bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Frequency of selected thrombophilias in women with placental abruption
Authors: PROCHÁZKA Martin , LUBUŠKÝ Marek , SLAVÍK Luděk , HRACHOVEC Petr , ZIELINA Petr , KUDELA Milan , LINDQVIST Pelle G. 
Published: July 2007

AbstractObjective:  There is a growing view that inherited or acquired thrombophilia may predispose a woman towards an adverse pregnancy outcome. The aim of this study was to investigate whether risk factors for placental abruption because of such thrombophilias (such as carriership of factor V Leiden (FVL), prothrombin G20210A gene mutation and homozygous MTHFR C677T) might be used as a predictor for placental abruption.Methods:  A retrospective case‐control study conducted at the University Hospital, Palacky University, Olomouc, Czech Republic. One hundred and eighty women with placental abruption out of 20 175 deliveries (0.79%) were compared to 196 unselected gravidae. A detailed medical history was taken with special reference to factors related to hypercoagulation and blood was drawn for polymerase chain reaction analysis. The prevalence of FVL, prothrombin G20210A and MTHFR C677T was related to placental abruption.Results:  The heterozygous form of FVL was present in 20of 142 cases (14.1%) in the placental abruption group, compared to ten of 196 (5.1%) in the control group (odds ratio 3.0, 95% confidence interval 1.4–6.7).Conclusions:  We found that factor V Leiden is a significant risk factor for placental abruption.
Acute pyelonephritis in pregnancy: A retrospective study
Authors: SHARMA Paban , THAPA Laxmi 
Published: July 2007

AbstractObjective:  To examine the incidence, risk factors, microbial pathogens, and pregnancy outcomes of pregnant women with acute antepartum pyelonephritis.Methods:   Among all pregnant women admitted to Patan Hospital, Nepal from 14 April 2004 to 13 April 2005, pregnant women with acute pyelonephritis were retrospectively studied. Furthermore, the pregnancy outcomes of these women were compared with those of the general obstetric population received at our hospital during the same time period.Results:   Of 7034 pregnant women delivered at our hospital, 94 cases of acute antepartum pyelonephritis were diagnosed during the study period (incidence: 1.3%). Maternal mean age for the infection was 22 ± 3.41 years. Acute pyelonephritis was most frequently occurred in nulliparous women (75%), and in the second trimester (60%). Of 94 cases, 62 (65.95%) showed positive urine culture, with the predominating organism Escherichia coli in 81% (50 of 62) of cases. E. coli was found most sensitive to nitrofurantoin (82.1% of cases), followed by ceftriaxone (81.55% of cases), gentamicin (77.01% of cases), ofloxacin (60.57% of cases), and ciprofloxacin (59% of cases). The incidences of low‐birthweight babies (14%) and preterm babies (7.81%) in the cases with acute antepartum pyelonephritis were not significantly different compared to that of all births in our hospital during the same period (13% and 8%, respectively; P > 0.05).Conclusions:   Acute pyelonephritis requiring admission to hospital most frequently occurs in nulliparous women, and in the second trimester. The predominating organism responsible for acute pyelonephritis is E. coli. Ceftriaxone, because of its safety and negligible side‐effect, should be the drug of choice for acute antepartum pyelonephritis.
A new way of looking at Caesarean section births
Authors: McCARTHY Fergus P. , RIGG Lynne , CADY Louisa , CULLINANE Fiona 
Published: July 2007

AbstractAims:  To implement the Robson Ten Group Classification System (TGCS) at the Royal Women's Hospital (RWH), Melbourne, in order to determine the main contributors to the rising Caesarean section (CS) rate.Methods:  The TGCS divides women into ten groups according to parity, past obstetric history, singleton or multiple pregnancy, fetal presentation, gestational age and mode of onset of labour/delivery. The TGCS was applied retrospectively to the population of women who had a registered birth at the RWH between January 2005 and 31 December 2005.Results:  A total of 5833 women gave birth to 6011 babies during the study period. A total of 1651 women (28.3%) had a CS birth. The total CS rates ranged from 3.7% (group 3) to 100% (group 9). Women in groups 1 and 2 were the greatest contributors to the emergency CS rate, 4.2% and 4.9%, respectively. Women in group 5 were the single greatest contributor to both the elective CS rate and the total CS rate.Conclusions:  The TGCS was successfully implemented at the RWH in 2005. The TGCS is ongoing, enabling monitoring of CS rates. The Robson TGCS demonstrates the need to focus on the care of women in groups 1, 2 and 5 in particular, if CS rates are to be reduced.
Editorials: Quest for V: Body Composition Could Determine Dialysis Dose
Authors: Sarkar Shubho R. , Kotanko Peter , Heymsfeld Steven B. , Levin Nathan W. 
Published: July 2007

