bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Serum osteoprotegerin levels are associated with inflammation and pulse wave velocity
Authors: Kim S. M. , Lee J. , Ryu O. H. , Lee K. W. , Kim H. Y. , Seo J. A. , Kim S. G. , Kim N. H. , Baik S. H. , Choi D. S. , Choi K. M. 
Published: October 2005

SummaryObjective  We examined the association between serum osteoprotegerin (OPG) levels, systemic inflammation and arterial stiffness in normal and diabetic patients.Patients and measurements  The study subjects comprised 49 newly diagnosed diabetic patients and 72 age‐ and sex‐matched normal glucose controls. Anthropometric parameters, blood pressure, fasting blood glucose (FBG), lipid profiles, serum OPG, high‐sensitive C‐reactive protein (hsCRP), interleukin‐6 (IL‐6) and brachial‐ankle pulse wave velocity (baPWV) were measured.Results  Serum OPG levels (6·1 ± 1·4 vs. 5·4 ± 1·3 pmol/l, P = 0·011) and baPWV (1562 ± 354 vs. 1399 ± 257 cm/s, P = 0·004) were significantly higher in the diabetic group than in the normal glucose group. Serum OPG levels in normal and diabetic patients correlated significantly with systolic blood pressure (r = 0·20, P = 0·035), FBG (r = 0·30, P = 0·002), right baPWV (r = 0·22, P = 0·021), left baPWV (r = 0·26, P = 0·006), homeostasis model assessment insulin resistance (HOMA‐IR) (r = 0·19, P = 0·045), IL‐6 (r = 0·32, P = 0·001) and hsCRP (r = 0·21, P = 0·027) after adjusting for age and sex. Multiple regression analysis showed that serum OPG level was significantly associated with age, FBG, IL‐6, systolic blood pressure, triglyceride and hsCRP (R2 = 0·299).Conclusions  In summary, serum OPG and baPWV levels are elevated in diabetic patients and serum OPG levels are significantly associated with inflammation and arterial stiffness.
Long‐term spatial dynamics of Succisa pratensis in a changing rural landscape: linking dynamical modelling with historical maps
Authors: HERBEN TOMÁŠ , MÜNZBERGOVÁ ZUZANA , MILDÉN MIKAEL , EHRLÉN JOHAN , COUSINS SARA A.O. , ERIKSSON OVE 
Published: October 2005

Summary

We attempt to explain the current distribution of a long‐lived perennial plant, Succisa pratensis, in a rural landscape in southern Sweden by linking its population biology with documented changes in the landscape, using a dynamical, spatially explicit model incorporating population dynamics and spatial spreading of the plant. Changes in the landscape were inferred from historical maps (1850 and 1900) and aerial photographs (1945 and 2001).
We tested whether predictions for the current species distribution are affected by assumptions about its early 19th century distribution, to determine whether recent history and current processes are dominant, and how past landscape changes determine current distributions.
Initial conditions influence predictions of current distribution, suggesting that the current distribution still partly reflects the distribution of the species in the early 19th century. A period of 150 years is too short for Succisa to have spread extensively if dispersal parameters are given realistic values.
Simulations in which present‐day land‐use patterns were imposed at earlier dates showed that changes in landscape structure over the past 175 years also had a strong effect on the present‐day habitat occupancy and population sizes of Succisa.
The dominant process for Succisa now is extinction from marginal habitats. It is therefore likely that the (relatively) high present‐day occupation patterns are still due to much larger areas having been available in the past rather than to successful dispersal. Although the species has responded to landscape changes, there is little evidence of population sizes reaching equilibrium.
Our approach shows that the wealth of landscape information available from historical maps can be linked with data on population biology by means of dynamical models that can make predictions about species dynamics.
Habitat fragmentation reduces grassland connectivity for both short‐distance and long‐distance wind‐dispersed forbs
Authors: SOONS M. B. , MESSELINK J. H. , JONGEJANS E. , HEIL G. W. 
Published: October 2005

