bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
The association between the phytoplankton, Rhopalosolen species (Chlorophyta; Chlorophyceae), and Anophelesgambiae sensu lato (Diptera: Culicidae) larval abundance in western Kenya
Authors: Tuno Nobuko , Githeko Andrew K. , Nakayama Takeshi , Minakawa Noboru , Takagi Masahiro , Yan Guiyun 
Published: November 2005

AbstractAlgae are important food resources of the larvae of the African malaria vectors, Anopheles gambiae Giles and Anopheles arabiensis Patton (Anopheles gambiae sensu lato), and other zooplankton, but empirical evidence remains meager about the agal flora in ephemeral water bodies. The animals present in natural aquatic habitats in western Kenya were sampled from July to November 2002 to study abiotic and biotic environmental factors determining A. gambiae sl larval abundance. The five highest concentrations of third and fourth instars and pupae (hereafter referred to as old‐stage larvae) were sampled in conjunction with the unicellular epizoic green algae, Rhopalosolen species (Chlorophyta; Chlorophyceae). Canonical correspondence analysis revealed that the presence of Rhopalosolen species was the most important determinant of the animal assemblage. The density of old‐stage A. gambiae sl larvae was positively correlated with the presence of Rhopalosolen species, but the density of first and second instars of A. gambiae sl was not. The water bodies with Rhopalosolen sp. yielded larger mosquitoes in spite of the higher density of larvae. We demonstrated that the productivity of water bodies in terms of the larvae of malaria vectors can differ in magnitude depending on the agal flora. We discuss phytoplankton as a regulator of mosquito larval populations.
Outcomes in the use of intra-tympanic gentamicin in the treatment of Ménière's disease
Authors: Flanagan Sean , Mukherjee Payal , Tonkin John 
Published: November 2005

The pathogenesis of Ménière's disease is associated with a disorder of ionic homeostasis, with the pathologic correlate being endolymphatic hydrops. Despite uncertainty as to its particular mode of action, it is accepted wisdom that intra-tympanic gentamicin has a definite therapeutic role in the control of symptoms in patients who fail to respond to medical therapy. This study reports an evaluation of the efficacy of intra-tympanic gentamicin in the treatment of Ménière's disease and also presents a simple, reliable, safe method of administering gentamicin for this purpose.A retrospective review of 56 patients undergoing intra-tympanic gentamicin treatment for Ménière's disease was conducted. Response to treatment was analysed using a patient survey and examination of pure-tone averages. An overall significant improvement in vertigo symptoms of 81.3 per cent was found. There was a 21.4 per cent rate of significant hearing loss, defined as greater than 10 dB, with an average loss in this group of 18.5 dB. A single dose of gentamicin applied directly to the round window resulted in a high rate of control of vertigo, with acceptably low rates of hearing loss.
Follow-up results in tuberculous cervical lymphadenitis
Authors: Oktay Mehmet F , Topcu Ismail , Senyigit Abdurrahman , Bilici Aslan , Arslan Adem , Cureoglu Sebahattin , Yildirim Muzeyyen 
Published: November 2005

Objective: To investigate the efficacy of medical antituberculous treatment in patients with tuberculous cervical lymphadenitis (TCL).Methods: In the period 1996–2002, 73 TCL patients were reviewed and the results of clinical and laboratory testing were documented. The efficacy of a four-drug chemotherapy regimen was investigated.Results: Purified protein derivatives (PPD) skin test results were positive in 58 (79 per cent) patients. Chest X-rays revealed changes consistent with tuberculosis in nine (12.3 per cent) patients. The mean duration of medical treatment was 10.04 months. In follow-up evaluation, 14 (20 per cent) patients were considered suspicious for resistant TCL and total excision of all nodes was performed. Histopathology confirmed TB in only 10 of these cases.Conclusion: The high incidence of residual disease in our study indicates that medical treatment (at least nine months of four combined antituberculous drugs) did not seem to be effective. If lymphadenopathy persists, total surgical excision of lymph nodes should be the treatment of choice.
Cochlear implantation in a patient with profound hearing loss with the A1555G mitochondrial DNA mutation and no history of aminoglycoside exposure
Authors: Ulubil S Arif , Furze Alexis D , Angeli Simon I 
Published: November 2005

