bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Impact of GH substitution on exercise capacity and muscle strength in GH‐deficient adults: a meta‐analysis of blinded, placebo‐controlled trials
Authors: Rubeck K. Z. , Bertelsen S. , Vestergaard P. , Jørgensen J. O. L. 
Published: March 2009

SummaryBackground  Several but not all trials suggest that GH replacement in GH‐deficient adults improves aerobic exercise capacity, whereas its effect on muscle strength is more dubious. However, a denominator of these studies is a low sample size.Objective  We systematically reviewed and analysed all randomized, double‐blind, placebo‐controlled trials on the effects of GH administration on aerobic exercise capacity and muscle strength in GH‐deficient adults.Study selection  Fifteen trials were identified from four databases. We conducted an analysis of effects on aerobic exercise capacity, performed on either a treadmill or a bicycle ergometer, muscle strength assessed by a dynamometer, and muscle mass assessed by computerized tomography.Results  The total number of patients included was 306 and the duration of treatment ranged from 3 to 12 months. GH replacement significantly increased aerobic exercise capacity [8·9 ± 0·8%, (P < 0·001)] including VO2 max [0·17 ± 0·02 l/min (P < 0·001)], as well as muscle volume [7·1 ± 1·6%, (P < 0·001)]. In contrast, muscle strength measured in 113 patients was not significantly increased [3·2 ± 2·2% (P = 0·15)].Conclusion  GH replacement in GH‐deficient adults is associated with a significant positive effect on aerobic exercise capacity and muscle mass.
Frequent fires reduce tree growth in northern Australian savannas: implications for tree demography and carbon sequestration
Authors: MURPHY BRETT P. , RUSSELL‐SMITH JEREMY , PRIOR LYNDA D. 
Published: March 2009

AbstractTropical savannas are typically highly productive yet fire‐prone ecosystems, and it has been suggested that reducing fire frequency in savannas could substantially increase the size of the global carbon sink. However, the long‐term demographic consequences of modifying fire regimes in savannas are difficult to predict, with the effects of fire on many parameters, such as tree growth rates, poorly understood. Over 10 years, we examined the effects of fire frequency on the growth rates (annual increment of diameter at breast height) of 3075 tagged trees, at 137 locations throughout the mesic savannas of Kakadu, Nitmiluk and Litchfield National Parks, in northern Australia. Frequent fires substantially reduced tree growth rates, with the magnitude of the effect markedly increasing with fire severity. The highest observed frequencies of mild, moderate and severe fires (1.0, 0.8 and 0.4 fires yr−1, respectively) reduced tree growth by 24%, 40% and 66% respectively, relative to unburnt areas. These reductions in tree growth imply reductions in the net primary productivity of trees by between 0.19 t C ha−1 yr−1, in the case of mild fires, and 0.51 t C ha−1 yr−1, in the case of severe fires. Such reductions are relatively large, given that net biome productivity (carbon sequestration potential) of these savannas is estimated to be just 1–2 t C ha−1 yr−1. Our results suggest that current models of savanna tree demography, that do not account for a relationship between severe fire frequency and tree growth rate, are likely to underestimate the long‐term negative effects of frequent severe fires on tree populations. Additionally, the negative impact of frequent severe fires on carbon sequestration rates may have been underestimated; reducing fire frequencies in savannas may increase carbon sequestration to a greater extent than previously thought.
An empirical statistical model for predicting the yield of herbage from legume‐grass swards within organic crop rotations based on cumulative water balances
Authors: Bachinger J. , Reining E. 
Published: March 2009

