bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Epithelial–mesenchymal transition and clinicopathological correlation in craniopharyngioma
Authors: Qi Song‐Tao , Zhou Jie , Pan Jun , Zhang Chao , Silky Chotai , Yan Xiao‐Rong 
Published: May 2012

Qi S‐T, Zhou J, Pan J, Zhang C, Silky C & Yan X‐R (2012) Histopathology61, 711–725  Epithelial–mesenchymal transition and clinicopathological correlation in craniopharyngiomaAims:  To assess the immunophenotypic changes associated with epithelial–mesenchymal transition (EMT) in craniopharyngioma, especially at the tumour invasive front, and to correlate the findings with clinicopathological features and patient outcomes.Methods and results:  Forty‐two craniopharyngiomas were investigated for the presence of EMT markers (vimentin, E‐cadherin and β‐catenin) by immunohistochemistry and western blot. The relationships between expression of these markers and various clinicopathological indicators and clinical outcomes of the tumours were analysed. There were statistically significant differences in the expression of vimentin and E‐cadherin–β‐catenin between adamantinomatous and papillary variants. The expression of vimentin and E‐cadherin (but not that of β‐catenin) in whole tumour sections was associated with tumour recurrence, and with postoperative weight and hypothalamic disturbances; the expression of vimentin and E‐cadherin–β‐catenin at the tumour invasive front was also associated with tumour recurrence, postoperative weight, and hypothalamic disturbances. The results from western blotting closely matched those of immunohistochemistry.Conclusions:  Our study demonstrates, for the first time, the potential prognostic implications of vimentin, E‐cadherin and β‐catenin expression in craniopharyngiomas. EMT may represent a crucial mechanism in the progression of craniopharyngiomas.
Psychometric properties of the Dutch version of the American nursing activity scale in an intensive care unit
Authors: Luiking Marie‐Louise , van Linge Roland , Bras Leo , Grypdonck Maria , Aarts Leon 
Published: May 2012

AbstractAim.  To report the development and psychometric testing of the Dutch version of the Nursing Activity Scale in a Dutch intensive care unit nursing population.Background.  The Nursing Activity Scale developed by Schutzenhofer measures professional clinical autonomy, by inquiring about the nurses’ intention to exercise their own clinical decisions. This autonomy is increasingly relevant due to the ongoing professionalization, nurses increasingly have to make their own clinical decisions.Design.  Instrument development.Method.  The study was conducted from November 2007–February 2008 and consisted of the following steps: translation, expert panel content validation, reliability testing and further content validation, test–retest stability examination, additional internal consistency, and validity assessment.Results.  After the first reliability testing two items seen to describe a situation not applicable to intensive care unit nursing in the Netherlands were deleted from the questionnaire. In the test–retest stability assessment the intra class correlation coefficient was 0·76. The Cronbach’s alpha of the final questionnaire was 0·82. The alphas of the subsamples with higher scores were significantly different from those with lower scores, supporting the validity of the weighing of the items.Conclusion.  The Dutch version of the nursing activity scale consists of 28 items and provides the opportunity to measure professional clinical autonomy for Dutch intensive care nurses using a well‐established method.
Designing social media for informal learning and knowledge maturing in the digital workplace
Authors: Ravenscroft A. , Schmidt A. , Cook J. , Bradley C. 
Published: May 2012

AbstractThis paper presents an original approach to designing social media that support informal learning in the digital workplace. It adapts design‐based research to take into account the embeddedness of interactions within digitally mediated work‐based contexts. The approach is demonstrated through the design, implementation, and evaluation of software tools supporting a particular type of informal learning called knowledge maturing. The paper: introduces and presents the rationale for, and concept of, knowledge maturing; presents a new design methodology for developing social media that support informal learning and knowledge maturing; focuses on one prototype, for ‘people tagging for organisational development’, that was produced by the methodology (and concisely describes two others); presents the formative evaluation of the highlighted prototype; and finally, discusses the implications and insights arising from this work.
Landscape context and management regime structure plant diversity in grassland communities
Authors: Schmucki Reto , Reimark Josefin , Lindborg Regina , Cousins Sara A. O. 
Published: May 2012

