bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Community Mental Health Services as a Process Innovation: Appropriate Economic Evaluation
Authors: Williams Ruth F. G. 
Published: November 2007

Abstract
This article considers the relevant framework for evaluating a major process innovation in mental health services, viz. community‐based service provision. Such services involve multiple inputs from various channels (or departments) in government and ‘the community’. Conventional economic theory of production is extended here to incorporate the notion that economic transactions are embedded in social relations, i.e. social capital is relevant to community‐based service provision. Another fertile concept is that of ‘co‐production’, due to Elinor Ostrom, a political scientist. Ostrom’s conception of co‐production between government and community inputs is outlined in the context of mental health services. A relevant question for evaluating this process innovation emerges from the co‐production framework: is social capital from government a substitute for, or complementary to, social capital from community sources?
‘Broncoing’: A Uniquely Australian Cattle‐Handling Technology
Authors: Lewis Darrell 
Published: November 2007

Abstract
The early Anglo‐Celtic settlers in Australia arrived with a ‘cattle‐culture’ developed in Britain over many centuries, but their cattle‐handling technology proved inadequate for the unique conditions of Australia and new methods were soon devised. For most of the nineteenth century these new techniques required the use of a yard, but eventually the ‘bronco’ method was developed which did not require a yard and which involved a specially constructed ‘bronco panel’ and the use of a lasso thrown by a mounted horseman. This new method became the dominant cattle‐handling technique in the outback for nearly a century and is still practised on a small number of cattle stations.
MANTIS: a phylogenetic framework for multi-species genome comparisons
Authors: Tzika Athanasia C. , Helaers Raphaël , Van de Peer Yves , Milinkovitch Michel C. 
Published: November 2007

Abstract
Motivation: Practitioners of comparative genomics face huge analytical challenges as whole genome sequences and functional/expression data accumulate. Furthermore, the field would greatly benefit from a better integration of this wealth of data with evolutionary concepts.
Results: Here, we present MANTIS, a relational database for the analysis of (i) gains and losses of genes on specific branches of the metazoan phylogeny, (ii) reconstructed genome content of ancestral species and (iii) over- or under-representation of functions/processes and tissue specificity of gained, duplicated and lost genes. MANTIS estimates the most likely positions of gene losses on the true phylogeny using a maximum-likelihood function. A user-friendly interface and an extensive query system allow to investigate questions pertaining to gene identity, phylogenetic mapping and function/expression parameters.
Availability: MANTIS is freely available at http://www.mantisdb.org and constitutes the missing link between multi-species genome comparisons and functional analyses.
Contact: mcmilink@ulb.ac.be
Supplementary information: Supplementary data are available at Bioinformatics online.
Scenario testing of fisheries management strategies using a high resolution ERSEM–POM ecosystem model
Authors: Petihakis G. , Smith C. J. , Triantafyllou G. , Sourlantzis G. , Papadopoulou K-N. , Pollani A. , Korres G. 
Published: November 2007

Abstract
Petihakis, G., Smith, C. J., Triantafyllou, G., Sourlantzis, G., Papadopoulou, K-N., Pollani, A., and Korres, G. 2007. Scenario testing of fisheries management strategies using a high resolution ERSEM–POM ecosystem model. – ICES Journal of Marine Science, 64: 1627–1640.
Ecosystem models are just beginning to be considered as management tools. In terms of fishery impacts, dynamic ecosystem models provide an opportunity to make advances because they can both evaluate the state of the system and make predictions about the ecosystem under various fishing scenarios. In the framework of the Cost Impact project, a complex high-resolution (500 × 500 m grid) ecosystem model was implemented in Iraklion Bay, Crete. Several management scenarios were simulated to investigate the impacts of trawling on this particular ecosystem (reductions in fishing area, effort, and mortality). Introducing trawling impacts into the model led to increases in pelagic production. All scenarios also resulted in net increases in pelagic production, the level of which, and the degree of spatial variability, was dependent on the particular scenario. Changes in pelagic variables were often noted in areas well away from trawled areas. It was also clear that for pelagic variables and processes, depth of trawling is more important than reduction in trawling area, i.e. a scenario banning fishing in waters shallower than 100 m seems to lead to less change in the pelagic system than a scenario that reduces direct mortality to the benthos.
High D‐dimer level is associated with increased 15‐d and 3 months mortality through a more central localization of pulmonary emboli and serious comorbidity
Authors: Klok F. A. , Djurabi R. Karami , Nijkeuter M. , Eikenboom H. C. J. , Leebeek F. W. G. , Kramer M. H. H. , Kaasjager K. , Kamphuisen P. W. , Büller H. R. , Huisman M. V. 
Published: November 2007

