bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
INTERGENERATIONAL HELP AND PUBLIC ASSISTANCE IN EUROPE
Authors: Brandt Martina 
Published: October 2012

ABSTRACT
The comparative analysis of intergenerational support patterns based on SHARE, the Survey of Health, Ageing, and Retirement in Europe, with about 30,000 respondents from 11 European countries reveals a distinct geographical distribution of private support patterns: in Northern Europe help between parents and children is very common, but typically little time-consuming. The contrary is true for Southern Europe, where comparably few support relations are very intense in terms of time. Central Western Europe lies in-between with average transfer rates and intensities. Using multilevel modeling, these different support patterns can be explained by the prevalence of public assistance according to the specialization hypothesis: with increased public transfers and social services, sporadic help is more likely (crowding in), and less time consuming support between generations (crowding out) occurs. Accordingly, most support is provided voluntarily in Northern Europe, whereas it is more often perceived as obligatory in Continental and Mediterranean countries.
Outbreak of Mycobacterium mucogenicum Bloodstream Infections among Patients with Sickle Cell Disease in an Outpatient Setting
Authors: Ashraf Muhammad Salman , Swinker Marian , Augustino Kerri L. , Nobles Delores , Knupp Charles , Liles Darla , Christie John , Ramsey Keith M. 
Published: October 2012

Objective.To study an outbreak of Mycobacterium mucogenicum bloodstream infections in an outpatient setting.Design.Outbreak investigation and retrospective chart review.Setting.University outpatient clinic.Patients.Patients whose blood cultures tested positive for M. mucogenicum in May or June 2008.Methods.An outbreak investigation and a review of infection control practices were conducted. During the process, environmental culture samples were obtained. Isolates from patients and the environment were genotyped with the DiversiLab typing system to identify the source. Chart reviews were conducted to study the management and outcomes of the patients.Results.Four patients with sickle cell disease and implanted ports followed in the same hematology outpatient clinic developed blood cultures positive for M. mucogenicum. A nurse in the clinic had prepared intravenous port flushes on the sink counter, using a saline bag that was hanging over the sink throughout the shift. None of the environmental cultures grew M. mucogenicum except for the tap water from 2 rooms, 1 of which had a faucet aerator. The 4 patient isolates and the tap water isolate from the room with the aerator were found to have greater than 98.5% similarity. The subcutaneous ports were removed, and patients cleared their infections after a course of antibiotic therapy.Conclusion.The source of the M. mucogenicum bacteremia outbreak was identified by genotyping analysis as the clinic tap water supply. The preparation of intravenous medications near the sink was likely an important factor in transmission, along with the presence of a faucet aerator.
Market Power Screens Willingness-to-Pay*
Authors: Weyl E. Glen , Tirole Jean 
Published: October 2012

AbstractWhat is the best way to reward innovation? While prizes avoid deadweight loss, intellectual property (IP) selects high social surplus projects. Optimal innovation policy thus trades off the ex ante screening benefit and the ex post distortion. It solves a multidimensional screening problem in the private information held by the innovator: research cost, quality, and market size of the innovation. The appropriate degree of market power is never full monopoly pricing and is determined by measurable market characteristics, the inequality and elasticity of innovation supply, making the analysis open to empirical calibration. The framework has applications beyond IP policy to the optimal pricing of platforms or the optimal procurement of public infrastructure.
Growth establishment and phenology of four woody Saharan species
Authors: Derbel Salma , Chaieb Mohamed 
Published: October 2012

