bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
The effectiveness of nurse‐led telemonitoring of asthma: results of a randomized controlled trial
Authors: Willems Daniëlle C. M. , Joore Manuela A. , Hendriks Johannes J. E. , Nieman Fred H. M. , Severens Johan L. , Wouters Emiel F. M. 
Published: July 2008

AbstractRationale, aims and objectives  The aim of the study was to evaluate the effects on, and the relationship between, asthma symptoms, asthma‐specific quality of life and medical consumption of a nurse‐led telemonitoring intervention compared with regular care in asthma in the Netherlands.Methods  One hundred and nine asthmatic outpatients (56 children; 53 adults) were randomly assigned to the treatment arms (12‐month follow‐up). The control group received regular outpatient care, while the intervention group used an asthma monitor with modem at home with an asthma nurse as the main caregiver. Clinical asthma symptoms and medical consumption were measured by using diaries. Asthma‐specific quality of life was measured by the (Paediatric) Asthma Quality of Life Questionnaire.Results  The study population generally represented mild to moderate asthmatics. The results show improvement in follow‐up, but no statistically significant difference between the groups was observed. Moderate to high correlations were found within the outcome parameters, but the most remarkable was the low and statistically significant correlation between asthma‐specific quality of life (daily functioning) and the self‐reported beta‐2 agonists.Conclusion  Overall, the telemonitoring programme evaluated in this study did not significantly decrease asthma symptoms or medical consumption, or improve asthma‐specific quality of life. The results showed that a telemonitoring programme on its own is not a guarantee of success. The patients' perception of asthma‐specific quality of life (daily functioning) should be a key element in asthma telemonitoring programmes.
Exploring dietitians’ verbal and nonverbal communication skills for effective dietitian–patient communication
Authors: Cant R. P. , Aroni R. A. 
Published: July 2008

AbstractBackground  Little is known about how dietitians conduct their communication with individual patients in the process of nutrition education. To study this issue, both practitioners’ and patients’ perceptions of dietitians’ skills were examined in the first phase of a two‐phase study. The resulting narratives were used to develop a questionnaire to survey Australian dietitians involved in clinical practice.Methods  A purposive sample of dietitians in one state (n = 46; 12%), working in hospital, community or private practice, and a quota of their adult patients (n = 34), were interviewed. In the second stage, Australian dietitians (n = 258; 16%) responded to a national survey in 2006, which asked about educational strategies, communication skills, and professional attributes. Descriptive statistics were used to compare response distributions, and nonparametric statistics were used to examine between‐group relationships. Criterion for item acceptance was established as ≥70% agreement. Triangulation of results revealed strong agreement between data sources.Results  Four main communication competencies were established: interpersonal communication skill, nonverbal communication, professional values, and counselling skill. There was no significant difference in practice by work category or experience. The communication competencies, together with 26 accompanying skills, are described.Conclusion  An understanding of this guide to communication practice might help enhance dietitian–patient relations.
Two essential MYST‐family proteins display distinct roles in histone H4K10 acetylation and telomeric silencing in trypanosomes
Authors: Kawahara Taemi , Siegel T. Nicolai , Ingram Alexandra K. , Alsford Sam , Cross George A. M. , Horn David 
Published: July 2008

SummaryChromatin modification is important for virtually all aspects of DNA metabolism but little is known about the consequences of such modification in trypanosomatids, early branching protozoa of significant medical and veterinary importance. MYST‐family histone acetyltransferases in other species function in transcription regulation, DNA replication, recombination and repair. Trypanosoma brucei HAT3 was recently shown to acetylate histone H4K4 and we now report characterization of all three T. brucei MYST acetyltransferases (HAT1–3). First, GFP‐tagged HAT1–3 all localize to the trypanosome nucleus. While HAT3 is dispensable, both HAT1 and HAT2 are essential for growth. Strains with HAT1 knock‐down display mitosis without nuclear DNA replication and also specific de‐repression of a telomeric reporter gene, a rare example of transcription control in an organism with widespread and constitutive polycistronic transcription. Finally, we show that HAT2 is responsible for H4K10 acetylation. By analogy to the situation in Saccharomyces cerevisiae, we discuss low‐level redundancy of acetyltransferase function in T. brucei and suggest that two MYST‐family acetyltransferases are essential due to the absence of a Gcn5 homologue. The results are also consistent with the idea that HAT1 contributes to establishing boundaries between transcriptionally active and repressed telomeric domains in T. brucei.
Induced expression of sucrose synthase and alcohol dehydrogenase I genes in phytoplasma‐infected grapevine plants grown in the field
Authors: Hren M. , Ravnikar M. , Brzin J. , Ermacora P. , Carraro L. , Bianco P. A. , Casati P. , Borgo M. , Angelini E. , Rotter A. , Gruden K. 
Published: July 2008

