bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
General medical practitioners in Pakistan fail to educate patients adequately about complications of diabetes
Authors: Shahpurwala MM , Sani N , Shah S , Shuja F , Shahid K , Tariq H , Huda Z , Zuberi L , Jafar TH , Jafar Tazeen H 
Published: April 2006

AbstractThe prevalence of diabetes in Pakistan is one of the highest reported worldwide. Proper education of patients regarding strategies to prevent complications of diabetes is an essential component of good management of diabetes. We conducted this study to determine the approach of general practitioners towards the management of diabetes.We carried out a cross‐sectional survey of 100 randomly selected GPs from urban cities of Pakistan. A rigorously developed questionnaire was administered and contained questions on (1) diagnostic criteria, (2) health education, and management of a patient by non‐pharmacological and (3) pharmacological treatment, and (4) appropriate referral of the patients to specialists.In total, 100 GPs were approached, and all consented to enrol; 70% were male. The average number of patients seen at each clinic was 30 patients per day. Only 38% of the GPs used the correct level of fasting blood glucose (≥126mg/dl) as the cut‐off for diagnosing diabetes. The majority of GPs did not adequately educate their patients. Only 65% of the GPs interviewed gave advice about exercise, 38% about weight reduction, 26% about foot care, 26% about the complications, 9% about insulin use, 20% about hypoglycaemic events, and 23% about smoking cessation.It was concluded that GPs in Pakistan under‐diagnose and under‐educate patients with diabetes. Our findings highlight the need for appropriate diagnosis and management of diabetes, and prevention of its complications. Copyright © 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
A feasibility study of the use of photographic food diaries in the management of obesity
Authors: Gregory R , Walwyn L , Bloor S , Amin S 
Published: April 2006

AbstractThis study aimed to determine whether recording food intake by photography alters the estimated energy consumption based on analysis of food diaries alone.Twelve obese patients attending a hospital clinic were issued with food diaries, a disposable flash camera, and a ruler for scale, were instructed in their use, and were asked to record and photograph all food consumed on three days. Cameras and food diaries were returned by post and the films processed. Two dietitians independently performed nutritional analysis, initially of the food diary alone, and then with the food diary and matched photographs. Comparisons of total estimated energy intake were made for each dietitian and for each method.Twelve of 30 (40%) patients agreed to participate. Nine (75%) returned food diaries and photographs suitable for analysis. Estimated energy intake from food diaries alone was 1603±395kcal/day (mean±SD) for dietitian#1, and 1611±449kcal/day for dietitian#2; p = 0.93. This became 1731±475kcal/day for dietitian#1 and 1694±497kcal/day for dietitian#2 when food diaries were supplemented by photographs; p = 0.71.It was concluded that an inexpensive form of self‐monitoring of food intake improves estimates of energy consumption in obese subjects by permitting better assessment of portion size and more precise identification of foods. One unexpected finding was the high rate of refusal to participate in this study. Copyright © 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
‘The long and winding road…’
Authors: Clark Marie 
Published: April 2006

AbstractPsychological factors play a vital role in living with diabetes throughout the patient journey. In this lecture, I will explore psychological contributions to our understanding of the impact of diagnosis, and how people cope with and manage their diabetes, including motivational and behaviour change strategies and interventions. It will be concluded that psychological well‐being is crucial to optimal health outcomes for people with diabetes, and — since poor psychological well‐being is a risk factor for the development of complications — in the light of the evidence presented, screening for psychological well‐being should become part of routine practice in diabetes care. Copyright © 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Lipid treatment strategies for metabolic syndrome in established cardiovascular disease: a consensus guideline
Authors: Davis M , Durrington P , Hanif W , Morrell J , Mughal S , Mehrali T , Barnett AH , Shepherd J 
Published: April 2006