AbstractSince the demonstration that dialysis patients with lower body weight have a higher mortality than larger patients, there has been much interest in determining possible mechanisms and any possible relationships to the dialysis dose. Arguments have been made against using Kt/Vurea as the basis for dialysis prescription. Efforts have been made to determine a parameter of dialysis delivery independent of body size. An emerging area of intense research interest has explored the body composition determinants of resting metabolic rate. Based on the knowledge of in vitro organ tissue energy production, newer high‐resolution imaging methods have been applied as a means of establishing the sources of resting energy production in chronic kidney disease (CKD) patients. However, the linkages between resting energy expenditure (REE), body composition, and survival have not received much attention despite various studies exploring the effect of renal dysfunction and of the hemodialysis process on REE. We explore possible mechanisms leading to a higher mortality in smaller (lower body mass index) patients. The hypothesis of Morton and Singer is discussed. We have hypothesized that delivery of dialysis based on visceral organ volume (Vorgan), which could be the appropriate representation of uremic toxin generation, would be more logical than the current practice. This retains the concept of Kt/V but suggests that instead of the total V, a component related to major metabolic activity might represent the volume of interest. As per our hypothesis, smaller dialysis patients would need relatively a higher dialysis dose delivery, as expressed by current Kt/V, in order to achieve the same level of clearance of uremic toxins as in larger patients.
CRYPTIC DIVERSITY IN PHYTOPLANKTON CULTURES IS REVEALED USING A SIMPLE PLATING TECHNIQUE1
Authors: Lakeman Michael Boyd , Cattolico And Rose Ann 
Published: July 2007

A simple technique has been developed to probe the occurrence of cryptic genetic diversity in populations of laboratory‐maintained phytoplankton cultures. This agarose‐based method allows the investigator to plate a broad range of fragile algae, including representatives of the Raphidophyceae, Synurophyceae, Prymnesiophyceae, and Dinophyceae. Heterosigma akashiwo (Hada) Hada ex Y. Hara et Chihara was selected as a model system for our genetic diversity study. Further optimization of the plating technique for this alga demonstrated that colony formation was independent of the physiological state of the parent culture and yet dependent on incident light intensity. The density at which cells were plated affected colony formation and the rate of growth, with intermediate densities (∼103 cells per plate) performing best. High‐metal stress was used as the selective screen for assessing genetic variability within a single H. akashiwo culture. To this end, “clonal” lines (quotation marks used to indicate that within‐clone diversity was expected) were generated from individual plated colonies, and their tolerance was measured by plating on selective medium. Results of these experiments suggest the following: (i) “clonal” lines generated from a single H. akashiwo culture displayed a significant variation in stress tolerance; (ii) “clonal” lines chosen for their ability to grow on selective plates retained this tolerance in the absence of stress, indicating that the observed variation is heritable; and (iii) genetic variation is continually generated in growing cultures. Our results are consistent with a conceptual model, presented here, in which stress tolerance among the individuals in a culture has a genetic basis that varies over a continuous spectrum.
Drug Challenges Reveal Differences in Mediation of Stress Facilitation of Voluntary Alcohol Drinking and Withdrawal‐Induced Anxiety in Alcohol‐Preferring P Rats
Authors: Overstreet David H. , Knapp Darin J. , Breese George R. 
Published: July 2007

