bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Impact of Prenatal Exposure to Piperonyl Butoxide and Permethrin on 36-Month Neurodevelopment
Authors: Horton Megan K. , Rundle Andrew , Camann David E. , Boyd Barr Dana , Rauh Virginia A. , Whyatt Robin M. 
Published: February 2011

OBJECTIVE:Recent pesticide-monitoring results suggest that a shift in residential pesticide exposure from organophosphorus insecticides to pyrethroid insecticides has occurred. Pyrethroid insecticides are potential neurodevelopmental toxicants and have not been evaluated for developmental toxicity. Our objective was to explore the association between prenatal exposure to permethrin (a common pyrethroid) and piperonyl butoxide (a pyrethroid synergist) and 36-month neurodevelopment.METHODS:Participants is this study were part of a prospective cohort of black and Dominican mothers and newborns living in low-income neighborhoods in New York City. We examined 36-month cognitive and motor development (using the Bayley Scales of Infant Development, second edition) as a function of permethrin levels measured in maternal and umbilical cord plasma collected on delivery and permethrin and piperonyl butoxide levels measured in personal air collected during pregnancy. All models were controlled for gender, gestational age, ethnicity, maternal education, maternal intelligence, quality of the home environment, and prenatal exposure to environmental tobacco smoke and chlorpyrifos.RESULTS:Prenatal exposure to permethrin in personal air and/or plasma was not associated with performance scores for the Bayley Mental Developmental Index or the Psychomotor Developmental Index. After data adjustment, children more highly exposed to piperonyl butoxide in personal air samples (&gt;4.34 ng/m3) scored 3.9 points lower on the Mental Developmental Index than those with lower exposures (95% confidence interval: −0.25 to −7.49).CONCLUSIONS:Prenatal exposure to piperonyl butoxide was negatively associated with 36-month neurodevelopment.
Timing of Solid Food Introduction and Risk of Obesity in Preschool-Aged Children
Authors: Huh Susanna Y. , Rifas-Shiman Sheryl L. , Taveras Elsie M. , Oken Emily , Gillman Matthew W. 
Published: February 2011

OBJECTIVE:
To examine the association between timing of introduction of solid foods during infancy and obesity at 3 years of age.

METHODS:
We studied 847 children in Project Viva, a prospective pre-birth cohort study. The primary outcome was obesity at 3 years of age (BMI for age and gender ≥95th percentile). The primary exposure was the timing of introduction of solid foods, categorized as &lt;4, 4 to 5, and ≥6 months. We ran separate logistic regression models for infants who were breastfed for at least 4 months (“breastfed”) and infants who were never breastfed or stopped breastfeeding before the age of four months (“formula-fed”), adjusting for child and maternal characteristics, which included change in weight-for-age z score from 0 to 4 months–a marker of early infant growth.

RESULTS:
In the first 4 months of life, 568 infants (67%) were breastfed and 279 (32%) were formula-fed. At age 3 years, 75 children (9%) were obese. Among breastfed infants, the timing of solid food introduction was not associated with odds of obesity (odds ratio: 1.1 [95% confidence interval: 0.3–4.4]). Among formula-fed infants, introduction of solid foods before 4 months was associated with a sixfold increase in odds of obesity at age 3 years; the association was not explained by rapid early growth (odds ratio after adjustment: 6.3 [95% confidence interval: 2.3–6.9]).

CONCLUSIONS:
Among formula-fed infants or infants weaned before the age of 4 months, introduction of solid foods before the age of 4 months was associated with increased odds of obesity at age 3 years.
Executive and Memory Function in Adolescents Born Very Preterm
Authors: Luu Thuy Mai , Ment Laura , Allan Walter , Schneider Karen , Vohr Betty R. 
Published: February 2011

