bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
AQUA and FISH analysis of HER‐2/neu expression and amplification in a small cell lung carcinoma tissue microarray
Authors: Giltnane J M , Murren J R , Rimm D L , King B L 
Published: July 2006

Aims:  Most small cell lung carcinoma (SCLC) patients have metastatic disease at the time of diagnosis and are faced with poor prognosis and limited treatment options. Reports of HER‐2/neu gene amplification and overexpression in this malignancy have raised the possibility of applying targeted immunotherapy with trastuzumab, the monoclonal antibody used to treat metastatic breast cancer. However, a review of the studies measuring HER‐2/neu gene amplification and protein expression in SCLC reveals discordant results. The aim of the present study was to re‐examine HER‐2/neu expression in SCLC in relation to gene copy number using the new, highly sensitive, immunofluorescence automated quantitative analysis (AQUA) technology.Methods and results:  Fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH) was used to measure HER‐2/neu gene copy number and amplification status and AQUA was used to measure protein expression in a series of 23 SCLC tumours on a tissue microarray. None of the 17 SCLC specimens assessable by FISH exhibited HER‐2/neu gene amplification as defined by a HER‐2/neu/chromosome 17 ratio = or > 2. Twelve of 17 (70.1%) SCLC samples were polysomic for chromosome 17 with corresponding increases in HER‐2/neu gene copy numbers. Intermediate levels of protein expression corresponding to AQUA scores in the range of 4–24 were detected in all 23 specimens. High protein expression levels corresponding to AQUA scores up to 83, observed previously in association with gene amplification and poor prognosis in breast cancer cases, were not detected in the present study. No statistically significant association was observed between absolute chromosome 17 or HER‐2/neu gene copy numbers and protein expression levels in tumour cells (P > 0.45).Conclusions:  The lack of gene amplification and robust HER‐2/neu protein expression in SCLC tumour cells in this series does not suggest a prominent role for the HER‐2/neu gene in SCLC tumour progression and does not support the general applicability of targeted immunotherapy with trastuzumab to this malignancy.
The impact of malocclusion and its treatment on quality of life: a literature review
Authors: ZHANG M. , MCGRATH C. , HÄGG U. 
Published: July 2006

Summary.Aim. The aim of this paper is to review the literature relating to the impact of malocclusion, and the treatment of malocclusion, on physical, social and psychological health (i.e. quality of life, QoL).Design. English‐language papers, including cross‐sectional studies, retrospective and prospective longitudinal studies, randomized controlled trials, and reviews and meta‐analyses were reviewed to determine the impact of malocclusion and its treatment on QoL.Results. Malocclusion and its treatment can affect physical health in terms of pain (e.g. temporomandibular disorders, and dental and gingival trauma), speech and mastication. In terms of psychological health, malocclusion and its treatment is reported to affect self‐concept. Socially, malocclusion and its treatment can affect perceived attractiveness by others, social acceptance and perceived intelligence. However, the evidence is conflicting owing to differences in study designs, population's studied and methods of assessment of psychical, social and psychological health.Conclusion. Much controversy exists about the impact of malocclusion and its treatment on QoL. There is a need for a more comprehensive and rigorous assessment of the impact of malocclusion and its treatment on QoL, employing standardized, valid and reliable data collection instruments.
Nurse staffing levels and hospital mortality in critical care settings: literature review and meta‐analysis
Authors: Numata Yuka , Schulzer Michael , Van Der Wal Rena , Globerman Judith , Semeniuk Pat , Balka Ellen , FitzGerald J. Mark 
Published: July 2006

