bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Fire blight. Why do views on host invasion by Erwinia amylovora differ?
Authors: Billing E. 
Published: November 2010

The fire blight pathogen, Erwinia amylovora, commonly infects flowers and shoots of certain rosaceous hosts and systemic (whole‐tree) invasion sometimes follows. The bacterium may be found in the parenchyma of bark tissue and/or in mature xylem vessels of stem tissue. Views differ on initial sites of multiplication and the optimal route for systemic migration. This article presents the evidence on which the different views are based. There are limited observations on orchard pear and apple trees; in most experimental studies, young apple shoots on potted plants were used. Tissue maturity at the site of shoot inoculation is of prime importance. If xylem vessels are damaged, inoculum may be sucked into the vessels and the bacteria will multiply there. In younger tissue, there is less suction pressure. The critical stem entry site for the invasion of cortical parenchyma seems to be near or above the most recently unfolded leaf. No one has suggested that migration in bark tissue cannot be a major route. If the xylem route is followed, the pathogen needs a means of escape into bark tissue, where typical symptoms develop; means of escape from mature xylem vessels have not been demonstrated and remain a matter for speculation. Published evidence does not seem to support the idea that fire blight is a vascular wilt disease, nor that the extracellular polysaccharide produced by E. amylovora is a toxin and responsible for the wilting symptom seen in the early stages of the disease.
Quantifying chronic cough: Objective versus subjective measurements
Authors: FARUQI Shoaib , THOMPSON Rachel , WRIGHT Caroline , SHEEDY Wayne , MORICE Alyn H. 
Published: November 2010

ABSTRACTBackground and objective:  The assessment of chronic cough has been improved by the development of objective ambulatory cough monitoring systems and subjective quality of life questionnaires. Experimental induction of cough is a useful tool in the assessment of the cough reflex. We wanted to assess the reproducibility of and association between these measurements.Methods:  This was a prospective observational study in patients with chronic cough of greater than 6 months' duration. All patients had an initial 24‐h cough recording. They also completed a Leicester Cough Questionnaire, a Symptom Assessment Score, a Visual Analogue Score for cough and had a capsaicin cough challenge performed. They were reviewed at 8 weeks when all assessments were repeated.Results:  Twenty‐five patients (15 women) with a mean age of 54 years were included in the study. The median cough count at the second visit (302) was significantly lower compared to the first visit (381, P < 0.01). However, the cough counts at both the visits correlated well (r = 0.9, P < 0.01). All the other forms of assessment were found to be highly reproducible at 8 weeks (r = 0.6–0.9, P < 0.01). Cough counts correlated well with the other forms of assessment (r = 0.4–0.6, P < 0.01). There was good correlation between each of the subjective forms of assessment (r = 0.6, P < 0.01).Conclusions:  The various forms of assessment of cough are reproducible. Cough counting correlates well with subjective assessment of cough and cough reflex sensitivity. It appears to lie between these latter two assessments of cough and may represent the best global objective synthesis of cough.
Trait similarity, shared ancestry and the structure of neighbourhood interactions in a subtropical wet forest: implications for community assembly
Authors: Uriarte María , Swenson Nathan G. , Chazdon Robin L. , Comita Liza S. , John Kress W. , Erickson David , Forero‐Montaña Jimena , Zimmerman Jess K. , Thompson Jill 
Published: November 2010

Ecology Letters (2010) 13: 1503–1514AbstractThe phylogenetic structure and distribution of functional traits in a community can provide insights into community assembly processes. However, these insights are sensitive to the spatial scale of analysis. Here, we use spatially explicit, neighbourhood models of tree growth and survival for 19 tree species, a highly resolved molecular phylogeny and information on eight functional traits to quantify the relative efficacy of functional similarity and shared ancestry in describing the effects of spatial interactions between tree species on demographic rates. We also assess the congruence of these results with observed phylogenetic and functional structure in the neighbourhoods of live and dead trees. We found strong support for models in which the effects of spatial neighbourhood interactions on tree growth and survival were scaled to species‐specific mean functional trait values (e.g., wood specific gravity, leaf succulence and maximum height) but not to phylogenetic distance. The weak phylogenetic signal in functional trait data allowed us to independently interpret the static neighbourhood functional and phylogenetic patterns. We observed greater functional trait similarity in the neighbourhoods of live trees relative to those of dead trees suggesting that environmental filtering is the major force structuring this tree community at this scale while competitive interactions play a lesser role.
Influence of evolution on the stability of ecological communities
Authors: Loeuille Nicolas 
Published: November 2010