BACKGROUND:Many preterm children display school difficulties, which may be mediated by impairment in executive function and memory.OBJECTIVE:To evaluate executive and memory function among adolescents born preterm compared with term controls at 16 years.METHODS:A total of 337 of 437 (77%) adolescents born in 1989 to 1992 with a birth weight &lt; 1250 g and 102 term controls were assessed with a battery of executive function and memory tasks. Multiple regression analyses were used to compare groups and to identify associations between selected factors and outcomes among preterm subjects.RESULTS:Adolescents born preterm, compared with term controls, showed deficits in executive function in the order of 0.4 to 0.6 SD on tasks of verbal fluency, inhibition, cognitive flexibility, planning/organization, and working memory as well as verbal and visuospatial memory. After exclusion of adolescents with neurosensory disabilities and full-scale IQ &lt; 70, significant group differences persisted on most tests. Preterm subjects, compared with term controls, were at increased risk of exhibiting problems related to executive dysfunction, as measured with the Behavior Rating Inventory of Executive Function, on the Metacognition Index (odds ratio [OR]: 2.5 [95% confidence interval (CI): 1.2–5.1]) and the Global Executive Composite (OR: 4.2 [95% CI: 1.6–10.9]), but not on the Behavioral Regulation index (OR: 1.5 [95% CI: 0.7–3.5]). Among adolescents born preterm, severe brain injury on neonatal ultrasound and lower maternal education were the most consistent factors associated with poor outcomes.CONCLUSIONS:Even after exclusion of preterm subjects with significant disabilities, adolescents born preterm in the early 1990s were at increased risk of deficits in executive function and memory.
Racial Bias in Child Protection? A Comparison of Competing Explanations Using National Data
Authors: Drake Brett , Jolley Jennifer M. , Lanier Paul , Fluke John , Barth Richard P. , Jonson-Reid Melissa 
Published: February 2011

OBJECTIVE:
Cases of child abuse and neglect that involve black children are reported to and substantiated by public child welfare agencies at a rate approximately twice that of cases that involve white children. A range of studies have been performed to assess the degree to which this racial disproportionality is attributable to racial bias in physicians, nurses, and other professionals mandated to report suspected child victimization. The prevailing current explanation posits that the presence of bias among reporters and within the child welfare system has led to the current large overrepresentation of black children. A competing explanation is that overrepresentation of black children is mainly the consequence of increased exposure to risk factors such as poverty.

METHODS:
We tested the competing models by using data drawn from national child welfare and public health sources. We compared racial disproportionality ratios on rates of victimization from official child welfare organizations to rates of key public health outcomes not subject to the same potential biases (eg, general infant mortality).

RESULTS:
We found that racial differences in victimization rate data from the official child welfare system are consistent with known differences for other child outcomes. We also found evidence supporting the presence of cultural protective factors for Hispanic children, termed the “Hispanic paradox.”

CONCLUSIONS:
Although our findings do not preclude the possibility of racial bias, these findings suggest that racial bias in reporting and in the child welfare system are not large-scale drivers of racial disproportionality. Our data suggest that reduction of black/white racial disproportionality in the child welfare system can best be achieved by a public health approach to reducing underlying risk factors that affect black families.
Prenatal Factors for Childhood Blood Pressure Mediated by Intrauterine and/or Childhood Growth?
Authors: Wen Xiaozhong , Triche Elizabeth W. , Hogan Joseph W. , Shenassa Edmond D. , Buka Stephen L. 
Published: February 2011

OBJECTIVE:Some prenatal factors may program an offspring's blood pressure, but existing evidence is inconclusive and mechanisms remain unclear. We examined the mediating roles of intrauterine and childhood growth in the associations between childhood systolic blood pressure (SBP) and 5 potentially modifiable prenatal factors: maternal smoking during pregnancy; prepregnancy BMI; pregnancy weight gain; chronic hypertension; and preeclampsia-eclampsia.METHODS:The sample contained 30 461 mother-child pairs in the Collaborative Perinatal Project. Prenatal data were extracted from obstetric forms, and children's SBP was measured at 7 years of age. Potential mediation by intrauterine growth restriction (IUGR) and childhood growth was examined by the causal step method.RESULTS:Heavy maternal smoking during pregnancy was significantly associated with higher offspring SBP (adjusted mean difference versus nonsmoking: 0.73 mm Hg [95% confidence interval (CI): 0.32–1.14]), which attenuated to null (0.13 [95% CI: −0.27–0.54]) after adjustment for changes in BMI from birth to 7 years of age. Prepregnancy overweight-obesity was significantly associated with higher offspring SBP (versus normal weight: 0.89 mm Hg [95% CI: 0.52–1.26]), which also attenuated to null (−0.04 mm Hg [95% CI: −0.40–0.31]) after adjustment for childhood BMI trajectory. Adjustment for BMI trajectory augmented the association between maternal pregnancy weight gain and offspring SBP. Adjustment for childhood weight trajectory similarly changed these associations. However, all these associations were independent of IUGR.CONCLUSIONS:Childhood BMI and weight trajectory, but not IUGR, may largely mediate the associations of maternal smoking during pregnancy and prepregnancy BMI with an offspring's SBP.
Incidence of Cleft Pathology in Greater New Orleans before and after Hurricane Katrina
Authors: Goenjian Haig A. , Chiu Ernest S. , Alexander Mary Ellen , Hilaire Hugo St. , Moses Michael 
Published: February 2011