Summary

Although habitat loss and fragmentation are assumed to threaten the regional survival of plant species, their effects on regional species dynamics via seed dispersal and colonization have rarely been quantified.
We assessed the impact of habitat loss and fragmentation on the connectivity, and hence regional survival, of wind‐dispersed plant species of nutrient‐poor semi‐natural grasslands. We did this using a new approach to relate quantified habitat loss and fragmentation to quantified colonization capacity.
We quantified loss and fragmentation during the 20th century of moist, nutrient‐poor semi‐natural grasslands in study areas in the Netherlands, as well as their current distribution. After testing how well the habitat distribution matches species distributions of two wind‐dispersed grassland forbs (Cirsium dissectum, representative of species with long‐distance wind dispersal, and Succisa pratensis, representative of species with short‐distance wind dispersal), we combined the habitat distribution data with simulated seed dispersal kernels in order to quantify the impact on connectivity.
Habitat loss and fragmentation has dramatically reduced both the area (by 99.8%) and the connectivity of the grasslands. The remaining grasslands are practically isolated for seeds dispersed by wind, even for species with high wind dispersal ability (for which, interestingly, connectivity by wind dispersal decreased most). Linear landscape elements hardly contribute to connectivity by wind dispersal. Regional survival of the studied species has become completely dependent on the survival of a few large populations in nature reserves. Other remaining populations are decreasing in number and size and have low colonization capacity.
Habitat loss and fragmentation have drastically changed the regional species dynamics of wind‐dispersed plant species, indicating that it is of utmost importance to preserve remaining populations in nature reserves and that the probability of colonization of new or restored sites is very low, unless the sites are adjacent to occupied sites or dispersal is artificially assisted.
Acyl‐homoserine lactones modulate the settlement rate of zoospores of the marine alga Ulva intestinalis via a novel chemokinetic mechanism
Authors: WHEELER GLEN L. , TAIT KAREN , TAYLOR ALISON , BROWNLEE COLIN , JOINT IAN 
Published: October 2005

ABSTRACTBacteria utilize quorum sensing to regulate the expression of cell density‐dependant phenotypes such as biofilm formation and virulence. Zoospores of the marine alga Ulva intestinalis exploit the acyl‐homoserine lactone (AHL) quorum sensing system to identify bacterial biofilms for preferential settlement. Here, we demonstrate that AHLs act as strong chemoattractants for Ulva zoospores. Chemoattraction does not involve a chemotactic orientation towards the AHL source. Instead, it occurs through a chemokinesis in which zoospore swimming speed is rapidly decreased in the presence of AHLs. The chemoresponse to AHLs was dependant on the nature of the acyl side chain, with N‐(3‐oxododecanoyl)‐homoserine lactone (3O‐C12‐HSL) being the most effective signal molecule. Mean zoospore swimming speed decreased more rapidly over wild‐type biofilms of the marine bacteria Vibrio anguillarum relative to biofilms of the vanM mutant, in which AHL synthesis is disrupted. These data implicate a role for AHL‐mediated chemokinesis in the location and preferential settlement of Ulva zoospores on marine bacterial assemblages. Exposure to AHLs did not inhibit the negative phototaxis of Ulva zoospores, indicating that chemoattraction to bacterial biofilms does not preclude the response to a light stimulus in substrate location.
Subglacial imprints of early Gondwana break‐up as identified from high resolution aerogeophysical data over western Dronning Maud Land, East Antarctica
Authors: Ferraccioli F. , Jones P.C. , Curtis M.L. , Leat P.T. 
Published: October 2005

AbstractDetermining the location and geometry of possible subglacial rifts in western Dronning Maud Land is a key element to address processes leading to early Gondwana break‐up. However, previous geophysical investigations did not lead to unambiguous delineation of rift structures over this region. We interpret high‐resolution airborne radar and aerogravity data to image subglacial rift structures. Subglacial topography, free‐air and Bouguer gravity maps, coupled with 3D inverse gravity models, image a rift–rift–rift triple junction at the intersection of the Jutulstraumen ice stream and the Pencksökket glacier. These continental rifts were associated with alkaline and tholeiitic intrusions, minor dyke swarms and flood basalts of Jurassic age, but not with huge volumes of Karoo magmatism, such as that which characterizes the southern Africa conjugate margin. The western Dronning Maud Land triple junction may be linked to the Karoo mantle plume and represents an early stage of magmatism and rifting during Gondwana break‐up.
Pathogenesis of Aleutian Mink Disease Parvovirus and Similarities to B19 Infection
Authors: Best S. M. , Bloom M. E. 
Published: October 2005

