bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Cost‐effectiveness of omalizumab in patients with severe persistent allergic asthma
Authors: Brown R. , Turk F. , Dale P. , Bousquet J. 
Published: January 2007

Background:  The health, economic and societal burden of asthma is considerable, and is greatest in patients with severe asthma, particularly when inadequately controlled. Real‐life studies that assess the effectiveness of treatment are of particular interest.Methods:  We determined the incremental cost‐effectiveness ratio (ICER) of adding omalizumab to standard therapy using data from the real‐life 1‐year randomized open‐label study (ETOPA) and using Canada as a reference country. Only patients receiving high‐dose ICS plus LABA were included in the analysis, reflecting the EU label for omalizumab. Costs and quality‐adjusted life years (QALYs) gained were used to calculate the ICER for omalizumab (cost/QALY). Probabilistic sensitivity analysis was performed to determine the 95% confidence interval and one‐sided sensitivity analyses were performed.Results:  The base case lifetime analysis of standard therapy vs standard therapy plus add‐on omalizumab for the first 5 years, gave an ICER of €31 209. Probabilistic sensitivity analysis indicated that the 95% confidence interval around the ICER was €27 739–€40 840. The ICER range for one‐way sensitivity analyses was €23 762 without discounting to €66 443 without inclusion of asthma‐related mortality.Conclusions:  This study demonstrates that add‐on omalizumab therapy is cost‐effective in patients with severe persistent allergic asthma.
Distribution of Neurons Supplying the Porcine Mammary Gland
Authors: Franke‐Radowiecka A. 
Published: January 2007

SummaryThe distribution of neurons projecting to the mammary gland was investigated by using the retrograde tracing method in juvenile pigs (n = 12). Fluorescent retrograde tracer Fast Blue (FB) was injected into the nipple (n = 3) or parenchyma (n = 3) of the second, right thoracic mamma or into the nipple (n = 3) and parenchyma (n = 3) of the last, right abdominal mamma. FB‐positive (FB+) mammary gland‐projecting neurons were found in some right dorsal root ganglia (DRG) and sympathetic chain ganglia (SChG) only. After injection of the tracer into the second, right thoracic mamma, FB+ neurons were observed in Th9‐Th12 DRG but most of them were located in Th11 and Th12 ganglia. As concerns SChG, FB+ neurons were found in Th1‐Th4, Th7‐Th14 and L1‐L4 ganglia. The vast majority of them were located in Th10 and Th11 SChG, which appeared to be the main sources of efferent innervation of this mamma. Neurons projecting to the last right abdominal mamma were found in L1‐L3 DRG and L1‐L4 SChG but most of them were located in L1‐L2 ganglia and L1‐L2 ganglia, respectively. This study for the first time has disclosed the localization of neurons supplying the mammary gland in larger domestic animal species, the pig, by using the retrograde tracing method.
Sex Differences in Reconciliation and Post‐Conflict Anxiety in Bonnet Macaques
Authors: Cooper Matthew A. , Aureli Filippo , Singh Mewa 
Published: January 2007

AbstractRates of reconciliation vary widely between different types of opponents, and post‐conflict anxiety has been proposed to mediate individual variation in reconciliation rates. We investigated the form and function of reconciliation in a wild, provisioned group of bonnet macaques (Macaca radiata) with the prediction that sex differences in post‐conflict anxiety would be associated with sex differences in conciliatory tendency. Individuals in the study group had a conciliatory tendency of 29.3%. Victims avoided their former opponents at a higher rate following aggression than during matched‐control samples, and reconciliation decreased the rate of avoidance. Although victims showed a higher rate of anxiety‐related behavior than did aggressors, anxiety‐related behavior was elevated after aggression and reduced following reconciliation in both victims and aggressors. Female–female opponents showed higher rates of anxiety‐related behavior before reconciliation than they did following unreconciled aggression. In contrast, male–male and female–male opponents showed increased anxiety‐related behavior following aggression regardless of the occurrence of reconciliation. Moreover, female–female opponents had a higher conciliatory tendency than did female–male opponents. The elevated post‐conflict anxiety shown by female–female opponents before reconciliation, along with their high conciliatory tendency, suggests that post‐conflict anxiety promotes reconciliation. In sum, the sex differences in post‐conflict behavior found in this study support the hypothesis that variation in post‐conflict anxiety mediates differential rates of reconciliation.
Recent Physical Encounters Affect Chemically Mediated Retreat‐Site Selection in a Gecko
Authors: Kondo Junko , Downes Sharon J. , Keogh Scott J. 
Published: January 2007

