bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Computer‐related visual symptoms in office workers
Authors: Portello Joan K , Rosenfield Mark , Bababekova Yuliya , Estrada Jorge M , Leon Alejandro 
Published: July 2012

Citation information: Portello JK, Rosenfield M, Bababekova Y, Estrada JM & Leon A. Computer‐related visual symptoms in office workers. Ophthalmic Physiol Opt 2012, 32, 375–382. doi: 10.1111/j.1475‐1313.2012.00925.xAbstractPurpose:  Many individuals report visual symptoms during office work and specifically computer use. This study determined the prevalence of symptoms in a population of office workers, and examined the association between these symptoms and both dry eye disease and other demographic factors.Method:  A written questionnaire was used to quantify the prevalence of symptoms in 520 New York City office workers, and to determine the effect of risk factors including gender, ethnicity, age, smoking, type of refractive correction and hours spent doing computer work. The questionnaire also examined the prevalence of ocular surface disease.Results:  A significant positive correlation was observed between the symptom score and the number of hours spent working on a computer in a typical day. The most prevalent symptom was tired eyes, which was reported by approximately 40% of subjects as occurring ‘at least half the time’. 32% and 31% of subjects reported symptoms of dry eye and eye discomfort, respectively. Symptoms varied significantly with gender (being greater in females), ethnicity (being greater in Hispanics) and the use of rewetting drops. A significant positive correlation was observed between computer‐related visual symptoms and the Ocular Surface Disease Index (OSDI), a measure of dry eye.Conclusions:  Visual symptoms associated with computer use occur frequently in the general population producing discomfort for extended periods of time. They are strongly associated with ocular surface disease. Therapeutic regimens need to be developed for this widespread condition.
How Choice Experiment Design Affects Estimated Valuation of Use of Gestation Crates
Authors: Pozo Veronica F. , Tonsor Glynn T. , Schroeder Ted C. 
Published: July 2012

AbstractThis study utilises a split‐sample experimental approach where six different choice experiment designs that vary in the number of attributes are used to control for the effects of design dimensions and consumer inferences in assessing consumer demand. Our application is in the use of gestation stalls (crates) in pork production. Our findings suggest that effects of both the mixture of attributes included in the design and consumer inferences on the specific attributes presented in experiments influence estimated willingness‐to‐pay and consumer welfare. Implications are that when researchers limit their studies to the use of a unique choice experiment design, resulting willingness‐to‐pay estimates might not be robust to different specifications.
Evaluating Body Mass Index–Specific Trimester Weight Gain Recommendations: Differences Between Black and White Women
Authors: Fontaine Patricia L. , Hellerstedt Wendy L. , Dayman Caitlyn E. , Wall Melanie M. , Sherwood Nancy E. 
Published: July 2012

Introduction: We compared the gestational weight gains of black and white women with the 2009 Institute of Medicine (IOM) recommendations to better understand the potential for successful implementation of these guidelines in clinical settings.Methods: Prenatal and birth data for 2760 women aged 18 to 40 years with term singleton births from 2004 through 2007 were abstracted. We examined race differences in mean trimester weight gains with adjusted linear regression and compared race differences in the distribution of women who met the IOM recommendations with chi‐square analyses. We stratified all analyses by prepregnancy body mass index.Results: Among normal‐weight and obese women, black women gained less weight than white women in the first and second trimesters. Overweight black women gained significantly less than white women in all trimesters. For both races in all body mass index categories, a minority of women (range 9.9%‐32.4%) met the IOM recommended gains for the second and third trimesters. For normal‐weight, overweight, and obese black and white women, 49% to 80% exceeded the recommended gains in the third trimester, with higher rates of excessive gain for white women.Discussion: Less than half of the sample gained within the IOM recommended weight gain ranges in all body mass index groups and in all trimesters. The risk of excessive gain was higher for white women. For both races, excessive weight gain began by the second trimester, suggesting that counseling about the importance of weight gain during pregnancy should begin earlier, in the first trimester or prior to conception.
Normal vs. disordered bereavement‐related depression: are the differences real or tautological?
Authors: Wakefield J. C. , Schmitz M. F. 
Published: July 2012

