bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
An experimental test of predator–parasite interaction in a passerine bird
Authors: Coslovsky Michael , Richner Heinz 
Published: January 2012

Experimental studies incorporating multiple trophic levels are scarce but of increasing interest for understanding ecological communities. Here we investigated interactive effects of perceived predation risk and parasite pressure on life‐history traits in a hole‐nesting bird, and the effects of predation risk on parasite success. In a 3 × 2 experimental design we increased perceived predation risk for breeding great tits Parus major via simulations of either nest‐predators (woodpeckers) or post‐fledging predators (sparrowhawks) close to nests, and used a non‐predatory species (song thrush) as a control. Concurrently, half of the nests in each treatment were either infested with ectoparasites, or kept parasite‐free.Regarding the predation risk – parasite interaction, exposure to nest‐predators tended to lower wing and sternum growth rates of nestlings in the absence, but not the presence, of parasites. In the presence of parasites, exposure to a post‐fledging, but not to a nest‐predator, led to significantly reduced wing growth. Mass and tarsus length were not affected by predator exposure, but ectoparasites had slight positive effects on mass gain. In the last third of the nestling period, overall nestling size was significantly smaller when exposed to a post‐fledging predator than to a nest‐predator, but neither differed from the control. Parental feeding rates were not affected by the treatments, but parents became less selective towards food items under either predation risk. Hen‐flea population sizes (adult or larvae) in nests were not affected by predation risk treatment of hosts.In summary, we found some evidence for an interactive effect of predation risk and parasite pressure on nestling growth. The complexity of the interaction, combined with certain inconsistencies of the effects and potential statistical artifacts, prevent however a straightforward interpretation of the results. The insights from the study are useful for designing additional experiments to further investigate the complexity of predator–parasite interactions in wild populations.
Two‐step impression for atrophic mandibular ridge
Authors: Gandage Dhananjay S. , Kini Ashwini Y. , Gangadhar S. A. , Lagdive S.B. , Pai Umesh Y. 
Published: January 2012

doi: 10.1111/j.1741‐2358.2011.00591.xTwo‐step impression for atrophic mandibular ridgeBackground:  The clinical difficulties encountered while treating edentulous patients with atrophic mandibular ridges are legion. Capturing tissue details while making an impression of a resorbed mandibular ridge poses a great clinical challenge. Extending the denture bases adequately to cover all of the available supporting tissues is one of the prime requisite. Surgical approach is necessary only when the patient is incapable of wearing a conventional denture. This article describes a technique of making an impression of an atrophic mandibular ridge by the use of monophase and light‐bodied impression material where surgical options such as implants, vestibuloplasty or ridge augmentation may not be feasible. This procedure results in improved stability and retention of the denture base.
Application of satellite remote sensing for mapping wind erosion risk and dust emission‐deposition in Inner Mongolia grassland, China
Authors: Reiche Matthias , Funk Roger , Zhang Zhuodong , Hoffmann Carsten , Reiche Johannes , Wehrhan Marc , Li Yong , Sommer Michael 
Published: January 2012

AbstractIntensive grazing leads to land degradation and desertification of grassland ecosystems followed by serious environmental and social problems. The Xilingol steppe grassland in Inner Mongolia, China, which has been a sink area for dust for centuries, is strongly affected by the negative effects of overgrazing and wind erosion. The aim of this study is the provision of a wind erosion risk map with a spatial high resolution of 25 m to identify actual source and sink areas. In an integrative approach, field measurements of vegetation features and surface roughness length z0 were combined with Advanced Spaceborne Thermal Emission and Reflection Radiometer (ASTER) image data for a land use classification. To determine the characteristics of the different land use classes, a field observation (ground truth) was performed in April 2009. The correlation of vegetation height and z0 (R2 = 0.8, n = 55) provided the basis for a separation of three main classes, “grassland”, “non‐vegetation” and “other”. The integration of the soil‐adjusted vegetation index (SAVI) and the spectral information from the atmospheric corrected ASTER bands 1, 2 and 3 (visible to near‐infrared) led to a classification of the overall accuracy (OA) of 0.79 with a kappa () statistic of 0.74, respectively. Additionally, a digital elevation model (DEM) was used to identify topographical effects in relation to the main wind direction, which enabled a qualitative estimation of potential dust deposition areas. The generated maps result in a significantly higher description of the spatial variability in the Xilingol steppe grassland reflecting the different land use intensities on the current state of the grassland – less, moderately and highly degraded. The wind erosion risk map enables the identification of characteristic mineral dust sources, sinks and transition zones.
Preliminary study on ‘genomewide selection’ for maize (Zea mays L.) breeding in Japanese public sectors: Estimated selection response in the first selfing cycle of single‐cross progeny
Authors: Tamaki Hiroyuki , Sato Hisashi , Kikawada Tomohiro , Mitsuhashi Shohei 
Published: January 2012

