bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Humic substance‐mediated reduction of iron(III) oxides and degradation of 2,4‐D by an alkaliphilic bacterium, Corynebacterium humireducens MFC‐5
Authors: Wu Chun‐yuan , Zhuang Li , Zhou Shun‐gui , Yuan Yong , Yuan Tian , Li Fang‐bai 
Published: December 2012

SummaryWith the use of an alkaliphilic bacterium, Corynebacterium humireducens MFC‐5, this study investigated the reduction of goethite (α‐FeOOH) and degradation of 2,4‐dichlorophenoxyacetic acid (2,4‐D) mediated by different humic substances (humics) and quinones in alkaline conditions (pH of 9.0). The results indicated that (i) using sucrose as the electron donor, the strain MFC‐5 was capable of reducing anthraquinone‐2,6‐disulfonic acid (AQDS), anthraquinone‐2‐disulfonic acid (AQS), anthraquinone‐2‐carboxylic acid (AQC), humic acid (HA) and fulvic acid (FA), and its reducing capability ranked as AQC > AQS > AQDS > FA > HA; (ii) the anaerobic reduction of α‐FeOOH and 2,4‐D by the strain was insignificant, while the reductions were greatly enhanced by the addition of quinones/humics serving as redox mediators; (iii) the Fe(III) reduction rate was positively related to the content of quinone functional groups and the electron‐accepting capacities (EAC) of quinones/humics based on fourier‐transform infrared spectroscopy (FT‐IR) and electrochemical analyses; however, such a relationship was not found in 2,4‐D degradation probably because quinone reduction was not the rate‐limiting step of quinone‐mediated reduction of 2,4‐D. Using the example of α‐FeOOH and 2,4‐D, this study well demonstrated the important role of humics reduction on the Fe(III)/Fe(II) biogeochemical cycle and chlorinated organic compounds degradation in alkaline reducing environments.
Systemic lupus erythematosus in Saudi children: long‐term outcomes
Authors: Al‐Mayouf Sulaiman M. 
Published: December 2012

AbstractObjectiveTo report the long‐term outcome of Saudi children with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE).MethodsCharts of all children with SLE treated between 1990 and 2010 at King Faisal Specialist Hospital and Research Center Riyadh, were reviewed. The long‐term outcome measured by pediatric adaptation of the Systemic Lupus International Collaborating Clinics American College of Rheumatology Damage Index (pSDI) and death related to SLE were determined. The data included: gender, age at disease onset, clinical features and treatment at last follow‐up visit.ResultsOne hundred and fifty‐two patients (129 girls and 23 boys) were included. The mean age at onset of SLE was 8.8 ± 2.6 years, while the mean age at diagnosis was 9.5 ± 2.6 years and the mean disease duration was 7.5 ± 4.6 years. All patients were treated with corticosteroid and immunosuppressive drugs. Eighty (52.6%) patients had damage with a mean SDI score of 1.3 ± 1.7. Damage accrual was mostly in the growth (26.8%), renal (17.1%) and neuropsychiatric (15.8%) domains. Due to progressive renal disease, 14 patients required dialysis; five of them underwent renal transplant. There were nine deaths related to SLE, eight of them due to infection. Based on logistic regression, patient disease damage was significantly associated with young age at disease onset and long disease duration. Similarly, death related to SLE was influenced by early‐onset disease. In contrast, gender, disease duration and therapy did not affect the suggested outcome measures.ConclusionOur results are comparable to reports from other tertiary centers. Early‐onset disease probably influences the long‐term outcome of SLE in children. Infection remains an important cause of death in children with SLE.
Methadone dosing and prescribed medication use in a prospective cohort of opioid‐dependent pregnant women
Authors: Cleary Brian J. , Reynolds Kieran , Eogan Maeve , O'Connell Michael P. , Fahey Tom , Gallagher Paul J. , Clarke Tom , White Martin J. , McDermott Christine , O'Sullivan Anne , Carmody Deirdre , Gleeson Justin , Murphy Deirdre J. 
Published: December 2012

