bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Thermal discomfort with cold extremities in relation to age, gender, and body mass index in a random sample of a Swiss urban population
Authors: Mozaffarieh Maneli , Fontana Gasio Paola , Schötzau Andreas , Orgül Selim , Flammer Josef , Kräuchi Kurt 
Published: June 2010

Abstract

Background
The aim of this epidemiological study was to investigate the relationship of thermal discomfort with cold extremities (TDCE) to age, gender, and body mass index (BMI) in a Swiss urban population.

Methods
In a random population sample of Basel city, 2,800 subjects aged 20-40 years were asked to complete a questionnaire evaluating the extent of cold extremities. Values of cold extremities were based on questionnaire-derived scores. The correlation of age, gender, and BMI to TDCE was analyzed using multiple regression analysis.

Results
A total of 1,001 women (72.3% response rate) and 809 men (60% response rate) returned a completed questionnaire. Statistical analyses revealed the following findings: Younger subjects suffered more intensely from cold extremities than the elderly, and women suffered more than men (particularly younger women). Slimmer subjects suffered significantly more often from cold extremities than subjects with higher BMIs.

Conclusions
Thermal discomfort with cold extremities (a relevant symptom of primary vascular dysregulation) occurs at highest intensity in younger, slimmer women and at lowest intensity in elderly, stouter men.
Producing infectious enterovirus type 71 in a rapid strategy
Authors: Han Jian-Feng , Cao Rui-Yuan , Tian Xue , Yu Man , Qin E-De , Qin Cheng-Feng 
Published: June 2010

Abstract

Background
Enterovirus 71 (EV71) is an etiologic agent of hand-foot-and-mouth disease (HFMD), and recent HFMD epidemics worldwide have been associated with a severe form of brainstem encephalitis associated with pulmonary edema and high case-fatality rates. EV71 contains a positive-sense single-stranded genome RNA of approximately 7400 bp in length which encodes a polyprotein with a single open reading frame (ORF), which is flanked by untranslated regions at both the 5' and 3' ends.

Results
A long distance RT-PCR assay was developed to amplify the full length genome cDNA of EV71 by using specific primes carrying a SP6 promoter. Then the in vitro synthesized RNA transcripts from the RT-PCR amplicons were then transfected into RD cells to produce the rescued virus. The rescued virus was further characterized by RT-PCR and indirect fluorescent-antibody (IFA) assay in comparison with the wild type virus. The rescued viruses were infectious on RD cells and neurovirulent when intracerebrally injected into suckling mice.

Conclusions
Thus, we established a rapid method to produce the infectious full length cDNA of EV71 directly from RNA preparations and specific mutations can be easily engineered into the rescued enterovirus genome by this method.
Pathogenesis and antigenic characterization of a new East European subtype 3 porcine reproductive and respiratory syndrome virus isolate
Authors: Karniychuk Uladzimir U , Geldhof Marc , Vanhee Merijn , Van Doorsselaere Jan , Saveleva Tamara A , Nauwynck Hans J 
Published: June 2010

Abstract

Background
Porcine reproductive and respiratory syndrome virus (PRRSV) is divided into a European and North American genotype. East European PRRSV isolates have been found to be of the European genotype, but form different subtypes. In the present study, PRRSV was isolated from a Belarusian farm with reproductive and respiratory failure and designated "Lena". Analyses revealed that Lena is a new East European subtype 3 PRRSV isolate. The main purpose of this investigation was to study the pathogenesis and antigenic characteristics of PRRSV (Lena).

