bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Strengthening socio‐emotional competencies in a school setting: Data from the Pyramid project
Authors: Ohl Madeleine , Fox Pauline , Mitchell Kathryn 
Published: May 2012

Background. Development of socio‐emotional competencies is key to children's successful social interaction at home and at school.Aims. This study examines the efficacy of a UK primary school‐based intervention, the Pyramid project, in strengthening children's socio‐emotional competencies.Sample. Participants were 385 children from seven schools in two UK cities. All children were aged 7–8 years and in school Year 3. Children were screened for socio‐emotional difficulties through the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ; Goodman, 1997) and a multi‐agency meeting of relevant professionals before being allocated to attend a Pyramid Club intervention (n= 103) or a comparison group (n= 282).Method. A 2 × 2 mixed‐model design was used: group (intervention group vs. comparison group) × 2 time points (pre‐ vs. 12 weeks post‐intervention) with repeated measures on the time factor to investigate the impact of the Pyramid Year 3 intervention. Teachers completed the SDQ‐T4‐16 for all children pre‐ and post‐intervention to measure participants’ socio‐emotional health status.Results. As measured by the two SDQ difficulty sub‐scales of Emotional and Peer problems and the SDQ strength sub‐scale of Prosocial behaviour, post‐intervention improvements in the Pyramid attendee group were of greater magnitude than those of the comparison group.Conclusions. The Pyramid project intervention improves the socio‐emotional health of vulnerable children through promoting positive outcomes as well as reducing socio‐emotional deficits. These findings further support the inclusion of a salutogenic approach in promoting children's socio‐emotional well‐being.
Methods for Establishing the Accuracy of Clinical Indicators in Predicting Nursing Diagnoses
Authors: de Oliveira Lopes Marcos Venícios , da Silva Viviane Martins , de Araujo Thelma Leite 
Published: May 2012

PURPOSE: To describe the methodological stages in determining the accuracy of clinical indicators in identifying nursing diagnoses.DATA SOURCES: Literature review of diagnostic tests.DATA SYNTHESIS: The methodological stages described include concept analysis, content analysis by experts, and accuracy analysis of clinical indicators.CONCLUSIONS: The theory underlying the development of diagnostic tests can be used to evaluate the accuracy of clinical indicators in identifying nursing diagnoses.IMPLICATIONS FOR NURSING PRACTICE: Knowledge of the accuracy characteristics of clinical indicators allows the identification and discrimination of the most suitable nursing diagnoses.PROPÓSITO: Descrever as etapas metodológicas da teoria de testes diagnósticos para avaliação de indicadores clínicos de diagnósticos de enfermagem.ORIGEM DOS DADOS: Revisão da literatura sobre testes diagnósticos.SÍNTESE DOS DADOS: As etapas metodológicas descritas incluem a análise de conceito, a análise de conteúdo por especialistas, e a análise da acurácia dos indicadores clínicos.CONCLUSÕES: A teoria de testes diagnósticos pode ser utilizada para a avaliação das características de acurácia de indicadores clínicos de diagnósticos de enfermagem.IMPLICAÇÕES PARA A PRÁTICA DE ENFERMAGEM: O conhecimento das características de acurácia de indicadores clínicos permite a identificação e discriminação mais adequada de diagnósticos de enfermagem.PALAVRAS CHAVE: Diagnóstico de enfermagem; teste diagnóstico; avaliação de enfermagem.
3D ultrasound image segmentation using wavelet support vector machines
Authors: Akbari Hamed , Fei Baowei 
Published: May 2012

