bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Out of hospital cardiac arrest outside home in Sweden, change in characteristics, outcome and availability for public access defibrillation
Authors: Ringh Mattias , Herlitz Johan , Hollenberg Jacob , Rosenqvist Mårten , Svensson Leif 
Published: April 2009

Abstract

Background
A large proportion of patients who suffer from out of hospital cardiac arrest (OHCA) outside home are theoretically candidates for public access defibrillation (PAD). We describe the change in characteristics and outcome among these candidates in a 14 years perspective in Sweden.

Methods
All patients who suffered an OHCA in whom cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) was attempted between 1992 and 2005 and who were included in the Swedish Cardiac Arrest Register (SCAR). We included patients in the survey if OHCA took place outside home excluding crew witnessed cases and those taken place in a nursing home.

Results
26% of all OHCAs (10133 patients out of 38710 patients) fulfilled the inclusion criteria. Within this group, the number of patients each year varied between 530 and 896 and the median age decreased from 68 years in 1992 to 64 years in 2005 (p for trend = 0.003). The proportion of patients who received bystander CPR increased from 47% in 1992 to 58% in 2005 (p for trend < 0.0001). The proportion of patients found in ventricular fibrillation (VF) declined from 56% to 50% among witnessed cases (p for trend < 0.0001) and a significant (p < 0.0001) decline was also seen among non witnessed cases.
The median time from cardiac arrest to defibrillation among witnessed cases was 12 min in 1992 and 10 min in 2005 (p for trend = 0.029). Survival to one month among all patients increased from 8.1% to 14.0% (p for trend = 0.01). Among patients found in a shockable rhythm survival increased from 15.3% in 1992 to 27.0% in 2005 (p for trend < 0.0001).

Conclusion
In Sweden, there was a change in characteristics and outcome among patients who suffer OHCA outside home. Among these patients, bystander CPR increased, but the occurrence of VF decreased. One-month survival increased moderately overall and highly significantly among patients found in VF, even though the time to defibrillation changed only moderately.
The material properties of acellular bone in a teleost fish
Authors: Horton Jaquan M. , Summers Adam P. 
Published: April 2009

SUMMARYSeveral lineages of teleost fishes have independently derived skeletons composed solely of acellular bone, a tissue without obvious advantages over bone that has osteocytes in the matrix. There is no consensus for the functional role of acellular bone, as factors such as salinity, activity level and gross morphology have been shown to be poor predictors of acellularity. We used a three-point bending method to test the hypothesis that the material stiffness (elastic modulus) of acellular bone is higher than that of cellular bone, which could be evidence that material properties were a selective pressure in the evolution of this unusual skeletal material. The acellular ribs of Myoxocephalus polyacanthocephalus are curved, hollow beams that decrease in size both distally and posteriorly along the rib series. First and second moments of area decreased distally and caudally in all individuals. Young's modulus (E) ranged from 3.67 to 8.40 GPa, with a mean of 6.48 GPa. The flexural stiffness (EI) differed significantly between ribs, and the hollow cylinder morphology increased the flexural stiffness by 12.0% over a solid, circular cross-section rod with the same area. Contrary to our expectations, acellular bone is not stiffer by virtue of fewer lacunae but instead falls at the very low end of the range of stiffness seen in cellular bone. There remains the possibility that other properties(e.g. fatigue resistance, toughness) are higher in acellular bone.
Fast learning but coarse discrimination of colours in restrained honeybees
Authors: Niggebrügge C. , Leboulle G. , Menzel R. , Komischke B. , de Ibarra N. Hempel 
Published: April 2009

