bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Body size and the division of niche space: food and predation differentially shape the distribution of Serengeti grazers
Authors: Hopcraft J. Grant C. , Anderson T. Michael , Pérez‐Vila Saleta , Mayemba Emilian , Olff Han 
Published: July 2011

Summary1. Theory predicts that small grazers are regulated by the digestive quality of grass, while large grazers extract sufficient nutrients from low‐quality forage and are regulated by its abundance instead. In addition, predation potentially affects populations of small grazers more than large grazers, because predators have difficulty capturing and handling large prey.2. We analyse the spatial distribution of five grazer species of different body size in relation to gradients of food availability and predation risk. Specifically, we investigate how the quality of grass, the abundance of grass biomass and the associated risks of predation affect the habitat use of small, intermediate and large savanna grazers at a landscape level.3. Resource selection functions of five mammalian grazer species surveyed over a 21‐year period in Serengeti are calculated using logistic regressions. Variables included in the analyses are grass nitrogen, rainfall, topographic wetness index, woody cover, drainage lines, landscape curvature, water and human habitation. Structural equation modelling (SEM) is used to aggregate predictor variables into ‘composites’ representing food quality, food abundance and predation risk. Subsequently, SEM is used to investigate species’ habitat use, defined as their recurrence in 5 × 5 km cells across repeated censuses.4. The distribution of small grazers is constrained by predation and food quality, whereas the distribution of large grazers is relatively unconstrained. The distribution of the largest grazer (African buffalo) is primarily associated with forage abundance but not predation risk, while the distributions of the smallest grazers (Thomson’s gazelle and Grant’s gazelle) are associated with high grass quality and negatively with the risk of predation. The distributions of intermediate sized grazers (Coke’s hartebeest and topi) suggest they optimize access to grass biomass of sufficient quality in relatively predator‐safe areas.5. The results illustrate how top‐down (vegetation‐mediated predation risk) and bottom‐up factors (biomass and nutrient content of vegetation) predictably contribute to the division of niche space for herbivores that vary in body size. Furthermore, diverse grazing assemblages are composed of herbivores of many body sizes (rather than similar body sizes), because these herbivores best exploit the resources of different habitat types.
Direct and indirect effects of landscape change on the reproduction of a temperate perennial herb
Authors: Valdés Alicia , García Daniel 
Published: July 2011

Summary1. The harmful effects of landscape change on species reproduction may be direct when habitat loss and fragmentation affect individual performance within habitat remnants, but also indirect when reproductive collapse derives from the effect of landscape alterations on population traits. Although the distinction between direct and indirect effects is crucial for the effective management of species, studies looking at both are scarce.2. To assess the mechanisms and the temporal consistency of landscape change effects on reproduction, we quantified flowering, fruiting and seed set of the perennial herb Primula vulgaris through a gradient of forest loss and fragmentation, in 2 years with different climatic conditions. We used structural equation modelling to relate, at the landscape scale, forest habitat availability and subdivision, forest edge length, population size and subdivision, and flower, fruit and seed production. We also evaluated the effects of light availability, plant abundance and aggregation on reproduction at the local scale.3. Flower and fruit production decreased in landscape regions with lower forest habitat availability, and fruit production decreased in areas with a smaller amount of forest edge. There was also a negative indirect effect of habitat loss on seed production, through population size reduction. These effects mostly emerged at the landscape scale and operated in all reproductive stages, but were also transmitted across stages, as flower and fruit production quantitatively influenced seed output.4. Landscape change effects on reproduction differed between the 2 years, becoming evident after a mild winter that favoured long‐lasting flowering, but disappearing, or even changing sign, when winter harshness shortened flowering.5. Synthesis and applications. Disentangling the relative importance of direct and indirect effects of landscape change in plant reproduction is a novel approach to distinguishing between populations and habitats as the required management targets. In our study system, increasing P. vulgaris population sizes within small forest patches seems less effective than increasing forest cover around existing populations (even small ones), to enhance individual reproduction. The contrasting effects of the different processes of landscape change and the potential additive role of climatic variability must also be considered in management purposes.
Progress in medicine: autonomy, oughtonomy and nudging
Authors: Devisch Ignaas 
Published: July 2011

