bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender Parents Seeking Health Care for Their Children: A Systematic Review of the Literature
Authors: Shields Linda , Zappia Tess , Blackwood Diana , Watkins Rochelle , Wardrop Joan , Chapman Rose 
Published: May 2012

ABSTRACTBackground: Few studies have examined the issues faced by lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT)‐parented families in relation to their access to and satisfaction with healthcare services for their children. It is thought that LGBT individuals have experienced negative interactions with the healthcare environment.Aims: To systematically review the literature investigating the experience of LGBT parents seeking health care for their children.Methods: A search of the following databases: Cochrane Library, CINAHL, Embase, Google Scholar, Medline, PsychInfo, Science Direct, Sociological Abstracts, Proquest, Scopus, and Web of Science was conducted. Using the PRISMA flow chart and processes of the United Kingdom Centre for Reviews and Dissemination, we selected and analysed relevant studies.Findings: Four studies that met the inclusion criteria were identified. Studies showed that while the experience of LGBT parents seeking health care was largely positive, strategies need to be implemented to improve the quality of healthcare services for LGBT families and ensure that their needs are met.Discussion: Although many LGBT parents have positive experiences of health care, some still experience discrimination and prejudice.Implications for practice: Specific educational interventions are needed to support LGBT parents seeking health care for their children.Conclusions: Further research is required to explore LGBT‐parented families’ experiences of healthcare services, and this should include children's experiences.
Association between genetic variants in adhesion molecules and outcomes after hematopoietic cell transplants
Authors: Thyagarajan B. , Jackson S. , Basu S. , Jacobson P. , Gross M. D. , Weisdorf D. J. , Arora M. 
Published: May 2012

SummaryAllogeneic hematopoietic cell transplant (HCT) is associated with a high morbidity and mortality. Adhesion molecules play an important role in endothelial activation and initiation of inflammatory response. We hypothesized that single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in the endothelial molecules may contribute to heterogeneity in HCT outcomes. We evaluated the association of 4 SNPs in
ICAM1 (rs5498),
PECAM1 (rs668 and rs1131012) and
SELL
(rs2229569) genes with acute and chronic graft‐versus‐host disease (GvHD) and those experiencing transplant‐related mortality (TRM) within 1 year among 425 allogeneic HCT recipient–donor pairs. Using a Fine and Gray proportional hazards model to evaluate the association between genetic variants and clinical outcomes, after adjustment for recipient age, race, diagnosis, disease status, gender mismatch, cytomegalovirus serostatus, gender, donor type, conditioning regimen and year of transplant, only rs5498 in the
ICAM1 gene among both recipients and donors was associated with a decreased risk of TRM (P ≤ 0.02). None of the SNPs were associated with acute or chronic GvHD risk. These findings suggest that genetic variants in the vascular adhesion molecules may be used to identify patients at high risk for TRM.
Functional group and fertilization affect the composition and bioenergy yields of prairie plants
Authors: Jarchow Meghann E. , Liebman Matt , Rawat Vertika , Anex Robert P. 
Published: May 2012

AbstractPrairies used for bioenergy production have potential to generate marketable products while enhancing environmental quality, but little is known about how prairie species composition and nutrient management affect the suitability of prairie biomass for bioenergy production. We determined how functional‐group identity and nitrogen fertilization affected feedstock characteristics and estimated bioenergy yields of prairie plants, and compared those prairie characteristics to that of corn stover. We tested our objectives with a field experiment that was set up as a 5 × 2 incomplete factorial design with C3 grasses, C4 grasses, legumes, and multi‐functional‐group mixtures grown with and without nitrogen fertilizer; a fertilized corn treatment was also included. We determined cell wall, hemicellulose, cellulose, and ash concentrations; ethanol conversion ratios; gross caloric ratios; aboveground biomass production; ethanol yields; and energy yields for all treatments. Prairie functional‐group identity affected the biomass feedstock characteristics, whereas nitrogen fertilization did not. Functional group and fertilization had a strong effect on aboveground biomass production, which was the major predictor of ethanol and energy yields. C4 grasses, especially when fertilized, had among the most favorable bioenergy characteristics with high estimated ethanol conversion ratios and nongrain biomass production, relatively high gross caloric ratios, and low ash concentrations. The bioenergy characteristics of corn stover, from an annual C4 grass, were similar to those of the biomass of perennial C4 grasses. Both functional‐group composition and nitrogen fertility management were found to be important in optimizing bioenergy production from prairies.
Inhibition of Porphyromonas gingivalis‐induced periodontal bone loss by CXCR4 antagonist treatment
Authors: McIntosh M.L. , Hajishengallis G. 
Published: May 2012

