bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Effect of intrauterine treatment with cephapirin on the reproductive performance of seasonally calving dairy cows at risk of endometritis following periparturient disease
Authors: Runciman DJ , Anderson GA , Malmo J , Davis GM 
Published: June 2008

Objective To determine the effect of intrauterine cephapirin (0.5 g) treatment on the reproductive performance of cows diagnosed as at risk of developing endometritis.Methods Cows (n = 1325) from 17 seasonal calving dairy herds were enrolled if they had been calved for more than 6 days and had a condition that placed them at risk of endometritis. Half were treated with intrauterine cephapirin at an examination performed 28–37 days prior to mating start date (MSD). Cows were scored for body condition, their vaginal discharge was scored using vaginoscopy (VV), and the uterus and ovaries were assessed by rectal palpation.Results Overall, there was no significant treatment effect on reproductive performance. In 945 modified at risk (MAR) cows the effect of treatment varied with the calving to treatment interval (CTI) and VV status. For the subset of 229 MAR cows with CTI ≤ 28 days, treatment improved the proportions of first‐service conception (OR 3.1; P < 0.01) and 6‐week in‐calf (OR 2.1; P < 0.05), and reduced the mean MSD to conception interval by 20 days (P < 0.05). The difference was greater in cows with a positive VV score (1–3). Treated VV‐negative cows with CTI > 48 days had a reduced proportion of cows in‐calf by 6 weeks (OR 0.58; P = 0.056) compared with untreated cows.Conclusion Intrauterine cephapirin infusion of MAR cows improved reproductive performance, depending on CTI. The greater treatment effect in VV‐positive cows suggests that VV scoring is a useful tool for the diagnosis of endometritis.
Quantification of VEGF‐C expression in canine mammary tumours
Authors: Qiu C , LIN DD , Wang HH , Qiao CH , Wang J , Zhang T 
Published: June 2008

Background  Tumours release angiogenic factors such as vascular endothelium growth factor (VEGF), which induces growth of a capillary network around the tumour. Elevated concentrations of VEGF have been reported in human mammary gland tumours.Methods  To evaluate the expression of VEGF‐C mRNA in canine mammary tissue, 38 mammary gland tumours (including 15 benign and 23 malignant mammary tumours), and 4 normal mammary glands were investigated by real‐time reverse transcriptase quantitative polymerase chain reaction.Results  VEGF‐C expression in the malignant mammary tumours was much higher than in the benign mammary tumours or normal mammary tissue (P < 0.001). The expression of VEGF‐C in tumours with lymph node metastasis was much higher than in those without (P < 0.01).Conclusion  The level of expression of VEGF‐C did not correlate with tumour size or the patient's age, but was significantly higher in malignant mammary tumours and related to lymph node metastasis, making it a candidate marker for predicting metastasis of canine mammary cancer.
p16, cyclin D1, and human telomerase reverse transcriptase expression in cervical premalignant and malignant lesions
Authors: Chang Sunhee , Joo Mee , Kim Hanseong 
Published: June 2008

ABSTRACT Background and aim: Although morphological criteria are important for diagnosis of cervical intraepithelial neoplasia, it is not possible to differentiate those that will regress from those that will progress into invasive cancer. We evaluate the usefulness of p16, cyclin D1, and human telomerase reverse transcriptase (hTERT) as diagnostic and prognostic biomarkers in cervical lesions. Methods: We studied 12 cases of benign lesion, 15 cases of low‐grade squamous intraepithelial lesion, 46 cases of high‐grade squamous intraepithelial lesion, and 13 cases of squamous cell carcinoma by immunohistochemistry. Results: The p16 expression was significantly correlated with high risk‐human papillomavirus (HR‐HPV) status, lesion grade, and decreased cyclin D1 expression. The decreased cyclin D1 expression was significantly correlated with HR‐HPV status, lesion grade, and p16 expression. The positive predictive values for high grade lesion of p16 expression, HR‐HPV status, and decreased cyclin D1 expression were 93.8%, 81.3%, and 51.2%, respectively. The distribution pattern of hTERT positive cells was correlated with morphologically dysplastic cells. Conclusions: A good correlation was observed between cervical lesion grade and p16 expression, decreased cyclin D1 expression, and HR‐HPV status. p16 expression could be used as a diagnostic and prognostic biomarker for risk of developing cervical cancer in women infected with HPV.
Immunohistological study of skin involvement in Kikuchi's disease
Authors: Lee Hyekyung , Oh Shintaek , Kim Myungsuk , Shin Soyoung , Park Meeja 
Published: June 2008

