bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Substantial postoperative pain is common among children undergoing laparoscopic appendectomy
Authors: Tomecka Maggie J. , Bortsov Andrey V. , Miller Natalie R. , Solano Natalie , Narron John , McNaull Peggy P. , Ricketts Karene J. , Lupa Concetta M. , McLean Samuel A. 
Published: September 2011

SummaryBackground:  Laparoscopic appendectomy is one of the most common surgical procedures performed in children. However, to our knowledge, the postoperative pain experience of children undergoing laparoscopic appendectomy has never been described. In this study, we assessed the postoperative pain experience of children undergoing laparoscopic appendectomy.Methods:  A retrospective chart review of children aged 9–17 years undergoing laparoscopic appendectomy at a large academic medical center from 2004 to 2010 was performed. Demographic and clinical characteristics and self‐reported pain scores (0–10 numeric rating scale) during hospitalization were abstracted from the medical record. Pain scores ≥4 were classified as moderate or severe. If ≥60% of pain ratings were moderate or severe during a specified time period (e.g., particular postoperative day), then the child was defined as experiencing substantial pain during that time. Pain outcomes were summarized using descriptive statistics. Secondary analyses assessed the predictors of substantial postoperative pain.Results:  Hundred and eighty‐six children underwent laparoscopic appendectomy during the study period. One in three children experienced substantial postoperative pain on the day of surgery, and one in five children continued to have substantial pain the next day. Commonly available clinical and demographic characteristics were poor predictors of substantial postoperative pain.Conclusion:  These preliminary data suggest that substantial postoperative pain is common in children undergoing laparoscopic appendectomy. More studies of postoperative pain outcomes among children undergoing laparoscopic appendectomy and other common pediatric surgical procedures are needed.
Seasonal change in the abundance of Synechococcus and multiple distinct phylotypes in Monterey Bay determined by rbcL and narB quantitative PCR
Authors: Paerl Ryan W. , Turk Kendra A. , Beinart Roxanne A. , Chavez Francisco P. , Zehr Jonathan P. 
Published: September 2011

SummarySynechococcus is a cosmopolitan marine cyanobacterial genus, and is often the most abundant picocyanobacterial genus in coastal waters. Little is known about Synechococcus seasonal dynamics in coastal zones highly impacted by upwelling. This was investigated by collecting seasonal samples from an upwelling‐impacted Monterey Bay (MB) monitoring station M0, in parallel with measurements of oceanographic conditions during 2006–2008. Synechococcus abundances were determined using quantitative PCR (qPCR) assays and flow cytometry (FCM). A new qPCR assay was designed to target dominant Synechococcus in MB using the rbcL gene, while previously designed assays targeted distinct phylotypes (called narB subgroups) with the narB gene. The rbcL qPCR assay successfully tracked abundant Synechococcus in MB, accounting for on average 89% (± 57%) of FCM‐based counts. Annual spring upwelling caused decreases in Synechococcus and narB subgroup abundances. Differences in narB subgroup abundance maxima and abundance patterns support the view that subgroups differ in their ecologies, including subgroup D_C1, which seems to specifically thrive in coastal waters. Correlations between narB subgroup abundances and measured environmental variables were similar among the subgroups. Therefore, non‐measured environmental factors (e.g. metals, mortality) likely had different influences on subgroups, which led to their distinct abundance patterns at M0.
New directions in coral reef microbial ecology
Authors: Garren Melissa , Azam Farooq 
Published: September 2011

SummaryMicrobial processes largely control the health and resilience of coral reef ecosystems, and new technologies have led to an exciting wave of discovery regarding the mechanisms by which microbial communities support the functioning of these incredibly diverse and valuable systems. There are three questions at the forefront of discovery: What mechanisms underlie coral reef health and resilience? How do environmental and anthropogenic pressures affect ecosystem function? What is the ecology of microbial diseases of corals? The goal is to understand the functioning of coral reefs as integrated systems from microbes and molecules to regional and ocean‐basin scale ecosystems to enable accurate predictions of resilience and responses to perturbations such as climate change and eutrophication. This review outlines recent discoveries regarding the microbial ecology of different microenvironments within coral ecosystems, and highlights research directions that take advantage of new technologies to build a quantitative and mechanistic understanding of how coral health is connected through microbial processes to its surrounding environment. The time is ripe for natural resource managers and microbial ecologists to work together to create an integrated understanding of coral reef functioning. In the context of long‐term survival and conservation of reefs, the need for this work is immediate.
Guidelines for pregnancy: What's an acceptable risk, and how is the evidence (finally) shaping up?
Authors: O'LEARY COLLEEN M. , BOWER CAROL 
Published: September 2011

