bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Environmentally friendly treatment alternatives to Bordeaux mixture for controlling bacterial apical necrosis (BAN) of mango
Authors: Gutiérrez‐Barranquero J. A. , Arrebola E. , Bonilla N. , Sarmiento D. , Cazorla F. M. , de Vicente A. 
Published: November 2011

Bacterial apical necrosis (BAN), caused by the bacterium Pseudomonas syringae pv. syringae (Pss), is currently the most limiting disease affecting the mango crop in the Mediterranean area. The copper‐based compound Bordeaux mixture (BM) is considered to be the conventional treatment against BAN, but it does not act as a bactericide. Alternative experimental treatments to BM that are compatible with organic farming were tested for their ability to control BAN disease. Field trials were conducted over six seasons in different mango orchards with natural infestation of Pss. The experimental treatments included applications of Silicon gel (a commercial formulation of aqueous potassium silicate), dicalcium phosphate, Kaolinite, and Ulmasud B® (bentonite, powder); BM was applied as the conventional treatment. During the first two seasons (small‐scale trial, 2002–2004), all these experimental compounds were applied in order to select those treatments providing the greatest reduction of BAN symptoms. In the next three seasons (2005–2008), a semi‐commercial scale trial was carried out with the best‐performing treatments, resulting in the selection of Silicon gel. Finally, Silicon gel was tested in a commercial scale trial during the last season (2008–2009). Trees treated with Silicon gel showed significantly fewer necrotic buds and leaves, reaching disease levels very similar to those using the conventional treatment with BM. However, minor differences in P. syringae‐like population levels were observed, as has been described in previous studies. The possible mode of action of the Silicon gel is discussed. Currently, the Silicon gel compound is undergoing the registration process for its commercial use in mango management in Spain.
House dust mite avoidance measures for perennial allergic rhinitis: an updated Cochrane systematic review
Authors: Nurmatov U. , van Schayck C. P. , Hurwitz B. , Sheikh A. 
Published: November 2011

To cite this article: Nurmatov U, van Schayck CP, Hurwitz B, Sheikh A. House dust mite avoidance measures for perennial allergic rhinitis: an updated Cochrane systematic review. Allergy 2012; 67: 158–165.Abstract
Background:  To assess the benefits and harms of measures designed to reduce house dust mite (HDM) exposure in the management of house dust mite–sensitive allergic rhinitis.
Methods:  Systematic review of randomized controlled trials was made, in which HDM control measures have been evaluated in comparison with placebo or other HDM avoidance measures, in patients with clinically proven allergic rhinitis.
Results:  Nine trials involving 501 participants satisfied the inclusion criteria. These trials have investigated the effectiveness of bedroom environmental control programmes involving the use of HDM impermeable bedding covers (n = 4), acaricides (n = 2), high‐efficiency particulate air filters (n = 2) and, using a factorial design, acaricide and HDM impermeable bedding covers in isolation and combination (n = 1). Seven of the nine trials reported that, when compared with control, the interventions studied resulted in significant reductions in HDM load. Of the interventions studied to date, acaricides appear to be the most promising, although the findings from these studies need to be interpreted with care because of their methodological limitations. House dust mite impermeable bedding as an isolated intervention is unlikely to offer benefit.
Conclusions:  Trials have tended to be small and of poor methodological quality, making it difficult to offer any definitive recommendations. Interventions that achieve substantial reductions in HDM load may offer some benefit in reducing rhinitis symptoms. Isolated use of HDM impermeable bedding is unlikely to prove effective.
L1 insertion within SPEF2 gene is associated with increased litter size in the Finnish Yorkshire population
Authors: Sironen A. , Uimari P. , Iso‐Touru T. , Vilkki J. 
Published: November 2011