The A1555G mitochondrial deoxyribonucleic acid (mtDNA) point mutation has classically been associated with sensorineural hearing loss in patients following aminoglycoside exposure. More recently, the mutation has been implicated in sensorineural hearing loss in patients without previous aminoglycoside use. In addition, cochlear implantation has been shown to be effective in the group of patients with prior aminoglycoside exposure but, to date, no case of cochlear implantation in a patient with the A1555G mutation and no prior exposure to aminoglycosides has been explicitly described in the literature.We report the case of an 80-year-old woman with the A1555G mtDNA mutation, a 35-year history of bilateral progressive hearing loss and no history of aminoglycoside exposure who underwent successful implantation of a Nucleus 24 Contour device at our institution. Post-operatively, the patient exhibited marked improvement in tests of auditory performance.We conclude that cochlear implantation can be an effective method to restore some sense of hearing in patients with the A1555G mtDNA mutation and sensorineural hearing loss.
Sarcomatoid salivary duct carcinoma of the larynx
Authors: Jeong Han-Sin , Son Young-Ik , Ko Young-Hyeh , Kim Sang Yoon 
Published: November 2005

The sarcomatoid variant is a rare subtype of salivary duct carcinoma that comprises epithelial and sarcomatoid components. The authors present the first reported case of sarcomatoid salivary duct carcinoma occurring in the larynx, which was successfully treated by partial laryngectomy with ipsilateral neck dissection, with no evidence of recurrence after five years.Microscopic analysis revealed a composite epithelial and sarcomatoid tumour. The epithelial component was characterized by papillary proliferation of glandular and ductal structures lined with multilayered epithelial tumour cells. The sarcomatoid component was characterized by pleomorphic spindle cells with cytologic atypia, accompanied by small lymphoid cells, extensive proliferation of blood vessels and focal myxoid changes.To the best of our knowledge, only one case of sarcomatoid salivary duct carcinoma outside a major salivary gland has been reported previously in the literature, and this is the first report of sarcomatoid salivary duct carcinoma arising from the larynx.
CO2 laser myringotomy in children with otitis media with effusion
Authors: Lin Shih-Hsiang , Lai Chien-Chung , Shiao An-Suey 
Published: November 2005

Background: The study aimed to evaluate the clinical application of CO2 laser myringotomy in children with otitis media with effusion (OME) under topical anaesthesia in an office setting.Methods: Laser myringotomy was performed with the CO2 laser Otoscan (OtoLAM) in 54 children (73 ears) with OME. The procedure on the tympanic membrane was performed under topical anaesthesia using Bonain's solution or 10 per cent Xylocaine (lidocaine) solution for 30 minutes before surgery. A circular perforation was created with a power of 15 W, single pulse duration of 200 msec and a scanned area of 1.9 mm in diameter.Results: The mean healing time was 2.51 weeks (range 1–5 weeks). Effusion content was not a predictive prognostic factor for perforation healing time. Perforation location over anterior inferior or posterior inferior quadrants was not a predictive factor for perforation healing time. Xylocaine was the more effective anaesthestic. The OME resolution rate was 73 per cent.Conclusion: Laser myringotomy provides intermediate duration middle-ear ventilation. It could be beneficial in selected children with OME.
Steroids in rhinoplasty: a survey of current UK otolaryngologists' practice
Authors: Ofo E , Singh A , Marais J 
Published: November 2005

The use of steroids during rhinoplasty to reduce post-operative periorbital oedema and ecchymosis has been advocated. A number of randomized controlled trials have demonstrated the benefit of steroids in rhinoplasty. The aim of this study was to determine current UK practice in the use of steroids during rhinoplasty performed by otolaryngologists.A postal survey of consultant otolaryngologists in the UK was conducted. We received 203 responses, with 115 consultants performing 12 or more rhinoplasties per year. Only 28 consultants (24 per cent) used steroids routinely in patients undergoing rhinoplasty and of these 11 used a protocol, although this was unpublished. Dexamethasone was the most common steroid used (82 per cent), being administered as a single intravenous dose of 8 mg in the majority of cases (54 per cent). There was no correlation between the use of steroids and the number of rhinoplasties performed by individual consultants.Despite the evidence supporting the use of steroids to reduce post-operative sequelae following rhinoplasty, only a minority of consultants in the UK appear to use them as part of their practice.
Psychiatric morbidity is related to parental age: a national cohort study
Authors: EKÉUS CECILIA , OTTERBLAD OLAUSSON PETRA , HJERN ANDERS 
Published: November 2005

