bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Five or More Acute Postoperative Seizures Predict Hospital Course and Long‐term Seizure Control after Hemispherectomy
Authors: Koh Susan , Nguyen Snow , Asarnow Robert F. , LoPresti Christine , Yudovin Sue , Shields W. Donald , Vinters Harry V. , Mathern Gary W. 
Published: May 2004

Summary:  Purpose: Acute postoperative seizures (APOSs) are those that occur in the first 7 to 10 days after surgery, and previous studies in temporal lobe epilepsy patients support the notion that APOSs may foretell failure of long‐term seizure control. It is unknown whether APOSs also predict seizure outcome or hospital course after hemispherectomy. Methods: Hemispherectomy patients (n = 114) were studied retrospectively and subdivided into the following groups: No APOSs, 1 to 5 APOSs, or >5 APOSs. Intensive care unit (ICU) nursing staff or family members reported and described the APOS events. APOS categories were compared with pre‐ and postsurgery clinical variables abstracted from the medical record. Results: APOSs occurred in 22.6% of hemispherectomy patients. Compared with the 0 and 1 to 5 APOS groups, patients with >5 APOS showed (a) longer seizure durations before surgery, (b) longer hospitalizations, (c) later oral food intake, (d) more frequent lumbar punctures, (e) worse seizure control at 0.5 and 1 year after surgery, (f) more antiepileptic drug (AED) use at 2 and 5 years after surgery, and (g) higher reoperation rate. No similar differences were found between the 0 and 1 to 5 APOS groups. The day of the APOS, whether the APOS was typical of preoperative seizures, and postsurgery scalp EEG did not predict long‐term seizure control. APOS patients in the 1 to 5 and >5 groups had lower pre‐ and postsurgery Vineland developmental quotients compared with those without an APOS. Conclusions: Hemispherectomy patients with >5 APOSs had a more prolonged and complicated hospital course and worse postsurgery seizure control, more AED use, and higher reoperation rate than did patients with 0 or 1 to 5 APOSs. Thus the number of APOSs was a predictor of postsurgery seizure control and can be used to counsel patients and families about prognosis after hemispherectomy.
Freeze Lesion–Induced Focal Cortical Dysplasia Predisposes to Atypical Hyperthermic Seizures in the Immature Rat
Authors: Scantlebury Morris H. , Ouellet Pierre‐Luc , Psarropoulou Caterina , Carmant Lionel 
Published: May 2004

Summary:  Purpose: To determine the effects of focal cortical dysplasia on the behavioral and electrographic features of hyperthermia‐induced seizures (HSs) in rats. Methods: A right sensorimotor cortex freeze lesion was induced in postnatal day 1 (P1) rat pups, and HSs were provoked at P10 under continuous monitoring of core temperature; EEGs were recorded from the right amygdala during and after hyperthermia. Controls included both sham‐operated at P1 and naïve rats. Results: HSs began with jaw myoclonus, followed by hindlimb clonus and generalized convulsions (GCs), and terminated by a period of posthyperthermia depression. The threshold temperature and latency of jaw myoclonus were similar across the groups. However, both the threshold temperature and latency of GCs were significantly lower in lesioned pups than in controls (40.5 ± 0.5°C, n = 24, vs. 42.0 ± 0.2°C, n = 21; p < 0.001; 6.7 ± 0.6 min, n = 20, vs. 8.4 ± 0.6 min, n = 22; p < 0.05). In lesioned pups, the threshold and latencies for jaw myoclonus and hindlimb clonus were similar, whereas in controls, the progression from one to the other was marked by significant differences in both parameters. Posthyperthermia depression was longer in lesioned (13.3 ± 1.2 min, n = 21) than in control (8.0 ± 0.8 min, n = 20; p < 0.0001) pups. Ictal EEG activity was recorded during both behavioral seizures and posthyperthermia depression. Conclusions: An HS in rats with a localized freeze lesion results in lower threshold GC and prolonged ictal manifestations, thus supporting a pathophysiologic link between focal cortical dysplasia and atypical febrile seizures, conditions that have a high prevalence in children with mesial temporal lobe epilepsy.
Preserved Episodic Memory in Subcortical Band Heterotopia
Authors: Janzen Laura , Sherman Elisabeth , Langfitt John , Berg Michel , Connolly Mary 
Published: May 2004