SUMMARYColours are quickly learnt by free-moving bees in operant conditioning settings. In the present study, we report a method using the classical conditioning of the proboscis extension response (PER) in restrained honeybees(Apis mellifera), which allows bees to learn colours after just a few training trials. We further analysed how visual learning and discrimination is influenced by the quality of a stimulus by systematically varying the chromatic and achromatic properties of the stimuli. Using differential conditioning, we found that faster colour discrimination learning was correlated with reduced colour similarity between stimuli. In experiments with both absolute and differential conditioning, restrained bees showed poor colour discrimination and broad generalisation. This result is in strong contrast to the well-demonstrated ability of bees to finely discriminate colours under free-flight conditions and raises further questions about the temporal and perceptual processes underlying the ability of bees to discriminate and learn colours in different behavioural contexts.
Waveform generation in the weakly electric fishGymnotus coropinae(Hoedeman): the electric organ and the electric organ discharge
Authors: Castelló María E. , Rodríguez-Cattáneo Alejo , Aguilera Pedro A. , Iribarne Leticia , Pereira Ana Carolina , Caputi Ángel A. 
Published: April 2009

SUMMARYThis article deals with the electric organ and its discharge in Gymnotus coropinae, a representative species of one of the three main clades of the genus. Three regions with bilateral symmetry are described: (1)subopercular (medial and lateral columns of complex shaped electrocytes); (2)abdominal (medial and lateral columns of cuboidal and fusiform electrocytes);and (3) main [four columns, one dorso-lateral (containing fusiform electrocytes) and three medial (containing cuboidal electrocytes)]. Subopercular electrocytes are all caudally innervated whereas two of the medial subopercular ones are also rostrally innervated. Fusiform electrocytes are medially innervated at the abdominal portion, and at their rostral and caudal poles at the main portion. Cuboidal electrocytes are always caudally innervated. The subopercular portion generates a slow head-negative wave(V1r) followed by a head-positive spike (V3r). The abdominal and main portions generate a fast tetra-phasic complex(V2345ct). Since subopercular components prevail in the near field and the rest in the far field, time coincidence of V3r with V2 leads to different waveforms depending on the position of the receiver. This confirms the splitting hypothesis of communication and exploration channels based on the different timing, frequency band and reach of the regional waveforms. The following hypothesis is compatible with the observed anatomo-functional organization: V1r corresponds to the rostral activation of medial subopercular electrocytes and V3r to the caudal activation of all subopercular electrocytes; V2, and part of V3ct, corresponds to the successive activation of the rostral and caudal poles of dorso-lateral fusiform electrocytes; and V345ct is initiated in the caudal face of cuboidal electrocytes by synaptic activation (V3ct) and it is completed (V45ct)by the successive activation of rostral and caudal faces by the action currents evoked in the opposite face.
Effects of a short period of elevated circulating corticosterone on postnatal growth in free-living Eurasian kestrelsFalco tinnunculus
Authors: Müller Claudia , Jenni-Eiermann Susanne , Jenni Lukas 
Published: April 2009

SUMMARYEnvironmental conditions affect growth and development and, through developmental plasticity, create phenotypic variation. In suboptimal conditions current survival is traded-off against development. Corticosterone,the main glucocorticoid in birds, may be involved in the reallocation of energy from growth to maintenance, but its effect on growth has rarely been investigated in altricial birds under natural conditions in the wild. In free-living Eurasian kestrel Falco tinnunculus nestlings, we artificially elevated corticosterone to stress-induced levels over 2–3 days in the middle of the nestling stage by implanting biodegradable implants,controlling the treatment with a placebo group. We measured the length of primary feather 8, hand length, tarsus length, body mass and subcutaneous fat stores from day 10 to 25. During corticosterone elevation, primary growth of cort-nestlings was significantly reduced to 71% of placebo-nestlings, hand and tarsus growth were significantly reduced to 14% and 26% of placebo-nestlings,respectively, and body mass increase stopped, while subcutaneous fat-store growth was not affected. Over the following 5 days, primary growth was still significantly suppressed to 84% of placebo-nestlings, while hand, tarsus and body mass growth were back to normal. During the subsequent 4 days,cort-nestlings partly compensated for the lag in body mass by significantly accelerating the body mass increase compared with placebo-nestlings. Before fledging, primary length was 10% shorter, hand and tarsus 5% and 4% shorter and body mass 8.5% lower in cort-nestlings than in placebo-nestlings, while fat score did not differ significantly between the two groups. Thus, we have shown that in free-living, altricial nestlings a few days of elevated plasma corticosterone levels alone, without food restriction, suppressed growth and this could only partly be compensated for afterwards. Feather, bone and body mass growth were reduced to different degrees, indicating that corticosterone had a differential effect on different structures. This demonstrates that corticosterone is probably involved in the control of developmental plasticity.
Glutamine accumulation and up-regulation of glutamine synthetase activity in the swamp eel,Monopterus albus(Zuiew), exposed to brackish water
Authors: Tok Chia Y. , Chew Shit F. , Peh Wendy Y. X. , Loong Ai M. , Wong Wai P. , Ip Yuen K. 
Published: April 2009

