bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Translational Mini-Review Series on Immunology of Vascular Disease: Inflammation, infections and Toll-like receptors in cardiovascular disease
Authors: Ward J R , Wilson H L , Francis S E , Crossman D C , Sabroe I 
Published: February 2009

SummaryCardiovascular disease, in which atherosclerosis is the major underlying cause, is currently the largest cause of death in the world. Atherosclerosis is an inflammatory disease characterized by the formation of arterial lesions over a period of several decades at sites of endothelial cell dysfunction. These lesions are composed of endothelial cells, vascular smooth muscle cells, monocytes/macrophages and T lymphocytes (CD4+). As the lesions progress some can become unstable and prone to disruption, resulting in thrombus formation and possibly a myocardial infarction or stroke depending upon the location. Although the exact triggers for plaque disruption remain unknown, much recent evidence has shown a link between the incidence of myocardial infarction and stroke and a recent respiratory tract infection. Interestingly, many reports have also shown a link between a family of pattern recognition receptors, the Toll-like receptors, and the progression of atherosclerosis, suggesting that infections may play a role in both the progression of atherosclerosis and in inducing the more severe complications associated with the disease.
Translational Mini-Review Series on Immunology of Vascular Disease: Mechanisms of vascular inflammation and remodelling in systemic vasculitis
Authors: Maugeri N , Rovere-Querini P , Baldini M , Sabbadini M G , Manfredi A A 
Published: February 2009

Summary
Vessel walls are the primary inflammatory sites in systemic vasculitides. In most cases the initiating event is unknown, and a self-sustaining circuit attracts and activates inflammatory leucocytes in the wall of vessels of various size and anatomical characteristics. Recent studies have revealed homeostatic roles of vascular inflammation and have identified the action of humoral innate immunity, in particular injury-associated signals and acute phase proteins, on the activation of circulating leucocytes, platelets and endothelial cells. These advances have provided clues to the molecular mechanisms underlying the vicious circle that maintains and amplifies vessel and tissue injury.
Undersampling bias: the null hypothesis for singleton species in tropical arthropod surveys
Authors: Coddington Jonathan A. , Agnarsson Ingi , Miller Jeremy A. , Kuntner Matjaž , Hormiga Gustavo 
Published: February 2009

Summary

Frequency of singletons – species represented by single individuals – is anomalously high in most large tropical arthropod surveys (average, 32%).
We sampled 5965 adult spiders of 352 species (29% singletons) from 1 ha of lowland tropical moist forest in Guyana.
Four common hypotheses (small body size, male‐biased sex ratio, cryptic habits, clumped distributions) failed to explain singleton frequency. Singletons are larger than other species, not gender‐biased, share no particular lifestyle, and are not clumped at 0·25–1 ha scales.
Monte Carlo simulation of the best‐fit lognormal community shows that the observed data fit a random sample from a community of ~700 species and 1–2 million individuals, implying approximately 4% true singleton frequency.
Undersampling causes systematic negative bias of species richness, and should be the default null hypothesis for singleton frequencies.
Drastically greater sampling intensity in tropical arthropod inventory studies is required to yield realistic species richness estimates.
The lognormal distribution deserves greater consideration as a richness estimator when undersampling bias is severe.
Darwin’s biogeography
Authors: Briggs John C. 
Published: February 2009

AbstractThe year 2009 marks the 150th anniversary of the publication of Charles Darwin’s Origin of Species. This book was so influential that it is often considered to be the most important scientific work ever written. Many volumes have been published about the Origin and its lasting effects on religion and society, but few have examined its influence on biogeography. However, it was Darwin’s initial interest in comparing the natural history of different regions during the voyage of the Beagle that led him to propose natural selection as an evolutionary force. He had visited the Cape Verde Islands and saw the similarity of their biota to that of Africa, and then noted the South American relationships of the Galapagos fauna and flora. But the island plants and animals were different from their mainland relatives, and, in the Galapagos, each island appeared to have its own endemic forms. It was these biogeographical observations that were critical to Darwin’s formulation of a theory to account for them. His subsequent conclusions on the evolutionary importance of centres of origin and dispersal were generally well accepted for the next 100 years, until the advent of vicarianism, which began in the early 1970s. That vicarianist movement received an impetus from two sources: (1) the works of Leon Croizat, who did not believe that living organisms could disperse overseas by themselves; and (2) the development of plate tectonics and its causation of continental drift. Vicarianists believed that primitive species were originally widespread over the Earth’s surface but were rafted to different parts of the world by continental fractionation and movement. However, continental drift in the Mesozoic could not have involved contemporary species or genera as many vicarianists claimed. The development of phylogeography, beginning in the 1980s, and improved knowledge of the fossil record soon demonstrated that multitudes of living species, and even many genera and families, underwent long‐distance dispersal during the Cenozoic. This resulted in a decline of vicarianism and a vindication of Darwin’s conclusions on centres of origin and dispersal.
Further development of bithionol therapy as a treatment for amoebic gill disease in Atlantic salmon, Salmo salar L.
Authors: Florent R L , Becker J , Powell M D 
Published: February 2009