Summary1. Theoretical models show that environmental heterogeneity and dispersal are major determinants of species diversity at multiple scales, yet there are few studies from real landscapes that adequately integrate variation in the surrounding matrix. Understanding how landscape context and management influence species composition and diversity patterns across habitats and scales is an important goal in ecology with relevance for both management and conservation.2. We used a system of 25 landscapes distributed across islands in the Baltic Sea to investigate the effect of current and historical landscape context and management on plant diversity and composition in grassland communities. Plant diversity was measured at three hierarchical scales (1 m2, habitat, landscape) in grazed fields and adjacent wood pastures to calculate α‐, β‐ and γ‐diversity values across habitats and scales.3. Structural equation modelling was used to model and quantify the effects of landscape context on species diversity and spatial turnover, and constraint analysis of principal coordinates to relate variation in species composition to landscape variables.4. Proportion of open land, spacing and grazing intensity positively affected species diversity in both habitats, whereas the effect of historical landscape context was only significant in open fields. Plant diversity in field pastures was mainly determined by the number of species found at a small scale, while both local species density and spatial turnover were key determinants of diversity in wood pastures.5. Habitat proximity influenced species composition as compositional similarity was higher between adjacent field and wood pastures compared to randomly paired habitats. Although increasing flow of propagules from adjacent patches can promote local coexistence, dispersal can result in spatial homogenization.6.
Synthesis. Plant diversity in grassland communities is substantially influenced by species occurring in adjacent habitats. While the effect of landscape context and management on small‐scale diversity was consistent across habitats, the effect on spatial turnover was habitat specific. Our study shows that plant diversity is structured through the interplay between local and landscape processes and highlights that plant communities in specific habitat types cannot be considered in isolation from the surrounding landscape matrix.
The book, the stories, the people: an ongoing dialogic narrative inquiry study combining a practice development project. Part 2: the practice development context
Authors: GRANT A. , BILEY F. C. , LEIGH‐PHIPPARD H. , WALKER H. 
Published: May 2012

Accessible summary
This paper reports on a Writing for Recovery practice development project which is part of broader, ongoing narrative research.
Its aim is to help mental health users, carers and survivors develop skills in creative writing to engage in the process of narrative re‐storying in line with preferred identity.
A selective overview of broad and focal background literature relevant to the project positions it within a values‐based mental health nursing practice.
The specific plan for running the project is briefly summarized, covering actual and anticipated ethical issues.
The paper ends with a discussion of dissemination aims.
AbstractThis paper is the second part of a two‐article practice development report. It builds on the first part by introducing and discussing a Writing for Recovery practice development project, conducted at two UK sites. The paper begins by briefly describing the project within the context of helping mental health users, carers and survivors develop skills in creative writing in order to engage in the process of narrative re‐storying in line with preferred identity. A selective overview of broad and focal background literature relevant to the project is then provided in order to position it within a values‐based mental health nursing practice. Following this, the specific plan for running the project is briefly summarized, covering actual and anticipated ethical issues. The paper ends with a discussion of dissemination aims.
Structural and energetic basis of infection by the filamentous bacteriophage IKe
Authors: Jakob Roman P. , Geitner Anne‐Juliane , Weininger Ulrich , Balbach Jochen , Dobbek Holger , Schmid Franz X. 
Published: May 2012