Results
Obvious clinical and virological differences were observed between the animals inoculated with a recent European subtype 1 PRRSV isolate (Belgium A) and animals inoculated with PRRSV (Lena). Three out of six pigs inoculated with PRRSV (Belgium A) had anorexia and low fever at 3, 4 and 5 days post-inoculation (dpi). High fever, anorexia and depression were prominent signs in most pigs inoculated with PRRSV (Lena) between 2 and 28 dpi. Four pigs out of ten died during the experiment. Arcanobacterium pyogenes was isolated from lungs of one animal that died, and Streptococcus suis was isolated from lungs of one animal that was euthanized. The difference in viral titres in sera from PRRSV (Belgium A) and PRRSV (Lena)-infected pigs was statistically significant (p < 0.05) at 7, 10, 14 and 21 dpi. The highest viral titres in sera ranged from 104.8 to 106.1 TCID50/ml for PRRSV (Lena) whereas they ranged from 103.1 to 104.8 TCID50/ml for PRRSV (Belgium A).
The replication of PRRSV (Lena) was further studied in depth. Viral titres ranged from 102.5 TCID50/100 mg to 105.6 TCID50/100 mg in nasal secretions between 3 and 14 dpi and from 102.8 TCID50/100 mg to 104.6 TCID50/100 mg in tonsillar scrapings between 3 and 21 dpi. High viral titres were detected in lungs (102.3-107.7 TCID50/g tissue), tonsils (102.0-106.2 TCID50/g tissue) and inguinal lymph nodes (102.2-106.6 TCID50/g tissue) until 35, 28 and 35 dpi, respectively.
To examine the antigenic heterogeneity between the East European subtype 3 isolate Lena, the European subtype 1 strain Lelystad and the North American strain US5, sets of monospecific polyclonal antisera were tested in immunoperoxidase monolayer assays (IPMAs) with homologous and heterologous viral antigens. Heterologous antibody titres were significantly lower than homologous titres (p = 0.01-0.03) for antisera against PRRSV (Lena) at all sampling time points. For antisera against PRRSV (Lelystad) and PRRSV (US5), heterologous antibody titres were significantly lower than homologous titres at 14 and 21 dpi (p = 0.01-0.03) and at 10 and 14 dpi (p = 0.04), respectively.

Conclusions
Lena is a highly pathogenic East European subtype 3 PRRSV, which differs from European subtype 1 Lelystad and North American US5 strains at both the genetic and antigenic level.
View and review on viral oncology research
Authors: Bergonzini Valeria , Salata Cristiano , Calistri Arianna , Parolin Cristina , Palù Giorgio 
Published: June 2010

AbstractTo date, almost one and a half million cases of cancer are diagnosed every year in the US and nearly 560,000 Americans are expected to die of cancer in the current year, more than 1,500 people a day (data from the American Cancer Society athttp://www.cancer.org/). According to the World Health Organization (WHO), roughly 20% of all cancers worldwide results from chronic infections; in particular, up to 15% of human cancers is characterized by a viral aetiology with higher incidence in Developing Countries. The link between viruses and cancer was one of the pivotal discoveries in cancer research during the past Century. Indeed, the infectious nature of specific tumors has important implications in terms of their prevention, diagnosis, and therapy. In the 21stCentury, the research on viral oncology field continues to be vigorous, with new significant and original studies on viral oncogenesis and translational research from basic virology to treatment of cancer. This review will cover different viral oncology aspects, starting from the history of viral oncology and moving to the peculiar features of oncogenic RNA and DNA viruses, with a special focus on human pathogens.
Affect School for chronic benign pain patients showed improved alexithymia assessments with TAS-20
Authors: Melin Eva O , Thulesius Hans O , Persson Bengt A 
Published: June 2010

Abstract

Background
Alexithymia is a disturbance associated with psychosomatic disorders, pain syndromes, and a variety of psychiatric disorders. The Affect School (AS) based on Tomkins Affect Theory is a therapy focusing on innate affects and their physiological expressions, feelings, emotions and scripts. In this pilot study we tried the AS-intervention method in patients with chronic benign pain.

Methods
The AS-intervention, with 8 weekly group sessions and 10 individual sessions, was offered to 59 patients with chronic non-malignant pain at a pain rehabilitation clinic in Sweden 2004-2005. Pre and post intervention assessments were done with the Hospital Anxiety and Depression scale (HAD), the Toronto Alexithymia Scale-20 (TAS-20), the Visual Analogue Scale for pain assessment (VAS-pain), the European Quality of Life health barometer (EQoL) and the Stress and Crisis Inventory-93 (SCI-93). After the group sessions we used Bergdahl's Questionnaire for assessing changes in interpersonal relations, general well-being and evaluation of AS.

