bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Small-scale gill-net fisheries cause massive green turtle Chelonia mydas mortality in Baja California Sur, Mexico
Authors: Mancini Agnese , Koch Volker , Seminoff Jeffrey A. , Madon Bénédicte 
Published: November 2011

AbstractThe coastal waters of Baja California Sur, Mexico, include some of the most important foraging grounds of the East Pacific green turtle Chelonia mydas. However, they are also important fishing grounds for artisanal fleets, leading potentially to high levels of bycatch mortality. We studied the impact of a small-scale gill-net fishery at San Ignacio lagoon, north-west Mexico, an important green turtle feeding ground. We conducted mortality censuses and interviewed local fishers to estimate total bycatch mortality at the lagoon. We also used marked drifters and carcasses to estimate stranding probabilities of turtles taken as bycatch. During 2006–2009 we found 262 dead turtles; 96% of the mortality occurred in May–August corresponding to the fishing season for halibut Paralichthys californicus and guitar-fish (Rhinobatus sp.). Stranding probability estimated from drifters was 0.062 (95% confidence interval, CI, 0.035–0.094), yielding a minimum mortality of 3,516 turtles during 2006–2008 (95% CI 2,364–6,057) or 1,172 animals per year. This is probably an underestimate of real mortality as the drifters have higher stranding probabilities than carcasses and most of the nets were set in the lower lagoon where carcasses rarely strand. Interviews with local fishers yielded a similar estimate of 1,087 (95% CI 901–1,286) dead turtles per year. This study is emblematic of the impact of artisanal fleets on marine turtles caused by overlap of fishing and turtle feeding areas. In 2009 strandings declined by > 97%, resulting from a change in fishing practices because of increased vigilance by enforcement authorities, underscoring the importance of law enforcement to protect threatened species.
Using population viability analysis to guide research and conservation actions for Australia's threatened malleefowl Leipoa ocellata
Authors: Bode Michael , Brennan Karl E. C. 
Published: November 2011

AbstractMalleefowl Leipoa ocellata populations across Australia are declining and the range of the species is contracting. Despite a century of research much uncertainty remains about which factors are driving this decline. Consequently, it is also unclear which conservation actions will reduce the species’ extinction risk. In particular, we lack a quantitative understanding of malleefowl population dynamics. Here we use estimates derived from the literature to provide the first parametrization of a population viability analysis (PVA) for malleefowl. This model creates a quantitative framework for synthesizing existing information and comparing potential management strategies, and will help guide research activities by identifying critical aspects of the malleefowl’s life history. We model population dynamics as stochastic events that depend on individual characteristics, weather conditions and local management actions. Our PVA indicates that an isolated population of 32 adult birds would almost certainly decline to extinction over a 20-year period. Translocating and releasing captive-bred juveniles slows this rate of decline and intensively baiting for foxes can reverse it. Adult mortality rates have the greatest influence on population viability, and land managers should therefore prioritize conservation actions that target adult survivorship over actions that benefit earlier life stages. Quantitative research on the malleefowl should focus on the demographics of the adult life stage, their dispersal and the impacts of fire and grazing. Our analysis highlights the role of PVA models in assessing the cost-effectiveness of alternative management actions, and framing future research priorities for threatened species.
Did hybridization save the Norfolk Island boobook owlNinox novaeseelandiae undulata?
Authors: Garnett Stephen T. , Olsen Penny , Butchart Stuart H.M. , Hoffmann Ary. A. 
Published: November 2011

AbstractThe population of the Norfolk Island boobook owlNinox novaeseelandiae undulata, a nocturnal bird restricted to the Australian territory of Norfolk Island, was reduced to a single female in 1986. Deliberate introduction of two males of its nearest relative, the New Zealand boobookN. n. novaeseelandiae, as a conservation intervention has allowed the taxon to persist on Norfolk Island, albeit in hybrid form. Although declared Extinct in 2000, a re-examination of this unique situation has concluded there is a strong argument that the taxon should be categorized as Critically Endangered because, on average, approximately half the nuclear genome of the original taxon and all the mitochondrial DNA is conserved in all living owls on the island. This thus represents a special case in which the taxon can be considered to be extant, in hybrid form, even though no pure-bred individuals survive. More generally, we suggest that, in exceptional cases, hybridization may not be a threat to highly threatened species and that guidelines are needed to determine when to consider hybrid populations as extant forms of the original taxon, and when to declare extinction through hybridization.
Effects of prednisolone on murine strongyloidiasis
Authors: Grove D. I. , Dawkins H. J. S. 
Published: November 2011