Summary:  Purpose: Neuropsychological profiles of four patients with subcortical band heterotopia (SBH) are presented to delineate further the phenotype of this disorder. Methods: Standardized, norm‐referenced measures of cognitive functioning, including intelligence, processing speed, attention, language, visuomotor skills, memory, and fine motor ability were administered to four patients with magnetic resonance imaging evidence of SBH. Results: Despite intellectual impairment and other severe cognitive deficits, all four patients displayed relatively intact episodic memory. Conclusions: This selective sparing of memory functions has not been previously reported in individuals with SBH and suggests that doublecortin does not play a role in the development of memory systems in the mesial temporal region, which tend to be spared in SBH.
Correlation between 1H MRS and Memory before and after Surgery in Mesial Temporal Lobe Epilepsy with Hippocampal Sclerosis
Authors: Hanoğlu Lütfü , Özkara Ciḡdem , Keskinkiliç Cahit , Altin Ümmühan , Uzan Mustafa , Tuzgen Saffet , Dinçer Alp , Özyurt Emin 
Published: May 2004

Summary:  Purpose: Proton magnetic resonance spectroscopy (1H MRS), which can demonstrate neuronal loss and gliosis, may be used as a sensitive tool for lateralization of temporal lobe epilepsy (TLE). Although the correlation between the memory functions and 1H MRS has been investigated, its predictive value after surgery has not been studied previously. This study evaluated memory and 1H MRS values of medically intractable patients with mesial TLE and hippocampal sclerosis (MTLE‐HS) before and after selective amygdalohippocampectomy (SAH). Methods: Twenty‐two patients underwent memory tests and 1H MRS investigation before and 6 months after SAH and were compared with nine control subjects. Results: The 1H MRS scores were found to be significantly low on the pathological side of the patients. Both right‐sided 1H MRS of right TLE and left‐sided 1H MRS values of left TLE patients were correlated only with verbal memory scores. Statistical analysis did not reveal any significance for nonverbal memory scores for both TLE groups on either side, which showed no significant correlation between material specificity and 1H MRS findings. Conversely, regression analyses demonstrated that high right‐ and low left‐sided 1H MRS values obtained before surgery may predict a decline in verbal learning scores after surgery. Conclusions:
1H MRS can be considered as a useful tool to determine the lateralization in patients with MTLE‐HS before the surgery. Although only a weak relation exists between the MRS values and memory scores, presurgical MRS scores may be predictive for a possible deterioration in verbal memory after surgery. However, further studies with higher numbers of cases are needed for confirmation of the results.
Re‐evaluating the role of selective abscission in moth/yucca mutualisms
Authors: Shapiro Judith , Addicott John F. 
Published: May 2004

Conflicts of interest are common to mutualisms, particularly those derived from exploitative interactions. Conflicts of interest are particularly pronounced in pollination/seed predation mutualisms, such as moth/yucca interactions, where consumption of seeds by larvae of a plant's pollinator will raise the fitness of the pollinator but lower the fitness of the plant. A central question in these mutualisms is, therefore, “what limits seed predation?” If plants with excess flowers selectively abscise flowers containing many eggs, they may reduce seed predation and overall increase their fecundity. If eggs in abscised flowers die, selective abscission may additionally contribute to the limitation or regulation of pollinator populations, thereby decreasing the probability of future overexploitation.We examined the effect of selective abscission in the mutualism betweenYucca kanabensisand one of its pollinating moths,Tegeticula altiplanella. Per capita mortality of moth eggs due to abscission was high (95.5%), but did not increase on inflorescences with more ovipositions per flower. Overall mortality was partitioned into two components based upon the proportion of visited flowers abscised (i.e. resource‐limitation) and additional mortality (=selective abscission). Resource‐limitation per se inflicted 93.9% egg mortality, or most of the mortality due to abscission. But, the average number of eggs in fruit was lower than the average number of eggs in flowers, indicating that there was some selectivity of abscission. However, neither source of mortality increased on inflorescences with more ovipositions per visited flower. Egg mortality resulting from selective abscission was not as high as possible, because the yuccas appeared to use oviposition‐damaged ovules as a cue for selective abscission, and there was considerable variation in the relationship between oviposition number and damaged ovules. However, even if yuccas had retained the flowers containing the fewest eggs, selective abscission still would not have been higher on inflorescences with more ovipositions per flower.Considering also that, 1) number of ovipositions is a poor predictor of the number of larvae that hatch and feed on the developing seeds in a fruit and that, 2) there are several moth/yucca interactions in which selective abscission does not occur, we conclude that abscission, and particular selective abscission, may have density‐limiting effects on moth populations, but will fail as general explanations for regulating the dynamics of moth populations.
Active selection for large guppies, Poecilia reticulata, by the pike cichlid, Crenicichla saxatilis
Authors: Johansson Jan , Turesson Håkan , Persson Anders 
Published: May 2004

