bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
A critical re‐evaluation of the specificity of action of perivagal capsaicin
Authors: Browning K. N. , Babic T. , Holmes G. M. , Swartz E. , Travagli R. A. 
Published: January 2013

Key points
Perivagal application of capsaicin (1% solution) is considered to cause selective degeneration of vagal afferent (sensory) C fibres and has been used extensively to examine the site of action of many gastrointestinal (GI) neuropeptides.
The actions of both capsaicin and GI neuropeptides may not be restricted to vagal afferent fibres, however, as other non‐sensory neurones displayed sensitivity to capsaicin and brainstem microinjections of these neuropeptides induce GI effects similar to those obtained upon systemic application.
The present study used immunohistochemical, biophysical and functional approaches to test the hypothesis that perivagal capsaicin induces degeneration of vagal efferents controlling GI functions.
Our data indicate that perivagal application of capsaicin induces degeneration of vagal efferent motoneurones and decreased vagal motor responses. Treatment with perivagal capsaicin cannot therefore be considered selective for vagal afferent C fibres and, consequently, care is needed when using perivagal capsaicin to assess the mechanism of action of GI neuropeptides.
Abstract  Perivagal application of capsaicin (1% solution) is considered to cause a selective degeneration of vagal afferent C fibres and has been used extensively to examine the site of action of many gastrointestinal (GI) neuropeptides. The actions of both capsaicin and GI neuropeptides may not be restricted to vagal afferent fibres, however, as other non‐sensory neurones have displayed sensitivity to capsaicin and brainstem microinjections of these neuropeptides induce GI effects similar to those obtained upon systemic application. The aim of the present study was to test the hypothesis that perivagal capsaicin induces degeneration of vagal efferents controlling GI functions. Experiments were conducted 7–14 days after 30 min unilateral perivagal application of 0.1–1% capsaicin. Immunohistochemical analyses demonstrated that, as following vagotomy, capsaicin induced dendritic degeneration, decreased choline acetyltransferase but increased nitric oxide synthase immunoreactivity in rat dorsal motor nucleus of the vagus (DMV) neurones. Electrophysiological recordings showed a decreased DMV input resistance and excitability due, in part, to the expression of a large conductance calcium‐dependent potassium current and the opening of a transient outward potassium window current at resting potential. Furthermore, the number of DMV neurones excited by thyrotrophin‐releasing hormone and the gastric motility response to DMV microinjections of TRH were decreased significantly. Our data indicate that perivagal application of capsaicin induced DMV neuronal degeneration and decreased vagal motor responses. Treatment with perivagal capsaicin cannot therefore be considered selective for vagal afferent C fibres and, consequently, care is needed when using perivagal capsaicin to assess the mechanism of action of GI neuropeptides.
Nephrotoxicity and Efficacy Assessment of Polymyxin Use in 92 Transplant Patients
Authors: Mostardeiro Marcelo M. , Pereira Carlos A. P. , Marra Alexandre R. , Pestana Jose O. M. , Camargo Luis Fernando A. 
Published: January 2013

ABSTRACT

Polymyxins are old antimicrobials, discontinued for many years because of nephrotoxicity and neurotoxicity reports and reintroduced recently due to the increasing frequency of multiresistant Gram-negative bacterial infections. There are very few data related to toxicity and efficacy from transplanted patients, the major subjects of this study. All solid-organ-transplanted patients from our institution during January 2001 to December 2007 who used polymyxins were retrospectively assessed for nephrotoxicity and treatment efficacy. Microbiological and clinical cure rates were 100% and 77.2%, respectively. Only transplant patients subjected to at least 72 h of intravenous polymyxin were entered in the study. Overall, 92 transplant patients were included, and the nephrotoxicity rate was 32.6%. Multivariate analysis showed a statistically significant association between duration of polymyxin treatment (
P
= 0.037; odds ratio [OR], 1.06; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.00 to 1.12) and significant renal dysfunction. Polymyxin use is associated with very high rates of significant decrease in renal function; therefore, polymyxin must be used only when no other option is available and for as briefly as possible in the solid organ transplant setting.
Evaluation of the
In Vitro
Activity of Voriconazole As Predictive of
In Vivo
Outcome in a Murine Aspergillus fumigatus Infection Model
Authors: Salas Valentina , Pastor F. Javier , Calvo Enrique , Sutton Deanna A. , Fothergill Annette W. , Guarro Josep 
Published: January 2013