SummaryFilamentous phage use the two N‐terminal domains of their gene‐3‐proteins to initiate infection ofEscherichia coli. One domain interacts with a pilus, and then the other domain binds to TolA at the cell surface. In phage fd, these two domains are tightly associated with each other, which renders the phage robust but non‐infectious, because the TolA binding site is inaccessible. Activation for infection requires partial unfolding, domain disassembly and prolyl isomerization. Phage IKe infectsE. coliless efficiently than phage fd. Unlike in phage fd, the pilus‐ and TolA‐binding domains of phage IKe are independent of each other in stability and folding. The site for TolA binding is thus always accessible, but the affinity is very low. The structures of the two domains, analysed by X‐ray crystallography and by NMR spectroscopy, revealed a unique fold for the N‐pilus‐binding domain and a conserved fold for the TolA‐binding domain. The absence of an activation mechanism as in phage fd and the low affinity for TolA probably explain the low infectivity of phage IKe. They also explain why, in a previous co‐evolution experiment with a mixture of phage fd and phage IKe, all hybrid phage adopted the superior infection mechanism of phage fd.
Untangling asthma phenotypes and endotypes
Authors: Agache I. , Akdis C. , Jutel M. , Virchow J. C. 
Published: May 2012

AbstractAsthma phenotypes have been developed to address the complexities of the disease. However, owing to a lack of longitudinal studies, little is known about the onset as well as the stability of phenotypes. Distinguishing phenotypes with regard to the severity or duration of the disease is essential. A phenotype covers the clinically relevant properties of the disease, but does not show the direct relationship to disease etiology and pathophysiology. Different pathogenetic mechanisms might cause similar asthma symptoms and might be operant in a certain phenotype. These putative mechanisms are addressed by the term ‘endotype’. Classification of asthma based on endotypes provides advantages for epidemiological, genetic, and drug‐related studies. A successful definition of endotypes should link key pathogenic mechanisms with the asthma phenotype. Thus, the identification of corresponding molecular biomarkers for individual pathogenic mechanism underlying phenotypes or subgroups within a phenotype is important. Whether newly defined asthma endotypes predict the individual course of asthma has to be validated in longitudinal studies. The accurate endotyping reflects natural history of asthma and should help to predict treatment response. Thus, understanding asthma endotypes might be useful in clinical practice.
Water as an Essential Resource: Orb Web Spiders Cannot Balance Their Water Budget by Prey Alone
Authors: Walter André , Cadenhead Natasha , Sze Weii Lee Valerie , Dove Charlie , Milley Emma , Elgar Mark A. 
Published: May 2012

AbstractWater is essential for all living organisms because it acts as a major solvent and reaction medium. Terrestrial animals may lose water through evaporation and excretion and consequently have evolved strategies to balance their water budget by either minimising losses or by gaining water. The major pathway to gain water is via food intake, although many animals additionally drink free water. Spiders acquire substantial amounts of water by ingesting enzymatically liquefied prey. However, this may not account for the water needs of some species. We tested whether drinking is essential for orb web spiders of the genus Argiope by experimentally manipulating the diet (flies or crickets) and water supply (no water or a daily shower) to females and then measuring their subsequent drinking behaviour. Individuals of Argiope trifasciata, which are typically found in dry habitats, increased their body mass when fed crickets but not when fed flies. However, spiders deprived of water subsequently ingested significantly more water than spiders that received water every day, regardless of their feeding regime. This pattern was replicated in Argiope aetherea, which is found in the tropics and perhaps less likely to be water deprived in natural populations. Our results reveal that drinking allows these spiders to realise their water balance independent from the nutritional status. We suggest that the spiders may need to drink fresh water to process ingested nutrients.
Podocyte culture: Tricks of the trade
Authors: NI LAN , SALEEM MOIN , MATHIESON PETER W 
Published: May 2012

ABSTRACT:Podocytes (glomerular epithelial cells) lie on the urinary aspect of the glomerular capillary and play a key role in the selective filter that underlies kidney function. They are injured in various forms of renal disease: the extents of this injury and its reversibility have major implications for treatment and prognosis. Until recently, podocytes were difficult to study in vitro because of a previous lack of techniques for obtaining differentiated cells in quantities adequate for research. In recent years, this problem has been solved for rodent and human podocytes and there has been an explosion of research using cultured cells. These authors have led the development and characterization of human podocyte cell lines and in this article describe the methods that have allowed them to do this.
Generation and clonal isolation of retinal stem cells from human embryonic stem cells
Authors: Clarke Laura , Ballios Brian G. , van der Kooy Derek 
Published: May 2012