SummaryMicrobial pathogens have evolved mechanisms to proactively manipulate innate immunity, thereby improving their fitness in mammalian hosts. We have previously shown that Porphyromonas gingivalis exploits CXC‐chemokine receptor‐4 (CXCR4) to instigate a subversive crosstalk with Toll‐like receptor 2 that inhibits leukocyte killing of this periodontal pathogen. However, whether CXCR4 plays a role in periodontal disease pathogenesis has not been previously addressed. Here, we hypothesized that CXCR4 is required for P. gingivalis virulence in the periodontium and that treatment with AMD3100, a potent CXCR4 antagonist, would inhibit P. gingivalis‐induced periodontitis. Indeed, mice given AMD3100 via osmotic minipumps became resistant to induction of periodontal bone loss following oral inoculation with P. gingivalis. AMD3100 appeared to act in an antimicrobial manner, because mice treated with AMD3100 were protected against P. gingivalis colonization and the associated elevation of the total microbiota counts in the periodontal tissue. Moreover, even when administered 2 weeks after infection, AMD3100 halted the progression of P. gingivalis‐induced periodontal bone loss. Therefore, AMD3100 can act in both preventive and therapeutic ways and CXCR4 antagonism could be a promising novel approach to treat human periodontitis.
Colloidal characteristics and formulation of pure protein particulate vaccines
Authors: White Paul J , Hickey Pascal , Sze Tu Linda , Headey Stephen J , Scanlon Martin J , Boyd Ben J , Pouton Colin W 
Published: May 2012

Abstract

Objectives
We recently reported that dense gas processing of the protein ovalbumin (OVA) resulted in the formation of particles that were insoluble in water and which retained their immunogenicity in vivo. In the present study, the colloidal properties of these pure protein particles were investigated to in part inform rational formulation approaches.

Methods
The colloidal properties of the particles, in terms of size, zeta potential and pH-dependent surface and solution properties, were examined.

Key findings
In phosphate-buffered saline (pH 7.4), flocculation of the particles was observed, which was prevented when particles were suspended in acetate buffer at pH lower than 4. The resulting particle size was 300 nm with low polydispersity and zeta potential of 22.9 ± 3.1 mV (mean ± SEM, n = 3) at pH 3. Dense gas OVA particles were also prevented from flocculation using steric stabilisation with Pluronic F127. In this form the particles were stable in Krebs–Henseleit solution for 48 h at room temperature.

Conclusions
These findings indicate that insoluble pure protein particles produced by dense gas processing have desirable characteristics as particulate vaccines, including consistency of particle size under controlled conditions and high colloid stability.
Mutations in 23S rRNA Confer Resistance against Azithromycin in Pseudomonas aeruginosa
Authors: Marvig Rasmus Lykke , Søndergaard Mette S. R. , Damkiær Søren , Høiby Niels , Johansen Helle Krogh , Molin Søren , Jelsbak Lars 
Published: May 2012

ABSTRACT

The emergence of antibiotic-resistant
Pseudomonas aeruginosa
is an important concern in the treatment of long-term airway infections in cystic fibrosis patients. In this study, we report the occurrence of azithromycin resistance among clinical
P. aeruginosa
DK2 isolates. We demonstrate that resistance is associated with specific mutations (A2058G, A2059G, and C2611T in
Escherichia coli
numbering) in domain V of 23S rRNA and that introduction of A2058G and C2611T into strain PAO1 results in azithromycin resistance.
Pneumococcal Interactions with Epithelial Cells Are Crucial for Optimal Biofilm Formation and Colonization
In Vitro
and
In Vivo
Authors: Marks Laura R. , Parameswaran G. Iyer , Hakansson Anders P. 
Published: May 2012