SUMMARYThe swamp eel, Monopterus albus, is an air-breathing teleost which typically lives in freshwater but can also be found in estuaries, where it has to deal with ambient salinity fluctuations. Unlike other teleosts, its gills are highly degenerate. Hence, it may have uncommon osmoregulatory adaptations,but no information is available on its osmoregulatory capacity and mechanisms at present. In this study M. albus was exposed to a 5 day progressive increase in salinity from freshwater (1‰) to brackish water(25‰) and subsequently kept in 25‰ water for a total of 4 days. The results indicate that M. albus switched from hyperosmotic hyperionic regulation in freshwater to a combination of osmoconforming and hypoosmotic hypoionic regulation in 25‰ water. Exposure to 25‰water resulted in relatively large increases in plasma osmolality,[Na+] and [Cl–]. Consequently, fish exposed to 25‰ water had to undergo cell volume regulation through accumulation of organic osmolytes and inorganic ions. Increases in tissue free amino acid content were apparently the result of increased protein degradation, decreased amino acid catabolism, and increased synthesis of certain non-essential amino acids. Here we report for the first time that glutamine is the major organic osmolyte in M. albus. Glutamine content increased to a phenomenal level of &gt;12 μmol g–1 and &gt;30 μmol g–1 in the muscle and liver, respectively, of fish exposed to 25‰ water. There were significant increases in glutamine synthetase(GS) activity in muscle and liver of these fish. In addition, exposure to 25‰ water for 4 days led to significant increases in GS protein abundance in both muscle and liver, indicating that increases in the expression of GS mRNA could have occurred.
Automated hull reconstruction motion tracking (HRMT) applied to sideways maneuvers of free-flying insects
Authors: Ristroph Leif , Berman Gordon J. , Bergou Attila J. , Wang Z. Jane , Cohen Itai 
Published: April 2009

SUMMARYFlying insects perform aerial maneuvers through slight manipulations of their wing motions. Because such manipulations in wing kinematics are subtle,a reliable method is needed to properly discern consistent kinematic strategies used by the insect from inconsistent variations and measurement error. Here, we introduce a novel automated method that accurately extracts full, 3D body and wing kinematics from high-resolution films of free-flying insects. This method combines visual hull reconstruction, principal components analysis, and geometric information about the insect to recover time series data of positions and orientations. The technique has small,well-characterized errors of under 3 pixels for positions and 5 deg. for orientations. To show its utility, we apply this motion tracking to the flight of fruit flies, Drosophila melanogaster. We find that fruit flies generate sideways forces during some maneuvers and that strong lateral acceleration is associated with differences between the left and right wing angles of attack. Remarkably, this asymmetry can be induced by simply altering the relative timing of flips between the right and left wings, and we observe that fruit flies employ timing differences as high as 10% of a wing beat period while accelerating sideways at 40% g.
Variation in yolk precursor receptor mRNA expression is a key determinant of reproductive phenotype in the zebra finch (Taeniopygia guttata)
Authors: Han Dong , Haunerland Norbert H. , Williams Tony D. 
Published: April 2009