Ecology Letters (2010) 13: 1536–1545AbstractIn randomly assembled communities, diversity is known to have a destabilizing effect. Evolution may affect this result, but our theoretical knowledge of its role is mostly limited to models of small food webs. In the present article, I introduce evolution in a two‐species Lotka–Volterra model in which I vary the interaction type and the cost constraining evolution. Regardless of the cost type, evolution tends to stabilize the dynamics more often in trophic interactions than for mutualism or competition. I then use simulations to study the effect of evolution in larger communities that contain all interaction types. Results suggest that evolution usually stabilizes the dynamics. This stabilizing effect is stronger when evolution affects trophic interactions, but happens for all interaction types. Stabilization decreases with diversity and evolution becomes destabilizing in very diverse communities. This suggests that evolution may not counteract the destabilizing effect of diversity observed in random communities.
Allelopathic control of cyanobacterial blooms by periphyton biofilms
Authors: Wu Yonghong , Liu Jiantong , Yang Linzhang , Chen Hong , Zhang Shanqing , Zhao Huijun , Zhang Naiming 
Published: November 2010

SummaryPeriphyton biofilms are natural mixtures comprised of photoautotrophic and heterotrophic complex microorganisms. In this work, the inhibition effects of periphyton biofilms on cyanobacterial blooms were studied in pilot and field trials. Results show that the cyanobacterial species responsible for the blooms had an upper nutrient concentration threshold, below which it could not effectively compete with other organisms in the periphyton. The disappearance of the cyanobacterial blooms was due to the allelopathy between the cyanobacteria and periphyton biofilm. In particular, it was found that the periphyton biofilm could produce water‐soluble allelochemicals such as indole and 3‐oxo‐α‐ionone to significantly inhibit the growth of the cyanobacteria. These allelochemicals are able to damage the thylakoid membranes of the cyanobacteria, interrupt the electron transport in photosystem II, decrease effective quantum yields, and eventually lead to the failure of photosynthesis. A comprehensive discussion on the ecological consequences of these findings is also presented. This work demonstrates the potential of periphyton biofilm to be used as an environmentally friendly ecological engineering solution for (i) the control of cyanobacterial blooms and (ii) a transitional means for the construction of beneficial conditions for ecosystem restoration. In addition, this work provides significant insights into the competitive relationships between algae and biofilms.
Viral abundance, production, decay rates and life strategies (lysogeny versus lysis) in Lake Bourget (France)
Authors: Thomas Rozenn , Berdjeb Lyria , Sime‐Ngando Télesphore , Jacquet Stéphan 
Published: November 2010