Aim.  This paper reports a review of the literature on the association between critical care nurse staffing levels and patient mortality.Background.  Statistically significant inverse associations between levels of nurse staffing and hospital mortality have not been consistently found in the literature. Critical care settings are ideal to address this relationship due to high patient acuity and mortality, high intensity of the nursing care required, and availability of individual risk adjustment methods.Methods.  Major electronic databases were searched, including MEDLINE, EMBASE, and the Cumulative Index of Nursing and Allied Health Literature. The search terms included critical/intensive care, quality of health care, mortality/hospital mortality, personnel staffing and scheduling, and nursing staff (hospital). Only papers published in English were included. The original search was conducted in 2002 and updated in 2005.Results.  Nine studies were selected from 251 references screened. All nine were observational. Six were conducted in the United States of America, one in Austria, one in Brazil, and one in Scotland. The unadjusted risk ratio of nurse staffing (high vs. low) on hospital mortality were combined meta‐analytically (five studies). The pooled estimate was 0·65 (95% confidence interval 0·47–0·91). However, after adjusting for various covariates within each study, the individually reported associations between high nurse staffing and low hospital mortality became non‐significant in all but one study.Conclusion.  The impact of nurse staffing levels on patients’ hospital mortality in critical care settings was not evident in the reviewed studies. Methodological challenges that might have impeded correct assessment of the association include measurement problems in exposure status and confounding factors, often uncontrolled. The lack of association also indicates that hospital mortality may not be sensitive enough to detect the consequences of low nurse staffing levels in critical care settings.
Residential aged care: the last frontier for palliative care
Authors: Phillips Jane , Davidson Patricia M. , Jackson Debra , Kristjanson Linda , Daly John , Curran Jim 
Published: July 2006

Aim.  This paper is a report of an explorative study describing the perceptions and beliefs about palliative care among nurses and care assistants working in residential aged care facilities in Australia.Background.  Internationally, the number of people dying in residential aged care facilities is growing. In Australia, aged care providers are being encouraged and supported by a positive policy platform to deliver a palliative approach to care, which has generated significant interest from clinicians, academics and researchers. However, a little is known about the ability and capacity of residential aged care services to adopt and provide a palliative approach to care.Methods.  Focus groups were used to investigate the collective perceptions and beliefs about palliative care in a convenience sample of nurses and care assistants working in residential aged care facilities in Australia. Thematic content analysis was used to analyse the data, which were collected during 2004.Results.  Four major themes emerged: (1) being like family; (2) advocacy as a key role; (3) challenges in communicating with other healthcare providers; (4) battling and striving to succeed against the odds. Although participants described involvement and commitment to quality palliative care, they also expressed a need for additional education and support about symptom control, language and access to specialist services and resources.Conclusion.  The residential aged care sector is in need of support for providing palliative care, yet there are significant professional and system barriers to care delivery. The provision of enhanced palliative care educational and networking opportunities for nurses and care assistants in residential aged care, augmented by a supportive organizational culture, would assist in the adoption of a palliative approach to service delivery and requires systematic investigation.
Causes and consequences of adaptive seasonal sex ratio variation in house sparrows
Authors: HUSBY ARILD , SÆTHER BERNT‐ERIK , JENSEN HENRIK , RINGSBY THOR HARALD 
Published: July 2006

Summary

Here we examine how sex ratio variation in house sparrow broods interacts with other demographic traits and parental characteristics to improve the understanding of adaptive significance and demographic effects on variation in sex ratio.
The sex ratio in complete broods did not deviate significantly from parity (54·9% males).
There was sex‐specific seasonal variation in the probability of recruitment. Male nestlings that hatched late in the breeding season had larger probability of surviving than early hatched males.
An adaptive adjustment of sex ratio should favour production of an excess of males late in the breeding season. Accordingly, the proportion of male offspring increased throughout the breeding season.
A significant nonlinear relationship was present between sex ratio and age of the female. However, there was no relationship between parental phenotype and standardized hatch day that could explain the observed seasonal change in sex ratio.
The sex‐specific number of offspring recruited by a pair to subsequent generations was closely related to the brood sex ratio.
These results indicate an adaptive adjustment of sex ratio to seasonal variation in environmental conditions that affects the offspring fitness of the two sexes differently. Our results also suggest that such a sex ratio variation can strongly influence the demography and structural composition of small passerine populations.
Monsoon rain forest seedling dynamics, northern Australia: contrasts with regeneration in eucalypt‐dominated savannas
Authors: Russell‐Smith Jeremy , Setterfield Samantha A. 
Published: July 2006

