bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Distribution of MICA diversity in the Chinese Han population by polymerase chain reaction sequence‐based typing for exons 2–6
Authors: Zhu F. , Zhao H. , He Y. , Zhang W. , He J. , Xu X. , Yan L. 
Published: March 2009

AbstractMajor histocompatibility complex class I chain‐related gene A (MICA) is located 46 kb centromeric to HLA‐B locus and encodes a stress‐inducible protein. MICA allelic variation is thought to be associated with disease susceptibility and immune response to transplants. In this study, polymerase chain reaction sequence‐based typing (PCR‐SBT) method for MICA alleles has been established. Genomic DNAs from 100 healthy Chinese Han individuals were typed for MICA alleles by this method. The microsatellite polymorphism in the exon 5 of MICA gene, MICA*Del allele, and human leukocyte antigen‐B alleles was also detected by the polymerase chain reaction–GeneScan, polymerase chain reaction sequence‐specific primer, and PCR‐SBT methods, respectively. Fourteen MICA alleles were found in the population, with MICA*00801/04 having the highest frequency of 27.0%. MICA*A4, *A5, *A5.1, *A6, and *A9 microsatellites were identified. Two samples with HLA‐B*4801 were MICA*Del positive, with the frequency of 1.0%. The data showed that the new PCR‐SBT method for MICA alleles was reliable and Chinese Han population was distinct in distribution of MICA alleles.
Characterization of 104 novel alleles at the HLA‐A, ‐B, and ‐DRB1 loci from National Marrow Donor Program volunteer donors
Authors: Lazaro A. M. , Xiao Y. , Regenscheid A. , Ng J. , Hurley C. K. , Posch P. E. 
Published: March 2009

AbstractOne hundred and four novel human leukocyte antigen (HLA) alleles are described from volunteer donors of the National Marrow Donor Program: 37 HLA‐A alleles, 37 HLA‐B alleles, and 30 HLA‐DRB1 alleles. Seventeen (∼16%) of the novel alleles were found in multiple individuals and likely are relatively common in the population. Seventy‐two (∼69%) of the 104 novel alleles are single nucleotide substitution variants when compared with their most homologous allele. Nine of these single nucleotide variants are silent substitutions and three create null alleles. The remaining novel alleles differ from their most similar allele by two to seven nucleotide substitutions. Some of the novel alleles encode amino acid changes at positions not previously reported to be polymorphic, such as codons 6 and 11 in HLA‐A alleles and codons 5, 105, and 141 in HLA‐B alleles. Interestingly, one of the novel HLA‐DRB1 alleles (*1471) has a change that is not the typical glycine/valine dimorphism at codon 86, which plays a key role in peptide binding to DR molecules. This is only the second DRB1 allele described that encodes an amino acid other than glycine or valine at this position.
Mitochondrial DNA sequence variations in some Italian wild boar populations
Authors: Lattuada L. , Quaglia F. , Iannelli F. , Gissi C. , Mantecca P. , Bacchetta R. , Polli M. 
Published: March 2009

SummaryIn order to investigate the relationships between Italian wild boar and major pig breeds, we studied the genetic variability of four wild boar populations in Italy (Arezzo, Pisa, Parma, Bergamo) using a 533‐bp fragment of the mitochondrial control region. Sixty‐nine wild boar samples were analysed, allowing the identification of 10 distinct haplotypes, which involve a total of 15 single nucleotide polymorphisms. Phylogenetic and network analyses were performed also considering several sequences of wild and domesticated forms available in the databases. The Bayesian phylogenetic tree and the Median‐Joining network analyses show three main groups: the Italian (IT), European (EU) and Asian (AS) clades. The IT clade corresponds to the Maremma endemic wild boar population and also includes Sardinian individuals, while the EU and AS groups include wild boars as well as domestic pig breeds. Only two individuals from Pisa cluster in the IT group, whereas two haplotypes from Bergamo cluster in the AS group and all other samples cluster in the EU clade. These findings suggest that in Italy wild boar populations have a mixed origin, both EU and AS, and that an interbreeding between wild and domesticated strains has probably occurred. Eight of the 10 wild boars coming from the Migliarino‐San Rossore‐Massaciuccoli Regional Park (Pisa) belong to H2 and H3 haplotypes, and cluster into the EU clade, suggesting that this regional park is not anymore exclusive of the endemic Maremma wild boar.
Cyclic genotyping strategies. III: A comparison of predictive methods for group genotyping
Authors: Macrossan P.E. , Kinghorn B.P. , Abbass H.A. 
Published: March 2009

