bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Collaborating With Low‐Income Families and Their Overweight Children to Improve Weight‐Related Behaviors: An Intervention Process Evaluation
Authors: Tyler Diane O. , Horner Sharon D. 
Published: August 2008

PURPOSE.  This paper aims to examine the collaborative negotiation process, an interventional approach being tested at a primary‐care school‐based clinic to help low‐income families improve lifestyle and weight‐related health indicators in their overweight children. DESIGN AND METHODS.  Process evaluation of the intervention employed in an ongoing longitudinal pilot study. Descriptive analysis is from structured field notes and audiotapes of parent–child–provider interactions during intervention visits (n= 111).RESULTS.  Activity levels and eating patterns were families’ main concerns in managing their children's weight. Challenges and facilitators of implementing health plans were explored. PRACTICE IMPLICATIONS.  The collaborative negotiation intervention provides a family‐centered approach to engage families in management of children's weight.
The effect of tissue factor concentration on calibrated automated thrombography in the presence of inhibitor bypass agents
Authors: Van VEEN J. J. , GATT A. , BOWYER A. E. , COOPER P. C. , KITCHEN S. , MAKRIS M. 
Published: August 2008

SummaryThrombin generation has been suggested as a method to monitor treatment with factor eight inhibitor bypassing activity (FEIBA®) or recombinant FVIIa (rFVIIa). The sensitivity of the assay for individual coagulation factors is dependent on the tissue factor (TF) concentration. An inverse relation between the rFVIIa concentration needed to shorten the clotting time and TF concentration has been shown but the data on thrombin generation are inconsistent. Information on TF concentration in measurements with FEIBA® is limited. We studied the influence of TF concentration (1 and 5 pm) on thrombin generation through spiking experiments with rFVIIa and/or FEIBA® in the plasma of severe haemophilia A patients and after four and three treatment episodes, respectively, using the calibrated automated thrombin generation assay (CAT) in platelet poor plasma. Spiking with FEIBA® showed a linear relation with the endogenous thrombin potential (ETP)/peak at 1 pm but substrate depletion at 5 pm. Spiking with rFVIIa showed a near linear dose–response relation with the ETP/peak at 1 pm but only a shortening of the initiation phase at 5 pm. Similar effects were present in post‐treatment samples. FEIBA® acted synergistically with rFVIIa. This suggest a role for CAT in monitoring inhibitor bypass treatment but low TF concentrations are required to avoid substrate depletion with FEIBA® and to demonstrate the effect of rFVIIa.
The role of p53 in pigmentation, tanning and melanoma
Authors: Box Neil F. , Terzian Tamara 
Published: August 2008

Summaryp53 has a central role in skin pigmentation and may impact on melanoma at all stages, however, as it’s mutation frequency in melanoma is low, it’s role has been somewhat under‐appreciated. During normal skin function, p53 in the keratinocyte is a transducer of the skin tanning signal and an essential component of what is effectively a keratinocyte‐melanocyte signaling cycle that regulates skin pigmentation. It is clear that this cycle functions optimally in skin of dark pigmentation. When melanin biosynthesis is genetically disrupted in skin of white complexion, we propose that this cycle operates as a promoter of melanocyte proliferation. The cell autonomous function of p53 in melanocytes is not well described, however, the balance of the evidence suggests that p53 is an effective tumor suppressor and the myriad of mechanisms by which the p53 pathway may be dysregulated in tumors attests to it importance as a tumor suppressor. In this review, we outline the known mechanisms that impair p53 itself and its immediate regulators or target genes during melanomagenesis. Due to the importance of this pathway, it is clear that p53 disruptions may relate directly to a patient’s prognosis. This pathway will continue to be a focus of investigation, particularly with respect to targeted experimental chemotherapeutics.
A Suggested Shell∕Plate Finite Element Nozzle Model Evaluation Procedure
Authors: Porter Michael A. , Martens Dennis H. , Caldwell S. M. 
Published: August 2008

Abstract
A procedure for evaluating the stress results of a finite element analysis employing shell∕plate elements is proposed based on several previous papers by the authors and a review of other related publications. This procedure relates the stress levels produced by the finite element software to the provisions of ASME Sec. VIII, Div. 2 (ASME, 2004, ASME Boiler and Pressure Vessel Code, Section VIII, Division 2, American Society of Mechanical Engineers, New York).
Comparison of Two Commercially Available Dengue Virus (DENV) NS1 Capture Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assays Using a Single Clinical Sample for Diagnosis of Acute DENV Infection
Authors: Bessoff Kovi , Delorey Mark , Sun Wellington , Hunsperger Elizabeth 
Published: August 2008