Objective: To evaluate whether the DSM distinction between uncomplicated (normal) and complicated (disordered) bereavement‐related depression (BRD) has discriminant validity on a range of pathology indicators. The DSM’s major depression bereavement exclusion (BE) excludes BRDs from diagnosis when they are uncomplicated (defined by brief duration, non‐severe impairment, and lack of certain pathosuggestive symptoms) but classifies all other (“complicated”) BRDs as major depression. A previous report seemed to support the uncomplicated/complicated distinction’s discriminant validity. However, those arguing for eliminating the BE from DSM‐5 dismiss the findings as ‘tautological,’ attributing the validator differences to definitional biases (e.g. ‘uncomplicated’ requires ‘no suicidal ideation,’ yet ‘lifetime suicide attempt’ was a validator). This study empirically tests whether the uncomplicated/complicated differences are real or tautological.Method: Using National Comorbidity Survey data, confounds between definitional criteria for ‘uncomplicated’ and pathology validators were identified and corrected by deleting the biasing criteria and recalculating the corresponding validator’s outcome.Results: Six validators (interference with life, suicide attempt, melancholic depression, duration, hospitalization, and number of symptoms) were reanalyzed using unbiased definitions for ‘uncomplicated.’ All still yielded significantly lower pathology levels for uncomplicated BRDs, disconfirming the ‘tautology’ hypothesis. Regression analysis revealed that ‘uncomplicated’ offered incremental validity over severity alone in predicting pathology, so ‘uncomplicated’ cannot be equated with ‘mild.’Conclusion: Uncomplicated BRDs’ lower pathology validator levels are because of real syndromal differences, not definitional tautologies, supporting the BE’s validity.
Common mental disorders and long‐term sickness absence in a general working population. The Hordaland Health Study
Authors: Knudsen A. K. , Harvey S. B. , Mykletun A. , Øverland S. 
Published: July 2012

Objective:  To examine and compare the prospective effect of the common mental disorders (CMD) anxiety and depression on duration and recurrence of sickness absence (SA), and to investigate whether the effect of CMD on SA is detectable over time.Method:  Information from a large epidemiological health study (N = 13 436) was linked with official records of SA episodes lasting ≥16 days up to 6 years after participation. Common mental disorders were assessed with the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS). Associations were analysed with Cox regression and multinomial logistic regression models controlling for potential covariates.Results:  Comorbid anxiety and depression, and anxiety only were significant risk factors for SA after adjusting for covariates, whilst depression only was not. Anxiety and depression were stronger predictors for longer duration of SA episodes compared with shorter duration and associated with more frequent recurrence of SA. There was a general trend toward the effect of CMD on SA becoming weaker over time; however, the effect of anxiety only on SA remained stable throughout the follow‐up.Conclusion:  Common mental disorders are long‐lasting predictors of onset, duration and recurrence of SA. Anxiety appears to be a more important contributor to long‐term SA than previously described in the literature.
Intratumoral T but not B lymphocytes are related to clinical outcome in prostate cancer
Authors: Flammiger Anna , Bayer Florian , Cirugeda‐Kühnert Ana , Huland Hartwig , Tennstedt Pierre , Simon Ronald , Minner Sarah , Bokemeyer Carsten , Sauter Guido , Schlomm Thorsten , Trepel Martin 
Published: July 2012

The number of tumor‐infiltrating lymphocytes is functionally important and correlates with clinical outcome in several tumor entities. Herein we explore the impact of the density of T and B lymphocytes in prostate cancer tissue on prostate‐specific antigen (PSA) recurrence after prostatectomy in 3261 prostate cancer tissue samples. The number of prostate cancer‐infiltrating CD3‐positive T cells and CD20‐positive B cells per tissue spot in a tissue microarray format was determined by immunohistochemistry and was correlated with clinical and pathological data from the same patient cohort. Patients with very low and very high numbers of CD3‐positive T cells per tissue spot had a significantly shorter PSA recurrence‐free survival compared to patients with intermediate numbers of T cells (p = 0.0188). Furthermore, a high number of CD3‐positive T cells per tissue spot was associated with fusion type prostate cancer identified by ERG expression analysis. The number of CD20‐positive B cells per tissue spot was not associated with other clinical and histopathological parameters. This study indicates that the density of T but not B cells plays a functional role in the biology of prostate cancer and may have an impact on clinical outcome in this frequent neoplasia.
Biochemical aspects of bean resistance to anthracnose mediated by silicon
Authors: Polanco L.R. , Rodrigues F.A. , Nascimento K.J.T. , Shulman P. , Silva L.C. , Neves F.W. , Vale F.X.R. 
Published: July 2012