AbstractThis study examined the efficacy of bithionol as a prophylactic or therapeutic oral treatment for Atlantic salmon (AS), Salmo salar, affected by amoebic gill disease (AGD). Furthermore, it explored the interaction of bithionol oral therapy with the current standard treatment (a freshwater bath for at least 3 h). The efficacy of three medicated feeds was determined in the trial by feeding AGD‐affected AS at 1% body weight (BW) day−1 either oil coated commercial feed (control) or prophylactic and therapeutic bithionol at 25 mg kg−1 feed. Feeding commenced 2 weeks prior to exposure to Neoparamoeba spp. at 300 cells L−1 and continued for 49 days post‐exposure (PE). Bithionol when fed as a 2‐week prophylactic or therapeutic treatment at 25 mg kg−1 feed delayed the onset of AGD pathology and reduced the percentage of gill filaments with lesions. Administration of a 3‐h freshwater bath at 28 days PE significantly reduced amoeba numbers to a similar level across all treatments; in contrast, gross gill score and percent lesioned filaments were reduced to different extents, the control having a significantly higher score than both bithionol treatments. Following the freshwater bath, clinical signs of AGD increased at a similar level across all treatments, albeit controls were significantly higher than the bithionol treatments immediately following freshwater treatment. This study demonstrated that bithionol at 25 mg kg−1 feed, when fed as a 2‐week prophylactic or a therapeutic treatment, delayed and reduced the intensity of AGD pathology and warrants further investigation as a treatment for AGD‐affected AS.
Interrater reliability for sleep scoring according to the Rechtschaffen & Kales and the new AASM standard
Authors: DANKER‐HOPFE HEIDI , ANDERER PETER , ZEITLHOFER JOSEF , BOECK MARION , DORN HANS , GRUBER GEORG , HELLER ESTHER , LORETZ ERNA , MOSER DORIS , PARAPATICS SILVIA , SALETU BERND , SCHMIDT ANDREA , DORFFNER GEORG 
Published: February 2009

SummaryInterrater variability of sleep stage scorings has an essential impact not only on the reading of polysomnographic sleep studies (PSGs) for clinical trials but also on the evaluation of patients’ sleep. With the introduction of a new standard for sleep stage scorings (AASM standard) there is a need for studies on interrater reliability (IRR). The SIESTA database resulting from an EU‐funded project provides a large number of studies (n = 72; 56 healthy controls and 16 subjects with different sleep disorders, mean age ± SD: 57.7 ± 18.7, 34 females) for which scorings according to both standards (AASM and R&K) were done. Differences in IRR were analysed at two levels: (1) based on quantitative sleep parameter by means of intraclass correlations; and (2) based on an epoch‐by‐epoch comparison by means of Cohen’s kappa and Fleiss’ kappa. The overall agreement was for the AASM standard 82.0% (Cohen’s kappa = 0.76) and for the R&K standard 80.6% (Cohen’s kappa = 0.68). Agreements increased from R&K to AASM for all sleep stages, except N2. The results of this study underline that the modification of the scoring rules improve IRR as a result of the integration of occipital, central and frontal leads on the one hand, but decline IRR on the other hand specifically for N2, due to the new rule that cortical arousals with or without concurrent increase in submental electromyogram are critical events for the end of N2.
Scheduled napping as a countermeasure to sleepiness in air traffic controllers
Authors: SIGNAL TRACEY LEIGH , GANDER PHILIPPA H. , ANDERSON HOWARD , BRASH SUE 
Published: February 2009