ABSTRACTDengue virus (DENV) nonstructural protein 1 (NS1) has shown promise as a novel diagnostic marker of acute DENV infection. Current techniques used to diagnose acute DENV infection, including virus isolation and reverse transcription-PCR (RT-PCR), are costly and difficult to perform, while traditional serological assays have low sensitivities during the acute stage of infection. Two commercially available NS1 antigen capture enzyme-linked immunosorbent assays (ELISAs), the Platelia dengue NS1Ag test (Bio-Rad Laboratories, Marnes La Coquette, France) and the Pan-E dengue early ELISA test (Panbio Diagnostics, Brisbane, Australia), were evaluated against a well-characterized panel of 208 real-time RT-PCR- and virus isolation-positive sera, as well as 45 real-time RT-PCR- and serologically negative sera from patients with other acute febrile illnesses. The overall sensitivities were 64.9% (95% confidence interval [CI95], 58.2 to 71.1%) for the Panbio test and 83.2% (CI95, 77.5 to 87.7%) for the Bio-Rad test, with interserotype variation, especially for DENV serotype 4. Predictive models were constructed to identify factors that had a significant influence on a test's outcome with respect to this panel of samples in order to identify the conditions in which the test will be most effective as a diagnostic tool. The immunoglobulin G titer was found to be the only covariate that significantly influenced results in the Bio-Rad test, while serotype and the day postonset were found to significantly influence results in the Panbio test. We concluded that the NS1 capture ELISA is a useful tool that can improve testing algorithms to diagnose DENV infection in single samples from acute and early convalescent cases.
Clonal Dissemination of
Staphylococcus epidermidis
in an Oncology Ward
Authors: Muldrew Kenneth L. , Tang Yi-Wei , Li Haijing , Stratton Charles W. 
Published: August 2008

ABSTRACT

Coagulase-negative staphylococci (CoNS) are the main cause of catheter-related infections, especially among immunosuppressed and neutropenic patients, as well as a source of bacterial contamination in blood cultures. Using biochemical identification and pulsed-field gel electrophoresis (PFGE), we sought to identify possible clonal isolates of bacteremia in patients with central lines in an oncology ward (OW), with comparison to isolates that were recovered by venipuncture from an adult emergency room (ER). A total of 243 CoNS isolates were identified to species level from the OW (126) and ER (117), with
Staphylococcus epidermidis
isolates being the most common (OW, 79.4%; ER, 45.3%). PFGE demonstrated a predominant clone of
S. epidermidis
(major subtype A) which was 35.5 times more likely (odds ratio [OR] = 35.5; 95% confidence interval [CI] = 4.7 to 267.0;
P
< 0.00001) to be present in the OW versus the ER. These (CoNS or major subtype A) isolates were more frequently resistant to gentamicin (OR = 2.83; 95% CI = 1.23 to 6.53;
P
= 0.016) and less frequently resistant to trimethoprim-sulfamethoxazole (OR = 0.38; 95% CI = 0.18 to 0.80;
P
= 0.013). Subset analysis of
S. epidermidis
isolates 2 years after the study period showed the persistence of the clone of major subtype A within the OW. This study demonstrates the presence of a predominant clone among central line isolates from an OW that is not present in CoNS venipuncture isolates from an ER.
Two Different Panton-Valentine Leukocidin Phage Lineages Predominate in Japan
Authors: Ma Xiao Xue , Ito Teruyo , Kondo Yoko , Cho Moe , Yoshizawa Yukio , Kaneko Jun , Katai Atsuo , Higashiide Masato , Li Shanshuang , Hiramatsu Keiichi 
Published: August 2008

