bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Linking ecological immunology and evolutionary medicine: the case for apolipoprotein E
Authors: Trotter Justin H. , Liebl Andrea L. , Weeber Edwin J. , Martin Lynn B. 
Published: October 2010

Summary 1. Evolutionary medicine seeks to understand whether and to what extent aspects of human disease are adaptations for coping with infections or injuries, or the consequence of mismatches between modern and ancestral environments. Ecological immunology by comparison focuses largely on how organisms balance investments in immune defences against other traits (e.g., cognitive and reproductive functions) to maximize fitness. 2. Here we address the potential benefit of merging these two young disciplines by reviewing the biomedical literature involving variation at the human apolipoprotein epsilon (apoE) locus. Allelic variants at this locus are differentially susceptible to certain parasites [e.g. herpes‐simplex virus‐1 (HSV‐1) and Chlamydia pneumoniae], as well as Alzheimer’s and coronary artery disease, although susceptibility is impacted by environmental factors such as exercise and diet. ApoE variants also exhibit extensive physiological differences, particularly in immune and cognitive traits. 3. Considered altogether, we suggest that apoe‐associated diseases are maladaptive plastic responses to conditions in modern environments, and predict that allelic variation at the apoE locus arose as both a consequence of genetic accommodation of historically adaptive environmental responses and because of the particular susceptibility of lipid transport molecules as infection pathways for certain parasites. 4. The goal of this paper is not to support unequivocally this hypothesis because relevant data remain scarce. We intend instead to provide a framework whereby existing hypotheses, which tend to emphasize faulty signalling via one allele (apoE4), can be evaluated through ecologically‐informed experiments.
Escape from the pond: stress and developmental responses to ranavirus infection in wood frog tadpoles
Authors: Warne Robin W. , Crespi Erica J. , Brunner Jesse L. 
Published: October 2010

Summary 1. Animal populations exhibit considerable variation in their susceptibility to infection by emerging diseases, yet it is poorly understood how environmental and intrinsic factors contribute to these patterns. Considering that intrinsic factors (e.g. life history stage, nutritional state) can impact immune function, knowledge of the physiological mechanisms that mediate susceptibility to infection may improve our understanding of the emergence of disease in natural populations. 2. Ranavirus outbreaks have been associated with die‐offs of amphibians worldwide. While the ecological factors associated with epidemics have been widely studied, little is known about how physiological factors mediate amphibian responses to ranavirus infection. 3. The neuroendocrine hypothalamus‐pituitary‐interrenal axis (HPI) is a physiological system central to coordinating energy balance and development. It is known to both stimulate and inhibit immune function in vertebrates in different contexts. We hypothesized that the HPI axis would also mediate responses to ranavirus infection. We used wood frog (Rana sylvatica) larvae and ranavirus isolated from recent die‐offs of local wood frog populations to examine the physiological responses to infection. 4. In addition to increasing odds of death with increasing doses of virus in an LD50 study, we saw a 1·7‐fold increase in the odds of death with each increase in Gosner stage at the time of infection. 5. We then examined the HPI stress response of prometamorphic tadpoles exposed to a lethal dose of ranavirus. Infected tadpoles exhibited significantly elevated corticosterone levels, more rapid developmental changes, and a greater decrease in body weight relative to controls over 6 days after exposure. 6. Although elevated corticosterone mobilizes resources and enhances immunity, its acceleration of metamorphosis may be maladaptive in response to ranavirus infection, because it can draw energy away from expensive immune responses. These findings provide insight into how the balance of energy between development and immune function may contribute to patterns of ranavirus infection in pre‐metamorphic amphibians.
Community care assessment of exacerbations of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease
Authors: Hutchinson Anastasia F. , Thompson Michelle A. , Brand Caroline A. , Black Jim , Anderson Gary P. , Irving Louis B. 
Published: October 2010