AbstractMulti‐species legume‐grass swards play a key role in organic farming systems as a source of forage and of symbiotically fixed nitrogen (N). Forage and N balances, based on site‐specific data on dry matter (DM) yields of herbage, are useful planning tools in describing forage and N supply at the field and farm level. In practice, measurements of DM yield are often imprecise or missing, and thus a weather‐ and site‐specific assessment of DM yield is required. An empirical model to predict DM yield from legume‐grass swards was developed based on weather and soil data commonly available at field and regional scales. The main underlying hypothesis was that water use, calculated from cumulative water balances, can be used as a predictor of DM yield. The model was calibrated with data from a multi‐year field experiment in Müncheberg, north‐east Germany and was tested with data from other countries of Europe. In the calibration data set, highly significant linear relationships were found between water use and DM yield for DM yield of single harvests and for annual DM yield. The only additional variable significantly improving the prediction of DM yield was cut number. For the validation data set the DM yield for single cuts and annual yields was predicted with a similar accuracy as found with other models requiring the use of more information. The models described offer a straightforward weather‐ and site‐specific means of predicting DM yield with a satisfactory level of precision, especially for annual DM yields, and thus can help to reduce planning failures concerning forage and N supply in organic farming systems in Europe.
Determination of the regulon and identification of novel mRNA targets of Pseudomonas aeruginosa RsmA
Authors: Brencic Anja , Lory Stephen 
Published: March 2009

SummaryOne of the prokaryotic post‐transcriptional regulatory mechanisms involves the CsrA/RsmA family of proteins that act by modulating translation initiation at target mRNAs. In this study, we identified the regulon of RsmA of the Pseudomonas aeruginosa PAK strain by using cultures in the stationary phase of growth. The RsmA regulon includes over 500 genes, of which approximately one‐third were affected by an rsmA mutation negatively, while the rest were affected positively. By isolating RsmA/mRNA complexes, analysing transcriptional and translational fusions, and performing gel‐shift analyses, we identified 40 genes in six operons that are regulated by RsmA directly at the level of translation. All of these genes were affected by RsmA negatively and include genes encoding the type VI secretion system HSI‐I, which has been implicated in the P. aeruginosa chronic infections. On the other hand, we were unable to demonstrate a direct interaction of RsmA with transcripts that are positively affected by this protein, including mRNAs encoding the type III secretion system and the type IV pili genes. Our work supports a model in which RsmA acts as a negative translational regulator, and where its positive effects are achieved indirectly by RsmA‐mediated interference with translation of specific regulatory factors.
Securitising health: Australian newspaper coverage of pandemic influenza
Authors: Stephenson Niamh , Jamieson Michelle 
Published: March 2009

AbstractThis paper analyses contemporary Australian newspaper coverage of the threat of pandemic influenza in humans, specifically in the light of recent transformations in biomedical and public health understandings of infectious disease as continuously emerging. Our analysis suggests that the spectre of pandemic influenza is characterised, in newspaper accounts, as invoking a specific form of nation building. The Australian nation is depicted as successfully securing itself in the face of a threat from Asia (and in the absence of an effective international health body). What is described in newspaper accounts reflects a shift in the public health response to infectious disease. This response does not entail a direct focus on protecting either the population or national territory. Instead, it involves the continuous rehearsal of readiness to react to disasters through the networking of government and private agencies responsible for maintaining critical infrastructure. In this way, coverage of pandemic influenza positions health as central to national security, with little reporting of the reasons for or the potential implications of this alliance. Thus, the imperative to ‘be prepared’ is presented as self‐evident.
Defining pre‐synaptic nicotinic receptors regulated by beta amyloid in mouse cortex and hippocampus with receptor null mutants
Authors: Mehta Tejal K. , Dougherty John J. , Wu Jianlin , Choi Catherine H. , Khan Ghous M. , Nichols Robert A. 
Published: March 2009

