bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Smaller grey matter volumes in the anterior cingulate cortex and greater cerebellar volumes in patients with long-term remission of Cushing's disease: a case–control study
Authors: Andela Cornelie D , van der Werff Steven J A , Pannekoek J Nienke , van den Berg Susan M , Meijer Onno C , van Buchem Mark A , Rombouts Serge A R B , van der Mast Roos C , Romijn Johannes A , Tiemensma Jitske , Biermasz Nienke R , van der Wee Nic J A , Pereira Alberto M 
Published: September 2013

ObjectivePatients with long-term remission of Cushing's disease (CD) have persistent psychological and cognitive impairments. It is unknown whether, and to what extent, these impairments are accompanied by structural abnormalities in the brain. We aim to investigate structural changes in the brain in patients with predominantly long-term remission of CD and to examine whether these changes are associated with psychological and cognitive dysfunction and clinical severity.DesignA cross-sectional, case–control study.MethodsIn 25 patients with predominantly long-term remission of CD and 25 matched healthy controls, grey matter volumes in the regions of interest (hippocampus, amygdala, and anterior cingulate cortex (ACC)) and in the whole brain were examined, using 3T magnetic resonance imaging and a voxel-based morphometry approach. Psychological and cognitive functioning were assessed using validated questionnaires and clinical severity was assessed using the Cushing's syndrome severity index.ResultsCompared with controls, patients had smaller grey matter volumes of areas in the ACC (on average 14%, P<0.05) and greater volume of the left posterior lobe of the cerebellum (on average 34%, P<0.05). As expected, patients with remitted CD reported more depressive symptoms (P=0.005), more anxiety (P=0.003), more social phobia (P=0.034), more apathy (P=0.002), and more cognitive failure (P=0.023) compared with controls, but the differences in grey matter volumes were not associated with psychological or cognitive measures, nor with clinical severity.ConclusionPatients with predominantly long-term remission of CD showed specific structural brain abnormalities, in the presence of psychological dysfunction. Our data form a basis for future work aimed at elucidating the relation of the structural brain abnormalities and the sustained psychological deficits after long-term exposure to high cortisol levels.
Circulation constrains the evolution of larval development modes and life histories in the coastal ocean
Authors: Pringle James M. , Byers James E. , Pappalardo Paula , Wares John P. , Marshall Dustin 
Published: September 2013

The evolutionary pressures that drive long larval planktonic durations in some coastal marine organisms, while allowing direct development in others, have been vigorously debated. We introduce into the argument the asymmetric dispersal of larvae by coastal currents and find that the strength of the currents helps determine which dispersal strategies are evolutionarily stable. In a spatially and temporally uniform coastal ocean of finite extent, direct development is always evolutionarily stable. For passively drifting larvae, long planktonic durations are stable when the ratio of mean to fluctuating currents is small and the rate at which larvae increase in size in the plankton is greater than the mortality rate (both in units of per time). However, larval behavior that reduces downstream larval dispersal for a given time in plankton will be selected for, consistent with widespread observations of behaviors that reduce dispersal of marine larvae. Larvae with long planktonic durations are shown to be favored not for the additional dispersal they allow, but for the additional fecundity that larval feeding in the plankton enables.We analyzed the spatial distribution of larval life histories in a large database of coastal marine benthic invertebrates and documented a link between ocean circulation and the frequency of planktotrophy in the coastal ocean. The spatial variation in the frequency of species with planktotrophic larvae is largely consistent with our theory; increases in mean currents lead to a decrease in the fraction of species with planktotrophic larvae over a broad range of temperatures.
Physiological Dynamics of Maize Nitrogen Uptake and Partitioning in Response to Plant Density and Nitrogen Stress Factors: II. Reproductive Phase
Authors: Ciampitti Ignacio A. , Murrell Scott T. , Camberato James J. , Tuinstra Mitch , Xia Yanbing , Friedemann Peter , Vyn Tony J. 
Published: September 2013