AbstractRetinal stem cells (RSCs) are present within the pigmented ciliary epithelium (CE) of the adult human eye and produce progeny that differentiate in vitro into all neural retinal subtypes and retinal pigmented epithelium (RPE). We hypothesized that a RSC population, similar to the adult CE‐derived RSC, is contained within pigmented colonies that arise in long‐term cultures of human embryonic stem cells (hESCs) suggested to recapitulate retinal development in vitro. Single pigmented hESC‐derived cells were isolated and plated in serum‐free media containing growth factors and, after 2 weeks, clonal sphere colonies containing both pigmented and non‐pigmented cells were observed. These colonies expressed the early retinal transcription factors Rx, Chx10 and Pax6, and could be dissociated and replated as single cells to form secondary clonal colonies. When allowed to differentiate, expression of markers for both RPE and neurons was observed. Rhodopsin expression was detected after explant co‐culture and transplantation into the developing mouse eye as well as following treatment with soluble factors in vitro. We show that RSCs emerge in an in vitro model of retinal development and are a potential source of human photoreceptors for use in transplantation.
Involvement of metabotropic glutamate receptor 5 signaling in activity‐related proliferation of adult hippocampal neural stem cells
Authors: Nochi Rokuya , Kato Tomomasa , Kaneko Jun , Itou Yoshie , Kuribayashi Hiroshi , Fukuda Satoshi , Terazono Yasushi , Matani Ayumu , Kanatani Shigeaki , Nakajima Kazunori , Hisatsune Tatsuhiro 
Published: May 2012

AbstractAdult hippocampal neural stem cells can be activated by hippocampal neural activities. When focal cerebral ischemia, known as middle cerebral artery occlusion (MCAO), occurs, neural stem cells are activated to promote their proliferation. However, the mechanism by which these cells are activated is still unclear. Here, we indicate the involvement of metabotropic glutamate receptor 5 (mGluR5) signaling in neural stem cells in their activity‐related proliferation after MCAO. We found mGluR5 molecules on neural stem cells by using calcium imaging. We detected the activation of neural stem cells by adding the mGluR5 agonist (RS)‐2‐chloro‐5‐hydroxyphenylglycine. On a hippocampal slice, the activation of neural stem cells to promote their proliferation was initiated by theta‐burst electrical stimulation at the perforant pathway, and this activation was significantly blocked by an mGluR5 antagonist, 2‐methyl‐6‐(phenylethynyl)pyridine (MPEP). In addition to this, the injection of the blood–brain barrier‐permeable mGluR5 agonist 3‐cyano‐N‐(1,3‐diphenyl‐1H‐pyrazol‐5‐yl)benzamide into live mice promoted the proliferation of neural stem cells. Moreover, in vivo theta‐burst electrical stimulation induced proliferation of neural stem cells. A chronic field recording study showed that the activity of the hippocampal formation was elevated after MCAO. Finally, we observed that the mGluR5 antagonist MPEP significantly blocked the stimulated proliferation of neural stem cells induced by MCAO, by blocking mGluR5 signaling. Our results suggest that glutamates released by the elevated neural activities after MCAO may trigger mGluR5 signaling in neural stem cells to promote their proliferation.
Pathways involved in human conscious vision contribute to obstacle‐avoidance behaviour
Authors: Hesse Constanze , Lane Alison R. , Aimola Lina , Schenk Thomas 
Published: May 2012

