bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
The Experience of Fatigue among Elderly Women with Chronic Heart Failure
Authors: Hägglund Lena , Boman Kurt , Lundman Berit 
Published: February 2008

Background: Fatigue is a common and distressing symptom in chronic heart failure (CHF). Most of the current methods for evaluating patients' symptoms fail to consider the meaning or importance that these symptoms have for the patient.Aim: To illuminate the lived experience of fatigue among elderly women with CHF.Method: Narrative interviews were conducted with 10 women with CHF, aged 73–89 years. Interviews were analysed with qualitative content analysis.Results: The findings are presented in two themes and five subthemes. The first theme, ‘living with the loss of physical energy’, was based on three subthemes describing the experience of fatigue: ‘experiencing a substantial presence of feebleness and unfamiliar bodily sensations’, ‘experiencing unpredictable variations in physical ability’, and ‘needing help from others in daily life’. The second theme, ‘striving for independence while being aware of deteriorating health’, describes how the women managed their life situation; it was based on two subthemes: ‘acknowledging one's remaining abilities’, and ‘being forced to adjust and struggle for independence’.Conclusions: Fatigue was experienced as loss of physical energy, leading to discrepancies between intention and capacity. The will to reduce dependency on others involved a daily struggle against fatigue.
Wandering Ghosts of Late Socialism: Conflict, Metaphor, and Memory in a Southern Vietnamese Marketplace
Authors: Leshkowich Ann Marie 
Published: February 2008

In the late 1990s, a marketplace trader in Hồ Chí Minh City reported being plagued by wandering ghosts. The postwar Vietnamese landscape teems with angry spirits who died violently without descendents to honor them, but the trader's wandering ghosts were living: male market officials who demanded that merchants, most of them women, pay a fee for use rights to their stalls. Examining the conflict that ensued, this article argues that the wandering ghosts metaphor aptly captures the bitter struggles over resources and status that have accompanied late socialist economic reforms. More subtly, the metaphor also alludes to lingering wartime animosities. Market officials supported the victors, whereas many traders sided with the losers. Although daily interactions have intersubjectively reworked these tensions so that they seem instead to reflect gender differences, “ghosts” inevitably emerge: odd fragments of memory that wander homeless in the wake of social and individual efforts to render the past coherent.Most traders have paid up simply to avoid the market management boarde's harassment. It's money sacrificed to appease the wandering ghosts[tiền thí cô hồn].—Bến Thành market trader, Hồ Chí Minh City
On nonlinear waves in Hall–MHD plasma
Authors: MITEVA R. , MANN G. 
Published: February 2008

AbstractLow-frequency magnetic field fluctuations are observed in space plasmas, e.g. as upstream waves at the Earth's bow shock. Such upstream waves can steepen into very large amplitude wave phenomena, e.g. short large-amplitude magnetic structures (or SLAMS for short), shocklets or discrete wave packets. Such observations motivated us to study the nonlinear behavior of low-frequency and large-amplitude plasma waves in terms of the full nonlinear Hall–MHD framework. In the case of stationary (nonlinear) waves, the Hall–MHD equations can be rewritten in the so-called Sakai–Sonnerup system of equations that describe this plasma state and provide oscillatory and solitary types of solutions. An overall parameter study on the polarization characteristics, together with the magnetic field components and density variations of the different ranges of solutions, is presented here. These results can be further on applied to the theoretical treatment of particle interaction with such waves, e.g. at shocks in space plasmas, possibly leading to particle acceleration.
Cloning of ACO gene and inhibition of ethylene evolution in tomatoes with RNAi
Authors: Yin-Hua Chen , Bo Ouyang , Han-Xia Li , Zhi-Biao Ye 
Published: February 2008