AbstractHenophyton deserti, Calligonum polygonoides, Ephedra alata and Anthyllis henoniana may be suitable Saharan species for the rehabilitation of degraded lands. In this context, the phenology, excavation of root systems and seedling establishment of these species were investigated in the southern Tunisia. Our data suggest that phenological differences between the studied species may depend on the rooting depth. The mean seedling emergence rate was 73% in H. deserti, 66% in A. henoniana, 60% in C. polygonoides and 50% in E. alata. Statistical analyses of seedling establishment showed a highly significant difference among the four species in both seasons (F = 1595.15, P < 0.0001), species (F = 781.57, P < 0.0001) and species/season interaction (F = 61.84, P < 0.0001). After 3 years, seedling mortality ranged from 73% to 89%. Seedling mortality reached a maximum in the summer of the first year of study (P < 0.001). This study provided further understanding of the ecological tolerance, adaptive strategy and the low density of these species in nature. Henophyton deserti appears to be better adapted to the harsh desert environment. These findings explain the very high density observed in the Sahara compared with other studied species. This species has therefore proven to be an excellent candidate for the ecological restoration of degraded desert rangelands and can be introduced successfully in to rehabilitation programmes.
Caries treatment in a dental practice‐based research network: movement toward stated evidence‐based treatment
Authors: Gilbert Gregg H. , Gordan Valeria V. , Funkhouser Ellen M. , Rindal D. Brad , Fellows Jeffrey L. , Qvist Vibeke , Anderson Gerald , Worley Donald ,   The National Dental PBRN Collaborative Group
Published: October 2012

AbstractObjectivesPractice‐based research networks (PBRNs) provide a venue to foster evidence‐based care. We tested the hypothesis that a higher level of participation in a dental PBRN is associated with greater stated change toward evidence‐based practice.MethodsA total of 565 dental PBRN practitioner‐investigators completed a baseline questionnaire entitled ‘Assessment of Caries Diagnosis and Treatment’; 405 of these also completed a follow‐up questionnaire about treatment of caries and existing restorations. Certain questions (six treatment scenarios) were repeated at follow‐up a mean (SD) of 36.0 (3.8) months later. A total of 224 were ‘full participants’ (enrolled in clinical studies and attended at least one network meeting); 181 were ‘partial participants’ (did not meet ‘full’ criteria).ResultsFrom 10% to 62% of practitioners were ‘surgically invasive’ at baseline, depending on the clinical scenario. Stated treatment approach was significantly less invasive at follow‐up for four of six items. Change was greater among full participants and those with a more‐invasive approach at baseline, with an overall pattern of movement away from the extremes.ConclusionsThese results are consistent with a preliminary conclusion that network participation fostered movement of scientific evidence into routine practice. PBRNs may foster movement of evidence into everyday practice as practitioners become engaged in the scientific process.
Significant bacterial contamination risk reduction with the use of diversion pouch
Authors: Lee C. K. , Wong H. K. , Ho P. L. , Tsoi W. C. , Lee K. Y. , Tsui G. T. F. , Chua E. , Leung J. N. S. , Lin C. K. 
Published: October 2012

SUMMARYBackgroundSignificant efforts have been made towards bacterial risk minimization by limiting the chance of bacteria entering into collected blood, detecting its presence and eliminating them by pathogen reduction technology. Improved skin disinfection and the use of diversion pouch are effective upstream measures to reduce the risk of bacterial sepsis. Here we report on our experience with the use of blood bags with diversion pouch.Materials and methodsAn observational study was performed to compare the bacterial contamination rate for two periods of time, i.e. before and after introduction of diversion pouch into blood bags. The incidence of bacterial contamination was monitored by the existing bacterial surveillance programme using pooled samples from 5 units of random donor platelets underwent aerobic culture in the BacT/ALERT 3D system.ResultsBetween 1 June 2004 and 31 May 2006 (blood bag without diversion pouch), 50 (0·0213%) out of 234 252 units of random donor platelets were found to have bacteria on culture whereas 15 (0·0057%) isolates out of 262 156 units were found from 1 June 2007 to 31 May 2009 (after diversion pouch was introduced). Overall, there was an 85% reduction in bacterial contaminated risk due to skin flora (P < 0·0001) but an increasing trend of detection of non skin flora such as Streptococcus bovis was noted.ConclusionIntegration of diversion pouch into blood bags to divert the first 30 mL blood during blood collection on top of the current skin disinfection protocol can significantly reduce the risk of bacterial contamination.
Interventional cardiology audit report for 2011
Authors: Baker L. 
Published: October 2012