AbstractChemoreception is well documented in a range of animals but the effects of recent behavioural interactions on an animal's response to subsequent chemical information are poorly understood. Using a series of laboratory experiments with a rock‐dwelling gecko (Oedura lesueurii), we examined whether latest social experience affects how animals used chemoreception to mediate microhabitat selection. Males of this species defend retreat‐sites and the outcomes of physical duels are maintained during second physical contests staged up to 1 wk after first contests. Retreat‐site selection experiments showed that past social experience affects the behavioural responses of adult male geckos to chemical cues from conspecific male lizards. When offered a choice between retreat‐sites labelled with chemicals from an unknown male vs. the opponent from a recent contest, geckos that won their previous fight selected retreat‐sites at random. In contrast, under the same conditions, geckos that lost their previous fight significantly preferred retreat‐sites scented with an unknown male conspecific over those scented with the winning opponent. During these experiments males that lost their previous fight were significantly more vigilant, and spent greater time near the retreat‐site of the unknown male, compared with males that won their previous fight. These results support the notion that recent physical social encounters can affect the way that animals respond to chemical information from potential competitors.
The Role of Early Learning in Determining Shoaling Preferences Based on Visual Cues in the Zebrafish, Danio rerio
Authors: Spence Rowena , Smith Carl 
Published: January 2007

AbstractSocial preferences for specific colour patterns learned in early development, termed imprinting, may influence social and mating decisions. Imprinting has been demonstrated in both birds and fish and has been proposed to play a role in speciation. We raised wild‐type zebrafish, Danio rerio, either with individuals of the same colour pattern, an alternative colour pattern (leopard), or a closely related, unpatterned species, D. albolineatus. We also cross‐reared individual ‘leopard’D. rerio and D. albolineatus with wild‐type D. rerio. We tested the prediction that Danio would prefer to shoal with fish of the colour pattern with which they had been raised, irrespective of their own appearance. Rearing condition affected shoaling preferences between D. rerio and D. albolineatus, with individuals of both colour patterns preferring to associate with shoals of the colour pattern with which they had been raised. The more subtle distinction between the wild‐type and ‘leopard’D. rerio colour patterns did not elicit a shoaling preference. Thus, zebrafish exhibit shoaling preferences based on visual cues, the effect being stronger when patterns are more distinct. There is a strong learned component to these preferences, although the extent to which they may influence mating decisions is unclear.
Aggression Level in Different Water Velocities Depends on Population Origin in Grayling, Thymallus thymallus
Authors: Salonen Annamari , Peuhkuri Nina 
Published: January 2007

AbstractPhenotypic plasticity is recognized as an important mechanism of adaptation. However, because of its potential costs and limits, it has been hypothesized to be reduced and ultimately become lost when there is no selection for its maintenance. Heterogeneous environments in particular are expected to favour and thus maintain plastic phenotypes. Lakes and rivers differ in their flow regimes. In addition to higher average water velocity, rivers are characterized by distinct spatial and temporal variation in water flow, whereas lakes can be regarded as quite uniform in this respect. We studied whether behaviour, which is generally considered to be highly plastic, shows differences in the degree of plasticity between lake and river populations of the European grayling, Thymallus thymallus, fry in response to different water velocities. Given that aggressive behaviour in fish has been shown to relate to ambient flow regime, we compared aggressiveness of hatchery‐reared grayling originating from hatchery stocks of two lake and two river populations in still and flowing water. River fish showed higher aggressiveness in flowing water compared with still water, whereas aggressiveness of lake fish did not appear to vary according to water velocity. The higher plasticity of aggressiveness evoked in river fish by different water velocities may thus represent an adaptation to more variable flow and presumably related feeding conditions in their natural environment.
Is Divorce in Young Common Terns,Sterna hirundo, after Recruitment just a Question of Timing?
Authors: Ludwigs Jan‐Dieter , Becker Peter H. 
Published: January 2007