SummaryWe have investigated the ecology of viruses in Lake Bourget (France) from January to August 2008. Data were analysed for viral and bacterial abundance and production, viral decay, frequency of lysogenic cells, the contribution of bacteriophages to prokaryotic mortality and their potential influence on nutrient dynamics. Analyses and experiments were conducted on samples from the epilimnion (2 m) and the hypolimnion (50 m), taken at the reference site of the lake. The abundance of virus‐like particles (VLP) varied from 3.4 × 107 to 8.2 × 107 VLP ml−1; with the highest numbers and virus‐to‐bacterium ratio (VBR = 69) recorded in winter. Viral production varied from 3.2 × 104 VLP ml−1 h−1 (July) to 2 × 106 VLP ml−1 h−1 (February and April), and production was lower in the hypolimnion. Viral decay rate reached 0.12–0.15 day−1, and this parameter varied greatly with sampling date and methodology (i.e. KCN versus filtration). Using transmission electron microscopy (TEM) analysis, viral lysis was responsible for 0% (January) to 71% (February) of bacterial mortality, while viral lysis varied between 0% (April) and 53% (January) per day when using a modified dilution approach. Calculated from viral production and burst size, the virus‐induced bacterial mortality varied between 0% (January) and 68% (August). A weak relationship was found between the two first methods (TEM versus dilution approach). Interestingly, flow cytometry analysis performed on the dilution experiment samples revealed that the viral impact was mostly on high DNA content bacterial cells whereas grazing, varying between 8.3% (June) and 75.4% (April), was reflected in both HDNA and LDNA cells equally. The lysogenic fraction varied between 0% (spring/summer) and 62% (winter) of total bacterial abundance, and increased slightly with increasing amounts of mitomycin C added. High percentages of lysogenic cells were recorded when bacterial abundance and activity were the lowest. The calculated release of carbon and phosphorus from viral lysis reached up to 56.5 µgC l−1 day−1 (assuming 20 fgC cell−1) and 1.4 µgP l−1 day−1 (assuming 0.5 fgP cell−1), respectively, which may represent a significant fraction of bacterioplankton nutrient demand. This study provides new evidence of the quantitative and functional importance of the virioplankton in the functioning of microbial food webs in peri‐alpine lakes. It also highlights methodologically dependent results.
Thermodynamic limits to microbial life at high salt concentrations
Authors: Oren Aharon 
Published: November 2010

SummaryLife at high salt concentrations is energetically expensive. The upper salt concentration limit at which different dissimilatory processes occur in nature appears to be determined to a large extent by bioenergetic constraints. The main factors that determine whether a certain type of microorganism can make a living at high salt are the amount of energy generated during its dissimilatory metabolism and the mode of osmotic adaptation used. I here review new data, both from field observations and from the characterization of cultures of new types of prokaryotes growing at high salt concentrations, to evaluate to what extent the theories formulated 12 years ago are still valid, need to be refined, or should be refuted on the basis of the novel information collected. Most data agree well with the earlier theories. Some new observations, however, are not easily explained: the properties ofNatranaerobiusand other haloalkaliphilic thermophilic fermentative anaerobes, growth of the sulfate‐reducingDesulfosalsimonas propionicicawith complete oxidation of propionate andDesulfovermiculus halophiluswith complete oxidation of butyrate, growth of lactate‐oxidizing sulfate reducers related toDesulfonatronovibrioat 346 g l−1salts at pH 9.8, and occurrence of methane oxidation in the anaerobic layers of Big Soda Lake and Mono Lake.
A new minimally invasive technique for pudendal nerve stimulation1
Authors: George A. T. , Dudding T. C. , Nicholls R. J. , Vaizey C. J. 
Published: November 2010

AbstractAim  Pudendal nerve stimulation (PNS), which is an alternative to sacral nerve stimulation, requires neurophysiological confirmation of correct siting of the electrode. We describe a modification of the existing technique where placement is assisted by guidance to the ischial spine by a finger introduced per anum.Method  Cadaveric dissection was carried out to confirm the accuracy of this new approach. The surface marking of the ischial spine is marked. A stimulating needle electrode inserted through a skin incision at this point, is advanced towards the ischial spine using a finger introduced per anum as a guide. Once effective stimulation of the pudendal nerve is confirmed by observed and palpated contraction of the anal musculature, a permanent stimulating electrode is inserted and the position confirmed by radiological screening.Results  Using cadaveric studies, the correct surface markings for needle placement were confirmed. This technique was then applied successfully for in vivo insertion of the needle electrode in 20 patients with bowel dysfunction, with only one lead displacement occurring over a mean follow‐up period of 12 months.Conclusion  Finger‐guided assistance of PNS electrode insertion is simple and reproducible without requiring neurophysiological confirmation of nerve stimulation to ensure correct lead location.
The means of correct training: embodied regulation in training for body work among mothers
Authors: Wainwright Emma , Marandet Elodie , Rizvi Sadaf 
Published: November 2010