ABSTRACTWe describe the immunohistochemical findings of the skin lesion of Kikuchi's disease (KD) in two patients. They presented with fever, lymphadenopathy, and eruptions on the skin of palm and face. Each patient had a lymph node biopsy which showed the typical necrotizing lymphadenitis of KD. Skin biopsies from the two patients showed various pathologic findings of a crusted epidermis, a dense lymphohistiocytic perivascular and interstitial infiltrate, and abundant karyorrhectic debris with an absence of neutrophils, paralleling the nodal histology in KD. Immunohistochemically, the lymphohistiocytic cells in the skin and lymph nodes showed similar positivity for CD68, CD3, CD8, granzyme B and negativity for CD20 and CD4. These findings suggest that the cytotoxic T lymphocytes play important roles in the skin and lymph node without the significant assistance of B and helper T lymphocytes.
Extended-Spectrum β-Lactamase Production Is Associated with an Increase in Cell Invasion and Expression of Fimbrial Adhesins in
Klebsiella pneumoniae
Authors: Sahly H. , Navon-Venezia S. , Roesler L. , Hay A. , Carmeli Y. , Podschun R. , Hennequin C. , Forestier C. , Ofek I. 
Published: June 2008

ABSTRACT

Extended-spectrum β-lactamase (ESBL)-producing
Klebsiella pneumoniae
strains are suggested to possess higher pathogenic potential than non-ESBL producers. Microbial adherence to and invasion of host cells are critical steps in the infection process, so we examined the expression of type 1 and 3 fimbrial adhesins by 58 ESBL-producing and 152 nonproducing isolates of
K. pneumoniae
and their abilities to invade ileocecal and bladder epithelial cells. Mannose-sensitive hemagglutination of guinea pig erythrocytes and mannose-resistant hemagglutination of ox erythrocytes were evaluated to determine the strains’ abilities to express type 1 and type 3 fimbriae, respectively. Bacterial adhesion to and invasion of epithelial cells were tested by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay and imipenem killing assay, respectively. The adherence of ESBL- and non-ESBL-producing strains to epithelial cells did not differ significantly (
P
> 0.05). In contrast, the proportion of strains capable of invading (>5% relative invasion) ileocecal and bladder epithelial cells was significantly higher among ESBL producers (81%,
n
= 47/58, and 27.6%,
n
= 16/58, respectively) than among non-ESBL producers (61%,
n
= 93/152, and 10%,
n
= 15/152, respectively) (
P
= 0.0084, odds ratio [OR] = 2.711, 95% confidence interval [CI] = 1.302 to 5.643 and
P
= 0.0021, OR = 4.79, 95% CI = 1.587 to 7.627). The mean invasion by ESBL producers (5.5% ± 2.8% and 3.3% ± 2.7%, respectively) was significantly higher than that by non-ESBL producers (2.9% ± 2.6% and 1.8% ± 2%, respectively) (
P
< 0.0001). Likewise, the proportion of ESBL producers coexpressing both fimbrial adhesins was significantly higher (79.3%;
n
= 46/58) than that of non-ESBL producers (61.8%;
n
= 94/152) (
P
= 0.0214; OR = 2,365; 95% CI = 1.157 to 4.834). Upon acquisition of SHV-12-encoding plasmids, two transconjugants switched on to produce type 3 fimbriae while expression of type 1 fimbriae was not affected. The acquisition of an ESBL plasmid appeared to upregulate the phenotypic expression of one or more genes, resulting in greater invasion ability.
Clostridium difficileInfections in a Canadian Tertiary Care Hospital before and during a Regional Epidemic Associated with the BI/NAP1/027 Strain
Authors: Labbé Annie-Claude , Poirier Louise , MacCannell Duncan , Louie Thomas , Savoie Michel , Béliveau Claire , Laverdière Michel , Pépin Jacques 
Published: June 2008