SUMMARYThe vitellogenin/very low density lipoprotein receptor (VTG/VLDL-R), a 95 kDa protein that belongs to the low density lipoprotein receptor gene family,mediates the uptake of yolk precursors by developing follicles during oocyte growth. However, the extent to which variation in VTG/VLDL-R expression plays a role in determining inter-individual variation in reproductive phenotype(e.g. follicle or egg size) is not known. Here we show that the mRNA sequence of the zebra finch (Taeniopygia guttata) VTG/VLDL-R shows a high degree of sequence identity (92%) with chicken VTG/VLDL-R mRNA. Using quantitative real-time PCR we measured transcriptional expression of VTG/VLDL-R mRNA in various tissues, and for different stages of oocyte growth,in individual female zebra finches. VTG/VLDL-R mRNA was expressed at high levels in vitellogenic oocytes and in skeletal muscle, and was also detectable in liver, but these tissues expressed different splice variants: the short-form LR8–in oocytes and liver, and the LR8+ form in skeletal muscle. There was significant temporal variation in VTG/VLDL-R expression during follicle growth, with highest levels in ovary and a gradual decrease from pre-F3 to F1 vitellogenic follicles. Variation in ovary mRNA expression was correlated with inter-individual variation in clutch size and laying interval. Furthermore, variation in F3 follicle VTG/VLDL-R mRNA expression was correlated with inter-individual variation in egg mass and F1 follicle mass,suggesting that VTG/VLDL receptor mRNA expression is a key determinant of inter-individual variation in reproductive phenotype.
Determinants of incubation period: do reptilian embryos hatch after a fixed total number of heart beats?
Authors: Du Wei-Guo , Radder Rajkumar S. , Sun Bo , Shine Richard 
Published: April 2009

SUMMARY
The eggs of birds typically hatch after a fixed (but lineage-specific)cumulative number of heart beats since the initiation of incubation. Is the same true for non-avian reptiles, despite wide intraspecific variation in incubation period generated by variable nest temperatures? Non-invasive monitoring of embryo heart beat rates in one turtle species (Pelodiscus sinensis) and two lizards (Bassiana duperreyi and Takydromus septentrionalis) show that the total number of heart beats during embryogenesis is relatively constant over a wide range of warm incubation conditions. However, incubation at low temperatures increases the total number of heart beats required to complete embryogenesis, because the embryo spends much of its time at temperatures that require maintenance functions but that do not allow embryonic growth or differentiation. Thus, cool-incubated embryos allocate additional metabolic effort to maintenance costs. Under warm conditions, total number of heart beats thus predicts incubation period in non-avian reptiles as well as in birds (the total number of heart beats are also similar); however, under the colder nest conditions often experienced by non-avian reptiles, maintenance costs add significantly to total embryonic metabolic expenditure.
Floral colour signal increases short-range detectability of a sexually deceptive orchid to its bee pollinator
Authors: Streinzer Martin , Paulus Hannes F. , Spaethe Johannes 
Published: April 2009

SUMMARY
Orchids of the genus Ophrys are pollinated by males of solitary bees and wasps through sexual deception. The flowers mimic the behaviourally active compounds of the sex pheromone of receptive females and thus attract males that seek to copulate. Odour is the main attractant while visual stimuli have been assumed so far to play only a minor role. In contrast to most species of the genus, Heldreich's orchid Ophrys heldreichii, which is pollinated by males of the long-horned bee Tetralonia berlandi,possesses a bright pink perianth that appears conspicuous to a human observer. We investigated the role of this floral colour signal in pollinator attraction. We filmed approach flights of male bees to flowers in which we removed the original perianth and in which we substituted the perianth with an artificial one of a particular selected colour. At distances &gt;30 cm, male search time correlated only with wind speed but not with the spectral parameters of the perianth, i.e. chromatic and green receptor-specific contrast. By contrast, in the close range (&lt;30 cm), where the perianth subtends a visual angle of at least 5 deg. to the bee's eye, search time decreased with increasing green receptor contrast between perianth and background; however, no correlation with chromatic contrast or wind speed was found. Our results indicate that pollinators are first attracted by olfactory signals from a distance. Once in the vicinity of the flower where spatial vision of the males is sufficient, they are guided exclusively by vision. However, it can be expected that possession of a `non-private' colour signal would increase the risk of pollen loss in sexually deceptive orchids by accidentally attracting non-specific flower visitors. We therefore discuss the occurrence of colour signals in the genus Ophrys in respect to the species-specific visual system of the pollinators.
Dynamics of PHA-induced immune response and plasma carotenoids in birds:should we have a closer look?
Authors: Biard C. , Hardy C. , Motreuil S. , Moreau J. 
Published: April 2009

