bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Thiazide diuretic prescription and electrolyte abnormalities in primary care
Authors: Clayton J. A. , Rodgers S. , Blakey J. , Avery A. , Hall I. P. 
Published: November 2005

AimsThiazide diuretics have a number of well‐documented metabolic adverse effects. The aim of this study was to estimate the frequency of hyponatraemia and hypokalaemia amongst patients taking a thiazide diuretic in primary care.MethodsA computerized search of the electronic prescribing and laboratory records of six UK general practices was performed. Of the 32 218 adult patients identified, 3773 had received at least one prescription for a thiazide between the years 1990 and 2002.ResultsDetailed prescribing data were available for 2942 patients of whom 951 (32.3%) had a recorded check of their electrolytes. One hundred and ninety‐six (20.6%) had a sodium and/or potassium concentration below the normal range. The sodium distribution had a negative skew (−1.8) and in 130 (13.7%) patients was within the hyponatraemic range. Hypokalaemia was less common, occurring in 79 (8.5%) patients. Hyponatraemia was significantly associated with increased age; the odds ratio for developing hyponatraemia in patients over 70 years was 3.87 compared with those of ≤ 70 years. Hypokalaemia was significantly associated with increased thiazide dose.ConclusionsPrescription of a thiazide diuretic in primary care is associated with a high frequency of hyponatraemia and hypokalaemia. Thiazides should be prescribed at low dose and the risk of hyponatraemia, especially in the elderly, should be considered and monitored for when prescribing these agents.
T cell receptor-transgenic primary T cells as a tool for discovery of leukaemia-associated antigens
Authors: Ivanov R , Hol S , Aarts T I , Hagenbeek A , Ebeling S B 
Published: November 2005

Summary
Identification of a broad array of leukaemia-associated antigens is a crucial step towards immunotherapy of haematological malignancies. However, it is frequently hampered by the decrease of proliferative potential and functional activity of T cell clones used for screening procedures. Transfer of the genes encoding the T cell receptor (TCR) α and β chains of leukaemia-specific clones into primary T cells may help to circumvent this obstacle. In this study, transfer of two minor histocompatibility antigen (minor H antigen)-specific TCRs was performed and the feasibility of the use of TCR-transgenic T cells for identification of minor H antigens through cDNA library screening was investigated. We found that TCR-transgenic cells acquired the specificity of the original clones and matched their sensitivity. Moreover, the higher scale of cytokine-production by TCR-transgenic T cells permits the detection of either small amounts of antigen-positive cells or cells expressing low amounts of an antigen. When applied in equal numbers, TCR-transgenic T cells and the original T cell clones produced similar results in the screening of a cDNA library. However, the use of increased numbers of TCR-transgenic T cells allowed detection of minute amounts of antigen, barely discernible by the T cell clone. In conclusion, TCR-transfer generates a large amount of functional antigen-specific cells suitable for screening of cDNA expression libraries for identification of cognate antigens.
Cytokine production from sputum cells in eosinophilicversusnon-eosinophilic asthmatics
Authors: Quaedvlieg V , Henket M , Sele J , Louis R 
Published: November 2005

SummaryThe inflammatory pathways involved in asthma are more complex than the sole Th2-mediated eosinophilic airway inflammation. Different phenotypes of asthma have been recently highlighted and are probably underlied by different immunological profiles. The aim of the study was to assess cytokine production from sputum cells in eosinophilic versus non-eosinophilic asthmatics. Induced sputum was obtained from 48 consecutive stable mild to moderate asthmatics (20 eosinophilic asthmatics, 28 non-eosinophilic asthmatics) and 31 healthy subjects. Cytokine released from sputum cells were measured by a home-made two-step sandwich immunoassay. Cytokines investigated were interleukin (IL)-4, IL-6, IL-10, tumour necrosis factor (TNF)-α and interferon (IFN)-γ. Sputum cells from eosinophilic asthmatics produced more IL-4 than those from both healthy subjects (P &lt; 0·05) and non-eosinophilic asthmatics (P &lt; 0·05). Conversely, sputum cells from eosinophilic asthma were found to release lower amounts of TNF-α than those from healthy subjects (P &lt; 0·05). The group of non-eosinophilic asthmatics did not distinguish from healthy subjects with respect to any cytokines measured. Sputum cells from asthmatics exhibiting eosinophilic airway inflammation release more IL-4 and less TNF-α than those of healthy subjects. By contrast, non-eosinophilic asthmatics did not distinguish from healthy subjects by abnormal cytokine release from their sputum cells.
Dose-dependent induction of IL-6 by plant-derived proteasesin vitro
Authors: Rose B , Herder C , Löffler H , Meierhoff G , Schloot N C , Walz M , Martin S 
Published: November 2005