hutchinson a.f., thompson m.a., brand c.a., black j., anderson g.p. & irving l.b. (2010)Community care assessment of exacerbations of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.Journal of Advanced Nursing66(11), 2490–2499.AbstractAim. The aim of this study was to develop a clinical algorithm to assess chronic obstructive pulmonary disease exacerbation severity in a community setting.Background. An important aspect of community management of exacerbations is assessing patient safety. Although researchers have investigated risk factors for rapid deterioration, there is a lack of evidence validating clinical measures of exacerbation severity.Methods. This was a prospective, community‐based cohort study of patients enrolled in the Melbourne Longitudinal Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease Cohort. The outreach team collected data on symptom severity at baseline and exacerbation onset using the Medical Research Council Dyspnoea Scale, St George Quality‐of‐Life Questionnaire and Symptom Severity Index.Results. Ninety‐two patients were monitored from 2003 to 2005. There were 148 exacerbations: 121 (82%) were treated at home and 27 (17·5%) required hospitalization. An ordinal logistic regression model demonstrated that a combination of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease severity with dyspnoea and wheeze severity at exacerbation onset could differentiate severe from milder episodes [(OR 7·69, 95%CI: 3·9–11·5,P < 0·01), area under the receiver operating characteristics curve 0·75 (95%CI: 0·65–0·86)].Conclusion. The majority of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease exacerbations can be safely managed in a community setting, but clinical assessment alone may not be sufficient to identify all patients who will develop complications such as respiratory failure. Further research is needed to validate clinical assessment and decision‐making algorithms for community‐management of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease exacerbations.
Resource Defence or Exploded Lek? – A Question of Perspective
Authors: Kotrschal Alexander , Taborsky Barbara 
Published: October 2010

AbstractIt becomes increasingly obvious that animal mating systems cannot be classified into distinct categories, but transitions between mating system classes are continuous. Positioning a certain mating system at this continuum is often not straightforward, however. Depending on which characteristic is considered, a mating system may end up at very different positions on this gradient. Here, we explore the potential conflict between mating system classifications that may arise when they are based on different criteria by investigating the mating system of the cichlid fish Simochromis pleurospilus in which males defend small patches of homogeneously distributed food resources (turf algae) vigorously against food competitors, but they allow specific females to use them. We hypothesized that male defence may generate high‐quality feeding patches serving to attract females, and hence male territoriality constitutes a form of courtship. Our field data show that males selectively allow approximately one‐third of the visiting females to feed on their territory and that females preferentially feed in male territories and usually sample several territories successively. As males protect food patches against other algae grazers and guard females from harassment by food competitors, females gain nutritional benefits from visiting male territories. Hence, males appear to generate essential resources for females, which is the key feature of resource‐defence mating systems, although the distributions of resources and of males and females are characteristics of an exploded lek.
A rapid infusion protocol is safe for total dose iron polymaltose: time for change
Authors: Garg M. , Morrison G. , Friedman A. , Lau A. , Lau D. , Gibson P. R. 
Published: October 2010

AbstractBackground:  Intravenous correction of iron deficiency by total dose iron polymaltose is inexpensive and safe, but current protocols entail prolonged administration over more than 4 h. This results in reduced patient acceptance, and hospital resource strain. We aimed to assess prospectively the safety of a rapid intravenous protocol and compare this with historical controls.Methods:  Consecutive patients in whom intravenous iron replacement was indicated were invited to have up to 1.5 g iron polymaltose by a 58‐min infusion protocol after an initial 15‐min test dose without pre‐medication. Infusion‐related adverse events (AE) and delayed AE over the ensuing 5 days were also prospectively documented and graded as mild, moderate or severe.Results:  One hundred patients, 63 female, mean age 54 (range 18–85) years were studied. Thirty‐four infusion‐related AE to iron polymaltose occurred in a total of 24 patients – 25 mild, 8 moderate and 1 severe; higher than previously reported for a slow protocol iron infusion. Thirty‐one delayed AE occurred in 26 patients – 26 mild, 3 moderate and 2 severe; similar to previously reported. All but five patients reported they would prefer iron replacement through the rapid protocol again. The presence of inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) predicted infusion‐related reactions (54% vs 14% without IBD, P < 0.001) and the serum C‐reactive protein was higher in those with reactions (P= 0.043).Conclusion:  Iron polymaltose can be successfully administered using a rapid total dose infusion protocol and was well accepted by patients. It offers significant cost, resource utilization and time benefits for the patient and hospital system.
Analysis of distinct short and prolonged components in rebound spiking of deep cerebellar nucleus neurons
Authors: Sangrey Thomas , Jaeger Dieter 
Published: October 2010