AbstractAim To explore: (1) the relative influences of site conditions, especially moisture relations, on pathways and rates of monsoon rain forest seedling and sapling regeneration, especially of canopy dominants, in northern Australia; and (2) contrasts between regeneration syndromes of dominant woody taxa in savannas and monsoon rain forest.Location Four monsoon rain forest sites, representative of regional major habitat and vegetation types, in Kakadu National Park, northern Australia.Methods A decadal study involved: (1) initial assessment over 2.5 years to explore within‐year variability in seed rain, dormant seed banks and seedling (< 50 cm height) dynamics; and (2) thereafter, monitoring of seedling and sapling (50 cm height to 5 cm d.b.h.) dynamics undertaken annually in the late dry season. On the basis of observations from this and other studies, regeneration syndromes of dominant monsoon rain forest taxa are contrasted with comparable information for dominant woody savanna taxa,EucalyptusandCorymbiaespecially.Results Key observations from the monsoon rain forest regeneration dynamics study component are that: (1) peak seed rain inputs of rain forest taxa were observed in the wet season at perennially moist sites, whereas inputs at seasonally dry sites extended into, or peaked in, the dry season; (2) dormant soil seed banks of woody rain forest taxa were dominated by pioneer taxa, especially figs; (3) longevity of dormant seed banks of woody monsoon rain forest taxa, including figs, was expended within 3 years; (4) seedling recruitment of monsoon rain forest woody taxa was derived mostly from wet season seed rain with limited inputs from soil seed banks; (5) at all sites rain forest seedling mortality occurred mostly in the dry season; (6) rain forest seedling and sapling densities were consistently greater at moist sites; (7) recruitment from clonal reproduction was negligible, even following unplanned low intensity fires.Main conclusions By comparison with dominant savanna eucalypts, dominant monsoon rain forest taxa recruit substantially greater stocks of seedlings, but exhibit slower aerial growth and development of resprouting capacity in early years, lack lignotubers in mesic species, and lack capacity for clonal reproduction. The reliance on sexual as opposed to vegetative reproduction places monsoon rain forest taxa at significant disadvantage, especially slower growing species on seasonally dry sites, given annual–biennial fires in many north Australian savannas.
Very low level of microalbuminuria is associated with increased risk of death in subjects with cardiovascular or cerebrovascular diseases
Authors: KLAUSEN K. P. , SCHARLING H. , JENSEN J. S. 
Published: July 2006

Abstract.Background.  The original definition of microalbuminuria (20–200 μg min−1 or 15–150 μg min−1 overnight) is based on studies of patients with diabetes, in whom microalbuminuria was associated with increased risk of chronic renal failure. In a recent report an overnight urinary albumin excretion (UAE) above only 5 μg min−1 was strongly predictive of coronary heart disease and death in the general population. The aim of the present study was to investigate if this cut‐off level also has prognostic value in a population with cardiovascular or cerebrovascular disease.Methods and results.  In The Third Copenhagen City Heart Study in 1992–1994, 491 men and women aged 30–80 years with a history of coronary heart disease or stroke delivered a timed overnight urine sample. They were followed by registers with respect to vital status until 2004. During follow‐up, 141 of the 491 participants died. The relative risk of death in subjects with UAE above 5 μg min−1 compared with subjects with lower UAE was 2.0 (1.4–2.8; P < 0.001). It was unaffected [RR 1.9 (1.3–2.7); P < 0.005] by adjustment for age, sex, blood pressure, diabetes, lipoproteins, renal creatinine clearance, smoking and body mass index.Conclusions.  Subjects with cardiovascular or cerebrovascular disease have about 100% higher risk of death if microalbuminuria defined as UAE above 5 μg min−1 is present. Measurements of UAE should be included in the risk assessment in subjects with cardiovascular or cerebrovascular disease. This study supports the definition of microalbuminuria as UAE above 5 μg min−1.
Viral hepatitis and proteinuria in an area endemic for hepatitis B and C infections: another chain of link?
Authors: HUANG J.‐F. , CHUANG W.‐L. , DAI C.‐Y. , HO C.‐K. , HWANG S.‐J. , CHEN S.‐C. , LIN Z.‐Y. , WANG L.‐Y. , CHANG W.‐Y. , YU M.‐L. 
Published: July 2006

