bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Variety of congenital urethral lesions in boys with lower urinary tract symptoms and the results of endoscopic treatment
Authors: Kihara Toshiharu , Nakai Hideo , Mori Ken‐ichi , Sato Ryo , Kitahara Satoshi , Yasuda Kosaku 
Published: January 2008

Objectives:  We described various types of congenital urethral anomalies seen in boys with LUTS such as refractory enuresis. Their urethrograpic and endoscopic finding were reviewed and the effect of trans‐urethral incision (TUI) was analyzed.Patients and Methods:  We evaluated 67 boys with lower urinary tract symptoms (LUTS, mean: 9 years old), in a period of three and a half years. A voiding cystourethrogram (VCUG) was performed in 37 patients and if we suspected a urethral abnormality, endoscopy was performed. Congenital urethral obstruction was diagnosed from VCUG and endoscopic findings and classified into Types 1, 3 and 4 posterior urethral valves (PUV) according to Douglas Stephens' description. Trans‐urethral incision (TUI) was carried out for congenital urethral obstruction and the effect was judged three months later.Results:  On VCUG, 17 patients (45.8%) had an abnormal urethral configuration. On endoscopy, nine patients (24.3%) were diagnosed as having PUV. The effect of TUI on PUV excluding Type 3 was 80%, while that on Type 3 was 25%.Discussions:  The incidence of PUV compared to bulbar urethral narrowing was significantly different from that described in previous Japanese reports, but similar to other countries. The reason is thought to be the lack of standardized interpretations of VCUG images and endoscopic findings, resulting in the overestimation of the bulbar urethral lesion.Conclusion:  The incidence of PUV in Japanese boys with LUTS was higher than had ever been described. The improvement rate by TUI was high in PUV excluding Type 3, but low in Type 3. The ring like strictures at the bulbar urethra may be less important than has previously been thought.
Current utilization and performance status of endoscopic ultrasound in a community hospital
Authors: LOK Ka‐Ho , LEE Chi‐Kin , YIU Hak‐Lim , LAI Lawrence , SZETO Ming‐Leung , LEUNG Siu‐Kee 
Published: January 2008

OBJECTIVE:  Endoscopic ultrasound (EUS) is an essential tool for cancer staging and investigating gastrointestinal diseases. Although it is not a widespread skill, as its expanded indications became much more advanced so did its popularity and hospital acceptance. We aimed to study the utilization and indications of upper EUS in a Hong Kong community hospital. The secondary aim was to assess our accuracy in staging of esophageal and gastric cancer and in evaluating submucosal tumors.METHODS:  All patients who had undergone upper EUS in Tuen Mun Hospital from January 2002 to December 2006 were recruited. Their background data, indications, radiological investigations, upper endoscopy and operation records and histopathologic results were retrieved for analysis. The accuracy of EUS in esophageal cancer staging, gastric cancer staging and evaluating submucosal tumors was assessed by comparing surgical and histopathologic findings.RESULTS:  A total of 645 upper EUS examinations were performed and there has been a steady increase in EUS utilization in our hospital. The most common indications were evaluating submucosal tumors and staging esophageal and gastric cancer. The accuracy of T and N staging of esophageal cancer was 71.2 and 79.7%, respectively and for gastric cancer was 64.0 and 74.7%, respectively. Endoscopic ultrasound was 70% accurate in identifying lesions arising from the submucosal layer and 100% accurate in identifying lesions from the muscularis propria.CONCLUSION:  Endoscopic ultrasound is an accurate method and its demand is increasing. The performance in a community hospital can be further improved and its utilization should expand to other indications.
Follow‐up study on a high risk population of gastric cancer in north China by serum pepsinogen assay*
Authors: SUN Li Ping , GONG Yue Hua , WANG Lan , GONG Wei , YUAN Yuan 
Published: January 2008