SUMMARYThe effects of prednisolone were investigated in C57B1/6 mice infected with Strongyloides ratti. In primary infections, the numbers of adult worms in the small intestine and larvae in the stools were increased and there was a slight delay in the spontaneous expulsion of worms. In secondary infections, there was an initial suppression of acquired resistance, with larvae appearing normally in the stools on the 5th day after infection. This was followed, however, by a rapid development of resistance and expulsion of worms over the next few days. Prednisolone treatment did not alter fecundity in primary or secondary infections. There was no evidence of autoinfection in control or corticosteroid-treated animals. Prednisolone abrogated innate resistance to infection in C3H mice. It is concluded that prednisolone probably facilitated infection by non-specific mechanisms as well as by suppressing specific acquired immunity.
Cellular immune response of Drosophila melanogaster against Asobara tabida
Authors: Nappi A. J. 
Published: November 2011

SUMMARYThe successful cellular immune response of larvae of D. melanogaster against A. tabida is characterized by an increase in the number of blood cells, a premature transformation of spherical plasmatocytes to flattened, disc-shaped lamellocytes, and the lysis of crystal cells. The plasmatocytes and transformed lamellocytes rapidly aggregate around the eggs of the parasite to form a cellular capsule, while the lysing crystal cells release substances causing the melanization of the capsule. The early appearance of large numbers of transformed blood cells in the haemolymph prior to their involvement in capsule formation suggests that transformation is independent of cell contact with the parasite and may be due instead to biochemical stimuli emitted from the parasite and/or by hormonal changes. Quantitative blood cell studies of hosts exhibiting no encapsulation and melanization response indicate that successfully developing parasites are recognized by the immune system but are able sufficiently to block the blood cell transformation and thus prevent capsule formation.
Investigations on a Babesia isolated from Scottish sheep
Authors: Purnell R. E. , Lewis D. , Holman M. R. , Young E. R. 
Published: November 2011

SUMMARYThe pathognomic, serologie and morphometric identity of a Babesia sp. recently isolated from sheep in Argyllshire was studied. Initially, problems were encountered due to the occurrence of Eperythrozoon ovis as a contaminant of the isolate and treatment with neoarsphenamine failed to remove it. Finally, a combination of oxytetracycline therapy and rapid passage allowed isolation of the Babesia sp. and its preservation in the form of a glycerolized, infected blood stabilate. Inoculation of the stabilate into splenectomized sheep produced a mild non-pyrogenic disease. Serologically the parasite was seen to have no affinity with either of the two Babesia recognized as parasitizing sheep, but some affinity with the cattle parasite B. divergens. Morphometrically it was seen to have affinity with the deer parasite B. capreoli and with the Babesia sp. isolated from red deer in Scotland, and the low number of budding forms of the parasite seen suggested that the parasite might be reproducing slowly in an alien host. It was concluded that the parasite was likely to be B. capreoli derived from red deer via the tick Ixodes ricinus.
What Management Does to Space Projects: The Franco-Soviet Project ARCAD 3 in the Late 1970s
Authors: Lamy Jérôme 
Published: November 2011