Abstract.Background and objectives.  Virus hepatitis may lead to nephropathy as one of its multiple extrahepatic manifestations. Proteinuria by dipstick, a simple test in practice, is a useful and cardinal sign of underlying renal abnormalities. The aim of this study was to elucidate the impact of hepatitis B virus (HBV) and/or hepatitis C virus (HCV) infections on the occurrence of proteinuria amongst adults.Designandsetting.  A prospective, cross‐sectional, community‐based study was conducted in an HBV/HCV endemic area of southern Taiwan. Eligible subjects aged 40–65 years (n = 9934) underwent testing of hepatitis B surface antigen (HBsAg), HCV antibody (anti‐HCV) and other related biochemical profiles. Urinalysis with repeated dipstick for proteinuria detection was performed.Results.  Anti‐HCV‐positive rate amongst proteinuria subjects was significantly higher than nonproteinuria subjects (9.6% vs. 6.2%, P < 0.001). By contrast, HBsAg‐positive rate did not differ between subjects with and without proteinuria (13.0% vs. 13.8%, P = 0.57). Prevalence of proteinuria amongst anti‐HCV‐positive subjects (10.2%) was significantly higher than that in HBsAg‐positive subjects (6.4%, P =0.004) and in HBsAg‐negative or anti‐HCV‐negative subjects (7.0%, P = 0.004). The difference persisted even after excluding diabetics. Multivariate logistic regression analyses showed that diabetes was the most important significant factor associated with proteinuria, followed by hypertension, anti‐HCV seropositivity, body mass index, age and triglyceride levels.Conclusion.  We demonstrated the significant association between proteinuria and HCV, but not HBV, infection in this HBV/HCV‐endemic area.
Comparative phylogeography of Ponto‐Caspian mysid crustaceans: isolation and exchange among dynamic inland sea basins
Authors: AUDZIJONYTE ASTA , DANELIYA MIKHAIL E. , VÄINÖLÄ RISTO 
Published: July 2006

AbstractThe distributions of many endemic Ponto‐Caspian brackish‐water taxa are subdivided among the Black, Azov and Caspian Sea basins and further among river estuaries. Of the two alternative views to explain the distributions, the relict school has claimed Tertiary fragmentation of the once contiguous range by emerging geographical and salinity barriers, whereas the immigration view has suggested recolonization of the westerly populations from the Caspian Sea after extirpation during Late Pleistocene environmental perturbations. A study of mitochondrial (COI) phylogeography of seven mysid crustacean taxa from the genera Limnomysis and Paramysis showed that both scenarios can be valid for different species. Four taxa had distinct lineages related to the major basin subdivision, but the lineage distributions and depths of divergence were not concordant. The data do not support a hypothesis of Late Miocene (10–5 Myr) vicariance; rather, range subdivisions and dispersal from and to the Caspian Sea seem to have occurred at different times throughout the Pleistocene. For example, in Paramysis lacustris each basin had an endemic clade 2–5% diverged from the others, whereas Paramysis kessleri from the southern Caspian and the western Black Sea were nearly identical. Species‐specific ecological characteristics such as vagility and salinity tolerance seem to have played important roles in shaping the phylogeographic patterns. The mitochondrial data also suggested recent, human‐mediated cryptic invasions of P. lacustris and Limnomysis benedeni from the Caspian to the Sea of Azov basin via the Volga‐Don canal. Cryptic species‐level subdivisions were recorded in populations attributed to Paramysis baeri, and possibly in P. lacustris.
Recruitment of a novel zinc‐bound transcriptional factor by a bacterial HMGA‐type protein is required for regulating multiple processes in Myxococcus xanthus
Authors: Peñalver‐Mellado Marcos , García‐Heras Francisco , Padmanabhan S. , García‐Moreno Diana , Murillo Francisco J. , Elías‐Arnanz Montserrat 
Published: July 2006