Background: There is controversy over whether exposure to stress precipitates relapse and/or increases alcohol (ethanol) intake. Our laboratory has demonstrated that repeated stress prior to withdrawal from a brief forced exposure to alcohol results in withdrawal‐induced anxiety‐like behavior. Because anxiety is often regarded as a precipitating factor in relapsing alcoholics, we decided to examine the consequences of stressing alcohol‐preferring P rats on both voluntary alcohol drinking and withdrawal‐induced anxiety.Methods: P rats were subjected to 3 cycles of 5 days of voluntary alcohol drinking and 2 days of deprivation. Restraint stress (60 min) was applied to some animals during the first and second deprivations/withdrawals (at 4 h). Drugs (flumazenil, buspirone, SB242,084, CP154,526, CRA1000, naloxone, haloperidol, olanzapine, naloxone, and haloperidol) were given to some rats 30 min prior to restraint stress.Results: Stressed, deprived P rats exhibited both a longer duration of elevated alcohol drinking and anxiety‐like behavior in the social interaction test upon withdrawal after the third cycle of voluntary alcohol drinking. When given prior to each of the restraint stresses, the benzodiazepine receptor antagonist flumazenil (5 mg/kg), the corticotrophin releasing factor receptor antagonists CRA1000 (3 mg/kg) and CP154,526 (10 mg/kg), the serotonin 5‐HT1Areceptor partial agonist buspirone (0.6 mg/kg), and the mixed 5‐HT2C/D2 receptor antagonist olanzapine were effective in reducing the increased duration of elevated alcohol drinking and the withdrawal‐induced anxiety‐like behavior. In contrast, while the opiate receptor antagonist naloxone (20 mg/kg), the 5‐HT2Creceptor antagonist SB242084 (3 mg/kg), and the dopamine receptor antagonist haloperidol (0.1 mg/kg) also reduced drinking, they did not significantly alter anxiety like behavior.Conclusion: These results suggest that stress‐induced facilitation of alcohol drinking and withdrawal‐induced anxiety‐like behavior in P rats may be closely but imperfectly linked.
Productivity growth and convergence in crop, ruminant, and nonruminant production: measurement and forecasts
Authors: Ludena Carlos E. , Hertel Thomas W. , Preckel Paul V. , Foster Kenneth , Nin Alejandro 
Published: July 2007

AbstractProjections of future productivity growth rates in agriculture are an essential input for a great variety of tasks, ranging from development of an outlook for global commodity markets to the analysis of interactions between land use, deforestation, and ecological diversity. Yet solid projections for these variables have proven elusive—particularly on a global basis. This is due, in no small part, to the difficulty of measuring historical total factor productivity growth. Consequently, most productivity projections are based on partial factor productivity measures that can be quite misleading. The purpose of this work is to provide worldwide forecasts of agricultural productivity growth till the year 2040 based on the latest time series evidence on total factor productivity growth for crops, ruminants, and nonruminant livestock. The results suggest that most regions in the sample are likely to experience larger productivity gains in livestock than in crops. Within livestock, the nonruminant sector is expected to continue to be more dynamic than the ruminant sector. Given the rapid rates of productivity growth observed recently, nonruminant and crop productivity in developing countries may be converging to the productivity levels of developed countries. For ruminants, the results show that productivity levels in developing countries are likely to be diverging from those in developed countries.
Can the U.S. ethanol industry compete in the alternative fuels market?
Authors: Zhang Zibin , Vedenov Dmitry , Wetzstein Michael 
Published: July 2007

AbstractThe U.S. ethanol fuel industry has experienced preferential treatment from federal and state governments ever since the Energy Tax Act of 1978 exempted 10% ethanol/gasoline blend (gasohol) from the federal excise tax. Combined with a 54c/ /gal ethanol import tariff, this exemption was designed to provide incentives for the establishment and development of a U.S. ethanol industry. Despite these tax exemptions, until recently, the U.S. ethanol fuel industry was unable to expand from a limited regional market. Ethanol was dominated in the market by MTBE (methyl‐tertiary‐butyl ether). Only after MTBE was found to contaminate groundwater and consequently banned in many states did the demand for ethanol expand nationally. Limit pricing on the part of MTBE refiners is one hypothesis that may explain this lack of ethanol entry into the fuel‐additives market. As a test of this hypothesis, a structural vector autoregression (SVAR) model of the ethanol fuel market is developed. The results support the hypothesis of limit‐pricing behavior on the part of MTBE refiners, and suggest the U.S. corn‐based ethanol industry is vulnerable to limit‐price competition, which could recur. The dependence of the corn‐based ethanol price on supply determinants limits U.S. ethanol refiners' ability to price compete with sugar‐cane‐based ethanol refiners. Without federal support, U.S. ethanol refiners may find it difficult to compete with cheaper sugar‐cane‐refined ethanol, chiefly from Brazil.
Duration of Allergic Susceptibility in Maternal Transmission of Asthma Risk
Authors: Fedulov Alexey V. , Leme Adriana S. , Kobzik Lester 
Published: July 2007