ArgumentSpace projects represent, after World War II, the archetype of large-scale organization of scientific practices that are flexible, temporary, and oriented towards specific goals. A new form of activity, the project, emerged through the management of technical means, allocation of skills, and coordination of various players. Project management emerged as the synthesis of a set of social practices designed to subordinate as well as synchronize the initiatives of researchers, engineers, and technicians who had temporarily joined forces. This article presents the genesis and deployment of the Franco-Soviet space program ARCAD 3 whose purpose was to study the magnetosphere with a satellite. This study is situated at the junction of three historiographical dimensions: scientific writings, links between action and graphic forms, and Big Science. The diagrams, organization charts and schedules produced by the French space agency throughout the entire project form the documentary substrata of this analysis. These graphic management tools define the role of each player, designate fields of competence, and specify the temporality of actions. A self-monitoring system as well as surveillance instrument, diagrams, organization charts and schedules are linked to form a certain vision of authority along the lines of the “neoliberal governmentality” defined by Michel Foucault. By defining in advance and in writing all the possible (or impossible) relationships, the chronological order of activities as well as the actions to be performed, graphic project management tools contribute to the transfer of coercive panoptic mechanisms towards a minimal organization of relationships between individuals.
Status assessment of the Critically Endangered Azores BullfinchPyrrhula murina
Authors: CEIA RICARDO S. , RAMOS JAIME A. , HELENO RUBEN H. , HILTON GEOFF M. , MARQUES TIAGO A. 
Published: November 2011

SummaryThe Azores Bullfinch is endemic to the island of São Miguel (Azores, Portugal). Its status was uplisted to Critically Endangered in 2005 on the basis of an extremely small and declining population that was considered to be restricted to a very small mountain range (43 km2), in a single location, within which the spread of invasive plants constituted a threat to habitat quality. Nevertheless, information was mostly inferred, or the product of, non-systematic studies. In order to carry out a complete assessment of the conservation status we analysed: (i) population trend, calculated from annual monitoring 1991–2008, (ii) population size, and (iii) range size, obtaining estimates in a single morning study in 2008 involving the simultaneous participation of 48 observers. Contrary to previous inferences, the population is no longer decreasing, although quality of laurel forest habitat continues to decline due to the persistent threat of invasive species. Population size (mean ± SE) was estimated at 1,064 ± 304 individuals using distance sampling methods, although the estimate was very sensitive to the survey method used. Range size estimates (extent of occurrence and area of occupancy) were 144 km2and 83 km2respectively. Given the present information, we propose the downlisting of Azores Bullfinch to Endangered on the IUCN Red List.
Economic impacts of regional water scarcity in the São Francisco River Basin, Brazil: an application of a linked hydro-economic model
Authors: Torres Marcelo de O. , Maneta Marco , Howitt Richard , Vosti Stephen A. , Wallender Wesley W. , Bassoi Luís H. , Rodrigues Lineu N. 
Published: November 2011

AbstractThis paper presents a linked hydro-economic model and uses it to examine the regional effects of water use regulations and product price changes on the agriculture of the São Francisco River Basin, Brazil. The effects of weather on surface water availability are explicitly addressed using the hydrological model MIKE-Basin. Farmers’ adjustments to changes in precipitation, surface water availability, and other factors are quantified using an economic model based on non-linear programming techniques. The models are externally linked. Results show that regional impacts, at the sub-basin level, vary depending on the location of each sub-basin relative to river flows. The effects of water use regulations and of exogenous price shocks on agriculture depend on weather, location, product mix and production technology. Implications of these results for policies designed to manage agriculture and water use are discussed.
GLP-1, exendin-4 and C-peptide regulate pancreatic islet microcirculation, insulin secretion and glucose tolerance in rats
Authors: Wu Lin , Olverling Anna , Huang Zhen , Jansson Leif , Chao Hongfen , Gao Xin , Sjöholm Åke 
Published: November 2011