ABSTRACT

The human nasopharynx is the main reservoir for
Streptococcus pneumoniae
(the pneumococcus) and the source for both horizontal spread and transition to infection. Some clinical evidence indicates that nasopharyngeal carriage is harder to eradicate with antibiotics than is pneumococcal invasive disease, which may suggest that colonizing pneumococci exist in biofilm communities that are more resistant to antibiotics. While pneumococcal biofilms have been observed during symptomatic infection, their role in colonization and the role of host factors in this process have been less studied. Here, we show for the first time that pneumococci form highly structured biofilm communities during colonization of the murine nasopharynx that display increased antibiotic resistance. Furthermore, pneumococcal biofilms grown on respiratory epithelial cells exhibited phenotypes similar to those observed during colonization
in vivo
, whereas abiotic surfaces produced less ordered and more antibiotic-sensitive biofilms. The importance of bacterial-epithelial cell interactions during biofilm formation was shown using both clinical strains with variable colonization efficacies and pneumococcal mutants with impaired colonization characteristics
in vivo
. In both cases, the ability of strains to form biofilms on epithelial cells directly correlated with their ability to colonize the nasopharynx
in vivo
, with colonization-deficient strains forming less structured and more antibiotic-sensitive biofilms on epithelial cells, an association that was lost when grown on abiotic surfaces. Thus, these studies emphasize the importance of host-bacterial interactions in pneumococcal biofilm formation and provide the first experimental data to explain the high resistance of pneumococcal colonization to eradication by antibiotics.
Quality of life valuations of HPV-associated cancer health states by the general population
Authors: Conway E Lynne , Farmer K Chip , Lynch William J , Rees Guy L , Wain Gerard , Adams Jane 
Published: May 2012

ObjectivesTo obtain health-related quality of life valuations (ie, utilities) for human papillomavirus (HPV)-related cancer health states of vulval, vaginal, penile, anal and oropharyngeal cancers for use in modelling cost-effectiveness of prophylactic HPV vaccination.MethodsWritten case descriptions of each HPV-associated cancer describing the ‘average’ patient surviving after the initial cancer diagnosis and treatment were developed in consultation with oncology clinicians. A general overview, standard gamble questionnaire for each health state and a quiz was conducted in 120 participants recruited from the general population.ResultsIn the included population sample (n=99), the average age was 43 years (range = 18–70 years) with 54% men, 44% never married/43% married, 76% education beyond year 12 and 39% employed full-time. The utility values for the five health states were 0.57 (95% CI 0.52 to 0.62) for anal cancer, 0.58 (0.53 to 0.63) for oropharyngeal cancer, 0.59 (0.54 to 0.64) for vaginal cancer, 0.65 (0.60 to 0.70) for vulval cancer and 0.79 (0.74 to 0.84) for penile cancer. Participants demonstrated a very good understanding of the symptoms, diagnosis and treatment of these cancers with a mean score of 9 (SD=1.1) on a 10-item quiz.ConclusionsThis study provides utility estimates for the specific HPV-related cancers of vulval, vaginal, penile, anal and oropharyngeal cancers valued by a general population sample using standard gamble. The results demonstrate considerable quality of life impact associated with surviving these cancers that will be important to incorporate into modelling cost-effectiveness of prophylactic HPV vaccination in different populations.
A cross-sectional study on the acceptability of self-collection for HPV testing among women in rural China
Authors: Guan YaoYao , Castle Philip E , Wang Shaoming , Li Belinda , Feng Changyan , Ci Puwa , Li Xue , Gravitt Patti , Qiao You-Lin 
Published: May 2012

ObjectiveTo assess the acceptability of using self-collection as a method of sampling for human papilloma virus testing in rural China.Methods174 women from the national cervical cancer screening programme in Xiangyuan County, China, were enrolled in our study and underwent self-collection, clinician collection, colposcopy examination and were administered questionnaire. The questionnaire assessed the patients' preference and acceptability of collection method.ResultsThe mean overall acceptability score for self-collection, although significantly less than the overall score for clinician collection (p<0.01), still is well above 4 (4.33 of 5), indicating high acceptability. The acceptability scores for self-collection and clinician collection were not significantly different on scales measuring comfort and convenience (p>0.05). The scores were significantly lower for self-collection on scales measuring trust, ability to collect specimen and perceived effects of testing compared with clinician collection (p<0.01). 74% of participants preferred clinician collection, and of these participants, 86% preferred it because they thought the results were more accurate.ConclusionsThe study shows that self-collection was highly acceptable and that self-collection and clinician collection were equally comfortable and convenient; however, the participants still preferred clinician collection because of lack of trust in the results of self-collection. This indicates that self-collection is an acceptable potential method for screening but education programmes about the validity of self-collection that target general population may be needed prior to implementation.
Genetic evidence of subaortic stenosis in the Newfoundland dog
Authors: Reist‐Marti S. B. , Dolf G. , Leeb T. , Kottmann S. , Kietzmann S. , Butenhoff K. , Rieder S. 
Published: May 2012

