bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Survival consequences of sex‐biased growth and the absence of a growth–mortality trade‐off
Authors: HUTCHINGS J. A. 
Published: April 2006

SummaryGrowth rate is of considerable importance to the life histories of indeterminately growing organisms. Its determination of size at age can generate positive associations with several traits, although the rate at which size increases with time has been negatively linked with survival. Such a trade‐off may not, however, be evident at growth rates considerably less than species‐specific maxima, nor need links between growth and life history be similar for both sexes.Based on a 5‐year, mark–recapture study of an unexploited population of Brook Trout (Salvelinus fontinalis) near the edge of the species’ range, I tested the null hypotheses that seasonal growth does not differ between sexes and that survival is independent of growth rate. Both hypotheses were rejected.Faster growth by males during summer, and by females during winter, can be explained by seasonal differences, by sex, in the proportional allocation of energy to gonads and soma.Survival increased with growth rate per se, independently of the latter's effects on size at age; survival among males appears more dependent on growth than that of females.The results indicate that there can be fitness costs associated with slow growth, that these costs can differ between sexes, and that they may be exacerbated during periods of energetic stress. Trade‐offs between growth and survival may depend on the behavioural and developmental contexts in which they are examined, need not be ubiquitous and may vary throughout a species’ geographical range.
Rapid root closure after fire limits fine root responses to elevated atmospheric CO2 in a scrub oak ecosystem in central Florida, USA
Authors: DAY FRANK P. , STOVER DANIEL B. , PAGEL ALISHA L. , HUNGATE BRUCE A. , DILUSTRO JOHN J. , HERBERT BRANDON T. , DRAKE BERT G. , HINKLE CHARLES R. 
Published: April 2006

AbstractElevated atmospheric carbon dioxide (CO2) often stimulates the growth of fine roots, yet there are few reports of responses of intact root systems to long‐term CO2 exposure. We investigated the effects of elevated CO2 on fine root growth using open top chambers in a scrub oak ecosystem at Kennedy Space Center, Florida for more than 7 years. CO2 enrichment began immediately after a controlled burn, which simulated the natural disturbance that occurs in this system every 10–15 years. We hypothesized that (1) root abundance would increase in both treatments as the system recovered from fire; (2) elevated CO2 would stimulate root growth; and (3) elevated CO2 would alter root distribution. Minirhizotron tubes were used to measure fine root length density (mm cm−2) every three months. During the first 2 years after fire recovery, fine root abundance increased in all treatments and elevated CO2 significantly enhanced root abundance, causing a maximum stimulation of 181% after 20 months. The CO2 stimulation was initially more pronounced in the top 10 cm and 38–49 cm below the soil surface. However, these responses completely disappeared during the third year of experimental treatment: elevated CO2 had no effect on root abundance or on the depth distribution of fine roots during years 3–7. The results suggest that, within a few years following fire, fine roots in this scrub oak ecosystem reach closure, defined here as a dynamic equilibrium between production and mortality. These results further suggest that elevated CO2 hastens root closure but does not affect maximum root abundance. Limitation of fine root growth by belowground resources – particularly nutrients in this nutrient‐poor soil – may explain the transient response to elevated CO2.
Long‐term prognosis in patients with bifascicular block – the predictive value of noninvasive and invasive assessment
Authors: TABRIZI F. , ROSENQVIST M. , BERGFELDT L. , ENGLUND A. 
Published: April 2006