SummaryHigh D‐dimer levels are predictors of death in patients with pulmonary embolism (PE), as are more proximally located, larger emboli. The direct link between these three has not yet been described. A cohort of 674 consecutive patients with confirmed PE was studied. Patients were followed up for 3 months. D‐dimer levels were measured only in patients with an unlikely clinical probability (n = 262). The odds ratio (OR) for death of all variables was calculated. Multivariate analysis was performed to identify independent risk factors for mortality. The best predictive D‐dimer cut‐off point for mortality was a concentration >3000 ng/ml FEU (OR 7·29). High D‐dimer levels were correlated with active malignancy and age over 65 years, both being indicators of 3‐month mortality. High D‐dimer levels were also correlated with centrally located pulmonary emboli and 15‐d mortality. The combination of high D‐dimer levels and central emboli increased early mortality risk by 2·2. High D‐dimer levels in patients with an unlikely clinical probability were associated with fatal outcome after PE. Centrally located pulmonary emboli were associated with higher D‐dimer levels and worse 15‐d mortality. Active malignancy, being an inpatient at time of diagnosis and age over 65 years were associated with higher D‐dimer levels and worse 3‐month survival.
Parenting children requiring complex care: a journey through time
Authors: MacDonald H. , Callery P. 
Published: November 2007

AbstractBackground  Parents of children requiring complex care provide intense and demanding care in their homes. Unlike professionals who provide similar care in institutions, parents may not receive regular breaks from care giving. As a result, parents, over time, experience health and social consequences related to care giving. Respite care, one form of a break from care giving, is frequently cited as an unmet need by such parents.Method  Given the paucity of literature on the impact of care giving over time, an ethnographic approach that involved in‐depth interviews, participant observation, eco‐maps, and document review was used. Parents of children requiring complex care, nurses and social workers participated in the study.Results  A developmental map of care giving over time was constructed from the parents' retrospective accounts of parenting a child requiring complex care. The developmental map describes the trajectory of care for the children from infancy through young adulthood and the parents' evolving needs for respite care.Conclusion  Existing literature focuses on the day‐to‐day experiences of parents, who are carers, rather than their experiences over time. As parents of children requiring complex care are providing care from infancy through the death of either child or parent, respite needs will change. This developmental map identifies how a group of parents reported these changes in care giving and their perceived needs for respite care.
Emotional processing in children with conduct problems and callous/unemotional traits
Authors: Woodworth M. , Waschbusch D. 
Published: November 2007

AbstractBackground  A considerable body of evidence now suggests that conduct problem (CP) children with callous/unemotional (CU) traits differ in many ways from CP children without these characteristics. Previous research has suggested that there are important differences for youth with CP and CU characteristics in their ability to process emotional information. The current study investigated the ability of children with disruptive behaviour disorders to label emotional faces and stories.Methods  Participants (aged 7–12) were involved in a summer day treatment and research programme for children with disruptive behaviour problems. Two tasks were administered that were designed to measure participant's ability to recognize and label facial expressions of emotion, as well as their ability to label emotions in hypothetical situations.Results  Results indicated that children with higher levels of CU traits, regardless of whether they had elevated CP scores, were less accurate in identifying sad facial expressions. Interestingly, children with higher CU scores were more accurate in labelling fear than were children with lower CU scores, while children with high CP but low CU traits were less accurate than other children in interpreting fearful facial emotions. Further, children's recognition of various emotional vignettes was not associated with CP, CU traits or their interaction.Conclusions  The current study demonstrated that it was the combination of CP and a high number of CU traits that differentiated emotional attributions. Consistent with previous research, youth with CU traits had more difficulty in identifying sad facial expressions. However, contrasting with some previous studies, higher CU traits were associated with more accurate perceptions of fearful expressions. It is possible that there is something specific to fear recognition for individuals with more psychopathic, CU traits that actually make them more successful for observing or recognizing fearful expressions. Additional research is needed to clarify both the recognition and processing of fear expression in CP children with and without CU.
Confirmation of the association between high levels of immunoglobulin E food sensitization and eczema in infancy: an international study
Authors: Hill D. J. , Hosking C. S. , De Benedictis F. M. , Oranje A. P. , Diepgen T. L. , Bauchau V. ,   the EPAAC Study Group
Published: November 2007