SummaryAleutian mink disease parvovirus (ADV) is an unusual member of the autonomous parvoviruses in both its replication and pathogenesis. Infection of newborn mink kits results in an acute disease typified by virus replication in type II pneumocytes in the lung. This replication is permissive and cytopathic, characterized by the production of high levels of viral replicative intermediates and infectious progeny. However, infection of adult Aleutian mink leads to a chronic form of the disease termed Aleutian disease (AD). In this case, virus replication occurs predominantly in lymph node macrophages and is restricted, with viral DNA replication, RNA transcription, protein expression and production of infectious progeny occurring at low levels. B19 is the only autonomous parvovirus known to infect humans. The primary site of virus replication in both children and adults is in erythrocyte precursors in the blood and bone marrow, although viral genomes have been detected in various other tissues. B19 infection often causes a self‐limiting disease although persistent infection of B19 can occur in both immuno‐compromised and ‐competent people. Perhaps the most striking similarity between infection with ADV or with B19 is the important role the humoral immune response to infection has in pathogenesis. It can be both protective and pathogenic. Due to of the central role of antibody in the disease caused by either virus, understanding the specific roles of antibody production in protection, antibody‐mediated enhancement of infection, the establishment of persistent infection and immune‐mediated pathology will provide insight into the pathogenesis of these infections. A second similarity between the two viruses is the ability to establish persistent infection. Persistence of ADV is associated with restricted replication. Although many cellular factors may contribute to restricted virus replication, the interactions between the major non‐structural protein, NS1, and the cells are likely to be critical. Parallels exist between the expression and post‐translational modification of ADV and B19 NS1 proteins that may contribute to restriction of virus replication. Thus, a study of the regulation of NS1 expression and its interactions with cell signalling pathways may lead to increased understanding of the restricted replication of these two viruses, and perhaps of persistent infection.
Human Parvovirus B19: A New Emerging Pathogen of Inflammatory Cardiomyopathy
Authors: Bock C.‐T. , Klingel K. , Aberle S. , Duechting A. , Lupescu A. , Lang F. , Kandolf R. 
Published: October 2005

SummaryThe human parvovirus B19 (PVB19), an erythrovirus causing diverse clinical manifestations ranging from asymptomatic or mild to more severe outcomes such as hydrops fetalis, is the only known human pathogenic parvovirus so far. Although enteroviruses have long been considered the most common cause of inflammatory cardiomyopathy, PVB19 is emerging as a important candidate. Recent studies have indicated an association of PVB19 with paediatric and adult inflammatory cardiac disease. However, whether or not PVB19 has an impact on inflammatory cardiomyopathy in adult patients is still unclear. The first hints for a possible aetiopathogenetic role of the PVB19‐infection and the development of cardiac dysfunction were demonstrated by molecular biology utilizing in situ hybridization (ISH) and polymerase chain reaction (PCR). According to available evidence, PVB19‐associated inflammatory cardiomyopathy is characterized by infection of endothelial cells of small intracardiac arterioles and venules, which may be associated with endothelial dysfunction, impairment of myocardial microcirculation, and penetration of inflammatory cells into the myocardium.
Pathophysiology and Aetiological Diagnosis of Inflammatory Myocardial Diseases with a Special Focus on Parvovirus B19
Authors: Pankuweit S. , Ruppert V. , Eckhardt H. , Strache D. , Maisch B. 
Published: October 2005