SummaryThe aims of this study were to measure sleep during a planned nap on the night shift; and to use objective measures of performance and alertness to compare the effects of the nap opportunity versus staying awake. Twenty‐eight air traffic controllers (mean age 36 years, nine women) completed four night shifts (two with early starts and two with late starts). Each type of night shift (early/late start) included a 40‐min planned nap opportunity on one occasion and no nap on the other. Polysomnographic data were used to measure sleep and waking alertness [spectral power in the electroencephalogram (EEG) during the last hour of the night shift and the occurrence of slow rolling eye movements (SEMs) subsequent to the nap]. Psychomotor performance task [Psychomotor Vigilance Task (PVT)] was completed at the beginning and end of the shift, and after the nap (or an equivalent time if no nap was taken). Nap sleep latencies were relatively long (mean = 19 min) and total sleep time short (mean = 18 min), with minimal slow wave sleep (SWS, mean = 0%), and no rapid eye movement sleep. Nap sleep resulted in improved PVT performance (mean and slowest 10% of reaction time events), decreased spectral power in the EEG and reduced the likelihood of SEMs. The occurrence of SWS in the nap decreased spectral power in the EEG. This study indicates that although sleep taken at work is likely to be short and of poor quality it still results in an improvement in objective measures of alertness and performance.
Fragmentation of the rest‐activity rhythm correlates with age‐related cognitive deficits
Authors: OOSTERMAN JOUKJE M. , VAN SOMEREN EUS J. W. , VOGELS RAYMOND L. C. , VAN HARTEN BARBERA , SCHERDER ERIK J. A. 
Published: February 2009

SummaryAging affects both cognitive performance and the sleep‐wake rhythm. The recent surge of studies that support a role of sleep for cognitive performance in healthy young adults suggests that disturbed sleep‐wake rhythms may contribute to ‘age‐related’ cognitive decline. This relationship has however not previously been extensively investigated. The present correlational study integrated a battery of standardized cognitive tests to investigate the association of mental speed, memory, and executive function with actigraphically recorded sleep‐wake rhythms in 144 home‐dwelling elderly participants aged 69.5 ± 8.5 (mean ± SD). Multiple regression analyses showed that the partial correlations of the fragmentation of the sleep‐wake rhythm with each of the three cognitive domains (r = −0.16, −0.19, and −0.16 respectively) were significant. These associations were independent from main effects of age, implying that a unique relationship between the rest‐activity rhythm and cognitive performance is present in elderly people.
A combined neuropsychological and brain imaging study of obstructive sleep apnea
Authors: YAOUHI KHALID , BERTRAN FRANÇOISE , CLOCHON PATRICE , MÉZENGE FLORENCE , DENISE PIERRE , FORET JEAN , EUSTACHE FRANCIS , DESGRANGES BÉATRICE 
Published: February 2009

SummaryPatients with obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) show neuropsychological impairments ranging from vigilance decrements, attentional lapses and memory gaps to decreased motor coordination, but their cognitive profile, and the origin of the impairments, remain unclear. We sought to establish the neuropsychological profile of 16 newly diagnosed apneics and to highlight both their morphological and functional brain abnormalities. We used an extensive neuropsychological test battery to investigate attention and vigilance, executive functions, episodic memory and motor domains. For brain imaging, we used the optimized voxel‐based morphometry procedure for the MRI data, resting‐state 18F‐fluoro‐2‐deoxy‐D‐Glucose positron emission tomography (18FDG‐PET) with correction for partial volume effects (PVEs) and voxel‐based analyses. In terms of neurobehavioral performance, our patients displayed objective daytime somnolence but little impairment in memory and motor domains. Cerebral data revealed gray matter loss in the frontal and temporo–parieto–occipital cortices, the thalamus, hippocampal region, some basal ganglia and cerebellar regions, mainly in the right hemisphere. The decrease in brain metabolism was also right‐lateralized, but more restricted than the gray matter density changes, and involved the precuneus, the middle and posterior cingulate gyrus, and the parieto–occipital cortex, as well as the prefrontal cortex. To conclude, despite the presence of only minor memory and motor impairments, our patients displayed significant cerebral changes in terms of both gray matter density and metabolic levels, and may have benefited from cognitive reserve and compensatory mechanisms. Thus, cerebral changes in OSA patients may precede the onset of notable neuropsychological consequences.
Application of histamine or serotonin to the hypoglossal nucleus increases genioglossus muscle activity across the wake–sleep cycle
Authors: NEUZERET PIERRE‐CHARLES , SAKAI KAZUYA , GORMAND FRÉDÉRIC , PETITJEAN THIERRY , BUDA COLETTE , SASTRE JEAN‐PIERRE , PARROT SANDRINE , GUIDON GÉRARD , LIN JIAN‐SHENG 
Published: February 2009