SummaryOral administration of proteases such as bromelain and papain is commonly used in patients with a wide range of inflammatory conditions, but their molecular and cellular mechanisms of action are still poorly understood. The aim of our study was to investigate the impact of these proteases on the release of interleukin-6 (IL-6) and other cytokines in the recently described modified mixed lymphocyte culture (MMLC) test system which is based on the mutual interaction of cells of the innate and adaptive immunity. Bromelain and papain enhanced IL-6 production dose-dependently up to 400-fold in MMLC before and up to 30-fold after neutralization of LPS content of proteases using polymyxin B, indicating that IL-6 induction by protease treatment was attributable to both protease action and LPS content of enzyme preparations. The production of IFNγ and IL-10 was not altered by bromelain or papain, indicating a selective and differential immune activation. Both proteases impaired cytokine stability, cell proliferation and expression of cell surface molecules like CD14 only marginally, suggesting no impact of these mechanisms on protease-mediated cytokine release. These findings might provide the mechanistic rationale for the current use of proteases in wound healing and tissue regeneration since these processes depend on IL-6 induction.
Cytokine profile during latent and slowly progressive primary tuberculosis: a possible role for interleukin-15 in mediating clinical disease
Authors: Abebe F , Mustafa T , Nerland A H , Bjune G A 
Published: November 2005

SummaryRecently, mouse models for latent (LTB) and slowly progressive primary tuberculosis (SPTB) have been established. However, cytokine profiles during the two models are not well established. Using quantitative reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (qRT-PCR) we studied the expression levels of interleukin (IL)-2, IL-4, IL-10, IL-12, IL-15, interferon (IFN)-γ and tumour necrosis factor (TNF)-α during the course of LTB and SPTB in the lungs and spleens of B6D2F1Bom mice infected with the H37Rv strain of Mycobacterium tuberculosis (Mtb). The results show that, except for IL-4, cytokine expression levels were significantly higher during SPTB than LTB in both the lungs and spleens. During LTB, all the cytokines (except IL-2 in the lungs) had higher expression levels during the initial period of infection both in the lungs and spleens. During SPTB, the expression levels of IL-15 increased significantly from phases 1 to 3 in the lungs. The expression levels of IL-10, IL-12 and IFN-γ increased significantly from 2 to 3 in the lungs. IL-10 and IL-15 increased significantly from phases 2 to 3, whereas that of TNF-α decreased significantly and progressively from phases 1 to 3 in the spleens. Over-expression of proinflammatory cytokines during active disease has been well documented, but factor(s) underlying such over-expression is not known. In the present study, there was a progressive and significant increase in the expression levels of IL-15, together with Th1 cytokines (IL-12 and IFN-γ) during SPTB but a significant decrease during LTB. IL-15 is known to up-regulate the production of proinflammatory cytokines, IL-1β, IL-8, IL-12, IL-17, IFN-γ and TNF-α and has an inhibitory effect on activation-induced cell death. IL-15 is known to be involved in many proinflammatory disease states such as rheumatoid arthritis, sarcoidosis, inflammatory bowel diseases, autoimmune diabetes, etc. Our results, together with the above observations, suggest that IL-15 may play an important role in mediating active disease during Mtb infection.
Use of marine sanctuaries by far‐ranging predators: commuting flights to the California Current System by breeding Hawaiian albatrosses
Authors: HYRENBACH K. D. , KEIPER C. , ALLEN S. G. , AINLEY D. G. , ANDERSON D. J. 
Published: November 2005

