Editor's column: Titles of palaeontological papers

In articles provided with an abstract ('extended title with connected sentences'), there is no reason to overcrowd the title with information of key-word character. The title should be formulated to assist the selective reader. Additional information for the needs of secondary publications should be supplemented in the abstract and in a special line of key-words for indexing. We should aim at clean titles, using bibliographic and documentalishc foresight.     

The sovereign citizen superconspiracy: Contemporary issues in native title anthropology

The Australian Native Title Act 1993 (Cth) provides for the recognition of rights and interests which arise from the traditional laws and customs of Australian First Nation peoples. Processing applications for a determination of native title can take many years and involves numerous stakeholders, presentation of evidence of ongoing connection with the land and sea within a claim area, negotiations with other parties including from industry and government, as well as negotiations between Indigenous groups. The process can be long, arduous, and often outcomes fail to satisfy the expectations of native title claimants. In this paper we investigate how individuals who either disagree with the premise underlying native title, or who have suffered negative impacts through the course of native title claims, may be either targeted by, or swept up in, Australian sovereign citizen rhetoric. We aim to contextualise presentations of sovereign citizen ideas in native title claim processes by providing an overview of the history of sovereign citizen thought, and examples of its contemporary expression in some Australian online forums. In doing this we aim to provide a broad foundation for future research into the issue. The dialogue in sovereign citizen online communities exposes people to extremism and superconspiracies. This article will provide a theoretical framework and historical context to the Australian sovereign citizen phenomena and describe online amplification of disinformation in Australia that has the potential to cause harm. We illustrate how stakeholders who are drawn to relatively moderate online content (such as opposing native title) may be radicalised through gradual exposure to extremist anti-government sentiment and hate speech. This article highlights the need for further research into sovereign citizenry in Australia, and strategies for native title practitioners to engage claimants who subscribe to and disseminate sovereign citizen disinformation in native title processes.     

Esophagitis in a high H. pylori prevalence area: severe disease is rare but concomitant peptic ulcer is frequent

Background

Few data are available on the prevalence of erosive and severe esophagitis in Western countries.

Objective

To retrospectively determine the prevalence and the factors predicting erosive esophagitis and severe esophagitis in a large series of endoscopies in Spain.

Design

Retrospective observational study. A multivariate analysis was performed to determine variables predicting severe esophagitis.

Setting

Databases of 29 Spanish endoscopy units.

Patients

Patients submitted to a diagnostic endoscopy during the year 2005.

Interventions

Retrospective review of the databases.

Main Outcome Measurements

Esophagitis severity (graded according to the Los Angeles classification) and associated endoscopic findings.

Results

Esophagitis was observed in 8.7% of the 93,699 endoscopies reviewed. Severe esophagitis (LA grade C or D) accounted for 22.5% of cases of the disease and was found in 1.9% of all endoscopies. Incidences of esophagitis and those of severe esophagitis were 86.2 and 18.7 cases per 100,000 inhabitants per year respectively. Male sex (OR 1.89) and advanced age (OR 4.2 for patients in the fourth age quartile) were the only variables associated with severe esophagitis. Associated peptic ulcer was present in 8.8% of cases.

Limitations

Retrospective study, no data on individual proton pump inhibitors use.

Conclusions

Severe esophagitis is an infrequent finding in Spain. It occurs predominantly in males and in older individuals. Peptic ulcer disease is frequently associated with erosive esophagitis.     

Erratum: Vol. 17, No. 1, pp. 57-61] Differentiation of Stem Cells Isolated from Rat Smooth Muscle

Due to a mis-communication between the authors and the editorial office, the title of this paper was incorrectly printed. The correct title should read as: Isolation of Muscle Derived Stem Cells from Rat and its Smooth Muscle Differentiation. The correct format of the title section is presented below. Citations to the article should use the original volume, issue, and page numbers.     

Admixture Mapping of 15,280 African Americans Identifies Obesity Susceptibility Loci on Chromosomes 5 and X

The prevalence of obesity (body mass index (BMI) ≥30 kg/m²) is higher in African Americans than in European Americans, even after adjustment for socioeconomic factors, suggesting that genetic factors may explain some of the difference. To identify genetic loci influencing BMI, we carried out a pooled analysis of genome-wide admixture mapping scans in 15,280 African Americans from 14 epidemiologic studies. Samples were genotyped at a median of 1,411 ancestry-informative markers. After adjusting for age, sex, and study, BMI was analyzed both as a dichotomized (top 20% versus bottom 20%) and a continuous trait. We found that a higher percentage of European ancestry was significantly correlated with lower BMI (ρ=−0.042, P=1.6×10⁻⁷). In the dichotomized analysis, we detected two loci on chromosome X as associated with increased African ancestry: the first at Xq25 (locus-specific LOD=5.94; genome-wide score=3.22; case-control Z=−3.94); and the second at Xq13.1 (locus-specific LOD=2.22; case-control Z=−4.62). Quantitative analysis identified a third locus at 5q13.3 where higher BMI was highly significantly associated with greater European ancestry (locus-specific LOD=6.27; genome-wide score=3.46). Further mapping studies with dense sets of markers will be necessary to identify the alleles in these regions of chromosomes X and 5 that may be associated with variation in BMI.     

