bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Antiarrhythmic Effects of Vasostatin‐1 in a Canine Model of Atrial Fibrillation
Authors: STAVRAKIS STAVROS , SCHERLAG BENJAMIN J. , FAN YOUQI , LIU YU , LIU QIMING , MAO JUN , CAI HENG , LAZZARA RALPH , PO SUNNY S. 
Published: April 2012

Antiarrhythmic Effects of Vasostatin‐1. Background: We examined the antiarrhythmic effects of vasostatin‐1, a recently identified cardioregulatory peptide, in canine models of atrial fibrillation (AF).Methods and Results: In 13 pentobarbital‐anesthetized dogs bilateral thoracotomies allowed the attachment of multielectrode catheters to superior and inferior pulmonary veins and atrial appendages (AA). Rapid atrial pacing (RAP) was maintained for 6 hours. Each hour, programmed stimulation was performed to determine the window of vulnerability (WOV), a measure of AF inducibility, at all sites. During the last 3 hours, vasostatin‐1, 33 nM, was injected into the anterior right (AR) ganglionated plexus (GP) and inferior right (IR) GP every 30 minutes (n = 6). Seven dogs underwent 6 hours of RAP only (controls). At baseline, acetylcholine, 100 mM, was applied on the right AA and AF duration was recorded before and after injection of vasostatin‐1, 33 nM, into the ARGP and IRGP. In separate experiments (n = 8), voltage–sinus rate response curves (surrogate for GP function) were constructed by applying high‐frequency stimulation to the ARGP with incremental voltages with or without vasostatin‐1. Vasostatin‐1 significantly decreased the duration of acetylcholine‐induced AF (11.0 ± 4.1 vs 5.5 ± 2.6 min, P = 0.02). The cumulative WOV (the sum of individual WOVs) significantly increased (P < 0.0001) during the first 3 hours and decreased toward baseline in the presence of vasostatin‐1 (P < 0.0001). Cumulative WOV in controls steadily increased. Vasostatin‐1 blunted the slowing of sinus rate with increasing stimulation voltage of ARGP.Conclusions: Vasostatin‐1 suppresses AF inducibility, likely by inhibiting GP function. These data may provide new insights into the role of peptide neuromodulators for AF therapy. (J Cardiovasc Electrophysiol, Vol. 23, pp. 771‐777, July 2012)
Contact sensitization to tree moss (Evernia furfuracea extract, INCI) is heterogeneous
Authors: Uter Wolfgang , Schmidt Erich , Lessmann Holger , Schnuch Axel 
Published: April 2012

Background.
Evernia prunastri (oak moss) and Evernia furfuracea (tree moss) are lichens from which natural extracts are obtained.Objectives. To identify possible subgroups of E. furfuracea‐sensitized patients according to whether these are allergic to lichen components or to contaminants.Methods. A retrospective analysis was performed of surveillance data collected by the Information Network of Departments of Dermatology (www.ivkd.org) in 2003–2010 with oak moss absolute (1% pet.), tree moss absolute (1% pet.), and colophonium (colophony, 20% pet.).Results. In total, 3030 patients had been tested with all three allergens. Positive reactions to E. furfuracea were observed in 6.37%, to E. prunastri in 5.71%, and to colophonium in 4.82%. Concordance between positive reactions to E. prunastri and E. furfuracea was good only in patients not co‐sensitized to colophonium (Cohen's κ = 0.681, 95% confidence interval 0.615‐0.746). Moreover, E. furfuracea‐sensitized patients showed (strong or extreme) concomitant reactions to colophonium significantly more often if not co‐sensitized to E. prunastri.Conclusions. Two subgroups of E. furfuracea‐sensitized patients are identifiable: (i) those with sensitization to (oxidized) resin acids, as indicated by positive patch test reactions also to colophonium, and (ii) those non‐sensitized to resin acids, but sensitized to common constituents of E. prunastri and E. furfuracea.
Relative frequency function models for species distribution modeling
Authors: Loehle Craig 
Published: April 2012