AbstractIn 2011 there were 658 percutaneous coronary intervention cases performed with more than 60% of the patients presenting to the hospital as an acute coronary syndrome. Most procedures consisted of balloon dilatation followed by stent deployment, and 93% of these stents were drug‐eluting stents. Procedural success was achieved in 93.3% of cases and an overall major adverse cardiac events rate of 3.6%. This includes a mortality rate of (0.5%).In addition, there were 25 Core Valve procedures carried out. This is more than twice the amount of patients who had a transcatheter aortic valve implantation in 2010, reflecting the changing direction of the management of structural heart disease.
Philosophical Diversity and Disagreement
Authors: Plant Bob 
Published: October 2012

AbstractWidespread and lasting consensus has not been philosophy's fate. Indeed, one of philosophy's most striking features is its ability to accommodate “not only different answers to philosophical questions” but also “total disagreement on what questions arephilosophical” (Rorty, 58). It is therefore hardly surprising that philosophers' responses to this metaphilosophical predicament have been similarly varied. This article considers two recent diagnoses of philosophical diversity:Kornblith andRescher (respectively) claim that taking philosophical disagreement seriously does not lead to metaphilosophical scepticism. The article argues that their confidence is misplaced in so far as both wrongly assume that ordinary, first‐order philosophical practice and second‐order metaphilosophical reflection are separate enterprises.
Happiness, Eudaimonia, and The Principle of Descriptive Adequacy
Authors: Cashen Matthew 
Published: October 2012

AbstractHistorically, philosophers have identified happiness with, among other things, pleasure, contentment, desire satisfaction, and, if we count the Greek eudaimonia as happiness, the life of virtue. When faced with competing theories of happiness, we need a way to decide which theory is more accurate. According to Larry Wayne Sumner's principle of descriptive adequacy, the best theory of happiness is the theory that best describes our ordinary, pretheoretical beliefs and intuitions. The chief aim of this article is to show that the principle of descriptive adequacy is mistaken. To do this, it shows how the principle breaks down when applied to Aristotle's theory of eudaimonia, a theory Sumner claims to be descriptively inadequate as a theory of happiness. The article argues that we should reject descriptive adequacy as a metaphilosophical principle on the grounds that our intuitions and beliefs about happiness are too inchoate for any theory adequately to describe.
Molecular mechanism of fertilization in the pig
Authors: ITO Junya , KASHIWAZAKI Naomi 
Published: October 2012

ABSTRACTAt fertilization, the sperm triggers resumption from the arrest, extrusion of the second polar body and pronuclear formation, the events of which are collectively acknowledged as ‘oocyte activation’. In all species up to date, oocyte activation requires a fertilization‐associated increase in the intracellular concentration of calcium. Especially in mammals, the signal of intracellular calcium rise at fertilization consists of periodical rises, which are also referred to as calcium oscillations. Our recent results suggest that these calcium oscillations have an important role in not only oocyte activation but also development of mammals. Pigs are animals of great agricultural value and ones in which assisted reproductive techniques, including somatic cell nuclear transfer, to produce gene‐modified pigs. Although reconstructed embryos require artificial activation stimuli which mimic fertilization‐associated increase of intracellular calcium in the oocytes, it has been known that the developmental ability of the oocytes after artificial activation is low and the regimen seems to be required for improvement. Recently we focused on two molecules, phospholipase C zeta and inositol 1,4,5‐triphosphate receptor which have important roles in regulation of calcium oscillations during fertilization in mammals, including pigs. In this review, we will discuss the present status and future perspective of molecular mechanisms during fertilization in pigs.
Characterization of Ectromelia Virus Deficient in
EVM036
, the Homolog of Vaccinia virus
F13L
, and Its Application for Rapid Generation of Recombinant Viruses
Authors: Roscoe Felicia , Xu Ren-Huan , Sigal Luis J. 
Published: October 2012

