bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) discovery in the polyploid Brassica napus using Solexa transcriptome sequencing
Authors: Trick Martin , Long Yan , Meng Jinling , Bancroft Ian 
Published: January 2009

SummaryOilseed rape (Brassica napus) was selected as an example of a polyploid crop, and the Solexa sequencing system was used to generate approximately 20 million expressed sequence tags (ESTs) from each of two cultivars: Tapidor and Ningyou 7. A methodology and computational tools were developed to exploit, as a reference sequence, a publicly available set of approximately 94 000 Brassica species unigenes. Sequences transcribed in the leaves of juvenile plants were aligned to approximately 26 Mb of the reference sequences. The aligned sequences enabled the detection of 23 330–41 593 putative single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) between the cultivars, depending on the read depth stringency applied. The majority of the detected polymorphisms (87.5–91.2%) were of a type indicative of transcription from homoeologous genes from the two parental genomes within oilseed rape, and are termed here ‘hemi‐SNPs’. The overall estimated polymorphism rate (~0.047%–0.084%) is consistent with that previously observed between the cultivars analysed. To demonstrate the heritability of SNPs and to assess their suitability for applications such as linkage map construction and association genetics, approximately nine million ESTs were generated, using the Solexa system, from each of four lines of a doubled haploid mapping population derived from a cross between Tapidor and Ningyou 7. Computational tools were developed to score the alleles present in these lines for each of the potential SNPs identified between their parents. For a specimen region of the genome analysed in detail, segregation of alleles largely, although not entirely, followed the pattern expected for genomic markers.
A survey of the quality and accuracy of information leaflets about skin cancer and sun‐protective behaviour available from UK general practices and community pharmacies
Authors: Nicholls S , Hankins M , Hooley C , Smith H 
Published: January 2009

AbstractBackground  Better information promotes sun protection behaviour and is associated with earlier presentation and survival for malignant melanoma.Aim  To assess the quality of patient information leaflets about skin cancer and sun‐protective behaviour available from general practices and community pharmacies.Design of study  A structured review of patient information leaflets.Setting  All community pharmacies and general practices in one Primary Care Trust were invited to supply leaflets.Methods  Readability was assessed using the SMOG scoring system. Presentation and content were reviewed using the Ensuring Quality Information for Patients (EQIP) guidelines. Three consultant dermatologists assessed each leaflet for accuracy.Results  Thirty‐one different patient information leaflets were returned. Thirteen (42%) were published in the previous 2 years, but 10 (32%) were over 5 years old. Nine (29%) leaflets were produced by the NHS or Health Education Authority, and 8 (27%) were linked to a commercial organization. One leaflet had readability in the primary education range (SMOG score = 6), and none with the recommended range for health education material (SMOG score ≤ 5). Two leaflets (6%) were in the highest quartile of EQIP score for presentation and content. Five leaflets (17%) had a major inaccuracy such as over‐reliance on sun screen products instead of shade and clothing.Conclusions  Leaflets were of variable quality in presentation and content. All required a reading age higher than recommended. All leaflets with major inaccuracies had links with commercial organizations. This study raises important issues about the potential conflict between marketing and health messages in the way sun creams are promoted.Conflicts of interestNone declared
Presumptive frequency of, and review of reports on, allergies to household gloves
Authors: Proksch E , Schnuch A , Uter W 
Published: January 2009