ABSTRACTSince 2002, an epidemic ofClostridium difficileinfections has occurred in southern Quebec, Canada. At Hôpital Maisonneuve-Rosemont, Montreal, Quebec, Canada, the incidence ofC. difficileinfections increased from 11/1,000 admissions (1999 to 2002) to 27/1,000 admissions (2003 to 2005). We compared the exposures and outcomes for patients infected with strains with different ribopatterns isolated before (n= 55) and during (n= 175) the epidemic, as well as the in vitro activities of antibiotics against those isolates. During the preepidemic period, 46 isolates (84%) were of ribotype 001, 1 was of ribotype 027, and 8 were of other ribopattern types. During the epidemic period, ribotype 027 strains accounted for 140 (80%) isolates; 26 (15%) were of ribotype 001, and 7 were of other ribopattern types. Ribotype 027 strains were highly resistant to fluoroquinolones (FQs) but were susceptible to clindamycin. A pattern of prior specific antibiotic exposure that selected for antibiotic-resistant ribotypeC. difficileinfections was observed for FQs (ribotype 027) and clindamycin (ribotype 001). The rate of mortality was higher among older patients, those with a high Charlson comorbidity index, and those with longer previous hospitalizations. By multivariate analysis, patients infected with ribotype 027 were twice as likely to die within 30 days of diagnosis than patients infected with other ribotypes (adjusted odds ratio, 2.06; 95% confidence interval, 1.00 to 4.22). The observations from this study support the notion that continued selective antibiotic pressure resulted in the superimposition of the hypertoxigenic ribotype 027 clone on top of the prior dominant ribotype 001 clone in a setting of preexisting high endemicity, thus leading to the high rates of morbidity and mortality seen in the Quebec outbreak. Stringent antibiotic stewardship measures, combined with aggressive infection control, are required to curtail the epidemic ofC. difficileinfections.
Antimicrobial Activity of DC-159a, a New Fluoroquinolone, against 1,149 Recently Collected Clinical Isolates
Authors: Jones Ronald N. , Fritsche Thomas R. , Sader Helio S. 
Published: June 2008

ABSTRACT

The activity of DC-159a, a novel orally administered fluorinated quinolone, was evaluated by reference broth microdilution or agar dilution methods against 1,149 recently collected clinical isolates from five continents. Against pathogens associated with community-acquired respiratory tract infections (CA-RTIs), the MIC
90
s were 0.12 μg/ml for
Streptococcus pneumoniae
, 0.015 to 0.03 μg/ml for
Haemophilus influenzae
, 0.03 μg/ml for
Moraxella catarrhalis
, and 0.12 μg/ml for beta-hemolytic streptococci. Similarly, DC-159a was potent against various types of staphylococci (MIC
90
range, 0.03 to 2 μg/ml),
Enterococcus faecalis
(MIC
90
, 4 μg/ml), wild-type isolates of the family
Enterobacteriaceae
(MIC
90
range, 0.06 to 2 μg/ml), wild-type
Pseudomonas aeruginosa
(MIC
90
, 2 μg/ml), and
Acinetobacter
spp. (MIC
90
, 0.12 μg/ml). Fluoroquinolone-nonsusceptible organism subsets usually had elevated DC-159a MICs, but the MICs were often two- to fourfold lower than those of levofloxacin and moxifloxacin. In conclusion, DC-159a appears to possess a balanced broad spectrum of activity that exceeds the activities of the currently marketed fluoroquinolones, especially against pathogens that cause CA-RTIs.
The KQ Element, a Complex Genetic Region Conferring Transferable Resistance to Carbapenems, Aminoglycosides, and Fluoroquinolones in
Klebsiella pneumoniae
Authors: Rice Louis B. , Carias Lenore L. , Hutton Rebecca A. , Rudin Susan D. , Endimiani Andrea , Bonomo Robert A. 
Published: June 2008

ABSTRACT

The
bla
KPC-3
and
qnrB19
determinants of transferable
Klebsiella pneumoniae
plasmid pLRM24 reside within a complex region consisting of a Tn
1331
backbone into which a Tn
4401
-like element and
qnrB19
mobilized by an adjacent IS
Ecp1
insertion sequence have been inserted. This novel element represents a coalescence of genes conferring multidrug resistance in
K. pneumoniae
.
Genome of
Mycoplasma arthritidis
Authors: Dybvig Kevin , Zuhua Cao , Lao Ping , Jordan David S. , French C. Todd , Tu Anh-Hue T. , Loraine Ann E. 
Published: June 2008