ABSTRACT

We determined the entire nucleotide sequence of φSa2958-carrying Panton-Valentine leukocidin (PVL) gene, which was lysogenized in a sequence type 5 staphylococcal cassette chromosome
mec
(SCC
mec
) type II strain of methicillin-resistant
Staphylococcus aureus
(MRSA). Based on the nucleotide sequences of PVL phages, we developed PCRs to discriminate among five PVL phages, with a preliminary classification into two morphological groups (elongated-head type and icosahedral-head type) with four PCRs, including two PCRs for identifying the gene lineage between
lukS-PV
and the tail gene. The phages were then classified into five types by four PCRs identifying each phage-specific structure. With these PCRs, we examined the PVL phage types of 67 MRSA strains isolated in Japan from 1979 through 1985 and since 2000 and found that two morphologically distinct phages were predominant in Japan. The icosahedral-head-type phage, represented by the φ108PVL type, was identified for 39 of 53 strains isolated from 1979 through 1985. Of 26 other Japanese isolates, 25 belonged either definitively or presumably to elongated-head types as follows: 3 belonged to the φSa2958 type; 8 were determined to belong to an elongated-head type, but a determination of greater specificity was not made; and 14 belonged to a φSa2958-like phage of unknown type. We induced prophages by treatment with mitomycin C from six strains of the φSa2958 type or of φSa2958-like unknown-type phages; five of six strains carried intact PVL-carrying phages, which can infect other
S. aureus
strains and might generate novel PVL-positive strains of
S. aureus
. That various SCC
mec
elements were carried by different strains of the same phage type suggests that
S. aureus
strains might independently acquire PVL phages before they acquire various SCC
mec
elements.
High Rates of
Escherichia coli
Transmission between Livestock and Humans in Rural Uganda
Authors: Rwego Innocent B. , Gillespie Thomas R. , Isabirye-Basuta Gilbert , Goldberg Tony L. 
Published: August 2008

ABSTRACT

Escherichia coli
is a zoonotic bacterium that is important to both public health and livestock economics. To date, most studies of zoonotic
E. coli
transmission have been conducted in developed nations with industrialized agricultural economies. In this study,
E. coli
bacteria were collected from people and livestock in two communities in rural western Uganda in order to investigate patterns of interspecific bacterial transmission in a developing rural economy characterized by very close human-livestock associations. Six hundred seventy-two
E. coli
isolates were genotyped using repetitive element-PCR (Rep-PCR) fingerprinting, and genetic distances between populations of bacteria from different hosts and locations were calculated. Genetic distances between human and livestock bacteria were generally very low, indicating high rates of bacterial gene flow among host species. Bacteria from humans and livestock in the same communities were virtually indistinguishable genetically. Data from surveys administered at the time of sample collection showed that people who did not regularly wash their hands before eating harbored bacteria approximately twice as similar genetically to bacteria of their livestock as did people who regularly washed their hands before eating. These results suggest that both rates of human-livestock interactions and patterns of human hygiene affect human-livestock bacterial transmission in this setting. This conclusion has implications not only for human and livestock health in subsistence-based agricultural economies but also for the emergence of zoonotic diseases out of such areas as a result of increasing globalization.
Association between Hypermutator Phenotype, Clinical Variables, Mucoid Phenotype, and Antimicrobial Resistance in
Pseudomonas aeruginosa
Authors: Waine David J. , Honeybourne David , Smith E. Grace , Whitehouse Joanna L. , Dowson Chris G. 
Published: August 2008

ABSTRACT

The presence of hypermutator
Pseudomonas aeruginosa
was associated with poorer lung function in patients at the Adult West Midlands CF Unit. Mucoid isolates were more likely to be hypermutators. The presence of resistant mutant subpopulations was associated with hypermutator phenotype but was not good enough to be used as a test for this phenotype.
Comparison of GP5+/6+-PCR and SPF10-Line Blot Assays for Detection of High-Risk Human Papillomavirus in Samples from Women with Normal Cytology Results Who Develop Grade 3 Cervical Intraepithelial Neoplasia
Authors: Hesselink A. T. , van Ham M. A. P. C. , Heideman D. A. M. , Groothuismink Z. M. A. , Rozendaal L. , Berkhof J. , van Kemenade F. J. , Massuger L. A. F. G. , Melchers W. J. G. , Meijer C. J. L. M. , Snijders P. J. F. 
Published: August 2008