SummaryEnhanceosome assembly in eukaryotes often requires high mobility group A (HMGA) proteins. In prokaryotes, the only known transcriptional regulator with HMGA‐like physical, structural and DNA‐binding properties is Myxococcus xanthus CarD. Here, we report that every CarD‐regulated process analysed also requires the product of gene carG, located immediately downstream of and transcriptionally coupled to carD. CarG has the zinc‐binding H/C‐rich metallopeptidase motif found in archaemetzincins, but with Q replacing a catalytically essential E. CarG, a monomer, binds two zinc atoms, shows no apparent metallopeptidase activity, and its stability in vivo absolutely requires the cysteines. This indicates a strictly structural role for zinc‐binding. In vivo CarG localizes to the nucleoid but only if CarD is also present. In vitro CarG shows no DNA‐binding but physically interacts with CarD via its N‐terminal and not HMGA domain. CarD and CarG thus work as a single, physically linked, transcriptional regulatory unit, and if one exists in a bacterium so does the other. Like zinc‐associated eukaryotic transcriptional adaptors in enhanceosome assembly, CarG regulates by interacting not with DNA but with another transcriptional factor.
Structural and biochemical characterization of a mitochondrial peroxiredoxin from Plasmodium falciparum
Authors: Boucher Ian W. , McMillan Paul J. , Gabrielsen Mads , Akerman Susan E. , Brannigan James A. , Schnick Claudia , Brzozowski Andrzej M. , Wilkinson Anthony J. , Müller Sylke 
Published: July 2006

Summary Plasmodium falciparum possesses a single mitochondrion with a functional electron transport chain. During respiration, reactive oxygen species are generated that need to be removed to protect the organelle from oxidative damage. In the absence of catalase and glutathione peroxidase, the parasites rely primarily on peroxiredoxin‐linked systems for protection. We have analysed the biochemical and structural features of the mitochondrial peroxiredoxin and thioredoxin of P. falciparum. The mitochondrial localization of both proteins was confirmed by expressing green fluorescent protein fusions in parasite erythrocytic stages. Recombinant protein was kinetically characterized using the cytosolic and the mitochondrial thioredoxin (PfTrx1 and PfTrx2 respectively). The peroxiredoxin clearly preferred PfTrx2 to PfTrx1 as a reducing partner, reflected by the KM values of 11.6 μM and 130.4 μM respectively. Substitution of the two dyads asparagine‐62/tyrosine‐63 and phenylalanine‐139/alanine‐140 residues by aspartate‐phenylalaine and valine‐serine, respectively, reduced the KM for Trx1 but had no effect on the KM of Trx2 suggesting some role for these residues in the discrimination between the two substrates. Solution studies suggest that the protein exists primarily in a homodecameric form. The crystal structure of the mitochondrial peroxiredoxin reveals a fold typical of the 2‐Cys class peroxiredoxins and a dimeric form with an intermolecular disulphide bridge between Cys67 and Cys187. These results show that the mitochondrial peroxiredoxin of P. falciparum occurs in both dimeric and decameric forms when purified under non‐reducing conditions.
Weaning pig performance and faecal microbiota with and without in‐feed addition of rare earth elements
Authors: Kraatz M. , Taras D. , Männer K. , Simon O. 
Published: July 2006

SummaryTwo 6‐week feeding trials were conducted on a total of 112 newly weaned piglets to examine the recently reported growth promoting effects of dietary rare earth elements (REE) in European pig production. Rare earth element‐diets were supplemented with a REE‐citrate premix of lanthanum and the light lanthanoides cerium, praseodymium and neodymium at 200 mg/kg for 6 weeks after weaning. Overall for both trials, growth performance of REE‐citrate and control fed piglets did not differ significantly (p > 0.05). An early enhancive tendency for REE‐citrate in trial 1 (feed conversion ratio, FCR −3%, p = 0.15) proved irreproducible in trial 2. In the late period of trial 1, in‐feed addition of REE‐citrate significantly impaired piglet performance (FCR + 8%, p =0.01). A cultivation‐independent molecular approach, polymerase chain reaction‐denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis was further applied to assess REE induced alterations in the predominant faecal microbiota from weaning pigs. Calculation of various ecological characteristics does not indicate (p > 0.05) an often discussed selective effect on local microbial composition of dietary REE.