Interaction between phytoplasma and grapevine at the physiological level is still poorly understood, as are plant defence mechanisms against the pathogen. This study investigates the level of gene expression of three selected genes in a large number of grapevine plants belonging to six disease/cultivar groups (healthy Chardonnay, Bois noir‐infected Chardonnay, Flavescence dorée‐infected Barbera and Prosecco, and recovered Barbera and Prosecco). All plants were grown in vineyards in uncontrolled conditions in order to represent the physiology of disease as accurately as possible. Sucrose synthase was significantly upregulated in infected plants of all cultivars with the lowest P‐values in cvs Chardonnay and Prosecco (P < 0·001) and median fold‐change around 2. This clearly indicates that carbohydrate metabolism changed in infected compared to healthy or recovered plants. Alcohol dehydrogenase I was significantly upregulated in infected relative to healthy Chardonnay plants (P < 0·05) indicating that alcoholic fermentation, a sign of hypoxic conditions, was induced in infected plants. Heat shock protein 70 was upregulated in infected compared to recovered plants only in cv. Prosecco. Linear discriminant analysis showed that classification of samples into disease status groups based on gene expression was highly accurate (82%), indicating that the response of field‐grown plants to phytoplasma infection at the level of expression of selected genes was so intensive and uniform that it was possible to detect it in grapevine plants regardless of natural variables.
Chestnut blight fungus in Croatia: diversity of vegetative compatibility types, mating types and genetic variability of associated Cryphonectria hypovirus 1
Authors: Krstin L. , Novak‐Agbaba S. , Rigling D. , Krajačić M. , Ćurković Perica M. 
Published: July 2008

In order to improve understanding of its diversity, 338 isolates of Cryphonectria parasitica, the causal agent of chestnut blight, were sampled from 10 chestnut populations throughout chestnut‐growing coastal and continental areas of Croatia. Eighteen vegetative compatibility (VC) types were identified. The VC type EU‐1 was the most widespread, comprising 42·9% of the isolates, followed by EU‐2 (21%) and EU‐12 (14·2%). In respect to the occurrence of the main VC types, the C. parasitica populations in Croatia combined features of both northwestern and southeastern European populations. Perithecia and mating‐type ratios of approximately 1 : 1 were found in all populations, suggesting that sexual reproduction of the fungus is common in Croatia. Natural hypovirulence was also evident in all populations, with incidence of hypovirus‐infected isolates ranging from 12·7% in Istria‐Buje to 66·6% in the continental part of the country. A total of 36 hypovirus‐infected isolates sampled throughout Croatia were analysed in ORF‐A and ORF‐B by RT‐PCR/RFLP analysis. All viral isolates belonged to the Italian subtype of Cryphonectria hypovirus 1 (CHV‐1) and were closely related to the isolates found in other European countries. The RFLP patterns found were also identical or similar to the patterns of three isolates collected in Croatia 22 years ago, suggesting a slow evolution of the hypovirus.
Biosedimentology of the Early Jurassic post‐extinction carbonate depositional system, central High Atlas rift basin, Morocco
Authors: WILMSEN MARKUS , NEUWEILER FRITZ 
Published: July 2008