ABSTRACTUsing a case control approach, we performed a two-way comparison study between GP5+/6+-PCR and HPV SPF10-Line Blot 25 (SPF10) assays for detection of 14 types of high-risk human papillomavirus (hrHPV) in samples from women with normal cytology results who had or developed grade 3 cervical intraepithelial neoplasia (CIN 3). Samples were pooled from two cohorts, i.e., women participating in population-based screening and women attending a gynecological outpatient clinic. Cases (n= 45) were women with histologically confirmed CIN 3 diagnosed within a median follow-up time of 2.7 (range, 0.2 to 7.9) years. Control samples were from women (n= 264) who had developed CIN 1 lesions at maximum (median follow-up at 5.8 [range, 0 to 10] years). Identical numbers of cases tested positive for 1 or more of the 14 hrHPV types by both systems (40/45; McNemar;P= 1.0). Conversely, SPF10scored significantly more controls as hrHPV positive than did GP5+/6+-PCR (95/264 versus 29/264; McNemar;P< 0.001). Consequently, women with normal cytology results and an hrHPV GP5+/6+-PCR-positive test exhibited a risk of CIN 3 that was 4.5 times higher (odds ratio [OR], 65; 95% confidence interval [95%CI], 24 to 178) than that seen for women with an hrHPV-positive SPF10test (OR, 14; 95%CI, 5 to 38)). Similar results were obtained after analysis of both cohorts separately. Discrepancy analysis by viral load assessment for the most common discordant hrHPV types (HPV16, -18, and -52) showed that samples which were SPF10positive only for these types had viral loads significantly lower than those for samples that were positive by both assays (analysis of variance;P≤ 0.006). Our data indicate that GP5+/6+-PCR has a better clinical performance than SPF10for women who are diagnosed with CIN 3 after prior normal cytology results. The extra positivity scored by SPF10mainly involved infections characterized by low viral loads that do not result in CIN 3.
Utility of the Germ Tube Test for Direct Identification of
Candida albicans
from Positive Blood Culture Bottles
Authors: Sheppard Donald C. , Locas Marie-Claude , Restieri Christiane , Laverdiere Michel 
Published: August 2008

ABSTRACT

We compared the germ tube test for the direct identification of
Candida albicans
from positive blood culture bottles, with results obtained from subcultured colonies. The direct germ tube test was 87.1% sensitive and 100% specific for the identification of
C. albicans
when the results obtained from fungal colonies were compared.
Single Base Substitutions in the Capsid Region of the Norovirus Genome during Viral Shedding in Cases of Infection in Areas Where Norovirus Infection Is Endemic
Authors: Obara Mayumi , Hasegawa Sumiyo , Iwai Masae , Horimoto Eiji , Nakamura Kazuya , Kurata Takeshi , Saito Naohito , Oe Hiroshi , Takizawa Takenori 
Published: August 2008

ABSTRACT
Norovirus (NoV) infections are the major cause of food- and waterborne nonbacterial gastroenteritis in Japan. Some individuals showed long-term excretion of the virus into feces in 29 outbreaks of acute nonbacterial gastroenteritis that occurred in Toyama Prefecture, Japan, in fiscal year 2006. In one of these cases, single base substitutions from A to G in the capsid region of the NoV genome were commonly detected in two individuals during virus shedding by direct sequencing of PCR products. The A-to-G substitution was accompanied by an N-to-S amino acid change. The population of clones that possessed A at the corresponding site was gradually replaced by those with G during the infectious course. Although other substitutions were observed in the complete open reading frame 2 sequence, they were not common in these two individuals. NoVs are capable of evolving in the gastroenteric tract.
Sendai Virus C Protein Plays a Role in Restricting PKR Activation by Limiting the Generation of Intracellular Double-Stranded RNA
Authors: Takeuchi Kenji , Komatsu Takayuki , Kitagawa Yoshinori , Sada Kiyonao , Gotoh Bin 
Published: August 2008