SummaryThis paper provides an investigation into some of the key practical issues for minimizing the cost of DNA testing. Previous studies focused on maximizing the utility of genotyping by prioritizing individuals for genotyping. For logistical reasons, individuals may have to be genotyped in groups rather than individually, and the best group to genotype is expected to differ from the same‐sized group chosen when individuals are genotyped sequentially. In a calibration step, simulated populations and full knowledge of genotypes were used to discover the best group(s) to genotype. The characteristics of these groups were then targeted in an optimization step, using normally available information for group formation in targeted populations. Contrasts were made among predictive indices for: (i) individuals, with genotyping between each individual; (ii) individuals, with genotyping occurring group‐at‐a‐time; and (iii) groups, using group variables as criteria. The results of this investigation allow the determination of the value of moving from individual to group genotyping, reveal the favourable attributes of individuals for group formation, and lead to methods to form groups for genotyping. The approach used has applications in reducing genotyping costs in both experimental and commercial populations for both quantitative trait loci (QTL) detection and monitoring.
Artificial diets for rearing the coconut hispine beetle Brontispa longissima and its parasitoid Asecodes hispinarum
Authors: Ichiki R. T. , Dung D. T. , Takano S‐I. , Nakamura S. 
Published: March 2009

AbstractWe tested artificial diets for rearing the coconut hispine beetle, Brontispa longissima, a serious invasive pest of coconut (Cocos nucifera) in Southeast Asia. We examined three artificial diets that were identical except for their agar content. The survival rate from hatching to adult emergence was 26.0% when beetles were reared on a ‘soft diet’ (20 g/l agar), 16.0% on a ‘hard diet’ (40 g/l agar), and 41.0% on a ‘mixed diet’, in which the hard diet was used for the first instar and the soft diet for later instars. Females raised as larvae on the mixed diet and then as adults on the soft diet laid few eggs, which did not hatch. However, females reared on the mixed diet as larvae and then on fresh leaves as adults consistently laid eggs that hatched. We then examined the suitability of B. longissima larvae reared on the mixed diet as hosts for the larval parasitoid Asecodes hispinarum, a specialist parasitoid of this beetle. Of the oviposited hosts, 75.0% became mummified and 41.7% produced adult wasps. These results indicate that the mixed diet may be useful for rearing B. longissima larvae as hosts for the rearing of A. hispinarum.
Need to establish a national diagnostic capacity for foetal alcohol spectrum disorders
Authors: Mutch Raewyn , Peadon Elizabeth M , Elliott Elizabeth J , Bower Carol 
Published: March 2009

AbstractAlcohol exposure in pregnancy can induce a broad range of physical and developmental defects in the child, collectively known as foetal alcohol spectrum disorders (FASD). In Australia, there are proven gaps in our knowledge and practice for recognising and diagnosing FASD. The challenge for the Australian health professional is agreeing on a model for diagnosing and treating FASD. The diagnostic method must be evidence based, sensitive and specific, and account for other exposures during pregnancy and early life events. Training in application of the diagnostic method needs to be readily available in metropolitan and regional Australia. The University of Washington FASD 4‐digit diagnostic code fulfils all of these best practice criteria, recommending itself as the method of choice.
Profound encephalopathy with complete recovery in three children with familial hemiplegic migraine
Authors: Hart Anthony R , Trinick Ruth , Connolly Daniel J , Mordekar Santosh R 
Published: March 2009