AbstractThis study investigated the effect of silicon (Si) on resistance of bean plants (cv. ‘Peróla’) to anthracnose, caused by Colletotrichum lindemuthianum, grown in a nutrient solution containing 0 (−Si) or 2 mmol Si L−1 (+Si). The concentration of Si in leaf tissue and the incubation period increased by 55.2% and 14.3%, respectively, in +Si plants in relation to −Si plants. The area under anthracnose progress curve and the severity estimated by the software QUANT significantly decreased by 32.9% and 27%, respectively, for +Si plants. Si did not affect the concentration of total soluble phenolics. Chitinases activity was higher in the advanced stages of infection by C. lindemuthianum for leaves of −Si plants. β‐1,3‐Glucanase activity increased after C. lindemuthianum infection, but it was not enhanced by Si. Peroxidase and polyphenoloxidase activities had no apparent effect on the resistance of bean plants to anthracnose, regardless of the presence of Si. The increase in lignin concentration as well as on the phenylalanine ammonia‐lyase and lipoxygenase activities were important for the resistance of +Si plants against anthracnose. The results of this study suggest that Si may increase resistance to anthracnose in bean plants by enhancing certain biochemical mechanisms of defence as opposed to just acting as a physical barrier to penetration by C. lindemuthianum.
Evaluation of Darwin's fecundity advantage hypothesis in Parthenium beetle, Zygogramma bicolorata
Authors:   Omkar , Afaq Uzma 
Published: July 2012

AbstractIn the Parthenium beetle, Zygogramma bicolorata Pallister (Coleoptera: Chrysomelidae), variation in body size exists between and within the sexes. The females are larger than the males. Darwin (1874) proposed the fecundity advantage hypothesis, that is, large‐sized females produce more progeny, with subsequent studies supporting, as well as, refuting the hypothesis. Thus, in order to evaluate whether this hypothesis stands in Z. bicolorata we performed experiments to investigate the role of body size in influencing: (i) assortative mating; (ii) reproductive attributes; and (iii) growth, development and survival of offspring. It is the first attempt in this beetle. We found that size influenced assortative mating, reproductive output and offspring fitness. Larger males and females were preferred as mates over smaller ones. The pairs, having larger adults as mates, had higher fecundity, while the egg viability was influenced by the male size only. The offspring of larger parents had fast development and higher survival, indicating thereby possible better nutrient allotment by the female and supply of accessory gland proteins by the male in addition to better quality of genes.
Reconsidering Duration in Assessing the Character of Precipitation
Authors: Brommer David M. 
Published: July 2012

AbstractIn general, previous research has only tangentially addressed questions about the duration of precipitation events and the spatial and temporal variability associated with accumulating precipitation, from local to global scales. As precipitation rates and intensities change with variations in the climate, it is imperative that changes in the duration of precipitation events are also considered. Impacts from changes in precipitation duration, coupled with changes in precipitation intensity and frequency, have significant implications for changes in extreme events such as droughts and floods, but also the potential changes in moderate to light precipitation events. Accurately depicting changes in precipitation duration will help answer fundamental questions about precipitation characteristics that have not been addressed previously. A review of previous research incorporating precipitation duration is presented in this manuscript, with an example of how sub‐daily precipitation data can be used to provide additional insight into the overall nature of precipitation.
Association of Fecal Indicator Bacteria with Human Viruses and Microbial Source Tracking Markers at Coastal Beaches Impacted by Nonpoint Source Pollution
Authors: McQuaig Shannon , Griffith John , Harwood Valerie J. 
Published: July 2012

