bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Risk adjusted benchmarking of clinical anastomotic leakage rate after total mesorectal excision in the context of an improvement project
Authors: Penninckx F. , Beirens K. , Fieuws S. , Ceelen W. , Demetter P. , Haustermans K. , Van de Stadt J. , Vindevoghel K. ,   on behalf of PROCARE
Published: February 2012

AbstractAim  Anastomotic leakage (AL) after total mesorectal excision (TME) is a major adverse event. This study evaluates variability in AL between centres participating on a voluntary basis in PROCARE, a Belgian improvement project, and how further improvement of the AL rate might be achieved.Method  Between January 2006 and March 2011, detailed data on 1815 patients (mean age 65.5 years, 63% male) who underwent elective TME with colo‐anal reconstruction for rectal cancer were registered by 48 centres. Variability in early clinical AL rate was analysed before and after adjustment for gender, age > 60 years, American Society of Anesthesiologists score of 3 or more and body mass index > 25 kg/m2.Results  The overall AL rate was 6.7% (95% CI 5.6%–7.9%). Early AL required reoperation in 86.8% of patients. It increased length of hospital stay from 14.7 days to 32.4 days and in‐hospital mortality from 1.1% to 4.8%. Statistically significant variability in AL rate between centres was not observed, either before or after risk adjustment. Nonetheless, further improvement may be achievable in some centres by targeting the adjusted performance of better performing centres. These centres used neoadjuvant treatment, rectal irrigation, mobilization of the splenic flexure, resection of the sigmoid colon, side‐to‐end colo‐anastomosis with or without pouch and defunctioning stoma at primary surgery in a significantly higher proportion of patients than less well performing centres.Conclusion  The overall AL rate was low but needs to be interpreted with caution because of incomplete registration. Further improvement might be achieved by adopting the approach of better performing centres.
Northern genetic richness and southern purity, but just one species in the Chelonoidis chilensis complex
Authors: Fritz Uwe , Alcalde Leandro , Vargas‐Ramírez Mario , Goode Eric V. , Fabius‐Turoblin David Uri , Praschag Peter 
Published: February 2012

Fritz, U., Alcalde, L., Vargas‐Ramírez, M., Goode, E.V., Fabius‐Turoblin, D.U. & Praschag, P. (2012). Northern genetic richness and southern purity, but just one species in the Chelonoidis chilensis complex. —Zoologica Scripta, 41, 220–232.The Chelonoidis chilensis complex, the sister group of the famous Galápagos tortoises, is a widely distributed group of South American land tortoises, ranging from the dry Chaco of Bolivia, Paraguay and northern Argentina to northern Patagonia. Within this complex, up to three distinct species have been recognized. Using sequence data of the mitochondrial cytochrome b gene and length polymorphisms of 10 microsatellite loci, we investigate genetic differentiation among all three nominal species. We find only negligible differentiation, with decreasing genetic diversity from north to south. We conclude that only one species, Chelonoidis chilensis (Gray, 1870), is valid, with C. donosobarrosi (Freiberg, 1973) and C. petersi (Freiberg, 1973) as its junior synonyms. Morphological variation within C. chilensis sensu lato is in accord with the observation that size variation in chelonians follows Bergmann’s rule, with body size increasing with latitude. The observed phylogeographic differentiation inverses the well‐known pattern of southern genetic richness and northern purity from the northern hemisphere, resulting from dispersal from glacial refugia. This implies that in higher latitudes of both hemispheres genetic diversity may decrease with increasing distance from the refugium. For C. chilensis sensu lato, it seems likely that long‐distance dispersal via rafting on the Desaguadero River led to the foundation of the southernmost populations in northern Patagonia during the Holocene.
The mitochondrial genomes of Cambaroides similis and Procambarus clarkii (Decapoda: Astacidea: Cambaridae): the phylogenetic implications for Reptantia
Authors: Kim Sanghee , Park Mi‐Hyun , Jung Jae‐Ho , Ahn Dong‐Ha , Sultana Tahera , Kim Sejoo , Park Joong‐Ki , Choi Han‐Gu , Min Gi‐Sik 
Published: February 2012