AbstractIn the main, the literature on body work has focused on the workplace, overlooking the spaces and places of training for work. Drawing on tutors’ understandings of teaching and mothers’ varied experiences of training for body work in areas of health, beauty and social care, this paper explores the learning environment as a liminal space. For many mothers, it is a space that sits at the nexus of home, work and leisure and is where the individual moves from student to practitioner/worker. These transitions require gender and maternal identities, among others, to be negotiated and regulated. By conceptualising body work as the interaction between bodies and the (self)disciplining of one’s own body, this paper discusses various regulatory processes of learning, from embedding and embodying of ‘professional’ knowledge and identities to the repressing of cultural norms and behaviour. In so doing, the paper also considers how students struggle with, and occasionally resist and subvert, regulatory norms, imbuing the learning environment with their own meaning and sense of self. With this focus, we highlight the resonance of the body work concept for drawing together a wide range of subject areas, and suggest the closer the work with the body the more urgent the need for regulation of one’s own body and the more fine‐tuned the embodied discipline.
Enacting genetic responsibility: experiences of mothers who carry the fragile X gene
Authors: Raspberry Kelly , Skinner Debra 
Published: November 2010

AbstractA woman who carries the gene for fragile X syndrome (FXS) has a 50 per cent chance per pregnancy of passing the gene to her sons and daughters. In this paper we analyse interview data from mothers who are carriers of the FX gene, and who have at least one child with FXS, to examine how their understandings and enactments of reproductive options, obligations, and responsibilities support an expanded notion of genetic responsibility. Accounts of 108 women from across the United States show that the majority of mothers chose not to have another biological child once they learned their carrier status. They discussed genetic responsibility and reproductive agency in terms of an obligation not to risk having another child who carried the gene, although their accounts reflected the tensions that arose from managing oneself as a genetically at‐risk actor. Another 22 mothers either purposely became pregnant or continued an unplanned pregnancy after finding out their carrier status. These mothers’ accounts reflect an expanded version of genetic responsibility that incorporates ideas and values beyond managing risk in what it means to act responsibly in light of genetic knowledge.
Comparison of the therapeutic effects of narrow band UVB vs. PUVA in patients with pityriasis lichenoides
Authors: Farnaghi F. , Seirafi H. , Ehsani A.H. , Agdari M.‐E. , Noormohammadpour P. 
Published: November 2010

AbstractBackground and aims  Pityriasis lichenoides (PL) is a self‐limiting papulosquamous skin disorder with chronic course. Best therapeutic options are yet to be defined. Phototherapy is one of the most prevalent treatments and the aim of this study was to compare the therapeutic effects of the two main phototherapy options: psoralen plus ultraviolet A (PUVA) and narrow band UVB (NB‐UVB).Material and methods  Patients with PLC based on clinical findings and pathology, involving at least 60% of total body surface, were enrolled if they were not pregnant, lactating women and had not contraindication for phototherapy. Based on simple randomization, they received either PUVA or NB‐UVB, and patients’ responses were recorded.Results  A total of 15 patients including eight males (53%) and seven females (47%) were enrolled in the study and were randomized into groups A and B, each including four patients. In group A, seven patients had complete response (87.5%) and one patient had partial response (12.5%). Among patients in group B, five patients had complete response (71.4%) and two patients (28.6%) had partial response (P > 0.05).Conclusion  As the difference between the two groups is insignificant, it seems that both options are acceptable for treating this disorder.
Host species determines whether infection load increases beyond disease‐causing thresholds following exposure to the amphibian chytrid fungus
Authors: Stockwell M. P. , Clulow J. , Mahony M. J. 
Published: November 2010