AbstractDeep cerebellar nucleus (DCN) neurons show pronounced post‐hyperpolarization rebound burst behavior, which may contribute significantly to responses to strong inhibitory inputs from cerebellar cortical Purkinje cells. Thus, rebound behavior could importantly shape the output from the cerebellum. We used whole‐cell recordings in brain slices to characterize DCN rebound properties and their dependence on hyperpolarization duration and depth. We found that DCN rebounds showed distinct fast and prolonged components, with different stimulus dependence and different underlying currents. The initial depolarization leading into rebound spiking was carried by hyperpolarization‐activated cyclic nucleotide‐gated current, and variable expression of this current could lead to a control of rebound latency. The ensuing fast rebound burst was due to T‐type calcium current, as previously described. It was highly variable between cells in strength, and could be expressed fully after short periods of hyperpolarization. In contrast, a subsequent prolonged rebound component required longer and deeper periods of hyperpolarization before it was fully established. We found using voltage‐clamp and dynamic‐clamp analyses that a slowly inactivating persistent sodium current fits the conductance underlying this prolonged rebound component, resulting in spike rate increases over several seconds. Overall, our results demonstrate that multiphasic DCN rebound properties could be elicited differentially by different levels of Purkinje cell activation, and thus create a rich repertoire of potential rebound dynamics in the cerebellar control of motor timing.
Temporal dynamics of sinusoidal and non‐sinusoidal amplitude modulation
Authors: Prendergast Garreth , Johnson Sam R. , Green Gary G. R. 
Published: October 2010

AbstractPrevious behavioural studies in human subjects have demonstrated the importance of amplitude modulations to the process of intelligible speech perception. In functional neuroimaging studies of amplitude modulation processing, the inherent assumption is that all sounds are decomposed into simple building blocks, i.e. sinusoidal modulations. The encoding of complex and dynamic stimuli is often modelled to be the linear addition of a number of sinusoidal modulations and so, by investigating the response of the cortex to sinusoidal modulation, an experimenter can probe the same mechanisms used to encode speech. The experiment described in this paper used magnetoencephalography to measure the auditory steady‐state response produced by six sounds, all modulated in amplitude at the same frequency but which formed a continuum from sinusoidal to pulsatile modulation. Analysis of the evoked response shows that the magnitude of the envelope‐following response is highly non‐linear, with sinusoidal amplitude modulation producing the weakest steady‐state response. Conversely, the phase of the steady‐state response was related to the shape of the modulation waveform, with the sinusoidal amplitude modulation producing the shortest latency relative to the other stimuli. It is shown that a point in auditory cortex produces a strong envelope following response to all stimuli on the continuum, but the timing of this response is related to the shape of the modulation waveform. The results suggest that steady‐state response characteristics are determined by features of the waveform outside of the modulation domain and that the use of purely sinusoidal amplitude modulations may be misleading, especially in the context of speech encoding.
The Shc locus regulates insulin signaling and adiposity in mammals
Authors: Tomilov Alexey A. , Ramsey Jon J. , Hagopian Kevork , Giorgio Marco , Kim Kyoungmi M. , Lam Adam , Migliaccio Enrica , Lloyd Kent C. , Berniakovich Ina , Prolla Tomas A. , Pelicci PierGiuseppe , Cortopassi Gino A. 
Published: October 2010