AbstractQuantifying the dispersion and habitats of far‐ranging seabirds, turtles, and cetaceans is essential to assess whether zoning strategies can help protect upper‐trophic marine predators. In this paper, we focus on Black‐footed Albatross (Phoebastria nigripes) use of three US national marine sanctuaries off central California: Cordell Bank, Gulf of the Farallones, and Monterey Bay. We assessed the significance of these protected areas to albatrosses by: (i) documenting commuting flights between Hawaiian breeding sites and the California Current System (CCS); (ii) quantifying albatross dispersion patterns on the central California continental shelf and slope, and (iii) characterizing albatross habitats within sanctuary waters using concurrent satellite‐tracking data and vessel‐based sightings. Chick‐rearing albatrosses commuted from their colony on Tern Island, Hawaii (23.878°N, 166.288°W), to the CCS (34–48°N) and two of the eight satellite‐tracked birds entered the marine sanctuaries. Among the telemetry locations within sanctuary waters, two‐thirds (24 of 36) straddled the shelf break and slope (201–2000‐m depth), a pattern underscored by a concurrent vessel‐based survey in which 144 Black‐footed Albatrosses were sighted. This study illustrates the value of coordinated satellite telemetry and vessel‐based surveys to assess the distributions of protected species within existing marine protected areas. More specifically, our results underscore the importance of three central California marine sanctuaries to Hawaiian albatrosses breeding in subtropical waters, approximately 4500 km away.
Turbulent mixing and mesoscale distributions of late‐stage fish larvae on the NW Shelf of Western Australia
Authors: MEEKAN M. G. , CARLETON J. H. , STEINBERG C. R. , MCKINNON A. D. , BRINKMAN R. , DOHERTY P. J. , HALFORD A. , DUGGAN S. , MASON L. 
Published: November 2005

AbstractLight traps were deployed to describe vertical and cross‐shelf distributions of late‐stage larval fishes during five cruises in each of the 1997/98 and 1998/99 summers in the region of the Gulf of Exmouth on the southern North West Shelf of Western Australia. At each light trap station on a cross‐shelf transect we measured water temperature, salinity and chlorophyll a and used vertical plankton tows to estimate zooplankton biomass and copepod abundance. Current meters were deployed on moorings near the transect and the data used to model flows and mixing on the NW Shelf and in the Gulf. The majority of reef, pelagic and baitfish larvae (81, 83 and 66% respectively) were collected at only two stations that marked the boundary between stratified waters offshore and well‐mixed water within the Gulf. Most baitfishes (primarily Spratelloides spp.) were captured by traps deployed near the seabed, while reef fishes (mostly pomacentrids, lethrinids and siganids) and pelagic species (mostly scombrids and carangids) were captured in traps deployed near surface. Catch composition varied between summers with 64% of baitfishes collected in the first summer, while the majority of reef and pelagic fishes (81 and 80% respectively) were captured in the second summer. Modelling of circulation showed that the velocity of tidal currents was enhanced by constriction of flow between NW Cape and South Muiron Island and by shallowing of the shelf. Flood‐tide intrusions of water allowed the thermocline to move up the continental shelf, upwelling cool nutrient‐rich water that was then mixed throughout the entire water column at stations in the mouth of the Gulf. This upwelling and mixing resulted in higher chlorophyll a concentrations and copepod abundances either as a result of local in situ growth or advection/aggregation processes, and may account for the great abundances of late‐stage fish larvae in the mouth of the Gulf.
Systematic determination of earthquake rupture directivity and fault planes from analysis of long-periodP-wave spectra
Authors: Warren Linda M. , Shearer Peter M. 
Published: November 2005