AbstractA 1018 bp fragment of the ACO gene cDNA sequence was cloned from tomato (Lycopersicon esculentum) leaves incubated with a pathogen mixture using reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) with two PCR primers designed according to the sequence of a tomato cDNA clone (E11). A BLAST search showed the sequence presenting a very high match with the ACO genes in other plants, with 83–99% homology. Using this sequence, an RNA interference (RNAi) transformation vector (pD311) was constructed and transformed into tomato. Twenty-seven regenerated plants with kanamycin resistance were obtained, showing that the transgene was integrated into the tomato genome; this was confirmed by PCR and Southern blotting. Ethylene production by the RNAi transgenic tomato plants was measured by gas chromatography, and showed that ethylene evolution was specifically inhibited in leaves and fruits of the transgenic plants.
Genetic diversity analysis of diazotrophs in the rice rhizosphere
Authors: Bin Chen , Si-Ping Zheng , Li-Juan Zhou , Zhi-Min Lin , Ya-Na Song , Wei-Wen Zheng 
Published: February 2008

SUMMARYThe genetic diversity of dinitrogen-fixing bacteria associated with rice (Oryza sativa) was assessed by a polymerase chain reaction–restriction fragment length polymorphism (PCR–RFLP) approach on thenifHgene amplified directly from DNA extracted from washed rice roots and rhizospheric soil. Restriction digestion with the enzymesMnlI andHaeIII was performed to characterize 54 clonednifHPCR products. RFLP profiles were clustered and analysed with the UPGMA program. Eight pairs of similar RFLP patterns (similarity>50%) and two pairs of homologous RFLP patterns (100% identity) were found from the washed roots and the rhizospheric soil, respectively. Three specific diazotrophic patterns were found from rhizospheric soil and rice roots. The analyses have revealed the presence of differentnifHtypes, which appear to be significant components of the diazotrophic community in paddy fields, indicating that some of the diazotrophs may colonize the inside and the surface of the rice roots.
Impact of Meningococcal Serogroup C Conjugate Vaccines on Carriage and Herd Immunity
Authors: Maiden Martin C J , Ibarz-Pavón Ana Belén , Urwin Rachel , Gray Stephen J , Andrews Nicholas J , Clarke Stuart C , Walker A Mark , Evans Meirion R , Kroll J Simon , Neal Keith R , Ala'Aldeen Dlawer A A , Crook Derrick W , Cann Kathryn , Harrison Sarah , Cunningham Richard , Baxter David , Kaczmarski Edward , MacLennan Jenny , Cameron J Claire , Stuart James M 
Published: February 2008

AbstractBackground. In 1999, meningococcal serogroup C conjugate (MCC) vaccines were introduced in the United Kingdom for those under 19 years of age. The impact of this intervention on asymptomatic carriage of meningococci was investigated to establish whether serogroup replacement or protection by herd immunity occurred.Methods. Multicenter surveys of carriage were conducted during vaccine introduction and on 2 successive years, resulting in a total of 48,309 samples, from which 8599 meningococci were isolated and characterized by genotyping and phenotyping.Results. A reduction in serogroup C carriage (rate ratio, 0.19) was observed that lasted at least 2 years with no evidence of serogroup replacement. Vaccine efficacy against carriage was 75%, and vaccination had a disproportionate impact on the carriage of sequence type (ST)-11 complex serogroup C meningococci that (rate ratio, 0.06); these meningococci also exhibited high rates of capsule expression.Conclusions. The impact of vaccination with MCC vaccine on the prevalence of carriage of group C meningococci was consistent with herd immunity. The high impact on the carriage of ST-11 complex serogroup C could be attributed to high levels of capsule expression. High vaccine efficacy against disease in young children, who were not protected long-term by the schedule initially used, is attributed to the high vaccine efficacy against carriage in older age groups.
Biogeographical boundaries and Monmonier’s algorithm: a case study in the northern Neotropics
Authors: Patten Michael A. , Smith‐Patten Brenda D. 
Published: February 2008