ABSTRACTImproved plant N utilization and partitioning is critical for future improvements in maize (Zea mays L.) grain yield (GY). The overall research objective was to gain understanding of the physiological mechanisms underpinning biomass (BM), N uptake partitioning, and GY processes during the reproductive period for two maize hybrids grown at varying plant density (PD) (low is 54,000 plant ha−1, medium is 79,000 plants ha−1, and high is 104,000 plants ha−1) and N inputs (low is 0 kg N ha−1, medium is 112 kg N ha−1, and high is 224 kg N ha−1) over four site–years. At the community level, maize GY was maximized in both genotypes at the medium PD and highest N rate. At maturity, grain harvest index improved as the whole‐plant N uptake increased following a linear‐plateau model and, for N allocation, both grain and shoot N concentrations increased similarly as BM increased. Around flowering (±15 d), dry mass and N partitioning rates were unmodified by treatment factors. Treatment factors only marginally influenced potential kernel number near flowering. Allometric analyses confirmed a lack of treatment impact on whole‐plant N uptake and N remobilization coefficients. Greater reproductive‐stage N uptake was associated with superior ear strength (kernel number and weight) and late shoot N remobilization, but GY was also positively related to vegetative‐stage N uptake. Future research should identify genotypic variation for overcoming the documented N uptake trade‐off mechanisms (vegetative‐stage N uptake vs. shoot N remobilization) as related to the maize GY improvement process.
Non-enzymatic hydrogen peroxide sensor based on a nanoporous gold electrode modified with platinum nanoparticles
Authors: Yin Guang , Xing Ling , Ma Xiu-Ju , Wan Jun 
Published: September 2013

AbstractA novel non-enzymatic electrochemical sensor based on a nanoporous gold electrode modified with platinum nanoparticles was constructed for the determination of hydrogen peroxide (H2O2). Platinum nanoparticles exhibit good electrocatalytic activity towards hydrogen peroxide. The nanoporous gold (NPG) increases the effective surface area and has the capacity to promote electron-transfer reactions. With electrodeposition of Pt nanoparticles (NPs) on the surface of the nanoporous gold, the modified Au electrode afforded a fast, sensitive and selective electrochemical method for the determination of H2O2. The linear range for the detection of H2O2 was from 1.0 × 10−7 M to 2.0 × 10−5 M while the calculated limit of detection was 7.2 × 10−8 M on the basis of the 3σ/slope (σ represents the standard deviation of the blank samples). These findings could lead to the widespread use of electrochemical sensors to detect H2O2.
High-operating temperature MWIR nBn HgCdTe detector grown by MOCVD
Authors: Kopytko M. , Kębłowski A. , Gawron W. , Madejczyk P. , Kowalewski A. , Jóźwikowski K. 
Published: September 2013

AbstractThe paper reports on the first experimental results of the mid-wave infrared (MWIR) HgCdTe barrier detectors operated at near-room temperatures and fabricated using metal organic chemical vapor deposition (MOCVD). SIMS profiles let to compare projected and obtained structures and reveals interdiffusion processes between the layers. Undesirable iodine diffusion from cap to the barrier increase the valance band offset and is the key item in limiting the performance of HgCdTe nBn detector. However, MOCVD technology with a wide range of composition and donor/acceptor doping and without post grown annealing might be successfully adopted for barrier device architectures.
Relative and Absolute Reliability of a Vertical Numerical Pain Rating Scale Supplemented With a Faces Pain Scale After Stroke
Authors: Chuang Li-ling , Wu Ching-yi , Lin Keh-chung , Hsieh Ching-ju 
Published: September 2013