AbstractThe probability of divorce in birds has been linked with age, breeding experience, reproductive output and synchrony in return. Here, we investigate the consequences of first breeding attempts in common terns for mating in the subsequent season. Nearly 20% of all first‐time breeders disappeared or skipped at least one season after recruitment. In 84 pairs, which consisted of at least one recruit and of which both partners returned to the colony, the divorce rate was 45%. We compared reproductive success, arrival dates, and asynchrony in arrival dates of pairs of the first breeding season against the second season, for both reunited and divorced pairs and males and females separately. First, in pairs of which both members came back to the colony, we found an increase of reproductive success most pronounced in males. In the second season reproductive success of divorced compared with reunited pairs was higher, as only divorced pairs significantly improved the number of fledglings, and again this relation was stronger in males. Secondly, females of reunited pairs arrived significantly earlier from the first to the second season and by far more days than their males. However, in divorced pairs former mates did not differ in the number of days they advance their arrivals. Finally, divorced males arrived on average 4 d earlier than their former mates, whereas divorced females arrived 5 d later compared with their former mates of the recruitment season. Contradictory to nearly all other divorce studies in birds so far, we found a clear fitness gain in divorced males. We suggest that the improvement in reproductive success of young males stems from a side‐effect of the birds’ quality and ability to reach the breeding site in appropriate time and earlier as potential competitors. In long‐lived bird species the heterogeneity among young individuals in the timing of arrival at the colony seems to explain why former recruit‐pairs reunite or split. For young males we suggest as best explanation of divorce that they profit from ‘pushing for an empty chair’, while females seem to profit from their choosiness and may actively decide between former and other mates.
Feeding or Resting? The Strategy of Rutting Male Alpine Chamois
Authors: Willisch Christian S. , Ingold Paul 
Published: January 2007

AbstractOptimal foraging theory suggests that animals normally maximize energy intake to optimize their energy balance. However, when efficiency to assimilate energy falls below the level necessary to ascertain basal energetic requirements, they should shift to an energy saving strategy. Males of many ruminant species considerably reduce their food intake during the rut. Nevertheless, they are commonly assumed to maximize energy intake besides their investments in rutting activities. Based on predictions of optimal foraging theory and the specific ruminant digestive physiology, we propose, however, that rutting males in polygynous species with time consuming mating tactics should instead use an energy saving strategy. Particularly, we predict this to be the case in Alpine chamois (Rupicapra rupicapra rupicapra), a highly polygynous mountain ungulate, of which the males defend mating territories during the rut. By combining observational and telemetry data of eight radio‐collared males we constructed individual 24‐h time budgets, and compared the behavior of males before, during and after the rut. Males spent significantly less time feeding during the rut (0.9 h) compared with before (8.5 h) and afterwards (6.4 and 7.5 h, respectively), whereas time spent lying remained more or less unchanged (pre‐rut; 12.7 h, rut; 13.3 h, post‐rut; 12.9 and 13.9 h, respectively). The ratio of time spent feeding to lying dropped from 0.67 in the pre‐rut period to 0.05 in the rutting period. As a result, males allocated on average approx. 90% of their non‐rutting time to lying, and a negative relationship between rutting and lying time emerged. Hence, males seemed to trade lying time against rutting time. We conclude from these results that male Alpine chamois do not maximize their energy intake during the rut, but rather adopt an energy saving strategy to optimize their energy balance.
Reproductive Isolation in the Wood Cricket Gryllus vernalis (Orthoptera: Gryllidae)
Authors: Jang Yikweon , Bockhorst Amanda , Carl Gerhardt Howard 
Published: January 2007

