bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Opioid receptors in skin – link between stress and skin disease?
Authors: Bigliardi‐Qi M. , Gaveriaux‐Ruff C. , Hohl D. , Bigliardi P. L. 
Published: August 2010

Opioid peptides and its receptors are highly conserved and crucial for survival in stress situations. Besides their well‐known role in antinociception, they control cell differentiation and proliferation and influence apoptosis in various tissues. We are first to discover their presence in skin and to establish their functions in modulation of chronic itch and wound healing.µ‐Opioid receptor is a key player in induction of chronic itch. This could be confirmed using µ‐opiate receptor knockout mice experiments and clinical studies on patients with chronic itch. We have induced a dry skin dermatitis as a model for chronic itching on knockout and wild type mice. µ‐Opioid receptor knockout mice revealed significant less scratching behavior, less epidermal hypertrophy and different density and quality of epidermal nerve endings compared to the wild type mice. In addition, topically applied opioid receptor antagonists relieved significantly chronic pruritus in a double‐blind, placebo‐controlled, cross‐over study in 40 patients with atopic dermatitis.Several findings suggest that the δ‐opioid receptor and its endogenous ligands (enkephalins) are important in cell differentiation and proliferation. We proved the existence of a functional active δ‐opioid receptor in different skin cells using RT‐PCR, Western blot analysis and migration assays. In addition, δ‐opioid receptor knockout mice revealed a phenotype of thinner epidermis and higher expression of cell differentiation marker cytokeratin 10 (CK 10) compared to wild‐type mice. In a burn wound model, δ‐opioid receptor knockout mice showed significant wound healing delay and a severe epidermal hypertrophy at the wound margin. This can be explained by a change of cell differentiation and migration due to the absence of a functional active δ‐opioid receptor.In summary, these experiments proved that the skin and the nervous system interact with each other in a bi‐directional way, i.e. nervous system releases neuropeptides in stress situations affecting skin homeostasis and sensations and vice versa.Therefore, the opioid receptor system is an excellent model to study the connection between psychological stress and aggravation of different skin diseases.
Comparison of pedometer and accelerometer measures of physical activity during preschool time on 3‐ to 5‐year‐old children
Authors: Pagels Peter , Boldemann Cecilia , Raustorp Anders 
Published: August 2010

AbstractAims:  To compare pedometer steps with accelerometer counts and to analyse minutes of engagement in light, moderate and vigorous physical activity in 3‐ to 5‐year‐old children during preschool time.Methods:  Physical activity was recorded during preschool time for five consecutive days in 55 three‐ to five‐year‐old children. The children wore a Yamax SW200 pedometer and an Actigraph GTIM Monitor.Results:  The average time spent at preschool was 7.22 h/day with an average step of 7313 (±3042). Steps during preschool time increased with increasing age. The overall correlation between mean step counts and mean accelerometer counts (r = 0.67, p < 0.001), as well as time in light to vigorous activity (r = 0.76, p < 0.001), were moderately high. Step counts and moderate to vigorous physical activity minutes were poorly correlated in 3 years old (r = 0.19, p < 0.191) and moderately correlated (r = 0.50, p < 0.001) for children 4 to 5 years old.Conclusion:  Correlation between the preschool children’s pedometer‐determined step counts and total engagement in physical activity during preschool time was moderately high. Children’s step counts at preschool were low, and the time spent in moderate and vigorous physical activity at preschool was very short.
Diet with a low n‐6/n‐3 essential fatty acid ratio when started immediately after the onset of overt diabetes prolongs survival of type 1 diabetes model NOD mice
Authors: Kagohashi Yukiko , Otani Hiroki 
Published: August 2010