Background Reports after the 2005 Hurricane Katrina have documented an increase in stress reactions and environmental teratogens (arsenic, mold, alcohol). Objective To assess the incidence of cleft pathology before and after the hurricane, and the distribution of cleft cases by gender and race. Methods Retrospective chart review of cleft lip with or without cleft palate (CUP) and cleft palate (CP) cases registered with the Cleft and Craniofacial Team at Children's Hospital of New Orleans, the surgical center that treated cleft cases in Greater New Orleans between 2004 and 2007. Live birth data were obtained from the Louisiana State Center for Health Statistics. Results The incidence of cleft cases, beginning 9 months after the hurricane (i.e., June 1, 2006) was significantly higher compared with the period before the hurricane (0.80 versus 1.42; p = .008). Within racial group comparisons showed a higher incidence among African Americans versus whites (0.42 versus 1.22; p = .01). The distribution of CUP and CP cases by gender was significant ( p = .05). Conclusion The increase in the incidence of cleft cases after the hurricane may be attributable to increased stress and teratogenic factors associated with the hurricane. The increase among African Americans may have been due to comparatively higher exposure to environmental risk factors. These findings warrant further investigation to replicate the results elsewhere in the Gulf to determine whether there is a causal relationship between environmental risk factors and increased cleft pathology.
New Gel Aggregates To Improve Sweep Efficiency During Waterflooding
Authors: Lei Guanglun , Li Lingling , Nasr-El-Din Hisham A. 
Published: February 2011

Summary
A common problem for oil production is excessive water production, which can lead to rapid productivity decline and significant increases in operating costs. The result is often a premature shut-in of wells because production has become uneconomical. In water injectors, the injection profiles are uneven and, as a result, large amounts of oil are left behind the water front.
Many chemical systems have been used to control water production and improve recovery from reservoirs with high water cut. Inorganic gels have low viscosity and can be pumped using typical field mixing and injection equipment. Polymer or crosslinked gels, especially polyacrylamide-based systems, are mainly used because of their relatively low cost and their supposed selectivity.
In this paper, microspheres (5–30 μm) were synthesized using acrylamide monomers crosslinked with an organic crosslinker. They can be suspended in water and can be pumped in sandstone formations. They can plug some of the pore throats and, thus, force injected water to change its direction and increase the sweep efficiency. A high-pressure/high-temperature (HP/HT) rheometer was used to measure G (elastic modulus) and G" (viscous modulus) of these aggregates.
Experimental results indicate that these microspheres are stable in solutions with 20,000 ppm NaCl at 175°F. They can expand up to five times their original size in deionized water and show good elasticity. The results of sandpack tests show that the microspheres can flow through cores with permeability greater than 500 md and can increase the resistance factor by eight to 25 times and the residual resistance factor by nine times. The addition of microspheres to polymer solutions increased the resistance factor beyond that obtained with the polymer solution alone. Field data using microspheres showed significant improvements in the injection profile and enhancements in oil production.
Development of an Algorithm of Dynamic Gridding for Multiphase Flow Calculation in Wells
Authors: Dong Chao C. , Bahonar Mehdi , Chen Zhangxing John , Azaiez Jalel 
Published: February 2011