Abstract.Objectives.  Patients with bifascicular block (BFB) have a high mortality rate. The purpose of the present study was to identify high‐risk patients in a BFB population by performing an extensive cardiac evaluation including noninvasive and invasive tests.Design.  Population‐based study.Subjects.  A total of 100 patients with BFB, of whom 41 had a history of unexplained syncope, were prospectively studied. The mean age was 68 ± 12. All patients were investigated with Holter‐monitoring, an exercise test, an echocardiography, and an invasive electrophysiological study. The severity of congestive heart failure (CHF) was assessed by New York Heart Association (NYHA) classification. Patients in NYHA class IV were excluded.Interventions.  Patients with syncope were recommended prophylactic pacemaker treatment, which was accepted by 31 patients (76%).Main outcome measures.  All‐cause mortality and sudden cardiac death (SCD).Results.  During a median follow‐up of 84 months, 33 patients died, of whom 14 in SCD. In a univariate analysis, high age, a previous myocardial infarction, and CHF were associated with a significantly increased risk of all‐cause mortality and SCD. In a Cox multiple regression analysis, CHF was the only independent predictor of all‐cause mortality and SCD (P < 0.01).Conclusion.  Patients with BFB have a poor long‐term prognosis. The predictive value of noninvasive and invasive investigations is limited. The only independent predictor of all‐cause mortality and SCD in this population was the presence of CHF.
The effect of income growth on the mix of purchases between disposable goods and reusable goods
Authors: McCollough John 
Published: April 2006

AbstractWith each passing year consumers find more and more disposable goods for sale in the market place. Even goods that were considered to be reusable goods just a few years back are now disposable goods. As a result the American economy has been labelled a ‘throwaway society’. This paper examines a main underlying cause for this trend by linking growth in consumer income with the purchases of disposable goods. More specifically, the model proposes that as incomes rise, consumers will purchase more of both reusable goods and disposable goods. However, as incomes rise, consumers will naturally substitute purchases away from reusable goods and into disposable goods. The shift towards disposable goods occurs because it becomes too costly for consumers to spend their time repairing and maintaining products. Their time is better spent in more productive endeavours. It is simply cheaper (in terms of opportunity cost of time) to dispose of old products and replace them with new products.
Development of polymorphic simple sequence repeat markers for Pisolithus microcarpus
Authors: HITCHCOCK CATHERINE J. , CHAMBERS SUSAN M. , CAIRNEY JOHN W. G. 
Published: April 2006

AbstractSix polymorphic simple sequence repeat (SSR) markers were developed for the ectomycorrhizal fungus Pisolithus microcarpus. A polymerase chain reaction (PCR)‐based technique was used in which random amplified polymorphic DNA (RAPD) fingerprints were probed with labelled SSR oligonucleotides by southern hybridization. The number of alleles per locus ranged from two to nine with expected heterozygosity values from 0.33 to 0.76. These loci will be potentially useful for genetic structure and gene flow studies of P. microcarpus populations. Cross‐species amplification with Pisolithus albus isolates at all loci was also observed.
A dual-genome microarray for the pea aphid, Acyrthosiphon pisum, and its obligate bacterial symbiont, Buchnera aphidicola
Authors: Wilson Alex CC , Dunbar Helen E , Davis Gregory K , Hunter Wayne B , Stern David L , Moran Nancy A 
Published: April 2006

Abstract

Background
The best studied insect-symbiont system is that of aphids and their primary bacterial endosymbiont Buchnera aphidicola. Buchnera inhabits specialized host cells called bacteriocytes, provides nutrients to the aphid and has co-speciated with its aphid hosts for the past 150 million years. We have used a single microarray to examine gene expression in the pea aphid, Acyrthosiphon pisum, and its resident Buchnera. Very little is known of gene expression in aphids, few studies have examined gene expression in Buchnera, and no study has examined simultaneously the expression profiles of a host and its symbiont. Expression profiling of aphids, in studies such as this, will be critical for assigning newly discovered A. pisum genes to functional roles. In particular, because aphids possess many genes that are absent from Drosophila and other holometabolous insect taxa, aphid genome annotation efforts cannot rely entirely on homology to the best-studied insect systems. Development of this dual-genome array represents a first attempt to characterize gene expression in this emerging model system.

Results
We chose to examine heat shock response because it has been well characterized both in Buchnera and in other insect species. Our results from the Buchnera of A. pisum show responses for the same gene set as an earlier study of heat shock response in Buchnera for the host aphid Schizaphis graminum. Additionally, analyses of aphid transcripts showed the expected response for homologs of known heat shock genes as well as responses for several genes with unknown functional roles.