OBJECTIVE:  To explore the features and clinical significance of serum pepsinogen (PG) assay in a follow‐up study on a high‐risk gastric cancer (GC) population.METHODS:  A total of 444 participants from a high‐risk area of GC in north China were enrolled in this follow‐up study from April 1997 to December 1999. Serum PG was measured by enzyme‐linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA), and the percentage changes in PG were calculated with ‘PG follow‐up/PG first test’ thrice from the beginning to the end of these 30 months. Stomach diseases were diagnosed by a gastroscopy with biopsy examination. Helicobacter pylori (H. pylori) status was assessed by histopathological examination and serum H. pylori‐immunoglobulin (Ig)G antibody assay with ELISA.RESULTS:  In all groups except for the 51–60‐year olds no significant differences of percentage changes in PGII and the PGI/II ratio were observed during 30‐month follow‐up period. In the superficial gastritis (SG) group the percentage change in PGI of group A (after 6 months’ follow up) was significantly lower than that of group B (after 12 months’ follow up) (0.69 vs 0.97, P = 0.002) in SG→SG; while in SG→normal (NOR), it was significantly higher than that in SG→atrophic gastritis (AG) (0.94 vs 0.79, P = 0.022). In the AG group the percentage change in the PGI/II ratio of group A was significantly higher than that of group C (after 30 months’ follow up) (1.13 vs 0.75, P = 0.042) in AG→AG; and the percentage changes in PGI and PGII in AG→NOR were significantly lower than those in AG→SG (0.43 vs 0.87, P = 0.000; 0.60 vs 1.11, P = 0.010, respectively). In the H. pylori− (Hp−) group, the percentage change in PG of Hp−→Hp+ was significantly higher than that of Hp−→Hp− (0.94 vs 0.81, P = 0.026). Percentage changes in PGI and PGII of Hp+→Hp− were significantly lower than those of Hp+→Hp+ (0.74 vs 0.93, P = 0.000; 0.86 vs 1.15, P = 0.000, respectively), while the percentage change in the PGI/II ratio was higher than that the group of Hp+→Hp− (0.90 vs 0.70, P = 0.022).CONCLUSION:  The serum PG levels were influenced by the physiopathologic status of gastric mucosa and H. pylori infection, but they altered during the period of follow up. Serum PG assay might be a feasible and appropriate procedure to use in following up on a high‐risk GC population.
Neurosphere generation from dental pulp of adult rat incisor
Authors: Sasaki Ryo , Aoki Shunsuke , Yamato Masayuki , Uchiyama Hiroto , Wada Keiji , Okano Teruo , Ogiuchi Hideki 
Published: February 2008

AbstractDental pulp is a potential source of cells that can be used in cell replacement therapy for various nervous system disorders. Here we report that adult rat dental pulp cells have the ability to form neurospheres when cultured in serum‐free culture medium on super‐hydrophilic plates. The cells within small spheres continued to grow, and the dental pulp‐derived cells generated large spheres. Sphere formation was dependent on exogenously supplied basic‐fibroblast growth factor, but not on epidermal growth factor, and the formation and growth of dental pulp‐derived spheres were negatively regulated by transforming growth factor‐β. Plating cells that were dissociated from spheres on an adhesive substrate resulted in differentiation into Tuj1‐ and MAP2‐positive neuronal cells. Analysis of the three‐dimensional structure of dental pulp‐derived spheres shows that they contained nestin‐positive progenitors, Tuj1‐positive neuronal cells and S100‐positive glial cells. We found that spheres contained CD81 (TAPA1) and nestin double‐positive cells, and identified a small population of CD81 and nestin double‐positive cells in the odontoblast layer of the dental pulp. Flow cytometric analysis showed that CD81‐positive cells were enriched in the spheres compared with the dental pulp tissue. Bromodeoxyuridine (BrdU) staining showed that nestin‐ and BrdU‐positive cells were located only in the apical portion of the dental pulp, and the apical portion produced a large number of large‐sized spheres. These data suggest that the CD81 and nestin double‐positive cells localized in the odontoblast layer of the apical portion of the dental pulp may have the ability to grow and form neurospheres.
Concurrent action observation modulates practice‐induced motor memory formation
Authors: Stefan K. , Classen J. , Celnik P. , Cohen L. G. 
Published: February 2008