AbstractDisruption of neuronal signaling by soluble β‐amyloid has been implicated in deficits in short‐term recall in the early stages of Alzheimer’s disease. One potential target for β‐amyloid is the synapse, with evidence for differential interaction with both pre‐ and post‐synaptic elements. Our previous work revealed an agonist‐like action of soluble β‐amyloid (pM to nM) on isolated pre‐synaptic terminals to increase [Ca2+]i, with apparent involvement of pre‐synaptic nicotinic receptors. To directly establish the role of nicotinic receptors in pre‐synaptic Ca2+ regulation, we investigated the pre‐synaptic action of β‐amyloid on terminals isolated from mice harboring either β2 or α7 nicotinic receptor null mutants (knockouts). Average pre‐synaptic responses to β‐amyloid in hippocampal terminals of α7 knockout mice were unchanged, whereas responses in hippocampal terminals from β2 knockout mice were strongly attenuated. In contrast, pre‐synaptic responses to soluble β‐amyloid were strongly attenuated in cortical terminals from α7 knockout mice but were moderately attenuated in cortical terminals from β2 knockout mice. The latter responses, having distinct kinetics, were completely blocked by α‐bungarotoxin. The use of receptor null mutants thus permitted direct demonstration of the involvement of specific nicotinic receptors in pre‐synaptic Ca2+ regulation by soluble β‐amyloid, and also indicated differential neuromodulation by β‐amyloid of synapses in hippocampus and cortex.
Tamoxifen attenuates inflammatory‐mediated damage and improves functional outcome after spinal cord injury in rats
Authors: Tian Dai‐Shi , Liu Jun‐Li , Xie Min‐Jie , Zhan Yan , Qu Wen‐Sheng , Yu Zhi‐Yuan , Tang Zhou‐Ping , Pan Deng‐Ji , Wang Wei 
Published: March 2009

AbstractTamoxifen has been found to be neuroprotective in both transient and permanent experimental ischemic stroke. However, it remains unknown whether this agent shows a similar beneficial effect after spinal cord injury (SCI), and what are its underlying mechanisms. In this study, we investigated the efficacy of tamoxifen treatment in attenuating SCI‐induced pathology. Blood–spinal cord barrier (BSCB) permeability, tissue edema formation, microglial activation, neuronal cell death and myelin loss were determined in rats subjected to spinal cord contusion. The results showed that tamoxifen, administered at 30 min post‐injury, significantly decreased interleukin‐1β (IL‐1β) production induced by microglial activation, alleviated the amount of Evans blue leakage and edema formation. In addition, tamoxifen treatment clearly reduced the number of apoptotic neurons post‐SCI. The myelin loss and the increase in production of myelin‐associated axonal growth inhibitors were also found to be significantly attenuated at day 3 post‐injury. Furthermore, rats treated with tamoxifen scored much higher on the locomotor rating scale after SCI than did vehicle‐treated rats, suggesting improved functional outcome after SCI. Together, these results demonstrate that tamoxifen provides neuroprotective effects for treatment of SCI‐related pathology and disability, and is therefore a potential neuroprotectant for human spinal cord injury therapy.
Assessing Women, Gender, and Empire in Britain's Nineteenth‐Century Protestant Missionary Movement
Authors: Prevost Elizabeth 
Published: March 2009

AbstractAlthough women constituted the majority of British missionary labor by the turn of the twentieth century, they were largely discounted from the official record of mission work – a silence that until recently has been preserved by women's history, mission history, and imperial history. Over the past two decades, new historical and interpretive frameworks have brought into clearer focus the role of women missionaries and the gendered fabric of the ‘civilizing mission’ in evangelistic, colonial, and feminist projects. Yet the privileging of race as an analytic category has produced a lopsided historiography, in which Christianity has been marginalized in studies of gender and empire, and in which gender has not been used to full effect in explicating the uneven contours of religion and colonialism. This essay explores how studies of women, gender, and the Protestant missionary movement over the ‘long nineteenth century’ have responded to and manifested some of the larger tensions of women's and gender history, feminist history, postcolonial studies, the new imperial history, and area studies, and suggests some avenues for addressing lingering questions of recovery and representation, center and periphery.
Host plant scents attract rolled‐leaf beetles to Neotropical gingers in a Central American tropical rain forest
Authors: García‐Robledo Carlos , Horvitz Carol C. 
Published: March 2009