AbstractAimsThis study aimed to (i) describe methadone dosing before, during and after pregnancy, (ii) to compare the incidence of neonatal abstinence syndrome (NAS) between those with dose decreases and those with steady or increasing doses and (iii) to describe prescribed medication use among opioid‐dependent pregnant women.DesignProspective cohort study.SettingTwo Irish tertiary care maternity hospitals.ParticipantsA total of 117 pregnant women on methadone maintenance treatment (MMT) recruited between July 2009 and July 2010.MeasurementsElectronic dispensing records from addiction clinics and the Primary Care Reimbursement Service were used to determine methadone doses and dispensed medications in the year preceding and the month following delivery. The Finnegan score was used to determine need for medical treatment of NAS.FindingsOf the 117 participants, sufficient dosing data were available for 89 women treated with MMT throughout pregnancy; 36 (40.4%) had their dose decreased from a mean pre‐pregnancy dose of 73.3 mg [standard deviation (SD) 25.5] to a third‐trimester dose of 58.0 mg (SD 26.0). The corresponding figures for those with increased doses (n = 31, 34.8%) were 70.7 mg (SD 25.3) and 89.7 mg (SD 21.0), respectively. The incidence of medically treated NAS did not differ between dosage groups. Antidepressants were dispensed for 29 women (25.7%) during pregnancy, with the rate decreasing from pre‐pregnancy to postpartum. Benzodiazepines were prescribed for 43 women (38.0%).ConclusionIn the Irish health service, opioid‐dependent women frequently have their methadone dose decreased during pregnancy but this does not appear to affect the incidence of the neonatal abstinence syndrome in their babies.
Genetic diversity and investigation of polledness in divergent goat populations using 52 088 SNPs
Authors: Kijas James W. , Ortiz Judit S. , McCulloch Russell , James Andrew , Brice Blair , Swain Ben , Tosser‐Klopp Gwenola ,   the International Goat Genome Consortium
Published: December 2012

SummaryThe recent availability of a genome‐wide SNP array for the goat genome dramatically increases the power to investigate aspects of genetic diversity and to conduct genome‐wide association studies in this important domestic species. We collected and analysed genotypes from 52 088 SNPs in Boer, Cashmere and Rangeland goats that had both polled and horned individuals. Principal components analysis revealed a clear genetic division between animals for each population, and model‐based clustering successfully detected evidence of admixture that matched aspects of their recorded history. For example, shared co‐ancestry was detected, suggesting Boer goats have been introgressed into the Rangeland population. Further, allele frequency data successfully tracked the altered genetic profile that has taken place after 40 years of breeding Australian Cashmere goats using the Rangeland animals as the founding population. Genome‐wide association mapping of the POLL locus revealed a strong signal on goat chromosome 1. The 769‐kb critical interval contained the polled intersex syndrome locus, confirming the genetic basis in non‐European animals is the same as identified previously in Saanen goats. Interestingly, analysis of the haplotypes carried by a small set of sex‐reversed animals, known to be associated with polledness, revealed some animals carried the wild‐type chromosome associated with the presence of horns. This suggests a more complex basis for the relationship between polledness and the intersex condition than initially thought while validating the application of the goat SNP50 BeadChip for fine‐mapping traits in goat.
Organizational hierarchies in Bulgarian hospitals and perceptions of justice
Authors: Todorova Irina L. G. , Alexandrova‐Karamanova Anna , Panayotova Yulia , Dimitrova Elitsa 
Published: December 2012