ABSTRACT

Water quality was assessed at two marine beaches in California by measuring the concentrations of culturable fecal indicator bacteria (FIB) and by library-independent microbial source tracking (MST) methods targeting markers of human-associated microbes (human polyomavirus [HPyV] PCR and quantitative PCR,
Methanobrevibacter smithii
PCR, and
Bacteroides
sp. strain HF183 PCR) and a human pathogen (adenovirus by nested PCR). FIB levels periodically exceeded regulatory thresholds at Doheny and Avalon Beaches for enterococci (28.5% and 31.7% of samples, respectively) and fecal coliforms (20% and 5.8%, respectively). Adenoviruses were detected at four of five sites at Doheny Beach and were correlated with detection of HPyVs and human
Bacteroides
HF183; however, adenoviruses were not detected at Avalon Beach. The most frequently detected human source marker at both beaches was
Bacteroides
HF183, which was detected in 27% of samples. Correlations between FIBs and human markers were much more frequent at Doheny Beach than at Avalon Beach; e.g., adenovirus was correlated with HPyVs and HF183. Human sewage markers and adenoviruses were routinely detected in samples meeting FIB regulatory standards. The toolbox approach of FIB measurement coupled with analysis of several MST markers targeting human pathogens used here demonstrated that human sewage is at least partly responsible for the degradation of water quality, particularly at Doheny Beach, and resulted in a more definitive assessment of recreational water quality and human health risk than reliance on FIB concentrations alone could have provided.
The Bacterium Pantoea stewartii Uses Two Different Type III Secretion Systems To Colonize Its Plant Host and Insect Vector
Authors: Correa Valdir R. , Majerczak Doris R. , Ammar El-Desouky , Merighi Massimo , Pratt Richard C. , Hogenhout Saskia A. , Coplin David L. , Redinbaugh Margaret G. 
Published: July 2012

ABSTRACT

Plant- and animal-pathogenic bacteria utilize phylogenetically distinct type III secretion systems (T3SS) that produce needle-like injectisomes or pili for the delivery of effector proteins into host cells.
Pantoea stewartii
subsp.
stewartii
(herein referred to as
P. stewartii
), the causative agent of Stewart's bacterial wilt and leaf blight of maize, carries phylogenetically distinct T3SSs. In addition to an Hrc-Hrp T3SS, known to be essential for maize pathogenesis,
P. stewartii
has a second T3SS (
Pantoea
secretion island 2 [PSI-2]) that is required for persistence in its flea beetle vector,
Chaetocnema pulicaria
(Melsh). PSI-2 belongs to the Inv-Mxi-Spa T3SS family, typically found in animal pathogens. Mutagenesis of the PSI-2
psaN
gene, which encodes an ATPase essential for secretion of T3SS effectors by the injectisome, greatly reduces both the persistence of
P. stewartii
in flea beetle guts and the beetle's ability to transmit
P. stewartii
to maize. Ectopic expression of the
psaN
gene complements these phenotypes. In addition, the PSI-2
psaN
gene is not required for
P. stewartii
pathogenesis of maize and is transcriptionally upregulated in insects compared to maize tissues. Thus, the Hrp and PSI-2 T3SSs play different roles in the life cycle of
P. stewartii
as it alternates between its insect vector and plant host.
Genetic Diversity among Bacillus anthracis Soil Isolates at Fine Geographic Scales
Authors: Stratilo Chad W. , Bader Douglas E. 
Published: July 2012

ABSTRACT

Environmental samples were collected from carcass sites during and after anthrax outbreaks in 2000 and 2001 in the bison (
Bison bison
) population within Wood Buffalo National Park and the Hook Lake Region north of Wood Buffalo National Park.
Bacillus anthracis
spores were isolated from these samples and confirmed using phenotypic characterization and real-time PCR. Confirmed
B. anthracis
isolates were typed using multiple-locus variable-number tandem repeat analysis (MLVA15) and single-nucleotide-repeat analysis (SNRA).
B. anthracis
isolates split into two clades based on MLVA15, while SNRA allowed some isolates between carcass sites to be distinguished from each other. SNRA polymorphisms were also present within a single carcass site. Some isolates from different carcass sites having the same SNRA type had divergent MLVA types; this finding leads to questions about hierarchical typing methods and the robustness of the fine-scale typing of
Bacillus anthracis
.
Mercury Resistance and Mercuric Reductase Activities and Expression among Chemotrophic Thermophilic Aquificae
Authors: Freedman Zachary , Zhu Chengsheng , Barkay Tamar 
Published: July 2012