SummaryImmotile, short‐tail sperm defect (ISTS) expanded in the Finnish Yorkshire population in the end of 1990s. The causal mutation for this defect is a recent L1 insertion within the SPEF2 gene in chromosome 16. Even though all homozygous boars are eliminated from the population because of infertility, the amount of affected boars increased rapidly until marker‐assisted selection against the defect was established. To elucidate the associated effects of the ISTS defect on production traits, we have investigated the association of the L1 insertion and PRLR haplotype with reproduction traits in the Finnish Yorkshire population. Two data sets including 357 sows and 491 AI‐boars were genotyped for the presence of the L1 insertion and analysed for association with reproduction traits. A Proc Mixed procedure (SAS Inc) and a software package for analysing multivariate mixed models (DMU) were used to study the effect of polymorphisms on reproduction traits. The L1‐insertion within SPEF2 gene was associated with litter size in the first parity. The SPEF2 gene is located adjacent to a candidate gene for litter size in the pig, PRLR. Haplotypes within PRLR exon 10 were analysed in data set of 93 AI‐boars for the association with reproduction traits. However, no associations were detected within the analysed data set indicating that PRLR sequence variants are not the causal cause for the identified effect on litter size.
Effects of caponization on fat metabolism–related biochemical characteristics of broilers
Authors: Symeon G. K. , Charismiadou M. , Mantis F. , Bizelis I. , Kominakis A. , Rogdakis E. 
Published: November 2011

SummaryA two‐trial experiment was conducted to evaluate the effects of caponization on fat metabolism‐related biochemical characteristics of broilers. Male Redbro broilers were purchased, caponized at 3 weeks and reared until either the 18th (Trial 1) or the 24th (Trial 2) week. In Trial 1, five slaughters were performed at 6, 9, 12, 15 and 18 weeks of age while in Trial 2 one slaughter at the end of the experiment (24 weeks). In each slaughter, the abdominal adipose tissue cellularity, the NADP dehydrogenase activity in the liver and some serum lipoproteins concentrations were assessed. Caponization had a marked effect on the adipocyte volume and NADP‐malate dehydrogenase activity in the liver at 24 weeks but it did not affect adipocyte number or the activity of NADP‐isocitrate dehydrogenase activity at any age (p < 0.05). Regarding the lipoproteins, cholesterol and HDL‐cholesterol were elevated in capon serum at 18 weeks of age while no difference was detected in the triglyceride concentration at any age. In conclusion, a relationship between fat deposition at the phenotypic level and the level of lipogenic enzymes and lipoproteins capons was established but not as pronounced as expected as some parameters displayed a constant increasing pattern while others did not.
Amending reduced fish‐meal feeds with marine lecithin, but not soy lecithin, improves the growth of juvenile cobia and may attenuate heightened responses to stress challenge
Authors: Trushenski J. , Schwarz M. , Pessoa W. V. N. , Mulligan B. , Crouse C. , Gause B. , Yamamoto F. , Delbos B. 
Published: November 2011

SummarySparing of marine resources in aquafeeds can be environmentally and economically advantageous; however, fish meal (FM) replacement can affect the production performance and physiological competence. Phospholipids are increasingly understood to be involved in maintaining growth and vigour in fish and may be deficient in reduced FM formulations. Accordingly, we evaluated the growth and stress tolerance of juvenile cobia fed typical (50% FM) or reduced FM feeds (12% FM) with or without phospholipid amendment [1% marine lecithin (12% FM + Marine PL) or soy lecithin (12% FM + Soy PL)] for 6 weeks in triplicate tanks (N = 3) in a recirculation aquaculture system. The 50% FM feed yielded significantly superior growth and growth efficiency in comparison with the 12% FM and 12% FM+ Soy PL feeds, but the 12% FM+ Marine PL feed yielded comparable results to 50% FM feed. A low‐water stress challenge induced elevated plasma glucose, cortisol and lactate levels in all treatments. However, a significant interaction (diet × stress) effect suggested a lesser cortisol response among fish fed the 12% FM+ Marine PL and 50% FM diets. These findings demonstrate that growth performance and, perhaps, resilience of cobia raised on reduced FM feeds may be improved by the addition of marine‐origin phospholipid to the diet.
Dying in a rural residential aged care facility: An action research and reflection project to improve end‐of‐life care to residents with a non‐malignant disease
Authors: Rowley Joanne , Taylor Beverley 
Published: November 2011