AbstractMotor practice is associated with the formation of elementary motor memories. Here we tested in human subjects the hypothesis that observation of a motor training associated with physical practice will modulate the encoding process of a motor memory relative to physical practice alone. Voluntary thumb motions were practiced (i) alone in a direction opposite to the baseline direction of transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS)‐evoked movements (physical practice, PP) and in combination with observation of synchronous movements that were either (ii) directionally congruent (same direction, PP + AOc) or (iii) non‐congruent (opposite direction, PP + AOnc) to the practiced ones. We evaluated the following measures of motor memory formation: percentage of TMS‐evoked thumb movements falling in the direction of practiced motions, acceleration of TMS‐evoked movements along the principal movement axis and corticomuscular excitability of training muscles as indexed by motor‐evoked potential amplitudes. Both PP and PP + AOc, but not PP + AOnc, significantly increased the percentage of TMS‐evoked movements falling in the practiced direction, changed the compound acceleration vector into the trained direction and enhanced the motor‐evoked potential amplitudes in the training agonist muscle. The percentage of TMS‐evoked movements falling in the practiced direction increased significantly more after PP + AOc than after PP. Across all measures of motor memory formation, PP + AOc was most efficacious, followed by PP and PP + AOnc. Action observation modulates practice effects on formation of a motor memory. Strengthening of the process of motor memory encoding depends on the directional congruency of the observed model.
Self‐structuring in spatial evolutionary ecology
Authors: Lion Sébastien , Baalen Minus van 
Published: January 2008

AbstractSpatial self‐structuring has been a focus of recent interest among evolutionary ecologists. We review recent developments in the study of the interplay between spatial self‐structuring and evolution. We first discuss the relative merits of the various theoretical approaches to spatial modelling in ecology. Second, we synthesize the main theoretical studies of the evolution of cooperation in spatially structured populations. We show that population viscosity is generally beneficial to cooperation, because cooperators can reap additional benefits from being clustered. A similar mechanism can explain the evolution of honest communication and of reduced virulence in host–parasite interactions. We also discuss some recent innovative empirical results that test these theories. Third, we show the relevance of these results to the general field of evolutionary ecology. An important conclusion is that kin selection is the main process that drives evolution of cooperation in viscous populations. Many results of kin selection theory can be recovered as emergent properties of spatial ecological dynamics. We discuss the implications of these results for the study of multilevel selection and evolutionary transitions. We conclude by sketching some perspectives for future research, with a particular emphasis on the topics of evolutionary branching, criticality, spatial fluctuations and experimental tests of theoretical predictions.
Linking traits of foraging animals to spatial patterns of plants: social and solitary ants generate opposing patterns of surviving seeds
Authors: Avgar Tal , Giladi Itamar , Nathan Ran 
Published: January 2008

AbstractForaging traits of seed predators are expected to impact the spatial structure of plant populations, community dynamics and diversity. Yet, many of the key mechanisms governing distance‐ or density‐dependent seed predation are poorly understood. We designed an extensive set of field experiments to test how seed predation by two harvester ant species interact with seed dispersal in shaping the spatial patterns of surviving seeds. We show that the Janzen–Connell establishment pattern can be generated by central‐place foragers even if their focal point is located away from the seed source. Furthermore, we found that differences in the social behaviour of seed predators influence their sensitivity to seed density gradients and yield opposing spatial patterns of surviving seeds. Our results support the predictions of a recent theoretical framework that unifies apparently opposing plant establishment patterns, and suggest that differences in foraging traits among seed predators can drive divergent pathways of plant community dynamics.
Prediction uncertainty of environmental change effects on temperate European biodiversity
Authors: Dormann Carsten F. , Schweiger Oliver , Arens P. , Augenstein I. , Aviron St. , Bailey Debra , Baudry J. , Billeter R. , Bugter R. , Bukácek R. , Burel F. , Cerny M. , Cock Raphaël De , Blust Geert De , DeFilippi R. , Diekötter Tim , Dirksen J. , Durka W. , Edwards P.J. , Frenzel M. , Hamersky R. , Hendrickx Frederik , Herzog F. , Klotz St. , Koolstra B. , Lausch A. , Coeur D. Le , Liira J. , Maelfait J.P. , Opdam P. , Roubalova M. , Schermann‐Legionnet Agnes , Schermann N. , Schmidt T. , Smulders M. J. M. , Speelmans M. , Simova P. , Verboom J. , Wingerden Walter van , Zobel M. 
Published: January 2008