AbstractRationale  In this article, I argue that we need a new perspective in the debate on autonomy in medicine, to understand many of the problems we face today – dilemmas that are situated at the intersection of autonomy and heteronomy, such as why well informed and autonomous people make unhealthy lifestyle choices. If people do not choose what they want, this is not simply caused by their lack of character or capability, but also by the fact that absolute autonomy is impossible; autonomous individuals are ‘contaminated’ by heteronymous aspects, by influences from ‘outside’. Consequently, there are many good reasons to question the widely accepted hierarchical opposition of autonomy (progress) versus heteronomy (paternalism) in medicine. In an earlier article an analysis is made of the neologism ‘oughtonomy’ to support the thesis that when it comes down to human existence, autonomy and heteronomy are intertwined, rather than being merely opposites.Methods  In this article, I reflect upon how social conditions might improve our ‘choice architecture’, what Thaler & Sunstein have called ‘nudging’: how to change individual health choices without being paternalistic? I explore the extent to which both oughtonomy and nudging are able to challenge the question of autonomy in today's medicine.Results and conclusions  Autonomy may and should be a shared target in today's medicine, but we should never forget that it is always intertwined with heteronomy. Starting from this perspective, progress in medicine demands far more than the increase of autonomy.
GRP78(BiP) facilitates the cytosolic delivery of anthrax lethal factor (LF) in vivo and functions as an unfoldase in vitro
Authors: Tamayo Alfred G. , Slater Louise , Taylor‐Parker Julian , Bharti Ajit , Harrison Robert , Hung Deborah T. , Murphy John R. 
Published: July 2011

SummaryAnthrax toxin is an A/B bacterial protein toxin which is composed of the enzymatically active Lethal Factor (LF) and/or Oedema Factor (EF) bound to Protective Antigen 63 (PA63) which functions as both the receptor binding and transmembrane domains. Once the toxin binds to its cell surface receptors it is internalized into the cell and traffics through Rab5‐ and Rab7‐associated endosomal vesicles. Following acidification of the vesicle lumen, PA63 undergoes a dynamic change forming a beta‐barrel that inserts into and forms a pore through the endosomal membrane. It is widely recognized that LF, and the related fusion protein LFnDTA, must be completely denatured in order to transit through the PA63 formed pore and enter the eukaryotic cell cytosol. We demonstrate by protease protection assays that the molecular chaperone GRP78 mediates the unfolding of LFnDTA and LF at neutral pH and thereby converts these proteins from a trypsin resistant to sensitive conformation. We have used immunoelectron microscopy and gold‐labelled antibodies to demonstrate that both GRP78 and GRP94 chaperones are present in the lumen of endosomal vesicles. Finally, we have used siRNA to demonstrate that knock‐down of GRP78 results in the emergence of resistance to anthrax lethal toxin and oedema toxin action.
Potential susceptibility of Australian native plant species to branch dieback and bole canker diseases caused by Phytophthora ramorum
Authors: Ireland K. B. , Hüberli D. , Dell B. , Smith I. W. , Rizzo D. M. , Hardy G. E. St. J. 
Published: July 2011

Susceptibility to branch dieback caused by Phytophthora ramorum was tested using a detached branch assay for 66 Australian native plant species sourced from established gardens and arboreta in California. Six of these species were further tested for their susceptibility to bole cankers caused by P. ramorum using a sealed log assay. Isopogon formosus and Eucalyptus denticulata were identified as potentially highly susceptible Australian branch dieback hosts. Thirteen potentially tolerant Australian host species included Banksia attenuata, B. marginata, E. haemastoma, E. regnans, Pittosporum undulatum and Billardiera heterophylla. Eucalyptus regnans was identified as a potentially highly susceptible bole canker host, while E. diversicolor and E. viminalis were considered potentially tolerant species to bole cankers caused by P. ramorum. Phytophthora ramorum was able to infect all 66 species, as confirmed by reisolation. These results extend the known potential host range for P. ramorum, confirm it as a possible threat to Australian plant industries and ecosystems and highlight additional associated hosts that are important in the global horticultural trade, native forests and plantation forestry.
Genetic population structure and trichothecene genotypes of Fusarium graminearum isolated from wheat in southern Brazil
Authors: Astolfi P. , Reynoso M. M. , Ramirez M. L. , Chulze S. N. , Alves T. C. A. , Tessmann D. J. , Del Ponte E. M. 
Published: July 2011