SUMMARY
Allocation trade-offs of limited resources are thought to ensure the honesty of sexual signals and are often studied using controlled immune challenges. One such trade-off between immunity and ornaments is that involving carotenoids. Phytohemagglutinin (PHA)-induced immune response is a widely used immune challenge, yet more details on the underlying physiological mechanisms and potential costs are needed. We investigated the temporal dynamics of PHA-induced immune response and associated changes in blood carotenoids, body mass and a carotenoid-based coloured signal. We found variation in individual response patterns to PHA after peak swelling was reached, with birds showing either a rapid or a slow subsequent decrease in swelling, suggesting variation in the duration of the immune response and/or inflammation. Body mass did not affect immune response. Plasma carotenoids followed a transient decrease closely matching the dynamics of the swelling. The peak of the immune response was negatively related to initial plasma carotenoid levels and positively correlated to the relative decrease in plasma carotenoids. Individual variation in duration of the swelling could be partly explained by plasma carotenoids; high initial carotenoid levels were associated with a slower decrease of the swelling. These contradictory effects of carotenoids suggest a complex role in the immune response. Bill colour was positively correlated to initial plasma carotenoid concentration but it did not predict or change as a consequence of immune response to PHA. Bill colour thus reflects medium- or long-term quality rather than immediate quality. Taking into account the dynamics of the immune response and that of associated physiological parameters would thus yield new insights into our interpretation of variation in PHA response.
SELDI-TOF Mass Spectrometry Evaluation of Variant Transthyretins for Diagnosis and Pathogenesis of Familial Amyloidotic Polyneuropathy
Authors: Ueda Mitsuharu , Misumi Yohei , Mizuguchi Mineyuki , Nakamura Masaaki , Yamashita Taro , Sekijima Yoshiki , Ota Kazutoshi , Shinriki Satoru , Jono Hirofumi , Ikeda Shu-ichi , Suhr Ole B , Ando Yukio 
Published: April 2009

Abstract
Background: Mass spectrometric analyses are valuable for detection of transthyretin (TTR) variants, which cause familial amyloidotic polyneuropathy (FAP). However, those methods require an immunoprecipitation step with an anti-TTR antibody and are not suitable for quantitative detection. We investigated the usefulness of SELDI-TOF mass spectrometry (MS) without an immunoprecipitation step.
Methods: We used ProteinChips with chromatographic capture formats to detect TTRs. We attempted to correlate the intensity of mixed samples of amyloidogenic TTR (ATTR) V30M to wild-type (WT) TTR. We analyzed the proportion of ATTR V30M in amyloid-laden cardiac tissues from FAP patients, and also evaluated samples from FAP patients with 16 other TTR mutations.
Results: Detection of ATTR required only 3 h of SELDI-TOF MS analysis. We determined that SELDI-TOF MS was suitable for quantitative detection of ATTR V30M and demonstrated that the proportion of ATTR V30M to WT TTR was 46.6% in amyloid-laden cardiac tissue from an FAP patient who died 10 years after liver transplantation. With this method, we identified 12 of 17 TTR variants. Small mass shifts and low concentrations of variants prevented ATTR detection. By changing the analytical conditions, we achieved detection of low concentrations of ATTR Y114C in serum.
Conclusions: SELDI-TOF MS is a reliable tool for quantitative evaluation of TTR variants, in both tissue amyloid deposits and body fluids. This method is useful for the diagnosis and investigation of the pathogenesis of FAP.