AbstractJapanese public sectors are now expected to breed high‐yielding silage maize varieties highly adapted to the Japanese climates in order to support the governmental policy to raise the feed self‐sufficiency ratio from 26% (in 2008) to 38% by 2020. ‘Genomewide selection (GwS)’ is a technique to substitute a part of phenotyping with molecular marker genotyping, and is thought to be suitable to accumulate favorable genes in many minor quantitative trait loci (QTLs) whereby yield is thought to be controlled. The purpose of this study was to use computer simulations to evaluate the potential of GwS from the viewpoint of maize breeding sections of Japanese public sectors interested in rapider yield improvement through selection at early breeding stages. It was assumed in each repeat of the simulation experiments that eight S1 (first selfing generation) candidates were selected from 1000 solely on their molecular marker information obtained from testcross investigation with GwS. The experiments indicated that (i) shorter intervals of molecular marker loci led to moderately larger selection response (SR) when the intervals were more than 20 cM, but not when they were less than 20 cM, (ii) higher heritability unexceptionally led to larger SR, and (iii) larger training population size led to slightly larger SR in most cases. The results suggest that it is important for the success of GwS to obtain high heritability in the field for testcross investigation, and that GwS will be a powerful tool for maize breeding sections of Japanese public sectors targeting rapider yield improvement.
Long‐term outcomes of epiphyseal preservation and reconstruction with inactivated bone for distal femoral osteosarcoma of children
Authors: Yu Xiu‐chun , Xu Ming , Xu Song‐feng , Song Ruo‐xian 
Published: January 2012

Objectives:  To study the long‐term outcomes of inactivated bone reimplantation with preservation of the epiphysis in children with distal femoral osteosarcomas.Methods:  Over 10 years, five children (mean age 9.2 years, one boy and four girls) with distal femoral osteosarcomas underwent inactivated bone reimplantation with preservation of the epiphysis following chemotherapy in our hospital. Three patients were type I on MRI classification (one with pathological fracture), and two type II. The therapeutic regime was two cycles of preoperative chemotherapy, surgery and six cycles of postoperative chemotherapy.Results:  Five patients were followed up for 60–126 months (mean 82 months). No local tumor recurrences or metastases occurred. Three patients with fractures of inactivated bone were treated by open reduction, bone grafting and internal fixation; their fractures had united by 6 months after reoperation. The mean functional score of the affected limbs was 25.6 points (13–30 points).Conclusions:  Inactivated bone reimplantation with preservation of the epiphysis for distal femoral osteosarcomas in children optimizes recovery of limb function and preservation of limb length. The main measures for improving clinical outcomes include preoperative analysis of the lesion's boundaries and extent of tumor invasion, bone grafting between inactivated and host bone, and timely treatment of complications.
Comparison between anterior and posterior decompression for cervical spondylotic myelopathy: subjective evaluation and cost analysis
Authors: Liu Bin , Ma Wei , Zhu Feng , Guo Chi‐hua , Yang Wen‐long 
Published: January 2012

Objective:  To compare anterior and posterior approaches for treating cervical spondylotic myelopathy (CSM) involving more than two levels, especially in regard to quality of life and cost effectiveness.Methods:  The authors studied 116 CSM patients who underwent decompressive surgery by either an anterior or a posterior approach with instrumentation. In the anterior group, 1–3 levels subtotal vertebrectomy was followed by bone graft and Orion anterior cervical locking plate fixation. In the posterior group, multilevel laminectomy with posterior screw‐rod fixation was performed. Follow‐up, which included radiographic assessment, clinical examination and documentation of length of any hospitalization and cost and incidence of complications, was performed 1 day before discharge, 6 months after leaving hospital, and at final follow‐up.Results:  Both groups had improved clinical outcomes. The anterior group showed greater satisfaction but lower visual analog scale scores than the posterior group, whereas SF‐36 emotional role and mental health scores were higher in the anterior group. There was no marked difference between the two groups in length of hospitalization and most of the costs of treating CSM, however treatment and examination fees were significantly higher in the posterior group.Conclusions:  Both anterior and posterior decompressions (with instrumentation) are effective procedures for improving the neurological outcomes of patients with CSM. However, although the two approaches have similar health care costs, anterior cervical corpectomy (with instrumentation) seems to be subjectively assessed by patients as better.
abc: an R package for approximate Bayesian computation (ABC)
Authors: Csilléry Katalin , François Olivier , Blum Michael G. B. 
Published: January 2012