Background. The median age at first childbirth has increased dramatically in many high-income countries during the past decades. The psychiatric consequences of this demographic change are insufficiently described on a population level. This study aimed to investigate whether parental age at childbearing is related to psychiatric morbidity among Swedish youths.Method. This was a cohort study based on Swedish national registers. A national cohort of 292129 children born to primiparas women during 1973–1979 was followed prospectively from 1987 to 2002 in registers. Multivariate Cox analyses of proportional hazards were used to estimate the relative risk of hospital admission for schizophrenia, alcohol and illicit drug abuse, suicide attempts and deaths.Results. Youths born of teenage mothers had a high risk for suicide death [relative risk (RR) 1·9, 95% confidence interval (CI) 1·3–2·7] and hospital admissions because of suicide attempt (RR 2·0, 95% CI 1·7–2·3) and substance abuse (alcohol: RR 1·6, 95% CI 1·4–1·8; illicit drug: RR 2·2, 95% CI 1·9–2·5) after adjustments for major sociodemographic confounders, compared with children of mothers aged 25–29 years. Offspring of older parents (>34 years) had the highest risk for schizophrenia (RR 1·8, 95% CI 1·0–3·0).Conclusions. Parental age is related to psychiatric morbidity.
Gender differences in the slow delayed (IKs) but not in inward (IK1) rectifier K+currents of canine Purkinje fibre cardiac action potential: key roles forIKs,β‐adrenoceptor stimulation, pacing rate and gender
Authors: Abi‐Gerges Najah , Small Ben G , Lawrence Chris L , Hammond Tim G , Valentin Jean‐Pierre , Pollard Chris E 
Published: November 2005

As the beagle dog is a commonly used preclinical species to test the effects of new drugs on cardiac repolarisation and Purkinje fibres have become an establishedin vitropreparation to assess the effects of these new drugs on action potential duration (APD), the main aim of this study was therefore to evaluate the relative contribution of the inward (IK1) and slow delayed (IKs) rectifier cardiac K+currents to action potential repolarisation in beagle Purkinje fibres under three different experimental conditions: (i) selective block ofIK1with BaCl2, (ii) selective block ofIKswith (−) chromanol 293B under basal conditions and (iii) selective block ofIKsduringβ‐adrenoceptor stimulation. Furthermore, the dependence of this contribution on gender and pacing rate was investigated. Microelectrode techniques were employed to measure APD in Purkinje fibres from adult female and male dogs.At stimulation rates of 3.33, 1.0 and 0.2 Hz, the degree of prolongation of APD evoked by BaCl2(10 μM) was comparable in fibres from female and male dogs.At the same stimulation rates, 10 μM(−) chromanol 293B did not change the APD in fibres from female and male dogs.Duringβ‐adrenoceptor stimulation with 0.1 μMisoproterenol, an APD prolonging effect of (−) chromanol 293B was detected.In the presence of isoproterenol, action potentials in fibres from male dogs get shorter when changing the stimulation rate from 1.0 to 0.2 Hz, while the opposite is seen in fibres from female dogs. This alteration was completely reversed by (−) chromanol 293B.In conclusion, our findings confirm thatβ‐adrenoceptor stimulation is one condition where there may be an increased role ofIKsin action potential repolarisation. Gender differences in the autonomic modulation ofIKscould be a contributing factor to the reported increased susceptibility of female hearts to arrhythmias.British Journal of Pharmacology(2006)147, 653–660. doi:10.1038/sj.bjp.0706491
Comparison of HERG channel blocking effects of various β‐blockers – implication for clinical strategy
Authors: Kawakami Kazunobu , Nagatomo Toshihisa , Abe Haruhiko , Kikuchi Kan , Takemasa Hiroko , Anson Blake D , Delisle Brian P , January Craig T , Nakashima Yasuhide 
Published: November 2005