AbstractAim To use Monmonier’s algorithm, a spatially explicit technique, to elucidate positions of biogeographical boundaries in the northern Neotropics.Location The northern Neotropics (Isthmus of Tehuantepec, Mexico, south to trans‐Andean Colombia).Methods We compiled avifaunal lists for 36 forested sites from the literature, museum records, field notes, and web sources. We constructed distance matrices as inverse Jaccard’s similarity, used Monmonier’s algorithm to place biogeographical boundaries, and created bootstrap matrices to determine the relative strength of boundaries.Results Biogeographical boundaries with the best support separated lowland (< 1000 m) and montane sites and areas with a distinct historical background, such as seaways, suture zones, volcanic peaks, and former islands.Main conclusions Monmonier’s algorithm used with distance (dissimilarity) data effectively identified biogeographical boundaries consistent with historical processes and with past research. Montane sites tended to be circumscribed by sharp boundaries, emphasizing their isolation and higher endemism. Lowland sites, by contrast, tended to be homogeneous, suggesting that dispersal has played a much larger role at low elevations. Former seaways, as in the Nicaraguan Depression and extended Bay of Urabá, yielded boundaries, but typically for highland avifauna only. In addition to providing a rigorous (bootstrap support) and heuristic (direct mapping) means of locating biotic boundaries, Monmonier’s algorithm can be a valuable tool for conservation planning.
Protective effect of a multiantigenic DNA vaccine against Toxoplasma gondii with co‐delivery of IL‐12 in mice
Authors: CUI Y.‐L. , HE S.‐Y. , XUE M.‐F. , ZHANG J. , WANG H.‐X. , YAO Y. 
Published: February 2008

SUMMARY In this study, we constructed a multiantigenic DNA vaccine, pSAG1‐ROP2‐SAG2 and examined its effect with co‐delivery of a plasmid encoding IL‐12 (pIL‐12) as an adjuvant in BALB/c mice against Toxoplasma gondii. After a lethal challenge of T. gondii RH strain, survival of the mice immunized with this pSAG1‐ROP2‐SAG2 vaccine was significantly prolonged in comparison to the control groups. Furthermore, the protection was significantly augmented by pIL‐12 co‐delivery. As demonstrated by lymphocyte proliferation assay, cytokine and antibody level determinations, the humoral and Th1‐type cellular responses elicited by this multiantigenic DNA vaccine were significantly stronger than those elicited by double‐antigenic, or single‐antigenic DNA vaccines. Our data suggest that multiantigenic DNA vaccine with pIL‐12 co‐delivery is a very effective approach in the protection against T. gondii.
Sex‐specific responses of Populus cathayana to drought and elevated temperatures
Authors: XU XIAO , YANG FAN , XIAO XIANGWEN , ZHANG SHENG , KORPELAINEN HELENA , LI CHUNYANG 
Published: February 2008

ABSTRACTDioecious plant species represent an important component of terrestrial ecosystems. Yet, little is known about sex‐specific responses to drought and elevated temperatures. Populus cathayana Rehd, which is a dioecious, deciduous tree species, widely distributed in the northern, central and southwestern regions of China, was employed as a model species in our study. In closed‐top chamber experiments, sex‐specific morphological, physiological and biochemical responses of P. cathayana to drought and different elevated temperatures were investigated. Compared with the controls, drought significantly decreased the growth and the net photosynthesis rate (A), and increased the intrinsic water use efficiency (WUEi), carbon isotope composition (δ13C), and the malondialdehyde (MDA) and abscisic acid (ABA) contents in droughted plants. In contrast, elevated temperatures significantly promoted the growth and the A, but decreased the WUEi, δ13C, MDA and ABA contents in well‐watered individuals. When compared with males, elevated temperatures induced well‐watered females to express a greater increase in the height growth (HG), basal diameter (BD), leaf area (LA), total number of leaves (TNL), dry matter accumulation (DMA) and specific leaf area (SLA), and a lower decrease in the A value, transpiration (E), stomatal conductance (gs), MDA and ABA contents, while elevated temperatures induced drought‐stressed females to exhibit lower values of HG, BD, LA, TNL, DMA, A, E, gs and the intercellular CO2 concentration (Ci), and higher levels of SLA, WUEi, δ13C, MDA and ABA contents. Our results indicated that the female individuals of P. cathayana are more responsive and suffer from greater negative effects than do males when grown under environments with increased drought stress and elevated temperature.
Restoration of Impaired Free Radical Generation and Proinflammatory Cytokines by MCP‐1 in Mycobacterial Pathogenesis
Authors: Majumder N. , Bhattacharjee S. , Bhattacharyya (Majumdar) S. , Dey R. , Guha P. , Pal N. K. , Majumdar S. 
Published: February 2008