ABSTRACTType 1 diabetes is a multifactorial disease involving genetic and environmental factors and results from the destruction of pancreatic islet β cells, virtually the only source of insulin. When the majority of β cells are lost, a ‘honeymoon’ period of variable length follows: namely, a fleeting phase of residual endogenous insulin production, during which glycemic control is achieved with modest or no doses of insulin. However, the remaining β cells are eventually lost, causing the individual to become insulin‐dependent and to require long‐term insulin therapy or islet transplantation. Here we show that NOD mice, a type 1 diabetes model, survived significantly longer when their diet was changed from one chow with a high essential fatty acid (EFA) ratio (n‐6/n‐3, 14.5) to another with a low n‐6/n‐3 ratio (3.0) within 6 days after the onset of overt diabetes (i.e. the ‘honeymoon’ period), than mice that were continuously fed with the chow with the high n‐6/n‐3 ratio. This effect was not observed when the chow was changed later than 9 days after the onset. Significantly larger number of islets remained with suggestive islet neogenesis from the pancreatic duct and pathological changes in renal glomeruli were significantly milder in NOD mice fed the chow with the low n‐6/n‐3 ratio within 6 days after the onset of overt diabetes than those continuously fed with the high‐n‐6/n‐3‐ratio chow. These findings indicate that a diet with a low n‐6/n‐3 ratio prolongs the ‘honeymoon’ period by retaining the β cell mass, suggesting its potential therapeutic merit.
Torsion in Patella caerulea (Mollusca, Patellogastropoda): ontogenetic process, timing, and mechanisms
Authors: Wanninger Andreas , Ruthensteiner Bernhard , Haszprunar Gerhard 
Published: August 2010

Abstract. Torsion is a process in gastropod ontogenesis where the visceral body portion rotates 180° relative to the head/foot region. We investigated this process in the limpet Patella caerulea by using light microscopy of living larvae, as well as scanning electron microscopy (SEM) of larvae fixed during the torsion process. The completion of the 180° twist takes considerably less time in larvae of Patella caerulea than previously described for other basal gastropod species. At a rearing temperature of 20–22°C, individuals complete ontogenetic torsion in −2 h. Furthermore, the whole process is monophasic, i.e., carried out at a constant speed, without any evidence of distinct ‘fast” or ‘slow” phases. Both larval shell muscles—the main and the accessory larval retractor—are already fully contractile before the onset of torsion. During the torsion process both retractors perform cramp‐like contractions at ∼30 s intervals, which are followed by hydraulic movements of the foot. However, retraction into the embryonic shell occurs only after torsion is completed. The formation of the larval operculum is entirely in‐dependent from ontogenetic torsion and starts before the onset of rotation, as does the mineralization of the embryonic shell. The reported variability regarding the timing (mono‐ versus biphasic; duration) of torsion in basal gastropod species precludes any attempt to interpret these data phylogenetically.The present findings indicate that the torsion process in Patella caerulea, and probably generally in basal gastropods, is primarily caused by contraction of the larval shell muscles in combination with hydraulic activities. In contrast, the adult shell musculature, which is independently formed after torsion is completed, does not contribute to ontogenetic torsion in any way. Thus, fossil data relying on muscle scars of adult shell muscles alone appear inappropriate to prove torted or untorted conditions in early Paleozoic univalved molluses. Therefore, we argue that paleontological studies dealing with gastropod phylogeny require data other than those based on fossilized attachment sites of adult shell muscles.
Limits on the molecular gas content of z ∼ 5 LBGs
Authors: Davies L. J. M. , Bremer M. N. , Stanway E. R. , Birkinshaw M. , Lehnert M. D. 
Published: August 2010

Abstract
We present limits on the molecular gas content of Lyman break galaxies (LBGs) at z ∼ 5 from observations targeting redshifted CO(1–0) and CO(2–1) line emission. We observed a single field containing eight spectroscopically confirmed z ∼ 5 LBGs, seven of which are contained within a narrow (z = 4.95 ± 0.08) redshift range and the eighth is at z= 5.2. No source was individually detected. Assuming the CO to H2 conversion factor for vigorous starbursts, we place upper limits on the molecular gas content of individual z∼ 5 LBGs of M(H2) ≲ 1010M⊙. From a stacking analysis combining all of the non-detections, the typical z ∼ 5 LBG has an H2 mass limit comparable to their stellar mass, &lt;3.1 × 109M⊙ This limit implies that, given the star formation rates of these systems (measured from their UV emission), star formation could be sustained for at most ∼ 100 Myr, similar to the typical ages of their stellar populations. The lack of a substantially larger reservoir of cold gas argues against the LBGs being UV-luminous superstarbursts embedded in much larger UV-dark systems and as a result increases the likelihood that at least those LBGs with multiple components are starbursts triggered by mergers. The sources responsible for re-ionization are expected to be starbursts similar to these systems, but with lower luminosities, masses and consequently with star formation time-scales far shorter than the recombination time-scale. If so, the ionized bubbles expected in the IGM during the re-ionization era will only infrequently have UV-luminous sources at their centres.
Formation of planets by tidal downsizing of giant planet embryos
Authors: Nayakshin Sergei 
Published: August 2010