Cost-Effectiveness of a Community Pharmacist-Led Sleep Apnea Screening Program – A Markov Model

Background

Despite the high prevalence and major public health ramifications, obstructive sleep apnea syndrome (OSAS) remains underdiagnosed. In many developed countries, because community pharmacists (CP) are easily accessible, they have been developing additional clinical services that integrate the services of and collaborate with other healthcare providers (general practitioners (GPs), nurses, etc.). Alternative strategies for primary care screening programs for OSAS involving the CP are discussed.

Objective

To estimate the quality of life, costs, and cost-effectiveness of three screening strategies among patients who are at risk of having moderate to severe OSAS in primary care.

Design

Markov decision model.

Data Sources

Published data.

Target Population

Hypothetical cohort of 50-year-old male patients with symptoms highly evocative of OSAS.

Time Horizon

The 5 years after initial evaluation for OSAS.

Perspective

Societal.

Interventions

Screening strategy with CP (CP-GP collaboration), screening strategy without CP (GP alone) and no screening.

Outcomes measures

Quality of life, survival and costs for each screening strategy.

Results of base-case analysis

Under almost all modeled conditions, the involvement of CPs in OSAS screening was cost effective. The maximal incremental cost for “screening strategy with CP” was about 455€ per QALY gained.

Results of sensitivity analysis

Our results were robust but primarily sensitive to the treatment costs by continuous positive airway pressure, and the costs of untreated OSAS. The probabilistic sensitivity analysis showed that the “screening strategy with CP” was dominant in 80% of cases. It was more effective and less costly in 47% of cases, and within the cost-effective range (maximum incremental cost effectiveness ratio at €6186.67/QALY) in 33% of cases.

Conclusions

CP involvement in OSAS screening is a cost-effective strategy. This proposal is consistent with the trend in Europe and the United States to extend the practices and responsibilities of the pharmacist in primary care.     

Outcome of Assisted Reproductive Technology (ART) and Subsequent Self-Reported Life Satisfaction

Objective

To compare life satisfaction between women with successful or unsuccessful outcome after assisted reproductive treatment (ART) by taking into account the time since the last ART.

Design

Cohort study.

Setting

Tertiary hospital.

Patients

A total of 987 consecutive women who had undergone ART during 1996–2007 were invited and altogether 505 women participated in the study.

Interventions

A postal enquiry with a life satisfaction scale.

Main Outcome Measure

Self-reported life satisfaction in respect to the time since the last ART.

Results

In general, women who achieved a live birth after ART had a significantly higher life satisfaction than those who had unsuccessful ART, especially when compared in the first three years. The difference disappeared in the time period of 6–9 years after ART. The unsuccessfully treated women who had a child by some other means before or after the unsuccessful ART had comparable life satisfaction with successfully treated women even earlier.

Conclusions

Even if unsuccessful ART outcome is associated with subsequent lower level of life satisfaction, it does not seem to threaten the long-term wellbeing.     

Experimental and quantum chemical calculational studies on 2-[(4-Fluorophenylimino)methyl]-3,5-dimethoxyphenol

The Schiff base compound, 2-[(4-Fluorophenylimino)methyl]-3,5-dimethoxyphenol, has been synthesized and characterized by IR, electronic spectroscopy, and X-ray single-crystal determination. Molecular geometry from X-ray experiment of the title compound in the ground state have been compared using the Hartree-Fock (HF) and density functional method (B3LYP) with 6–31G(d) basis set. Calculated results show that density functional theory (DFT) and HF can well reproduce the structure of the title compound. The energetic behavior of the title compound in solvent media has been examined using B3LYP method with the 6–31G(d) basis set by applying the polarizable continuum model (PCM). The total energy of the title compound decrease with the increasing polarity of the solvent. By using TD-DFT and TD-HF methods, electronic absorption spectra of the title compound have been predicted and a good agreement with the TD-DFT method and the experimental ones is determined. In addition, DFT calculations of the title compound, molecular electrostatic potential (MEP), natural bond orbital (NBO), and thermodynamic properties were performed at B3LYP/6–31G(d) level of theory.     