Summary1. Many recent statistical applications involve inference under complex models, where it is computationally prohibitive to calculate likelihoods but possible to simulate data. Approximate Bayesian computation (ABC) is devoted to these complex models because it bypasses the evaluation of the likelihood function by comparing observed and simulated data.2. We introduce the R package ‘abc’ that implements several ABC algorithms for performing parameter estimation and model selection. In particular, the recently developed nonlinear heteroscedastic regression methods for ABC are implemented. The ‘abc’ package also includes a cross‐validation tool for measuring the accuracy of ABC estimates and to calculate the misclassification probabilities when performing model selection. The main functions are accompanied by appropriate summary and plotting tools.3. R is already widely used in bioinformatics and several fields of biology. The R package ‘abc’ will make the ABC algorithms available to a large number of R users. ‘abc’ is a freely available R package under the GPL license, and it can be downloaded at http://cran.r‐project.org/web/packages/abc/index.html.
GABA‐mediated spatial and temporal asymmetries that contribute to the directionally selective light responses of starburst amacrine cells in retina
Authors: Dmitriev Andrey V. , Gavrikov Konstantin E. , Mangel Stuart C. 
Published: January 2012

Key points
Starburst amacrine cells (SACs), interneurons that are essential to the generation of direction selectivity in the retina, depolarize to light stimuli that move centrifugally away from them, but hyperpolarize to stimuli that move centripetally towards them.
These directionally selective light responses are dependent on the differential distribution of the Cl− cotransporters NKCC (which mediates GABA‐evoked depolarizations by increasing intracellular Cl−) and KCC2 (which mediates GABA‐evoked hyperpolarizations by decreasing intracellular Cl−) on SAC proximal and distal dendrites, respectively.
We show computationally that directionally selective light responses can be produced in both starburst cell bodies and distal dendrites if (1) there is an intracellular Cl− concentration gradient along SAC dendrites and (2) the response of the dendrites to GABA is relatively long lasting.
The location of NKCC and KCC2 in different compartments of individual neuronal processes may be an important means by which the brain encodes information.
Ascorbate prevents placental oxidative stress and enhances birth weight in hypoxic pregnancy in rats
Authors: Richter H. G. , Camm E. J. , Modi B. N. , Naeem F. , Cross C. M. , Cindrova‐Davies T. , Spasic‐Boskovic O. , Dunster C. , Mudway I. S. , Kelly F. J. , Burton G. J. , Poston L. , Giussani D. A. 
Published: January 2012

Key points
High‐altitude pregnancy is associated with reduced oxygenation and placental complications, which can affect maternal and fetal outcome. However, most high‐altitude populations are also impoverished and because maternal undernutrition itself is known to promote placental problems, the extent to which complications during high‐altitude pregnancy could be due to maternal oxygen and/or nutrient restriction remains unclear.
The aim of the study was to investigate whether reduced placental oxygenation, independent of maternal undernutrition, increases maternal and placental oxidative stress and whether maternal treatment with vitamin C is protective.
The study shows that hypoxic pregnancy increased maternal circulating and placental molecular indices of oxidative stress.
Maternal vitamin C treatment was protective and increased birth weight.
The study offers insight to mechanism and intervention against the effects of high altitude on pregnancy.
Chronic maternal infusion of full‐length adiponectin in pregnant mice down‐regulates placental amino acid transporter activity and expression and decreases fetal growth
Authors: Rosario Fredrick J , Schumacher Michael A. , Jiang Jean , Kanai Yoshikatsu , Powell Theresa L. , Jansson Thomas 
Published: January 2012