Results
The AS intervention was completed by 54 out of 59 (92%) patients. Significant reductions in total TAS-20 post-test scores (p = 0.0006) as well as TAS-20 DIF and DDF factors (Difficulties Identifying Feelings, and Difficulties Describing Feelings) were seen (p = 0.0001, and p = 0.0008) while the EOT factor (Externally Oriented Thinking) did not change. Improvements of HAD-depression scores (p = 0.04), EQoL (p = 0.02) and self-assessed changes in relations to others (p < 0.001) were also seen. After Bonferroni Correction for Multiple Analyses the TAS-20 test score reduction was still significant as well as Bergdahl's test after group sessions. The HAD, EQoL, SCI-93, and VAS-pain scores were not significantly changed. The AS-intervention was ranked high by the participants.

Conclusions
This pilot study involving 59 patients with chronic benign pain indicates that the alexithymia DIF and DDF, as well as depression, social relations and quality of life may be improved by the Affect School therapeutic intervention.
Successful medical management of emphysematous gastritis with concomitant portal venous air: a case report
Authors: Paul Manju , John Savio , Menon Madhav C , Golewale Nazar H , Weiss Stan L , Murthy Uma K 
Published: June 2010

Abstract

Introduction
The causes of diffuse abdominal pain following pelvic surgery are numerous. We present a rare case of acute abdominal pain in a woman in the post-partum period.

Case presentation
A 25-year-old Caucasian woman with neurofibromatosis type 1 presented to our hospital with diffuse abdominal pain immediately after a cesarean section. The patient was acutely ill and toxic with a fever of 38.8°C, a pulse of 120 beats per minute and a distended abdomen with absent bowel sounds. A computed tomography scan showed air in the wall of the stomach and portal venous system. The patient was successfully treated with intravenous antibiotics, bowel rest and total parenteral nutrition.

Conclusion
It is rare for a case of emphysematous gastritis associated with portal venous air to be treated successfully without surgery. To the best of our knowledge, to date there has been no reported association of emphysematous gastritis with neurofibromatosis.
Differential Replication of Two Chloroplast Genome Forms in Heteroplasmic Chlamydomonas reinhardtii Gametes Contributes to Alternative Inheritance Patterns
Authors: Nishimura Yoshiki , Stern David B 
Published: June 2010

Abstract
Two mechanisms for chloroplast DNA replication have been revealed through the study of an unusual heteroplasmic strain of the green alga Chlamydomonas reinhardtii. Heteroplasmy is a state in which more than one genome type occurs in a mitochondrion or chloroplast. The Chlamydomonas strain spa19 bears two distinct chloroplast genomes, termed PS+ and PS−. PS+ genomes predominate and are stably maintained in vegetative cells, despite their lack of known replication origins. In sexual crosses with spa19 as the mating type plus parent, however, PS+ genomes are transmitted in only ∼25% of tetrads, whereas the PS− genomes are faithfully inherited in all progeny. In this research, we have explored the mechanism underlying this biased uniparental inheritance. We show that the relative reduction and dilution of PS+ vs. PS− genomes takes place during gametogenesis. Bromodeoxyuridine labeling, followed by immunoprecipitation and PCR, was used to compare replication activities of PS+ and PS− genomes. We found that the replication of PS+ genomes is specifically suppressed during gametogenesis and germination of zygospores, a phenomenon that also was observed when spa19 cells were treated with rifampicin, an inhibitor of the chloroplast RNA polymerase. Furthermore, when bromodeoxyuridine incorporation was compared at 11 sites within the chloroplast genome between vegetative cells, gametes, and rifampicin-treated cells by quantitative PCR, we found that incorporation was often reduced at the same sites in gametes that were also sensitive to rifampicin treatment. We conclude that a transcription-mediated form of DNA replication priming, which may be downregulated during gametogenesis, is indispensable for robust maintenance of PS+ genomes. These results highlight the potential for chloroplast genome copy number regulation through alternative replication strategies.
Colonization of the Lesser Antilles by land birds
Authors: Ricklefs Robert E. 
Published: June 2010