AbstractIssues.The lack of consensus about whether low to moderate levels of prenatal alcohol exposure are a risk factor for fetal development has generated considerable debate about what advice policies and guidelines should provide.Approach.This paper reviews the evidence from systematic reviews and meta‐analyses examining the risk from low and moderate levels of prenatal alcohol exposure, along with the results of articles published 2009–2010, after the reviews.Key Findings.The reported significant effects from low levels of prenatal alcohol exposure are likely due to methodological issues such as confounding and/or misclassification of exposure or outcome and there is no strong research evidence of fetal effects from low levels of alcohol exposure. However, harm is well‐documented with heavy exposure and moderate levels of exposure, 30–40 g per occasion and no more than 70 g per week, have been demonstrated to increase the risk of child behaviour problems.Implications.With such a small margin before there is increased risk to the fetus, it would be morally and ethically unacceptable for policies and guidelines to condone consumption of alcohol during pregnancy. Not all women will follow this advice and some women will inadvertently consume alcohol prior to pregnancy awareness requiring non‐judgmental counselling and the provision of rational advice about the likelihood of risk to the fetus.Conclusions.The policy advice that ‘the safest choice for pregnant women is to abstain from alcohol during pregnancy’ should be maintained. However, the abstinence message needs to be presented in a balanced and rational manner to prevent unintended negative consequences.[O'Leary CM, Bower C. Guidelines for pregnancy: What's an acceptable risk, and how is the evidence (finally) shaping up?Drug Alcohol Rev2012;31:170–183]
Managerial ownership, board monitoring and firm performance in a family‐concentrated corporate environment
Authors: Cheng Peter , Su Lixin (Nancy) , Zhu Xindong (Kevin) 
Published: September 2011

AbstractUsing data from Hong Kong, a market that has family‐concentrated ownership structure, we examine the relation between managerial ownership, the board of directors and firm performance. We first conduct analysis on the managerial ownership and firm performance to derive the turning points where either ‘convergence of interest’ or ‘entrenchment’ effect of managerial ownership is dominant. Based on these estimated turning points, we find that at low and high level of ownership, effective board mitigates the entrenchment effect associated with managerial ownership; at medium level of ownership, board effectiveness is less demanded. These findings suggest that managerial ownership and board monitoring are substitutes in mitigating the agency problem between managers and shareholders. We also find that effective board curbs the excessive compensation by entrenched managers to themselves at low level of managerial ownership.
Cisgenic barley with improved phytase activity
Authors: Holme Inger B. , Dionisio Giuseppe , Brinch‐Pedersen Henrik , Wendt Toni , Madsen Claus K. , Vincze Eva , Holm Preben B. 
Published: September 2011

SummaryThe cisgenesis concept implies that plants are transformed only with their own genetic materials or genetic materials from closely related species capable of sexual hybridization. Furthermore, foreign sequences such as selection genes and vector‐backbone sequences should be absent. We used a barley phytase gene (HvPAPhy_a) expressed during grain filling to evaluate the cisgenesis concept in barley. The marker gene elimination method was used to obtain marker‐free plant lines. Here, the gene of interest and the selection gene are flanked by their own T‐DNA borders to allow unlinked integration of the two genes. We analysed the transformants for co‐transformation efficiency, increased phytase activities in the grain, integration of the kanamycin resistance gene of the vector‐backbone and segregation between the HvPAPhy_a insert and the hygromycin resistance gene. The frequencies of the four parameters imply that it should be possible to select 11 potentially cisgenic T1‐lines out of the 72 T0‐lines obtained, indicating that the generation of cisgenic barley is possible at reasonable frequencies with present methods. We selected two potential cisgenic lines with a single extra copy of the HvPAPhy_a insert for further analysis. Seeds from plants homozygous for the insert showed 2.6‐ and 2.8‐fold increases in phytase activities and the activity levels were stable over the three generations analysed. In one of the selected lines, the flanking sequences from both the left and right T‐DNA borders were analysed. These sequences confirmed the absence of truncated vector‐backbone sequences linked to the borders. The described line should therefore be classified as cisgenic.
The Relation between Sovereignty and Guilt inNietzsche'sGenealogy
Authors: Zamosc Gabriel 
Published: September 2011