AbstractLeaf volatile chemicals are known to reduce herbivory rates by repelling or intoxicating insect herbivores and by attracting the predators and parasitoids of herbivores. However, leaf volatiles may also be used by insect herbivores as cues to locate their host plants. Leaf volatiles are suggested to be important host search cues for herbivores in structurally complex and diverse habitats, such as tropical rain forests. A group of insect herbivores, the rolled‐leaf beetles (Coleoptera: Chrysomelidae: Hispinae), have maintained a highly specialized interaction with Neotropical gingers (Zingiberales) for ca. 60 million years. In this study, we explored chemical attraction to host plants under controlled laboratory conditions, using four sympatric rolled‐leaf beetle species, Cephaloleia dorsalis Baly, Cephaloleia erichsonii Baly, Cephaloleia fenestrata Weise, and Cephaloleia placida Baly. For each beetle species, we investigated (i) whether it was repelled or attracted by leaf scents produced by four host and four non‐host plant species, including Neotropical gingers in the families Marantaceae, Costaceae, and Zingiberaceae; and (ii) its ability to use scents to detect its host plant. We found that rolled‐leaf beetles can detect and are attracted by leaf volatiles from both host and non‐host gingers. Additionally, when beetles were simultaneously exposed to leaf volatiles from host and non‐host plants, three rolled‐leaf beetle species were significantly more attracted by volatiles from their host plants than from non‐hosts. Only one of the beetle species was not able to discriminate between host and non‐host scents.
Toxicological Investigation and Antinociceptive Property of Potassium Thiophene‐3‐Trifluoroborate
Authors: Oliveira Roberta A. , Savegnago Lucielli , Jesse Cristiano R. , Menezes Paulo H. , Molander Gary A. , Nogueira Cristina W. 
Published: March 2009

Abstract: The aim of the present study was to evaluate pharmacological and toxicological properties of potassium thiophene‐3‐trifluoroborate (RBF3K). The acute effect of RBF3K was evaluated on mice. To this end, mice received a single dose of RBF3K (25, 50, and 100 mg/kg, by oral route, p.o.) and after 72 hrs, blood, liver, and kidney samples were collected. δ‐Aminolevulinate dehydratase, catalase and glutathione‐S‐transferase activities, thiobarbituric acid‐reactive substances and vitamin C levels, as well as plasma aspartate and alanine aminotransferase activities and creatinine levels were determined. Hepatic and renal lipid peroxidation levels in treated mice did not differ from those in control mice. No significant differences between treated and control mice were detected in hepatic and renal δ‐aminolevulinate dehydratase activity. Aspartate and alanine aminotransferase activities as well as urea and creatinine levels were similar among the groups. In contrast, results obtained fromin vivoexperiments revealed that RBF3K, orally administered, reduced peritoneovisceral pain induced by acetic acid administered i.p. Doses of 1, 5, 10, 25, 50, and 100 mg/kg of RBF3K were assessed in the antinociceptive investigation and the effect was significantly different than control groups from 5 mg/kg. It was observed that α2‐adrenergic and serotonergic, but not opioidergic, receptors appear to be involved in orally administered RBF3K. Mice treated with RBF3K did not reveal any motor impairment in the open field. This is a promising compound for more detailed pharmacological studies involving organotrifluoroborate compounds.
The Clitoral Photoplethysmograph: A New Way of Assessing Genital Arousal in Women
Authors: Gerritsen Jeroen , Van Der Made Flip , Bloemers Jos , Van Ham Diana , Kleiverda Gunilla , Everaerd Walter , Olivier Berend , Levin Roy , Tuiten Adriaan 
Published: March 2009