Kim, S., Park, M.‐H., Jung, J.‐H., Ahn, D.‐H., Sultana, T., Kim, S., Park, J.‐K., Choi, H.‐G. & Min, G.‐S. (2012). The mitochondrial genomes of Cambaroides similis and Procambarus clarkii (Decapoda: Astacidea: Cambaridae): the phylogenetic implications for Reptantia. —Zoologica Scripta, 41, 281–292.We determined the complete mitochondrial (mt) genome sequences of two northern hemisphere freshwater crayfish species, Cambaroides similis and Procambarus clarkii (Decapoda: Astacidea: Cambaridae). These species have an identical gene order with typical metazoan mt genome compositions. However, their gene arrangement was very distinctive compared with the pan‐crustacean ground pattern because of the presence of a long inverted block, which included 19 coding genes and a control region (CR). Because the CR was inverted, their nucleotide frequencies showed a reversed strand‐specific bias compared with the other decapods. Based on a comparative analysis of mt genome arrangements between southern and northern hemisphere crayfish and their putative close marine relative (Homarus americanus, a true clawed lobster), we postulated that the ancestor of freshwater crayfish had a typical pan‐crustacean mtDNA gene order, similar to its marine relatives. Based on this assumption, we traced the most parsimonious gene rearrangement scenario of the northern hemisphere crayfish. In a phylogenetic study on the infraordinal relationships in reptan decapods, the lineage Lineata [Thalassinidea (Brachyura, Anomura)] was well supported, while the infraorder positions of Achelata and Astacidea remained unidentified.
Engineering starch accumulation by manipulation of phosphate metabolism of starch
Authors: Weise Sean E. , Aung Kimberly , Jarou Zach J. , Mehrshahi Payam , Li Ziru , Hardy Anna C. , Carr David J. , Sharkey Thomas D. 
Published: February 2012

SummaryA new understanding of leaf starch degradation has emerged in the last 10 years. It has been shown that starch phosphorylation and dephosphorylation are critical components of this process. Glucan, water dikinase (GWD) (and phosphoglucan, water dikinase) adds phosphate to starch, and phosphoglucan phosphatase (SEX4) removes these phosphates. To explore the use of this metabolism to manipulate starch accumulation, Arabidopsis (Arabidopsis thaliana) plants were engineered by introducing RNAi constructs designed to reduce expression of AtGWD and AtSEX4. The timing of starch build‐up was altered with ethanol‐inducible and senescence‐induced gene promoters. Ethanol induction of RNAi lines reduced transcript for AtGWD and AtSEX4 by 50%. The transgenic lines had seven times more starch than wild type at the end of the dark period but similar growth rates and total biomass. Elevated leaf starch content in maize leaves was engineered by making an RNAi construct against a gene in maize that appeared to be homologous to AtGWD. The RNAi construct was expressed using the constitutive ubiquitin promoter. Leaf starch content at the end of a night period in engineered maize plants was 20‐fold higher than in untransformed plants with no impact on total plant biomass. We conclude that plants can be engineered to accumulate starch in the leaves with little impact on vegetative biomass.
History, networks, and the quest for power: ancient political competition in the Lower Motagua Valley, Guatemala
Authors: SCHORTMAN EDWARD M. , ASHMORE WENDY 
Published: February 2012

Capturing the fluid, dynamic interactions that constitute political form and change is best accomplished by adopting a network perspective. This approach calls attention to how power contests are waged close to the ground by self‐reflexive agents who co‐operate within wider webs to mobilize material and conceptual resources in support of common political projects. Political contests are, thus, waged within networks of networks in which decisions are made and across which the consequences of those choices are felt. This framework is used to disentangle the outcomes of a dramatic event in Mesoamerican prehistory: the beheading of one lowland Maya monarch by his erstwhile subordinate. The case study illustrates how political processes are best grasped as the results of initiatives instigated by variably well‐informed agents of all ranks, living in diverse locales, who co‐operate with some and compete with others to take advantage of new opportunities to define and meet their goals.RésuméPour saisir les interactions fluides et dynamiques qui constituent la forme et le changement en politique, la meilleure approche pourrait être une analyse de réseaux. L’accent est alors placé sur la façon dont les luttes de pouvoir sont menées au ras du sol par des agents réflexifs coopérant au sein de réseaux plus larges en vue de mobiliser des ressources matérielles et conceptuelles à l’appui de projets politiques communs. Les compétitions politiques s’inscrivent donc dans des réseaux de réseaux, où les décisions sont prises et dans lesquels leurs conséquences sont ressenties. Ce cadre est utilisé pour démêler les tenants et les aboutissants d’un événement dramatique de la préhistoire d’Amérique Centrale : la décapitation d’un monarque maya des plaines par un ancien subordonné. Cette étude de cas montre l’intérêt d’appréhender les processus politiques comme les résultats d’initiatives prises par des agents de tous rangs, plus ou moins bien informés et vivant dans des lieux divers, qui coopèrent avec certains et sont en concurrence avec d’autres pour profiter des nouvelles occasions de définir et d’atteindre leurs buts.
The pastor and the prophetess: an analysis of gender and Christianity in Vanuatu
Authors: ERIKSEN ANNELIN 
Published: February 2012