Abstract
We hypothesize that planets are made by tidal downsizing of migrating giant planet embryos. The proposed scheme for planet formation consists of these steps: (i) a massive young protoplanetary disc fragments at R ∼ several tens to hundreds of au on gaseous clumps with masses of a few Jupiter masses; (ii) the clumps cool and contract, and simultaneously migrate closer in to the parent star; (iii) as earlier suggested by Boss, dust sediments inside the gas clumps to form terrestrial mass solid cores; (iv) if the solid core becomes more massive than , a massive gas atmosphere collapses on to the solid core and (v) when the gas clumps reach the inner few au from the star, tidal shear and evaporation due to stellar irradiation peel off the outer metal-poor envelope of the clump. If tidal disruption occurs quickly, while the system is still in stage (iii), a terrestrial planet core is left. If it happens later, in stage (iv), a metal-rich gas giant planet with a solid core emerges from the envelope.
School Food Practices of Prospective Teachers
Authors: Rossiter Melissa , Glanville Theresa , Taylor Jennifer , Blum Ilya 
Published: August 2010

ABSTRACTBackground: Schoolteachers can affect students’ eating habits in several ways: through nutrition knowledge, positive role modeling, and avoidance of unhealthy classroom food practices. In this study, the knowledge, attitudes, and eating behaviors of prospective teachers as determinants of intended classroom food practices and the school environment and its potential impact on classroom food practices were examined and explored.Methods: One hundred and three students (response rate 79%) enrolled in the final year of a bachelor of education program with at least 22 weeks of practice teaching completed a self‐administered questionnaire adapted from the Teens Eating for Energy and Nutrition at School teaching staff survey. Indexes related to classroom food practices, school food environment, personal health, fat intake, and nutrition knowledge were constructed and explored quantitatively using linear modeling techniques and contingency table analysis.Results: The majority of respondents reported a high fat intake (65%) and had mid‐to‐low nutrition knowledge (72%). While most respondents (93%) believed that a healthy school food environment was important, two thirds reported unhealthy classroom food practices. Unhealthy classroom food practices were more likely to be used by those intending to teach at the secondary level, those who held a high personal health belief, and those who demonstrated less support for a healthy school environment.Conclusions: These findings suggest that knowledge, attitudes, and food behaviors of prospective teachers may be barriers to promoting healthy food habits to their future students. Further, prospective teachers would benefit from policies and programs that support healthy classroom practices and from compulsory nutrition education in the teacher training curriculum.
Lessons Learned While Implementing a Legislated School Policy: Body Mass Index Assessments Among Arkansas’s Public School Students
Authors: Justus Michelle B. , Ryan Kevin W. , Rockenbach Joy , Katterapalli Chaitanya , Card‐Higginson Paula 
Published: August 2010

ABSTRACTBackground:  To comprehensively address the childhood and adolescent obesity epidemic, Arkansas enacted Act 1220 of 2003. Among a series of community‐ and school‐based interventions, the Act requires each public school student to have his/her body mass index (BMI) assessed and reported annually to parents. The process of implementing this policy on a statewide level and lessons learned are described in this article.Methods:  A confidential, standardized protocol to measure student BMIs and report results to parents was developed. Affordable, reliable, and durable equipment was selected and school personnel who conducted BMI assessments were trained to ensure standardization. To enhance the efficiency and ease of the measurement and reporting process and promote long‐term and locally based sustainability, during the first 3 years of implementation, a transition from a paper‐based system to a Web‐based system was made. Confidential, individualized Child Health Reports have provided students’ parents with information about the health of their children.Results:  Participation by schools and students has been high as a result of collaboration between the health and education communities and the students and their families. Childhood obesity has not increased since Act 1220 was passed into law.Conclusions:  Parents, schools, school districts, and the state are able to better understand the obesity epidemic and track progress using detailed annual data. Providing a standardized measurement protocol, equipment, and efficient data entry and report generation options has enabled Arkansas to institutionalize the BMI assessment process in public schools.
Effects of postoperative ketamine infusion on pain control and feeding behaviour in bitches undergoing mastectomy
Authors: Sarrau S. , Jourdan J. , Dupuis‐Soyris F. , Verwaerde P. 
Published: August 2010