ABSTRACT

The orthopoxvirus (OPV) vaccinia virus (VACV) requires an intact
F13L
gene to produce enveloped virions (EV) and to form plaques in cell monolayers. Simultaneous introduction of an exogenous gene and
F13L
into
F13L
-deficient VACV results in expression of the foreign gene and restoration of plaque size. This is used as a method to rapidly generate VACV recombinants without the need for drug selection. However, whether other OPVs require the orthologs of
F13L
to generate EV and form plaques, whether
F13L
orthologs and EV are important for OPV pathogenesis in natural hosts, and whether a system based on
F13L
ortholog deficiency can be used to generate recombinant OPVs other than VACV have not been reported. The
F13L
ortholog in ectromelia virus (ECTV), the agent of mousepox, is
EVM036
. We show that ECTV lacking
EVM036
formed small plaques and was highly attenuated
in vivo
but still induced strong antibody responses. Reintroduction of
EVM036
in tandem with the
DsRed
gene resulted in a virus that expressed DsRed in infected cells but was indistinguishable from wild-type ECTV in terms of plaque size and
in vivo
virulence. Thus, our data show that, like
F13L
in VACV,
EVM036
is required for ECTV plaque formation and that
EVM036
and EV are important for ECTV virulence. Our experiments also suggest that OPVs deficient in
F13L
orthologs could serve as safer anti-OPV vaccines. Further, our results demonstrate that ECTV deficient in
EVM036
can be exploited for the rapid generation of fully virulent ECTV expressing foreign genes of interest.
The Alphavirus E3 Glycoprotein Functions in a Clade-Specific Manner
Authors: Snyder Anthony J. , Mukhopadhyay Suchetana 
Published: October 2012

ABSTRACT
The 80 trimeric, glycoprotein spikes that cover the surface of alphavirus particles are required for mediating viral entry into a host cell. Spike assembly is a regulated process that requires interactions between five structural proteins, E3, E2, 6K and its translational frameshift product TF, and E1. E3 is a small, ∼65-amino-acid glycoprotein that has two known functions: E3 serves as the signal sequence for translocation of the E3-E2-6K-E1 polyprotein into the endoplasmic reticulum (ER), and cleavage of E3 from E2 is essential for virus maturation. Nonetheless, when E3 is replaced with an ER signal sequence, spikes do not form and infectious particles are not assembled, suggesting an additional role(s) for E3 in the viral life cycle. To further investigate the role of E3 in spike assembly, we made chimeric viruses in which E3 from one alphavirus species is replaced with E3 from another species. Our results demonstrate that when E3 is interchanged between alphavirus species that belong to the same virus clade, viral titers and particle morphologies and compositions are similar to what are observed for the parental virus. In contrast, for chimeras in which E3 is derived from a different clade than the parental virus, we observed reduced titers and the formation of particles with atypical morphologies and protein compositions. We further characterized the E3 chimeras using a combination of structure-function and revertant analyses. This work revealed two specific interactions between E3 and its cognate E2 glycoprotein that are important for regulating spike assembly.
A bang-bang principle for real-time transport protocols
Authors: Yemini Yechiam 
Published: October 2012

A real-time protocol is usually concerned with the transportation of a real-time data stream over a packet switched network. Among the major issues distinguishing real-time protocols from ordinary transport protocols is the problem of trading delay for loss. That is, if some loss of packets may be acceptable, and usually inevitable, the objective of the protocol is to minimize the delay of packets, subject to constraints on the acceptable loss. This is unlike usual transport protocols, which are designed to guarantee no loss at the expense of increased delays.
This paper presents a model for the delay-loss tradeoffs in a family of real-time transport protocols. It is demonstrated that, under very general assumptions, an optimal real-time protocol is a bang-bang protocol: there exists a threshold queue length such that as long as the packet queue length at the sender is less than the threshold the protocol should be an ordinary positive acknowledgement with retransmissions transport protocol. However, as soon as the threshold queue length is exceeded, a newly arriving packet causes the first (or any other) packet in the queue to be discarded. Closed form expressions for the threshold buffer size are obtained and analyzed in terms of the given parameters of the system.
Impact of Sun-Synchronous Diurnal Sampling on Tropical TOA Flux Interannual Variability and Trends
Authors: Taylor Patrick C. , Loeb Norman G. 
Published: October 2012