The focus of this article is the proliferation of new charismatic Pentecostal churches in the South Pacific nation Vanuatu. The established Presbyterian Church on the island of Ambrym is compared to a new Pentecostal church in the capital Port Vila in terms of gender. The idea of a vanishing form of masculinity and the development of a form of ‘gender nostalgia’ is emphasized in the comparison. By looking at gender relations, new perspectives on the difference between the new churches and more established churches emerge, and these perspectives, I argue, might also give us an understanding of why fission seem to be inevitable for the new Pentecostal churches in Vanuatu.RésuméLe présent article s’intéresse à la prolifération des nouvelles Églises pentecôtistes charismatiques au Vanuatu, une nation du Pacifique Sud. Il propose un comparaison du point de vue des rapports de genre entre l’Église presbytérienne établie dans l’île d’Ambrym et une nouvelle assemblée pentecôtiste de la capitale, Port Vila. Cette comparaison met l’accent sur l’idée d’une forme de masculinité en voie de disparition et sur le développement d’une certaine « nostalgie de genre ». L’examen des rapports sociaux de sexes fait apparaître de nouveaux angles d’approche de la différence entre les nouvelles Églises et les plus établies. L’auteure affirme que ces approches peuvent permettre de comprendre pourquoi le schisme semble inévitable pour les nouvelles Églises pentecôtistes du Vanuatu.
Pentecostalism and the morality of money: prosperity, inequality, and religious sociality on the Zambian Copperbelt
Authors: HAYNES NAOMI 
Published: February 2012

As part of a growing body of work focused on the social implications of Pentecostal Christianity, this article explores one of the ways that this religion is shaping relational life on the Zambian Copperbelt. Through a discussion of the changing nature of the prosperity gospel, I show how Pentecostalism embeds believers in social relationships that often extend beyond their religious cohort. In the absence of the lavish wealth promised by prosperity gospel preachers, Pentecostals have had to alter their understanding of divinely authored economic success. Specifically, local definitions of prosperity are characterized not by uniform, individualized wealth, but rather by progress along a gradient of material achievement through relationships that span differences in economic status. This retooled version of the prosperity gospel serves to integrate believers into the wider social world by emphasizing material inequality and promoting displays of wealth. Each of these aspects of Copperbelt Pentecostalism embeds its adherents in networks of exchange that are a central component of urban Zambian sociality. This analysis of Pentecostalism expands on studies of this religion that focus only on formal ritual life, while at the same time challenging interpretations of Pentecostalism that have given its social potential short shrift.RésuméLe présent article s’inscrit dans un corpus de plus en plus important de travaux consacrés aux implications sociales du christianisme pentecôtiste. Il explore l’une des manières dont cette religion façonne la vie relationnelle dans la province du Copperbelt, en Zambie. Par la discussion de la nature changeante de la théologie de la prospérité, l’auteure montre comment le pentecôtisme intègre ses fidèles dans des relations sociales qui s’étendent souvent au‐delà des limites de leur communauté religieuse. Ne voyant pas venir l’abondance promise par les prédicateurs de la doctrine de la prospérité, les pentecôtistes ont dû revoir leur interprétation d’une réussite économique sanctionnée par Dieu. Plus précisément, les définitions locales de la prospérité sont caractérisées non pas par une possession de biens uniforme et individualisée mais plutôt par une progression suivant un gradient de réussite matérielle, par le biais de relations franchissant les différences de situation économique. Cette version remaniée de la théologie de la prospérité sert à intégrer les croyants dans le monde social qui les entoure, en mettant l’accent sur les inégalités matérielles et en encourageant les signes extérieurs de richesse. Chacun de ces aspects du pentecôtisme dans le Copperbelt intègre les fidèles dans des réseaux d’échange qui sont une composante essentielle de la société zambienne urbaine. L’analyse du pentecôtisme réalisée ici commente les études de cette religion axées uniquement sur le rituel, tout en remettant en question les interprétations faisant peu de cas du potentiel social du pentecôtisme.
Demonic trade: debt, materiality, and agency in Amazonia
Authors: WALKER HARRY 
Published: February 2012