Objectives: To determine if ketamine administered to bitches at the end of a mastectomy, followed by a six‐hour constant rate infusion (CRI), improved postoperative opioid analgesia and feeding behaviour. Methods: The bitches were randomised into three groups: the placebo group received 0·09 ml/kg isotonic saline intravenously followed by a six‐hour CRI of 0·5 ml/kg/hour, the low‐dose ketamine received 150 μg/kg ketamine intravenously followed by a six‐hour CRI of 2 μg/kg/minute and the high‐dose ketamine group received 700 μg/kg ketamine intravenously followed by a six‐hour CRI of 10 μg/kg/minute. Any additional opioids given were recorded at the time of extubation and at intervals after extubation. Food intake was evaluated eight (T8) and 20 (T20) hours after extubation by measuring the per cent coverage of basal energy requirements (BER). Results: No significant difference was observed for opioid requirements between the three groups. The mean percentages of BER coverage did not differ significantly at T8 but the difference between the high‐dose and low‐dose ketamine groups (P=0·014), and the high‐dose ketamine and placebo groups (P=0·038) was significant at T20. Clinical Significance: This study demonstrated that 700 μg/kg ketamine given intravenously postoperatively followed by a six‐hour ketamine CRI of 10 μg/kg/minute improved patient feeding behaviour.
The efficacy and safety of cefovecin in the treatment of feline abscesses and infected wounds
Authors: Stegemann M. R. , Sherington J. , Passmore C. 
Published: August 2010

Objectives:To determine the efficacy and safety of cefovecin for the treatment of bacterial abscesses and wounds in cats at clinics in Germany, France, Spain and the UK.Method:Cats with abscesses or wounds were enrolled. Cats (217) were randomised to treatment with either cefovecin administered by subcutaneous injection at 14 day intervals or amoxicillin/clavulanic acid as twice‐daily oral tablets for 14 days. Treatment courses were repeated at 14 day intervals, when deemed necessary. Clinicians assessing lesions were masked to treatment allocation. Only animals with a confirmed pretreatment bacterial pathogen were included in the efficacy analysis. Cases were evaluated 28 days after initiation of the final course of treatment.Results:Cefovecin was as efficacious as amoxicillin/clavulanic acid, and efficacy was 100 per cent for both treatments.Clinicalsignificance:Cefovecin, administered as a single subcutaneous injection repeated at 14 day intervals as required, was shown to be as efficacious as oral amoxicillin/clavulanic acid in the treatment of abscesses/wounds in cats.
Escherichia coli O157:H7 Biofilm Formation on Romaine Lettuce and Spinach Leaf Surfaces Reduces Efficacy of Irradiation and Sodium Hypochlorite Washes
Authors: Niemira Brendan A. , Cooke Peter H. 
Published: August 2010

Abstract:  Escherichia coli O157:H7 contamination of leafy green vegetables is an ongoing concern for consumers. Biofilm‐associated pathogens are relatively resistant to chemical treatments, but little is known about their response to irradiation. Leaves of Romaine lettuce and baby spinach were dip inoculated with E. coli O157:H7 and stored at 4 °C for various times (0, 24, 48, 72 h) to allow biofilms to form. After each time, leaves were treated with either a 3‐min wash with a sodium hypochlorite solution (0, 300, or 600 ppm) or increasing doses of irradiation (0, 0.25, 0.5, 0.75, or 1 kGy). Viable bacteria were recovered and enumerated. Chlorine washes were generally only moderately effective, and resulted in maximal reductions of 1.3 log CFU/g for baby spinach and 1.8 log CFU/g for Romaine. Increasing time in storage prior to chemical treatment had no effect on spinach, and had an inconsistent effect on 600 ppm applied to Romaine. Allowing time for formation of biofilm‐like aggregations reduced the efficacy of irradiation. D10 values (the dose required for a 1 log reduction) significantly increased with increasing storage time, up to 48 h postinoculation. From 0 h of storage, D10 increased from 0.19 kGy to a maximum of 0.40 to 0.43 kGy for Romaine and 0.52 to 0.54 kGy for spinach. SEM showed developing biofilms on both types of leaves during storage. Bacterial colonization of the stomata was extensive on spinach, but not on Romaine. These results indicate that the protection of bacteria on the leaf surface by biofilm formation and stomatal colonization can reduce the antimicrobial efficacy of irradiation on leafy green vegetables.Practical Application:  Before incorporating irradiation into the overall GMP/GHP chain, a packer or processor of leafy green vegetables must determine at what stage of processing and shipping the irradiation should take place. As a penetrating process, irradiation is best applied as a postpackaging intervention. Time in refrigerated storage between packaging and processing may alter the antimicrobial efficacy of irradiation. Irradiation on a commercial scale should include efforts to minimize the time delay between final packaging and irradiation of leafy vegetables.
Factors affecting pregnancy rate in Holstein‐Friesian cattle mated during summer in a tropical upland environment
Authors: ORR WN , COWAN RT , DAVISON TM 
Published: August 2010