Size‐selective predation has been proposed to be one important evolutionary force shaping life‐history traits in guppies (Poecilia reticulata). Populations living in the presence of the ring‐tailed pike cichlid (Crenicichlasaxatilis) are smaller, mature earlier, allocate more energy to offspring and get more and smaller young than guppies in localities without Crenicichla. We investigated if Crenicichlasaxatilis is a size‐selective predator, if the selectivity is a result of active choice and if the optimal prey size can be explained according to an optimal foraging model. In single‐prey experiments we quantified the predators’ pre‐capture costs (time), capture success, and post‐capture costs (time) for four different prey sizes spanning from 10 to 40 mm total length. To see which of the components of the prey cycle the predator takes into account for its choice, we then predicted prey values and optimal prey size with 6 different models that included one or more of the prey cycle components.In two multiple prey experiments, the cichlids were given the choice of the two and four different prey sizes simultaneously. Crenicichlasaxatilis actively selected the largest guppies in both cases. The three prey‐value functions that included handling time (post‐capture cost) did not accurately predict the prey choice. Instead the prey‐value functions that took into account pre‐capture cost (approach and attack time) were able to correctly predict the choice of the largest guppy size, suggesting that pre‐capture costs may be more important than post‐capture costs for prey choice in Crenicichlasaxatilis. The study confirms that Crenicichlasaxatilis is a size‐selective predator selecting large guppies, while earlier evidence for selectivity for large prey in Crenicichla cichlids has been weak and equivocal. Our result strengthen the possibility that size‐selective predation is a mechanism in life‐history evolution in guppies.
Daily activity patterns of Whiptail Lizards (Squamata: Teiidae: Aspidoscelis): a proximate response to environmental conditions or an endogenous rhythm?
Authors: WINNE C. T. , KECK M. B. 
Published: May 2004

Summary

The hypothesis that high soil temperatures are required to induce both initiation and cessation of daily activity in Whiptail Lizards (Aspidoscelis; formerly Cnemidophorus), as well as the hypotheses that hunger thresholds and high rates of evaporative water loss influence daily activity patterns, were experimentally tested in A. inornata and A. gularis.
Although a critical soil temperature was required to elicit the initiation of morning activity, high temperature was not a necessary stimulus for the cessation of activity.
Access to prey did not influence the pattern of daily activity; moreover, evaporative water loss did not appear to explain the cessation of afternoon activity.
Reversing the photoperiod during our experiments led only to a change in the time of initiation of daily activity (i.e. activity began 12 h later), not a significant change in the duration of daily activity.
These results provide strong evidence that circadian cycles can play a critical role in not only the initiation but also the cessation of activity.
While the ultimate cause (i.e. selective advantage, if any) of this unusual circadian rhythm may be related to extreme temperature, limited water supplies or some other exogenous factor, clearly, the rhythm persists in the absence of limiting environmental conditions.
Direct and indirect impacts of fire on isoprenoid emissions from Mediterranean vegetation
Authors: ALESSIO G. A. , DE LILLIS M. , FANELLI M. , PINELLI P. , LORETO F. 
Published: May 2004