AbstractBackground  Allergies to latex or ‘rubber chemicals’ in medical or other occupationally used gloves are not uncommon. In contrast, very few articles have reported on latex allergy (type I) or allergic contact sensitization to additives (type IV) associated with household gloves, in spite of some 44 million pairs sold in Germany in, e.g., 2006.Objective  We seek to determine the frequency of allergies to household gloves by providing own data and we reviewed the literature.Methods  The study was based on 105083 consultations of patients with suspected contact allergy (Type IV) in the Information Network of Departments of Dermatology (IVDK) in Germany in the years 1995 to 2006 and on the PubMed databases (last access 7/2008).Results  1221 patients were identified in whom protective gloves were considered as a possible cause of contact dermatitis and who did not work in occupations associated with above average risk of contact allergy to rubber chemicals. In 178 cases positive reactions to rubber components were reported, while 13 additional cases reacted only to a previously used rubber glove brand, but not to commercial allergens.In the literature only two publications on type I and two on type IV reactions were found in which allergies to rubber household gloves were explicitly reported.Conclusions  Allergies to rubber household gloves seem to be rare. Factors presumably counteracting contact sensitization by household gloves, compared to occupational use, comprise short intermediate use, loose fitting and the incorporation of e.g. an inner cotton surface reducing skin contact with rubber chemicals.Conflict of interestEhrhardt Proksch has acted as consultant to Wirtschaftsverband der deutschen Kautschukindustrie e.V. (WDK).
A perspective on the patterns of loss, lack, disappointment and shame encountered in the treatment of six women with severe and chronic anorexia nervosa
Authors: Austin Sue 
Published: January 2009

Abstract:  This paper explores how the aggressive fantasies and energies expressed in anorexic self‐hatred can be recycled to become the basis of psychological growth and recovery. This shift is made possible by focusing on the telos of the analysand's psychological system as it expresses itself through her illness, and using Clark's idea that sanity is a form of recycled madness. It also draws on Jung's view of the unconscious as an active and purposive agent, and libido as a neutral psychic energy which can serve different purposes.I discuss a number of clinical vignettes, focusing on the hard, ruthless, defiant and hateful aspects of (what might appear to be) ‘monstrous’ anorexic behaviour, and the kinds of countertransference reactions these behaviours can provoke. I also explore what these kinds of behaviours might represent in terms of multi‐generational family dynamics, as well as mother‐daughter dynamics.At the core of the paper is the idea that the capacity to use aggression in clear ways, but within the limits of conscience, is essential for the protection of one's physical and psychological boundaries. Without the capacity to defend oneself, and the ability to decide quickly and clearly when it is right to risk hurting the other in order to do so, one cannot take any level of risk in life, or draw close to the other. I suggest that for recovery from anorexia to occur, the aggressive, self‐hateful, destructive energies which are so central to the illness need to be recycled into these kinds of awarenesses and life‐skills.
Arterial internal elastic lamina holes: relationship to function?
Authors: Sandow Shaun L. , Gzik Danusia J. , Lee Robert M. K. W. 
Published: January 2009

AbstractInternal elastic lamina (IEL) hole (fenestration) characteristics and myoendothelial gap junction (MEGJ) density were examined in selected resistance and conduit arteries of normal and diseased rat and mouse models, using conventional, ultrastructural and confocal microscopy methods. Selected vessels were those commonly used in functional studies: thoracic aorta, proximal and distal mesenteric, caudal, saphenous, middle‐cerebral and caudal cerebellar artery. Rat and mouse strains and treatment groups examined were Dahl, Sprague Dawley, Wistar Kyoto, Wistar, spontaneously hypertensive (SHR), deoxycorticosterone (DOC) treated rat; and apolipoprotein E knockout, C57/BL6 and BALB/c mice. Vessel size (as IEL circumference), IEL hole and MEGJ density were quantified. In mesenteric arteries, the width of IEL holes and the percent of IEL occupied by holes were also determined. IEL hole density varied significantly within and between mesenteric artery beds, even among normotensive rat strains. Among the hypertensive rats (SHR and DOC), hole density in some vessels was higher in the normotensives than in the hypertensives within each strain, whereas in Dahl rats, hole density was similar between hypertensives and normotensives. Hole density was not correlated with the formation of intimal lesions in superior mesenteric artery. There was no positive general correlation between IEL hole and MEGJ density in resistance and conduit vessels. However, there was a positive correlation between the size of some resistance arteries and MEGJ density, although such a relationship did not hold for conduit vessels or during development, and there was no such relationship between vessel size and IEL hole density. Whilst IEL holes are obviously required for MEGJ communication, their presence is not an indication of contact‐mediated communication, but rather may be related to the presence of sites for the low resistance passage of diffusion‐mediated release of vasoactive endothelial and smooth muscle substances.
Differential cell‐specific location of Cav‐1 and Ca2+‐ATPase in terminal Schwann cells and mechanoreceptive Ruffini endings in the periodontal ligament of the rat incisor
Authors: Iizuka Naoyuki , Suzuki Akiko , Nozawa‐Inoue Kayoko , Kawano Yoshiro , Nandasena B. G. T. L. , Okiji Takashi , Maeda Takeyasu 
Published: January 2009