ABSTRACT

The genomes of several species of mycoplasma have been sequenced. Most of these species rely on the glycolytic pathway for energy production, with the one exception of
Ureaplasma
, a species that breaks down urea as its principle source of acquiring energy. Several species, including as
Mycoplasma arthritidis
, are nonglycolytic and can use arginine as their source of energy. Described here are the genome sequence and a transposon library of
M. arthritidis
. The genome of 820,453 bp is typical in size for a mycoplasma and contains two large families of genes that are predicted to code for phase-variable proteins. The transposon library was constructed using a minitransposon that inserts stably into the mycoplasma genome. Of the 635 predicted coding regions, 218 were disrupted in a library of 1,100 members. Dispensable genes included the gene coding for the MAM superantigen and genes coding for ribosomal proteins S15, S18, and L15.
Decreased Susceptibility of Mice to Infection withListeria monocytogenesin the Absence of Interleukin-18
Authors: Lochner Matthias , Kastenmüller Kathrin , Neuenhahn Michael , Weighardt Heike , Busch Dirk H. , Reindl Wolfgang , Förster Irmgard 
Published: June 2008

ABSTRACTThe induction of proinflammatory cytokines such as gamma interferon (IFN-γ) and tumor necrosis factor alpha is crucial for the early control of bacterial infections. Since interleukin-18 (IL-18) acts as a potent inducer of IFN-γ, it might play an important role in the induction of a protective immune response in listeriosis. We used a murine model of systemicListeria monocytogenesinfection to study the immune response to these intracellular bacteria in the absence of IL-18. For this purpose, IL-18-deficient mice and mice treated with anti-IL-18 neutralizing antibody were infected withL. monocytogenes, and their innate and adaptive immune responses were compared to those of control mice. Unexpectedly, we found that mice deficient in IL-18 were partially resistant to primary infection withL. monocytogenes. At day 3 after infection, the numbers oflisteriaein the livers and spleens of control mice were up to 500 times higher than those in IL-18-deficient or anti-IL-18 antibody-treated mice. In addition, the level of proinflammatory cytokines was markedly reduced in IL-18-deficient mice. Enhanced resistance toL. monocytogenesinfection in IL-18-deficient mice was accompanied by increased numbers of leukocytes and reduced apoptosis in the spleen 48 to 72 h after infection. In contrast, control and IL-18-deficient mice showed no significant differences in their abilities to mount a protectiveL. monocytogenes-specific T-cell response.
KNOWLEDGE TRANSFER IN DEEP CONVOLUTIONAL NEURAL NETS
Authors: GUTSTEIN STEVEN , FUENTES OLAC , FREUDENTHAL ERIC 
Published: June 2008

Knowledge transfer is widely held to be a primary mechanism that enables humans to quickly learn new complex concepts when given only small training sets. In this paper, we apply knowledge transfer to deep convolutional neural nets, which we argue are particularly well suited for knowledge transfer. Our initial results demonstrate that components of a trained deep convolutional neural net can constructively transfer information to another such net. Furthermore, this transfer is completed in such a way that one can envision creating a net that could learn new concepts throughout its lifetime. The experiments we performed involved training a Deep Convolutional Neural Net (DCNN) on a large training set containing 20 different classes of handwritten characters from the NIST Special Database 19. This net was then used as a foundation for training a new net on a set of 20 different character classes from the NIST Special Database 19. The new net would keep the bottom layers of the old net (i.e. those nearest to the input) and only allow the top layers to train on the new character classes. We purposely used small training sets for the new net to force it to rely as much as possible upon transferred knowledge as opposed to a large and varied training set to learn the new set of hand written characters. Our results show a clear advantage in relying upon transferred knowledge to learn new tasks when given small training sets, if the new tasks are sufficiently similar to the previously mastered one. However, this advantage decreases as training sets increase in size.
EMPIRICAL INVARIANCE PRINCIPLE FOR ERGODIC TORUS AUTOMORPHISMS: GENERICITY
Authors: DURIEU OLIVIER , JOUAN PHILIPPE 
Published: June 2008

We consider the dynamical system given by an algebraic ergodic automorphism T on a torus. We study a Central Limit Theorem for the empirical process associated to the stationary process (f◦Ti)i∈ℕ, where f is a given ℝ-valued function. We give a sufficient condition on f for this Central Limit Theorem to hold. In the second part, we prove that the distribution function of a Morse function is continuously differentiable if the dimension of the manifold is at least three and Hölder continuous if the dimension is one or two. As a consequence, the Morse functions satisfy the empirical invariance principle, which is therefore generically verified.
Unified relevance models for rating prediction in collaborative filtering
Authors: Wang Jun , de Vries Arjen P. , Reinders Marcel J. T. 
Published: June 2008