Rowley J, Taylor B. International Journal of Nursing Practice 2011; 17: 591–598Dying in a rural residential aged care facility: An action research and reflection project to improve end‐of‐life care to residents with a non‐malignant diseaseThis article describes a qualitative research project that explored issues around end‐of‐life care provided to residents dying from non‐malignant diseases in two, rural Australian, residential aged care facilities. Reflective processes and action research were combined to work in collaboration with 14 aged nurses, associated staff and relatives of dying residents.Reflection featured in the research and included group reflection on practice stories, critical reflection during thematic analysis and reflection on action research cycles. Themes and subthemes emerged, indicating that aspects of end‐of‐life care needed further improvement. Major thematic concerns were prioritized for action and included the need for better pain management practices which will be discussed. Identifying these clinical issues was an important step in creating, implementing and evaluating actions. Participants reported varying degrees of success in attempting to improve end‐of‐life care.
Mothers' experiences of pregnancy, labour and childbirth: A qualitative study in Northern Greece
Authors: Sapountzi‐Krepia Despina , Tsaloglidou Areti , Psychogiou Maria , Lazaridou Christina , Vehvilainen Julkunen Katri 
Published: November 2011

Sapountzi‐Krepia D, Tsaloglidou A, Psychogiou M, Lazaridou C, Vehvilainen Julkunen K. International Journal of Nursing Practice 2011; 17: 583–590Mothers' experiences of pregnancy, labour and childbirth: A qualitative study in Northern GreeceThis qualitative study aims at describing the mothers' most positive and negative experiences during pregnancy, labour and childbirth, and at identifying the aspects of pregnancy monitoring and obstetric care that should be developed most urgently in the future. The sample consisted of 607 mothers. The data were analyzed using content analysis.Mothers who preferred vaginal delivery believe that they do not interfere with nature and, consequently, their convalescence is easier and faster. Those who selected Caesarean section stress that they feel much safer because the whole process is well organized and controlled. The mothers' experiences are closely related with their interaction with the health‐care professionals.Psychological support, good education and delivery preparation courses are some of the factors that could contribute to the improvement of maternal services. The basis of prenatal, intrapartum and postnatal care should be influenced by the women's experiences of pregnancy, labour and childbirth.
Combined histoarchitectural and cytological biopsy grading improves grading accuracy in low‐grade prostate cancer
Authors: Helpap Burkhard , Köllermann Jens 
Published: November 2011

Objectives:  Accurate tumor grading on prostate biopsy represents the mainstay for therapy planning. Biopsy undergrading is a persistent diagnostic dilemma with therapeutic relevance. We questioned whether Gleason grading combined with an established alternative grading system incorporating cytological parameters improves grading accuracy.Methods:  Needle biopsies of 968 patients and the corresponding radical prostatectomy specimens were graded according to the Gleason grading system. In addition, all biopsies were graded according to the histo‐ and cytological grading system of Helpap. Biopsy Gleason grade, as well as the combined Gleason/Helpap grade, was compared with the final Gleason score and the pathological tumor‐stage of the corresponding radical prostatectomy.Results:  In biopsy Gleason score 6 cancers, an upgrading was seen in 76.0% of the patients (98/129), and 30.2% of them (39/129) showed non‐organ confined disease. In combined biopsy Gleason 6/Helpap 2a patients, a final Gleason score of 6 was found in 22 out of 24 patients (91.7%, P < 0.0001), and all 24 patients showed organ‐confined disease (pT2a). In biopsy Gleason 6/Helpap 2b cancers, a final Gleason score of 6 was found in just 9 out of 105 patients (8.6%), and the rate of organ‐confined disease decreased to 62.8% (66/105, P = 0.0001). In higher Gleason grades, combined biopsy grading failed to show a diagnostic benefit over sole Gleason grading.Conclusion:  Combined biopsy Gleason/Helpap grading improves the identification of low‐grade/low‐stage cancers and might contribute to more precise therapy planning in prostate cancer management.
Deconstructing morphology: reply to Scholtz (2010)
Authors: Szucsich Nikolaus U. , Wirkner Christian S. , Pass Günther 
Published: November 2011