AbstractCaveolae are involved in clathrin‐independent endocytosis, transcytosis, signal transduction, and tumor suppression – all of which depend on their main constituent protein caveolin families. The periodontal Ruffini ending has been reported to develop a caveola‐like structure on the cell membrane of both the axon terminals and Schwann sheaths, suggesting the existence of an axon–Schwann cell interaction in the periodontal Ruffini endings. However, little information is available concerning the functional significance of these caveolae. The present study was undertaken to examine the immunolocalization of caveolin‐1, ‐3 (Cav‐1, Cav‐3) and Ca2+‐ATPase in the periodontal Ruffini endings of the rat incisor. Decalcified sections of the upper jaws were processed for immunocytochemistry at the levels of light and electron microscopy. Some immunostained sections were treated with histochemistry for nonspecific cholinesterase (nChE) activity. Observations showed the periodontal Ruffini endings were immunopositive for Cav‐1, but not Cav‐3. Immunoreactive products for Cav‐1 were confined to caveola‐like structures in the cell membranes of the cytoplasmic extensions and cell bodies of the terminal Schwann cells associated with the periodontal Ruffini endings. However, the axonal membranes of the terminals did not express any Cav‐1 immunoreaction. Double staining with Ca2+‐ATPase and either protein gene product 9.5 (PGP 9.5) or S‐100 protein disclosed the co‐localization of immunoreactions in the axonal branches of the periodontal Ruffini endings, but not in the terminal Schwann cells. As Ca2+ plays an important role in mechanotransduction, these characteristic immunolocalizations show Cav‐1/Ca2+‐ATPase might be involved in the quick elimination of intracellular Ca2+ in mechanotransduction.
Effect of estrogen on the blood supply of pituitary autografts in rats
Authors: Lombardero Matilde , Quintanar‐Stephano Andres , Vidal Sergio , Horvath Eva , Kovacs Kalman , Lloyd Ricardo V. , Scheithauer Bernd W. 
Published: January 2009

AbstractEstrogens are known to cause pituitary enlargement and lactotroph proliferation. They also modulate pituitary angiogenesis and induce tumor formation. Pituitary grafts, due to the loss of hypothalamic dopamine, also show lactotroph hyperplasia. We investigated the role of estrogen on rat pituitary autograft vascularization by light and transmission electron microscopy, and assessed prolactin (PRL) blood levels, microvessel density (MVD) and cell proliferation using the BrdU labeling index. All adenohypophysial cell types were identified by immunohistochemistry (streptavidin‐biotin‐peroxidase complex method). The proangiogenic factors, vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF), its receptor Flk‐1, and hypoxia inducible factor‐1α (HIF‐1α) were similarly demonstrated. The prevalence of lactotrophs, as well as more intense staining for VEGF, Flk‐1 and HIF‐1α, was noted in those grafts exposed to estrogen, mainly in the area surrounding the central necrotic core. Immunostaining showed Flk‐1 expression increased in endothelial cells of the estrogen‐exposed grafts as compared with those unexposed. In contrast to the grafts not exposed to estrogen, in the estrogen‐exposed grafts, only fenestrated endothelium could be demonstrated, suggesting that estrogen induces fenestration of newly formed capillaries. There was an increase in blood PRL levels in the estrogen‐treated groups as compared with controls. Both MVD and BrdU labeling indices were higher in grafts exposed to estrogen, especially after 4 weeks. Our results suggest that estrogen administration not only enhances the expression of proangiogenic factors in the pituitary grafts but also induces their expression at earlier stages, leading to rapid neoformation of purely fenestrated capillaries.
Childhood antecedents of being a cigarette smoker in early adulthood. The Finnish ‘From a Boy to a Man’ Study
Authors: Niemelä Solja , Sourander André , Pilowsky Daniel J. , Susser Ezra , Helenius Hans , Piha Jorma , Kumpulainen Kirsti , Moilanen Irma , Tamminen Tuula , Almqvist Fredrik 
Published: January 2009