Summary
Because more and more wells have been put in operation, an accurate modelling of wellbore flow plays a significant role in reservoir simulation. One requirement of a wellbore model is its ability to trace various flow boundaries in the tubing, such as those created by phase or flow regime changing. An algorithm of dynamic gridding is applied to the wellbore flow model coupled with Stanford?s general purpose research simulator (GPRS), which has the capability to simulate the isothermal black oil reservoir model to obtain detailed information that explains such important quantities as flow pattern and mixture velocity in any specific location of wellbore. A significant problem in this case is how to calculate fluid and velocity properties with a fine grid (segment) on the boundaries of different flow regimes in the wellbore. Local dynamical segment refinement in the well can accurately and effectively handle this problem. This wellbore model includes mass conservation equations for each component and a general pressure drop relationship. The multiphase wellbore flow is represented using a drift-flux model, which includes slip between three fluid phases. The model determines the pressure, mixture flow velocity, and phase holdups as functions of time and the axial position along the well or alleviation depth. In addition, this model is capable of generating automatically adaptive segment meshes. We apply the black oil model to the simulation of several cases of isothermal dynamical local mesh refinement, and compare the results with fixed coarse and fine meshes. The experiments show that using local segment refinement can yield accurate results with acceptable computational time.
Coalbed Methane: Current Field-Based Evaluation Methods
Authors: Clarkson C.R.. R. , Bustin R.M.. M. 
Published: February 2011

SummaryCoalbed methane (CBM) produced from subsurface coal deposits has been produced commercially for more than 30 years in North America, and relatively recently in Australia, China, and India. Historical challenges to predicting CBM-well performance and long-term production have included accurate estimation of gas in place (including quantification of in-situ sorbed gas storage); estimation of initial fluid saturations (in saturated reservoirs) and mobile water in place; estimation of the degree of undersaturation (undersaturated coals produce mainly water above desorption pressure); estimation of initial absolute permeability (system); selection of appropriate relative permeability curves; estimation of absolute-permeability changes as a function of depletion; prediction of produced-gas composition changes as a function of depletion; accounting for multilayer behavior; and accurate prediction of cavity or hydraulic-fracture properties. These challenges have primarily been a result of the unique reservoir properties of CBM. Much progress has been made in the past decade to evaluate fundamental properties of coal reservoirs, but obtaining accurate estimates of some basic reservoir and geomechanical properties remains challenging.The purpose of the current work is to review the state of the art in field-based techniques for CBM reservoir-property and stimulation-efficiency evaluation. Advances in production and pressure-transient analysis, gas-content determination, and material-balance methods made in the past 2 decades will be summarized. The impact of these new methods on the evaluation of key reservoir properties, such as absolute/relative permeability and gas content/gas in place, as well as completion/stimulation properties will be discussed. Recommendations on key surveillance data to assist with field-based evaluation of CBM, along with insight into practical usage of these data, will be provided.
Experimental Study of Controlled Gravity Drainage in Fractured Porous Media
Authors: Zendehboudi Sohrab , Chatzis Ioannis 
Published: February 2011

Summary
Oil production from a fractured reservoir with a gas cap and an oil zone usually takes place at a constant withdrawal rate until gas breakthrough; thereafter, the pumping rate is influenced by the presence of gas. Knowing the effect of pumping rate on production performance before gas breakthrough and selecting optimum pumping rates are necessary. In this paper, the concept of "critical production rate" (CPR) is introduced; it is the production rate at which a porous medium has a recovery factor (RF) equal to that for higher rates before gas enters into the production well, and is also the rate above which the difference between liquid levels in the fracture and matrix remains unchanged. One may use the CPR to choose a lower pumping rate to increase RF before gas breakthrough and to aid in understanding the physics of pumping from fractured media in real cases.
Flow visualization experiments were performed using rectangular unconsolidated-packed models with two fractures on the sides. Sensitivity analyses were performed on the effect of different system parameters on the CPR, the maximum possible withdrawal rate (MPWR), RF at gas breakthrough, and gas-liquid (G-L) interface behaviour in both matrix and fractures. Results show that as long as the porous medium is drained with a constant liquid withdrawal rate below CPR, the height difference between G-L interfaces in the matrix and fracture remains constant. CPR and RF can also be related to other system parameters using dimensionless numbers, such as fracture/matrix permeability ratio and Bond number.
Carbonylation Contributes to SERCA2a Activity Loss and Diastolic Dysfunction in a Rat Model of Type 1 Diabetes
Authors: Shao Chun Hong , Capek Haley L. , Patel Kaushik P. , Wang Mu , Tang Kang , DeSouza Cyrus , Nagai Ryoji , Mayhan William , Periasamy Muthu , Bidasee Keshore R. 
Published: February 2011