AbstractObserved patterns of species richness at landscape scale (gamma diversity) cannot always be attributed to a specific set of explanatory variables, but rather different alternative explanatory statistical models of similar quality may exist. Therefore predictions of the effects of environmental change (such as in climate or land cover) on biodiversity may differ considerably, depending on the chosen set of explanatory variables. Here we use multimodel prediction to evaluate effects of climate, land‐use intensity and landscape structure on species richness in each of seven groups of organisms (plants, birds, spiders, wild bees, ground beetles, true bugs and hoverflies) in temperate Europe. We contrast this approach with traditional best‐model predictions, which we show, using cross‐validation, to have inferior prediction accuracy. Multimodel inference changed the importance of some environmental variables in comparison with the best model, and accordingly gave deviating predictions for environmental change effects. Overall, prediction uncertainty for the multimodel approach was only slightly higher than that of the best model, and absolute changes in predicted species richness were also comparable. Richness predictions varied generally more for the impact of climate change than for land‐use change at the coarse scale of our study. Overall, our study indicates that the uncertainty introduced to environmental change predictions through uncertainty in model selection both qualitatively and quantitatively affects species richness projections.
Temperature‐mediated patterns of local adaptation in a natural plant–pathogen metapopulation
Authors: Laine Anna‐Liisa 
Published: January 2008

AbstractThere have been numerous investigations of parasite local adaptation, a phenomenon important from the perspectives of both basic and applied evolutionary ecology. Recent work has demonstrated that temperature has striking effects on parasite performance by mediating trade‐offs in parasite life history and through genotype × environment interactions. To test whether parasite local adaptation is mediated by temperature, I measured the performance of sympatric populations against allopatric populations of a fungal pathogen,Podosphaera plantaginis, on its hostPlantago lanceolata, across a temperature gradient. I used data on parasite life history and epidemiology to derive fitness estimates to measure local adaptation. The results demonstrate unambiguously that trajectories of host–parasite co‐evolution are tightly coupled with parasite adaptation to the abiotic habitat, as the strength, and even direction, of local adaptation varied with temperature. Patterns of local adaptation further depended on how parasite fitness was estimated, highlighting the importance of choosing relevant fitness measures in studies of local adaptation.
Biodiversity inhibits species’ evolutionary responses to changing environments
Authors: De Mazancourt C. , Johnson E. , Barraclough T. G. 
Published: January 2008

AbstractDespite growing interplay between ecological and evolutionary studies, the question of how biodiversity influences evolutionary dynamics within species remains understudied. Here, using a classical model of phenotypic evolution in species occupying a patchy environment, but introducing global change affecting patch conditions, we show that biodiversity can inhibit species’ evolution during global change. The presence of several species increases the chance that one or more species are pre‐adapted to new conditions, which restricts the ecological opportunity for evolutionary responses in all the species. Consequently, environmental change tends to select for changes in species abundances rather than for changing phenotypes within each species. The buffering effects of species diversity that we describe might be one important but neglected explanation for widely observed niche conservatism in natural systems. Furthermore, the results show that attempts to understand biotic responses to environmental change need to consider both ecological and evolutionary processes in a realistically diverse setting.
Regulatory role of UvrY in adaptation of Photorhabdus luminescens growth inside the insect
Authors: Krin Evelyne , Derzelle Sylviane , Bedard Karine , Adib‐Conquy Minou , Turlin Evelyne , Lenormand Pascal , Hullo Marie‐Francoise , Bonne Isabelle , Chakroun Nesrine , Lacroix Celine , Danchin Antoine 
Published: January 2008