SummaryBackground
Studies of Australian infants have reported that more than 80% of those with moderate atopic eczema (AE) have high levels of IgE food sensitization (IgE‐FS) that are commonly associated with IgE food allergy.Objectives
To explore the relationship between high levels of IgE‐FS and AE in a large cohort of young children with eczema participating in a multi‐centre, international study.Methods
Two thousand one hundred and eighty‐four subjects (mean age 17.6 months, range 11.8–25.4; 1246 males) with active eczema from atopic families from 94 centres in 12 countries were studied. Clinical history, Scoring Atopic Dermatitis index as a measure of eczema severity and CAP‐FEIA measurements for total IgE and IgE antibody levels to cow milk, egg and peanut were entered into a database. If CAP‐FEIA levels exceeded previously reported age‐specific cut‐off levels for 95% positive predictive values (PPVs) for food allergy, subjects were defined as having high‐risk IgE‐FS (HR‐IgE‐FS).Results
Serum was available from 2048 patients; 55.5% were atopic. The frequency of HR‐IgE‐FS to milk, egg and/or peanut was the greatest in patients whose eczema developed in the first 3 months of life and the least in those whose eczema developed after 12 months (P<0.0001). In a regression analysis to allow for potential confounding factors, children with HR‐IgE‐FS had the most severe eczema and the youngest age of onset (P<0.001); 64% of infants with severe eczema of onset‐age <3 months had HR‐IgE‐FS.Conclusion
Early‐onset severe eczema in infancy was associated with HR‐IgE‐FS.Clinical implications
Food allergies should be routinely assessed in infants with moderate or severe eczema.Capsule summary
In eczematous infants, the earlier the age of onset, and the greater the severity of eczema, the greater the frequency of associated high levels of IgE‐FS.
Leukotriene D4‐induced, epithelial cell‐derived transforming growth factor β1 in human bronchial smooth muscle cell proliferation
Authors: Bossé Y. , Thompson C. , McMahon S. , Dubois C. M. , Stankova J. , Rola‐Pleszczynski M. 
Published: November 2007

SummaryBackgroundCysteinyl‐leukotrienes (cys‐LTs) orchestrate many pathognomonic features of asthma in animal models of allergic airway inflammation, including bronchial smooth muscle cell (BSMC) hyperplasia. However, because cys‐LTs alone do not induce mitogenesis in monocultures of human BSMC, the effect observedin vivoseemingly involves indirect mechanisms, which are still undefined.ObjectiveThis study aims to investigate the regulatory role of leukotriene (LT)D4on TGF‐β1 expression in airway epithelial cells and the consequence of this interplay on BSMC proliferation.MethodsHEK293 cells stably transfected with cys‐LT receptor 1 (CysLT1) (293LT1) were stimulated with LTD4and TGF‐β1 mRNA and protein expression was measured using Northern blot and ELISA, respectively. Conditioned medium (CM) harvested from LTD4‐treated cells was then assayed for its proliferative effect on primary human BSMC. TGF‐β1 mRNA expression was also determined in tumoural type II pneumocytes A549 and in normal human bronchial epithelial cells (NHBE) following LTD4stimulation.ResultsThe results demonstrated that LTD4‐induced TGF‐β1 mRNA production in a time‐ and concentration‐dependent manner in 293LT1. TGF‐β1 secretion was also up‐regulated and CM from LTD4‐treated 293LT1 was shown to increase BSMC proliferation in a TGF‐β1‐dependent manner. The increased expression of TGF‐β1 mRNA by LTD4also occured in A549 and NHBE cells via a CysLT1‐dependent mechanism.ConclusionIn conclusion, elevated expression of cys‐LTs in asthmatic airways might contribute to BSMC hyperplasia and concomitant clinical features of asthma such as airway hyperresponsiveness via a paracrine loop involving TGF‐β1 production by airway epithelial cells.
Serum cholesterol level in infancy is inversely associated with subsequent allergy in children and adolescents. A 20‐year follow‐up study
Authors: Pesonen M. , Ranki A. , Siimes M. A. , Kallio M. J. T. 
Published: November 2007