AbstractIn this paper we present an evidence‐based guideline for the management of metabolic syndrome in patients with established cardiovascular disease. We initially discuss the relationship between the various components of metabolic syndrome and dyslipidaemia, the evidence base for treatment of both LDL and HDL cholesterol and the specific issue of extremely high rates of cardiovascular disease in the Indo‐Asian community in the UK. Although several national and international guidelines provide treatment strategies for prevention of cardiovascular disease, none provide separate guidance on the prevention and management of coronary heart disease in the context of metabolic syndrome. In this document we emphasise that although statins will remain the mainstay of therapy, there remain a range of additional treatment options to further improve the lipid profile. These include the cholesterol absorption inhibitor, ezetimibe, fibrates and nicotinic acid derivatives. We present an algorithm to guide health professionals treating patients with cardiovascular disease and metabolic syndrome from lifestyle modification through to pharmacotherapy. We hope this will provide a practical, accessible tool for managing the increased cardiovascular risk in patients with metabolic syndrome and established cardiovascular disease. Copyright © 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Physical coupling between lipids and proteins: a paradigm for cellular control
Authors: Ces Oscar , Mulet Xavier 
Published: April 2006

AbstractThe long held view of biological lipids acting as passive building blocks in biological membranes has now been superseded by the notion that the structure and composition of the membrane plays a crucial role in the regulation of protein function and numerous other biological processes. This may be the result of specific protein‐lipid recognition phenomena or alternatively regulation by sensing properties of the membrane such as the stored curvature elastic stress with the latter being the focus of the review.
Peptide‐based inhibitors of N‐myristoyl transferase generated from a lipid/combinatorial peptide chimera library
Authors: Tate Edward W. , Bowyer Paul W. , Brown Katherine A. , Smith Deborah F. , Holder Anthony A. , Leatherbarrow Robin J. 
Published: April 2006

AbstractPeptide aptamers are powerful chemical genetic tools for the dissection of biological networks, but their application to in vivo systems has been limited by the challenging problem of targeting peptides to a specific site on a single target protein. Here we present our initial research on a novel technique for targeting combinatorial peptide aptamers to a protein binding‐site using a small‐molecule binding‐partner (or ‘Trojan horse’). Novel peptide‐based inhibitors for Plasmodium falciparum myristoyl‐CoA:protein N‐myristoyl transferase (PfNMT) have been selected from a one‐bead one‐compound library using a high‐throughput on‐bead screening methodology, targeted to the active site of NMT with a myristate (C14 : 0 fatty acid) substrate analogue. From an initial screen of an unbiased 130321‐compound library of lipid/combinatorial peptide chimeras, we have selected 6‐mer peptides in an on‐bead assay which show NMT inhibition with IC50 values ranging down to low micromolar.
A Formal Axiomatization for Alphabet Reasoning with Parametrized Processes
Authors: Korver Henri , Sellink Alex 
Published: April 2006

Abstract.

In the process-algebraic verification of systems with three or more components put in parallel, alphabet axioms are considered to be useful. These are rules that exploit the information about the alphabets of the processes involved. The alphabet of a process is the set of actions it can perform. In this paper, we extend μCRL (a formal proof system for ACP
τ
+ data) with such axioms. The alphabet axioms that are added to the proof theory are completely formal and therefore highly suited for computer-checked verification. This is new compared to previous papers where the formulation of alphabet axioms relies for a considerable amount on informal data parameters and implicit (infinite) set theory.
Protective Interface Specifications
Authors: Leavens Gary T. , Wing Jeannette M. 
Published: April 2006

Abstract.
The interface specification of a procedure describes the procedure's behaviour using pre- and postconditions. These pre- and postconditions are written using various functions. If some of these functions are partial, or underspecified, then the procedure specification may not be well-defined.
We show how to write pre- and postcondition specifications that avoid such problems, by having the precondition “protect” the postcondition from the effects of partiality and underspecification. We formalize the notion of protection from partiality in the context of specification languages like VDM-SL and COLD-K. We also formalize the notion of protection from underspecification for the Larch family of specification languages, and for Larch show how one can prove that a procedure specification is protected from the effects of underspecification.
Algebraic Models of Correctness for Microprocessors
Authors: Fox A. C. J. , Harman N. A. 
Published: April 2006

Abstract.