Collaborative filtering aims at predicting a user's interest for a given item based on a collection of user profiles. This article views collaborative filtering as a problem highly related to information retrieval, drawing an analogy between the concepts of users and items in recommender systems and queries and documents in text retrieval.We present a probabilistic user-to-item relevance framework that introduces the concept of relevance into the related problem of collaborative filtering. Three different models are derived, namely, auser-based, anitem-based, and aunified relevance model, and we estimate their rating predictions from three sources: the user's own ratings for different items, other users' ratings for the same item, and ratings from different but similar users for other but similar items.To reduce the data sparsity encountered when estimating the probability density function of the relevance variable, we apply the nonparametric (data-driven) density estimation technique known as theParzen-window method(or kernel-based density estimation). Using a Gaussian window function, the similarity between users and/or items would, however, be based on Euclidean distance. Because the collaborative filtering literature has reported improved prediction accuracy when using cosine similarity, we generalize the Parzen-window method by introducing aprojection kernel.Existing user-based and item-based approaches correspond to two simplified instantiations of our framework. User-based and item-based collaborative filterings represent only a partial view of the prediction problem, where the unified relevance model brings these partial views together under the same umbrella. Experimental results complement the theoretical insights with improved recommendation accuracy. The unified model is more robust to data sparsity because the different types of ratings are used in concert.
Lagrangian Transport through an Ocean Front in the Northwestern Mediterranean Sea
Authors: Mancho Ana M. , Hernández-García Emilio , Small Des , Wiggins Stephen , Fernández Vicente 
Published: June 2008

Abstract
With the tools of lobe dynamics, the authors analyze the structures present in the velocity field obtained from a numerical simulation of the surface circulation in the northwestern Mediterranean Sea. In particular, focus is placed on the North Balearic Front, the westernmost part of the transition zone between saltier and fresher waters in the western Mediterranean, which is here interpreted in terms of the presence of a semipermanent “Lagrangian barrier,” across which little transport occurs. Identified are relevant hyperbolic trajectories and their manifolds, and it is shown that the transport mechanism known as the turnstile, previously identified in abstract dynamical systems and simplified model flows, is also at work in this complex and realistic ocean flow. In addition, nonlinear dynamics techniques are shown to be powerful enough to identify the key geometric structures in this part of the Mediterranean. The construction also reveals the spatiotemporal routes along which this transport happens. Topological changes in that picture, which are associated with the crossing by eddies and may be interpreted as the breakdown of the front, are also observed during the simulation.
Boundary Mixing Associated with Tidal and Near-Inertial Internal Waves
Authors: Aucan Jerome , Merrifield Mark 
Published: June 2008

Abstract
Moorings deployed on the south (August–November 2002) and north (November 2002–June 2003) flanks of the Kaena Ridge, Hawaii, are used to document the flow variability associated with mixing within 200 m from the boundary, deep along the ridge, as part of the Hawaii Ocean Mixing Experiment (HOME). At both sites, strong temperature inversions are detected with vertical scales of ∼100 m. A Thorpe-scale analysis of the overturns yields a time-averaged dissipation near the bottom at the south site (1.2 × 10−8 W kg−1) that is 10 times higher than the north site (1.9 × 10−9 W kg−1), with both higher than the dissipation at similar depths 30 km from the ridge. On the south flank, observed horizontal currents and vertical displacements are dominated by the semidiurnal internal tide. On the north flank, the semidiurnal tide is less energetic than on the south, with a different vertical structure as tidal amplitudes decrease toward the boundary. These differences are attributed to greater separation from the bottom of downward-propagating internal tides at the north site compared to the south site, resulting in higher mixing at the south site. Near the boundary, near-inertial to diurnal oscillations are more energetic at the north than the south site. This asymmetry is attributed to near-inertial internal waves that are generated north of the ridge by winter storms; the ridge shadows the equatorward-propagating near-inertial internal waves leading to negligible amplitudes on the southern lee side. The near-inertial waves combine with internal tidal motions to create high strain conditions that lead to mixing at the north site.