ObjectivesHealth care reform in Bulgaria has been ongoing for two decades. Since 1990, it has been transforming from a socialized system of medical care with free access, to one which is decentralized, includes private health care services, the general practitioner model and a National Health Insurance Fund. In this context, we are conducting an international EC Framework 7 project: ‘Improving quality and safety in the hospital: The link between organizational culture, burnout, and quality of care’. We focus on health professionals’ perceptions of organizational hierarchies in Bulgarian hospitals and how doctors and nurses connect these to organizational justice.MethodsWe conducted seven focus groups and four interviews, with a total of 42 participants (27 nurses, 15 physicians and medical residents) in three hospitals. Data were analysed through thematic analysis and discourse analysis with Atlas.ti.ResultsFrom the perspective of health professionals, health reform has intensified traditional hierarchies and inequalities and has created new ones in Bulgarian hospitals. These hierarchies are continuously (re)constructed through language and practices and also destabilized through resistance. The health professionals protest fact that these hierarchies are permeated with unfairness and silence voices. All health professions (nurses, doctors, residents) in our study experience being unjustly positioned and disempowered in various hierarchies. They connect these experiences to stress and anxiety.ConclusionsParticipatory action research needs to address multiple dimensions of organizational relationships in Bulgarian hospitals, including hierarchical relationships and ways of promoting organizational justice.Statement of ContributionWhat is already known on this subject? Health care organizations are hierarchically organized. Organizational injustice can contribute to burnout in health professionals. There is a high level of stress and burnout for health professionals in Bulgaria.What does this study add? This study adds understanding of changing hierarchies in hospitals during health care reform in the post‐socialist period. Illuminates how health professionals' discourse sustains and resists hierarchical relationships in Bulgarian hospitals. Adds understanding of health professionals' perspectives on implications of injustice for their well‐being.
A history of heart interventions moderates the relationship between psychological variables and the presence of chest pain in older women with self‐reported coronary heart disease
Authors: Strodl Esben , Kenardy Justin 
Published: December 2012

ObjectivesThis study examines the hypothesis that a past history of heart interventions will moderate the relationship between psychosocial factors (stressful life events, social support, perceived stress, having a current partner, having a past diagnosis of depression or anxiety over the past 3 years, time pressure, education level, and the mental health index) and the presence of chest pain in a sample of older women.DesignLongitudinal survey over a 3‐year period.MethodsThe sample was taken from a prospective cohort study of 10,432 women initially aged between 70 and 75 years, who were surveyed in 1996 and then again in 1999. Two groups of women were identified: those reporting to have heart disease but no past history of heart interventions (i.e., coronary artery bypass graft/angioplasty) and those reporting to have heart disease with a past history of heart interventions.ResultsBinary logistic regression analysis was used to show that for the women with self‐reported coronary heart disease but without a past history of heart intervention, feelings of time pressure as well as the number of stressful life events experienced in the 12 months prior to 1996 were independent risk factors for the presence of chest pain, even after accounting for a range of traditional risk factors. In comparison, for the women with self‐reported coronary heart disease who did report a past history of heart interventions, a diagnosis of depression in the previous 3 years was the significant independent risk factor for chest pain even after accounting for traditional risk factors.ConclusionThe results indicate that it is important to consider a history of heart interventions as a moderator of the associations between psychosocial variables and the frequency of chest pain in older women.Statement of contributionWhat is already known on this subject? Psychological factors have been shown to be independent predictors of a range of health outcomes in individuals with coronary heart disease, including the presence of chest pain. Most research has been conducted with men or with small samples of women; however, the evidence does suggest that these relationships exist in women as well as in men.What does this study add? Most studies have looked at overall relationships between psychological variables and health outcomes. The few studies that have looked at moderators have mainly examined gender as a moderator. To our knowledge, this is the first published study to examine a history of heart interventions as a moderator of the relationship between psychological variables and the presence of chest pain.
Response diversity determines the resilience of ecosystems to environmental change
Authors: Mori Akira S. , Furukawa Takuya , Sasaki Takehiro 
Published: December 2012