β‐Blockers are widely used in the treatment of cardiovascular diseases. However, their effects on HERG channels at comparable conditions remain to be defined. We investigated the direct acute effects of β‐blockers on HERG current and the molecular basis of drug binding to HERG channels with mutations of putative common binding site (Y652A and F656C).
β‐Blockers were selected based on the receptor subtype. Wild‐type, Y652A and F656C mutants of HERG channel were stably expressed in HEK293 cells, and the current was recorded by using whole‐cell patch‐clamp technique (23°C).
Carvedilol (nonselective), propranolol (nonselective) and ICI 118551 (β2‐selective) inhibited HERG current in a concentration‐dependent manner (IC50 0.51, 3.9 and 9.2 μM, respectively). The IC50 value for carvedilol was a clinically relevant concentration. High metoprolol (β1‐selective) concentrations were required for blockade (IC50 145 μM), and atenolol (β1‐selective) did not inhibit the HERG current.
Inhibition of HERG current by carvedilol, propranolol and ICI 118551 was partially but significantly attenuated in Y652A and F656C mutant channels. Affinities of metoprolol to Y652A and F656C mutant channels were not different compared with the wild‐type.
HERG current block by all β‐blockers was not frequency‐dependent.
Drug affinities to HERG channels were different in β‐blockers. Our results provide additional strategies for clinical usage of β‐blockers. Atenolol and metoprolol may be preferable for patients with type 1 and 2 long QT syndrome. Carvedilol has a class III antiarrhythmic effect, which may provide the rationale for a favourable clinical outcome compared with other β‐blockers as suggested in the recent COMET (Carvedilol Or Metoprolol European Trial) substudy.

British Journal of Pharmacology (2006) 147, 642–652. doi:10.1038/sj.bjp.0706508
Evidence for Holistic Processing of Faces Viewed as Photographic Negatives
Authors: Hole Graham J , George Patricia A , Dunsmore Victoria 
Published: November 2005

Inversion and photographic negation both impair face recognition. Inversion seems to disrupt processing of the spatial relationship between facial features (‘relational’ processing) which normally occurs with upright faces and which facilitates their recognition. It remains unclear why negation affects recognition. To find out if negation impairs relational processing, we investigated whether negative faces are subject to the ‘chimeric-face effect’. Recognition of the top half of a composite face (constructed from top and bottom halves of different faces) is difficult when the face is upright, but not when it is inverted. To perform this task successfully, the bottom half of the face has to be disregarded, but the relational processing which normally occurs with upright faces makes this difficult. Inversion reduces relational processing and thus facilitates performance on this particular task. In our experiments, subjects saw pairs of chimeric faces and had to decide whether or not the top halves were identical. On half the trials the two chimeras had identical tops; on the remaining trials the top halves were different. (The bottom halves were always different.) All permutations of orientation (upright or inverted) and luminance (normal or negative) were used. In experiment 1, each pair of ‘identical’ top halves were the same in all respects. Experiment 2 used differently oriented views of the same person, to preclude matches being based on incidental features of the images rather than the faces displayed within them. In both experiments, similar chimeric-face effects were obtained with both positive and negative faces, implying that negative faces evoke some form of relational processing. It is argued that there may be more than one kind of relational processing involved in face recognition: the ‘chimeric-face effect’ may reflect an initial ‘holistic’ processing which binds facial features into a ‘Gestalt’, rather than being a demonstration of the configurational processing involved in individual recognition.
Lightness Induction Revisited
Authors: Logvinenko Alexander D 
Published: November 2005

Lightness induction is the classical visual phenomenon whereby the lightness of an object is shown to depend on its immediate surround. Despite the long history of its study, lightness induction has not yet been coherently and satisfactorily explained in all its variety. The two main theories that compete to explain it descend (i) from H von Helmholtz, who believed that lightness induction originates from some central mechanisms that take into account the whole viewing situation, with particular stress upon the apparent illumination of the object; and (ii) E Hering who argued in favour of more peripheral sensory mechanisms based on local luminance contrast. The balance between these theories has recently been shifted towards Helmholtz's position by E H Adelson who has provided additional evidence that lightness induction depends on perceptual interpretation and, particularly, on apparent transparency. I challenge Adelson's conclusions by introducing modified versions of his tile pattern that use luminance gradients. In the first of these new demonstrations there is a strong lightness induction even though no apparent transparency is experienced. In the second there is a clear impression of transparent strips, yet no lightness induction is present. And the third shows that breaking up the Adelson tile pattern, while it affects neither the impression of transparency nor the type of grey-level junctions, makes the lightness-induction effect vanish. This implies that Adelson's illusion can be accounted for by neither local contrast, nor the apparent transparency, nor the type of grey-level junctions. Presented here is an alternative look at lightness induction as a phenomenon of the pictorial (as contrasted to natural) vision, which rests on the lightness – shadow invariance, much as Gregory's ‘inappropriate constancy scaling’ theory of geometrical illusions rests on the apparent size – distance invariance.
Surface Formation and Depth in Monocular Scene Perception
Authors: Albert Marc K 
Published: November 2005