ABSTRACT

We have evaluated the
in vitro
activity of voriconazole against 61 strains of
Aspergillus fumigatus
by using broth microdilution, disk diffusion, and minimal fungicidal concentration procedures. We observed an excellent correlation between the results obtained with the three methods. Five percent of the strains showed MICs greater than or equal to the epidemiological cutoff value (ECV; 1 μg/ml). To assess whether MICs were predictive of
in vivo
outcome, we tested the efficacy of voriconazole at 25 mg/kg of body weight daily in an immunosuppressed murine model of disseminated infection using 10 strains representing various patterns of susceptibility to the drug as determined by the
in vitro
study. Voriconazole prolonged survival and reduced fungal load in the kidneys and brain in those mice infected with strains with MICs of ≤0.25 μg/ml, while in mice infected with strains with MICs of 0.5 to 2 μg/ml, the efficacy was varied and strain dependent and in mice infected with the strain with a MIC of 4 μg/ml, the antifungal did not show efficacy. Voriconazole reduced galactomannan antigenemia against practically all strains with a MIC of <4 μg/ml. Our results demonstrate that some relationship exists between voriconazole MICs and
in vivo
efficacy; however, further studies testing additional strains are needed to better ascertain which MIC values can predict clinical outcome.
MIC Values of Voriconazole Are Predictive of Treatment Results in Murine Infections by Aspergillus terreus Species Complex
Authors: Salas Valentina , Pastor F. Javier , Sutton Deanna A. , Calvo Enrique , Mayayo Emilio , Fothergill Annette W. , Rinaldi Michael G. , Guarro Josep 
Published: January 2013

ABSTRACT

We evaluated the efficacy of voriconazole against nine strains of
Aspergillus terreus
with different MICs (0.12 to 4 μg/ml) by using a murine model. Markers of efficacy included survival, tissue burden, galactomannan antigenemia, and drug serum levels. Voriconazole was especially effective in prolonging survival and reducing the fungal load in infections by strains that showed MICs that were less than or equal to the epidemiological cutoff value (1 μg/ml).
In vitro
data might be useful for predicting the outcome of
A. terreus
infections.
Prevalent Polymorphisms in Wild-Type HIV-1 Integrase Are Unlikely To Engender Drug Resistance to Dolutegravir (S/GSK1349572)
Authors: Vavro Cindy , Hasan Samiul , Madsen Heather , Horton Joseph , DeAnda Felix , Martin-Carpenter Louise , Sato Akihiko , Cuffe Robert , Chen Shuguang , Underwood Mark , Nichols Garrett 
Published: January 2013

ABSTRACTThe majority of HIV-1 integrase amino acid sites are highly conserved, suggesting that most are necessary to carry out the critical structural and functional roles of integrase. We analyzed the 34 most variable sites in integrase (>10% variability) and showed that prevalent polymorphic amino acids at these positions did not affect susceptibility to the integrase inhibitor dolutegravir (S/GSK1349572), as demonstrated bothin vitro(in site-directed mutagenesis studies) andin vivo(in a phase IIa study of dolutegravir monotherapy in HIV-infected individuals). Ongoing clinical trials will provide additional data on the virologic activity of dolutegravir across subject viruses with and without prevalent polymorphic substitutions.
N
-Chloramines, a Promising Class of Well-Tolerated Topical Anti-Infectives
Authors: Gottardi Waldemar , Debabov Dmitri , Nagl Markus 
Published: January 2013