AbstractHuman patients with visual field defects following damage to their primary visual cortex (V1) will often misperceive the midpoint of a horizontal line. They tend to shift the midpoint away from the real position towards their blind field. In patients with unilateral neglect, where midpoint shifts can also be observed, these perceptual errors do not lead to errors in an obstacle‐avoidance task, which also requires the ability to find the midpoint between two obstacles. This dissociation in neglect patients was taken as evidence that obstacle‐avoidance performance is guided by visual information from the dorsal visual stream. Recently it was shown that a patient with hemianopia could avoid an obstacle presented in his blind field. This suggests that obstacle‐avoidance behaviour can be guided by subconscious vision alone involving a direct route from extrageniculate structures in the brain to dorsal stream areas. To investigate whether obstacle avoidance relies only on this subconscious route or also uses information from pathways involved in conscious vision, we examined the effect of the hemianopic shift on obstacle‐avoidance behaviour. This shift is found in tasks where a conscious visual judgement is required and presumably arises in pathways underlying conscious vision (V1 and ventral stream areas). We compared the performance of six patients with left hemianopia with the performance of six patients with right hemianopia. We found a clear bias in both groups, which also affected obstacle‐avoidance performance. It is thus concluded that obstacle avoidance does not bypass the system for conscious vision completely.
The normal and the challenging pediatric airway
Authors: Sims Craig , von Ungern‐Sternberg Britta S. 
Published: May 2012

SummaryManagement of a child’s airway is one of the main sources of stress for anesthetists who do not routinely anesthetize children. Unfortunately, trainees are gaining less experience in pediatric airway management than in the past, which is particularly difficult at a time when some beliefs about airway management are being challenged and airway management is less standardized. Fortunately, most children have an easily managed, normal airway. Nevertheless, it is of vital importance to teach our trainees the basic airway skills that are probably the most important skill in an anesthetists’ repertoire when it comes to a difficult airway situation. This review focuses on the airway management in children with a normal and a challenging airway. Different choices of airway management in children, and their advantages and disadvantages are discussed. Furthermore, the three broad causes of a challenging airway in children and infants are highlighted – the difficulty obtaining a mask seal, difficulty visualizing the vocal cords, and the third cause in which the larynx can be visualized but the difficulty lies at or beyond that level. Guidelines are given how to deal with these patients as well as with the feared but rare scenario of ‘cannot ventilate, cannot intubate’ in children.
Onset time for pharmacologic premedication with clonidine as a nasal aerosol: a double‐blind, placebo‐controlled, randomized trial
Authors: Larsson Peter , Eksborg Staffan , Lönnqvist Per‐Arne 
Published: May 2012

SummaryObjectives/Aim:  To investigate whether nasal aerosol clonidine can reduce the onset time of preoperative sedation.Background:  Premedication is common in the pediatric population, but the optimal agent and administration route is still a matter of debate. Clonidine has many beneficial effects in the perioperative period. Clonidine nasal drops produce a similar sedative effect as after oral administration but do not reduce the onset time. Nasal aerosol administration of drugs is generally more effective than drops and an option to decrease the onset time of clonidine.Methods:  Pediatric ASA status 1 and 2 patients were randomized to receive placebo (P), clonidine 3–4 μg kg−1 (C4), or clonidine 7–8 μg kg−1 (C7) as a nasal aerosol. Acceptance of administration, pre‐ and postoperative sedation, and adverse events were assessed.Results:  A total of 60 patients were enrolled with a median age of 3.5 years (range 0.7–6.9) and median weight of 14.8 kg (range 10–25). In the C7 group, 55% of the children were found adequately sedated at 30 min as compared to 32% in the C4 group (P = 0.1202). At 45 min, adequate sedation was seen in 65% of the patients in both C4 and C7 groups, which were both found to be significantly higher compared with the placebo control group (14%) (P‐values = 0.0027 and 0.0013, respectively). The postoperative sedation profile did not differ between the three study groups.Conclusions:  Clonidine administered as nasal aerosol (3–8 μg kg−1) was not found to achieve adequate preoperative sedation within 30 min of administration. Despite its sedative properties, no prolongation of postoperative sedation was noted compared with placebo.
The new challenging pediatric patient
Authors: Veyckemans Francis 
Published: May 2012

SummaryThe ‘new’ challenging pediatric patients are those who could be called ‘the survivors’ and neonates undergoing birth under materno‐fetal circulation. Their anesthetic management is complex because their initial pathology was previously lethal: the physiologic, pharmacologic, and or technical aspect of their management is presently unknown or hypothetical. Some examples are described. Communication with the pediatrician in charge of the child is the key to safe and effective anesthetic care of these cases.