A new approach to habitat distribution modeling is presented and tested with data on North American plants. The relative frequency function (RFF) algorithm compares the relative frequencies of a species’ sample points to that of random points or absence points on the landscape to compute a frequency ratio. The relative frequency ratio r is smoothed across the range of values using moving, overlapping windows. The ratio of frequencies at a sample point for each variable is used to compute the geometric mean score for all data with non‐missing values. Variables are added using a forward stepwise method. Confidence intervals are computed with bootstrap resampling. The method was tested with artificial and species habitat and geographic range data. The RFF method in all cases gave results comparable to other methods tested. For the species with good geographic range maps, the results were consistent with known biogeography.The RFF method is particularly well‐suited to irregularly shaped distributions and can classify sample points even when the data contain missing values. The method is extremely simple to use and comes with a free software tool, does not require a large sample size, does not require absence data, and is more interpretable and portable than certain other methods.
Expression of MMPs and TIMP‐1 in smoker and nonsmoker chronic periodontitis patients before and after periodontal treatment
Authors: Mouzakiti E. , Pepelassi E. , Fanourakis G. , Markopoulou C. , Tseleni‐Balafouta S. , Vrotsos I. 
Published: April 2012

Mouzakiti E, Pepelassi E, Fanourakis G, Markopoulou C, Tseleni‐Balafouta S, Vrotsos I. Expression of MMPs and TIMP‐1 in smoker and nonsmoker chronic periodontitis patients before and after periodontal treatment. J Periodont Res 2012; 47: 532–542. © 2012 John Wiley & Sons A/SBackground and Objective:  Nonsurgical periodontal treatment controls periodontal inflammation. Matrix metalloproteinases (MMPs) and their tissue inhibitors (TIMPs) are implicated both in the destruction and in the healing of periodontal tissues. The aim of the present study was to compare the mRNA expression of MMP‐1, ‐3, ‐8, ‐9 and ‐13 and TIMP‐1 in chronic periodontitis before and after initial periodontal treatment.Material and Methods:  Ninety gingival samples were harvested from 30 patients with chronic periodontitis (15 nonsmokers and 15 smokers) before and after nonsurgical treatment and from 30 periodontally healthy control subjects (15 nonsmokers and 15 smokers). Clinical parameters were assessed before and after treatment. Total RNA was isolated, and mRNA expression of MMPs and TIMP‐1 was assessed by RT‐PCR.Results:  Periodontal treatment significantly increased TIMP‐1 expression and decreased the ratios of MMPs/TIMP‐1. Post‐treatment, nonsmokers with periodontitis had significantly higher MMP‐8 and TIMP‐1 expression than healthy nonsmokers, and smokers with periodontitis had significantly higher MMP‐13 and TIMP‐1 expressions than healthy smokers. Post‐treatment, smokers had significantly higher TIMP‐1 expression and lower MMP‐8/TIMP‐1 ratio than nonsmokers. Post‐treatment, there was no correlation among MMPs, and the expression of MMPs and TIMP‐1 was not correlated with clinical measurements.Conclusion:  Periodontal treatment increased TIMP‐1 expression and decreased the ratios of MMPs/TIMP‐1 in chronic periodontitis. The post‐treatment increase in TIMP‐1 expression was higher for smokers. The TIMP‐1 expression was higher post‐treatment than in health. Post‐treatment, MMP‐8 expression was higher in nonsmokers with periodontitis than in healthy nonsmokers, whereas MMP‐13 expression was higher in smokers with periodontitis than in healthy smokers.
When were the First Olympics?
Authors: Christesen Paul 
Published: April 2012

Abstract
The date of the first-ever Olympic Games seems unimpeachable. But recent analysis shows that it is nothing more than a statistical approximation – one of the earliest ever made. The approximator – our proto-statistician – was Hippias of Elis. Before statisticians claim him as one of their own, they should know that he fudged his data. Paul Christesen tells all.
Development of cerebral sulci and gyri in ferrets (Mustela putorius)
Authors: Sawada Kazuhiko , Watanabe Misaki 
Published: April 2012