ABSTRACT

Antibiotic resistance is a growing public health crisis. To address the development of bacterial resistance, the use of antibiotics has to be minimized for nonsystemic applications in humans, as well as in animals and plants. Possible substitutes with low potential for developing resistance are active chlorine compounds that have been in clinical use for over 180 years. These agents are characterized by pronounced differences in their chlorinating and/or oxidizing activity, with hypochlorous acid (HOCl) as the strongest and organic chloramines as the weakest members. Bacterial killing in clinical practice is often associated with unwanted side effects such as chlorine consumption, tissue irritation, and pain, increasing proportionally with the chlorinating/oxidizing potency. Since the chloramines are able to effectively kill pathogens (bacteria, fungi, viruses, protozoa), their application as anti-infectives is advisable, all the more so as they exhibit additional beneficial properties such as destruction of toxins, degradation of biofilms, and anticoagulative and anti-inflammatory activities. Within the ample field of chloramines, the stable
N
-chloro derivatives of ß-aminosulfonic acids are most therapeutically advanced. Being available as sodium salts, they distinguish themselves by good solubility and absence of smell. Important representatives are
N
-chlorotaurine, a natural compound occurring in the human immune system, and novel mono- and dichloro derivatives of dimethyltaurine, which feature improved stability.
Biofilm Compared to Conventional Antimicrobial Susceptibility of Stenotrophomonas maltophilia Isolates from Cystic Fibrosis Patients
Authors: Wu Kitty , Yau Yvonne C. W. , Matukas Larissa , Waters Valerie 
Published: January 2013

ABSTRACT

Stenotrophomonas maltophilia
is a multidrug-resistant organism increasingly isolated from the lungs of cystic fibrosis (CF) patients. One hundred twenty-five
S. maltophilia
isolates from 85 CF patients underwent planktonic and biofilm susceptibility testing against 9 different antibiotics, alone and in double antibiotic combinations. When
S. maltophilia
isolates were grown as a biofilm, 4 of the 10 most effective antibiotic combinations included high-dose levofloxacin and 7 of the 10 combinations included colistin at doses achievable by aerosolization.
Complete Sequence of a
bla
KPC-2
-Harboring IncFII
K1
Plasmid from a Klebsiella pneumoniae Sequence Type 258 Strain
Authors: Chen Liang , Chavda Kalyan D. , Melano Roberto G. , Jacobs Michael R. , Levi Michael H. , Bonomo Robert A. , Kreiswirth Barry N. 
Published: January 2013

ABSTRACT

We report the nucleotide sequence of a novel
bla
KPC-2
-harboring IncFII
K1
plasmid, pBK32179, isolated from a carbapenem-resistant
Klebsiella pneumoniae
ST258 strain from a New York City patient. pBK32179 is 165 kb long, consists of a large backbone of pKPN3-like plasmid, and carries an 18.5-kb
bla
KPC-2
-containing element that is highly similar to plasmid pKpQIL. pBK32179-like plasmids were identified in 8.3% of strains in a collection of 96
K. pneumoniae
isolates from hospitals in the New York City area.
Matrix-Assisted Laser Desorption Ionization–Time of Flight (MALDI-TOF) Mass Spectrometry for Detection of Antibiotic Resistance Mechanisms: from Research to Routine Diagnosis
Authors: Hrabák Jaroslav , Chudáčková Eva , Walková Radka 
Published: January 2013

SUMMARY
Matrix-assisted laser desorption ionization–time of flight mass spectrometry (MALDI-TOF MS) has been successfully applied as an identification procedure in clinical microbiology and has been widely used in routine laboratory practice because of its economical and diagnostic benefits. The range of applications of MALDI-TOF MS has been growing constantly, from rapid species identification to labor-intensive proteomic studies of bacterial physiology. The purpose of this review is to summarize the contribution of the studies already performed with MALDI-TOF MS concerning antibiotic resistance and to analyze future perspectives in this field. We believe that current research should continue in four main directions, including the detection of antibiotic modifications by degrading enzymes, the detection of resistance mechanism determinants through proteomic studies of multiresistant bacteria, and the analysis of modifications of target sites, such as ribosomal methylation. The quantification of antibiotics is suggested as a new approach to study influx and efflux in bacterial cells. The results of the presented studies demonstrate that MALDI-TOF MS is a relevant tool for the detection of antibiotic resistance and opens new avenues for both clinical and experimental microbiology.
Phaeohyphomycoses, Emerging Opportunistic Diseases in Animals
Authors: Seyedmousavi S. , Guillot J. , de Hoog G. S. 
Published: January 2013