Szucsich, N.U., Wirkner C.S. and Pass G. 2011. Deconstructing morphology: reply to Scholtz (2010). —Acta Zoologica (Stockholm) 00: 1–3AbstractWhenever concepts are taken over into new fields scientists have to take care that these concepts do not become unsubstantial due to ambiguities regarding their applicability. Here we argue why it makes sense to define the homology‐concept in a way, so it is applicable for phylogenetic purposes. If used to define the relation among structures of organisms assigned to the same character state of a phylogenetic character, homology has to represent an equivalence relation, with the properties of transitivity and symmetry. This is exactly the reason why correspondence, not similarity should be used to define homology, since the latter is not transitive. Homology then also cannot be used to define the relation among character states of the same phylogenetic character, since this relation necessarily is asymmetric.
Redemption, Fairness, and the Politics of Transformation in the Obama Presidency
Authors: Renshon Stanley A. 
Published: November 2011

Every new president raises many questions in the public mind. Because Barack Obama was a relative newcomer to the national political scene, he raised more questions than most and still does two years into his presidency. Who is Barack Obama, really?I trace the intertwined developmental arcs of the president's late‐blooming ambition and his ambivalent relationships with both of his parents and his own core identity. Obama's efforts to reconcile the conflicting experiences and feelings he had as he navigated these psychological currents have a great deal to do with how he has approached his presidency. Obama is a president of enormous intelligence and considerable political skill, but his presidency has faltered in part because of the mismatch between his redemptive and transformational ambitions and the public's willingness and readiness to support them.
Pantothenate kinase‐associated neurodegeneration in Korea: recurrent R440P mutation in PANK2 and outcome of deep brain stimulation
Authors: Lim B. C. , Ki C.‐S. , Cho A. , Hwang H. , Kim K. J. , Hwang Y. S. , Kim Y. E. , Yun J. Y. , Jeon B. S. , Lim Y. H. , Paek S. H. , Chae J. H. 
Published: November 2011

Background and Purpose:  The purpose of this study was to evaluate the mutation status of PANK2 among Korean patients with pantothenate kinase‐associated neurodegeneration (PKAN) and to document the outcome of pallidal deep brain stimulation (DBS).Methods:  Direct sequencing and deletion/duplication analysis of PANK2 were conducted in 12 patients (11 unrelated) with PKAN, diagnosed on the basis of extrapyramidal dysfunction and the ‘eye‐of‐the‐tiger sign’ on brain magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). Pallidal DBS was conducted in four patients, and the outcomes were measured using the Burke–Fahn–Marsden Dystonia Rating Scale (BFMDRS).Results:  A PANK2 mutation was identified in both alleles in all patients. The most prevalent mutation was c.1319G>C (p.R440P) in 8/22 mutated alleles (36%). An intragenic deletion ranging from exons 2 to 4 was found in one allele (1/22, 4.5%) using deletion/duplication analysis. The outcome of pallidal DBS was favorable in two patients with atypical PKAN and moderate severity of dystonia. However, two patients with typical PKAN and relatively severe symptoms showed variable responses.Conclusions:  The c.1319G>C (p.R440P) mutation appears to be a founder genotype among Korean patients with PKAN. Furthermore, this study provides additional data for the recent international effort to evaluate the efficacy of pallidal DBS in the treatment of patients with PKAN.
Sexual size dimorphism in the Tyrrhenian tree frog: a life‐history perspective
Authors: Cadeddu G. , Giacoma C. , Castellano S. 
Published: November 2011

