bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Breakage and Migration of Metal Wires in Operated Patella Fractures: Does it Correlate with Time?
Authors: Sammy Mak Nin-Tai 
Published: July 2012

Background Tension-band wiring with metal wires is a commonly used technique to treat transverse patella fractures. Wire breakage and migration may potentially cause complications or morbidities such as nerve irritation or skin impingement. The need of extra wound or surgery for implant removal may be required. We hypothesize that the breakage of patellar tension-band wires is related to the patient's age and the length of time after fracture fixation. Methods We retrieved and analysed our 11 years records (from January 1, 2000, to May 31, 2011). The inclusion criteria were: (1) patients with transverse patella fracture treated with tension-band plus cerclage wiring technique, (2) with their metal wires removed in our hospital, (3) unilateral patella fracture, (4) wire removal not due to infection, (5) wire removal after complete fracture union, (6) no fracture distal pole or partial patellectomy with protective wire loop, and (7) known exact date of the initial fracture fixation surgery. We reviewed the reasons of wire removal, the presence of broken or migrated wires upon implant removal, and the time lapse from fracture fixation to removal of wire. Results A total of 59 cases were recruited and studied. A total of 28 patients had intact wires and 31 patients had broken wires upon implant removal. For the age of patients at fracture fixation, there was no statistically significant difference between the intact wire group and the broken wire group. However, for the length of time from fracture fixation to implant removal, the difference was statistically significant between the two groups of patients. It suggested that the risk of wire breakage increases with time after patellar tension-band wiring. If 12 months was used as a cut-off time, there was a statistically significant association between the duration from fracture fixation to implant removal and the presence of broken wire. There were seven cases of wire migration among the 31 patients with broken wires, and two of them needed an extra open wound at popliteal fossa for implant removal. Conclusions The risk of patellar tension-band wire breakage was associated with increase time lapse from fracture fixation, but not the patients’ age upon fracture fixation. The risk of wire breakage significantly increases after 12 months from the fracture fixation. Wire breakage can lead to further morbidities or complications. Routine removal of wire loops may be indicated. Future prospective longitudinal long-term studies may be required.
Impact of regulatory science on global public health
Authors: Patel Meghal , Miller Margaret Ann 
Published: July 2012

AbstractRegulatory science plays a vital role in protecting and promoting global public health by providing the scientific basis for ensuring that food and medical products are safe, properly labeled, and effective. Regulatory science research was first developed for the determination of product safety in the early part of the 20th Century, and continues to support innovation of the processes needed for regulatory policy decisions. Historically, public health laws and regulations were enacted following public health tragedies, and often the research tools and techniques required to execute these laws lagged behind the public health needs. Throughout history, similar public health problems relating to food and pharmaceutical products have occurred in countries around the world, and have usually led to the development of equivalent solutions. For example, most countries require a demonstration of pharmaceutical safety and efficacy prior to marketing these products using approaches that are similar to those initiated in the United States. The globalization of food and medical products has created a shift in regulatory compliance such that gaps in food and medical product safety can generate international problems. Improvements in regulatory research can advance the regulatory paradigm toward a more preventative, proactive framework. These improvements will advance at a greater pace with international collaboration by providing additional resources and new perspectives for approaching and anticipating public health problems. The following is a review of how past public health disasters have shaped the current regulatory landscape, and where innovation can facilitate the shift from reactive policies to proactive policies.
Toxoplasmosis in humans and animals in Brazil: high prevalence, high burden of disease, and epidemiology
Authors: DUBEY J. P. , LAGO E. G. , GENNARI S. M. , SU C. , JONES J. L. 
Published: July 2012