Objective:  To identify childhood psychiatric symptoms as antecedents of cigarette smoking at age 18.Methods:  In 1989, a general population sample of 2946 8‐year‐old boys born in Finland in 1981 was assessed using the Rutter’s parent and teacher questionnaires, and the Child Depression Inventory. This birth cohort was followed up in 1999, when the subjects reported for their obligatory military service at age 18. Information about cigarette smoking frequency was obtained from 78% (n = 2307) of the boys attending the study in 1989.Results:  Childhood hyperactivity and self‐reported depressive symptoms correlated with moderate daily (1–10 cigarettes), and heavy daily (>10 cigarettes) smoking at age 18. Conduct problems correlated with heavy daily smoking. A high level of childhood depressive symptoms, particularly in conjunction with a low educational level of the father, increased the risk of daily smoking. Emotional problems decreased the risk of smoking at age 18. In general, teacher reports had a better predictive power than parent reports for subsequent smoking.Conclusion:  Future developmental studies with special focus on interaction between individual and environmental factors are warranted to reveal the mechanisms underlying the association between childhood psychopathology and adult smoking. In particular, the associations between childhood depression and future smoking need more clarification.
Feeding habits and niche partitioning in a predator guild composed of tigers, leopards and dholes in a temperate ecosystem in central Bhutan
Authors: Wang S. W. , Macdonald D. W. 
Published: January 2009

AbstractWe describe the food habits, niche overlap and prey preferences in a predator guild comprised of tigers Panthera tigris, leopards Panthera pardus and dholes Cuon alpinus in a mountainous region of central Bhutan. Scat analyses revealed that these predators consumed 11 different prey species including livestock and rodents, of which leopards consumed 11. The combined relative occurrence of the three species, sambar Cervus unicolor, muntjac Munticus muntjac and wild pig Sus scrofa, constituted 42.7, 33.7 and 71.1% of the tiger, leopard and dhole diets, respectively, while livestock comprised 44.5, 73.4 and 15.9% of the prey consumed, respectively. Regression equations from earlier feeding trials were used to estimate the relative biomass and the numbers of prey consumed. Results showed that sambar featured more frequently than did muntjac and wild pig in the diets of tiger, leopard and dhole and contributed more relative biomass than did muntjac and wild pig. Sambar, muntjac and wild pig together provided 36.9, 28 and 63.1% of the biomass consumed by tigers, leopards and dholes respectively. All else being equal, there was evidence that all three predators ate livestock less than might have been expected on the basis of the abundance and high biomass of this prey category in the area. There was a high dietary niche overlap between the predators (Pianka's overlap index of 0.58–0.92), with a greater overlap between the two felid species than between the felids and the canid. This study provides evidence of a substantial diet overlap among the three sympatric carnivores, and thus highlights the potential for high intra‐guild competition among them, especially given the relatively low density of prey.
Modulation of facial reactions to avatar emotional faces by nonconscious competition priming
Authors: Weyers Peter , Mühlberger Andreas , Kund Anja , Hess Ursula , Pauli Paul 
Published: January 2009

AbstractTo investigate whether subliminally priming for competition influences facial reactions to facial emotional displays, 49 participants were either subliminally competition primed or neutrally primed. Thereafter, they viewed computer generated avatar faces with happy, neutral, and sad expressions while Corrugator supercilii and Zygomaticus major reactions were recorded. Results revealed facial mimicry to happy and sad faces in the neutrally primed group but not the competition primed group. Furthermore, subliminal competition priming enhanced Corrugator supercilii activity after an initial relaxation while viewing happy faces. An impression formation task revealed counter empathic effects confirming successful competition priming. Overall, results indicate that nonconscious processes influence a presumably nonconscious behavior.
Speaking one's second language under time pressure: An ERP study on verbal self‐monitoring in German–Dutch bilinguals
Authors: Ganushchak Lesya Y. , Schiller Niels O. 
Published: January 2009