SummaryThe decrease in genioglossus (GG) muscle activity during sleep, especially rapid eye movement (REM) or paradoxical sleep, can lead to airway occlusion and obstructive sleep apnoea (OSA). The hypoglossal nucleus innervating the GG muscle is under the control of serotonergic, noradrenergic and histaminergic neurons that cease firing during paradoxical sleep. The objectives of this study were to determine the effect on GG muscle activity during different wake–sleep states of the microdialysis application of serotonin, histamine (HA) or noradrenaline (NE) to the hypoglossal nucleus in freely moving cats. Six adult cats were implanted with electroencephalogram, electro‐oculogram and neck electromyogram electrodes to record wake–sleep states and with GG muscle and diaphragm electrodes to record respiratory muscle activity. Microdialysis probes were inserted into the hypoglossal nucleus for monoamine application. Changes in GG muscle activity were assessed by power spectrum analysis. In the baseline conditions, tonic GG muscle activity decreased progressively and significantly from wakefulness to slow‐wave sleep and even further during slow‐wave sleep with ponto‐geniculo‐occipital waves and paradoxical sleep. Application of serotonin or HA significantly increased GG muscle activity during the wake–sleep states when compared with controls. By contrast, NE had no excitatory effect. Our results indicate that both serotonin and HA have a potent excitatory action on GG muscle activity, suggesting multiple aminergic control of upper airway muscle activity during the wake–sleep cycle. These data might help in the development of pharmacological approaches for the treatment of OSA.
Ice recrystallization inhibition proteins (IRIPs) and freeze tolerance in the cryophilic Antarctic hair grass Deschampsia antarctica E. Desv.
Authors: JOHN ULRIK P. , POLOTNIANKA RENATA M. , SIVAKUMARAN KAILAYAPILLAI A. , CHEW ORINDA , MACKIN LEANNE , KUIPER MICHAEL J. , TALBOT JONATHAN P. , NUGENT GREGORY D. , MAUTORD JULIE , SCHRAUF GUSTAVO E. , SPANGENBERG GERMAN C. 
Published: February 2009

ABSTRACTAntarctic hair grass (Deschampsia antarctica E. Desv.), the only grass indigenous to Antarctica, has well‐developed freezing tolerance, strongly induced by cold acclimation. Here, we show that in response to low temperatures, D. antarctica expresses potent recrystallization inhibition (RI) activity that, inhibits the growth of small ice crystals into potentially damaging large ones, is proteinaceous and localized to the apoplasm. A gene family from D. antarctica encoding putative homologs of an ice recrystallization inhibition protein (IRIP) has been isolated and characterized. IRIPs are apoplastically targeted proteins with two potential ice‐binding motifs: 1–9 leucine‐rich repeats (LRRs) and c. 16 ‘IRIP’ repeats. IRIP genes appear to be confined to the grass subfamily Pooideae and their products, exhibit sequence similarity to phytosulphokine receptors and are predicted to adopt conformations with two ice‐binding surfaces. D. antarctica IRIP (DaIRIP) transcript levels are greatly enhanced in leaf tissue following cold acclimation. Transgenic Arabidopsis thaliana expressing a DaIRIP has novel RI activity, and purified DaIRIP, when added back to extracts of leaves from non‐acclimated D. antarctica, can reconstitute the activity found in acclimated plants. We propose that IRIP‐mediated RI activity may contribute to the cryotolerance of D. antarctica, and thus to its unique ability to have colonized Antarctica.
Efficiency of a novel gametocide amidosulfuron on rapeseed (Brassica napus)
Authors: Yu C.‐Y. , Dong J.‐G. , Hu S.‐W. , He P.‐R. 
Published: February 2009