SummaryBackground
Previous studies suggest an association between an altered lipoprotein profile and atopy. The association has been hypothesized to be due to alterations in the dietary fat intake, a factor possibly contributing to the increase of allergic diseases in industrialized countries.Objective
We aimed at assessing whether there is an association between the serum lipid levels in infancy and subsequent development of allergic symptoms in childhood and adolescence.Methods
A cohort of 200 unselected newborns was prospectively followed up from birth to age 20 years (from 1981 to 2002) with repeated measurements of total cholesterol from birth and throughout the first year of life. The subjects were re‐examined at the ages of 5, 11 and 20 years, with assessment of the occurrence of allergic symptoms, skin prick testing (SPT) and measurement of total IgE and of the total, high‐ and low‐density lipoprotein cholesterol.Results
Children and adolescents with allergic symptoms, SPT positivity and an elevated IgE had lower total cholesterol levels in infancy and childhood than the non‐atopic subjects. The difference was not detectable in cord blood, but became significant from age 2 months onward.Conclusion
The inverse association between the cholesterol level in infancy and subsequent manifestations of atopy seems not to be due to atopy‐related dietary alterations, because it was already present in early infancy, when virtually all the infants were on a similar diet, i.e. on exclusive breastfeeding.
Relationship between airway responsiveness to mannitol and to methacholine and markers of airway inflammation, peak flow variability and quality of life in asthma patients
Authors: Porsbjerg C. , Brannan J. D , Anderson S. D , Backer V. 
Published: November 2007

SummaryBackground
Airway hyperresponsiveness (AHR) to stimuli that cause bronchial smooth muscle (BSM) contraction indirectly through the release of endogenous mediators is thought to reflect airway inflammation more closely compared with AHR measured by stimuli that act directly on BSM.Methods
Fifty‐three adult non‐smoking asthmatics (28 females, 18–56 years) who were not taking inhaled steroids were challenged with mannitol (up to 635 mg) and methacholine (up to 8 μmol). Induced sputum eosinophils, exhaled nitric oxide (eNO), peak flow variation and clinical severity of asthma according to the Global Initiative for Asthma guidelines were measured in addition to the health‐related quality‐of‐life score using the Juniper asthma quality‐of‐life questionnaire.Findings
Both AHR to mannitol as well as to methacholine was associated with elevated markers of airway inflammation: in 83% of asthma patients with AHR to mannitol, and in 88% of asthma patients with AHR to methacholine, the eNO level was >20 p.p.b. Sputum% eosinophils >1% was measured in 70% of asthma patients with AHR to mannitol and in 77% of asthma patients with AHR to methacholine. In asthma patients without AHR, 15% had an eNO level >20 p.p.b., but none had sputum% eosinophils >1%. AHR to mannitol was more closely associated with the percentage of sputum eosinophils (PD15 to mannitol vs. sputum% eosinophils: r: −0.52, P<0.05), compared with AHR to methacholine (PD20 to methacholine vs. sputum% eosinophils: r: −0.28, NS). Furthermore, there was a stronger correlation between AHR to mannitol and the level of eNO [PD15 to mannitol vs. eNO (p.p.b.): r: −0.63, P<0.001], compared with AHR to methacholine [PD20 to methacholine vs. eNO (p.p.b.): r: −0.43, P<0.05].Interpretation
In asthma patients not being treated with steroids, AHR to mannitol and to methacholine indicated the presence of airway inflammation. AHR to mannitol reflected the degree of airway inflammation more closely when compared with methacholine.
Using conservation value to assess land restoration and management alternatives across a degraded oak savanna landscape
Authors: Grundel Ralph , Pavlovic Noel B 
Published: November 2007