AbstractThis study addresses how verbal self‐monitoring and the Error‐Related Negativity (ERN) are affected by time pressure when a task is performed in a second language as opposed to performance in the native language. German–Dutch bilinguals were required to perform a phoneme‐monitoring task in Dutch with and without a time pressure manipulation. We obtained an ERN following verbal errors that showed an atypical increase in amplitude under time pressure. This finding is taken to suggest that under time pressure participants had more interference from their native language, which in turn led to a greater response conflict and thus enhancement of the amplitude of the ERN. This result demonstrates once more that the ERN is sensitive to psycholinguistic manipulations and suggests that the functioning of the verbal self‐monitoring system during speaking is comparable to other performance monitoring, such as action monitoring.
Beyond p‐values: Averaged and reproducible evidence in fMRI experiments
Authors: Liou Michelle , Su Hong‐Ren , Savostyanov Alexander N. , Lee Juin‐Der , Aston John A. D. , Chuang Cheng‐Hung , Cheng Philip E. 
Published: January 2009

AbstractIn functional magnetic resonance imaging studies, there might exist activation regions routinely involved in experimental sessions, but modest in response magnitude. These regions may not be easily detectable by the conventional p‐value approach using a rigid threshold. With particular reference to the reproducibility analysis method proposed in Liou and colleagues, this study presents some within‐ and between‐subject brain‐activation patterns that are replicable between experimental modalities, and robust to the method used for generating the patterns. There is a neurophysiological basis behind these reproducible patterns, and the conventional p‐value approach using averaged data across subjects might not suggest the complete patterns. For example, recent studies based on the group‐averaged data showed a task‐induced deactivation in the precuneus and posterior cingulate, but our reproducibility analysis suggests both increased and decreased responses in the two regions. The increased responses localize in these regions with differentially distributed patterns for individual subjects and for different experimental tasks. In this study, we discuss the neurophysiological basis of the reproducible patterns and propose some applications of our research findings to scientific and clinical studies.
The prediction of progression‐free and overall survival in women with an advanced stage of epithelial ovarian carcinoma
Authors: Gerestein CG , Eijkemans MJC , de Jong D , van der Burg MEL , Dykgraaf RHM , Kooi GS , Baalbergen A , Burger CW , Ansink AC 
Published: January 2009

Objective  Prognosis in women with ovarian cancer mainly depends on International Federation of Gynecology and Obstetrics stage and the ability to perform optimal cytoreductive surgery. Since ovarian cancer has a heterogeneous presentation and clinical course, predicting progression‐free survival (PFS) and overall survival (OS) in the individual patient is difficult. The objective of this study was to determine predictors of PFS and OS in women with advanced stage epithelial ovarian cancer (EOC) after primary cytoreductive surgery and first‐line platinum‐based chemotherapy.Design  Retrospective observational study.Setting  Two teaching hospitals and one university hospital in the south‐western part of the Netherlands.Population  Women with advanced stage EOC.Methods  All women who underwent primary cytoreductive surgery for advanced stage EOC followed by first‐line platinum‐based chemotherapy between January 1998 and October 2004 were identified. To investigate independent predictors of PFS and OS, a Cox’ proportional hazard model was used. Nomograms were generated with the identified predictive parameters.Main outcome measures  The primary outcome measure was OS and the secondary outcome measures were response and PFS.Results  A total of 118 women entered the study protocol. Median PFS and OS were 15 and 44 months, respectively. Preoperative platelet count (P = 0.007), and residual disease <1 cm (P = 0.004) predicted PFS with a optimism corrected c‐statistic of 0.63. Predictive parameters for OS were preoperative haemoglobin serum concentration (P = 0.012), preoperative platelet counts (P = 0.031) and residual disease <1 cm (P = 0.028) with a optimism corrected c‐statistic of 0.67.Conclusion  PFS could be predicted by postoperative residual disease and preoperative platelet counts, whereas residual disease, preoperative platelet counts and preoperative haemoglobin serum concentration were predictive for OS. The proposed nomograms need to be externally validated.