Key points
Fetal growth is positively correlated to maternal adiposity, but the underlying mechanisms remain largely unknown.
Maternal circulating levels of adiponectin, a hormone secreted by adipose tissue, are negatively correlated to maternal adiposity and fetal growth, suggesting that maternal adiponectin may limit fetal growth.
Here we report that chronic administration of adiponectin to pregnant mice inhibits placental insulin and mammalian target of rapamycin (mTOR) signalling, down‐regulates the activity and expression of key placental nutrient transporters, and decreases fetal growth.
We have identified a novel physiological mechanism by which the endocrine functions of maternal adipose tissue influence fetal growth by altering placental function.
These findings may help us better understand the factors determining birth weight in normal pregnancies and in pregnancy complications associated with altered maternal adiponectin levels such as obesity and gestational diabetes.
Therapeutic Amprenavir Concentrations in Cerebrospinal Fluid
Authors: Croteau David , Letendre Scott , Best Brookie M. , Rossi Steven S. , Ellis Ronald J. , Clifford David B. , Collier Ann C. , Gelman Benjamin B. , Marra Christina M. , McArthur Justin , McCutchan J. Allen , Morgello Susan , Simpson David M. , Way Lauren , Capparelli Edmund , Grant Igor ,   for the CHARTER Group
Published: January 2012

ABSTRACT

Antiretrovirals that reach higher concentrations in cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) are associated with better control of HIV in CSF and possibly better neurocognitive performance. The objective of this study was to determine whether amprenavir (APV) concentrations in CSF are in the therapeutic range. Individuals were selected based on the use of regimens that included fosamprenavir (FPV), a prodrug of APV, and the availability of stored CSF and matched plasma. Total APV was measured in 119 matched CSF-plasma pairs from 75 subjects by high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) (plasma) or liquid chromatography tandem mass spectrometry (LC/MS/MS) (CSF). Concentrations were compared to the 50% inhibitory concentration (IC
50
) for wild-type HIV (5.6 ng/ml). Subjects were predominantly middle-aged (median 44 years) white (57%) men (78%) with AIDS (77%). APV was detected in all but 4 CSF specimens, with a median concentration of 24.8 ng/ml (interquartile range [IQR], 16.2 to 44.0). The median CSF-to-plasma ratio was 0.012 (IQR, 0.008 to 0.018). CSF concentrations correlated with plasma concentrations (rho = 0.61;
P
< 0.0001) and with postdose sampling interval (rho = −0.29;
P
= 0.0019). APV concentrations in CSF exceeded the median IC
50
for wild-type HIV in more than 97% of CSF specimens with detectable APV by a median of 4.4-fold (IQR, 2.9 to 7.9). We conclude that administration of fosamprenavir should contribute to control of HIV replication in the central nervous system (CNS) as a component of effective antiretroviral regimens.
Deletion of Tn
AbaR23
Results in both Expected and Unexpected Antibiogram Changes in a Multidrug-Resistant Acinetobacter baumannii Strain
Authors: Kochar Mandira , Crosatti Marialuisa , Harrison Ewan M. , Rieck Barbara , Chan Jacqueline , Constantinidou Chrystala , Pallen Mark , Ou Hong-Yu , Rajakumar Kumar 
Published: January 2012

ABSTRACT

Since the 2006 discovery of the
Acinetobacter baumannii
strain AYE AbaR1 resistance island, similar elements have been reported in numerous members of this species. As AbaR1 is distantly related to Tn
7
, we have renamed it Tn
AbaR1
. Tn
AbaR
transposons are known to carry multiple antibiotic resistance- and efflux-associated genes, although none have been experimentally studied
en bloc
. We deleted the Tn
AbaR
transposon in
A. baumannii
A424, which we have designated Tn
AbaR23
, and characterized independent deletion mutants DCO163 and DCO174. The NotI pulsed-field gel electrophoresis (PFGE) profile of strain DCO174 was consistent with targeted deletion of Tn
AbaR23
alone, but strain DCO163 apparently harbored a second large genomic deletion. Nevertheless, “subtractive amplification” targeting 52 Tn
AbaR
and/or resistance-associated loci yielded identical results for both mutants and highlighted genes lost relative to strain A424. PCR mapping and genome sequencing revealed the entire 48.3-kb sequence of Tn
AbaR23
. Consistent with Tn
AbaR23
carrying two copies of
sul1
, both mutants exhibited markedly increased susceptibility to sulfamethoxazole. In contrast, loss of
tetAR
(A) resulted in only a minor and variable increase in tetracycline susceptibility. Despite not exhibiting a growth handicap, strain DCO163 was more susceptible than strain DCO174 to 9 of 10 antibiotics associated with mutant-to-mutant variation in susceptibility, suggesting impairment of an undefined resistance-associated function. Remarkably, despite all three strains sharing identical
gyrA
and
parC
sequences, the ciprofloxacin MIC of DCO174 was >8-fold that of DCO163 and A424, suggesting a possible paradoxical role for Tn
AbaR23
in promoting sensitivity to ciprofloxacin. This study highlights the importance of experimental scrutiny and challenges the assumption that resistance phenotypes can reliably be predicted from genotypes alone.
Nosocomial Outbreak of Klebsiella pneumoniae Carbapenemase-Producing Klebsiella oxytoca in Austria
Authors: Hoenigl Martin , Valentin Thomas , Zarfel Gernot , Wuerstl Benjamin , Leitner Eva , Salzer Helmut J. F. , Posch Josefa , Krause Robert , Grisold Andrea J. 
Published: January 2012