AbstractThis study documents a Liassic example of the long‐ranging effects of mass extinction on carbonate systems. Biohistoric constraints inherent in the Liassic carbonate depositional system are deciphered from normal‐marine, sub‐tidal deposits of the central High Atlas rift basin (Morocco) through ?Hettangian/Sinemurian to Early Toarcian times. The integration of results from the analysis of lithofacies, depositional geometries, microfacies, macrobenthos, carbonate build‐ups, carbon and oxygen stable isotopes, and rare earth element + yttrium distribution patterns allows the intrinsic (or biohistoric) control on the central High Atlas deposits to be separated from extrinsic factors, such as basin development and palaeoclimate. The survival interval in the aftermath of the end‐Triassic mass extinction persisted until the Early Sinemurian indicated by a severely depleted carbonate system impoverished in skeletal organisms. A tectonic pulse at the Early to Late Sinemurian boundary interval caused a basin widening with immigration of a marine fauna. However, until the latest Sinemurian (macdonelliSubzone of theraricostatumZone) the deposits were dominated by filter‐feeding benthic heterotrophs (sponges, brachiopods, polychaetes and crinoids). During this stage, primary production within the enlarged basin must have been largely planktonic and there was a net‐flux of organic matter to the sea floor (oxygen minimum zone). A regional radiation of organic‐walled phytoplankton is inferred to explain the selective success of the filter‐feeding community and the occurrence of sponge mounds. Thus, significant effects of the end‐Triassic mass extinction are still present during the Late Sinemurian. Through almost the entire Pliensbachian a highly productive, shoal‐rimmed carbonate platform existed; it developed subsequent to tectonic reorganization and a marine recirculation event (radiolarian facies, Δδ13C ≈ −1·1, strongly negative Ce‐anomaly). Photosymbiotic sediment producers (mainly large bivalves) now state the success of specialists and environmental equilibrium conditions. In the latest Pliensbachian the climax stage was reached with the development of a coralgal reef‐rimmed carbonate platform. The Liassic carbonate depositional system experienced a terminal, multicausal Early Toarcian drowning event during which most of the large bivalves became extinct.
Trace fossils as diagnostic indicators of deep‐marine environments, Middle Eocene Ainsa‐Jaca basin, Spanish Pyrenees
Authors: HEARD THOMAS G. , PICKERING KEVIN T. 
Published: July 2008

AbstractA quantitative study of trace fossil abundance in the Middle Eocene deep‐marine clastic systems, Ainsa‐Jaca basin, Spanish Pyrenees, shows that they are powerful discriminators of submarine fan and related environments. Sixteen fan and related environments are recognized from upper‐slope gully to the distal basin‐floor. For each environment, the degree of bioturbation (density), trace‐fossil diversity, number of pre‐depositional and post‐depositional trace fossils, as well as the number of graphoglyptid ichnospecies were quantified. In the more laterally confined and channel‐dominated Ainsa basin, there is a trend of increasing bioturbation intensity and trace‐fossil diversity away from channel‐axis to off‐axis environments. In the more unconfined and distal Jaca basin, there is a trend of increasing trace‐fossil diversity and number of pre‐depositional trace fossils including graphoglyptids from the channel‐lobe transition to the fan‐fringe. The trace‐fossil assemblages of the Ainsa‐Jaca basin are characteristic of a number of sub‐ichnofacies of the Nereites ichnofacies. In the distal Jaca basin, the Paleodictyon sub‐ichnofacies occurs in the lobe‐fringe and fan‐fringe, whereas the distal basin‐floor has a trace‐fossil assemblage typical of the Paleodictyon sub‐ichnofacies, but with a high proportion of post‐depositional fodinichnia. Trace‐fossil assemblages of proximal basin, axial, environments are characteristic of the Ophiomorpha rudis sub‐ichnofacies, whilst proximal off‐axis environments, have a mixed Paleodictyon‐Ophiomorpha rudis sub‐ichnofacies trace‐fossil assemblage.
The influence of hydrology and climate on the isotope geochemistry of playa carbonates: a study from Pilot Valley, NV, USA
Authors: LIUTKUS CYNTHIA M. , WRIGHT JAMES D. 
Published: July 2008