BackgroundPain is a serious adverse complication after stroke. The combination of a vertical numerical pain rating scale (NPRS) and a faces pain scale (FPS) has been advocated to measure pain after stroke.ObjectiveThis study was conducted to investigate whether an NPRS supplemented with an FPS (NPRS-FPS) would show good test-retest reliability in people with stroke. The relative and absolute reliability of the NPRS-FPS were examined.DesignA test-retest design was used for this study.MethodsFifty people (&gt;3 months after stroke) participating in an outpatient occupational therapy program were recruited through medical centers to rate current pain intensity twice, at a 1-week interval, with the NPRS-FPS (on a scale from 0 to 10). The relative reliability of the NPRS-FPS was analyzed with the intraclass correlation coefficient for determining the degree of consistency and agreement between 2 measures. The standard error of measurement, the smallest real difference, and Bland-Altman limits of agreement were the absolute reliability indexes used to quantify measurement errors and determine systematic biases of repeated measurements.ResultsThe relative reliability of the NPRS-FPS was substantial (intraclass correlation coefficient=.82). The standard error of measurement and the smallest real difference at the 90% confidence interval of the NPRS-FPS were 0.81 and 1.87, respectively. The Bland-Altman analyses revealed no significant systematic bias between repeated measurements for the NPRS-FPS. The range of the limits of agreement for the NPRS-FPS was narrow (−2.50 to 1.90), indicating a high level of stability and little variation over time.LimitationsThe pain intensity of the participants ranged from no pain to a moderate level of pain.ConclusionsThese findings suggest that the NPRS-FPS is a reliable measure of pain in people with stroke, with good relative and absolute reliability.
Exposure to Therapy of Older Patients With Trauma and Factors That Influence Provision of Therapy
Authors: Resnick Barbara , Wells Chris L. , Brotemarkle Becky A. , Payne Allison K. 
Published: September 2013

BackgroundRehabilitation as soon as possible after trauma decreases sedentary behavior, deconditioning, length of stay, and risk of rehospitalization.ObjectiveThe study objectives were to describe exposure of older patients with trauma to rehabilitation and to explore factors associated with the number and initiation of therapy sessions.DesignThis was a retrospective study of data from electronic medical records.MethodsRandomly selected older patients with trauma were described with regard to demographics, trauma diagnoses, comorbidities, preadmission function, and exposure to therapy. Regression analyses explored factors associated with number of therapy sessions and days until therapy was ordered and completed.ResultsRecords for 137 patients were randomly selected from records for 1,387 eligible patients who had trauma and were admitted over a 2-year period to a level I trauma center. The 137 patients received 303 therapy sessions. The sample included 63 men (46%) and 74 women (54%) who were 78 (SD=10) years of age; most patients were white (n=115 [84%]). All patients had orders for therapy, although 3 patients (2%) were never seen. An increase in comorbidities was associated with an increase in therapy sessions, a decrease in the number of days until an order was written, but an increase in the number of days from admission to evaluation. Injury severity was associated with a decrease in the number of days from admission to an order being written. A postponed or canceled therapy session was associated with increases in the number of days from admission to evaluation and in the number of days from an order being written to evaluation.LimitationsThis study was a retrospective review of a small sample with subjective measures and several dichotomous variables.ConclusionsIncreased injury severity, increased numbers of comorbidities, and postponed or canceled therapy sessions were associated with decreased time from admission to therapy orders, increased time from admission and orders to evaluation, and increased number of therapy sessions.
Assessment of the rate of spinal motor axon regeneration by choline acetyltransferase immunohistochemistry following sciatic nerve crush injury in mice
Authors: Yuan Qiuju , Su Huanxing , Chiu Kin , Lin Zhi-Xiu , Wu Wutian 
Published: September 2013

Object
The purpose of this study was to examine whether choline acetyltransferase (ChAT) staining can be used for assessing the rate of motor neuron regeneration at an early phase of axon outgrowth.

Methods
The authors developed a new sciatic nerve crush model in adult mice. In this model, in addition to performing a sciatic nerve crush injury, the authors excised the ipsilateral lumbar L3–6 dorsal root ganglion (DRG), which resulted in degeneration of the sensory fibers entering into the sciatic nerve. Crushed nerve sections obtained at Day 3 or Day 7 postinjury were analyzed by means of immunostaining.

Results
The immunostaining showed that ChAT, a motor axon–specific antigen, was totally co-localized with growth-associated protein 43 (GAP-43), which is expressed in regenerating nerves and transported into growth cones.

Conclusions
Our results suggest that measuring the length of motor axon outgrowth by ChAT immunostaining is reliable. ChAT staining provides a more convenient method for evaluating the rate of motor axon outgrowth in a mixed nerve.
Selective amygdalohippocampectomy versus anterior temporal lobectomy in the management of mesial temporal lobe epilepsy: a meta-analysis of comparative studies
Authors: Hu Wen-Han , Zhang Chao , Zhang Kai , Meng Fan-Gang , Chen Ning , Zhang Jian-Guo 
Published: September 2013

Object
Whether selective amygdalohippocampectomy (SelAH) has similar seizure outcomes and better neuropsychological outcomes compared with anterior temporal lobectomy (ATL) is a matter of debate. The aim of this study was to compare the 2 types of surgery with respect to seizure outcomes and changes in IQ scores.