GLP-1 (glucagon-like peptide 1) and its mimetic exendin-4 are used against Type 2 diabetes. C-peptide has also proven promising to enhance insulin action. Since insulin secretion in vivo can be rapidly tuned by changes in islet microcirculation, we evaluated the influence of GLP-1, exendin-4 and C-peptide on pancreatic IBF (islet blood flow), and dynamic changes in insulin secretion and glycaemia in the rat. Adult male Wistar rats were divided into four groups given intravenous saline, GLP-1, exendin-4 or C-peptide respectively and administered either saline or 30% glucose. Furthermore, we investigated the effect of intravenous infusion of different doses of exendin-4 into either the femoral vein or the portal vein on islet microcirculation. A non-radioactive microsphere technique was adopted to measure the regional blood flow. Both GLP-1 and exendin-4 prevented the glucose-induced PBF (pancreatic blood flow) redistribution into the islets. Infusion of exendin-4 into the portal vein did not alter pancreatic islet microcirculation, while infusion of exendin-4 into femoral vein significantly decreased basal IBF. C-peptide increased basal IBF and the proportion of IBF out of total PBF, but did not affect the islet microcirculation after glucose administration. GLP-1, exendin-4 and C-peptide stimulated insulin secretion and significantly decreased glycaemia. Blocking NO formation did not prevent the decreased IBF and post-load glycaemia evoked by exendin-4, but further decreased IBF and KBF (kidney blood flow) and increased basal glycaemia. Blocking the vagus nerve enhanced pancreatic IBF and further decreased post-load glycaemia and KBF and increased basal glycaemia. The vascular modulatory effect on pancreatic islet microcirculation described herein, with subsequent effects on in vivo insulin secretion and glycaemia, might be one of the mechanisms underlying the anti-diabetic actions of GLP-1 and its long acting mimetic exendin-4, as well as that of C-peptide.
Nucleoid-Enriched Proteomes in Developing Plastids and Chloroplasts from Maize Leaves: A New Conceptual Framework for Nucleoid Functions
Authors: Majeran Wojciech , Friso Giulia , Asakura Yukari , Qu Xian , Huang Mingshu , Ponnala Lalit , Watkins Kenneth P. , Barkan Alice , van Wijk Klaas J. 
Published: November 2011

Abstract
Plastids contain multiple copies of the plastid chromosome, folded together with proteins and RNA into nucleoids. The degree to which components of the plastid gene expression and protein biogenesis machineries are nucleoid associated, and the factors involved in plastid DNA organization, repair, and replication, are poorly understood. To provide a conceptual framework for nucleoid function, we characterized the proteomes of highly enriched nucleoid fractions of proplastids and mature chloroplasts isolated from the maize (Zea mays) leaf base and tip, respectively, using mass spectrometry. Quantitative comparisons with proteomes of unfractionated proplastids and chloroplasts facilitated the determination of nucleoid-enriched proteins. This nucleoid-enriched proteome included proteins involved in DNA replication, organization, and repair as well as transcription, mRNA processing, splicing, and editing. Many proteins of unknown function, including pentatricopeptide repeat (PPR), tetratricopeptide repeat (TPR), DnaJ, and mitochondrial transcription factor (mTERF) domain proteins, were identified. Strikingly, 70S ribosome and ribosome assembly factors were strongly overrepresented in nucleoid fractions, but protein chaperones were not. Our analysis strongly suggests that mRNA processing, splicing, and editing, as well as ribosome assembly, take place in association with the nucleoid, suggesting that these processes occur cotranscriptionally. The plastid developmental state did not dramatically change the nucleoid-enriched proteome but did quantitatively shift the predominating function from RNA metabolism in undeveloped plastids to translation and homeostasis in chloroplasts. This study extends the known maize plastid proteome by hundreds of proteins, including more than 40 PPR and mTERF domain proteins, and provides a resource for targeted studies on plastid gene expression. Details of protein identification and annotation are provided in the Plant Proteome Database.
Randomised clinical trial: the efficacy of prucalopride in patients with chronic intestinal pseudo‐obstruction – a double‐blind, placebo‐controlled, cross‐over, multiple n = 1 study
Authors: Emmanuel A. V. , Kamm M. A. , Roy A. J. , Kerstens R. , Vandeplassche L. 
Published: November 2011