AbstractWe describe three cousins who presented with agitation, dysphasia and/or coma, and developed hemiplegia following initial onset of symptoms. Two cases followed minor head injuries, two were pyrexial and two were associated with neutrophilia. Two cases required ventilatory support on the intensive care unit. Magnetic resonance imaging in all three cases showed cortical swelling, and one had evidence of restricted water diffusion on diffusion‐weighted imaging, suggestive of ischaemia/infarction. A complete family history at the time of presentation would have led to an earlier diagnosis of profound encephalopathy in familial hemiplegic migraine, which would have enabled better prognostication of their clinical course and caused less distress for the families.
Arthritis and gum bleeding in two children
Authors: Vitale Agata , Torre Francesco La , Martini Giorgia , Calcagno Giuseppina , Fede Carmelo , Conti Giovanni , Chimenz Roberto , Zulian Francesco 
Published: March 2009

AbstractIn developed countries, scurvey is quite rare and can be seen in children with severely restricted diets, related to psychiatric or developmental problems. Clinical presentation can include arthralgias/arthritis, myalgias, hemarthrosis, purpura and ecchymosis.We report two cases of nutritional vitamin C deficiency, who have been misdiagnosed as having rheumatologic diseases, and promptly resolved with vitamin C treatment. Both patents did not have the classic radiological features described in scurvey, such as the Wimberger ring or the white lines of Frankel. Magnetic resonance imaging clearly showed areas of hemorrhage at bony and subperiasteal level. This imaging procedure, therefore, should be recommended especially in the doubtful cases.The two patients described herein should alert pediatricians to consider scurvey although rare, as a potential source of “rheumatological” manifestations in children, especially in the industrialized courtries where in appropriate vitamin intake is often underestimated.
Changing patterns in interventional bronchoscopy
Authors: ZIAS Nikolaos , CHRONEOU Alexandra , GONZALEZ Anne V. , GRAY Anthony W. , LAMB Carla R. , RIKER David R. , BEAMIS Jr John F. 
Published: March 2009

ABSTRACTBackground and objective:  Many interventional tools for airway disorders can now be delivered via flexible bronchoscopy (FB), including neodymium‐yttrium aluminium garnet laser, electrocautery, argon plasma coagulation, cryotherapy, balloon dilatation and metal or hybrid stents. Comparison of outcomes for patients undergoing rigid bronchoscopy (RB) with those treated using FB highlights the usefulness of the FB approach.Methods:  A retrospective medical record review of all interventional bronchoscopy procedures performed at Lahey Clinic over the past 8 years was conducted. Patients were categorized into two groups according to the procedure used, that is, RB (251 patients), and FB (161 patients) groups. Patients with malignancies were included as a separate subgroup, comprising 178 RB and 117 FB patients. For every procedure, the location of the lesion, patient survival from the first interventional procedure performed, and in patients with malignancy, additional treatments received such as chemotherapy and radiation were recorded.Results:  Ninety per cent of RB procedures were performed in patients with tracheal or main stem lesions, while over half the patients undergoing FB had more distal lesions. A trend towards increasing use of FB for interventional procedures in recent years was noted.Conclusions:  FB is a valuable alternative to RB for treating less advanced malignant disease or distal airway lesions.
Making sense of scoring systems in community acquired pneumonia
Authors: NIEDERMAN Michael S. 
Published: March 2009