Methods
PubMed, Embase, and the Cochrane Library were searched for relevant studies published between January 1990 and September 2012. Studies comparing SelAH and ATL with respect to seizure and intelligence outcomes were included. Two reviewers assessed the quality of the included studies and independently extracted the data. Odds ratios and standardized mean deviations with 95% confidence intervals were used to compare pooled proportions of freedom from seizures and changes in IQ scores between the SelAH and ATL groups.

Results
Three prospective and 10 retrospective studies were identified involving 745 and 766 patients who underwent SelAH and ATL, respectively. The meta-analysis demonstrated a statistically significant reduction in the odds of seizure freedom for patients who underwent SelAH compared with those who underwent ATL (OR 0.65 [95% CI 0.51–0.82], p = 0.0005). The differences between the changes in all IQ scores after the 2 types of surgery were not statistically significant, regardless of the side of resection.

Conclusions
Selective amygdalohippocampectomy statistically reduced the odds of being seizure free compared with ATL, but the clinical significance of this reduction needs to be further validated by well-designed randomized trials. Selective amygdalohippocampectomy did not have better outcomes than ATL with respect to intelligence.
Low-dose intravenous heparin infusion in patients with aneurysmal subarachnoid hemorrhage: a preliminary assessment
Authors: Simard J. Marc , Aldrich E. Francois , Schreibman David , James Robert F. , Polifka Adam , Beaty Narlin 
Published: September 2013

ObjectAneurysmal subarachnoid hemorrhage (aSAH) predisposes to delayed neurological deficits, including stroke and cognitive and neuropsychological abnormalities. Heparin is a pleiotropic drug that antagonizes many of the pathophysiological mechanisms implicated in secondary brain injury after aSAH.MethodsThe authors performed a retrospective analysis in 86 consecutive patients with Fisher Grade 3 aSAH due to rupture of a supratentorial aneurysm who presented within 36 hours and were treated by surgical clipping within 48 hours of their ictus. Forty-three patients were managed postoperatively with a low-dose intravenous heparin infusion (Maryland low-dose intravenous heparin infusion protocol: 8 U/kg/hr progressing over 36 hours to 10 U/kg/hr) beginning 12 hours after surgery and continuing until Day 14 after the ictus. Forty-three control patients received conventional subcutaneous heparin twice daily as deep vein thrombosis prophylaxis.ResultsPatients in the 2 groups were balanced in terms of baseline characteristics. In the heparin group, activated partial thromboplastin times were normal to mildly elevated; no clinically significant hemorrhages or instances of heparin-induced thrombocytopenia or deep vein thrombosis were encountered. In the control group, the incidence of clinical vasospasm requiring rescue therapy (induced hypertension, selective intraarterial verapamil, and angioplasty) was 20 (47%) of 43 patients, and 9 (21%) of 43 patients experienced a delayed infarct on CT scanning. In the heparin group, the incidence of clinical vasospasm requiring rescue therapy was 9% (4 of 43, p = 0.0002), and no patient suffered a delayed infarct (p = 0.003).ConclusionsIn patients with Fisher Grade 3 aSAH whose aneurysm is secured, postprocedure use of a low-dose intravenous heparin infusion may be safe and beneficial.
Magnetic resonance imaging validation of pituitary gland compression and distortion by typical sellar pathology
Authors: Cho Charles H. , Barkhoudarian Garni , Hsu Liangge , Bi Wenya Linda , Zamani Amir A. , Laws Edward R. 
Published: September 2013

Object
Identification of the normal pituitary gland is an important component of presurgical planning, defining many aspects of the surgical approach and facilitating normal gland preservation. Magnetic resonance imaging is a proven imaging modality for optimal soft-tissue contrast discrimination in the brain. This study is designed to validate the accuracy of localization of the normal pituitary gland with MRI in a cohort of surgical patients with pituitary mass lesions, and to evaluate for correlation between presurgical pituitary hormone values and pituitary gland characteristics on neuroimaging.