Summary

Fire is often associated with episodes of air pollution, possibly involving the release of biogenic isoprenoids (isoprene and monoterpenes). The direct and indirect impacts of fire on isoprenoid emission by plants of the Mediterranean vegetation were studied. Leaves of Arbutus unedo, Phillyrea latifolia, Cistus incanus, Cistus mospeliensis, Pistacia lentiscus, Quercus ilex, Quercus suber, Quercus pubescens, Myrtus communis and Pinus halepensis were exposed to direct fire or to the fire‐consequent wave of elevated temperature.
Half the tested plant species did not emit isoprenoids and the treatments did not induce isoprenoid emission. In contrast, isoprene was emitted by intact leaves of Q. pubescens and M. communis, while monoterpenes were emitted by intact leaves of Q. ilex, Q. suber and P. halepensis.
The two treatments rapidly reduced isoprene emission by isoprene‐emitting species and monoterpene emission by Quercus spp. This inhibition was associated with photosynthetic inhibition, and recovery was seen in Quercus spp. within days of treatment. Recovery was also associated with the recovery of photosynthesis, suggesting that emitted isoprenoids continue to be formed predominantly from photosynthetic intermediates after a fire episode.
In Q. pubescens leaves, however, recovery from the elevated‐temperature treatment caused a sustained increase of isoprene emission which was not mirrored by a similar increase in photosynthesis. Whether this represents the induction of alternative metabolic pathways or an increase of the flux of photosynthetic carbon in the isoprene pathway is not known. Isoprene‐emitting species in areas surrounding fire may emit a substantially larger hydrocarbon flux for several days after fire.
The elevated‐temperature treatment induced the emission of α‐pinene from Myrtus leaves, and the fire treatment stimulated the emission of several monoterpenes from Pinus needles. The emission began to decrease within minutes in Myrtus, while it increased within the first 100 min in Pinus, where it was detectable the day after the event although the flux was smaller than in prestressed needles.
Exposure to fire and to the associated elevated temperature may induce bursts of monoterpenes from plants that regularly do not emit these compounds and temporarily increase the load of monoterpenes in the atmosphere by pine species. These emissions may contribute to photochemical reactions involved in smog and ozone formation.
Linking fine root traits to maximum potential growth rate among 11 mature temperate tree species
Authors: COMAS L. H. , EISSENSTAT D. M. 
Published: May 2004

Summary

There is limited understanding of patterns of variation that exist among root traits of different species, especially under field conditions. We contrasted 11 fast‐ and slow‐growing species paired within five evolutionary lineages to investigate whether root traits associated with soil resource acquisition were related to species’ potential growth rate.
Measurements of root morphology, architecture, nitrogen and phenolic concentration, respiration and phosphorus uptake were taken on fine, non‐woody roots sampled from forest stands in central Pennsylvania, USA.
Across all five contrasts, roots of fast‐growing species generally had higher specific root length, smaller diameters, greater degree of branching, and lower phenolic concentrations than those of slow‐growing species. This suggests differences in potential soil exploration and root defences among species differing in potential growth rate.
There were no significant differences between fast‐ and slow‐growing species in root tissue density, respiration or P uptake. Lack of root physiological differences between species differing in growth rate contrasted with previous research on chamber‐grown seedlings.
These results imply that, while roots of fast‐growing species may be constructed for more rapid soil exploration and shorter life span than those of slow‐growing species, root physiology is either more closely tied to overall plant physiology, which is more similar among mature trees, or masked by variation in soil microsites, root age or interactions with mycorrhizal fungi.
Morphological dynamics in the foraging apparatus of a deposit feeding marine bivalve: phenotypic plasticity and heritable effects
Authors: DRENT J. , LUTTIKHUIZEN P. C. , PIERSMA T. 
Published: May 2004

Summary

Design considerations dictate that systems work most efficiently when the separate components have processing capacities adjusted to each other, a principle known as symmorphosis. Adjustments in response to a variable environment are most likely to occur at the interface between the environment and integrated systems. In deposit‐feeding bivalves, the interface of the alimentary canal with the foraging environment consists of a siphon (intake), gills (flow generation) and palps (particle sorting).
Among European populations of the Baltic Tellin, Macoma balthica, the gill‐to‐palp mass‐ratio was positively correlated with the foraging environment, characterized by median grain size of the ambient sediment (R = 0·71).
In laboratory‐reared M. balthica gill‐to‐palp mass‐ratio responded plastically to changes in ambient sediment characteristics, resulting in large ratios in coarse sediment and small ratios in fine sediment.
In a common garden experiment, relative differences in gill‐to‐palp mass‐ratios of laboratory‐reared M. balthica from four populations appeared similar to those in the field, indicating a heritable component to the variation in integrated organ systems.
Phenotypically plastic adjustments ensure a close match between the integrated system of the alimentary canal to the local foraging environment. Heritable variation among populations may reflect different selective optima related to consistent differences in the environment between the populations.
Species‐level effects more important than functional group‐level responses to elevated CO2: evidence from simulated turves
Authors: HANLEY M. E. , TROFIMOV S. , TAYLOR G. 
Published: May 2004