A sample of 140 Fusarium graminearum isolates from Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil, representing three populations at least 150 km from one another, were examined for trichothecene genotype based on PCR amplification of portions of the Tri3 and Tri12 genes and a species‐specific (Fg16F/R) primer pair. Genetic diversity was assessed in a sample of 103 F. graminearum lineage 7 (F. graminearum sensu stricto) isolates using amplified fragment length polymorphism (AFLP) markers. The 15‐ADON genotype was dominant, followed by the NIV genotype (2–18% prevalence), across all three populations. All NIV‐type isolates were in lineage 2 (F. meridionale) and all 15‐ADON‐type isolates were in lineage 7. Isolates with the same haplotype were rare and genotypic diversity was uniformly high (≥98% of the count), suggesting that recombination has played a significant role. The number of migrants (Nm) was estimated between 5 and 6 across all loci and all populations, but the high frequency of private alleles (up to 30%) suggests a historical, rather than contemporary, gene flow. Regarding linkage disequilibrium, 0·8, 1·5 and 2·2% of the locus pairs from the three populations were in disequilibrium, which is lower than values reported in other locations. Thus, Brazilian populations differ from those found in Europe, North America and most of Asia in the presence of a significant frequency (7·8%) of isolates of the NIV genotype in lineage 2.
Sulfinylated azadecalins act as functional mimics of a pollen germination stimulant in Arabidopsis pistils
Authors: Qin Yuan , Wysocki Ronald J. , Somogyi Arpad , Feinstein Yelena , Franco Jessica Y. , Tsukamoto Tatsuya , Dunatunga Damayanthi , Levy Clara , Smith Steven , Simpson Robert , Gang David , Johnson Mark A. , Palanivelu Ravishankar 
Published: July 2011

SummaryPolarized cell elongation is triggered by small molecule cues during development of diverse organisms. During plant reproduction, pollen interactions with the stigma result in the polar outgrowth of a pollen tube, which delivers sperm cells to the female gametophyte to effect double fertilization. In many plants, pistils stimulate pollen germination. However, in Arabidopsis, the effect of pistils on pollen germination and the pistil factors that stimulate pollen germination remain poorly characterized. Here, we demonstrate that stigma, style, and ovules in Arabidopsis pistils stimulate pollen germination. We isolated an Arabidopsis pistil extract fraction that stimulates Arabidopsis pollen germination, and employed ultra‐high resolution electrospray ionization (ESI), Fourier‐transform ion cyclotron resonance (FT‐ICR) and MS/MS techniques to accurately determine the mass (202.126 Da) of a compound that is specifically present in this pistil extract fraction. Using the molecular formula (C10H19NOS) and tandem mass spectral fragmentation patterns of the m/z (mass to charge ratio) 202.126 ion, we postulated chemical structures, devised protocols, synthesized N‐methanesulfinyl 1‐ and 2‐azadecalins that are close structural mimics of the m/z 202.126 ion, and showed that they are sufficient to stimulate Arabidopsis pollen germination in vitro (30 μm stimulated approximately 50% germination) and elicit accession‐specific response. Although N‐methanesulfinyl 2‐azadecalin stimulated pollen germination in three species of Lineage I of Brassicaceae, it did not induce a germination response in Sisymbrium irio (Lineage II of Brassicaceae) and tobacco, indicating that activity of the compound is not random. Our results show that Arabidopsis pistils promote germination by producing azadecalin‐like molecules to ensure rapid fertilization by the appropriate pollen.
Trends of Zambia’s tuberculosis burden over the past two decades
Authors: Kapata Nathan , Chanda‐Kapata Pascalina , O’Grady Justin , Schwank Samana , Bates Mathew , Mukonka Victor , Zumla Alimuddin , Mwaba Peter 
Published: July 2011