ABSTRACT

Mercury (Hg) resistance (
mer
) by the reduction of mercuric to elemental Hg is broadly distributed among the
Bacteria
and
Archaea
and plays an important role in Hg detoxification and biogeochemical cycling. MerA is the protein subunit of the homodimeric mercuric reductase (MR) enzyme, the central function of the
mer
system. MerA sequences in the phylum
Aquificae
form the deepest-branching lineage in Bayesian phylogenetic reconstructions of all known MerA homologs. We therefore hypothesized that the
merA
homologs in two thermophilic
Aquificae
,
Hydrogenobaculum
sp. strain Y04AAS1 (AAS1) and
Hydrogenivirga
sp. strain 128-5-R1-1 (R1-1), specified Hg resistance. Results supported this hypothesis, because strains AAS1 and R1-1 (i) were resistant to >10 μM Hg(II), (ii) transformed Hg(II) to Hg(0) during cellular growth, and (iii) possessed Hg-dependent NAD(P)H oxidation activities in crude cell extracts that were optimal at temperatures corresponding with the strains' optimal growth temperatures, 55°C for AAS1 and 70°C for R1-1. While these characteristics all conformed with the
mer
system paradigm, expression of the
Aquificae
mer
operons was not induced by exposure to Hg(II) as indicated by unity ratios of
merA
transcripts, normalized to
gyrA
transcripts for hydrogen-grown AAS1 cultures, and by similar MR specific activities in thiosulfate-grown cultures with and without Hg(II). The Hg(II)-independent expression of
mer
in the deepest-branching lineage of MerA from bacteria whose natural habitats are Hg-rich geothermal environments suggests that regulated expression of
mer
was a later innovation likely in environments where microorganisms were intermittently exposed to toxic concentrations of Hg.
Comparative Assessment of Nitrogen Fixation Methodologies, Conducted in the Oligotrophic North Pacific Ocean
Authors: Wilson Samuel T. , Böttjer Daniela , Church Matthew J. , Karl David M. 
Published: July 2012

ABSTRACT

Resolution of the nitrogen (N) cycle in the marine environment requires an accurate assessment of dinitrogen (N
2
) fixation. We present here an update on progress in conducting field measurements of acetylene reduction (AR) and
15
N
2
tracer assimilation in the oligotrophic North Pacific Subtropical Gyre (NPSG). The AR assay was conducted on discrete seawater samples using a headspace analysis system, followed by quantification of ethylene (C
2
H
4
) with a reducing compound photodetector. The rates of C
2
H
4
production were measurable for nonconcentrated seawater samples after an incubation period of 3 to 4 h. The
15
N
2
tracer measurements compared the addition of
15
N
2
as a gas bubble and dissolved as
15
N
2
enriched seawater. On all sampling occasions and at all depths, a 2- to 6-fold increase in the rate of
15
N
2
assimilation was measured when
15
N
2
-enriched seawater was added to the seawater sample compared to the addition of
15
N
2
as a gas bubble. In addition, we show that the
15
N
2
-enriched seawater can be prepared prior to its use with no detectable loss (<1.7%) of dissolved
15
N
2
during 4 weeks of storage, facilitating its use in the field. The ratio of C
2
H
4
production to
15
N
2
assimilation varied from 7 to 27 when measured simultaneously in surface seawater samples. Collectively, the modifications to the AR assay and the
15
N
2
assimilation technique present opportunities for more accurate and high frequency measurements (e.g., diel scale) of N
2
fixation, providing further insight into the contribution of different groups of diazotrophs to the input of N in the global oceans.