AbstractCarbonates often accompany lake and lake‐margin deposits in both modern and ancient geological settings. If these carbonates are formed in standing water, their stable isotope values reflect the aquatic chemistry at the time of precipitation and may provide a proxy for determining regional hydrologic conditions. Carbonate rhizoliths and water samples were collected from a playa lake in eastern Nevada. Pilot Valley (∼43°N) is a closed‐basin, remnant playa from the Quaternary desiccation of palaeo‐Lake Bonneville. Water is added to the playa margin by free convection of dense brines to the east and forced convection of freshwater off the alluvial fan to the west. Both freshwater and saline springs dot the playa margin at the base of an alluvial fan. Water samples collected from seven springs show a range from −16 to −0·2‰ (Vienna Standard Mean Ocean Water), and are consistent with published values. The δ18Ocalcite values from rhizolith samples range from −18·3 to −6·7‰ (Vienna Pee Dee Belemnite), and the average is −12‰ V‐PDB (1 − σ SD 2‰). With the exception of samples from Little Salt Spring, the range in the δ18Ocalcite values collected from the rhizoliths confirms that they form in equilibrium with ambient water conditions on the playa. The initial geochemical conditions for the spring waters are dictated by local hydrology: freshwater springs emerge in the northern part of the basin to the east of a broad alluvial fan, and more saline springs emerge to the south where the influence of the alluvial fan diminishes. Rhizoliths are only found near the southern saline springs and their δ13Ccalcite values, along with their morphology, indicate that they only form around saltgrass (Distichlis sp.). As the residence time of water on the playa increases, evaporation, temperature change and biological processes alter the aquatic chemistry and initiate calcite precipitation around the plant stems. The range in δ18Ocalcite values from each location reflects environmental controls (e.g. evaporation and temperature change). These rhizoliths faithfully record ambient aquatic conditions during formation (e.g. geochemistry and water depth), but only record a partial annual signal that is constrained by saltgrass growth and the presence of standing water on the playa margin.
Architecture and evolution of the Paine channel complex, Cerro Toro Formation (Upper Cretaceous), Silla Syncline, Magallanes Basin, Chile
Authors: CRANE WILLIAM H. , LOWE DONALD R. 
Published: July 2008

AbstractThe Upper Cretaceous Cerro Toro Formation in the Silla Syncline, Parque Nacional Torres del Paine, Magallanes Basin, Chile, includes over 1100 m of mainly thin‐bedded mud‐rich turbidites containing three thick divisions of coarse conglomerate and sandstone. Facies distributions, stacking patterns and lateral relationships indicate that the coarse‐grained sandstone and conglomerate units represent the fill of a series of large south to south‐east trending deep‐water channels or channel complexes. The middle coarse division, informally named the Paine member, represents the fill of at least three discrete channels or channel complexes, termed Paine A, B and C. The uppermost of these, Paine C, represents a channel belt about 3·5 km wide and its fill displays explicit details of channel geometry, channel margins, and the processes of channel development and evolution. Along its northern margin, Paine C consists of stacked, laterally offset channels, each eroded into fine‐grained mudstone and thin‐bedded sandy turbidites. Along its southern margin, the Paine C complex was bounded by a single, deeply incised but stepped erosional surface. The evolution of the Paine C channel occurred through multiple cycles of activity, each involving: (i) an initial period of channel erosion into underlying fine‐grained sediments; (ii) deposition of coarse‐grained pebble to cobble conglomerate and sandstone within the channel; and (iii) waning of coarse sediment deposition and accumulation of a widespread sheet of fine‐grained, thin‐bedded turbidites inside and outside the channel. The thin‐bedded turbidites deposited within, and adjacent to, the channel along the northern margin of the Paine C complex do not appear to represent levée deposits but, rather, a separate fine‐grained turbidite system that impinged on the Paine C channel from the north. The Cerro Toro channel complex in the Silla Syncline may mark either an early axial zone of the Magallanes Basin or a local slope mini‐basin developed behind a zone of slope faulting and folding now present immediately east of the syncline. If the latter, flows moving downslope toward the basin axis further east were diverted to the south by this developing structural high, deposited part of their coarse sediment loads, and exited the mini‐basin at a point located near the south‐eastern edge of the present Silla Syncline.
Stratigraphy and sedimentology of phosphate‐rich sediments in Malta and south‐eastern Sicily (latest Oligocene to early Late Miocene)
Authors: FÖLLMI K. B. , GERTSCH B. , RENEVEY J.‐P. , DE KAENEL E. , STILLE P. 
Published: July 2008