SummaryObjectives  To study trends in Zambia’s TB notification rates between 1990 and 2010 and to ascertain progress made towards TB control.Methods  Retrospective review of TB notification returns and TB programme reports for the period from 1990 to 2010.Results  Two distinct TB trend periods were identified: a period of rising trends up to a peak between 1990 and 2004 and a period of moderately declining trends between 2004 and 2010. Treatment outcomes improved over the two decades. Data on trends in paediatric TB, TB in prisoners and TB in pregnant women remain scanty and unreliable owing to poor diagnostic capability. There were no data available on trends on drug‐resistant TB because of the lack of laboratory services to perform drug sensitivity testing.Conclusions  The period of increasing TB between 1990 and 2000 coincided with an increase in HIV/AIDS. The period of slightly decreasing TB between 2004 and 2010 can be attributed to improved TB care, sustained DOTS implementation and improvement in TB diagnostic services. Newer diagnostics technologies for the rapid diagnosis of active TB cases and for drug‐resistant testing, recently endorsed by the WHO, need to be implemented into the national TB programmes to detect more cases and to provide epidemiological and surveillance data from which to obtain an evidence base for guided investments for TB control. Alignment of TB and HIV services is required to achieve improved management outcomes.
Ehlers–Danlos arthrochalasia type (VIIA–B) – expanding the phenotype: from prenatal life through adulthood
Authors: Klaassens M , Reinstein E , Hilhorst‐Hofstee Y , Schrander JJP , Malfait F , Staal H , ten Have LC , Blaauw J , Roggeveen HCJ , Krakow D , De Paepe A , van Steensel MAM , Pals G , Graham JM , Schrander‐Stumpel CTRM 
Published: July 2011

Klaassens M, Reinstein E, Hilhorst‐Hofstee Y, Schrander JJP, Malfait F, Staal H, ten Have LC, Blaauw J, Roggeveen HCJ, Krakow D, De Paepe A, van Steensel MAM, Pals G, Graham JM Jr, Schrander‐Stumpel CTRM. Ehlers–Danlos arthrochalasia types (VIIA–B) – expanding the phenotype: from prenatal life through adulthood.The Ehlers–Danlos syndromes (EDS) form a clinically and genetically heterogeneous group of inherited connective‐tissue disorders characterized by joint hypermobility, tissue fragility and skin abnormalities. Six subtypes have been well characterized based on clinical features and molecular genetic abnormalities. The arthrochalasia type EDS (formerly types VIIA and B) is characterized by severe generalized joint hypermobility with multiple dislocations including congenital bilateral dislocation of the hips, muscular hypotonia and distinct dysmorphic features. The diagnosis of the arthrochalasia type EDS is of importance in the neonatal period because of consequences of physical disability in later life. However, the differential diagnosis may be difficult because of overlap with other hypermobility syndromes. In addition, the significant hypotonia may direct the physician toward various neuromuscular diagnoses. As patients become older, the hypotonia decreases and facial features become less distinct. In this report, we describe seven patients at different ages. Timing of diagnosis varied from prenatal life to adult age. The diagnosis of EDS type VII was confirmed by biochemical studies or mutation analysis showing characteristic mutations in COL1A1 and COL1A2. These mutations result in skipping of exon 6, which leads to defective collagen synthesis. For physicians treating patients with EDS type VII, achieving mobility for the patient is the greatest challenge and it may be impossible because of recurrent dislocations of nearly all joints in severe cases.
Liver transplantation in children weighing 5 kg or less: Analysis of the UNOS database
Authors: Arnon Ronen , Annunziato Rachel , Miloh Tamir , Sogawa Hiroshi , Nostrand Kelsey Van , Florman Sander , Suchy Frederick , Kerkar Nanda 
Published: July 2011