SUMMARY
Emerging fungal diseases due to black yeasts and relatives in domestic or wild animals and in invertebrates or cold- and warm-blooded vertebrates are continually being reported, either as novel pathogens or as familiar pathogens affecting new species of hosts. Different epidemiological situations can be distinguished, i.e., occurrence as single infections or as zoonoses, and infection may occur sporadically in otherwise healthy hosts. Such infections are found mostly in mammals but also in cold-blooded animals, are frequently subcutaneous or cerebral, and bear much similarity to human primary disorders. Infections of the nervous system are mostly fatal, and the source and route of infection are currently unknown. A third epidemiological situation corresponds to pseudoepidemics, i.e., infection of a large host population due to a common source. It is often observed and generally hypothesized that the susceptible animals are under stress, e.g., due to poor housing conditions of mammals or to a change of basins in the case of fishes. The descriptions in this article represent an overview of the more commonly reported and recurring black fungi and the corresponding diseases in different types of animals.
Transmission and Epidemiology of Zoonotic Protozoal Diseases of Companion Animals
Authors: Esch Kevin J. , Petersen Christine A. 
Published: January 2013

SUMMARYOver 77 million dogs and 93 million cats share our households in the United States. Multiple studies have demonstrated the importance of pets in their owners' physical and mental health. Given the large number of companion animals in the United States and the proximity and bond of these animals with their owners, understanding and preventing the diseases that these companions bring with them are of paramount importance. Zoonotic protozoal parasites, including toxoplasmosis, Chagas' disease, babesiosis, giardiasis, and leishmaniasis, can cause insidious infections, with asymptomatic animals being capable of transmitting disease.GiardiaandToxoplasma gondii, endemic to the United States, have high prevalences in companion animals.LeishmaniaandTrypanosoma cruziare found regionally within the United States. These diseases have lower prevalences but are significant sources of human disease globally and are expanding their companion animal distribution. Thankfully, healthy individuals in the United States are protected by intact immune systems and bolstered by good nutrition, sanitation, and hygiene. Immunocompromised individuals, including the growing number of obese and/or diabetic people, are at a much higher risk of developing zoonoses. Awareness of these often neglected diseases in all health communities is important for protecting pets and owners. To provide this awareness, this review is focused on zoonotic protozoal mechanisms of virulence, epidemiology, and the transmission of pathogens of consequence to pet owners in the United States.
Evidence and Implications of Mortality Associated with Acute Plasmodium vivax Malaria
Authors: Baird J. Kevin 
Published: January 2013

SUMMARY
Vivax malaria threatens patients despite relatively low-grade parasitemias in peripheral blood. The tenet of death as a rare outcome, derived from antiquated and flawed clinical classifications, disregarded key clinical evidence, including (i) high rates of mortality in neurosyphilis patients treated with vivax malaria; (ii) significant mortality from zones of endemicity; and (iii) the physiological threat inherent in repeated, very severe paroxysms in any patient, healthy or otherwise. The very well-documented course of this infection, with the exception of parasitemia, carries all of the attributes of “perniciousness” historically linked to falciparum malaria, including severe disease and fatal outcomes. A systematic analysis of the parasite biomass in severely ill patients that includes blood, marrow, and spleen may ultimately explain this historic misunderstanding. Regardless of how this parasite is pernicious, recent data demonstrate that the infection comes with a significant burden of morbidity and associated mortality. The extraordinary burden of malaria is not heavily weighted upon any single continent by a single species of parasite—it is a complex problem for the entire endemic world, and both species are of fundamental importance. Humanity must rally substantial resources, intellect, and energy to counter this daunting but profound threat.
METHOD OF TECHNOLOGY ANALYSIS BASED ON PATENT EXAMINATION AND DESIGN METHODOLOGY USED TO DETERMINE THE TECHNOLOGICAL PROGRESS IN BLOOD PRESSURE MONITORS
Authors: BACIOIU GHEORGHE M. , PASEK ZBIGNIEW J. 
Published: January 2013