SUMMARYInfections by the protozoan parasiteToxoplasma gondiiare widely prevalent in humans and animals in Brazil. The burden of clinical toxoplasmosis in humans is considered to be very high. The high prevalence and encouragement of the Brazilian Government provides a unique opportunity for international groups to study the epidemiology and control of toxoplasmosis in Brazil. Many early papers on toxoplasmosis in Brazil were published in Portuguese and often not available to scientists in English-speaking countries. In the present paper we review prevalence, clinical spectrum, molecular epidemiology, and control ofT. gondiiin humans and animals in Brazil. This knowledge should be useful to biologists, public health workers, veterinarians, and physicians. Brazil has a very high rate ofT. gondiiinfection in humans. Up to 50% of elementary school children and 50–80% of women of child-bearing age have antibodies toT. gondii. The risks for uninfected women to acquire toxoplasmosis during pregnancy and fetal transmission are high because the environment is highly contaminated with oocysts. The burden of toxoplasmosis in congenitally infected children is also very high. From limited data on screening of infants forT. gondiiIgM at birth, 5–23 children are born infected per 10 000 live births in Brazil. Based on an estimate of 1 infected child per 1000 births, 2649 children with congenital toxoplasmosis are likely to be born annually in Brazil. Most of these infected children are likely to develop symptoms or signs of clinical toxoplasmosis. Among the congenitally infected children whose clinical data are described in this review, several died soon after birth, 35% had neurological disease including hydrocephalus, microcephaly and mental retardation, 80% had ocular lesions, and in one report 40% of children had hearing loss. The severity of clinical toxoplasmosis in Brazilian children may be associated with the genetic characteristics ofT. gondiiisolates prevailing in animals and humans in Brazil.
Anthelmintic metabolism in parasitic helminths: proteomic insights
Authors: BROPHY PETER M. , MACKINTOSH NEIL , MORPHEW RUSSELL M. 
Published: July 2012

SUMMARYAnthelmintics are the cornerstone of parasitic helminth control. Surprisingly, understanding of the biochemical pathways used by parasitic helminths to detoxify anthelmintics is fragmented, despite the increasing global threat of anthelmintic resistance within the ruminant and equine industries. Reductionist biochemistry has likely over-estimated the enzymatic role of glutathione transferases in anthelmintic metabolism and neglected the potential role of the cytochrome P-450 superfamily (CYPs). Proteomic technologies offers the opportunity to support genomics, reverse genetics and pharmacokinetics, and provide an integrated insight into both the cellular mechanisms underpinning response to anthelmintics and also the identification of biomarker panels for monitoring the development of anthelmintic resistance. To date, there have been limited attempts to include proteomics in anthelmintic metabolism studies. Optimisations of membrane, post-translational modification and interaction proteomic technologies in helminths are needed to especially study Phase I CYPs and Phase III ABC transporter pumps for anthelmintics and their metabolites.
Sensory-based and higher-order operations contribute to abnormal emotional prosody processing in schizophrenia: an electrophysiological investigation
Authors: Pinheiro A. P. , del Re E. , Mezin J. , Nestor P. G. , Rauber A. , McCarley R. W. , Gonçalves Ó. F. , Niznikiewicz M. A. 
Published: July 2012

BackgroundSchizophrenia is characterized by deficits in emotional prosody (EP) perception. However, it is not clear which stages of processing prosody are abnormal and whether the presence of semantic content contributes to the abnormality. This study aimed to examine event-related potential (ERP) correlates of EP processing in 15 chronic schizophrenia individuals and 15 healthy controls.MethodA total of 114 sentences with neutral semantic content [sentences with semantic content (SSC) condition] were generated by a female speaker (38 with happy, 38 with angry, and 38 with neutral intonation). The same sentences were synthesized and presented in the ‘pure prosody’ sentences (PPS) condition where semantic content was unintelligible.ResultsGroup differences were observed for N100 and P200 amplitude: patients were characterized by more negative N100 for SSC, and more positive P200 for angry and happy SSC and happy PPS. Correlations were found between delusions and P200 amplitude for happy SSC and PPS. Higher error rates in the recognition of EP were also observed in schizophrenia: higher error rates in neutral SSC were associated with reduced N100, and higher error rates in angry SSC were associated with reduced P200.ConclusionsThese results indicate that abnormalities in prosody processing occur at the three stages of EP processing, and are enhanced in SSC. Correlations between P200 amplitude for happy prosody and delusions suggest a role that abnormalities in the processing of emotionally salient acoustic cues may play in schizophrenia symptomatology. Correlations between ERP and behavioral data point to a relationship between early sensory abnormalities and prosody recognition in schizophrenia.
Ideational Struggles over Symmetrical Parenthood: the Norwegian Daddy Quota
Authors: ELLINGSÆTER ANNE LISE 
Published: July 2012