SummaryInflammatory processes induced by viral or bacterial infections are believed to be one of the major pathogenetic mechanisms in myocardial diseases. Although the reason for progression to myocardial failure is not fully understood, postulated mechanisms include persistent viral infection alone or in combination with autoimmune processes. A variety of cardiotropic viruses have been identified to elicit myocarditis, with enteroviruses and adenoviruses as the most frequent causative agents in children and adolescents. However, parvovirus B19 (PVB19) has recently emerged as another potential pathogen in adult patients associated with inflammatory heart disease. Many dimensions of inflammatory heart disease coexist while different phases of the disease progress simultaneously: phase 1 is dominated by viral infection, phase 2 by the onset of (probably) multiple autoimmune reactions, and phase 3 by the progression to cardiac dilatation without the role of an infectious agent and cardiac inflammation. Taking these mechanisms into account, screening for viral and bacterial genome by polymerase chain reaction (PCR) and detection of inflammatory infiltrates by immunohistochemistry are considered crucial for establishing an aetiological diagnosis, thereby allowing initiation of specific therapeutic strategies. In a large cohort of 3345 consecutive patients with left ventricular dysfunction evaluated over a period of 10 years, prevalence of PVB19, coxsackievirus (CVB), human cytomegalovirus (HCMV), influenza A virus and adenovirus (ADV) genome was assessed by PCR. Inflammatory infiltrates within the myocardium were detected by immunohistochemistry according to the WHF criteria and by histopathology according to the Dallas criteria of myocarditis. For control, endomyocardial samples of patients with arterial hypertension were studied. Parvovirus B19 was the most often detected virus in all patient subgroups, with positivity ranging from 17% to 33%. Except for PVB19, CVB RNA (3%), ADV (2%) and CMV (3.9%) were the most frequently detected viral genomes. Interestingly, detection of PVB19 genome was significantly correlated with inflammatory heart disease and reduced ejection fraction. Importantly, an aetiological diagnosis requires the immunohistochemical and molecular biological investigation of endomyocardial biopsies. Such an approach may change the management of these diseases in the future. One of the aims of the study was to reveal the underlying dominant pathophysiological mechanisms in a for deciding on the most approriate therapy.
Surveillance Activity for Canine Parvovirus in Italy
Authors: Martella V. , Decaro N. , Elia G. , Buonavoglia C. 
Published: October 2005

SummaryRecent identification of unusual canine parvovirus (CPV) mutants in cats and dogs suggests that CPV type 2 (CPV‐2), which emerged suddenly in the late 1970s, is undergoing continual genetic and antigenic variations. A peculiarity of parvoviruses is that single‐nucleotide substitutions may determine drastic phenotypic changes. The effects of either natural or artificial mutations on CPV phenotypic properties have been largely investigated, and this sets up CPV as an interesting model to study virus evolution. By monitoring the evolution of CPV‐2 in Italy, we observed the onset and quick spread of a Glu‐426 mutant, antigenically different from the pre‐existing variants that were partially displaced within a few years of the initial identification of the new mutant. The identification of CPV‐2 variants raises several questions concerning their impact on the efficacy of the current CPV‐2 vaccines, based on the original CPV‐2 strain that no longer exists in the field.
Origin of replication in circular prokaryotic chromosomes
Authors: Worning Peder , Jensen Lars J. , Hallin Peter F. , Stærfeldt Hans‐Henrik , Ussery David W. 
Published: October 2005

SummaryTo predict origins of replication in prokaryotic chromosomes, we analyse the leading and lagging strands of 200 chromosomes for differences in oligomer composition and show that these correlate strongly with taxonomic grouping, lifestyle and molecular details of the replication process. While all bacteria have a preference for Gs over Cs on the leading strand, we discover that the direction of the A/T skew is determined by the polymerase‐α subunit that replicates the leading strand. The strength of the strand bias varies greatly between both phyla and environments and appears to correlate with growth rate. Finally we observe much greater diversity of skew among archaea than among bacteria. We have developed a program that accurately locates the origins of replication by measuring the differences between leading and lagging strand of all oligonucleotides up to 8 bp in length. The program and results for all publicly available genomes are available from http://www.cbs.dtu.dk/services/GenomeAtlas/suppl/origin.
‘Baddies’ in the classroom: media education and narrative writing
Authors: Willett Rebekah 
Published: October 2005