AbstractThis paper interprets the relation between sovereignty and guilt inNietzsche'sGenealogy. I argue that, contrary to received opinion,Nietzsche was not opposed to the moral concept of guilt. I analyseNietzsche's account of the emergence of the guilty conscience out of a pre‐moral bad conscience. Drawing attention toNietzsche's references to many different forms of conscience and analogizing to his account of punishment, I propose that we distinguish between the enduring and the fluid elements of a ‘conscience’, defining the enduring element as the practice of forming self‐conceptions. I show that forNietzsche, the moralization of the bad conscience results from mixing it with the material concepts of guilt and duty, a process effected by prehistoric religious institutions by way of the concept of god. This moralization furnishes a new conception of oneself as a responsible agent and holds the promise of sovereignty by giving us a freedom unknown to other creatures, but at the price of our becoming subject to moral guilt. According toNietzsche, however, the very forces that made it possible have spoiled this promise and, under the pressures of the ascetic ideal, a harmful notion of responsibility understood in terms of sin now dominates our lives. Thus, to fully realize our sovereignty, we must liberate ourselves from this sinful conscience.
Pulsed dye laser as an excellent choice of treatment for lupus tumidus: a prospective study
Authors: Truchuelo M.T. , Boixeda P. , Alcántara J. , Moreno C. , de las Heras E. , Olasolo P.J. 
Published: September 2011

AbstractBackground  Clinical manifestations of cutaneous lupus erythematosus (CLE) vary widely, and different subtypes of this autoimmune disease exist. Tumidus subtype (LT) has been recently separated from the chronic subtypes and is now considered an independent entity due to its particular clinical and histological features. Different treatments are usually prescribed for CLE. Our group has experience of CLE effectively treated with pulsed dye laser (PDL). It was our impression that better responses were achieved in the LT subtype, but no controlled prospective studies with PDL have been specifically performed.Materials and methods  A prospective study was performed on 10 patients with histologically confirmed LT treated with PDL. All patients were treated with 595 nm PDL using the 10 mm spot size at 0.5 ms pulse width and a fluence of 8 J/cm2. Biopsies were taken before and 4 weeks after treatment and were stained with haematoxylin–eosin.Results  Evaluation after PDL treatment showed clinical improvement in all of them without side‐effects and reduction of the dermal lymphocytic infiltrate in 9/10 of the patients. Epidermal changes were absent in all patients. Mucin deposition persisted only in one patient. However, 50% of the patients developed new lesions nearby or distant to the treated zones.Conclusions  PDL therapy is an effective and fast treatment option for acute flares of LT; however, it does not prevent recurrences. A histological improvement has been confirmed in this study. Purpura seems to be necessary to achieve a good response.
A small molecule inhibitor of Mitf‐E‐box DNA binding and its depigmenting effect in melan‐a cells
Authors: Um J.‐M. , Kim H.J. , Lee Y. , Choi C.‐H. , Hoang Nguyen D. , Lee H.‐B. , Shin J.‐H. , Tai No K. , Kim E.‐K. 
Published: September 2011