AbstractTwo species of closely related wood crickets, Gryllus vernalis (Orthoptera: Gryllidae) and G. fultoni, occur together in the eastern USA and have a similar calling‐song structure, consisting of three‐pulse chirps. Previous studies revealed that male calling song and female selectivity were divergent between sympatric and far allopatric populations of G. fultoni, consistent with the pattern expected of reproductive character displacement. We studied the reproductive isolation of G. vernalis in relation to G. fultoni by investigating the geographic variation in calling songs of G. vernalis and by examining close‐range mating behaviors. Neither field nor laboratory studies revealed differences in any of the calling‐song characters between sympatric and allopatric populations, but this could reflect the limited sampling within the relatively small region of allopatry for G. vernalis. Although close‐range mating trials revealed that females of both species discriminated against heterospecific mating partners, the strength of discrimination was especially strong in females of sympatric G. vernalis populations. Our studies of long‐range and close‐range mating behaviors suggest that selection pressures for reproductive isolation are exerted primarily on close‐range mating behaviors in G. vernalis but on long‐range mating behaviors in G. fultoni.
Impact factor statistics and publication practice: What can we learn?
Authors: Taborsky Michael 
Published: January 2007

AbstractPeer review procedures and citation statistics are important yet often neglected components of the scientific publication process. Here I discuss fundamental consequences of such quality measures for the scientific community and propose three remedial actions: (1) use of a ‘‘Combined Impact Estimate’’ as a measure of citation statistics, (2) adoption of an open reviewing policy and (3) acceleration of the publication process in order to raise the reputation of the entire discipline (in our case: behavioural science). Authors, reviewers and editors are invited to contribute to the improvement of publication practice.
Species co‐existence and character divergence across carnivores
Authors: Jonathan Davies T. , Meiri Shai , Barraclough Timothy G. , Gittleman John L. 
Published: January 2007

AbstractCo‐occurring species might be morphologically similar because they are adapted to the same environment, or morphologically dissimilar to minimize competition. We use sister species comparisons to evaluate the relationship between morphological disparity and regional patterns of co‐occurrence across carnivores. Up to 63% of the variation in range overlap can be explained by morphological divergence in dentition. Species that differ more in carnassial tooth length overlap more in their geographical range. Carnassials are the primary teeth associated with food processing, and hence difference in carnassial size may be a good indicator of difference in resource use. We suggest this pattern is consistent with competition in sympatry driving ecological character displacement, or competitive exclusion among ecologically similar species. Our study uses newly available data on global distributions, morphology and phylogeny, and is the first to demonstrate a close relationship between morphological disparity and co‐occurrence at a regional scale encompassing multiple communities.
A trait‐based approach to community assembly: partitioning of species trait values into within‐ and among‐community components
Authors: Ackerly D. D. , Cornwell W. K. 
Published: January 2007

AbstractPlant functional traits vary both along environmental gradients and among species occupying similar conditions, creating a challenge for the synthesis of functional and community ecology. We present a trait‐based approach that provides an additive decomposition of species’ trait values into alpha and beta components: beta values refer to a species’ position along a gradient defined by community‐level mean trait values; alpha values are the difference between a species’ trait values and the mean of co‐occurring taxa. In woody plant communities of coastal California, beta trait values for specific leaf area, leaf size, wood density and maximum height all covary strongly, reflecting species distributions across a gradient of soil moisture availability. Alpha values, on the other hand, are generally not significantly correlated, suggesting several independent axes of differentiation within communities. This trait‐based framework provides a novel approach to integrate functional ecology and gradient analysis with community ecology and coexistence theory.
Diversity–stability relationship varies with latitude in zooplankton
Authors: Shurin Jonathan B. , Arnott Shelley E. , Hillebrand Helmut , Longmuir Allyson , Pinel‐Alloul Bernadette , Winder Monika , Yan Norman D. 
Published: January 2007