Subaortic stenosis (SAS) is a cardiac disorder with a narrowing of the descending aorta below the left ventricular outflow tract of the heart. It occurs in several species and breeds. The Newfoundland is one of the dog breeds where it is more common and usually leads to death at early adulthood. It is still discussed to which extent SAS has a genetic background and what its mode of inheritance could be. Extensive pedigree data comprising more than 230,000 Newfoundland dogs from the European and North American population reaching back to the 19th century including 6023 dogs with a SAS diagnosis were analysed for genetic factors influencing SAS affection. The incidence and prevalence of SAS in the analysed Newfoundland population sample were much higher than those reported in previous studies on smaller population samples. Assuming that some SAS‐affected dogs remained undiscovered or were not reported, these figures may even be underestimated. SAS‐affected Newfoundland dogs were more often inbred and closer related to each other than unaffected dogs, which is an indicator for a genetic background of SAS. The sex had no significant impact on SAS affectedness, pointing at an autosomal inheritance. The only simple mode of inheritance that fitted the data well was autosomal codominant with lethal homozygosity and a penetrance of 1/3 in the heterozygotes.
Risk of bovine tuberculosis for cattle sold out from herds during 2005 in Ireland
Authors: Berrian A. M. , O'Keeffe J. , White P. W. , Norris J. , Litt J. , More S. J. , Olea‐Popelka F. J. 
Published: May 2012

A retrospective cohort study was conducted to determine the risk of bovine tuberculosis (TB) among animals sold out from herds that were free to trade animals during the year 2005 according to their bovine TB testing history during the year 2005. The present study sample comprised of 338,960 animals, of which 124,360 animals were sold out from herds that were restricted from trading at some stage during 2005 (bovine TB ‘exposed’) and 214,600 animals that were sold from herds which did not have their trading status withdrawn in 2005 (bovine TB ‘non‐exposed’). The overall risk of a diagnosis of bovine TB during the two‐year period after the animals were sold out was 0.69 per cent. The odds of bovine TB were 1.91 higher for animals sold out from bovine TB ‘exposed’ herds compared with animals sold out from bovine TB ‘non‐exposed’ herds (OR 95 per cent CI: 1.76 to 2.07, P < 0.0001). Ten per cent of animals identified during field surveillance with bovine TB did so less than two months after being sold out in 2005, and similarly, 10 per cent of the animals classified as bovine TB positive by finding a bovine TB lesion at slaughter did so within 25 days (or less) of being sold out in 2005.
Molecular phylogeny ofGyrodactylus(Monogenea) parasitizing fishes in fresh water, estuarine, and marine habitats in Canada
Authors: Gilmore S.R. , Cone D.K. , Lowe G. , King S.K. , Jones S.R.M. , Abbott C.L. 
Published: May 2012

Gyrodactylus Nordmann, 1832 is a genus of monogenean flatworms that is well-studied in Europe and best known for the destructive pathogen of Atlantic salmon, Gyrodactylus salaris Malmberg, 1957. However, there is a paucity of information on species of Gyrodactylus occurring elsewhere despite that the genus is thought to be extremely speciose. Here we present the first major molecular phylogeny of Gyrodactylus using samples from host fishes in North America. Our aims were to characterize species and molecular diversity of North American Gyrodactylus to allow a determination of their evolutionary relationship with congenerics sampled from Europe. Specimens belonging to 25 species of Gyrodactylus and closely related species from Canada and the northern United States of America were identified using morphology and sequenced at 18S rDNA and ITS2 rDNA (totaling ca. 1430 bp). Significant molecular groups in North American Gyrodactylus were found to correspond to a major division in the genus based on the structure of the male copulatory organ. Results corroborate earlier findings suggesting that the genus Fundulotrema Kritsky and Thatcher, 1977, traditionally thought to be distinct from Gyrodactylus owing to the presence of a peduncular bar, falls within Gyrodactylus. The usefulness and application of the broadly conserved 18S primers as a standard tool for Gyrodactylus taxonomy is discussed and advocated.
Foraging interactions between wading birds and strand-feeding bottlenose dolphins (Tursiops truncatus) in a coastal salt marsh
Authors: Fox Adam G. , Young Robert F. 
Published: May 2012