Arnon R, Annunziato R, Miloh T, Sogawa H, Van Nostrand K, Florman S, Suchy F, Kerkar N. Liver transplantation in children weighing 5 kg or less: Analysis of the UNOS database. Pediatr Transplantation 2011: 15: 650–658. © 2011 John Wiley & Sons A/S.Abstract:  LT is a major medical and surgical challenge in very small patients. Aim of the study is to determine the outcomes after LT in infants ≤5 kg at transplant in a large cohort of patients. Methods: Infants ≤5 kg who had LT between 10/1987 and 5/2008 were identified from the UNOS database. Risk factors for death and graft loss were analyzed by multivariate logistic regression. Results: Of 11 467 children, 570 (5%) were ≤5 kg at LT. Mean age and weight at LT were 0.11 ± 0.48 yr, 4.32 ± 0.74 kg, respectively. One‐ and five‐yr patient and graft survival were 77.7%, 72.2% and 66.1%, 57.6%, respectively. The primary cause of death was infection (25.9%). Recipient age was a predictor of graft loss. Patient and graft survival have improved over time. Life support at transplant was identified as a risk factor for both death and graft loss (p < 0.02, p < 0.01, respectively). Conclusion: LT recipients ≤5 kg have high mortality and graft loss. Over time, graft survival has improved, although it is still inferior to the overall reported outcomes of pediatric LT. Being on life support at transplant is a significant risk factor for death and graft loss in very small recipients.
Short‐term effect of dietary yeast nucleotide supplementation on small intestinal enzyme activities, bacterial populations and metabolites and ileal nutrient digestibilities in newly weaned pigs*
Authors: Sauer N. , Eklund M. , Roth S. , Rink F. , Jezierny D. , Bauer E. , Mosenthin R. 
Published: July 2011

SummaryIn previous studies, dietary nucleotides have been shown to improve performance in single‐stomached animals by promoting the renewal of small intestine epithelial cells and by influencing the activity and composition of the microbial community in the digestive tract. The present experiment was carried out with 12 barrows weaned at the age of 18 days and fitted with a simple T‐cannula at the distal ileum. To determine short‐term effects of dietary yeast nucleotides, the piglets received a grain‐soybean meal‐based basal diet with or without supplementation of 1 g/kg of a dried yeast product containing free nucleotides. Dietary supplementation with yeast did not affect bacterial numbers in the ileum as well as ileal concentrations of individual short‐chain fatty acids (SCFA), total SCFA and total lactic acid (p > 0.05). Moreover, there was no effect of supplemental yeast nucleotides on ileal α‐amylase, leucine amino peptidase, maltase and lactase activities (p > 0.05), as well as on ileal dry matter, crude protein and crude fibre digestibilities (p > 0.05). In conclusion, short‐term supplementation with dietary yeast nucleotides did not affect microbial metabolite concentrations, bacterial numbers and enzyme activities in the ileal digesta as well as ileal nutrient digestibilities of newly weaned pigs.
Airborne fungus exposure prior to hospitalisation as risk factor for mould infections in immunocompromised patients
Authors: Blum Gerhard , Eschertzhuber Stephan , Auberger Jutta , Ulmer Hanno , Geltner Christian , Gastl Günther , Nachbaur David , Lass‐Flörl Cornelia 
Published: July 2011

SummaryThe aim of this study was to investigate the relationship between fungal exposure prior to hospitalisation and ensuing onset of invasive mould infections (IMI) in patients at risk. Patients admitted to the Department of Haematology, Oncology and Transplant Surgery of the Medical University Innsbruck received a questionnaire regarding fungal exposure prior to hospital stay. Questions inquired heavy fungal exposures up to 5 days before hospitalisation. A total of 234 patients were enrolled in this study. Multiple fungus exposures were associated with the onset of community‐acquired IMI in patients with haematological malignancies. In univariate analysis, haematological malignancies (P = 0.013) and allergy to dust, pollen or moulds (P = 0.015) were significantly associated with fungal infections. In multivariate analysis, logistic regression showed that haematological patients (P = 0.015) and patients with allergy (P = 0.015) were significantly more frequently infected with fungi. Hospital‐independent fungal sources highlight risk‐factors for IMI in severe immunocompromised patients and the rate of community‐acquired IMI does increase.