SummaryIf an earthquake has a primarily unilateral rupture, the pulse width observed on seismograms will vary depending on the angle between the rupture direction and the takeoff vector to the station. We have developed a method to estimate the amount of pulse broadening from the spectrum and apply it to a long-period database of large, globally distributed earthquakes that occurred between 1988 and 2000. We select vertical-component P-waves at epicentral distances of 20°–98°. We compute the spectrum from a 64-s-long window around each P-wave arrival. Each spectrum is the product of source, receiver and propagation response functions as well as local source- and receiver-side effects. Since there are multiple receivers for each source and multiple sources for each receiver, we can estimate and remove the source- and receiver-side terms by stacking the appropriate P log spectra. For earthquakes deeper than ∼200 km, source effects dominate the residual spectra. We use our pulse-width estimates to determine the best rupture direction and to identify which nodal plane of the Harvard centroid moment tensor (CMT) solution is most consistent with this rupture direction for 66 events. In about 30 per cent of the cases, one of the two nodal planes produces a much better fit to the data and can be identified as the true fault plane. When results from previous studies are available for comparison, our rupture directions are usually consistent with their results, particularly for earthquakes with simple rupture histories.
Dynamics of fine root carbon in Amazonian tropical ecosystems and the contribution of roots to soil respiration
Authors: Trumbore Susan , Da Costa Enir Salazar , Nepstad Daniel C. , Barbosa De Camargo Plínio , Martinelli Luiz A. , Ray David , Restom Teresa , Silver Whendee 
Published: November 2005

AbstractRadiocarbon (14C) provides a measure of the mean age of carbon (C) in roots, or the time elapsed since the C making up root tissues was fixed from the atmosphere. Radiocarbon signatures of live and dead fine (<2 mm diameter) roots in two mature Amazon tropical forests are consistent with average ages of 4–11 years (ranging from <1 to >40 years). Measurements of 14C in the structural tissues of roots known to have grown during 2002 demonstrate that new roots are constructed from recent (<2‐year‐old) photosynthetic products. High Δ14C values in live roots most likely indicate the mean lifetime of the root rather than the isotopic signature of inherited C or C taken up from the soil.Estimates of the mean residence time of C in forest fine roots (inventory divided by loss rate) are substantially shorter (1–3 years) than the age of standing fine root C stocks obtained from radiocarbon (4–11 years). By assuming positively skewed distributions for root ages, we can effectively decouple the mean age of C in live fine roots (measured using 14C) from the rate of C flow through the live root pool, and resolve these apparently disparate estimates of root C dynamics. Explaining the 14C values in soil pore space CO2, in addition, requires that a portion of the decomposing roots be cycled through soil organic matter pools with decadal turnover time.
Partitioning sources of soil respiration in boreal black spruce forest using radiocarbon
Authors: Schuur Edward A.G. , Trumbore Susan E. 
Published: November 2005

AbstractSeparating ecosystem and soil respiration into autotrophic and heterotrophic component sources is necessary for understanding how the net ecosystem exchange of carbon (C) will respond to current and future changes in climate and vegetation. Here, we use an isotope mass balance method based on radiocarbon to partition respiration sources in three mature black spruce forest stands in Alaska. Radiocarbon (Δ14C) signatures of respired C reflect the age of substrate C and can be used to differentiate source pools within ecosystems. Recently‐fixed C that fuels plant or microbial metabolism has Δ14C values close to that of current atmospheric CO2, while C respired from litter and soil organic matter decomposition will reflect the longer residence time of C in plant and soil C pools. Contrary to our expectations, the Δ14C of C respired by recently excised black spruce roots averaged 14‰ greater than expected for recently fixed photosynthetic products, indicating that some portion of the C fueling root metabolism was derived from C storage pools with turnover times of at least several years. The Δ14C values of C respired by heterotrophs in laboratory incubations of soil organic matter averaged 60‰ higher than the contemporary atmosphere Δ14CO2, indicating that the major contributors to decomposition are derived from a combination of sources consistent with a mean residence time of up to a decade. Comparing autotrophic and heterotrophic Δ14C end members with measurements of the Δ14C of total soil respiration, we calculated that 47–63% of soil CO2 emissions were derived from heterotrophic respiration across all three sites. Our limited temporal sampling also observed no significant differences in the partitioning of soil respiration in the early season compared with the late season. Future work is needed to address the reasons for high Δ14C values in root respiration and issues of whether this method fully captures the contribution of rhizosphere respiration.
Root distribution and nitrate interception in eleven temperate forage grasses
Authors: Crush J. R. , Waller J. E. , Care D. A. 
Published: November 2005