Abstract Mycobacterium tuberculosis exerts its pathogenic effects mainly via its cell wall glycolipid called Mannosylated Lipoarabinomannan (Man‐LAM), which subverts the cellular inflammatory responses by the suppression of superoxide anion generation in earlier hours, and nitric oxide (NO) generation at later hours of pathogenic invasion. In this paper, we have shown the prophylactic effect of C‐C chemokines, both in vitro and in vivo. Exogenous administration of C‐C chemokines, particularly monocyte chemoattractant protein (MCP)‐1, led to the induction of superoxide anion generation via the restoration of impaired protein kinase C (PKC) signalling in Man‐LAM‐treated macrophages. Monocyte chemoattractant protein‐1 could also potently induce NO generation by upregulation of the proinflammatory cytokines tumour necrosis factor‐α and interleukin‐12 from Man‐LAM‐treated macrophages accompanied by inhibition of anti‐inflammatory responses. Our in vivo observations clearly exhibited effective restoration of impaired PKC signalling as well as proinflammatory cytokine expression by MCP‐1 in Man‐LAM treated as well as M. tuberculosis H37Rv‐infected C57BL/6 mice. We also observed, as direct evidence, that MCP‐1 induced a significant reduction of the number of viable tubercle bacilli in the lungs and spleen of infected mice. Collectively, our findings strongly suggest the effectiveness of MCP‐1 as a potent immunoprophylactic tool for controlling the mycobacterial establishment within the host.
Responsiveness of Eosinophils to Aeroallergens may be Independent of Atopic Status
Authors: Redvall E. , Bengtsson U. , Wennerås C. 
Published: February 2008

AbstractIt has been reported that extracts from common aeroallergens directly activate eosinophils from non‐allergic individuals, eliciting chemotaxis and degranulation. The aims of this study were to compare the reactivity of eosinophils from non‐atopic and atopic individuals to airborne allergens, and to assess if this reactivity was modulated by natural exposure to birch pollen. Blood‐derived eosinophils were stimulated with allergen extracts from birch pollen, cat dander, house dust mite and timothy grass, and their capacity to degranulate (eosinophil peroxidase, EPO; major basic protein, MBP) and produce T helper type 1 and 2 cytokines were evaluated as well as their capacity to migrate in vitro, in and out of the birch pollen season. Eosinophils from atopic and non‐atopic individuals responded similarly to stimulation with allergen extracts with respect to directed migration, EPO and MBP release, which was independent of the season when the samples were collected. Interestingly, eosinophils from both study groups were incapable of producing tumour necrosis factor‐α (TNF‐α) during the birch pollen season, but could generate interleukin‐4. Innate responsiveness of eosinophils to aeroallergens is independent of the atopic status of the individual. In vivo exposure to birch allergen as seen during the birch pollen season downregulates the capacity of eosinophils to produce the cytokine TNF‐α.
Human serum antibodies recognize Treponema denticola Msp and PrtP protease complex proteins
Authors: Capone R. , Wang H. T. , Ning Y. , Sweier D. G. , Lopatin D. E. , Fenno J. C. 
Published: February 2008

Background/aims:  Treponema denticola outer membrane proteins are postulated to have key roles in microbe–host interactions in periodontitis. Because there are no reports of in vivo expression of these putative virulence factors, we examined several T. denticola strains to determine whether sera from human subjects recognized specific T. denticola outer membrane proteins.Methods:  Soluble extracts were prepared from exponential phase cultures of T. denticola strains representing three serotypes, from defined T. denticola mutants defective in Msp (major surface protein) or PrtP lipoprotein protease complex (CTLP; dentilisin), and Escherichia coli strains expressing distinctly different T. denticola Msp. Extracts were subjected to Western immunoassays using archived human serum samples.Results:  Human serum antibodies (immunoglobulin G class) recognized multiple protein bands in T. denticola strains. In the parent strain ATCC 35405, these included bands at 72‐, 53‐, 40‐, and 30‐kDa. Bands corresponding to Msp and the PrtP protease complex proteins were absent in isogenic msp and protease complex mutants, respectively. Individual human sera showed specificity for one or more Msp types.Conclusions:  This is the first definitive report of human serum antibody responses to specific T. denticola antigens. T. denticola Msp and the proteins comprising the PrtP lipoprotein protease complex are expressed in vivo and are immunogenic in humans. Human antibody recognition of Msp exhibits strain specificity and is consistent with strain serotyping. These results demonstrate the utility of T. denticola isogenic mutants in characterizing host immune responses to periodontal pathogens.
Self‐Organized Shape and Frontal Density of Fish Schools
Authors: Hemelrijk Charlotte K. , Hildenbrandt Hanno 
Published: February 2008