ProblemAsthma has its origins in early‐life. Maternal, not paternal asthma is an important risk factor, but the mechanisms and the duration of the maternal effect are unknown.Method of StudyOffspring of asthmatic and normal mice were sensitized with ovalbumin (OVA) at 1, 3, 6 and 10 weeks of age, challenged with aerosolized OVA 2 weeks later and tested for airway hyperresponsiveness (AHR) and allergic airway inflammation (AI).ResultsOffspring of asthmatic, but not normal, mothers showed AHR and AI after OVA sensitization at week 1. Similarly increased susceptibility to OVA was observed when sensitized at 3 or 6 weeks, although the magnitude diminished. Offspring sensitized at 10 and challenged at 12 weeks showed some AI but no AHR.ConclusionIn offspring from asthmatic mothers increased allergic susceptibility persisted through the young adulthood, albeit with gradual decline, which suggests a long‐lived but reversible skewing of the developing immune system.
On Tests for a Normal Mean with Known Coefficient of Variation
Authors: Bhat Kavitha , Rao K. Aruna 
Published: July 2007

Summary Hinkley (1977) derived two tests for testing the mean of a normal distribution with known coefficient of variation (c.v.) for right alternatives. They are the locally most powerful (LMP) and the conditional tests based on the ancillary statistic for μ. In this paper, the likelihood ratio (LR) and Wald tests are derived for the one‐ and two‐sided alternatives, as well as the two‐sided version of the LMP test. The performances of these tests are compared with those of the classical t, sign and Wilcoxon signed rank tests. The latter three tests do not use the information on c.v. Normal approximation is used to approximate the null distribution of the test statistics except for the t test. Simulation results indicate that all the tests maintain the type‐I error rates, that is, the attained level is close to the nominal level of significance of the tests. The power functions of the tests are estimated through simulation. The power comparison indicates that for one‐sided alternatives the LMP test is the best test whereas for the two‐sided alternatives the LR or the Wald test is the best test. The t, sign and Wilcoxon signed rank tests have lower power than the LMP, LR and Wald tests at various alternative values of μ. The power difference is quite large in several simulation configurations. Further, it is observed that the t, sign and Wilcoxon signed rank tests have considerably lower power even for the alternatives which are far away from the null hypothesis when the c.v. is large. To study the sensitivity of the tests for the violation of the normality assumption, the type I error rates are estimated on the observations of lognormal, gamma and uniform distributions. The newly derived tests maintain the type I error rates for moderate values of c.v.
Coupling Between Mesoplasticity and Damage in High-cycle Fatigue
Authors: Flaceliere Laurent , Morel Franck , Dragon André 
Published: July 2007

The multiaxial fatigue loading in the high-cycle regime leads to localized mesoscopic plastic strain that occurs in some preferential directions of individual grains for most metallic materials. Crack initiation modeling is difficult in this fatigue regime because the scale where the mechanisms operate is not the engineering scale (macroscopic scale), and local plasticity and damage act simultaneously. This article describes a damage model based on the interaction between mesoplasticity and local damage for the infinite and the finite fatigue life regimes. Several salient effects are accounted for via a simple localization rule, which connects the macroscopic scale with the mesoscopic one, and by the model presented here, which describes the coupled effects of mesoplasticity and damage growth. Irreversible thermodynamics concepts with internal state variables are used to maintain a balance between extensive descriptions of plastic flow and damage events. Cyclic hardening behavior is described by a combined isotropic and kinematic hardening rule while the damage evolution is governed notably by the accumulated plastic mesoscopic strain. In this study, predictions are compared to fatigue tests performed on a mild steel (C36) under different loading modes. All the experiments are carried out under in-phase loading conditions: reversed tension, torsion, and combined tension—torsion. The mean stress effect is also studied through tests conducted under tension. The predicted Wöhler curves under any loading mode can be readily obtained with this model, but the main feature of this approach is to ensure a clear link between the mesoscopic parameters like the hardening behavior of individual grains and the subsequent local damage.
A novel approach to sequence validating protein expression clones with automated decision making
Authors: Taycher Elena , Rolfs Andreas , Hu Yanhui , Zuo Dongmei , Mohr Stephanie E , Williamson Janice , LaBaer Joshua 
Published: July 2007