AbstractSexual size dimorphism (SSD) is often explained as the differential equilibrium between stabilizing survival selection and directional sexual/fecundity selection on the body size of males and females. Provided that survival selection is similar in both sexes, female‐biased SSD is thought to occur when fecundity selection on female body size is stronger than sexual selection on male body size. However, in animals with indeterminate growth, body size depends on several life‐history traits, thus, to understand why SSD has evolved, one should understand how it arises. We investigate SSD in the Tyrrhenian tree frog, Hyla sarda, by describing sexual dimorphism in age and growth and by assessing how body size affects their reproductive success. Females are 16% larger than males because they mature 1 year later, live 1 year longer and reach a larger asymptotic body size. Furthermore, body size correlates positively with female fecundity, but not with male mating success. These results suggest that SSD arises from differential optimal trade‐offs between the expected number of reproductive episodes (which decreases with prolonging growth) and the expected success in each reproductive episode (which increases with prolonging growth).
PARTICIPANTS' PERCEPTIONS OF RESEARCH BENEFITS IN AN AFRICAN GENETIC EPIDEMIOLOGY STUDY
Authors: APPIAH‐POKU JOHN , NEWTON SAM , KASS NANCY 
Published: November 2011

ABSTRACTBackground:  Both the Council for International Organization of Medical Sciences and the Helsinki Declaration emphasize that the potential benefits of research should outweigh potential harms; consequently, some work has been conducted on participants' perception of benefits in therapeutic research. However, there appears to be very little work conducted with participants who have joined non‐therapeutic research. This work was done to evaluate participants' perception of benefits in a genetic epidemiological study by examining their perception of the potential benefits of enrollment.Methods:  In‐depth interviews lasting between 45 and 60 minutes were conducted with a convenient sample of 25 ill patients and 25 healthy accompanying relatives enrolled in a genetic epidemiological study of tuberculosis. Recorded interviews were transcribed and analyzed using content analysis.Results:  Participants perceived that research was beneficial and some of the benefits included the generation of new knowledge, finding the cause of diseases, as well as the control, eradication and prevention of disease. Some thought that research was risky whilst others thought that the benefits outweighed the risks.Conclusion:  Participants perceived research to be beneficial and most of them thought that, though it was risky, the benefits outweighed the risks. It is our view that researchers need to give serious consideration to participant's perception of benefits in designing their consent forms, to see to the fulfillment of achievable goals.
Myosin light chain 3f attenuates age‐induced decline in contractile velocity in MHC type II single muscle fibers
Authors: Kim Jong‐Hee , Torgerud Windy S. , Mosser Kelsey H. H. , Hirai Hiroyuki , Watanabe Shuichi , Asakura Atsushi , Thompson LaDora V. 
Published: November 2011

SummaryAging is characterized by a progressive loss of muscle mass and impaired contractility (e.g., decline in force, velocity, and power). Although the slowing of contraction speed in aging muscle is well described, the underlying molecular mechanisms responsible for the decrement in speed are unknown. Myosin heavy chain (MHC) isoforms are the primary molecules determining contractile velocity; however, the contraction speed of single fibers within a given MHC isoform type is variable. Recent evidence proposes that the decline in shortening velocity (Vo) with aging is associated with a decrease in the relative content of essential myosin light chain 3f (MLC3f) isoform. In the current study, we first evaluated the relative content of MLC3f isoform and Vo in adult and old rats. We then used recombinant adenovirus (rAd) gene transfer technology to increase MLC3f protein content in the MHC type II semimembranosus muscle (SM). We hypothesized that (i) aging would decrease the relative MLC3f content and Vo in type II fibers, and (ii) increasing the MLC3f content would restore the age‐induced decline in Vo. We found that there was an age‐related decrement in relative MLC3f content and Vo in MHC type II fibers. Increasing MLC3f content, as indicated by greater % MLC3f and MLC3f/MLC2f ratio, provided significant protection against age‐induced decline in Vo without influencing fiber diameter, force generation, MHC isoform distribution, or causing cellular damage. To the best of our knowledge, these are the first data to demonstrate positive effects of MLC3f against slowing of contractile function in aged skeletal muscle.