OBJECTIVE
Approximately 25% of children and adolescents with type 1 diabetes will develop diastolic dysfunction. This defect, which is characterized by an increase in time to cardiac relaxation, results in part from a reduction in the activity of the sarco(endo)plasmic reticulum Ca2+-ATPase (SERCA2a), the ATP-driven pump that translocates Ca2+ from the cytoplasm to the lumen of the sarcoplasmic reticulum. To date, mechanisms responsible for SERCA2a activity loss remain incompletely characterized.

RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODS
The streptozotocin (STZ)-induced murine model of type 1 diabetes, in combination with echocardiography, high-speed video detection, confocal microscopy, ATPase and Ca2+ uptake assays, Western blots, mass spectrometry, and site-directed mutagenesis, were used to assess whether modification by reactive carbonyl species (RCS) contributes to SERCA2a activity loss.

RESULTS
After 6–7 weeks of diabetes, cardiac and myocyte relaxation times were prolonged. Total ventricular SERCA2a protein remained unchanged, but its ability to hydrolyze ATP and transport Ca2+ was significantly reduced. Western blots and mass spectroscopic analyses revealed carbonyl adducts on select basic residues of SERCA2a. Mutating affected residues to mimic physio-chemical changes induced on them by RCS reduced SERCA2a activity. Preincubating with the RCS, methylglyoxal (MGO) likewise reduced SERCA2a activity. Mutating an impacted residue to chemically inert glutamine did not alter SERCA2a activity, but it blunted MGO's effect. Treating STZ-induced diabetic animals with the RCS scavenger, pyridoxamine, blunted SERCA2a activity loss and minimized diastolic dysfunction.

CONCLUSIONS
These data identify carbonylation as a novel mechanism that contributes to SERCA2a activity loss and diastolic dysfunction during type 1 diabetes.
Glycosylation Failure Extends to Glycoproteins in Gestational Diabetes Mellitus
Authors: Lee Cheuk-Lun , Chiu Philip C.N. , Pang Poh-Choo , Chu Ivan K. , Lee Kai-Fai , Koistinen Riitta , Koistinen Hannu , Seppälä Markku , Morris Howard R. , Tissot Bérangère , Panico Maria , Dell Anne , Yeung William S.B. 
Published: February 2011

OBJECTIVEGestational diabetes mellitus (GDM) is a common metabolic disorder of pregnancy. Patients with GDM are at risk for high fetal mortality and gestational complications associated with reduced immune tolerance and abnormal carbohydrate metabolism. Glycodelin-A (GdA) is an abundant decidual glycoprotein with glycosylation-dependent immunomodulatory activities. We hypothesized that aberrant carbohydrate metabolism in GDM was associated with changes in glycosylation of GdA, leading to defective immunomodulatory activities.RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODSGdA in the amniotic fluid from women with normal (NGdA) and GDM (DGdA) pregnancies was purified by affinity chromatography. Structural analysis of protein glycosylation was preformed by lectin-binding assay and mass spectrometry. Cytotoxicity, cell death, cytokine secretion, and GdA binding of the GdA-treated lymphocytes and natural killer (NK) cells were determined. The sialidase activity in the placental tissue from normal and GDM patients was measured.RESULTSGDM affected the glycosylation but not the protein core of GdA. Specifically, DGdA had a lower abundance of α2-6–sialylated and high-mannose glycans and a higher abundance of glycans with Sda (NeuAcα2-3[GalNAcβ1-4]Gal) epitopes compared with NGdA. DGdA had reduced immuosuppressive activities in terms of cytotoxicity on lymphocytes, inhibitory activities on interleukin (IL)-2 secretion by lymphocytes, stimulatory activities on IL-6 secretion by NK cells, and binding to these cells. Desialylation abolished the immunomodulation and binding of NGdA. Placental sialidase activity was increased in GDM patients, which may account for the reduced sialic acid content of DGdA.CONCLUSIONSTaken together, this study provides the first direct evidence for altered enzymatic glycosylation and impaired bioactivity of GdA in GDM patients.