Blood pressure measuring/monitoring devices (BPMs) are one of the most popular home health diagnostic tools. A contemporary line of these products available to consumers today has considerable range of variety and functionality. The BPMs evolved into their present form from the 18th century sphygmomanometer, and their design went through a number of innovations and improvements, a process still continuing today. The first sphygmomanometer patent was issued in 1855, a practical method established only in 1896, and since then over 1,300 patents of relevance have been granted by USPTO. Analysis reveals that number of patents over time follows a cubic curve that can be broken into three temporal segments (pre-1962, 1962–1986, 1986-present), related to specific technological breakthroughs. The approach presented in this paper blends statistical analysis (e.g., patent frequency over time) with a user satisfaction index. Such index captures how closely a metric based on key functional characteristics of patented devices follows an ideal solution, satisfying all user expectations, and provides an insight into the size of the gap between consumer needs and current technology. Combining it with technological progress curve can provide a clear picture of the evolution and developments overtime in BPMs.
Multimodal behavior and interaction as indicators of cognitive load
Authors: Chen Fang , Ruiz Natalie , Choi Eric , Epps Julien , Khawaja M. Asif , Taib Ronnie , Yin Bo , Wang Yang 
Published: January 2013

High cognitive load arises from complex time and safety-critical tasks, for example, mapping out flight paths, monitoring traffic, or even managing nuclear reactors, causing stress, errors, and lowered performance. Over the last five years, our research has focused on using the multimodal interaction paradigm to detect fluctuations in cognitive load in user behavior during system interaction. Cognitive load variations have been found to impact interactive behavior: by monitoring variations in specific modal input features executed in tasks of varying complexity, we gain an understanding of the communicative changes that occur when cognitive load is high. So far, we have identified specific changes in: speech, namely acoustic, prosodic, and linguistic changes; interactive gesture; and digital pen input, both interactive and freeform. As ground-truth measurements, galvanic skin response, subjective, and performance ratings have been used to verify task complexity.
The data suggest that it is feasible to use features extracted from behavioral changes in multiple modal inputs as indices of cognitive load. The speech-based indicators of load, based on data collected from user studies in a variety of domains, have shown considerable promise. Scenarios include single-user and team-based tasks; think-aloud and interactive speech; and single-word, reading, and conversational speech, among others. Pen-based cognitive load indices have also been tested with some success, specifically with pen-gesture, handwriting, and freeform pen input, including diagraming. After examining some of the properties of these measurements, we present a multimodal fusion model, which is illustrated with quantitative examples from a case study.
The feasibility of employing user input and behavior patterns as indices of cognitive load is supported by experimental evidence. Moreover, symptomatic cues of cognitive load derived from user behavior such as acoustic speech signals, transcribed text, digital pen trajectories of handwriting, and shapes pen, can be supported by well-established theoretical frameworks, including O'Donnell and Eggemeier's workload measurement [1986] Sweller's Cognitive Load Theory [Chandler and Sweller 1991], and Baddeley's model of modal working memory [1992] as well as McKinstry et al.'s [2008] and Rosenbaum's [2005] action dynamics work. The benefit of using this approach to determine the user's cognitive load in real time is that the data can be collected implicitly that is, during day-to-day use of intelligent interactive systems, thus overcomes problems of intrusiveness and increases applicability in real-world environments, while adapting information selection and presentation in a dynamic computer interface with reference to load.
Computing similarity between items in a digital library of cultural heritage
Authors: Aletras Nikolaos , Stevenson Mark , Clough Paul 
Published: January 2013

Large amounts of cultural heritage content have now been digitized and are available in digital libraries. However, these are often unstructured and difficult to navigate. Automatic techniques for identifying similar items in these collections could be used to improve navigation since it would allow items that are implicitly connected to be linked together and allow sets of similar items to be clustered. Europeana is a large digital library containing more than 20 million digital objects from a set of cultural heritage providers throughout Europe. The diverse nature of this collection means that the items do not have standard metadata to assist navigation.
A range of methods for computing the similarity between pairs of texts are applied to metadata records in Europeana in order to estimate the similarity between items. Various methods for computing similarity have been proposed and can be classified into two main approaches: (1) knowledge-based, which make use of external knowledge sources and (2) corpus-based approaches, which rely on analyzing the frequency distributions of words in documents. Both techniques are evaluated against manual judgements obtained for this study and a multiple-choice test created from manually generated categories in cultural heritage collections. We find that a combination of corpus and knowledge-based approaches provide the best results in both experiments.