AbstractBackground  Microphthalmia associated transcription factor (Mitf) is a key regulatory transcriptional factor of pigmentation‐related genes including tyrosinase. Inhibition of tyrosinase transcription by blocking the binding of Mitf with its promoter E‐box DNA can control the pigmentation. However, no such chemicals were reported so far.Objective  To discover and evaluate the small molecule inhibitors of Mitf‐E‐box DNA.Methods  Candidate chemicals were screened by virtual screening from pharmacophore data followed by Mitf E‐box DNA protein chip. After selecting the chemical, its inhibitory activity on binding interaction between Mitf and E‐box DNA, electrophoretic mobility shift assay (EMSA) was performed. To evaluate the depigmenting activity of Compound #17, cellular melanin assa, and Western blot were performed in melan‐a cells.Results  Among 27 chemicals selected from a pharmacophore data by virtual screening, Compound #17 was screened, which showed the most potent inhibitory activity against Mitf‐E‐box DNA binding in protein chip. EMSA results confirmed the specific inhibition of Compound #17 on Mitf‐E‐box DNA binding. In melan‐a cells, Compound #17 reduced tyrosinase expression and melanin synthesis (62.5% at 25 μM).Conclusions  The results show that Compound #17 is the first small molecule inhibitor of Mitf‐E‐box DNA binding with depigmenting activity.
Overpressure generation by load transfer following shale framework weakening due to smectite diagenesis
Authors: LAHANN R. W. , SWARBRICK R. E. 
Published: September 2011

AbstractBasin model studies which have addressed the importance of smectite conversion to illite as a source of overpressure in the Gulf of Mexico have principally relied on a single‐shale compaction model and treated the smectite reaction as only a fluid‐source term. Recent fluid pressure interpretation and shale petrology studies indicate that conversion of bound water to mobile water, dissolution of load‐bearing grains, and increased preferred orientation change the compaction properties of the shale. This results in substantial changes in effective stress and fluid pressure. The resulting fluid pressure can be 1500–3000 psi higher than pressures interpreted from models based on shallow compaction trends. Shale diagenesis changes the mineralogy, volume, and orientation of the load‐bearing grains in the shale as well as the volume of bound water. This process creates a weaker (more compactable) grain framework. When these changes occur without fluid export from the shale, some of the stress is transferred from the grains onto the fluid. Observed relationships between shale density and calculated effective stress in Gulf of Mexico shelf wells confirm these changes in shale properties with depth. Further, the density–effective stress changes cannot be explained by fluid‐expansion or fluid‐source processes or by prediagenesis compaction, but are consistent with a dynamic diagenetic modification of the shale mineralogy, texture, and compaction properties during burial. These findings support the incorporation of diagenetic modification of compaction properties as part of the fluid pressure interpretation process.
Integrating a hydrodynamically‐titled OWC and a salt‐withdrawal depositional model to explore the Ula Trend
Authors: O’CONNOR S. , RASMUSSEN H. , SWARBRICK R. , WOOD J. 
Published: September 2011

AbstractThe Ula Trend lies on the eastern margin of the Central Trough in the Norwegian North Sea and contains the Ula, Gyda and Tambar oilfields. In this Trend, the development of late Jurassic shallow‐marine Ula reservoir sands is complex, because of the deposition of these sands in salt‐dissolution features, separated by inverted Triassic pods. In this paper, attribute mapping (derived from newly re‐processed 3D seismic surveys) has enabled a predictive model to be established for the presence of the Jurassic sands, corroborated by well data, in salt collapse and sand fairway grabens. This model suggests that the Ula sand is laterally continuous over large areas of the Trend. Pressure data from the Chalk in Ula Field wells, and from Jurassic reservoirs on the Cod Terrace, suggest that these continuous sands of the Ula Trend have significantly less pressure than would be expected for their depth of burial. Pressure escape of this nature is often associated with hydrodynamic aquifers, in which overpressure gradients are demonstrable. In this paper, we have used both virgin and postproduction water pressure data from the vicinity of the Ula Field (as well as a new sedimentological model for the reservoir) to test the applicability of a hydrodynamic aquifer versus other models to explain differing oil–water contacts. We establish that the hydrodynamic and structural spill‐points are coincident on the SE of the Ula Field, and that, therefore, hydrocarbons have potentially spilt out of the Ula structure SE towards a series of salt‐flank traps, generating prospectivity up‐dip. The salt features themselves are considered to act as pressure‐release valves or vertical ‘leak‐points’, as Ula sands on their flanks are sufficiently shallow, because of salt movement that overpressures exceed the fracture pressure of the rock, therefore allowing the Ula sands to de‐pressurise over geological time, setting up this hydrodynamic flow.
Reliability and sensitivity to change of the Family Life Questionnaire in a clinical population
Authors: Last Anna , Miles Rebecca , Wills Laura , Brownhill Louise , Ford Tamsin 
Published: September 2011