ABSTRACTSendai virus (SeV) C protein is a multifunctional protein that plays important roles in regulating viral genome replication and transcription, antagonizing the host interferon system, suppressing virus-induced apoptosis, and facilitating virus assembly and budding. We here report a novel role of SeV C protein, the limitation of double-stranded RNA (dsRNA) generation for maintaining the rate of protein synthesis in infected cells. It was found that the intracellular protein synthesis rate was maintained even after wild-type (wt) SeV infection, but markedly suppressed following C-knockout SeV infection. This indicates the requirement of C protein for maintaining protein synthesis after infection. In contrast to wt SeV infection, C-knockout SeV infection caused phosphorylation of both the translation initiation factor eIF2α and dsRNA-dependent protein kinase (PKR). Phosphorylation of eIF2α occurred mainly due to the action of PKR, since knockdown of PKR by small interfering RNA limited eIF2α phosphorylation. C protein, however, could inhibit neither poly(I):poly(C)-activated nor Newcastle disease virus-induced phosphorylation of PKR and eIF2α, suggesting that C protein does not target common pathways leading to PKR activation. Immunofluorescent staining experiments with a monoclonal antibody specifically recognizing dsRNA revealed generation of a large amount of dsRNA in cells infected with C-knockout SeV but not wt SeV. The dsRNA generation as well as phosphorylation of PKR and eIF2α induced by C-knockout SeV was markedly suppressed in cells constitutively expressing C protein. Taken together, these results demonstrate that the SeV C protein limits generation of dsRNA, thereby keeping PKR inactive to maintain intracellular protein synthesis.
Expansion of Human Cytomegalovirus (HCMV) Immediate-Early 1-Specific CD8+T Cells and Control of HCMV Replication after Allogeneic Stem Cell Transplantation
Authors: Sacre Karim , Nguyen Stéphanie , Deback Claire , Carcelain Guislaine , Vernant Jean-Paul , Leblond Véronique , Autran Brigitte , Dhedin Nathalie 
Published: August 2008

ABSTRACTRecovery of human cytomegalovirus (HCMV)-specific T immunity is critical for protection against HCMV disease in the early phase after allogeneic stem cell transplantation (SCT). Using an enzyme-linked immunospot assay with overlapping 15-mer peptides spanning pp65 and immediate-early 1 HCMV proteins, we investigated which HCMV-specific CD8+gamma interferon-positive (IFN-γ+) T-cell responses against pp65 and IE-1 were associated with control of HCMV replication in 48 recipients of unmanipulated HLA-matched allografts at 3 months (M3) and 6 months (M6) after SCT and in 23 donors. At M3 after SCT, the magnitude of the pp65-specific IFN-γ-producing CD8+T-cell response was greater in recipients than in donors, regardless of HCMV status. In contrast, expansion of IE-1-specific CD8+T cells at M3 was associated with protection against HCMV, and no patient with this expansion had HCMV replication at M3. At M6, the number of HCMV-specific CD8+T cells against both pp65 and IE-1 had expanded in all recipients, regardless of their previous levels of HCMV replication. The recipients' HCMV-specific CD8+T cells already detectable in related donors were predominantly targeting pp65. In contrast, in 40% of the cases, the HCMV-specific CD8+T cells in recipients involved new CD8+T-cell specificities undetectable in their related donors and preferentially targeting IE-1. Taken together, these results showed that the delay in reconstituting IE-1-specific CD8+T cells is correlated with the lack of protection against HCMV in the first 3 months after SCT. They also show that IE-1 is a major antigenic determinant of the early restoration of protective immunity to HCMV after SCT.
Gene Expression Analysis of Host Innate Immune Responses during Lethal H5N1 Infection in Ferrets
Authors: Cameron Cheryl M. , Cameron Mark J. , Bermejo-Martin Jesus F. , Ran Longsi , Xu Luoling , Turner Patricia V. , Ran Ran , Danesh Ali , Fang Yuan , Chan Pak-Kei M. , Mytle Nutan , Sullivan Timothy J. , Collins Tassie L. , Johnson Michael G. , Medina Julio C. , Rowe Thomas , Kelvin David J. 
Published: August 2008

ABSTRACTHow viral and host factors contribute to the severe pathogenicity of the H5N1 subtype of avian influenza virus infection in humans is poorly understood. We identified three clusters of differentially expressed innate immune response genes in lungs from H5N1 (A/Vietnam/1203/04) influenza virus-infected ferrets by oligonucleotide microarray analysis. Interferon response genes were more strongly expressed in H5N1-infected ferret lungs than in lungs from ferrets infected with the less pathogenic H3N2 subtype. In particular, robust CXCL10 gene expression in H5N1-infected ferrets led us to test the pathogenic role of signaling via CXCL10's cognate receptor, CXCR3, during H5N1 influenza virus infection. Treatment of H5N1-infected ferrets with the drug AMG487, a CXCR3 antagonist, resulted in a reduction of symptom severity and delayed mortality compared to vehicle treatment. We contend that unregulated host interferon responses are at least partially responsible for the severity of H5N1 infection and provide evidence that attenuating the CXCR3 signaling pathway improves the clinical course of H5N1 infection in ferrets.