AbstractThe politics of parenthood is a major battleground in disputes about gender equality. In contemporary debates on parental leave reform, notions about ‘equal’ parenthood and parental ‘choice’ compete. Earmarked leave for fathers, the so-called ‘daddy quota’ – a hallmark of Nordic welfare states, is increasingly being discussed in other types of welfare state. Further increases in earmarked leave is thus of interest to the policy debate in other countries, too. This article examines the reception among political actors in Norway of a proposal in 2008 to divide the existing parental leave into three equal parts – one for the father, one for the mother and one shared at the discretion of both parents. Three rival ideational policy paradigms are identified: fathers’ right to care and mothers’ right to breastfeed compete among quota protagonists, while ‘choice’ is advocated by quota antagonists. So far, quota protagonists guided by the mothers’ rights paradigm have been the most successful, but persistent, ideational tensions are rendering future developments uncertain.
Reactive and the shortest path navigation of a wheeled mobile robot in cluttered environments
Authors: Savkin Andrey V. , Hoy Michael 
Published: July 2012

SUMMARYWe determine the shortest (minimal in length) path on a unicycle-like mobile robot in a known environment with smooth (possibly non-convex) obstacles with a constraint on curvature of their boundaries. Furthermore, we propose a new reactive randomized algorithm of robot navigation in unknown environment and prove that the robot will avoid collisions and reach a steady target with probability 1. The performance of our algorithm is confirmed by computer simulations and outdoor experiments with a Pioneer P3-DX mobile wheeled robot.
Neighbourhood deprivation and outlet density for tobacco, alcohol and fast food: first hints of obesogenic and addictive environments in Germany
Authors: Schneider Sven , Gruber Johannes 
Published: July 2012

AbstractObjectiveThe current discussion regarding ‘place effects on health’ is increasingly focusing on the characteristics of a specific physical environment. Our study investigated whether socially deprived residential areas are more likely than affluent neighbourhoods to provide access to addictive substances and fast food.DesignIn this ecological study the total number of tobacco, alcohol and fast-food outlets was recorded and visualized using a geographic information system. Area affluence was measured through the percentage of parents with children of kindergarten or school age with joint annual taxable income <€12 272.SettingEighteen social areas in Cologne, Germany.SubjectsAll social areas in four districts in Cologne, Germany, with a total of 92 000 inhabitants, were analysed.ResultsIn the investigation area, 339 tobacco, 353 alcohol and sixty-seven fast-food outlets were identified. As area affluence declined the availability of the following potentially health damaging sources increased: cigarettes (Kendall's tau = 0·433; P = 0·012), alcohol (Kendall's tau = 0·341, P = 0·049) and fast food (Kendall's tau = 0·473; P = 0·009).ConclusionsThe availability of addictive substances and fast food can be seen to have a contextual influence on an individual's lifestyle and can, in the form of physical exposure to obesogenic and addictive environments, contribute to a culmination of health risks.
Two‐dimensional imaging of large‐scale traveling ionospheric disturbances over China based on GPS data
Authors: Ding Feng , Wan Weixing , Ning Baiqi , Zhao Biqiang , Li Qiang , Zhang Rui , Xiong Bo , Song Qian 
Published: July 2012