SummaryWe report global expression profiling of a uvrY‐deficient mutant of Photorhabdus luminescens. We found that the regulator moiety of the two‐component regulatory system BarA/UvrY regulated more than 500 target genes coding for functions involved in the synthesis of major compartments and metabolic pathways of the cell. This regulation appeared to be in part indirect as UvrY affected the expression of several regulators. Indeed, the flagellum biosynthesis transcription activator FlhC and the flagella regulon were induced in the absence of UvrY, leading to a hyperflagellated phenotype and an increase in motility and biofilm formation. Two major regulatory systems were also altered: the type 2 quorum‐sensing inducer AI‐2 was activated by UvrY, and the CsrA regulator function appeared to be repressed by the increase of the small‐untranslated RNA csrB, the CsrA activity inhibitor TldD and the chaperonin GroESL. Both through and independently of these systems, UvrY regulated oxidative stress resistance; bioluminescence; iron, sugar and peptide transport; proteases; polyketide synthesis enzymes and nucleobases recycling, related to insect degradation and assimilation by bacteria. As a consequence, the uvrY‐deficient strain exhibited a decreased killing of insect cells and a reduced growth on insect cells culture, suggesting a UvrY role in the adaptation of P. luminescens inside the insect.
Beyond Stages of Change: Multi‐Determinant Continuum Models of Action Readiness and Menu‐Based Interventions
Authors: Abraham Charles 
Published: January 2008

The merits of modelling action readiness as a series of stages is discussed, focusing on the Health Action Process Approach (HAPA) which postulates a motivational stage (for non‐intenders) and a volitional stage (for intenders). The HAPA helpfully clarifies that the relationship between self‐efficacy and action may be different for inexperienced intenders and experienced actors. This model also usefully distinguishes between different types of planning undertaken by intenders and it is suggested that further specification of planning tasks could explain why some intenders act while others do not. Despite the advantages of the HAPA, it is argued that the distinction between intenders and non‐intenders is fuzzy and unstable and that demarcation of the stage boundary is arbitrary. A multi‐determinant, multi‐goal continuum approach is recommended. Such modelling recognises graded discontinuities throughout the development of action readiness from attitude formation to behaviour change maintenance. It is argued that menu‐based interventions designed to deliver different messages and materials to people with different action‐readiness deficits may be more cost effective than stage‐tailored interventions.On discute de l’intérêt qu’il y a de modéliser la préparation à l’action en une série de stades à partir de l’Approche des Processus d’Action en faveur de la Santé (HAPA) qui pose l’existence d’une phase motivationnelle (pour ceux qui n’ont pas l’intention d’agir) et d’une phase volitionnelle (pour ceux qui l’ont). L’HAPA met utilement en évidence que la relation entre l’auto‐efficience et l’action peut différer selon que l’on a affaire à un acteur expérimenté ou à une personne sans expérience qui pense agir. Ce modèle fait aussi une distinction utile entre les différentes sortes de planification qui s’offrent à ceux qui ont l’intention d’agir et laisse entendre qu’un approfondissement de la planification des tâches pourrait expliquer pourquoi certains passent à l’action et d’autres pas. En dépit de l’intérêt de l’HAPA, on peut penser que la distinction entre l’intention et l’absence d’intention est floue et instable et que le découpage en stades est arbitraire. On recommande une approche retenant un continuum à déterminants et à buts multiples. Cette modélisation reconnaît l’existence de discontinuités échelonnées tout au long du développement de la préparation à l’action depuis la formation de l’attitude jusqu’au changement effectif du comportement. On défend l’idée que les interventions à la carte conçues pour procurer différents messages et fournitures aux gens qui présentent différentes carences de préparation à l’action peuvent être plus rentables que les interventions basées sur les stades.