Purpose:Transrectal ultrasound (TRUS) imaging is clinically used in prostate biopsy and therapy. Segmentation of the prostate on TRUS images has many applications. In this study, a three‐dimensional (3D) segmentation method for TRUS images of the prostate is presented for 3D ultrasound‐guided biopsy.Methods:This segmentation method utilizes a statistical shape, texture information, and intensity profiles. A set of wavelet support vector machines (W‐SVMs) is applied to the images at various subregions of the prostate. The W‐SVMs are trained to adaptively capture the features of the ultrasound images in order to differentiate the prostate and nonprostate tissue. This method consists of a set of wavelet transforms for extraction of prostate texture features and a kernel‐based support vector machine to classify the textures. The voxels around the surface of the prostate are labeled in sagittal, coronal, and transverse planes. The weight functions are defined for each labeled voxel on each plane and on the model at each region. In the 3D segmentation procedure, the intensity profiles around the boundary between the tentatively labeled prostate and nonprostate tissue are compared to the prostate model. Consequently, the surfaces are modified based on the model intensity profiles. The segmented prostate is updated and compared to the shape model. These two steps are repeated until they converge. Manual segmentation of the prostate serves as the gold standard and a variety of methods are used to evaluate the performance of the segmentation method.Results:The results from 40 TRUS image volumes of 20 patients show that the Dice overlap ratio is 90.3% ± 2.3% and that the sensitivity is 87.7% ± 4.9%.Conclusions:The proposed method provides a useful tool in our 3D ultrasound image‐guided prostate biopsy and can also be applied to other applications in the prostate.
Fast on‐site Monte Carlo tool for dose calculations in CT applications
Authors: Chen Wei , Kolditz Daniel , Beister Marcel , Bohle Robert , Kalender Willi A. 
Published: May 2012

Purpose:Monte Carlo (MC) simulation is an established technique for dose calculation in diagnostic radiology. The major drawback is its high computational demand, which limits the possibility of usage in real‐time applications. The aim of this study was to develop fast on‐site computed tomography (CT) specific MC dose calculations by using a graphics processing unit (GPU) cluster.Methods:GPUs are powerful systems which are especially suited to problems that can be expressed as data‐parallel computations. In MC simulations, each photon track is independent of the others; each launched photon can be mapped to one thread on the GPU, thousands of threads are executed in parallel in order to achieve high performance. For further acceleration, the authors considered multiple GPUs. The total computation was divided into different parts which can be calculated in parallel on multiple devices. The GPU cluster is an MC calculation server which is connected to the CT scanner and computes 3D dose distributions on‐site immediately after image reconstruction. To estimate the performance gain, the authors benchmarked dose calculation times on a 2.6 GHz Intel Xeon 5430 Quad core workstation equipped with twoNVIDIA GeForce GTX 285 cards. The on‐site calculation concept was demonstrated for clinical and preclinical datasets on CT scanners (multislice CT, flat‐detector CT, and micro‐CT) with varying geometry, spectra, and filtration. To validate the GPU‐based MC algorithm, the authors measured dose values on a 64‐slice CT system using calibrated ionization chambers and thermoluminesence dosimeters (TLDs) which were placed inside standard cylindrical polymethyl methacrylate (PMMA) phantoms.Results:The dose values and profiles obtained by GPU‐based MC simulations were in the expected good agreement with computed tomography dose index (CTDI) measurements and reference TLD profiles with differences being less than 5%. For 109 photon histories simulated in a 256 × 256 × 12 voxel thorax dataset with voxel size of 1.36 × 1.36 × 3.00 mm3, calculation times of about 70 and 24 min were necessary with single‐core and multiple‐core central processing unit (CPU) solutions, respectively. Using GPUs, the same MC calculations were performed in 1.27 min (single card) and 0.65 min (two cards) without a loss in quality. Simulations were thus speeded up by factors up to 55 and 36 compared to single‐core and multiple‐core CPU, respectively. The performance scaled nearly linearly with the number of GPUs. Tests confirmed that the proposed GPU‐based MC tool can be easily adapted to different types of CT scanners and used as service providers for fast on‐site dose calculations.Conclusions:The Monte Carlo software package provides fast on‐site calculation of 3D dose distributions in the CT suite which makes it a practical tool for any type of CT‐specific application.
Histogram matching for the generation of ventilation‐perfusion difference images in SPECT lung scanning: A phantom study
Authors: Smith Jye , Bartlett Marissa , Thomas Paul 
Published: May 2012