This study addresses characteristics of source and island populations of non‐raptorial land birds that have colonized the Lesser Antilles to determine whether colonization by individual source populations is a continuous process or occurs in transient phases. Species were classed as non‐colonists, recent colonists, old endemic residents in the Lesser Antilles, and old endemic taxa that had recently spread within the archipelago. If colonization were transient, source populations of recent colonists would be more widely distributed than source populations of older, endemic island species. I compared the ecological and geographic distributions of source populations and island populations for each of the colonization groups based on a variety of literature and field data. Ages of colonization events and spread within the islands were determined by sequence divergence in mitochondrial genes, where available; relative ages were otherwise inferred from taxonomic differentiation and gaps in island distribution.Within the Lesser Antilles, old colonists, whether endemic or recently spread, tended to inhabit forest rather than open environments. Recently spread old colonists, like young colonists, had relatively greater abundance and broader habitat distribution within islands. These patterns were paralleled in northern South American source populations, but the trends were relatively weak. The strongest pattern was the propensity for source populations of young colonists and older, re‐expanded endemics to occur independently on islands off the Caribbean coast of Venezuela. In comparisons with non‐colonists in Trinidad, species that have recently colonized the Lesser Antilles tended to occur in more open habitats and to be more abundant locally, as well as more widespread through continental zoogeographical zones. Nested ANOVA based on a taxonomic hierarchy demonstrated that relative abundance and ecological and geographic distributions are labile, most of the variation being among species within genera. This is consistent with the idea that periods of high population productivity leading to colonization of offshore islands are transient. The existence of such phases can be inferred from correlations, albeit weak, between the status of populations in the Lesser Antilles and the ecological and geographic distribution of their putative source populations in the mainland.
Optimal Reinsurance for Variance Related Premium Calculation Principles
Authors: Guerra Manuel , Centeno Maria de Lourdes 
Published: June 2010

AbstractThis paper deals with numerical computation of the optimal form of reinsurance from the ceding company point of view, when the cedent seeks to maximize the adjustment coefficient of the retained risk and the reinsurance loading is an increasing function of the variance.We compare the optimal treaty with the best stop loss policy. The optimal arrangement can provide a significant improvement in the adjustment coefficient when compared to the best stop loss treaty. Further, it is substantially more robust with respect to choice of the retention level than stop-loss treaties.
The Devil is in the Tails: Actuarial Mathematics and the Subprime Mortgage Crisis
Authors: Donnelly Catherine , Embrechts Paul 
Published: June 2010

AbstractIn the aftermath of the 2007-2008 financial crisis, there has been criticism of mathematics and the mathematical models used by the finance industry. We answer these criticisms through a discussion of some of the actuarial models used in the pricing of credit derivatives. As an example, we focus in particular on the Gaussian copula model and its drawbacks. To put this discussion into its proper context, we give a synopsis of the financial crisis and a brief introduction to some of the common credit derivatives and highlight the difficulties in valuing some of them.We also take a closer look at the risk management issues in part of the insurance industry that came to light during the financial crisis. As a backdrop to this, we recount the events that took place at American International Group during the financial crisis. Finally, through our paper we hope to bring to the attention of a broad actuarial readership some “lessons (to be) learned” or “events not to be forgotten”.
Optimal Reinsurance Revisited – A Geometric Approach
Authors: Cheung Ka Chun 
Published: June 2010

AbstractIn this paper, we reexamine the two optimal reinsurance problems studied in Cai et al. (2008), in which the objectives are to find the optimal reinsurance contracts that minimize the value-at-risk (VaR) and the conditional tail expectation (CTE) of the total risk exposure under the expectation premium principle. We provide a simpler and more transparent approach to solve these problems by using intuitive geometric arguments. The usefulness of this approach is further demonstrated by solving the VaR-minimization problem when the expectation premium principle is replaced by Wang's premium principle.
On the Upcrossing and Downcrossing Probabilities of a Dual Risk Model With Phase-Type Gains
Authors: Ng Andrew C.Y. 
Published: June 2010