Aliment Pharmacol Ther 2012; 35: 48–55SummaryBackground  Chronic intestinal pseudo‐obstruction is a disabling condition for which there are no established drug therapies. The condition is caused by a diverse range of intestinal myopathies and neuropathies.Aim  To assess the therapeutic efficacy of prucalopride, a selective high‐affinity 5‐HT4 receptor agonist, we employed a multiple n = 1 study design. Each patient acted as his/her own control, each day counting as one treatment episode, allowing comparison of 168 days on each of active drug and placebo.Methods  Double‐blind, randomised, placebo‐controlled, cross‐over trial of four 12‐week treatment periods, with 2–4 mg prucalopride or placebo daily. In each of the first and second 6 months there was a prucalopride and a placebo treatment. Patients with proven chronic intestinal pseudo‐obstruction, including dilated gut, were included. Evaluation was by patient diary and global evaluation.Results  Seven patients participated (mean 42 years, five female, median symptom duration 11 years). Three discontinued, two due to study length, and one on prucalopride due to unrelated malnutrition and bronchopneumonia. Four patients (three visceral myopathy and one visceral neuropathy) completed the study; prucalopride significantly improved pain in three of four patients, nausea in two, vomiting in one, bloating in four and analgesic intake. Bowel function was not changed substantially.Conclusions  n = 1 studies in rare conditions allow drug efficacy assessment. Prucalopride relieves symptoms in selected patients with chronic pseudo‐obstruction.
Caffeine is protective in patients with non‐alcoholic fatty liver disease
Authors: Birerdinc A. , Stepanova M. , Pawloski L. , Younossi Z. M. 
Published: November 2011

Aliment Pharmacol Ther 2012; 35: 76–82SummaryBackground  Non‐alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD), the hepatic manifestation of metabolic syndrome, is the most common cause of primary liver disease. Although recent studies have found that coffee drinking is protective against end stage chronic liver disease, there are scarce caffeine intake data in NAFLD specifically.Aim  To investigate the effects of dietary behaviour in NAFLD patients, using four continuous cycles of the National Health and Nutrition Examination Surveys (NHANES 2001–2008).Methods  Using data from four continuous cycles of NHANES, dietary intake questionnaires that list 62 nutrition components. Logistic regression was used to identify independent predictors of NAFLD among nutrition components after adjustment for potential clinical confounders. All analyses were run using sas 9.1 and sudaan 10.0 (SAS Institute Inc., Cary, NC, USA).Results  Of the 62 nutrient components used for the univariate analysis, 38% were significant (P‐value <0.05) in NAFLD with caffeine consumption being higher in the control group (P‐value <0.001). The multivariate analysis using demographics, clinical parameters and nutritional components found five factors independently associated with NAFLD [African American Race P‐value <0.001); Male gender P‐value <0.001); Obesity (BMI ≥ 30) P‐value <0.001); Caffeine intake (mg) P‐value <0.001) and total plain water consumption (g) P‐value ≤0.02)].Conclusions  Our analysis shows that caffeine intake is independently associated with a lower risk for NAFLD suggesting a potential protective effect. These data necessitate further research to elucidate the mechanism by which caffeine can protect against NAFLD.
Adjacent central venous catheters can result in immediate aspiration of infused drugs during renal replacement therapy*
Authors: Kam K. Y. R. , Mari J. M. , Wigmore T. J. 
Published: November 2011

SummaryDual‐lumen haemodiafiltration catheters enable continuous renal replacement therapy in the critically ill and are often co‐located with central venous catheters used to infuse drugs. The extent to which infusions are immediately aspirated by an adjacent haemodiafiltration catheter remains unknown. A bench model was constructed to evaluate this effect. A central venous catheter and a haemodiafiltration catheter were inserted into a simulated central vein and flow generated using centrifugal pumps within the simulated vein and haemodiafiltration circuit. Ink was used as a visual tracer and creatinine solution as a quantifiable tracer. Tracers were completely aspirated by the haemodiafiltration catheter unless the infusion was at least 1 cm downstream to the arterial port. No tracer was aspirated from catheters infusing at least 2 cm downstream. Orientation of side ports did not affect tracer elimination. Co‐location of central venous and haemodiafiltration catheters may lead to complete aspiration of infusions into the haemodiafilter with resultant drug under‐dosing.