SummaryLongevity of a p66Shc knockout strain (ShcP) was previously attributed to increased stress resistance and altered mitochondria. Microarrays of ShcP tissues indicated alterations in insulin signaling. Consistent with this observation, ShcP mice were more insulin sensitive and glucose tolerant at organismal and tissue levels, as was a novel p66Shc knockout (ShcL). Increasing and decreasing Shc expression in cell lines decreased and increased insulin sensitivity, respectively – consistent with p66Shc’s function as a repressor of insulin signaling. However, differences between the two p66Shc knockout strains were also observed. ShcL mice were fatter and susceptible to fatty diets, and their fat was more insulin sensitive than controls. On the other hand, ShcP mice were leaner and resisted fatty diets, and their adipose was less insulin sensitive than controls. ShcL and ShcP strains are both highly inbred on the C57Bl/6 background, so we investigated gene expression at the Shc locus, which encodes three isoforms, p66, p52, and p46. Isoform p66 is absent in both strains; thus, the remaining difference to which to attribute the ‘lean’ phenotype is expression of the other two isoforms. ShcL mice have a precise deletion of p66Shc and normal expression of p52 and p46Shc isoforms in all tissues; thus, a simple deletion of p66Shc results in a ‘fat’ phenotype. However, ShcP mice in addition to p66Shc deletion have a fourfold increase in p46Shc expression in white fat. Thus, p46Shc overexpression in fat, rather than p66Shc deletion, is the likely cause of decreased adiposity and reduced insulin sensitivity in the fat of ShcP mice, which has implications for the longevity of the strain.
Extubation in intensive care units in the UK: an online survey
Authors: Hodd Jack , Doyle Alex , Carter Joseph , Albarran John , Young Peter 
Published: October 2010

Aim: To determine the current practice among critical care nurses in the UK with regard to airway management during cuff deflation and extubation. Background: There are a number of techniques used by clinicians to prevent aspiration during cuff deflation and extubation of patients. There are no published clinical studies comparing the different manoeuvres available to clinicians at the time of extubation nor any data to suggest which technique is most commonly used. Methods: All members of the British Association of Critical Care Nurses with an email address were invited to participate in an online survey. Results: A total of 533 (29%) nurses from 184 (84%) intensive care unit (ICUs) in the UK completed the survey. Just under half of the sample (n = 258, 48·4%) had more than 10 years of critical care experience and the vast majority (n = 427, 80·1%) worked in general ICUs. The majority of respondents (n = 461, 86·5%) suction the trachea during cuff deflation and extubation. A further 304 (57%) respondents ask patients to cough as part of extubation. Respondents increase the positive end expiratory pressure setting on the ventilator infrequently as part of routine procedure for extubation (n = 7, 1·3%). Conclusion: The majority of UK critical care nurses either suction the trachea during cuff deflation and extubation of patients and/or simply ask the patient to cough. Further clinical trials are required to identify the most appropriate and safe technique for critically ill patients.
Footwall dip of a core complex detachment fault: thermobarometric constraints from the northern Snake Range (Basin and Range, USA)
Authors: COOPER F. J. , PLATT J. P. , ANCZKIEWICZ R. , WHITEHOUSE M. J. 
Published: October 2010

AbstractLow‐angle detachment faults are common features in areas of large‐scale continental extension and are typically associated with metamorphic core complexes, where they separate upper plate brittle extension from lower plate ductile stretching and metamorphism. In many core complexes, the footwall rocks have been exhumed from middle to lower crustal depths, leading to considerable debate about the relationship between hangingwall and footwall rocks, and the role that detachment faults play in footwall exhumation. Here, garnet–biotite thermometry and garnet–muscovite–biotite–plagioclase barometry results are presented, together with garnet and zircon geochronology data, from seven locations within metapelitic rocks in the footwall of the northern Snake Range décollement (NSRD). These locations lie both parallel and normal to the direction of footwall transport to constrain the pre‐exhumation geometry of the footwall. To determine P–T gradients precisely within the footwall, the ΔPT method of Worley & Powell (2000) has been employed, which minimizes the contribution of systematic uncertainties to thermobarometric calculations. The results show that footwall rocks reached pressures of 6–8 kbar and temperatures of 500–650 °C, equivalent to burial depths of 23–30 km. Burial depth remains constant in the WNW–ESE direction of footwall transport, but increases from south to north. The lack of a burial gradient in the direction of footwall transport implies that the footwall rocks, which today define a sub‐horizontal datum in the direction of fault transport, also defined a sub‐horizontal datum at depth in Late Cretaceous time. This suggests that the footwall was not tilted about the normal to the fault transport direction during exhumation, and hence that the NSRD did not form as a low‐angle normal fault cutting down through the lower crust. Instead, the following evolution for the northern Snake Range footwall is proposed. (i) Mesozoic contraction caused substantial crustal thickening by duplication and folding of the miogeoclinal sequence, accompanied by upper greenschist to amphibolite facies metamorphism. (ii) About half of the total exhumation was accomplished by roughly coaxial stretching and thinning in Late Cretaceous to Early Tertiary time, accompanied by retrogression and mylonitic deformation. (iii) The footwall rocks were then ‘captured’ from the middle crust along a moderately dipping NSRD that soled into the middle crust with a rolling‐hinge geometry at both upper and lower terminations.
Cone beam imaging: is this the ultimate imaging modality?
Authors: Koong Bernard 
Published: October 2010