The visual perception of monocular stimuli perceived as 3-D objects has received considerable attention from researchers in human and machine vision. However, most previous research has focused on how individual 3-D objects are perceived. Here this is extended to a study of how the structure of 3-D scenes containing multiple, possibly disconnected objects and features is perceived. Da Vinci stereopsis, stereo capture, and other surface formation and interpolation phenomena in stereopsis and structure-from-motion suggest that small features having ambiguous depth may be assigned depth by interpolation with features having unambiguous depth. I investigated whether vision may use similar mechanisms to assign relative depth to multiple objects and features in sparse monocular images, such as line drawings, especially when other depth cues are absent. I propose that vision tends to organize disconnected objects and features into common surfaces to construct 3-D-scene interpretations. Interpolations that are too weak to generate a visible surface percept may still be strong enough to assign relative depth to objects within a scene. When there exists more than one possible surface interpolation in a scene, the visual system's preference for one interpolation over another seems to be influenced by a number of factors, including: (i) proximity, (ii) smoothness, (iii) a preference for roughly frontoparallel surfaces and ‘ground’ surfaces, (iv) attention and fixation, and (v) higher-level factors. I present a variety of demonstrations and an experiment to support this surface-formation hypothesis.
Bioinformatic analysis of exon repetition, exon scrambling and trans-splicing in humans
Authors: Shao Xiang , Shepelev Valery , Fedorov Alexei 
Published: November 2005

Abstract
Motivation: Using bioinformatic approaches we aimed to characterize poorly understood abnormalities in splicing known as exon scrambling, exon repetition and trans-splicing.
Results: We developed a software package that allows large-scale comparison of all human expressed sequence tags (EST) sequences to the entire set of human gene sequences. Among 5 992 495 EST sequences, 401 cases of exon repetition and 416 cases of exon scrambling were found. The vast majority of identified ESTs contain fragments rather than full-length repeated or scrambled exons. Their structures suggest that the scrambled or repeated exon fragments may have arisen in the process of cDNA cloning and not from splicing abnormalities. Nevertheless, we found 11 cases of full-length exon repetition showing that this phenomenon is real yet very rare. In searching for examples of trans-splicing, we looked only at reproducible events where at least two independent ESTs represent the same putative trans-splicing event. We found 15 ESTs representing five types of putative trans-splicing. However, all 15 cases were derived from human malignant tissues and could have resulted from genomic rearrangements. Our results provide support for a very rare but physiological occurrence of exon repetition, but suggest that apparent exon scrambling and trans-splicing result, respectively, from in vitro artifact and gene-level abnormalities.
Availability: Exon–Intron Database (EID) is available at . Programs are available at . The Laboratory website is available at
Contact: afedorov@meduohio.edu
Supplementary information: Supplementary file is available at
Acquired C1‐inhibitor deficiency in a patient with systemic lupus erythematosus: a case report and review of the literature
Authors: Nettis E. , Colanardi M. C. , Loria M. P. , Vacca A. 
Published: November 2005

AbstractThe C1‐inhibitor (C1‐INH) is an important member of the serpin family which inhibits the first component of the human complement system and controls contact activation of the coagulation and kinin system. An acquired form of C1‐INH deficiency was recognized and classified as type I, which is characterized by accelerated catabolism of C1‐INH, whereas type II is defined by the presence of an autoantibody directed against the C1 inhibitor molecule. This study reports the case of a 32‐year‐old woman with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) who experienced recurrent angioedema because of an acquired C1‐INH deficiency. The relevant literature is reviewed.