ABSTRACTThe site of care decision is one of the most important in the management of patients with community‐acquired pneumonia (CAP). Several scoring systems have been developed to predict mortality risk in CAP, and these have been applied to guide physicians about whether patients should be admitted to the hospital or to the intensive care unit (ICU). However, these tools were initially developed to predict mortality risk, and studies have demonstrated that the risk for death does not always equate with need for hospitalization or ICU care. The most widely studied scoring systems are the Pneumonia Severity Index (PSI) and the CURB‐65 (a modification of the British Thoracic Society rule). Each has advantages and limitations, with the more‐complex PSI developed to identify low‐mortality risk patients, and the CURB‐65, which is simpler, being developed to easily identify more severely ill individuals. No scoring system can replace clinical judgement about the admission decision, and prospective studies have shown that physicians still admit at least 30–60% of low mortality risk patients when using the PSI to guide this decision. Limitations of these prognostic tools include their variable utility in the elderly, and their failure to include certain comorbidities (COPD, immune suppression) and social factors, in their calculations. The need for ICU care is also not well‐defined by measuring the PSI or CURB‐65, and other tools such as those developed by the Infectious Diseases Society of America/American Thoracic Society (IDSA/ATS) guideline committee and the SMART‐COP rule may have greater utility for this purpose. In the future, measurements of serum biomarkers, such as procalcitonin, may augment the information provided by prognostic scoring tools for patients with CAP.
Treatment of obstructive sleep apnoea in Samoa progressively reduces daytime blood pressure over 6 months
Authors: MIDDLETON Sally , VERMEULEN Walter , BYTH Karen , SULLIVAN Colin E. , MIDDLETON Peter G. 
Published: March 2009

ABSTRACTBackground and objective:  While recent meta‐analyses suggest that OSA elevates daytime blood pressure (BP), most studies have included patients with mild hypertension, so CPAP treatment has only reduced BP by 2–3 mm Hg. To determine the strength of the OSA–BP relationship, this study examined the effect of CPAP in a cohort where severe OSA and under‐treated hypertension coexist.Methods:  Baseline demographic and sleep study data were recorded in 221 consecutive patients referred for sleep studies in Samoa. OSA was treated with CPAP and BP recorded for 6–7 months in 180 patients. A subgroup of 64 patients, representative of the entire group, but with regular follow‐up, is also described.Results:  OSA was diagnosed in 218/221 patients; of those who commenced CPAP, 180 returned for follow‐up at least once within 7 months. Following CPAP, BP decreased by 7.1/5.9 mm Hg at 1 month and 12.9/10.5 mm Hg at 6 months (n = 180, P < 0.0001). In the 64 patients with regular follow‐up, those with the highest baseline BP had the greatest fall in BP with CPAP; BP in the hypertensive subgroup (32/64) decreased 21.5/13.1 mm Hg at 6 months (P < 0.0001).Conclusions:  Hypertensive OSA patients can exhibit large falls in BP with CPAP at 1 month, with further significant reductions at 3 and 6 months. Overall, the fall in BP was proportional to the initial elevation of the BP with many patients achieving normal BP at 6 months.
Role and feasibility of psychomotor and dexterity testing in selection for surgical training
Authors: Gallagher Anthony G. , Leonard Gerald , Traynor Oscar J. 
Published: March 2009

AbstractThe practice of Surgery has undergone major changes in the past 20 years and this is likely to continue. Knowledge, judgement and good technical skills will no longer be enough to safely practice surgery and interventional procedures. Fundamental abilities (e.g. psychomotor skills, visuospatial ability and depth perception) are critically important for catheter‐based interventions, NOTES, robotic surgery and other procedural interventions of the future. Not all individuals possess the same amount of these innate fundamental abilities and those less endowed are likely to struggle during surgical training and thereafter in surgical practice. In contrast to other high‐skill professions/industries (e.g. aviation) we do not have a tradition of testing prospective surgical trainees for abilities/attributes that we now recognize as being important for surgical practice. Instead, we continue to rely on surrogate markers of future potential (e.g. academic record). However, many studies have shown that psychomotor ability is an important predictor of both learning rate and performance for complex laparoscopic tasks. Psychomotor skills, visuospatial ability and depth perception can all be tested objectively by validated tests. At the Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland, all short‐listed candidates for Higher Surgical Training now undergo formal testing of both technical skills and fundamental abilities (psychomotor skills, visuospatial ability and depth perception). Reports on each candidate’s performance are supplied to the interview committee. Furthermore, a prospective database is being kept for correlation with future surgical performance. We believe that selection into surgical training should take account of attributes that we know are important for safe and efficient surgical practice.
New focus on anatomy for surgical trainees
Authors: Standring Susan 
Published: March 2009