Conclusion
We examined gene expression under heat shock of an insect and its bacterial symbiont in a single assay using a dual-genome microarray. Further, our results indicate that microarrays are a useful tool for inferring functional roles of genes in A. pisum and other insects and suggest that the pea aphid genome may contain many gene paralogs that are differentially regulated.
Deletions in the Y-derived amelogenin gene fragment in the Indian population
Authors: Kashyap VK , Sahoo Sanghamitra , Sitalaximi T , Trivedi R 
Published: April 2006

Abstract

Background
Rare failures in amelogenin-based gender typing of individuals have been observed globally. In this study, we report the deletion of a large fragment of the amelogenin gene in 10 individuals out of 4,257 male samples analyzed from 104 different endogamous populations of India.

Methods
Samples were analyzed using commercial genetic profiling kits. Those that exhibited failures in amelogenin-based gender identification were further analyzed with published as well as newly designed primers to ascertain the nature and extent of mutation.

Results
The failure rate among Indian males was 0.23 %. Though the exact size and nature of the deletion (single point mutations at a number of positions or a single large deletion) could not be determined in the present study, it is inferred that the deletion spans a region downstream of the reverse primer-binding site of commercially available amelogenin primer sets. Deletions were conspicuously absent among the Mongoloid tribes of Northeast India, while both caste and tribal groups harbored these mutations, which was predominantly among the Y-chromosomes belonging to J2 lineage.

Conclusion
Our study indicates that the different amelogenin primer sets currently included in genetic profiling multiplex kits may result in erroneous interpretations due to mutations undetectable during routine testing. Further there are indications that these mutations could possibly be lineage-specific, inherited deletions.
Handwriting performance in the absence of visual control in writer's cramp patients: Initial observations
Authors: Chakarov Vihren , Hummel Sibylla , Losch Florian , Schulte-Mönting Jürgen , Kristeva Rumyana 
Published: April 2006

Abstract

Background
The present study was aimed at investigating the writing parameters of writer's cramp patients and control subjects during handwriting of a test sentence in the absence of visual control.

Methods
Eight right-handed patients with writer's cramp and eight healthy volunteers as age-matched control subjects participated in the study. The experimental task consisted in writing a test sentence repeatedly for fifty times on a pressure-sensitive digital board. The subject did not have visual control on his handwriting. The writing performance was stored on a PC and analyzed off-line.

Results
During handwriting all patients developed a typical dystonic limb posture and reported an increase in muscular tension along the experimental session. The patients were significantly slower than the controls, with lower mean vertical pressure of the pen tip on the paper and they could not reach the endmost letter of the sentence in the given time window. No other handwriting parameter differences were found between the two groups.

Conclusion
Our findings indicate that during writing in the absence of visual feedback writer's cramp patients are slower and could not reach the endmost letter of the test sentence, but their level of automatization is not impaired and writer's cramp handwriting parameters are similar to those of the controls except for even lower vertical pressure of the pen tip on the paper, which is probably due to a changed strategy in such experimental conditions.
Absorbing and transferring risk: assessing the impact of a statewide high-risk-pregnancy telemedical program on VLBW maternal transports
Authors: Britt David W , Bronstein Janet , Norton Jonathan D 
Published: April 2006

Abstract

Background
Prior research has shown that resources have an impact on birth outcomes. In this paper we ask how combinations of telemedical and hospital-level resources impact transports of mothers expecting very low birth weight (VLBW) babies in Arkansas.

Methods
Using de-identified birth certificate data from the Arkansas Department of Health, data were gathered on transports of women carrying VLBW babies for two six-month periods: a period just before the start of ANGELS (12/02-05/03), a telemedical outreach program for high-risk pregnancies, and a period after the program had been running for six months (12/03-05/04). For each maternal transport, the following information was recorded: maternal race-ethnicity, maternal age, and the birth weight of the infant. Logistic regression was used to assess the relationship between the predictors (telemedicine, hospital level, maternal characteristics) and the probability of a transport.