This paper reports the first results of the 2D imaging of large‐scale traveling ionospheric disturbances (LSTID) using GPS network data from China, combined with observations of these events using an ionosonde chain. 2D TEC perturbation maps for North America were also constructed to allow the study of LSTIDs on a global scale. During the medium storm on 28 May 2011, the onset of a substorm initiated a slow‐speed LSTID over North America just after midnight. Subsequently, an LSTID reached China 1.5 hours later, at dusk. A second LSTID was observed over China before midnight, 6.6 hours after substorm onset. The phase fronts of the China events had a front width of at least 1600 km, and moved southwestwards at a speed of 540 ± 85 m/s and 362 ± 89 m/s, respectively. Ionosonde data addressed a downward vertical phase velocity of ∼75 m/s for the dusk event and ∼60 m/s for the night event. Although the nighttime LSTID travelled farther south than the earlier dusk event, both disappeared in South China, and this was due to increase of the attenuation at low latitudes. According to the energy dissipation equation of atmospheric gravity waves there is severe dissipation due to viscosity and heat conductivity at low latitudes, since such dissipation increases strongly with time; dissipation due to ion drag is less important but cannot be ignored because of enhancement in background TEC; In addition, uplift of the ionosphere at low latitudes is another factor that results in a reduced amplitude of TEC perturbation at low latitudes.
Obliquity forcing of organic matter accumulation during Oceanic Anoxic Event 2
Authors: Meyers Stephen R. , Sageman Bradley B. , Arthur Michael A. 
Published: July 2012

An analysis of orbitally influenced climate‐sensitive sedimentation is conducted across a meridional transect of the proto‐North Atlantic, to reconstruct the behavior of the carbon cycle and climate during Oceanic Anoxic Event 2 (OAE 2; ∼94 Ma). Midlatitude to near equatorial sites spanning deep‐ocean to shelf environments are evaluated using a new inverse method for the identification and calibration of orbital influence in ancient strata. The results yield consistent independent astrochronologies at each location—compatible with the recently published radioisotopic/astrochronologic time scale at the Cenomanian‐Turonian GSSP—and thus provide a unified high‐resolution temporal context for evaluation of the event. The proto‐North Atlantic astrochronologies document an amplification of obliquity power during OAE 2, indicating that obliquity was the dominant pacemaker of organic matter accumulation by the latter portion of the event. The strong obliquity signal suggests an influence of high‐latitude climate processes across midlatitude deep‐ocean to tropical shelf environments. Changes in oceanic circulation during OAE 2 represent a likely mechanism for the propagation of a high latitude signal, and proxy data from Demerara Rise reveal the development of a new intermediate water mass source synchronous with the record of obliquity amplification. We hypothesize that a dense high‐latitude water mass displaced a pre‐existing nutrient‐rich anoxic deep‐water layer in the proto‐North Atlantic (augmented by enhanced volcanism), driving an episode of high productivity that lasted 700–800 ka. The development and intensification of the new intermediate/deep water source was potentially driven by eustatic sea level rise, which created expansive seaways in mid to high latitudes.
Measurement depth of the cosmic ray soil moisture probe affected by hydrogen from various sources
Authors: Franz Trenton E. , Zreda M. , Ferre T. P. A. , Rosolem R. , Zweck C. , Stillman S. , Zeng X. , Shuttleworth W. J. 
Published: July 2012