AbstractThe efficiency of a novel gametocide amidosulfuron, 1‐(4, 6‐dimethoxypyrimidin‐ 2‐yl) ‐3‐mesyl (methyl) sulfamoylurea, was evaluated on rapeseed (Brassica napus L.). Double application of 0.09–0.12 g/ha amidosulfuron at the uni‐nucleate stage of longest buds and 12 days later, made 97.4–100% plants male‐sterile in seventeen out of 20 cultivars tested. The shrunken anthers could not release pollen or produced only dysfunctional pollen grains that could not be stained by aceto carmine. The treatment also caused 10–30% reduction on seed setting in comparison to the controls. The purity of hybrid seed from crosses of ‘C161 × Huaye’ and ‘Zhongshuang No.2 × Huaye’ based on amidosulfuron was 99.8% and 100.0%, respectively. The results suggested that amidosulfuron is an efficient gametocide for B. napus.
How to use laparoscopic surgical instruments safely
Authors: Higashihara Eiji , Hattori Ryohei , Nakagawa Ken , Iwamura Masatsugu , Ushiyama Tomomi , Kawabata Gaku , Habuchi Tomonori 
Published: February 2009

AbstractThe development of laparoscopic surgery has been accompanied by a rapid increase in the number of laparoscopic surgical procedures carried out in the field of urology. In 2002 laparoscopic nephrectomy was approved for coverage under Japanese national health insurance, and in 2003 there were over 1000 registered cases in which this procedure was carried out. This suggests that laparoscopic nephrectomy, a procedure formerly conducted at only a few institutions, is now spreading to hospitals across Japan. Laparoscopic surgery involves the use of specialized instruments within a restricted field of vision, and risky surgical techniques can potentially result in visceral or vascular damage.In order to promote the use of safe laparoscopic surgery procedures, the Japanese Urological Association and the Japanese Society of Endourology and Extracorporeal Shock Wave Lithotripsy (ESWL) have inaugurated a certification program for urologic laparoscopy. This program not only encourages development in this field of surgery and provides technical certification to ensure appropriate levels of expertise, but also reviews methods for the correct use of instruments such as trocars and hemostats.The purpose of this video is to present correct methods for the use of a variety of laparoscopic instruments, in order to increase the safety of this procedure. The video has been designed to be useful not only for practitioners who are just beginning laparoscopy, but also for those who already have extensive laparoscopic experience. The video discusses five laparoscopic instruments (trocar, electric surgical devices, ultrasonic surgery devices, clips and clip appliers and endo‐staplers), and demonstrates their correct use. In addition, animal models are used to illustrate the potential complications that can be associated with some methods of use.
Hand‐assisted versus pure laparoscopic radical cystectomy: A clinical outcome comparison
Authors: Wang Sheng‐zheng , Chen Ling‐wu , Chen Wei , Chen Jun‐xing , Lin Huan‐yi 
Published: February 2009

Objectives:  To compare hand‐assisted laparoscopic radical cystectomy (HALRC) with the standard laparoscopic radical cystectomy (LRC) in an attempt to delineate their role in bladder cancer treatment.Methods:  We retrospectively analyzed 51 patients who underwent HALRC (HALRC group, 31 cases) or LRC (LRC group, 20 cases). Urinary diversion was performed extracorporeally through the hand port or the incision for specimen retrieval, respectively, in the two groups. Baseline patient characteristics, intraoperative parameters, and postoperative outcomes were evaluated.Results:  There was no statistically significant difference in age, sex, body mass index, previous abdominal surgeries, or tumor stage between the two groups. Although the LRC group yielded a significantly smaller incision for urinary diversion than the HALRC group (7.3 cm vs 6.2 cm, P < 0.05), mean operative time, mean estimated blood loss, blood transfusion rate, time to oral intake and complications were similar in the two groups. Hernia formation was observed with increased frequency in the HALRC group. No patients in the HALRC group and only one patient (5%) in the LRC group presented a positive margin.Conclusions:  The HALRC group yielded the same outcomes as the LRC group, except with a larger incision. The hand‐assisted approach might be preferred for obese patients or those having multiple previous abdominal surgeries.