ABSTRACTA growing body of evidence highlights the importance of biodiversity for ecosystem stability and the maintenance of optimal ecosystem functionality. Conservation measures are thus essential to safeguard the ecosystem services that biodiversity provides and human society needs. Current anthropogenic threats may lead to detrimental (and perhaps irreversible) ecosystem degradation, providing strong motivation to evaluate the response of ecological communities to various anthropogenic pressures. In particular, ecosystem functions that sustain key ecosystem services should be identified and prioritized for conservation action. Traditional diversity measures (e.g. ‘species richness’) may not adequately capture the aspects of biodiversity most relevant to ecosystem stability and functionality, but several new concepts may be more appropriate. These include ‘response diversity’, describing the variation of responses to environmental change among species of a particular community. Response diversity may also be a key determinant of ecosystem resilience in the face of anthropogenic pressures and environmental uncertainty. However, current understanding of response diversity is poor, and we see an urgent need to disentangle the conceptual strands that pervade studies of the relationship between biodiversity and ecosystem functioning. Our review clarifies the links between response diversity and the maintenance of ecosystem functionality by focusing on the insurance hypothesis of biodiversity and the concept of functional redundancy. We provide a conceptual model to describe how loss of response diversity may cause ecosystem degradation through decreased ecosystem resilience. We explicitly explain how response diversity contributes to functional compensation and to spatio‐temporal complementarity among species, leading to long‐term maintenance of ecosystem multifunctionality. Recent quantitative studies suggest that traditional diversity measures may often be uncoupled from measures (such as response diversity) that may be more effective proxies for ecosystem stability and resilience. Certain conclusions and recommendations of earlier studies using these traditional measures as indicators of ecosystem resilience thus may be suspect. We believe that functional ecology perspectives incorporating the effects and responses of diversity are essential for development of management strategies to safeguard (and restore) optimal ecosystem functionality (especially multifunctionality). Our review highlights these issues and we envision our work generating debate around the relationship between biodiversity and ecosystem functionality, and leading to improved conservation priorities and biodiversity management practices that maximize ecosystem resilience in the face of uncertain environmental change.
Protecting against plague: towards a next-generation vaccine
Authors: Williamson E D , Oyston P C F 
Published: December 2012

Summary
The causative organism of plague is the bacterium Yersinia pestis. Advances in understanding the complex pathogenesis of plague infection have led to the identification of the F1- and V-antigens as key components of a next-generation vaccine for plague, which have the potential to be effective against all forms of the disease. Here we review the roles of F1- and V-antigens in the context of the range of virulence mechanisms deployed by Y. pestis, in order to develop a greater understanding of the protective immune responses required to protect against plague.
Ex-vivo analysis of human Natural Killer T cells demonstrates heterogeneity between tissues and within established CD4+ and CD4− subsets
Authors: Chan A C , Leeansyah E , Cochrane A , d' Udekem d' Acoz Y , Mittag D , Harrison L C , Godfrey D I , Berzins S P 
Published: December 2012

Summary
Our understanding of human type 1 natural killer T (NKT) cells has been heavily dependent on studies of cells from peripheral blood. These have identified two functionally distinct subsets defined by expression of CD4, although it is widely believed that this underestimates the true number of subsets. Two recent studies supporting this view have provided more detail about diversity of the human NKT cells, but relied on analysis of NKT cells from human blood that had been expanded in vitro prior to analysis. In this study we extend those findings by assessing the heterogeneity of CD4+ and CD4− human NKT cell subsets from peripheral blood, cord blood, thymus and spleen without prior expansion ex vivo, and identifying for the first time cytokines expressed by human NKT cells from spleen and thymus. Our comparative analysis reveals highly heterogeneous expression of surface antigens by CD4+ and CD4− NKT cell subsets and identifies several antigens whose differential expression correlates with the cytokine response. Collectively, our findings reveal that the common classification of NKT cells into CD4+ and CD4− subsets fails to reflect the diversity of this lineage, and that more studies are needed to establish the functional significance of the antigen expression patterns and tissue residency of human NKT cells.
Human intrahepatic biliary epithelial cells engulf blebs from their apoptotic peers
Authors: Rong G-H , Yang G-X , Ando Y , Zhang W , He X-S , Leung P S C , Coppel R L , Ansari A A , Zhong R , Gershwin M E 
Published: December 2012