We present a method of describing microprocessors at different levels of temporal and data abstraction, and consider
pipelined
and
superscalar
processors. We model microprocessors using
iterated maps
, defined by equations which evolve a system from an initial state by the iterative application of a
next-state
function. Levels of timing abstraction are related by temporal abstraction maps called
retimings
. We state
correctness conditions
for microprogrammed, pipelined and superscalar processors. We introduce
one-step theorems
that permit verification of correctness conditions to be considerably simplified under well-defined conditions. We extend the one-step theorems to
superscalar
microprocessors.
Presheaves as Configured Specifications
Authors: Vickers Steven , Hill Gillian 
Published: April 2006

Abstract.The paper addresses a notion of configuring systems, constructing them from specified component parts with specified sharing. This notion is independent of any underlying specification language and has been abstractly identified with the taking of colimits in category theory. Mathematically it is known that these can be expressed by presheaves and the present paper applies this idea to configuration.We interpret the category theory informally as follows. Suppose ? is a category whose objects are interpreted as specifications, and for which each morphismu:X→Yis interpreted as contravariant ‘instance reduction’, reducing instances of specificationYto instances ofX. Then a presheafP: Set?oprepresents a collection of instances that is closed under reduction. We develop an algebraic account of presheaves in which we present configurations by generators (for components) and relations (for shared reducts), and we outline a proposed configuration language based on the techniques. Oriat uses diagrams to express colimits of specifications, and we show that Oriat's category Diag(?) of finite diagrams is equivalent to the category of finitely presented presheaves over ?.
The role of parasitoids in evolution of habitat and larval food plant preference by three Pieris butterflies
Authors: Ohsaki N. , Sato Yoshibumi 
Published: April 2006

AbstractThis article attempts to explain that parasitoids provide the evolutionary pressure responsible for relationships between habitat use and larval food plant use in herbivorous insects. Three species of butterflies of the genus Pieris, P. rapae, P. melete, and P. napi use different sets of cruciferous plants. They prefer different habitats composed of similar sets of cruciferous plants. In our study, P. rapae used temporary habitats with ephemeral plants, P. melete used permanent habitat with persistent plants, although they also used temporary habitats, and P. napi used only permanent habitat. The choice experiment in the field cages indicated that each of the three butterfly species avoided oviposition on plants usually unused in its own habitat, but accepted the unused plants which grew outside its own habitat. Their habitat use and plant use were not explained by intrinsic plant quality examined in terms of larval performance. Pieris larvae collected from persistent plants or more long lasting habitats were more heavily parasitized by two specialist parasitoids, the braconid wasp Cotesia glomerata and the tachinid fly Epicampocera succincta. The results suggest that Pieris habitat and larval food plant use patterns can be explained by two principles. The evolution of habitat preference may have been driven by various factors including escape from parasitism. Once habitat preference has evolved, selection favors the evolution of larval food plant preferences by discriminating against unsuitable plants, including those which are associated with high parasitism pressures.
The transmission and effects of Wolbachia bacteria in parasitoids
Authors: Cook J. M. , Butcher Robert D. J. 
Published: April 2006