Purpose:Diagnosis of acute pulmonary embolism (PE) is commonly done by acquiring SPECT scans of lung ventilation and of lung perfusion. The two image sets are compared, to identify regions which are ventilated but not perfused (“mismatched defects”). This paper describes the application of histogram matching to the calculation of a ventilation/perfusion difference image, and an investigation of the feasibility of the technique using phantom data.Methods:An empty balloon was inserted into the lung compartment of an anthropomorphic torso phantom. The lungs were filled with polystyrene beads and with water containing 0.20 kBq/ml of99mTc. Two scans were acquired to mimic a matched ventilation/perfusion pair. Then, 30 ml of water containing 0.01 kBq/ml of 99mTc was injected into the balloon and the phantom was rescanned. This was repeated four more times, adding 30 ml each time. Each perfusion scan thus had a mismatched defect of a different size. A CT scan was also performed after each perfusion scan, to verify the size and location of the balloon. Histogram matching was applied to each perfusion scan, which was then subtracted from the ventilation scan, yielding a difference image in which voxels with positive values identified mismatched defects. For each scan, a volume of interest (VOI) was automatically generated on the defect and was also copied across to the contralateral side to determine target to background ratios.Results:All mismatched defects were clearly visible in the difference images, including the smallest, which corresponded in size to a small subsegmental defect. Voxel values for the mismatched defects ranged from 17 to 26, compared with contralateral regions, which had voxel values of 0 or 1.Conclusions:Histogram matching provides a simple, automatic data‐driven method for scaling ventilation and perfusion studies without user intervention.
Human Papillomavirus Immunization Is Associated with Increased Expression of Different Innate Immune Regulatory Receptors
Authors: Colmenares V. , Noyola D. E. , Monsiváis-Urenda A. , Salgado-Bustamante M. , Estrada-Capetillo L. , González-Amaro R. , Baranda L. 
Published: May 2012

ABSTRACTHuman papillomavirus (HPV) is able to inhibit the secretion of gamma interferon (IFN-γ) and the expression of some immune innate cell receptors. Immunoglobulin-like transcript 2 (ILT2) is a regulatory receptor that seems to participate in the pathogenesis of viral infections. We have studied the expression and function of ILT2 and the expression of other NK cell receptors in 23 healthy women before and after immunization with the quadrivalent HPV (type 6/11/16/18) vaccine (Gardasil). Receptor expression was analyzed by flow cytometry in freshly isolated peripheral blood mononuclear cells as well as afterin vitrostimulation with the quadrivalent HPV (type 6/11/16/18) vaccine. In addition, the regulatory function of ILT2 on cell proliferation and IFN-γ production was analyzed. We found a significant increase in the expression of ILT2 by NK and CD3+CD56+lymphocytes and monocytes after quadrivalent HPV (type 6/11/16/18) vaccine immunization. In addition, thein vitrostimulation with the quadrivalent HPV (type 6/11/16/18) vaccine also increased the proportion of CD3−CD56+ILT2+NK cells. Although the inhibitory function of ILT2 on cell proliferation was enhanced after HPV immunization, thein vitroengagement of this receptor did not affect the synthesis of IFN-γ induced by HPV. Finally, a significant increase in the expression of NKG2D, NKp30, and NKp46 by NK and CD3+CD56+lymphocytes was detected after quadrivalent HPV (type 6/11/16/18) vaccine immunization. Our data indicate that HPV immunization is associated with significant changes in the expression and function of different innate immune receptors, including ILT2, which may participate in the protective effect of HPV vaccines.
Complete Genome Sequence of Rahnella aquatilis CIP 78.65
Authors: Martinez Robert J. , Bruce David , Detter Chris , Goodwin Lynne A. , Han James , Han Cliff S. , Held Brittany , Land Miriam L. , Mikhailova Natalia , Nolan Matt , Pennacchio Len , Pitluck Sam , Tapia Roxanne , Woyke Tanja , Sobecky Patricia A. 
Published: May 2012

ABSTRACT

Rahnella aquatilis
CIP 78.65 is a gammaproteobacterium isolated from a drinking water source in Lille, France. Here we report the complete genome sequence of
Rahnella aquatilis
CIP 78.65, the type strain of
R. aquatilis
.
Genome Sequence of Xanthomonas citri pv. mangiferaeindicae Strain LMG 941
Authors: Midha Samriti , Ranjan Manish , Sharma Vikas , Pinnaka Anil Kumar , Patil Prabhu B. 
Published: May 2012

ABSTRACT

We report the 5.1-Mb genome sequence of
Xanthomonas citri
pv. mangiferaeindicae strain LMG 941, the causal agent of bacterial black spot in mango. Apart from evolutionary studies, the draft genome will be a valuable resource for the epidemiological studies and quarantine of this phytopathogen.
Genome Sequences of the Ethanol-Tolerant Lactobacillus vini Strains LMG 23202
T
and JP7.8.9
Authors: Luckwu de Lucena Brígida Thaís , Silva Genivaldo G. Z. , Manoel dos Santos Billy , Dias Graciela M. , Amaral Gilda Rose S. , Moreira Ana Paula B. , de Morais Júnior Marcos Antônio , Dutilh Bas E. , Edwards Robert A. , Balbino Valdir , Thompson Cristiane C. , Thompson Fabiano L. 
Published: May 2012