Abstract:This review article provides an overview of cone beam (CB) imaging technology and its role in orofacial imaging, including comparison with two‐dimensional (2D) radiography and multislice computed tomography (MCT). The radiation dose levels of CB systems are discussed, with reference to those delivered by MCT and common dental 2D views. The large variation in dose levels delivered by CB systems and the importance of using ultra low‐dose CB units are emphasized. Low‐dose MCT protocols can be used. CB and MCT image quality are compared. CB is an essential technique that all dental and orofacial clinicians must be familiar with. Where ultra low‐dose systems and protocols are used, CB imaging should be considered in day‐to‐day clinical practice. However, CB imaging is not the technique of choice in many clinical scenarios. Rather than replacing other modalities, CB imaging complements intraoral 2D radiography, panoramic radiography, MCT and other techniques including magnetic resonance imaging, ultrasound and nuclear medicine. MCT is a much more powerful and flexible modality and presently remains the technique of choice over CB imaging in many clinical scenarios. All radiologic examinations, including CB and MCT, should be comprehensively evaluated in entirety. The responsibilities and the radiological skill levels of clinicians involved in imaging as well as the associated ethical and medico‐legal implications require consideration.To cite this article: Koong B. Cone beam imaging: is this the ultimate imaging modality?. Clin. Oral Impl. Res.21, 2010; 1201–1208. doi: 10.1111/j.1600‐0501.2010.01996.x
Uplifting Unbelief
Authors: McLennan Gregor 
Published: October 2010

AbstractThis article analyses three of Taylor's principal theoretical moves: his basic account of secularity and related rejection of secularist ‘subtraction stories’; his comprehension of historico-empirical realities in the light of a sort of philosophy of history; and his presentation of the transcendental quality of the experience of ‘fullness’. Motivated to contest Taylor's framing of the ‘unbeliever’ as spirituality deprived and intellectually complacent, the coherence, content and rhetorical overkill of his argumentation in each of these areas is questioned.
Care staff attitudes and experiences of working with older people with dementia
Authors: Moyle Wendy , Murfield Jenny E , Griffiths Susan G , Venturato Lorraine 
Published: October 2010

Aim:  To determine care staff attitudes to dementia, assess levels of job satisfaction and explore how these attitudes and experience may relate to each other.Methods:  Forty‐nine staff from four long‐term care facilities were surveyed using the Approaches to Dementia Questionnaire and the Staff Experience of Working with Demented Residents Questionnaire.Results:  Attitudes were positive, focusing most on ‘person‐centred’ care (4.35) as opposed to ‘hopefulness’ (3.66). Job satisfaction was also good, being highest in terms of ‘resident contact’ (2.92) but lowest for work ‘environment’ (2.12). Care staff attitudes to dementia were positively correlated with job satisfaction (r= 0.366, n= 48, P= 0.011), particularly for attitudes focused on ‘person‐centred’ care (r= 0.393, n= 48, P= 0.006).Conclusions:  Findings suggest an important relationship between care staff attitudes and levels of job satisfaction. More work is needed to specify this relationship.