AbstractSatellite observations of the earth’s radiation budget (ERB) are a critical component of the climate observing system. Recent observations have been made from sun-synchronous orbits, which provide excellent spatial coverage with global measurements twice daily but do not resolve the full diurnal cycle. Previous investigations show that significant errors can occur in time-averaged energy budgets from sun-synchronous orbits if diurnal variations are ignored. However, the impact of incomplete diurnal sampling on top-of-atmosphere (TOA) flux variability and trends has received less attention. A total of 68 months of 3-hourly tropical outgoing longwave radiation (OLR) and reflected shortwave radiation (RSW) fluxes from the Clouds and the Earth’s Radiant Energy System (CERES) synoptic (SYN) data product is used to examine the impact of incomplete diurnal sampling on TOA flux variability. Tropical OLR and RSW interannual variability and trends derived from sun-synchronous time sampling consistent with the Terra satellite from 2000 to 2005 show no statistically significant differences at the 95% confidence level with those obtained at 3-hourly time sampling at both 1° × 1° and 10° × 10° regional scales, as well as for tropical means. Monthly, 3-hourly OLR composite anomalies are decomposed into diurnally uniform and diurnal cycle shape change contributions to explain the impact of sampling on observed TOA flux variability. Diurnally uniform contributions to OLR variability account for more than 80% of interannual OLR variability at 1° × 1° spatial scales. Diurnal cycle shape variations are most important in equatorial land regions, contributing up to 50% to OLR variability over Africa. At spatial scales of 10° × 10° or larger, OLR variance contributions from diurnal cycle shape changes remain smaller than 20%.
Transcriptome variation along bud development in grapevine (Vitis viniferaL.)
Authors: Díaz-Riquelme José , Grimplet Jérôme , Martínez-Zapater José M , Carmona María J 
Published: October 2012

AbstractBackgroundVegetative buds provide plants in temperate environments the possibility for growth and reproduction when environmental conditions are favorable. In grapevine, crucial developmental events take place within buds during two growing seasons in consecutive years. The first season, the shoot apical meristem within the bud differentiates all the basic elements of the shoot including flowering transition in lateral primordia and development of inflorescence primordia. These events practically end with bud dormancy. The second season, buds resume shoot growth associated to flower formation and development. Gene expression has been previously monitored at specific stages of bud development but has never been followed along the two growing seasons.ResultsGene expression changes were analyzed along the bud annual cycle at eight different time points. Principal Components Analysis (PCA) revealed that the main factors explaining the global gene expression differences were the processes of bud dormancy and active growth as well as stress responses. Accordingly, non dormant buds showed an enrichment in functional categories typical of actively proliferating and growing cells together with the over abundance of transcripts belonging to stress response pathways. Differential expression analyses performed between consecutive time points indicated that major transcriptional changes were associated to para/endodormancy, endo/ecodormancy and ecodormancy/bud break transitions. Transcripts encoding key regulators of reproductive development were grouped in three major expression clusters corresponding to: (i) transcripts associated to flowering induction, (ii) transcripts associated to flower meristem specification and initiation and (iii) transcripts putatively involved in dormancy.Within this cluster, a MADS-box gene (VvFLC2) and other transcripts with similar expression patterns could participate in dormancy regulation.ConclusionsThis work provides a global view of major transcriptional changes taking place along bud development in grapevine, highlighting those molecular and biological functions involved in the main events of bud development. As reported in other woody species, the results suggest that genes regulating flowering could also be involved in dormancy regulatory pathways in grapevine.
Translational medicine as a permanent glue and force of clinical medicine and public health: perspectives (1) from 2012 Sino‐American symposium on clinical and translational medicine
Authors: Zhou Jiebai , Wu Duojiao , Liu Xinqing , Yuan Shuoqi , Yang Xiaoqiu , Wang Xiangdong 
Published: October 2012

AbstractsHealth systems globally face challenges and opportunities in balancing quality, access, and cost, where clinical and translational medicine (CTM) should play more important and powerful roles in the identification, development and validation of solutions and strategies. Strategic collaboration can gather global strengths and resources and improve health systems, care delivery, regulations and policies. CTM‐driven innovation and development has the potential to achieve step‐change improvements across three dimensions. Thus, we have the reasons to believe that CTM will play even more roles in the development of new diagnostics, therapies, healthcare, and policies and SAS‐CTM will become more and more important platform to obtain the latest development in CTM internationally and explore new opportunities in the international collaborations.