Background:  The Family Life Questionnaire (FLQ) is a new measure of family functioning, which acknowledges that the experience of the family unit may vary between different children. This study examined the reliability and sensitivity to change of the FLQ in a clinical population.Method:  The FLQ was administered to 91 parents attending the first session of the Incredible Years parenting programmes in Devon during 2009, 71 of them completed it on a second occasion a week later and 55 on a third occasion at the end of the programme. Internal consistency, test–retest reliability and sensitivity to change were calculated.Results:  Internal consistency and test–retest reliability of the scales varied between moderate and very good, except for the discipline and special allowances items which had poor internal consistency when grouped as a scale. The measures showed promising evidence of sensitivity to change.Conclusions:  The FLQ is a reliable measure of family function that seems sensitive to change. There is some evidence of validity but a lack of suitable comparators limited this part of the study. The study sample was too small to explore the scale structure.
Private Control Benefits and Earnings Management: Evidence from Insider Controlled Firms
Authors: GOPALAN RADHAKRISHNAN , JAYARAMAN SUDARSHAN 
Published: September 2011

ABSTRACTWe examine earnings management practices of insider controlled firms across 22 countries to shed light on the link between consumption of private benefits and earnings management. Insider controlled firms are associated with more earnings management than noninsider controlled firms in weak investor protection countries. Consistent with the private benefits motive, insider controlled firms with greater divergence between cash‐flow rights and control rights are associated with more earnings management in these countries. Growth opportunities attenuate the association between insider control and earnings management even in weak investor protection countries. We also find some weak evidence that insider controlled firms are associated with less earnings management in strong investor protection countries. Overall, our results highlight a strong link between private benefits consumption and earnings management.
Inhibiting the TLR4‐MyD88 signalling cascade by genetic or pharmacological strategies reduces acute alcohol‐induced sedation and motor impairment in mice
Authors: Wu Yue , Lousberg Erin L , Moldenhauer Lachlan M , Hayball John D , Coller Janet K , Rice Kenner C , Watkins Linda R , Somogyi Andrew A , Hutchinson Mark R 
Published: September 2011

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE Emerging evidence implicates a role for toll‐like receptor 4 (TLR4) in the CNS effects of alcohol. The aim of the current study was to determine whether TLR4–MyD88‐dependent signalling is involved in the acute behavioural actions of alcohol and if alcohol can activate TLR4‐downstream MAPK and NF‐κB pathways.EXPERIMENTAL APPROACH The TLR4 pathway was evaluated using the TLR4 antagonist (+)‐naloxone (µ‐opioid receptor‐inactive isomer) and mice with null mutations in the TLR4 and MyD88 genes. Sedation and motor impairment induced by a single dose of alcohol were assessed by loss of righting reflex (LORR) and rotarod tests, separately. The phosphorylation of JNK, ERK and p38, and levels of IκBα were measured to determine the effects of acute alcohol exposure on MAPK and NF‐κB signalling.KEY RESULTS After a single dose of alcohol, both pharmacological inhibition of TLR4 signalling with (+)‐naloxone and genetic deficiency of TLR4 or MyD88 significantly (P < 0.0001) reduced the duration of LORR by 45–78% and significantly decreased motor impairment recovery time to 62–88% of controls. These behavioural actions were not due to changes in the peripheral or central alcohol pharmacokinetics. IκBα levels responded to alcohol by 30 min in mixed hippocampal cell samples, from wild‐type mice, but not in cells from TLR4‐ or MyD88‐deficient mice.CONCLUSIONS AND IMPLICATIONS These data provide new evidence that TLR4–MyD88 signalling is involved in the acute behavioural actions of alcohol in mice.LINKED ARTICLE This article is commented on by Pandey, pp. 1316–1318 of this issue. To view this commentary visit http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.1476‐5381.2011.01695.x