This article examines Amazonian Urarina engagements with the system of debt peonage in light of the conceptual and ontological premises of the traditional subsistence economy. It argues that to view debt as a mechanism for harnessing indigenous labour is inadequate for comprehending the wilfulness with which Urarina indebt themselves to outsiders today, which should instead be considered in terms of local theories of agency and an aversion to immediate, market‐style exchange. This relational and hierarchically distributed view of agency is further implicated in ideas surrounding industrial goods, which are ascribed to the Devil as their putative maker and owner, and who is seen as the source of their power over people in this life and the next. If this brand of commodity ‘fetishism’ expresses moral ambivalence towards capitalism, it also mediates otherwise contradictory forms of production and exchange, repudiating the possibility of total rupture between persons and things.RésuméL’auteur examine ici l’engagement des Unarina d’Amazonie dans un système de servage pour dettes, à la lumière des prémisses conceptuelles et ontologiques de l’économie de subsistance traditionnelle. Il avance que la vision de l’endettement comme d’un mécanisme visant à capturer la main‐d’œuvre indigène ne convient pas pour comprendre la bonne volonté avec laquelle les Unarina s’endettent aujourd’hui vis‐à‐vis de parfaits inconnus. Au lieu de cela, l’approche doit s’appuyer sur les théories locales de l’agent et sur l’aversion des Unarina envers les transactions non différées, de type marchand. Cette notion d’agencyrelationnelle, distribuée de façon hiérarchique, se retrouve dans les idées liées aux marchandises industrielles, dont le fabricant et le propriétaire supposé serait le Diable, considéré comme la source de leur pouvoir sur les gens dans cette vie et la vie future. Quoique ce mode de « fétichisme » des marchandises exprime une ambivalence morale à l’égard du capitalisme, il médie par ailleurs des formes de production et d’échange qui seraient sinon contradictoires, réfutant la possibilité d’une rupture totale entre les gens et les choses.
What's up, Doctor Goffman? Tell us where the action is!
Authors: HANDLER RICHARD 
Published: February 2012

Erving Goffman was a master of the long essay, a genre comparatively rare in contemporary sociological and anthropological writing. While there is a steadily expanding secondary literature on Goffman, few of his commentators have provided close readings of individual essays. This article offers close readings of ‘Where the action is’ and ‘Normal appearances’ to demonstrate the potential of this approach to the analysis of Goffman's oeuvre.RésuméErving Goffman était un maître de l’essai long, genre relativement peu répandu dans l’écriture sociologique et anthropologique contemporaine. Bien que de nouvelles publications lui soient régulièrement consacrées, rares sont, parmi ses commentateurs, ceux qui ont donné une lecture détaillée de ses différents essais. L’auteur propose ici une lecture attentive de Where the action is et Normal appearances, dans le but de démontrer l’intérêt potentiel de cette approche dans l’analyse de l’œuvre de Goffman.
Institutional Change in Europe: Co‐decision and Comitology Transformed*
Authors: HÉRITIER ADRIENNE 
Published: February 2012

AbstractThis article explains how institutional rules changeafterthey have been established in two important areas of European decision‐making: co‐decision and comitology. It shows how legislation under co‐decision was transformed into fast‐track legislation and why the Parliament gradually – between treaty reforms – gained more institutional power in comitology. The rational choice institutionalist explanation applied here focuses on the efficiency increasing/transaction cost saving aspects of interstitial institutional change, but also on the question of who gains and who loses in power under specific rules and how power may subsequently be shifted. The hypotheses derived from the theoretical considerations are subject to empirical (dis)confirmation on the basis of quantitative and qualitative empirical data collected on co‐decision and delegation over time. The conclusion summarizes the argument and explores the applicability of the explanations to two other polities of regional integration: North Atlantic Free Trade Association (Nafta) and Mercosur (the Common Southern Market).
European Monetary Integration with Benefit of Hindsight
Authors: EICHENGREEN BARRY 
Published: February 2012