AbstractAnalyses of temporal patterns of diversity across a wide range of taxa have found that more diverse communities often show smaller compositional changes over time. This generality indicates that high diversity is associated with greater temporal stability in species composition. We examined patterns of diversity and community stability in zooplankton time series data from 36 lakes sampled over a combined 483 years. The species–time relationship was flatter in more species‐rich lakes in the temperate zone. However, high‐latitude lakes had both low richness and low turnover. These patterns were consistent for turnover both within and among years. Daily, annual and long‐term richness were all higher in large lakes while turnover was unaffected by the surface area. Richness on all time scales, as well as turnover within and among years, all declined at high latitude. Species–area relations and latitudinal gradients in richness therefore reflect different temporal components of diversity. Our results suggest that diversity shows strong associations with compositional stability that vary qualitatively across biogeographical provinces. Community stability increases with diversity among lakes in the temperate zone; however, the two are negatively correlated across latitudinal gradients. These patterns indicate that either the direct effects of diversity on stability or their covariance with environmental fluctuations vary with latitude.
Psoas abscess – not as rare as we think?
Authors: Garner J. P. , Meiring P. D. , Ravi K. , Gupta R. 
Published: January 2007

AbstractObjective  Iliopsoas abscess (IPA) is a rare condition with a reported worldwide incidence of 12 new cases per year with primary abscesses now predominating. The presentation is often vague and the diagnosis not considered.Method  The medical records of 15 consecutive patients presenting to our hospital in a 3‐year period with IPA were reviewed. Demographic data, presenting features, predisposing factors and the investigations performed were recorded. Abscesses were classified as primary or secondary and the treatment provided and eventual outcomes were analysed.Results  Fifteen patients (eight males) were included. Nine patients were pyrexial on admission, 14 were anaemic and all had raised inflammatory markers. Only five patients presented with the classical triad of pain, fever and limp. The median time to diagnosis was 3 days with a median hospital stay of 27 days (range 7–243 days). Fourteen patients were diagnosed by computed tomographic scan. Three patients were treated with antibiotics alone whilst 11 received percutaneous drainage (PCD) as well. Of these, five had recurrence following initial drainage, needing further PCD procedures but none needed open drainage. Only one patient underwent open drainage initially. The mortality rate was 20%.Conclusion  The incidence of IPA is probably under‐reported. The vague presentation leads to delays in diagnosis and increases morbidity and a high index of suspicion is the key to early diagnosis. Percutaneous drainage with antibiotics is the first line of treatment although recurrence rate is high. Open drainage allows simultaneous treatment of underlying pathology in secondary abscesses.
The significance of involvement of a free serosal surface for recurrence and survival following resection of clinicopathological stage B and C rectal cancer
Authors: Keshava A. , Chapuis P. H. , Chan C. , Lin B. P. C. , Bokey E. L. , Dent O. F. 
Published: January 2007

AbstractObjective  To determine whether the presence of tumour at a free serosal surface was independently associated with pelvic recurrence or survival in patients who had a resection for clinicopathological stage B or stage C rectal cancer and who had not received adjuvant therapy.Method  Data were drawn from a comprehensive, prospective hospital registry of all resections for rectal cancer from January 1971 to December 1998 with follow up to December 2003. Statistical analysis employed the χ2 test or Fisher's exact probability, Kaplan–Meier estimation and proportional hazards regression, with a significance level of ≤0.05 and 95% confidence intervals (CI).Results  In 665 patients with stages B or C tumour, 35 (5.3%; CI 3.7–7.2%) had tumour at a free serosal surface. These comprised 6/332 (1.8%; CI 0.8–3.7%) patients with stage B tumour and 29/333 (8.7%; CI 6.1–12.2%) with stage C tumour. After adjustment for other relevant variables, involvement of a free serosal surface was significantly associated with pelvic recurrence [hazard ratio (HR) 2.7; CI 1.3–5.5] and diminished survival (HR 1.6; CI 1.1–2.4) but not with systemic (only) recurrence.Conclusion  This study has confirmed that direct tumour spread to a free serosal surface independently predicts pelvic recurrence and diminished survival after resection of clinicopathological stage B and C rectal cancer. This feature should always be sought by the pathologist and reported when present, and noted by the surgeon and oncologist. Serosal involvement should be evaluated further for its utility in selecting patients for adjuvant therapy.