ABSTRACTThe present study aimed to clarify sulcation and gyration patterns in the developing cerebrum of ferrets. While the brain weight and fronto‐occipital length of the cerebral hemisphere reached a plateau by postnatal day (PD) 42, the cerebral width reached a plateau at the rostral region by PD 21, and subsequently at the caudal region by PD 42. The ferret cerebrum already showed a convoluted surface with indentations of coronal and rostral suprasylvian sulci on PD 4. The presylvian and cruciate sulci emerged by PD 10, resulting in convolutions of gyri in the rostral half of the cerebrum. The caudal half of the cerebrum was infolded by the emergence of the pseudosylvian sulcus and the rhinal fissure by PD 10, and the caudal suprasylvian and lateral sulci by PD 21. The emergence of those sulci allowed a gyration in the caudal half of the cerebrum. Sexual differences in sulcation were detected by a more distinct convolution of the visual cortex in males than in females on PD 90. Those results, therefore, suggest that the ferret cerebrum experiences cortical maturation with sulcation and gyration in a rostrocaudal gradient manner. The present paper provides neuroanatomic references for normal development of cerebral sulci and gyri in both sexes of ferrets.
Presence of the functional CASPASE‐12 allele in Indian subpopulations
Authors: Yavari M. , Brinkley G. , Klapstein K. D. , Hartwig W. C. , Rao R. , Hermel E. 
Published: April 2012

SummaryMost humans lack a functional CASP12 gene, with the nonfunctional variant (CASP12p1), found in 100% of the Caucasian and east Asian population, and in approximately 80% of people of African descent. However, 20% of Africans carry an intact allele of CASP12, which produces a full‐length pro‐enzyme and increases the risk of sepsis. We examined CASP12 allele distribution in persons from central and southern Asia and found that CASP12 was significantly present in members of the Dravidian language group, particularly in persons from the Indian state of Tamil Nadu.
An intervention to change the approach to colorectal cancer screening in primary care
Authors: Spruce Lisa R. , Sanford Julie Tanner 
Published: April 2012

Abstract  Purpose: The purpose of this project was to increase colorectal cancer screening (CRC) rates in the state of Nevada. Research has shown that there are several interventions for providers to use to increase CRC screening rates in practice. The Nevada Colon Cancer Partnership (NCCP) has created a toolkit to assist providers to implement these interventions in practice.Data Sources: Research has repeatedly shown that CRC screening has a great impact on the morbidity and mortality of CRC. Studies have shown that a fecal occult blood test can detect 60–85% of CRCs and a colonoscopy with polyp removal can reduce mortality by 60–90%. Multiple studies have shown that a provider's recommendation is the most consistently influential factor in cancer screening. Furthermore, offering patients a choice and encouraging active participation in health care decision making has proven to increase CRC screening rates.Conclusions: The NCCP has collaborated with the American Cancer Society to create a web based toolkit for use by providers to change practice and screen all eligible patients for CRC. The toolkit is designed to encourage providers to decrease the morbidity and mortality of CRC and other cancers. The toolkit is useful to facilitate efforts of office‐based clinicians to reduce disparities by applying screening guidelines on a universal basis to the age‐appropriate population. A team approach to screening is encouraged to promote an opportunistic or global approach to assure all eligible patients are reached.Implications for Practice: As healthcare reform continues to evolve, Nurse Practitioners (NPs) will assume much of the primary care needs of our country. A preventive care model is an important aspect of the future of healthcare. NPs are in a perfect position to change the health of patients in a global way. The strategies and tools presented in this toolkit are designed to improve preventive care and assist the NP in assuring that every eligible patient receives the screening tests they need.
Minimal residual disease detection defined as the malignant fraction of the total primitive stem cell compartment offers additional prognostic information in acute myeloid leukaemia
Authors: TERWIJN M. , KELDER A. , SNEL A. N. , RUTTEN A. P. , SCHOLTEN W. J. , OUSSOREN Y. J. M. , Van De LOOSDRECHT A. A. , ZWEEGMAN S. , OSSENKOPPELE G. J. , SCHUURHUIS G. J. 
Published: April 2012