Strand-feeding is a unique foraging technique used by Atlantic bottlenose dolphins ( Tursiops truncatus (Montagu, 1821)) in salt marshes of the southeastern USA wherein a group of dolphins rushes a creek bank, temporarily stranding themselves to capture fish that have been pushed ashore by their bow wave. Wading birds are attracted to these events to forage on stranded fish. We hypothesized that birds foraging in association with dolphins experience greater foraging efficiency than birds foraging away from dolphins and that some birds are able to meet their entire daily metabolic needs by foraging at strand-feeding events. The species composition, abundance, and foraging success of birds at 569 strand-feeding events were compared with the same parameters from marsh surveys of birds not associated with dolphins. Only Great Egrets ( Ardea alba L., 1758) were proportionately more common at strand-feeding events than in the marsh overall (p < 0.001). During peak strand-feeding hours, energy intake per hour was higher for Great Egrets foraging with strand-feeding dolphins than for birds foraging away from dolphins (p = 0.04). Bioenergetic models indicated that prey intake by Great Egrets at strand-feeding events was sufficient to meet their existence and likely their active metabolic requirements.
Rare and problematical bohemograptid graptoloids from the
leintwardinensis
Zone (basal Ludfordian, Silurian) of the northern Howgill Fells, Cumbria
Authors: Rickards R. B. 
Published: May 2012

Summary

Two new unusually gracile bohemograptid species are recorded from the
leintwardinensis
Zone of the UK, and are assessed as part of the global
Bohemograptus
Proliferation Zone (BPZ). The ‘robust’ form,
B. woodcocki
sp. nov., is a possible ancestor of
Egregiograptus
Rickards & Wright, 1997
; it probably derived indirectly from
Bohemograptus bohemicus tenuis
(
Bouček, 1936
) via
B. bohemicus sensu lato
of
Holland & Palmer (1974)
from the
incipiens
Zone. The more slender form,
B. stonei
sp. nov., is a possible ancestor of
Neolobograptus
Urbanek, 1970
, and probably arose directly from
B. b. tenuis
in the
leintwardinensis
Zone.
Syn-sedimentary deformation of the Ashover Grit (Pennsylvanian, Namurian, Marsdenian Substage) deltaic succession around Wirksworth, Derbyshire, UK
Authors: Chisholm J. I. , Waters C. N. 
Published: May 2012

Summary
Three sets of syn-sedimentary slides affecting delta deposits of the Ashover Grit have been identified in the area south and east of Wirksworth, Derbyshire, UK. The kilometre-scale slide masses, which are expressed clearly in the landscape, consist of arrays of fault blocks tilted back towards listric fault surfaces that sole out into underlying basinal mudstone. Relationships in one of the slide arrays, at Black Rock, suggest that the movements took place during the later stages of delta advance. There is a possibility that some minor compressional structures exposed in surface sections away from the fault blocks are also related to syndepositional movements.
Stanley Westhead and the Lower Carboniferous (Mississippian) crinoids of the Clitheroe area, Lancashire
Authors: Donovan Stephen K. 
Published: May 2012

Summary
Stanley Westhead (1910–1986) was a noted collector of fossil crinoids from the Lower Carboniferous of the Clitheroe area, Lancashire. His collection was bequeathed to the Natural History Museum, London. Stanley published little himself, although James Wright (1878–1957) referred to rare specimens in the Westhead Collection in his monograph of the British Carboniferous crinoids. However, Stanley was highly knowledgeable, and his letters were full of observations, comments and ideas on the fossil echinoderms of Clitheroe. He also successfully combated the whims of officialdom, such as stopping the road through Salt Hill Quarry being named after another site.