SUMMARY The relationships between some environmental factors and reproductive rates of dairy cattle during summer in a tropical upland area were studied using records for Holstein‐Frieslan milking cows and non‐lactating growing helfers maintained at the Kalri Research Station on the Atherton Tableland in north Queensland. The Station is situated in a tropical upland environment with warm, wet summers and dry, cool winters. Data were collected over a 12‐year‐period (1977 to 1988) for cows grazing nitrogen (N)‐fertilised grass pastures and receiving either no supplement or about 3.5 kg molasses/cow/day. Cattle were mated over a 10‐week period starting from mid‐January to early February, with 32 to 36 cows and 5 to 42 heifers used in each year.There was considerable variation among years in the pregnancy rate after 3 Inseminations, with a low of 39% and a high of 94% pregnancy. This variation from year to year was reduced for cows grazing pastures receiving 300 kg N/ha/yr after molasses feeding commenced in 1984–85. Pregnancy rates after molasses Introduction were higher for cows grazing pastures receiving 300 compared with 100 kg N/ha/yr. Pregnancy rate in cows and heifers was reduced from 80 to 55% as mean daily maximum temperature increased from 26°C to 27.5°C. At mean maximum temperatures above 27°C for cows and 27.6°C for heifers pregnancy rates to 3 Inseminations were consistently below 60%.Much of the year to year variation in pregnancy rate was related to rainfall during the mating period. There was a positive association between pregnancy rate and rainfall up to 1000 mm, and this was associated with differences in growth rate of pasture. In years of very high rainfall, above 1500 mm, there was a depression in pregnancy rate, which may be related to the intense humidity in very wet years causing heat stress in cows and associated problems such as feet infections, or a deterioration in pasture quality.We conclude that much of the variation in pregnancy rate during summer may have been related to heat stress and the level of feed supply in the form of pasture and supplements.
Infection with Menangle virus in flying foxes (Pteropus spp.) in Australia
Authors: Philbey AW , Kirkland PD , Ross AD , Field HE , Srivastava M , Davis RJ , Love RJ 
Published: August 2010

Objective  To examine flying foxes (Pteropus spp.) for evidence of infection with Menangle virus.Design  Clustered non‐random sampling for serology, virus isolation and electron microscopy (EM).Procedure  Serum samples were collected from 306 Pteropus spp. in northern and eastern Australia and tested for antibodies against Menangle virus (MenV) using a virus neutralisation test (VNT). Virus isolation was attempted from tissues and faeces collected from 215 Pteropus spp. in New South Wales. Faecal samples from 68 individual Pteropus spp. and four pools of faeces were examined by transmission EM following routine negative staining and immunogold labelling.Results  Neutralising antibodies (VNT titres ≥ 8) against MenV were detected in 46% of black flying foxes (P. alecto), 41% of grey‐headed flying foxes (P. poliocephalus), 25% of spectacled flying foxes (P. conspicillatus) and 1% of little red flying foxes (P. scapulatus) in Australia. Positive sera included samples collected from P. poliocephalus in a colony adjacent to a piggery that had experienced reproductive disease caused by MenV. Virus‐like particles were observed by EM in faeces from Pteropus spp. and reactivity was detected in pooled faeces and urine by immunogold EM using sera from sows that had been exposed to MenV. Attempts to isolate the virus from the faeces and tissues from Pteropus spp. were unsuccessful.Conclusion  Serological evidence of infection with MenV was detected in Pteropus spp. in Australia. Although virus‐like particles were detected in faeces, no viruses were isolated from faeces, urine or tissues of Pteropus spp.