Summary

Using mixtures of 14 calcareous grassland plant species drawn from three functional groups, we looked at the effects of elevated atmospheric CO2 on contrasting levels of ecosystem performance (species, functional group and community). Experimental communities were subjected to ambient (≈350 µmol mol−1) or elevated CO2 (≈600 µmol mol−1) in controlled environments, with grazing simulated by clipping at monthly intervals for 546 days.
We assessed the effect of elevated CO2 on plant performance by quantifying the productivity (biomass) and cover of component species. We also examined the effect of elevated CO2 on the vertical structure of the plant canopy. Elevated CO2 resulted in a significant increase in total community biomass only following nutrient addition. Within functional groups, non‐leguminous forb species had significantly greater biomass and cover in elevated CO2 both before and after nutrient addition, although the effect was mainly due to the influence of one species (Centaurea nigra). Grasses, in contrast, responded negatively to elevated CO2, although again significant reductions in biomass and cover could mainly be ascribed to a single species (Brachypodium pinnatum). Legumes exhibited increased biomass and cover in elevated CO2 (the effects being particularly marked for Anthyllis vulneraria and Lotus corniculatus), but this response disappeared following nutrient addition. Vertical structure was little affected by CO2 treatment.
We conclude that due to the idiosyncratic responses of individual species, the categorization of plants into broad functional groups is of limited use in guiding our understanding of the impacts of elevated atmospheric CO2 on plant communities.
Allocation of nitrogen to cell walls decreases photosynthetic nitrogen‐use efficiency
Authors: ONODA Y. , HIKOSAKA K. , HIROSE T. 
Published: May 2004

Summary

Nitrogen (N) is an essential limiting resource for plant growth, and its efficient use may increase fitness. We investigated photosynthetic N‐use efficiency (photosynthetic capacity per unit N) in relation to N allocation to Rubisco and to cell walls in Polygonum cuspidatum Sieb. et Zucc. which germinated in May (early germinators) and August (late germinators).
There was a significant difference between early and late germinators in photosynthetic capacity as a function of leaf N content per unit area. Higher photosynthetic N‐use efficiency in late germinators was caused primarily by a larger allocation of N to Rubisco.
Nitrogen allocation to cell walls was smaller in late germinators. The shorter growth period in late germinators was associated with higher photosynthetic capacity, which was achieved by allocating more N to photosynthetic proteins at the expense of cell walls.
The trade‐off between N allocation to photosynthesis and to structural tissues suggests that plants change N allocation to increase either the rate or duration of carbon assimilation. Such plastic change would help plants maintain themselves and cope with environmental changes.
Microparasite manipulation of an insect: the influence of theegtgene on the interaction between a baculovirus and its lepidopteran host
Authors: CORY J. S. , CLARKE E. E. , BROWN M. L. , HAILS R. S. , O'REILLY D. R. 
Published: May 2004

SummaryParasites and pathogens manipulate their hosts in a variety of ways that are thought to enhance their fitness. However, it is rare to be able to link such phenotypic changes to specific genes.Here the effect of a single pathogen gene is examined. The ecdysteroid UDP‐glucosyltransferase (egt) gene of insect baculoviruses produces an enzyme that interferes with host moulting.The effect of theegtgene was examined by comparing two baculoviruses that differed only in the expression of this gene. All three fitness traits examined – pathogenicity, infection duration and pathogen productivity – were affected by deletion of the gene.Trichoplusia nilarvae in all five instars died earlier when infected with theegt‐minus virus compared with those infected by the wild‐typeAutographa californicanucleopolyhedrovirus.Unexpectedly, theegt‐minus virus was more pathogenic to final instar larvae than the wild‐type virus. Virus genotype and dose both influenced insect development.Wild‐type infected insects had a significantly higher yield of virus at death, cadaver weight and yield of virus per unit weight than those infected with theegt‐minus virus.The size of the virus challenge had a major influence on the outcome of the interaction. The consequences of these data for pathogen fitness are discussed.