SummaryIntroduction:  Immunophenotypic detection of minimal residual disease (MRD) in bone marrow (BM) of acute myeloid leukaemia (AML) patients is of high prognostic relevance. Standard MRD percentage is assessed as a percentage of total white blood cells (WBCs) and is therefore highly dependent on WBC count. Peripheral blood (PB) contains more than five times lower MRD percentages. Therefore, PB in BM aspirates cause dilution of the MRD cells, possibly leading to false‐negative results for BM MRD. The latter is avoided when relating the fraction of malignant primitive cells, identified by aberrant marker expression [aberrant primitive cells (aPC)], to the total population of primitive cells. Such a fraction may in addition reflect an important biological parameter.Methods:  As this approach is thus independent of WBC count and the total size of the primitive compartment, we investigated the role of aPC fractions on overall and relapse‐free survival (RFS) in 98 patients with AML under the age of 60.Results:  We show that this approach identifies MRD‐negative (as defined by % of WBC) but aPC‐positive (as defined by % of primitive cells) patients with poor outcome after both first and second induction cycle of chemotherapy.Conclusion:  As a result, in cases with a primitive marker present, RFS is best predicted when combining standard MRD percentage with aPC fractions.
Predictors of Right Ventricular Systolic Dysfunction in Compensated and Decompensated Heart Failure
Authors: Guglin Maya , Win Cho Mya , Darbinyan Nellie , Wu Yougui 
Published: April 2012

©2012 Wiley Periodicals Inc.Current understanding of the mechanisms of right ventricular (RV) systolic dysfunction in heart failure (HF) is limited. The authors analyzed a limited access dataset from the Evaluation Study of Congestive Heart Failure and Pulmonary Artery Catheterization Effectiveness (ESCAPE) provided by the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI). RV systolic function was measured by echocardiography at baseline and at 3‐month follow‐up using fractional area change. Univariate and multivariate analysis was performed with linear regression. Of 433 patients enrolled in the ESCAPE trial, 190 had RV systolic function measured at baseline (decompensated HF) and 147 had it measured at 3‐month follow‐up. On both occasions, parameters of congestion were associated with RV systolic function. Interestingly, lower hematocrit level was also associated with better RV systolic function. In multivariate analysis, only wedge pressure remained a statistically significant predictor of RV dysfunction. In summary, cardiac diastolic pressures and corresponding echocardiographic parameters, as well as hematocrit level, predicted RV systolic function in both compensated and decompensated systolic HF.
Natural selection in utero induced by mass layoffs: the hCG evidence
Authors: Catalano Ralph , Margerison‐Zilko Claire , Goldman‐Mellor Sidra , Pearl Michelle , Anderson Elizabeth , Saxton Katherine , Bruckner Tim , Subbaraman Meenakshi , Goodman Julia , Epstein Mollie , Currier Robert , Kharrazi Martin 
Published: April 2012

AbstractEvolutionary theory, when coupled with research from epidemiology, demography, and population endocrinology, suggests that contracting economies affect the fitness and health of human populations via natural selection in utero. We know, for example, that fetal death increases more among males than females when the economy unexpectedly contracts; that unexpected economic contraction predicts low secondary sex ratios; and that males from low sex ratio birth cohorts live, on average, longer than those from high sex ratio cohorts. We also know that low levels of human chorionic gonadotropin (i.e., hCG) measured in the serum of pregnant women predict fetal death. We do not, however, know whether male survivors of conception cohorts subjected to contracting economies exhibit, as theory predicts, higher hCG than those from other cohorts. We show, in 71 monthly conception cohorts including nearly two million California births, that they do. We thereby add to the literature suggesting that the economy, a phenomenon over which we collectively exercise at least some control, affects population health. Our findings imply that the effect arises via natural selection – a mechanism we largely ignore when attempting to explain, or alter, how collective choice affects our biology.
Patterns of co‐occurrence of stream insects and an examination of a causal mechanism: ecological checkerboard or habitat checkerboard?
Authors: McCREADIE JOHN W. , BEDWELL CHRISTOPHER R. 
Published: April 2012