Abstract

Background
Whereas the molecular assembly of protein expression clones is readily automated and routinely accomplished in high throughput, sequence verification of these clones is still largely performed manually, an arduous and time consuming process. The ultimate goal of validation is to determine if a given plasmid clone matches its reference sequence sufficiently to be "acceptable" for use in protein expression experiments. Given the accelerating increase in availability of tens of thousands of unverified clones, there is a strong demand for rapid, efficient and accurate software that automates clone validation.

Results
We have developed an Automated Clone Evaluation (ACE) system – the first comprehensive, multi-platform, web-based plasmid sequence verification software package. ACE automates the clone verification process by defining each clone sequence as a list of multidimensional discrepancy objects, each describing a difference between the clone and its expected sequence including the resulting polypeptide consequences. To evaluate clones automatically, this list can be compared against user acceptance criteria that specify the allowable number of discrepancies of each type. This strategy allows users to re-evaluate the same set of clones against different acceptance criteria as needed for use in other experiments. ACE manages the entire sequence validation process including contig management, identifying and annotating discrepancies, determining if discrepancies correspond to polymorphisms and clone finishing. Designed to manage thousands of clones simultaneously, ACE maintains a relational database to store information about clones at various completion stages, project processing parameters and acceptance criteria. In a direct comparison, the automated analysis by ACE took less time and was more accurate than a manual analysis of a 93 gene clone set.

Conclusion
ACE was designed to facilitate high throughput clone sequence verification projects. The software has been used successfully to evaluate more than 55,000 clones at the Harvard Institute of Proteomics. The software dramatically reduced the amount of time and labor required to evaluate clone sequences and decreased the number of missed sequence discrepancies, which commonly occur during manual evaluation. In addition, ACE helped to reduce the number of sequencing reads needed to achieve adequate coverage for making decisions on clones.
Anopheles gambiae heat shock protein cognate 70B impedes o'nyong-nyong virus replication
Authors: Sim Cheolho , Hong Young S , Tsetsarkin Konstantin A , Vanlandingham Dana L , Higgs Stephen , Collins Frank H 
Published: July 2007

Abstract

Background
Phylogenetic and functional analysis was conducted on an Anopheles gambiae gene, ENSANGG00000017398. Based on phylogenetic analysis, this gene belongs to the same lineage as Heat shock protein cognate 70-4 (Hsc70-4) in Drosophila. Accordingly, we propose to name this gene Heat shock protein cognate 70B (HSC70B). We previously reported that expression of HSC70B and other genes including elongation factor-1α (EF-1α) and the agglutinin attachment subunit (agglutinin) were up-regulated in o'nyong-nyong virus (ONNV)-infected female An. gambiae. Double-stranded RNA interferences have been applied to further investigate HSC70B, EF-1α and the agglutinin functions in ONNV replication in An. gambiae.

Results
Among these three RNAi silenced genes, only dsRNAs of HSC70B (dsHSC70B) promoted ONNV replication in adult An. gambiae compared to the control mosquitoes that were co-injected with ONNV and dsRNA of β-galactosidase (dsβ-gal). ONNV titers from mosquitoes co-injected with dsHSC70B were about 9-fold higher at 6 days post-injection (d.p.i.) as compared to the control mosquitoes. By using ONNV tagged with enhanced green fluorescent protein (ONNV-eGFP), co-injection of ONNV-eGFP with dsHSC70B also showed approximately 2 ~ 3-fold higher GFP expression rates than the controls in the head, thorax, and abdomen of the mosquito. Furthermore, co-injection of ONNV with dsHSC70B significantly reduced the lifespan of adult mosquitoes as compared with the control, co-injection of ONNV with dsβ-gal treated mosquitoes.

Conclusion
These results indicate that HSC70B plays important roles in homeostasis and suppression of ONNV replication in the vector, An. gambiae. Biological implications of these findings are that while mosquitoes allow ONNV to replicate in them, they also check viral titers so that ONNV infection will result in no harmful effect on mosquitoes. Therefore, mosquitoes can function as vectors of ONNV transmission to humans while ONNV infection in An. gambiae remains asymptomatic.