AbstractWolbachia bacteria are obligatory intracellular parasites of arthropods and have been detected in about 70 species of parasitic wasps and three parasitoid flies. Wolbachia are transmitted cytoplasmically (maternally) and modify host reproduction in different ways to enhance their own transmission: parthenogenesis induction (PI), cytoplasmic incompatibility (CI), or feminization (F) of genetic males. Only PI and CI are known in parasitoids. PI‐Wolbachia cause thelytoky in otherwise arrhenotokous parasitoids by generating diploid (rather than haploid) unfertilized wasp eggs. CI‐Wolbachia cause incompatibility of crosses between infected males and uninfected females because the paternally derived chromosomes fail to decondense and are destroyed after syngamy. More complex situations arise when hosts harbor multiple infections, which can lead to bidirectional incompatibility and may be involved in parasitoid speciation. The relative fitness of infected and uninfected hosts is important to the population dynamics of Wolbachia, and more data are needed. Evolutionary conflict should be common between host genes, Wolbachia genes, and other “selfish” genetic elements. Wolbachia‐specific PCR primers are now available for several genes with different rates of evolution. These primers will permit rapid screening in future studies of spatial and temporal patterns of single and multiple infection. Molecular phylogenies show that CI‐ and PI‐Wolbachia do not form discrete clades. In combination with experimental transfection data, this result suggests that host reproductive alterations depend on the interaction between attributes of both Wolbachia and host. Moreover, Wolbachia isolates from closely related hosts do not usually cluster together, and phylogenies suggest that Wolbachia may have radiated after their arthropod hosts. Both results support considerable horizontal transmission of Wolbachia between host species over evolutionary time. Natural horizontal transmisson between parasitoids and their hosts, or with entomoparasitic nematodes or ectoparasitic mites, remains a tantalizing but equivocal possibility.
What causes outbreaks of the gypsy moth in North America?
Authors: Liebhold A. , Elkinton J. , Williams D. , Muzika R.‐M. 
Published: April 2006

AbstractThe gypsy moth has been present in North America for more than 100 years, and in many of the areas where it has become established outbreaks occur with varying degrees of periodicity. There also exists extensive spatial synchrony in the onset of outbreaks over large geographic regions. Density‐dependent mortality clearly limits high‐density populations, but there is little evidence for strong regulation of low‐density populations. Predation by small mammals appears to be the major source of mortality affecting low‐density populations, but because these are generalist predators and gypsy moths are a less preferred food item, mammals do not appear to regulate populations in a density‐dependent fashion. Instead, predation levels appear to be primarily determined by small mammal abundance, which is in turn closely linked to the production of acorns that are a major source of food for overwintering predator populations. Mast production by host oak trees is typically variable among years, but considerable spatial synchrony in masting exists over large geographic areas. Thus, it appears that the temporal and spatial patterns of mast production may be responsible for the episodic and spatially synchronous behavior of gypsy moth outbreaks in North America. This multitrophic relationship among mast, predators, and gypsy moths represents a very different explanation of forest insect outbreak dynamics than the more widely applied theories based upon predator–prey cycles or feedbacks with host foliage quality.
Population dynamics of the beech caterpillar, Syntypistis punctatella, and biotic and abiotic factors
Authors: Kamata N. 
Published: April 2006

AbstractThe beech caterpillar, Syntypistis punctatella (Motschulsky) (Lepidoptera: Notodontidae), often causes extensive defoliation of beech forests in Japan. Outbreaks have often occurred synchronously among different areas at intervals of 8–11 years. Synchrony of outbreaks was considered to be caused by synchrony of weather. Populations of this insect exhibit periodical dynamics in both outbreak and nonoutbreak areas. Factors that might influence the population dynamics of the beech caterpillar were classified from the point of view of the natural bioregulation com‐plex, which includes a coleopteran predator, Calosoma maximowiczi, avian predators, parasitoids, entomopathogenic fungi, and delayed induced defensive response (DIR) of beech trees. Because such periodic population dynamics are believed to be caused by one or more delayed density‐dependent factors, delayed density‐dependent mortality has been identified as a likely source of population cycles. The DIR and pathogenic diseases showed a high order of density dependence. An infectious pathogen, Cordyceps militaris, was considered to be the most plausible agent responsible for periodic dynamics of the beech caterpillar population because insect diseases were effective in cases in which the S. punctatella population started to decrease without reaching outbreak densities, but DIR was not. Conspicuous defoliation caused by this insect tends to occur at certain elevations, where forests are composed of pure stands of beech trees. I propose three different hypotheses to explain this phenomenon: the diversity–stability hypothesis, the resource concentration hypothesis, and the altitudinal soil nutrient hypothesis.
Interspecific body size differentiation in species assemblages of the carabid subgenus Ohomopterus in Japan
Authors: Sota T. , Takami Y. , Kubota K. , Ujiie M. , Ishikawa R. 
Published: April 2006