AbstractThe year 2009 saw a series of events celebrating the first decade of Europe's monetary union. Within a year, however, the eurozone descended into the most serious crisis in its short history. The question posed in this article is whether scholarly analysis of European monetary integration was deficient in ways that led observers to miss impending problems. The answer given here is that the standard analysis was broadly on the mark, although it missed the need for effective oversight of banking and financial systems at the level of the monetary union and underemphasized political economy considerations.
Mitral bioprosthesis hypertrophic scaring and native aortic valve fibrosis during benfluorex therapy
Authors: Ayme‐Dietrich Estelle , Lawson Roland , Gasser Bernard , Dallemand Robert , Bischoff Nicolas , Monassier Laurent 
Published: February 2012

AbstractThe authors describe the case of a simultaneous mitral bioprosthesis hypertrophic scaring and native aortic valve fibrosis during benfluorex therapy in a 40‐year‐old woman. Four years before, she underwent a mitral valve replacement after the diagnosis of mitral regurgitation during benfluorex treatment (150 mg/day). This drug was reintroduced postoperatively. She presented with exercise and sometimes resting dyspnoea. The bioprosthesis and aortic valves exhibited similar histopathological lesions. Thickening and plaque deposits made by smooth muscle alpha actin‐ and vimentin‐positive cells in a glycosaminoglycan matrix were observed. The study discusses the putative contribution of circulating progenitor cells activated by 5‐HT2B receptor agonists in the development of drug‐induced heart disease.
Beneficial effects of beta‐blockers on left ventricular function and cellular energy reserve in patients with heart failure
Authors: Spoladore Roberto , Fragasso Gabriele , Perseghin Gianluca , De Cobelli Francesco , Esposito Antonio , Maranta Francesco , Calori Giliola , Locatelli Massimo , Lattuada Guido , Scifo Paola , Del Maschio Alessandro , Margonato Alberto 
Published: February 2012

AbstractBeta‐blockers have been shown to improve left ventricular (LV) function in patients with heart failure. The aim of this study is to non‐invasively assess, by means of in vivo 31P‐magnetic resonance spectroscopy (31P‐MRS), the effects of beta‐blockers on LV cardiac phosphocreatine and adenosine triphosphate (PCr/ATP) ratio in patients with heart failure. Ten heart failure patients on full medical therapy were beta‐blocked by either carvedilol or bisoprolol. Before and after 3 months of treatment, exercise testing, 2D echocardiography, MRS, New York Heart Association (NYHA) class, ejection fraction (EF), maximal rate–pressure product and exercise metabolic equivalent system (METS) were evaluated. Relative concentrations of PCr and ATP were determined by cardiac 31P‐MRS. After beta‐blockade, NYHA class decreased (from 2.2 ± 0.54 to 1.9 ± 0.52, P = 0.05), whereas EF (from 33 ± 7 to 44 ± 6%, P = 0.0009) and METS (from 6.74 ± 2.12 to 8.03 ± 2.39, P = 0.01) increased. Accordingly, the mean cardiac PCr/ATP ratio increased by 33% (from 1.48 ± 0.22 to 1.81 ± 0.48, P = 0.03). Beta‐blockade‐induced symptomatic and functional improvement in patients with heart failure is associated to increased PCr/ATP ratio, indicating preservation of myocardial high‐energy phosphate levels.
The pyruvate dehydrogenase complex as a therapeutic target for age‐related diseases
Authors: Stacpoole Peter W. 
Published: February 2012

SummaryConsiderable research has been conducted on mitochondrial biology as it pertains to aging. However, relatively little attention has been accorded the pyruvate dehydrogenase complex (PDC) relative to how we grow old and acquire age‐related diseases. The purpose of this review is threefold: first, to describe the physiological chemistry of the PDC and define its place in normal cellular bioenergetics; second, to compare and contrast the pathogenesis and clinical features of congenital PDC deficiency with discrete examples of age‐associated dysfunction of the complex; and third, to summarize recent findings in Caenorhabditis elegans that shed additional new light on the significance of the PDC to the aging process.