Results
Having a telemedical site available increases the probability of a mother carrying a VLBW baby being transported to a level III facility either before or during birth. Having at least a level II nursery also increases the chance of a maternal transport. Where both level II nurseries and telemedical access are available, the odds of VLBW maternal transports are only modestly increased in comparison to the case where neither is present. At the individual level, Hispanic mothers were less likely to be transported than other mothers, and teenaged mothers were more likely to be transported than those 18 and over. A mother's being Black or being over 35 did not have an impact on the odds of being transported to a level III facility.

Conclusion
Combinations of resources have an impact on physician decisions regarding VLBW transports and are interpretable in terms of the capacity to diagnose and absorb risk. We suggest a collegial review of transport patterns and birth outcomes from areas with different levels of resources as a vehicle for moving the entire system of care forward over time. With such an evidence-based review in place, the collegial relations among level III specialists and obstetricians from around the state can, over time, develop workable protocols for when and how level III facilities should be involved.
Measuring troublesomeness of chronic pain by location
Authors: Parsons Suzanne , Carnes Dawn , Pincus Tamar , Foster Nadine , Breen Alan , Vogel Steven , Underwood Martin 
Published: April 2006

Abstract

Background
Current measures of pain assess the relative contribution of pain in different body regions to the overall impact of pain. We developed a series of questions to measure the relative 'troublesomeness' of pain in different body regions (the "troublesomeness grid"). The study aimed to determine whether the "troublesomeness grid" is an appropriate measure to assess the severity of pain in different body regions, allowing the comparative severity of pain in different body regions to be assessed.

Methods
We used data from a pilot for a population survey of pain (N = 205) and from the population survey itself (N = 2504) to assess the 'troublesomeness grid's performance. Specifically, its face and content validity using overall and item non-completion rates; its criterion related validity by exploring the relationship between troublesomeness and standard measures of pain, disability, distress and health utility for the five body regions most commonly affected by chronic pain; and its reliability and reproducibility in a test/re-test study.

Results
The troublesomeness grid appeared to have good face validity as it had good completion rates. It also appeared to have good content validity as the percentage agreement between the grid and the pain manikin was high (over 90%). In terms of criterion related validity, troublesomeness was most strongly correlated with pain intensity and health related quality of life, but less with disability and distress. The test-retest reliability was between 80% and 90% for the majority of body regions examined.

Conclusion
The troublesomeness grid is well completed and appears to be an appropriate tool to assess the comparative severity of pain in different body regions.
Cardiac dysfunction in the diabetic rat: quantitative evaluation using high resolution magnetic resonance imaging
Authors: Loganathan Rajprasad , Bilgen Mehmet , Al-Hafez Baraa , Alenezy Mohammed D , Smirnova Irina V 
Published: April 2006

Abstract

Background
Diabetes is a major risk factor for cardiovascular disease. In particular, type 1 diabetes compromises the cardiac function of individuals at a relatively early age due to the protracted course of abnormal glucose homeostasis. The functional abnormalities of diabetic myocardium have been attributed to the pathological changes of diabetic cardiomyopathy.

Methods
In this study, we used high field magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) to evaluate the left ventricular functional characteristics of streptozotocin treated diabetic Sprague-Dawley rats (8 weeks disease duration) in comparison with age/sex matched controls.

Results
Our analyses of EKG gated cardiac MRI scans of the left ventricle showed a 28% decrease in the end-diastolic volume and 10% increase in the end-systolic volume of diabetic hearts compared to controls. Mean stroke volume and ejection fraction in diabetic rats were decreased (48% and 28%, respectively) compared to controls. Further, dV/dt changes were suggestive of phase sensitive differences in left ventricular kinetics across the cardiac cycle between diabetic and control rats.