AbstractIntroduced pathogens are increasingly being implicated in population declines and their effects are difficult to manage. In the absence of methods to eradicate pathogens acting as threatening processes, intervention before population decline is necessary. Such an intervention requires an ability to predict when population declines will occur, and therefore, an understanding of when exposure will lead to infection, disease, death and population decline. This study investigates when pathogen exposure leads to disease for the amphibian chytrid fungus Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis, which has been implicated as a causal agent in the global amphibian decline. Susceptibility studies were conducted on two anuran species, the green and golden bell frog Litoria aurea and the striped marsh frog Limnodynastes peronii, when exposed to the fungus as either tadpoles or juveniles. Host species was found to significantly affect the outcome of exposure, with infection loads in L. aurea increasing over time and resulting in significantly lower survival rates than unexposed. By comparison, infection loads in L. peronii remained the same or decreased over time following the initial infection, and survival rates were no different whether exposed to B. dendrobatidis or not. These outcomes were independent of the life stage at exposure. Individuals with higher infection loads were not found to have lower survival rates; rather, an infection load threshold was identified where individuals with infection loads that crossed this threshold had high likelihoods of showing terminal signs of chytridiomycosis. Therefore, host species determined whether infection load crossed this threshold and the crossing of the threshold determined the incidence of disease and survival. The quantification of infection load thresholds for survival, along with the time it takes to reach them, will enable infection loads in wild populations to be related to the likelihood of disease and is the first step in the understanding and prediction of when exposure will result in population decline.
Auditory evoked potentials dissociate rapid perceptual learning from task repetition without learning
Authors: Ben‐David Boaz M. , Campeanu Sandra , Tremblay Kelly L. , Alain Claude 
Published: November 2010

AbstractPerformance improvement during an hour of auditory perceptual training is accompanied by rapid physiological changes. These changes may reflect learning or simply task repetition independent of learning. We assessed the contribution of learning and task repetition to changes in auditory evoked potentials during a difficult speech identification task and an easy tone identification task. We posited that only task repetition effects would occur in the tone task but that task repetition and learning would interact in the speech task. Speech identification improved with practice (increased sensitivity d′ with a constant response bias β). This behavioral improvement coincided with a decrease in the amplitude of sensory evoked responses (N1, P2) and a decrease in the amplitude of a slow wave (peak=320 ms after onset) over the left frontal and parietal sites. Results show rapid physiological changes associated with learning, distinct from changes related to task repetition.
Unique alterations in infection‐induced immune activation during pregnancy
Authors: Witkin SS , Linhares IM , Bongiovanni AM , Herway C , Skupski D 
Published: November 2010

Please cite this paper as: Witkin S, Linhares I, Bongiovanni A, Herway C, Skupski D. Unique alterations in infection‐induced immune activation during pregnancy. BJOG 2011;118:145–153.Background  Immune responses to infection are uniquely regulated during gestation to allow for antimicrobial defence and tissue repair, whilst preventing damage to developing fetal organs or the triggering of preterm labour.Objective  A review and analysis of studies delineating gestation‐specific immune modulation and intra‐amniotic regulation of pro‐inflammatory immunity.Search strategy  Identification of the alterations between the fetus/neonate and adult with regard to the endogenous and infection‐induced expression of molecules with immune regulatory properties, and the characterisation of intra‐amniotic immune mediators that inhibit bacterial‐induced pro‐inflammatory cytokine production.Selection criteria  English and non‐English publications from 1985 to the present.Data collection and analysis  An electronic literature search using MEDLINE, PubMed, articles cited in the primary sources, as well as pregnancy‐related immunology research from our laboratory at Weill Medical College of Cornell University.Main results  During fetal development, interleukin (IL)‐23, IL‐10 and IL‐6, as well as T‐helper‐17 (Th17)‐mediated immune responses, are upregulated, whereas tumour necrosis factor‐α (TNF‐α) and IL‐1β‐ and Th1‐mediated immune responses are downregulated in the intrauterine environment (both the fetal compartment and the amniotic compartment). Infection‐related immunity during gestation is preferentially directed towards combating extracellular microbial pathogens. Amniotic fluid and the neonatal circulation contain multiple components that improve the ability of the developing neonate to tolerate microbial‐induced immune activation.Conclusions  The repertoire of immune mechanisms to control infection and inflammation differ between fetal and adult life. The dual mechanisms of resistance to infection and tolerance to infection‐induced immune activation prevent damage to the developing fetus and the triggering of premature labour.