ABSTRACT

We report on the genome sequences of
Lactobacillus vini
type strain LMG 23202
T
(DSM 20605) (isolated from fermenting grape musts in Spain) and the industrial strain
L. vini
JP7.8.9 (isolated from a bioethanol plant in northeast Brazil). All contigs were assembled using gsAssembler, and genes were predicted and annotated using Rapid Annotation using Subsystem Technology (RAST). The identified genome sequence of LMG 23202
T
had 2.201.333 bp, 37.6% G+C, and 1,833 genes, whereas the identified genome sequence of JP7.8.9 had 2.301.037 bp, 37.8% G+C, and 1,739 genes. The gene repertoire of the species
L. vini
offers promising opportunities for biotechnological applications.
Genome Sequence of the Probiotic Bacterium Sporolactobacillus vineae SL153
T
Authors: Kim Dae-Soo , Sin Yeseul , Kim Dong-Wook , Paek Jayoung , Kim Ryong Nam , Jung Min Young , Park In-Soon , Kim Aeri , Kang Aram , Park Hong-Seog , Choi Sang-Haeng , Chang Young-Hyo 
Published: May 2012

ABSTRACT

The novel
Sporolactobacillus vineae
SL153
T
strain has excellent intestinal adherence and growth inhibitory effect on pathogenic microorganisms, including
Vibrio
genus microorganisms, and therefore can be effectively used for the prevention and treatment of disease caused by pathogenic microorganisms. Here, we first report the draft genome sequence of a novel species in the genus
Sporolactobacillus
.
Microfluidic-Chip-Based Multiple-Locus Variable-Number Tandem-Repeat Fingerprinting with New Primer Sets for Methicillin-Resistant Staphylococcus aureus
Authors: Sabat Artur J. , Chlebowicz Monika A. , Grundmann Hajo , Arends Jan P. , Kampinga Greetje , Meessen Nico E. L. , Friedrich Alexander W. , van Dijl Jan Maarten 
Published: May 2012

ABSTRACT

The detection of outbreaks of methicillin-resistant
Staphylococcus aureus
(MRSA) infections and a rapid and accurate identification of sources and routes of transmission should be conducted in hospital settings as early and swiftly as possible. In this study, we investigated the application potential of a new approach based on multiple-locus variable-number tandem-repeat fingerprinting (MLVF) and microfluidics technology for a rapid discrimination of MRSA lineages in outbreak settings. A total of 206 nonrepetitive MRSA isolates recovered from infected patients at the University Medical Center Groningen between 2000 and 2010 were tested. The results obtained by MLVF using microcapillary electrophoresis with newly designed primers were compared to those obtained by
spa
typing and multiple-locus variable-number tandem-repeat analysis (MLVA). The discriminatory power was 0.980 (107 patterns), 0.969 (85 allelic profiles), and 0.959 (66 types) for MLVF, MLVA, and
spa
typing, respectively. All methods tested showed a good concordance of results calculated by the adjusted Rand's coefficient method. Comparisons of data obtained by the three approaches allowed us to propose an 88% cutoff value for the similarity between any two MLVF patterns, which can be used in
S. aureus
epidemiological studies, including analyses of outbreaks and strain transmission events. Of the three tested methods, MLVF is the cheapest, fastest, and easiest to perform. MLVF applied to microfluidic polymer chips is a rapid, cheap, reproducible, and highly discriminating tool to determine the clonality of MRSA isolates and to trace the spread of MRSA strains over periods of many years. Although
spa
typing should be used due to its portability of data, MLVF has a high added value because it is more discriminatory.
Detection of a Knockdown Resistance Mutation Associated with Permethrin Resistance in the Body Louse Pediculus humanus corporis by Use of Melting Curve Analysis Genotyping
Authors: Drali Rezak , Benkouiten Samir , Badiaga Sékéné , Bitam Idir , Rolain Jean Marc , Brouqui Philippe 
Published: May 2012

