudan.
Peanut‐based ready‐to‐use therapeutic food: how acceptable and tolerated is it among malnourished pregnant and lactating women in Bangladesh?
Authors: Ali Engy , Zachariah Rony , Shams Zubair , Manzi Marcel , Akter Tajmary , Alders Petra , Allaouna Malik , Delchevalerie Pascale , Harries Anthony.D. 
Published: May 2013

AbstractWithin a Medecins Sans Frontieres's nutrition programme in Kamrangirchar slum, Dhaka, Bangladesh this study was conducted to assess the acceptability of a peanut‐based ready‐to‐use therapeutic food (RUTF) – Plumpy'nut® (PPN) among malnourished pregnant and lactating women (PLW). This was a cross‐sectional survey using semi‐structure questionnaire that included all PLW admitted in the nutrition programme, who were either malnourished or at risk of malnutrition and who had received PPN for at least 4 weeks. A total of 248 women were interviewed of whom 99.6% were at risk of malnutrition. Overall, 212 (85%) perceived a therapeutic benefit. Despite this finding, 193 (78%) women found PPN unacceptable, of whom 12 (5%) completely rejected it after 4 weeks of intake. Reasons for unacceptability included undesirable taste (60%) and unwelcome smell (43%) – more than half of the latter was due to the peanut‐based smell. Overall, 39% attributed side effects to PPN intake including nausea, vomiting, diarrhoea, abdominal distension and pain. Nearly 80% of women felt a need to improve PPN – 82% desiring a change in taste and 48% desiring a change in smell. Overall, only 146 (59%) understood the illustrated instructions on the package. Despite a perceived beneficial therapeutic effect, only two in 10 women found PPN acceptable for nutritional rehabilitation. We urge nutritional agencies and manufacturers to intensify their efforts towards developing more RUTF alternatives that have improved palatability and smell for adults and that have adequate therapeutic contents for treating malnourished PLW in Bangladesh.
Dynamic responses of Bacteroides thetaiotaomicron during growth on glycan mixtures
Authors: Rogers Theresa E. , Pudlo Nicholas A. , Koropatkin Nicole M. , Bell Joshua S. K. , Moya Balasch Monica , Jasker Kevin , Martens Eric C. 
Published: May 2013

SummaryBacteroides thetaiotaomicron (Bt) is a human colonic symbiont that degrades many different complex carbohydrates (glycans), the identities and amounts of which are likely to change frequently and abruptly from meal‐to‐meal. To understand how this organism reacts to dynamic growth conditions, we challenged it with a series of different glycan mixtures and measured responses involved in glycan catabolism. Our results demonstrate that individual Bt cells can simultaneously respond to multiple glycans and that responses to new glycans are extremely rapid. The presence of alternative carbohydrates does not alter response kinetics, but reduces expression of some glycan utilization genes as well as the cell's sensitivity to glycans that are present in lower concentration. Growth in a mixture containing 12 different glycans revealed that Bt preferentially uses some before others. This metabolic hierarchy is not changed by prior exposure to lower priority glycans because re‐introducing high priority substrates late in culture re‐initiates repression of genes involved in degrading those with lower priority. At least some carbohydrate prioritization effects occur at the level of monosaccharide recognition. Our results provide insight into how a bacterial glycan generalist modifies its responses in dynamic glycan environments and provide essential knowledge to interpret related metabolic behaviour in vivo.
The ferrous iron transporter FtrABCD is required for the virulence of Brucella abortus 2308 in mice
Authors: Elhassanny Ahmed E. M. , Anderson Eric S. , Menscher Evan A. , Roop R. Martin 
Published: May 2013

SummaryIron transport has been linked to the virulence of Brucella strains in both natural and experimental hosts. The genes designated BAB2_0837–0840 in the Brucella abortus 2308 genome sequence are predicted to encode a CupII‐type ferrous iron transporter homologous to the FtrABCD transporter recently described in Bordetella. To study the role of the Brucella FtrABCD in iron transport, an isogenic ftrA mutant was constructed from B. abortus 2308. Compared with the parental strain, the B. abortus ftrA mutant displays a decreased capacity to use non‐haem iron sources in vitro, a growth defect in a low iron medium that is enhanced at pH 6, and studies employing radiolabelled FeCl3 confirmed that FtrABCD transports ferrous iron. Transcription of the ftrA gene is induced in B. abortus 2308 in response to iron deprivation and exposure to acid pH, and similar to other Brucella iron acquisition genes that have been examined the iron‐responsiveness of ftrA is dependent upon the iron response regulator Irr. The B. abortus ftrA mutant exhibits significant attenuation in both cultured murine macrophages and experimentally infected mice, supporting the proposition that ferrous iron is a critical iron source for these bacteria in the mammalian host.
Performance of the Framingham Risk Score in patients receiving hemodialysis
Authors: Huang Jiun‐Chi , Chen Szu‐Chia , Su Ho‐Ming , Chang Jer‐Ming , Hwang Shang‐Jyh , Chen Hung‐Chun 
Published: May 2013