AbstractWhen teachers allow students to write stories that include elements of popular media, we must ask what to do with these media elements once they have entered the classroom. This article relates findings from a classroom study focusing on children's media‐based story writing. The study looks at children as producers of new media texts and describes their activities as a form of ‘media education’. The data show that through their production of media‐based stories, the children are reflecting on their consumption of media. Furthermore, the children's media‐based stories make explicit some of their implicit knowledge of new media forms. Lastly, the children's stories provide ample opportunities for teachers to engage in important discussions about media within the framework of existing writing programmes.
Maternal Emotional Styles and Child Social Adjustment: Assessment, Correlates, Outcomes and Goodness of Fit in Early Childhood
Authors: Lagacé‐Séguin Daniel G. , Coplan Robert J. 
Published: October 2005

AbstractThe goals of the present research were to develop a modified version of an existing self‐assessment questionnaire designed to measure parents’ emotional style and to examine how the aspects of child regulation may moderate the relation between the emotional styles and social outcomes in childhood. Participants in Study 1 were 140 mothers and children (73 males, 67 females, Mage=56.0 months). The mothers completed the Maternal Emotional Styles Questionnaire (MESQ) to assess maternal emotional styles, and the Child Behavior Vignettes to assess parental goals across two scenarios. Participants in Study 2 were 50 mothers who were interviewed regarding their emotional styles using the Meta‐emotion Interview, and who also completed the MESQ. In Study 3, 100 mothers and children (41 males, 59 females, M=58.0 months) participated. The mothers completed the MESQ and the Child Behavior Questionnaire to assess the children's emotion and behavior regulation. Teachers completed the Child Behavior Scale to measure the indices of preschool adjustment. Results from Studies 1 and 2 indicated a two‐factor scale for the MESQ, with good psychometric properties (including stability, convergent validity, and construct validity). Results from Study 3 indicated different patterns of associations between maternal emotional styles, and child adjustment for well‐regulated versus dysregulated children.
Managerial Efficiency in German Top League Soccer: An Econometric Analysis of Club Performances On and Off the Pitch
Authors: Kern Markus , Süssmuth Bernd 
Published: October 2005

Abstract
This study applies stochastic frontier analytic techniques in the estimation of sporting production functions. As ex-ante input factors, we use preseasonal estimates of wage bills of players and coaches that are transformed during the production process of a season into ex-post pecuniary revenues and sporting success. In the case of athletic output we find a robust pattern of technical efficiency over subsequent seasons. Estimates based on economic output, however, do not support an efficiency model. A significant inter-seasonal change in overall technical productivity rather highlights the economic instability of the German soccer industry.
Bilateral blepharochalasis
Authors: Dózsa A , Károlyi ZS , Degrell P 
Published: October 2005

ABSTRACTBlepharochalasis is a rare disorder characterized by recurrent painless periorbital oedema, which leads to atrophy of the periorbital skin. Pathomechanism of the disease is probably immunological with a nearly complete loss of elastic fibres. The authors describe a 17‐year‐old woman, who was followed for 7 years. IgA deposits were found in the periorbital tissues, which confirm the immunological background of the condition. Electron microscopy results show that not only elastic but also collagen fibres were affected.
Ross syndrome, an entity included within the spectrum of partial disautonomic syndromes
Authors: Ballestero‐Díez M , García‐Río I , Daudén E , Corrales‐Arroyo MJ , García‐Díez A 
Published: October 2005

ABSTRACTRoss syndrome is a degenerative peripheral nervous system disorder defined by the following triad: unilateral or bilateral segmental anhidrosis, hyporeflexia of deep tendon reflexes and Adie's tonic pupils. The most disturbing symptom is segmental compensatory hyperhidrosis. It has only occasionally been reported in the dermatological literature. We present a 35‐year‐old woman with chronic hepatitis C who developed the characteristic triad of Ross syndrome within 1 month. The patient was otherwise healthy except for an aneurysm of the left medium brain artery not responsible for the syndrome.