Abstract.  1. Non‐random patterns of species co‐occurrences among habitats and the underlying mechanisms responsible for these patterns are fundamental to ecological research. Fewer co‐occurrences than expected from a random null model are often interpreted as indicating that communities are structured by negative biotic interactions (ecological checkerboards) or by abiotic factors (habitat checkerboards). The difficulty has often been determining the dominant causative mechanism(s) behind these patterns.2. In the current study, we examine patterns of insect co‐occurrence in 23 low‐gradient, sandy‐bottom coastal streams of the Gulf of Mexico. Focusing our attention on five commonly collected orders in these sites, we ask two fundamental questions about the community: (i) Are patterns of insect co‐occurrence non‐random? (ii) If these patterns are non‐random, are they consistent with the expectations of a community structured largely by abiotic conditions, biotic conditions (e.g. species interaction) or both?3. Using a series of null models, we found a strong pattern of negative co‐occurrence (segregation) for both genera and species when all stream sites were considered. When we partially controlled for the influence of abiotic conditions by examining a subset of streams with similar abiotic conditions, both species and genera showed a very significant pattern of aggregation. These results therefore suggest that abiotic conditions act as a strong filter, influencing the patterns of co‐occurrence for both genera and species.4. Comparisons of co‐occurrence patterns between the species‐level and genus‐level analyses suggested similar degrees of segregation. Thus, no compelling evidence of competition influencing insect distributions among streams was found.
The influence of conservation field margins in intensively managed grazing land on communities of five arthropod trophic groups
Authors: ANDERSON ANNETTE , CARNUS TIM , HELDEN ALVIN J. , SHERIDAN HELEN , PURVIS GORDON 
Published: April 2012

Abstract. 1. Arthropods, a major component of functional biodiversity within agro‐ecosystems, contribute to sustainability through processes including nutrient cycling and pest control. Extensively managed field margins can help protect this functional biodiversity by providing habitat for beneficial species.2. This 2 year study investigated the relative benefits of grassland field margin treatments (Fenced only, Rotavated, and Reseeded (with a grass and wildflower mixture)) on the abundance and taxon richness of five arthropod trophic groups (detritivores, herbivores, predators, parasitoids and hyperparasitoids) from the orders Coleoptera, Hemiptera, Hymenoptera, Diptera and Araneae.3. The taxon richness and abundance of all trophic groups (with the exception of herbivore abundance) was greater in fenced field margin treatments than in the adjacent grazed field, particularly by the final sampling occasion. However, there were seasonal differences, with abundance and taxon richness generally greater in August than in June. Only detritivores and herbivores responded to the individual fenced field margin treatments. The botanically more species rich, rotavated and reseeded treatments, had greater detritivore and herbivore richness and abundance than the fenced only treatments.4. Community structure analysis indicated that the grazed (within) field and fenced field margins had two distinct communities for all trophic groups, demonstrating the conservation value of the margins within intensively managed agricultural grasslands.5. The current Irish agri‐environment scheme requires fencing of field margins. Our results highlight how this relatively simple measure can benefit arthropod conservation and functional biodiversity. This may in turn benefit farm productivity through potentially improved nutrient cycling and natural pest control.
Sub‐inhibitory concentrations of different pharmaceutical products affect the meta‐transcriptome of river biofilm communities cultivated in rotating annular reactors
Authors: Yergeau Etienne , Sanschagrin Sylvie , Waiser Marley J. , Lawrence John R. , Greer Charles W. 
Published: April 2012

SummarySurface waters worldwide are contaminated by pharmaceutical products that are released into the environment from wastewater treatment plants. Here, we hypothesize that pharmaceutical products have effects on organisms as well as genes related to nutrient cycling in complex microbial communities. To test this hypothesis, biofilms were grown in reactors and subjected low concentrations of three antibiotics [erythromycin, ER, sulfamethoxazole, SL and sulfamethazine, SN) and a lipid regulator (gemfibrozil, GM). Total community RNA was extracted and sequenced together with PCR amplicons of the 16S rRNA gene using 454 pyrosequencing. Exposure to pharmaceutical products resulted in very little change in bacterial community composition at the phylum level based on 16S rRNA gene amplicons, even though some genera were significantly affected. In contrast, large shifts were observed in the active community composition based on taxonomic affiliations of mRNA sequences. Consequently, expression of gene categories related to N, P and C cycling were strongly affected by the presence of pharmaceutical products, with each treatment having specific effects. These results indicate that low pharmaceutical product concentrations rapidly provoke a variety of functional shifts in river bacterial communities. In the longer term these shifts in gene expression and microbial activity could lead to a disruption of important ecosystem processes like nutrient cycling.