Methods
Fifty-eight consecutive patients with pituitary mass lesions were included in the study. Anterior pituitary hormone levels were measured preoperatively in all patients. Video recordings from the endoscopic or microscopic surgical procedures were available for evaluation in 47 cases. Intraoperative identification of the normal gland was possible in 43 of 58 cases. Retrospective MR images were reviewed in a blinded fashion for the 43 cases, emphasizing the position of the normal gland and the extent of compression and displacement by the lesion.

Results
There was excellent agreement between imaging and surgery in 84% of the cases for normal gland localization, and in 70% for compression or noncompression of the normal gland. There was no consistent correlation between preoperative pituitary dysfunction and pituitary gland localization on imaging, gland identification during surgery, or pituitary gland compression.

Conclusions
Magnetic resonance imaging proved to be accurate in identifying the normal gland in patients with pituitary mass lesions, and was useful for preoperative surgical planning.
Spinal extradural arteriovenous fistulas
Authors: Huang Wendy , Gross Bradley A. , Du Rose 
Published: September 2013

Object
Our understanding of spinal extradural arteriovenous fistulas (eAVFs) is relatively limited. In this study the authors aimed to provide the demographics, natural history, and treatment results of these rare lesions.

Methods
The authors performed a pooled analysis of data in the PubMed database through December 2012. Individualized patient data were extracted to elucidate demographic, clinical, and angioarchitectural features of spinal eAVFs as well as outcomes following different treatment strategies.

Results
Information on 101 patients was extracted from 63 eligible studies. The mean patient age was 45.9 years, and there was no significant overall sex predilection. Only 3% of the lesions were incidental, whereas 10% occurred in patients who had presented with hemorrhage. None of the 64 patients with at least 1 month of untreated follow-up sustained a hemorrhage over a total of 83.8 patient-years. Patients with lumbosacral eAVFs were significantly older (mean age 58.7 years, p < 0.0001), were significantly more often male (70% male, p = 0.02), had significantly worse presenting Aminoff-Logue motor and bladder scores (p = 0.0008 and < 0.0001, respectively), and had the greatest prevalence of lesions with intradural venous drainage (62% of cases, p < 0.0001). Neurofibromatosis Type 1 (30% of cases, p < 0.0001) and subarachnoid hemorrhage (9% of cases, p = 0.06) were associated with and exclusively found in patients with cervical eAVFs. The overall complete obliteration rate was 91%. After a mean follow-up of 1.7 years, the clinical condition was improved in 89% of patients, the same in 9%, and worse in 2%. Obliteration rates and outcome at follow-up did not significantly differ between surgical and endovascular treatment modalities.

Conclusions
Spinal eAVFs are rare lesions with a low risk of hemorrhage; they cause neurological morbidity as a result of mass effect and/or venous hypertension. Their treatment is associated with a high rate of complete obliteration and improvement in preoperative symptoms.
Trees Versus Lives: Reckoning Military Success and the Ecological Effects of Chemical Defoliation During the Vietnam War
Authors: Oatsvall Neil S. 
Published: September 2013

Abstract
During the Vietnam War, the United States military declared war not just on Vietnamese peoples, but also on nature itself. Operation Ranch Hand served as the U.S. military's answer to the Vietnamese Communist appropriation of the natural world into their war plans, as U.S. planes dumped nearly twenty million gallons of chemical herbicides on Vietnamese fields and forests. Examining and comparing the military and ecological effects of Ranch Hand, this essay assesses the military success of chemical defoliation by looking at military appraisals and early U.S. scientific studies of defoliated areas. Planners expected defoliation to provide a distinct military advantage and frequently made claims that they were trading trees for lives - environmental destruction ostensibly saved the lives of U.S. servicemen. Instead, defoliation's military effects proved very ambiguous and the use of defoliants should be considered a failure in some ways. In trying to characterise defoliation as either a military success or failure, the essay also questions what it means for a piece of technology to succeed or fail and ultimately concludes that the answer to that question depends on the goals for its use, not the technology itself.