ABSTRACT

Louse-borne diseases are prevalent in the homeless, and body louse eradication has thus far been unsuccessful in this population. We aim to develop a rapid and robust genotyping method usable in large field-based clinical studies to monitor permethrin resistance in the human body louse
Pediculus humanus corporis
. We assessed a melting curve analysis genotyping method based on real-time PCR using hybridization probes to detect the M815I-T917I-L920F knockdown resistance (kdr) mutation in the paraorthologous voltage-sensitive sodium channel (VSSC) α subunit gene, which is associated with permethrin resistance. The 908-bp DNA fragment of the VSSC gene, encoding the α subunit of the sodium channel and encompassing the three mutation sites, was PCR sequenced from 65 lice collected from a homeless population. We noted a high prevalence of the 3 indicated mutations in the body lice collected from homeless people (100% for the M815I and L920F mutations and 56.73% for the T917I mutation). These results were confirmed by melting curve analysis genotyping, which had a calculated sensitivity of 100% for the M815I and T917I mutations and of 98% for the L920F mutation. The specificity was 100% for M815I and L920F and 96% for T917I. Melting curve analysis genotyping is a fast, sensitive, and specific tool that is fully compatible with the analysis of a large number of samples in epidemiological surveys, allowing the simultaneous genotyping of 96 samples in just over an hour (75 min). Thus, it is perfectly suited for the epidemiological monitoring of permethrin resistance in human body lice in large-scale clinical studies.
Enzootic Enteropathogenic Escherichia coli Infection in Laboratory Rabbits
Authors: Swennes Alton G. , Buckley Ellen M. , Parry Nicola M. A. , Madden Carolyn M. , García Alexis , Morgan Peter B. , Astrofsky Keith M. , Fox James G. 
Published: May 2012

ABSTRACT

Enteropathogenic
Escherichia coli
(EPEC) is the most important cause of persistent diarrhea in children, particularly in developing countries. Animals serve as pathogenic
E. coli
reservoirs, and compelling evidence for cross-species EPEC transmission exists. In this report, enzootic EPEC infection associated with up to 10.5% diarrhea-associated morbidity in a large laboratory Dutch Belted rabbit colony was investigated. These rabbits were obtained from a commercial vendor and had acute diarrhea following shipment. Fecal culture of 20 rabbits yielded 48
E. coli
isolates, 83% of which were
eae
positive. Repetitive sequence-based PCR (REP-PCR) and serologic analysis identified a single disease-associated EPEC O145:H2 strain. In sampled rabbits, EPEC-positive culture and the presence of diarrhea were significantly associated. This strain displayed a localized adherence-like HEp-2 cell adherence pattern, as seen in diarrheic human infant EPEC isolates. Treatment was instituted with the fluoroquinolone antibiotic enrofloxacin, to which all isolates were susceptible. Preshipment parenteral enrofloxacin administration reduced diarrhea-associated morbidity 22-fold and mortality 12-fold in subsequent deliveries. This report emphasizes the zoonotic potential of animal EPEC strains and the need for virulence determinant-based screening of
E. coli
isolates from diarrheic animals.
Ebolavirus Requires Acid Sphingomyelinase Activity and Plasma Membrane Sphingomyelin for Infection
Authors: Miller Mary E. , Adhikary Shramika , Kolokoltsov Andrey A. , Davey Robert A. 
Published: May 2012

ABSTRACT
Acid sphingomyelinase (ASMase) converts the lipid sphingomyelin (SM) to phosphocholine and ceramide and has optimum activity at acidic pH. Normally, ASMase is located in lysosomes and endosomes, but membrane damage or the interaction with some bacterial and viral pathogens can trigger its recruitment to the plasma membrane. Rhinovirus and measles viruses each require ASMase activity during early stages of infection. Both sphingomyelin and ceramide are important components of lipid rafts and are potent signaling molecules. Each plays roles in mediating macropinocytosis, which has been shown to be important for ebolavirus (EBOV) infection. Here, we investigated the role of ASMase and its substrate, SM, in EBOV infection. The work was performed at biosafety level 4 with wild-type virus with specificity and mechanistic analysis performed using virus pseudotypes and virus-like particles. We found that virus particles strongly associate with the SM-rich regions of the cell membrane and depletion of SM reduces EBOV infection. ASM-specific drugs and multiple small interfering RNAs strongly inhibit the infection by EBOV and EBOV glycoprotein pseudotyped viruses but not by the pseudotypes bearing the glycoprotein of vesicular stomatitis virus. Interestingly, the binding of virus-like particles to cells is strongly associated with surface-localized ASMase as well as SM-enriched sites. Our work suggests that ASMase activity and SM presence are necessary for efficient infection of cells by EBOV. The inhibition of this pathway may provide new avenues for drug treatment.