AbstractGeographic variation and interspecific differentiation in body size (body length) were analyzed for 15 species of the carabid subgenus Ohomopterus (genus Carabus; Coleoptera, Carabidae) in Japan. Local species assemblages of this subgenus consist of up to 5 species of different size classes. These beetles exhibited sexual dimorphism in body size where females are larger than males, except Carabus uenoi, in which the male and female sizes were equivalent, possibly because of the exaggerated male genitalia. In 9 of 15 species, there was a positive correlation between mean body size and annual mean temperature of habitat, representing the converse of Bergmann's rule. However, in some cases this correlation does not hold over the range of a species because of regional differences. When allopatric and sympatric populations were compared, allopatric populations of Carabus albrechti and C. japonicus had larger bodies than sympatric populations. These intraspecific differences may have resulted from character displacement. In each local assemblage with 2 or more species, there was little interspecific overlap of body size, although the body size ratio between two species with adjacent body sizes seldom showed strict constancy. The mean size ratio between 2 adjacent species in an assemblage was reduced with the number of species, whereas the size ratio of the largest to smallest species in an assemblage increased with the number of species (i.e., the expansion of body size range). These results indicate that the body size of Ohomopterus species may have evolved in response to both climatic conditions and interspecific interactions. Because each species or species group represents the same size class over the distribution range and similar‐sized species are parapatric or allopatric, the interspecific segregation in body size in local assemblages may have resulted mainly from a size assortment process during colonization.
A stochastic model for the spatial distribution of species based on an aggregation–repulsion rule
Authors: Mouillot D. , Lepretre A. , Andrei‐Ruiz M.‐C. , Mouillot F. , Viale D. 
Published: April 2006

AbstractThe heterogeneity associated with the spatial distribution of organisms is an awkward problem in ecology because this heterogeneity directly depends on the sampling scale. To specify the scope of the influence of sampling scale on the level of species aggregation, we need data sets that entail excessive sampling costs in situ. To find a solution for this problem, we can use models to simulate patterns of organisms. These models are often very complex models that take into account heterogeneity of habitats and displacement or longevity of studied species. In this article, we introduce a new stochastic model to simulate patterns for one taxon and we want this model to be parsimonious, i.e., with few parameters and able to simulate observed patterns. This model is based on an aggregation–repulsion rule. This aggregation–repulsion rule is defined by two parameters. On a large scale, the number of aggregates present on the pattern is the first parameter. On a smaller scale, the level of aggregation–repulsion among individuals is determined by a probability distribution. These two parameters are estimated from field data set in a robust way so that the simulated patterns reflect the observed heterogeneity. We apply this model to entomological data: four Diptera families, namely the Sciaridae, Phoridae, Cecidomyiidae, and Empididae. The field data for the Phoridae family are used to simulate sampling using different trap sizes. We record changes in the coefficient of variation (C) as a function of the sampling scale, and we can suggest to ecologists emergence traps of 0.6 m2, in other words a square 77 × 77 cm trap, to obtain a C value under 20%.
Introduction: Plant–herbivore interactions
Authors: Ohsaki N. 
Published: April 2006

AbstractThis special feature resulted from a symposium entitled “Interactions Between Plants and Their Herbivores,” held during the Meeting of the Society of Population Ecology in Ohmi‐Shirahama, Shiga, Japan, in October 1999 (Chairperson of Symposium: Professor Emeritus E. Kuno of Kyoto University). This theme emerged from discussions by the organizing committee for this symposium: N. Yamamura, J. Takabayashi, T. Nishida, and N. Ohsaki. Professor Mark D. Rausher of Duke University was invited as a special lecturer. In this series of reports, five of the seven participants illustrate the variation found in plant–herbivore interactions and address some problems inherent in current theory.