AbstractThe demise of anatomy teaching in the undergraduate medical curriculum has inevitably reduced the general level of applied anatomical knowledge displayed by junior doctors. Initiatives such as the European Working Time Directive have exacerbated the problem by reducing trainees’ opportunities to acquire appropriate anatomical knowledge and clinical skills through workplace training. Medical Schools and postgraduate Colleges and Schools of Surgery must work together to design and deliver quality‐assured courses in core and non‐core anatomy, that cross the undergraduate/postgraduate interface. All medical students should learn a core syllabus of anatomy, agreed by a panel of clinicians and anatomists but delivered according to the pedagogic style favoured by individual Medical Schools. This core will define the anatomy, that all F1 doctors should know, particularly the anatomy associated with clinical procedures: it will be assessed across all years of the undergraduate medical programme. Medical Schools should also offer modules in non‐core surgical and/or radiological anatomy, some of which may be designed and delivered in partnership with Colleges of Surgery and Radiology: these modules would be particularly attractive to students contemplating a career in surgery or interventional radiology, but would not be offered exclusively to this cohort. At present, the inadequate anatomical knowledge of Foundation doctors must be addressed by ensuring that early postgraduate training programmes include explicit, formal teaching in anatomy, for example, the Core Surgical Anatomy course currently being piloted at the Royal College of Surgeons of England.
Undergraduate perspectives on the teaching and learning of anatomy*
Authors: Mitchell Rob , Batty Lachlan 
Published: March 2009

AbstractThe volume of time dedicated to anatomy teaching has steadily decreased in the context of increasingly dense undergraduate curricula. We examine the complex topic of anatomical education from the undergraduate perspective, with a focus on student perceptions, their origins and their potential solutions. A limited dataset suggests students perceive their tuition in anatomy may be suboptimal. Multiple factors (including the intensity of pre‐clinical studies, academic criticism of modern courses, surgical culture and misinformation) may account for the unrest. It is difficult to objectively measure the impact of modified anatomy curriculum on clinical performance and patient safety. While there is a case (on the basis of student perception at least) for reinvigorating elements of undergraduate anatomy education, the modern medical educational framework is here to stay, and students and clinicians must learn to adapt. Anatomy must be linked with contemporary approaches to medical education and it should be integrated, continuous and guided. It is critical that clinicians engage in the teaching of anatomy in the clinical environment and they must be adequately resourced to do so. Graduates must emerge with a core understanding of anatomy, but not an encyclopaedic knowledge of the human form. Undergraduate programme should simply strive to equip their graduates with a foundation for lifelong learning and a platform for safe practice as interns.
Role of simulation in surgical education and training
Authors: Windsor John A 
Published: March 2009

AbstractThere are several challenges facing surgical education and training that simulation may help to address. A conceptual framework is required to allow the appropriate application of simulation to a given level and type of surgical skill and this should be driven by educational imperatives and not by technological innovation. Simple simulation is required for core skills training. Cognitive simulation is introduced as a way in which procedural skills training can be achieved. Virtual world simulation opens up significant opportunities for team skills training. A role for simulation in surgical education and training appears assured, but its success will be determined by the extent to which it is integral to high quality curricula, its importance determined by its contribution to both learning and assessment, and its sustainability determined by evidence of its advantages and cost‐effectiveness.
Ensuring a graduated integrated progression of learning in a changing environment
Authors: Thomas W. E. G. 
Published: March 2009

AbstractSurgical training is under threat in the changing environment of today. In the past, training consisted of an apprenticeship, which is no longer feasible or practical within the time limitation imposed on trainees currently, and so a new and innovative approach is required to train the surgeons of tomorrow. There is therefore a need for an explicit curriculum that ensures a graduated and integrated progression of learning in which both trainees and trainers are aware of what is required for each stage in training and for each surgical specialty. Such a curriculum has now been developed in the UK.