SummaryManagers considering restoration of landscapes often face a fundamental challenge – what should be the habitat composition of the restored landscape? We present a method for evaluating an important conservation trade‐off inherent in making that decision.Oak savannas and grasslands were historically widespread across central North America but are now rare. Today, in north‐west Indiana, USA, habitats spanning a range of woody vegetation density, from nearly treeless open habitats to forests, occur across the conserved landscape where savannas probably once dominated. To understand the benefits of different potential landscape compositions, we evaluated how different proportions of five habitats – open, savanna, woodland, scrub and forest – might affect the conservation value of the north‐west Indiana landscape for birds. Two variables of potential conservation importance were examined: species diversity, a measure of avian community richness, and conservation index, the percentage of a bird species’ global population occurring on a hectare of landscape, summed across all bird species present. Higher values of conservation index were associated with higher local densities of globally more rare and more threatened species.Conservation index and species diversity were correlated negatively across hypothetical landscapes composed of different proportions of the five habitats. Therefore, a management trade‐off existed between conservation index and species diversity because landscapes that maximized species diversity differed from landscapes that maximized conservation index.A landscape of 50% open, 22% savanna, 15% scrub and 13% forest was predicted to represent a compromise at which conservation index and species diversity reached the same percentage of their maxima. In contrast, the current landscape is dominated by forest.Synthesis and applications. We quantified the trade‐off between two potential aspects of a landscape's conservation value for birds – the landscape's ability to promote avian species diversity and the landscape's use by threatened avian species. This quantification allowed us to evaluate the ability of different landscape compositions to achieve preferable trade‐off compromises, such as maximizing diversity for a given level of landscape use by threatened species. Managers can use these trade‐off results to determine which landscape compositions are associated with particular conservation and management priorities.
The DNA nucleoid‐associated protein Fis co‐ordinates the expression of the main virulence genes in the phytopathogenic bacterium Erwinia chrysanthemi
Authors: Lautier Thomas , Nasser William 
Published: November 2007

Summary Erwinia chrysanthemi strain 3937 is a necrotrophic bacterial plant pathogen. Pectinolytic enzymes and, in particular, pectate lyases (Pels) play a key role in soft rot symptoms but the efficient colonization of plants by E. chrysanthemi requires additional factors. These factors include the harpin HrpN, the cellulase Cel5, proteases (Prts), flagellar proteins and the Sap system, involved in the detoxification of plant antimicrobial peptides. HrpN and flagellum are mostly involved in the early steps of infection whereas the degradative enzymes (Pels, Cel5, Prts) are mainly required in the advanced stages. Production of these virulence factors is tightly regulated by environmental conditions. This report shows that the nucleoid‐associated protein Fis plays a pivotal role in the expression of the main virulence genes. Its production is regulated in a growth phase‐dependent manner and is under negative autoregulation. An E. chrysanthemi fis mutant displays a reduced motility and expression of hrpN, prtC and the sap operon. In contrast, the expression of the cel5 gene is increased in this mutant. Furthermore, the induction of the Pel activity is delayed and increased during the stationary growth phase in the fis mutant. Most of these controls occur through a direct effect because purified Fis binds to the promoter regions of fis, hrpN, sapA, cel5 and fliC. Moreover, potassium permanganate footprinting and in vitro transcription assays have revealed that Fis prevents transcription initiation at the fis promoter and also transcript elongation from the cel5 promoter. Finally, the fis mutant has a decreased virulence. These results suggest a co‐ordinated regulation by Fis of virulence factors involved in certain key steps of infection, early (asymptomatic) and advanced (symptomatic) phases.