Abstract Agrostis capillaris, Arrhenatherum elatius, Bromus willdenowii, Cynosurus cristatus, Dactylis glomerata, Elytrigia repens, Lolium multiflorum, L. perenne, Phalaris aquatica, Phleum pratense, Schedonorus phoenix, and a ryegrass selected for high surface root mass, were grown in 1 m deep × 90 mm diameter tubes of sand. Tubes were irrigated with a low ionic‐strength nutrient solution and 15N‐labelled nitrate was leached down the tubes prior to harvest. Shoot weights, root weights in 10‐cm depth increments, and shoot and root nitrogen concentrations were determined. Plants of L. multiflorum were the heaviest and plants of A. capillaris were the lightest. Root system shape was analysed by comparing the decay constant from an exponential model fitted to the proportion of root mass in 10‐cm depth increments, and, also, by analysis of the proportion of root mass in the top 10 cm. Cynosurus cristatus was strongly surface‐rooted and the perennial ryegrass, selected for high surface root mass, had more root mass between 0 and 10 cm than did the unselected perennial ryegrass cultivar. There were only small differences in root shape between the other grasses. There was a strong and positive correlation between plant dry weight and the proportion of the pulse of labelled nitrate that was intercepted. The variation in root system shape shown in this experiment had no effect on nitrate interception. Nitrate interception per unit root weight was significantly higher in A. capillaris than in the other grasses. Developing winter‐active grasses that have finely divided root systems should contribute to pastures with better nitrate retention characteristics.
The conservation management of upland hay meadows in Britain: a review
Authors: Jefferson R. G. 
Published: November 2005

AbstractUpland hay meadows conforming to MG3 in the National Vegetation Classification of the UK are a rare habitat in Britain and are largely confined to upland valleys in northern England. Agricultural intensification, particularly ploughing and reseeding and a shift from hay‐making to silage production over the last 50 years, has resulted in large losses of species‐rich upland hay meadows. Remaining species‐rich meadows have been the focus of much nature conservation effort resulting in many of the species‐rich sites being protected by statutory designations or through voluntary agri‐environment scheme agreements. Research and monitoring has tended to confirm that species richness is maximized by management involving spring and autumn grazing, a mid‐July hay cut, no inorganic fertilizer and possibly low levels of farmyard manure. Deviations from this regime result in a loss of species richness. Restoration of semi‐improved grassland to swards resembling species‐rich MG3 also requires a similar regime but is also dependent on the introduction of seed of appropriate species. The role of Rhinanthus minor as a tool for manipulating meadow biodiversity during restoration management is discussed. Suggestions for future research are outlined.
Effect of calcium silicate on growth and dry matter yield of Chloris gayana and Sorghum sudanense under two soil water regimes
Authors: Eneji E. , Inanaga S. , Muranaka S. , Li J. , An P. , Hattori T. , Tsuji W. 
Published: November 2005

AbstractThe effects of five rates [0 (control), 1, 2, 4 and 6 Mg ha−1] of calcium silicate on the growth and water consumption by rhodes grass (Chloris gayana Kunth) and sudan grass (Sorghum sudanense Piper) under wet and dry soil water regimes (60 g and 30 g H2O kg−1 soil respectively) were evaluated in a pot experiment. The effect of the application of silicate on plant biomass was similar to that of the control. However, the shoot and root dry mass varied significantly (P < 0.001) according to the soil water regime and plant species. During the first cut, the shoot dry mass was 5.7 g per pot under the wet soil moisture regime, significantly exceeding that under the dry soil water regime proportionately by 0.68. For sudan grass, the shoot dry mass varied from 3.6 g per pot in the control to 4.3 g per pot in the treatment that received 6 Mg ha−1 of calcium silicate. Plant water demand decreased as the rate of calcium silicate application increased, suggesting that an application of calcium silicate could reduce drought stress and enhance water economy. For the soil under study, the reduction in plant water demand represents a water saving ranging from 0.076 to nearly 0.20.