AbstractThe Maltese archipelago and south‐eastern Sicily include an Uppermost Oligocene to Upper Miocene hemipelagic sedimentary succession representing the Malta‐Hyblean plateau, which limits the eastern Mediterranean to the west. This succession hosts a unique and well‐exposed series of condensed and allochthonous phosphate‐rich beds, which were formed in a sedimentary regime of erosion, sediment reworking and frequent gravity‐flow deposition. The combination of nannofossil biostratigraphy and 87Sr/86Sr isotope stratigraphy allows for the precise attribution of ages to the phosphate deposits and for the distinction of three periods of major phosphogenesis. The first phase occurred between 24·5 and 21 Ma and 25 and 18·9 Ma (clustering of ages between 25 and 22·5 Ma) on Malta and Sicily, respectively. The second and third phases of phosphogenesis are documented from the Maltese Islands and are dated as 17·2 to 13·1 Ma and 10·9 to 9·8 Ma, respectively. The phosphate‐rich beds are associated with hiatuses and phases of important condensation which, for the oldest phosphogenic period, envelop the time period of 23·2 to 22 Ma for the Fomm Ir Rhi Bay section (Malta) and from 19·1 to 16·3 Ma for the sections of Sampieri and Modica (Sicily). For the second phase of phosphogenesis on the Maltese Islands, a consistent hiatus was found which embraces the time period of approximately 17 to 15 Ma. Also the third phase of phosphogenesis appears to be associated with a major hiatus, which probably envelops the time period between 12·5 and 10·9 Ma, but a better age control is needed here.The correspondence in timing of the Maltese‐Sicilian phases of phosphogenesis with major phases of phosphogenesis outside the Mediterranean realm, to maxima in oceanic phosphorus‐burial rates and maxima in the δ13C benthic foraminiferal record suggests that the palaeoceanographic evolution of the eastern Mediterranean was well in phase with that of other ocean basins until at least the early Late Miocene, despite its increasing isolation due to the gradual closure of the Eurasian‐Arabian Strait and progressive sea‐level fall.
Petrography and temporal changes in petrofacies of deep‐marine Ainsa–Jaca basin sandstone systems, Early and Middle Eocene, Spanish Pyrenees
Authors: GUPTA KANCHAN DAS , PICKERING KEVIN T. 
Published: July 2008

AbstractA petrographic study of 157 samples from the Early to Middle Eocene deep‐marine sandy systems, Ainsa–Jaca basin, Spanish Pyrenees, shows that each system has a characteristic petrofacies. Three main petrofacies are recognized. Petrofacies 1 sandstones comprise mainly siliciclastic grains (≥80%), subordinate terrigenous carbonate grains and negligible intrabasinal grains. Petrofacies 2 hybrid arenites are characterized by significant amounts (≥10%) of intrabasinal carbonate grains. Petrofacies 3 calcilithites contain relatively abundant (≥10%) extrabasinal carbonate grains. On the basis of these petrofacies, a revised correlation of the sandy systems is proposed between the more proximal Ainsa basin, and the more distal Jaca basin sediments, now separated by the Boltaña anticline, across which it is impossible to actually trace out individual beds or sandstone packages between both basins. The arenite composition in the Ainsa and Jaca basins is interpreted as being controlled mainly by synsedimentary tectonic processes that led to changes in sediment sources during basin evolution.
Trans‐specific gene silencing between host and parasitic plants
Authors: Tomilov Alexey A. , Tomilova Natalia B. , Wroblewski Tadeusz , Michelmore Richard , Yoder John I. 
Published: July 2008

SummarySpecies of Orobanchaceae parasitize the roots of nearby host plants to rob them of water and other nutrients. Parasitism can be debilitating to the host plant, and some of the world’s most pernicious agricultural pests are parasitic weeds. We demonstrate here that interfering hairpin constructs transformed into host plants can silence expression of the targeted genes in the parasite. Transgenic roots of the hemi‐parasitic plantTriphysaria versicolorexpressing the GUS reporter gene were allowed to parasitize transgenic lettuce roots expressing a hairpin RNA containing a fragment of the GUS gene (hpGUS). When stained for GUS activity,Triphysariaroots attached to non‐transgenic lettuce showed full GUS activity, but those parasitizing transgenic hpGUS lettuce lacked activity in root tissues distal to the haustorium. Transcript quantification indicated a reduction in the steady‐state level of GUS mRNA inTriphysariawhen they were attached to hpGUS lettuce. These results demonstrate that the GUS silencing signal generated by the host roots was translocated across the haustorium interface and was functional in the parasite. Movement across the haustorium was bi‐directional, as demonstrated in double‐junction experiments in which non‐transgenicTriphysariaconcomitantly parasitized two hosts, one transgenic for hpGUS and the other transgenic for a functional GUS gene. Observation of GUS silencing in the second host demonstrated that the silencing trigger could be moved from one host to another using the parasite as a physiological bridge. Silencing of parasite genes by generating siRNAs in the host provides a novel strategy for controlling parasitic weeds.