Conclusion
Thus, the MRI analyses of diabetic left ventricle suggest impairment of diastolic and systolic hemodynamics in this rat model of diabetic cardiomyopathy. Our studies also show that in vivo MRI could be used in the evaluation of cardiac dysfunction in this rat model of type 1 diabetes.
A high-throughput method for quantifying alleles and haplotypes of the malaria vaccine candidate Plasmodium falciparum merozoite surface protein-1 19 kDa
Authors: Takala Shannon L , Smith David L , Stine O Colin , Coulibaly Drissa , Thera Mahamadou A , Doumbo Ogobara K , Plowe Christopher V 
Published: April 2006

Abstract

Background
Malaria vaccine efficacy may be compromised if the frequency of non-target alleles increases following vaccination with a genetically polymorphic target. Methods are needed to monitor genetic diversity in polymorphic vaccine antigens, but determining which genetic variants of such antigens are present in infected individuals is complicated by the frequent occurrence of mixed infections.

Methods
Pyrosequencing was used to determine allele frequencies at each of six single nucleotide polymorphisms in the Plasmodium falciparum blood-stage vaccine antigen merozoite surface protein 1 19 kDa (MSP-119) in field samples from a vaccine-testing site in Mali. Mixtures of MSP-119 clones were created to validate a haplotype-estimating algorithm that uses maximum likelihood methods to determine the most probable combination of haplotypes given the allele frequencies for an infection and the haplotypes known to be circulating in the population.

Results
Fourteen unique MSP-119 haplotypes were identified among 351 genotyped infections. After adjustment to a standard curve, Pyrosequencing provided accurate and precise estimates of allele frequencies in mixed infections. The haplotype-estimating algorithm provided accurate estimates of haplotypes in mixed infections containing up to three haplotypes. Based on the MSP-119 locus, approximately 90% of the 351 infections contained two or fewer haplotypes.

Conclusion
Pyrosequencing in conjunction with a haplotype-estimating algorithm provides accurate estimates of haplotypes present in infections with up to 3 haplotypes, and can be used to monitor genetic diversity in parasite populations prior to and following introduction of MSP-1-based malaria vaccines.
Current trends in the management of extra-abdominal desmoid tumours
Authors: Papagelopoulos Panayiotis J , Mavrogenis Andreas F , Mitsiokapa Evanthia A , Papaparaskeva Kleo Th , Galanis Evanthia C , Soucacos Panayotis N 
Published: April 2006

AbstractExtra-abdominal desmoid tumours are slow-growing, histologically benign tumours of fibroblastic origin with variable biologic behaviour. They are locally aggressive and invasive to surrounding anatomic structures. Magnetic resonance imaging is the modality of choice for the diagnosis and the evaluation of the tumours. Current management of desmoids involves a multidisciplinary approach. Wide margin surgical resection remains the main treatment modality for local control of the tumour. Amputation should not be the initial treatment, and function-preserving procedures should be the primary treatment goal. Adjuvant radiation therapy is recommended both for primary and recurrent lesions. Chemotherapy may be used for recurrent or unresectable disease. Overall local recurrence rates vary and depend on patient's age, tumour location and margins at resection.
Consumer Preferences and Product-Line Pricing Strategies: An Empirical Analysis
Authors: Draganska Michaela , Jain Dipak C. 
Published: April 2006

Firms often differentiate their product lines vertically to capture consumers’ differential willingness to pay for quality. Additionally, many firms offer products varying not in quality but in characteristics such as scent, color, or flavor, that relate to horizontal differentiation. For example, in the yogurt category, each manufacturer carries several product lines differing in quality and price, but within each line there is an assortment of flavors that is uniformly priced. To better understand these product-line pricing strategies, we address two key issues. First, how do consumers perceive product-line and flavor attributes? Second, given consumers’ preferences, is the current strategy of pricing product lines differently, but offering all flavors within a product line at the same price, optimal? We find that consumers value line attributes more than flavor attributes. Our analysis reveals that firms exploit these differences in consumer preferences by using product lines as a price discrimination tool. However, firms’ profits would not significantly increase if they were to price flavors within a product line differently. Therefore, the current pricing policy of setting different prices for product lines, but uniform prices for all flavors within a line, appears to be on target.