AbstractAimThe Framingham Risk Score (FRS), calculated by considering conventional risk factors of cardiovascular diseases, was developed to predict coronary heart disease in various populations. However, reverse epidemiology has been raised concerning these risk factors in predicting high cardiovascular mortality in hemodialysis patients. Our objectives are to determine whether FRS is associated with overall and cardiovascular mortality and the role of new risk markers when they were added to a FRS model in hemodialysis patients.MethodsThis study enrolled 201 hemodialysis patients aged 20–80 years old. The FRS is used to identify individuals categorized as low (<6% 10‐year risk), intermediate (6–20% risk) or high risk (>20% risk). Medical records were reviewed to collect clinical information. Data of ankle‐brachial index (ABI) and brachial‐ankle pulse wave velocity (baPWV) were obtained by an ABI‐form device.ResultsThe mean follow‐up period was 4.4 ± 1.5 years. Intermediate risk predicted overall hazard ratio (HR) (2.157, P = 0.039) and cardiovascular mortality (HR= 5.023; P = 0.004) versus low risk, but ‘high’ risk did not. High risk (vs low risk) predicted cardiovascular events (HR = 2.458, P = 0.05). Besides, the addition of ABI < 0.9 (P = 0.021) and baPWV (P = 0.014) to a FRS model significantly improved the predictive value for overall mortality.ConclusionIn hemodialysis patients, intermediate risk but not high risk categorization by FRS predicted overall and cardiovascular mortality, and high risk predicted cardiovascular events. ABI < 0.9 and baPWV provided additional predictive values for overall mortality. Future study is needed to develop hemodialysis‐specific equations and assess whether risk refinement using ABI < 0.9 and baPWV leads to a meaningful change in clinical outcomes.
OPTIMAL RESPONSES TO SHORELINE CHANGES: AN INTEGRATED ECONOMIC AND GEOLOGICAL MODEL WITH APPLICATION TO CURVED COASTS
Authors: JIN DI , ASHTON ANDREW D. , HOAGLAND PORTER 
Published: May 2013

AbstractThe placement of sandy fill on an eroding beach, also known as “beach nourishment,” is a soft‐structure response to property loss often undertaken by coastal property owners. Here, we examine optimal beach nourishment along a curved shoreline with a model that couples geomorphic shoreline evolution with human responses to that evolution. The model includes the exogenous effects of shoreline recession due to sea‐level rise and the endogenous shoreline changes due to gradients in alongshore sediment transport. Human responses (nourishments) to shoreline changes that are not constant along the coast will change the shoreline curvature, thereby influencing local rates of shoreline change. We examine the net benefits of two alternative strategies to undertake soft structural responses to erosion: (i) the decisions of property owners to respond independently and (ii) the decisions of property owners to coordinate their individual responses. Under plausible parameterization, we find that a strategy to coordinate can dominate a strategy to act independently, and the benefits of coordination increase with greater shoreline curvature. This integration of economic and geological models demonstrates how feedbacks between human activities and natural processes can affect the evolution of the shoreline.
A method for rapid production of heteromultimeric protein complexes in plants: assembly of protective bluetongue virus‐like particles
Authors: Thuenemann Eva C. , Meyers Ann E. , Verwey Jeanette , Rybicki Edward P. , Lomonossoff George P. 
Published: May 2013

SummaryPlant expression systems based on nonreplicating virus‐based vectors can be used for the simultaneous expression of multiple genes within the same cell. They therefore have great potential for the production of heteromultimeric protein complexes. This work describes the efficient plant‐based production and assembly of Bluetongue virus‐like particles (VLPs), requiring the simultaneous expression of four distinct proteins in varying amounts. Such particles have the potential to serve as a safe and effective vaccine against Bluetongue virus (BTV), which causes high mortality rates in ruminants and thus has a severe effect on the livestock trade. Here, VLPs produced and assembled in Nicotiana benthamiana using the cowpea mosaic virus–based HyperTrans (CPMV‐HT) and associated pEAQ plant transient expression vector system were shown to elicit a strong antibody response in sheep. Furthermore, they provided protective immunity against a challenge with a South African BTV‐8 field isolate. The results show that transient expression can be used to produce immunologically relevant complex heteromultimeric structures in plants in a matter of days. The results have implications beyond the realm of veterinary vaccines and could be applied to the production of VLPs for human use or the coexpression of multiple enzymes for the manipulation of metabolic pathways.
The use of imaging to detect schistosomes and diagnose schistosomiasis
Authors: Skelly P. J. 
Published: May 2013

SummarySeveral imaging modalities have been employed to examine schistosomes and monitor schistosome‐induced pathology. Ultrasound is a noninvasive imaging method that has long been used in the laboratory and in the field to evaluate pathological changes, notably fibrosis, that arise as a consequence of the host response to schistosome eggs lodging in a variety of tissues. Ultrasonography has been widely used to monitor changes in the extent of fibrosis and in spleen/liver enlargement following chemotherapeutic treatment for schistosomiasis. Imaging methods to monitor schistosomes themselves in vivo (as opposed to detecting schistosome‐induced pathology) include positron emission tomography and fluorescence molecular tomography. Both approaches rely on schistosome uptake of tracers that are introduced into infected animals and that can be detected externally. These methods have been used to successfully detect schistosomes in vivo and to monitor their elimination following chemotherapeutic treatment. Direct monitoring of live schistosomes in vivo has been achieved using intravital microscopy, when the infected tissues of anaesthetized animals are exposed. Finally, schistosome eggs have been visualized by confocal laser scanning microscopy in infected mice as well as in a human patient with schistosomiasis hematobium. Further advances in imaging technologies seem likely to provide greater insight into disease progression and into the biology of schistosomes in the most relevant setting–within a live animal.