AbstractIn this paper, we consider the dual of the classical Cramér-Lundberg model when gains follow a phase-type distribution. By using the property of phase-type distribution, two pairs of upcrossing and downcrossing barrier probabilities are derived. Explicit formulas for the expected total discounted dividends until ruin and the Laplace transform of the time of ruin under a variety of dividend strategies can then be obtained without the use of Laplace transforms.
Pricing of Reinsurance Contracts in the Presence of Catastrophe Bonds
Authors: Haslip Gareth G. , Kaishev Vladimir K. 
Published: June 2010

AbstractA methodology for pricing of reinsurance contracts in the presence of a catastrophe bond is developed. An important advantage of this approach is that it allows for the pricing of reinsurance contracts consistent with the observed market prices of catastrophe bonds on the same underlying risk process.Within the proposed methodology, an appropriate financial pricing formula is derived, under a market implied risk neutral probability measure for both a catastrophe bond and an aggregate excess of loss reinsurance contract, using a generalised Fourier transform. Efficient numerical methods for the evaluation of this formula, such as the Fast Fourier transform and Fractional Fast Fourier transform, are considered.The methodology is illustrated on several examples including Pareto and Gamma claim severities.
Comonotonic Approximations to Quantiles of Life Annuity Conditional Expected Present Values: Extensions to General Arima Models and Comparison with the Bootstrap
Authors: Denuit M. , Haberman S. , Renshaw A.E. 
Published: June 2010

AbstractThis paper aims to provide accurate approximations for the quantiles of the conditional expected present value of the payments made by the annuity provider, given the future path of the Lee-Carter time index. Conditional cohort and period life expectancies are also considered. The paper also addresses some associated simulation issues, which, hitherto, have been unresolved.
Bounded Relative Error Importance Sampling and Rare Event Simulation
Authors: McLeish Don L. 
Published: June 2010

AbstractWe consider estimating tail events using exponential families of importance sampling distributions. When the cannonical sufficient statistic for the exponential family mimics the tail behaviour of the underlying cumulative distribution function, we can achieve bounded relative error for estimating tail probabilities. Examples of rare event simulation from various distributions including Tukey's g&h distribution are provided.
Modulation of Notch-1 Signaling Alleviates Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor–Mediated Diabetic Nephropathy
Authors: Lin Chun-Liang , Wang Feng-Sheng , Hsu Yen-Chen , Chen Cheng-Nan , Tseng Min-Jen , Saleem Moin A. , Chang Pey-Jium , Wang Jeng-Yi 
Published: June 2010

OBJECTIVE
Disturbances in podocytes are typically associated with marked proteinuria, a hallmark of diabetic nephropathy. This study was conducted to investigate modulation of Notch-1 signaling in high glucose (HG)-stressed human podocytes and in a diabetic animal model.

RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODS
Expression of the Notch signaling components was examined in HG-treated podocytes, human embryonic kidney cells (HEK293), and kidneys from diabetic animals by RT-qPCR, Western blot analysis, and immunohistochemical staining. The association between the Notch signaling, VEGF expression, and podocyte integrity was evaluated.

RESULTS
Notch-1 signaling was significantly activated in HG-cultured human podocytes and HEK293 cells and kidneys from diabetic animals. HG also augmented VEGF expression, decreasing nephrin expression and podocyte number—a critical event for the development of proteinuria in diabetic nephropathy. After use of pharmacological modulators or specific shRNA knockdown strategies, inhibition of Notch-1 signaling significantly abrogated VEGF activation and nephrin repression in HG-stressed cells and ameliorated proteinuria in the diabetic kidney.

CONCLUSIONS
Our findings suggest that upregulation of Notch-1 signaling in HG-treated renal podocytes induces VEGF expression and subsequent nephrin repression and apoptosis. Modulation of Notch-1 signaling may hold promise as a novel therapeutic strategy for the treatment of diabetic nephropathy.