We present here a simple and robust framework for quantifying the effective sensor depth of cosmic ray soil moisture neutron probes such that reliable water fluxes may be computed from a time series of cosmic ray soil moisture. In particular, we describe how the neutron signal depends on three near‐surface hydrogen sources: surface water, soil moisture, and lattice water (water in minerals present in soil solids) and also their vertical variations. Through a combined modeling study of one‐dimensional water flow in soil and neutron transport in the atmosphere and subsurface, we compare average water content between the simulated soil moisture profiles and the universal calibration equation which is used to estimate water content from neutron counts. By using a linear sensitivity weighting function, we find that during evaporation and drainage periods the RMSE of the two average water contents is 0.0070 m3 m−3 with a maximum deviation of 0.010 m3 m−3 for a range of soil types. During infiltration, the RMSE is 0.011 m3 m−3 with a maximum deviation of 0.020 m3 m−3, where piston like flow conditions exists for the homogeneous isotropic media. Because piston flow is unlikely during natural conditions at the horizontal scale of hundreds of meters that is measured by the cosmic ray probe, this modeled deviation of 0.020 m3 m−3 represents the worst case scenario for cosmic ray sensing of soil moisture. Comparison of cosmic ray soil moisture data and a distributed sensor soil moisture network in Southern Arizona indicates an RMSE of 0.011 m3 m−3 over a 6 month study period.
Inhibition of GSK‐3β enhances neural differentiation in unrestricted somatic stem cells
Authors: Dastjerdi Fatemeh Vahid , Zeynali Bahman , Tafreshi Azita Parvaneh , Shahraz Anahita , Chavoshi Mahin Sadat , Najafabadi Irandokht Khaki , Vardanjani Marzieh Mowlavi , Atashi Amir , Soleimani Masoud 
Published: July 2012

AbstractGSK‐3β is a key molecule in several signalling pathways, including the Wnt/β‐catenin signalling pathway. There is increasing evidence suggesting Wnt/β‐catenin signalling is involved in the neural differentiation of embryonic, somatic and neural stem cells. However, a large body of evidence indicates that this pathway maintains stem cells in a proliferative state. To address this controversy, we have investigated whether the Wnt/β‐catenin pathway is present and involved in the neural differentiation of newly introduced USSCs (unrestricted somatic stem cells). Our results indicate that the components of Wnt/β‐catenin signalling are present in undifferentiated USSCs. We also show that the treatment of neurally induced USSCs with BIO (6‐bromoindirubin‐3′‐oxime), a specific GSK‐3β inhibitor and Wnt activator, for 5 and 10 days results in increased expression of a general neuronal marker (β‐tubulin III). Moreover, the expression of pGSK‐3β and stabilized β‐catenin increased by BIO in neurally induced USSCs, indicates that the Wnt pathway is activated and functional in these cells. Thus, inhibition of GSK‐3β in USSCs enhances their neural differentiation, which suggests a positive role of the Wnt/β‐catenin signalling pathway towards neural fate.
Nuclear morphology and c‐Jun N‐terminal kinase 1 expression differentiate serum‐starved oxidative stress signalling from hydrogen peroxide‐induced apoptosis in retinal neuronal cell line
Authors: Basu Kaustuv , Mukhopadhyay Arijit , Ghosh Ilora , Datta Kasturi 
Published: July 2012

AbstractOxidative stress induced by serum starvation and H2O2 exposure, both triggers apoptosis in retinal neuronal cell line RGC‐5 (retinal ganglion cell‐5). We have examined whether, despite excess generation of ROS (reactive oxygen species) and apoptosis induction, there is any dissimilarity in nuclear morphology and apoptotic signalling pathway in RGC‐5 under these conditions. Sub‐confluent cells were treated either with H2O2 or maintained in SFM (serum‐free medium). ROS level was detected along with nuclear morphology and ultrastructural analysis. Generation of excess intracellular ROS, nuclear localization of Bax and caspase 3 activation along with decrease of cellular viability, confirmed apoptosis induction in RGC‐5 by 72 h serum starvation and 500 M H2O2 exposure for 1 h. Nuclear swelling as supported by nuclear cytoplasmic ratio and conspicuous black spots with nuclear remodelling were observed only upon SFM, but not with H2O2 treatment. Serum starvation did not alter JNK1 (c‐Jun N‐terminal kinase 1) expression, although nuclear translocation and higher level of pJNK (phospho‐JNK) was evident. Conversely, H2O2 exposure blocked the expression and activation of JNK1 to phospho‐JNK as a negligible level of pJNK was present in the cytoplasm. Despite similar ROS generation in both the conditions, difference in nuclear morphology and JNK1 expression leads to the hypothesis that RGC‐5 cells may follow different signalling pathways when challenged with serum starvation and H2O2.