AbstractModels of swarming (based on avoidance, alignment and attraction) produce patterns of behaviour also seen in schools of fish. However, the significance of such similarities has been questioned, because some model assumptions are unrealistic [e.g. speed in most models is constant with random error, the perception is global and the size of the schools that have been studied is small (up to 128 individuals)]. This criticism also applies to our former model, in which we demonstrated the emergence of two patterns of spatial organization, i.e. oblong school form and high frontal density, which are supposed to function as protection against predators. In our new model we respond to this criticism by making the following improvements: individuals have a preferred ‘cruise speed’ from which they can deviate in order to avoid others or to catch up with them. Their range of perception is inversely related to density, with which we take into account that high density limits the perception of others that are further away. Swarm sizes range from 10 to 2000 individuals. The model is three‐dimensional. Further, we show that the two spatial patterns (oblong shape and high frontal density) emerge by self‐organization as a side‐effect of coordination at two speeds (of two or four body lengths per second) for schools of sizes above 20. Our analysis of the model leads to the development of a new set of hypotheses. If empirical data confirm these hypotheses, then in a school of real fish these patterns may arise as a side‐effect of their coordination in the same way as in the model.
Caregivers recognize and bias response towards individual young in a cooperative breeding mammal, the banded mongoose
Authors: Gilchrist J. S. , Otali E. , Mwanguhya F. 
Published: February 2008

AbstractIn research on parental care and cooperative breeding an issue is whether caregivers recognize individual young and therefore preferentially care for those young that will maximize inclusive fitness gains. This field study experimentally evaluates whether caregivers within groups of the cooperative breeding banded mongoose (a communal breeding species that produces litters of mixed parentage) exhibit individual recognition and increased responsiveness to the pup to which they are normally associated within a stable escort–pup pairing. A focal pup was presented to its group under controlled circumstances following temporary removal. The focal escort of a specific pup was more responsive to controlled presentation of that pup than other adults (a control escort, other escorts and non‐escorts), spending a greater amount of time in close proximity. This study therefore demonstrates individual recognition and increased responsiveness by adult caregivers to associated pups in the banded mongoose. Thus, caregivers may selectively provide care for specific young within a litter, potentially increasing their inclusive fitness.
Processing local pragmatic anomalies in fictional contexts: Evidence from the N400
Authors: Filik Ruth , Leuthold Hartmut 
Published: February 2008

AbstractReaders typically experience processing difficulty when they encounter a word that is anomalous within the local context, such as “The cat picked up the chainsaw.” In an ERP study, we demonstrate that by placing such a sentence in a fictional scenario that is well known to the reader (e.g., a Tom and Jerry cartoon), the N400 effect usually associated with these pragmatic anomalies can be eliminated. This finding suggests that readers can rapidly integrate information from their common ground while interpreting incoming text and provides further evidence that incoming words are immediately evaluated within the global discourse.
The Vagal Factor in Foetal Heart Rate Change I.—The Effect of Abdominal Pressure
Authors: Bradfield Alan 
Published: February 2008

SummaryFirm pressure was applied at various points to the abdomen of each of 29 women in labour about term.The foetal electrocardiogram was monitored simultaneously.In every case there was some change in foetal heart rate.The usual response was bradycardia from pressure over the lower abdomen, grading out from one point where maximum slowing was found to occur.In one case foetal cardiac standstill was produced.The shape of the heart rate patterns, the effect of atropine and the configuration of the foetal electrocardiogram suggest a vagal mechanism.These observations may point to a possible cause of sudden death in utero.The need for caution in external manipulations is emphasized.Use of the foetal stethoscope can itself sometimes cause bradycardia.Slowing of the foetal heart on attempted engagement of the presenting part should not be over‐emphasized as a sign of placenta praevia.The likelihood of finding the cord entangled at delivery seems greatest when major bradycardia is produced by pressure over 3 sites in the lower abdomen.