ABSTRACTIntroductionIn the present study, we introduce clitoral photoplethysmography as an instrument to assess clitoral blood volume (CBV). In research on female sexual functioning, vaginal pulse amplitude (VPA), as measured using vaginal photoplethysmography, has been used extensively as a measure of vaginal vasocongestion. Measurement of clitoral blood flow has thus far been problematic, mainly because of methodological constraints.AimTo demonstrate that CBV is a valuable, easy to use complementary measure for the female sexual response, offering additional information to the VPA.MethodsThirty women with and without female sexual dysfunction (FSD) watched neutral and erotic film clips. At the end of the erotic clip, the session was interrupted to induce inhibition of the sexual response. Another neutral clip followed the interruption. VPA and CBV were measured simultaneously, as well as skin conductance levels (SCLs), to assess the amount of sympathetic activity.Main Outcome MeasuresVPA, CBV, SCL.ResultsFor both FSD and non-FSD women, VPA and CBV increased when sexually explicit material was presented. Changes in skin conductance significantly predicted changes in CBV (b = −0.61, t[27] = −3.88, P &lt; 0.001), but not in VPA. A large increase in sympathetic activity was accompanied by a large decrease in CBV. Furthermore, a large increase in CBV at the end of the erotic film clip presentation, as compared with the neutral clip, was accompanied by a relatively small increase in VPA (b = −0.39, t[29] = −2.25, P &lt; 0.033).ConclusionCBV is a valid and sensitive tool to measure the female genital response. In the present study, it was particularly useful in investigating sexual inhibition, when used in combination with SCL. Furthermore, high CBV appeared to inhibit VPA, suggesting that VPA reflects an automatic preparatory response rather than genital arousal per se.
Biofeedback, Electrical Stimulation, Pelvic Floor Muscle Exercises, and Vaginal Cones: A Combined Rehabilitative Approach for Sexual Dysfunction Associated with Urinary Incontinence
Authors: Rivalta Massimo , Sighinolfi Maria Chiara , De Stefani Stefano , Micali Salvatore , Mofferdin Alessandro , Grande Marco , Bianchi Giampaolo 
Published: March 2009

ABSTRACT

Introduction
Urinary incontinence (UI) is often associated with sexual dysfunction. We present our preliminary experience with a combined rehabilitative approach consisting of biofeedback, functional electrical stimulation, pelvic floor muscle exercises, and vaginal cones.

Aim
The potential impact of such practice on UI and sexual function was analyzed in our case series and discussed.

Main Outcome Measures and Methods
We evaluated three women affected by UI and sexual dysfunction. The patients underwent combined pelvic floor rehabilitation (PFR), kept voiding diaries, and filled out the Female Sexual Function Index (FSFI questionnaire) before and after the completion of PFR. We evaluated each domain score, including desire, arousal, lubrication, orgasm, satisfaction, and pain.

Results
After the combined rehabilitation program, none of them had UI requiring pad use or referred urine leakage during sexual activity, including intercourse. Before PFR, FSFI score ranged from 16 to 21; after treatment, the FSFI score ranged from 22.1 to 29.3. There was an improvement in patients regarding desire, arousal, lubrication, orgasm, satisfaction, and pain.

Conclusions
A complete rehabilitation can provide a beneficial effect on sexual function. A larger trial, on a more extended female population, is currently in progress, in order to confirm our findings. The effectiveness of a complete PFR scheme, together with the lack of side effects, makes it a suitable approach to sexual dysfunction that is associated with UI.
Implementation of a School‐Based State Policy to Increase Physical Activity*
Authors: Evenson Kelly R. , Ballard Kymm , Lee Ginny , Ammerman Alice 
Published: March 2009

ABSTRACTBackground:  In 2005, the North Carolina State Board of Education updated the Healthy Active Children Policy to include a requirement that all kindergarten through eighth‐grade children receive at least 30 minutes of moderate‐to‐vigorous physical activity each school day through physical education, recess, and other creative approaches. This study describes how districts are meeting the physical activity‐related portion of this policy and explores the policy implementation successes and challenges.Methods:  An online survey was conducted in summer 2007 in all school districts in the state (response rate 106/111; 95.5%). Respondents were asked to describe the implementation successes and challenges associated with including 30 minutes of physical activity in the school day. Answers were double coded, checked, and grouped into themes.Results:  The physical activity requirement was most often met through recess, physical education, classroom Energizers, and intramural sports. School districts reported numerous positive effects of the policy in elementary and middle schools. Benefits included increased student focus on studies, physical activity participation, awareness of healthy habits, alertness and enjoyment, and higher staff involvement. Implementation challenges to the policy included lack of time in the school day, teacher participation, and concerns about academics.Conclusions:  School districts reported that implementation of the policy produced many positive results for students and staff. Addressing several implementation challenges common across school districts would strengthen the ongoing success of the policy.