SummaryThe phagocytic clearance of apoptotic cells is critical for tissue homeostasis; a number of non-professional phagocytic cells, including epithelial cells, can both take up and process apoptotic bodies, including the release of anti-inflammatory mediators. These observations are particularly important in the case of human intrahepatic biliary cells (HiBEC), because such cells are themselves a target of destruction in primary biliary cirrhosis, the human autoimmune disease. To address the apoptotic ability of HiBECs, we have focused on their ability to phagocytize apoptotic blebs from autologous HiBECs. In this study we report that HiBEC cells demonstrate phagocytic function from autologous HiBEC peers accompanied by up-regulation of the chemokines CCL2 [monocyte chemotactic protein-1 (MCP-1)] and CXCL8 [interleukin (IL)-8]. In particular, HiBEC cells express the phagocytosis-related receptor phosphatidylserine receptors (PSR), implying that HiBECs function through the ‘eat-me’ signal phosphatidylserine expressed by apoptotic cells. Indeed, although HiBEC cells acquire antigen-presenting cell (APC) function, they do not change the expression of classic APC function surface markers after engulfment of blebs, both with and without the presence of Toll-like receptor (TLR) stimulation. These results are important not only for understanding of the normal physiological function of HiBECs, but also explain the inflammatory potential and reduced clearance of HiBEC cells following the inflammatory cascade in primary biliary cirrhosis.
Time‐dependent morphological alterations and viability of cultured human trabecular cells after exposure to Trypan blue
Authors: Tsaousis Konstantinos T , Kopsachilis Nikolaos , Tsinopoulos Ioannis T , Dimitrakos Stavros A , Kruse Friedrich E , Welge‐Luessen Ulrich 
Published: December 2012

AbstractBackgroundTo determine the time‐dependent toxicity of Trypan blue at 0.06% concentration in cultured human trabecular meshwork cells.MethodsHuman trabecular meshwork cells cultured in vitro were exposed to Trypan blue and acute toxicity was evaluated. Cells were exposed for 5, 30, 60 s and for 5, 15, 30, 60 min to a commercially available Trypan blue preparation (Vision Blue; DORC International Zuidland, The Netherlands). Morphology was observed by phase‐contrast microscopy and cell viability was measured using Hoechst 33342 (Intergen; Purchase, NY, USA) and propidium iodide assays to determine the percentage of living and dead cells.ResultsMorphological changes occurred mainly after 5 min of exposure to Trypan blue. Viability was 96.0% ± 3.6%, 94.8% ± 3.5% and 92.5% ± 4.4% after 5, 30 and 60 s of exposure, respectively; a significant toxic effect of Trypan blue was observed after 5, 15, 30 and 60 min of exposure with a viability of 85.0% ± 3.7%, 77.0% ± 6.7%, 70.8% ± 5.9% and 68.3% ± 8.7%, respectively.ConclusionsTrypan blue is not toxic, in terms of cell viability, over an exposure time of up to 60 s; however, further exposure results in a gradual increase in damage of cultured human trabecular meshwork cells.
Poverty, caregiver depression and stress as predictors of children's externalizing behaviours in a low‐income sample
Authors: Henninger William R. , Luze Gayle 
Published: December 2012

AbstractPrevious research suggests a relationship between poverty, caregiver depression, caregiver stress and children's externalizing behaviour. However, little research exists to suggest the manner in which these concepts are interrelated. Latent growth curve analyses were conducted on caregiver–child dyads data from the Early Head Start Research and Evaluation Project to identify the path through which poverty, caregiver depression, caregiver stress and child externalizing behaviours were related. Analyses identified a path through which caregiver stress and depression mediated the effect of poverty on child externalizing behaviours. In addition, the influence of caregiver depression on child externalizing behaviours was mediated by caregiver stress. Implications and limitations of these findings are discussed.
Towards a new transition economics
Authors: Pistor Katharina 
Published: December 2012

AbstractIn these brief comments, I take issue with the thesis expressed in Konstantin Sonin’s conference review that economic transition is a thing of the past. To the contrary, I argue that it has only just begun, and so has the process of rethinking the economic theories and models that have framed the subfield of transition economics. Specifically, I point out that the many surprises economists have encountered when confronted with the actual results of the transition process reveal deep flaws in the analytical framework that informs their analyses and policy prescriptions. If protecting existing theories and models is of primary importance, we should indeed call an end to economic transition and the subfield it has engendered. If, however, the issue is to understand real economies and their dynamic change over time and to improve the results of contemporary and future reform efforts there is a strong case for a New Transition Economics.