ABSTRACT

To date, no outbreak of carbapenemase-producing bacteria has been reported for Austria. While outbreaks of
Klebsiella pneumoniae
carbapenemase (KPC)-producing
K. pneumoniae
have been increasingly reported, no outbreak caused by KPC-producing
Klebsiella oxytoca
has been described yet, to the best of our knowledge. We report an outbreak of KPC-producing
K. oxytoca
. In 5 months, 31 KPC-producing
Klebsiella oxytoca
strains were isolated from five patients. All patients were admitted to the same medical intensive care unit in Austria.
First Human Isolate of Salmonella enterica Serotype Enteritidis Harboring
bla
CTX-M-14
in South America
Authors: Bado Inés , García-Fulgueiras Virginia , Cordeiro Nicolás F. , Betancor Laura , Caiata Leticia , Seija Verónica , Robino Luciana , Algorta Gabriela , Chabalgoity José A. , Ayala Juan A. , Gutkind Gabriel O. , Vignoli Rafael 
Published: January 2012

ABSTRACT

We studied a clinical isolate of
Salmonella enterica
serotype Enteritidis showing resistance to oxyiminocephalosporins. PCR analysis confirmed the presence of
bla
CTX-M-14
linked to IS
903
in a 95-kb IncI1 conjugative plasmid. Such a plasmid is maintained on account of the presence of a
pndAC
addiction system. Multilocus sequence typing (MLST) analysis indicated that the strain belongs to ST11. This is the first report of
bla
CTX-M-14
in
Salmonella
Enteritidis of human origin in South America.
Deciphering the Magainin Resistance Process of Escherichia coli Strains in Light of the Cytosolic Proteome
Authors: Maria-Neto Simone , Cândido Elizabete de Souza , Rodrigues Diana Ribas , de Sousa Daniel Amaro , da Silva Ezequiel Marcelino , de Moraes Lidia Maria Pepe , Otero-Gonzalez Anselmo de Jesus , Magalhães Beatriz Simas , Dias Simoni Campos , Franco Octávio Luiz 
Published: January 2012

ABSTRACT

Antimicrobial peptides (AMPs) are effective antibiotic agents commonly found in plants, animals, and microorganisms, and they have been suggested as the future of antimicrobial chemotherapies. It is vital to understand the molecular details that define the mechanism of action of resistance to AMPs for a rational planning of the next antibiotic generation and also to shed some light on the complex AMP mechanism of action. Here, the antibiotic resistance of
Escherichia coli
ATCC 8739 to magainin I was evaluated in the cytosolic subproteome. Magainin-resistant strains were selected after 10 subsequent spreads at subinhibitory concentrations of magainin I (37.5 mg · liter
−1
), and their cytosolic proteomes were further compared to those of magainin-susceptible strains through two-dimensional electrophoresis analysis. As a result, 41 differentially expressed proteins were detected by
in silico
analysis and further identified by tandem mass spectrometry
de novo
sequencing. Functional categorization indicated an intense metabolic response mainly in energy and nitrogen uptake, stress response, amino acid conversion, and cell wall thickness. Indeed, data reported here show that resistance to cationic antimicrobial peptides possesses a greater molecular complexity than previously supposed, resulting in cell commitment to several metabolic pathways.