Correction to: Harvesting forage of the perennial grain crop kernza (Thinopyrum intermedium) increases root biomass and soil nitrogen cycling

Plant and Soil - In the published version, the article title was presented incorrectly. The word “cycling” was inadvertently deleted. The correct title is shown here.     

Synthesis and bioassay evaluation of 1-(4-substitutedideneaminooxymethyl)-phenyl-3-(2,6-difluorobenzoyl)ureas

A variety of novel 1-(4-substitutedideneaminooxymethyl)-phenyl-3-(2,6-difluorobenzoyl)ureas were designed and synthesized by the reaction of 4-substitutedideneaminooxymethyl aniline with 2,6-difluorobenzoyl isocyanates in good yields. The title compounds were soluble in most organic solvents, which should make them easier to use. The preliminary bioassay showed that some of the title compounds show excellent insecticidal activity against Mythimna separata at the dosage of 25 mg kg(-1) and moderate insecticidal activity against Nephotettix cincticeps at the dosage of 500 mg kg(-1). Toxicity assays indicated that these title compounds cause in M. separata and N. cincticeps such symptoms of toxicity as discolouration, and weight loss, and cessation of feeding and lethal. One title compound exhibited acaricidal activity against Tetranychus urticae.     

Does AMH Reflect Follicle Number Similarly in Women with and without PCOS?

Context

Increased Anti-Mullerian Hormone in polycystic ovary syndrome, may be due to overactive follicles rather than reflect antral follicle count.

Objective

Does Anti-Mullerian Hormone reflect antral follicle count similarly in women with or without polycystic ovary syndrome or polycystic ovarian morphology?

Design

Cross-sectional, case-control.

Setting

Women who delivered preterm in 1999–2006. For each index woman, a woman with a term delivery was identified.

Patients

Participation rate was 69%. Between 2006–2008, 262 women were included, and diagnosed to have polycystic ovary syndrome, polycystic ovarian morphology or to be normal controls.

Intervention(s)

Blood tests, a clinical examination and vaginal ultrasound.

Main Outcome Measure(s)

Anti-Mullerian Hormone / antral follicle count -ratio, SHBG, androstenedione and insulin, to test potential influence on the Anti-Mullerian Hormone / antral follicle count -ratio.

Results

Mean Anti-Mullerian Hormone / antral follicle count ratio in women with polycystic ovary syndrome or polycystic ovarian morphology was similar to that of the controls (polycystic ovary syndrome: 1,2 p = 0,10 polycystic ovarian morphology: 1,2, p = 0,27 Controls 1,3). Anti-Mullerian Hormone showed a positive linear correlation to antral follicle count in all groups. Multivariate analysis did not change the results.

Conclusions

We confirmed the positive correlation between AMH and follicle count. Anti-Mullerian Hormone seems to be a reliable predictor of antral follicle count, independent of polycystic ovary syndrome diagnosis or ovarian morphology.     

The ‘Spirit’ of the Thing: The Boundaries of Aboriginal Economic Relations at Australian Common Law

Aboriginal economic relations have been misconstrued as a type of primitive exchange in at least one native title case discussed in this paper. The pursuit by Aboriginal native title claimants of recognition at law of customary economic rights as inherent in, or an adjunct of, native title rights failed in Yarmirr and Others v. Northern Territory of Australia and Others (1998) 156 ALR 370 (the ‘Croker Island case’) for several reasons. The applicant's native title was found to be non‐exclusive of other interests, and a right to trade in resources of the sea was rejected. This case was argued in part by relying on historical material regarding Macassan trading arrangements. The profound alterity of Aboriginal relationships among persons and things, as the Croker Island evidence of property and trade relations demonstrates, have been re‐constituted in legal discourse as an absence of economic relations. In this paper, we argue that there is no sound basis for the distinction made between commercial and non‐commercial native title rights, whether in the Native Title Act 1993 (Commonwealth of Australia), or in recent judicial reasoning. We contend that native title rights and interests constitute a sui generis species of property relations that enable economic rights as conceived in Aboriginal tradition and custom to circulate in the modern market. Aboriginal customary economic relations of and between Aboriginal groupings are markedly distinct from, yet not incommensurable with, the normative conception of economic relations in the Australian market. We argue that a reformulation of the current Australian legal ideas about economic life is necessary for the recognition of Aboriginal economic institutions in native title claims and other economic arenas.     

Adolescent Pregnancy and Attained Height among Black South African Girls: Matched-Pair Prospective Study

Importance

The impact of adolescent pregnancy on offspring birth outcomes has been widely studied, but less is known about its impact on the growth of the young mother herself.

Objective

To determine the association between adolescent pregnancy and attained height.

Design

Prospective birth cohort study.

Setting

Cohort members followed from birth to age 20 y in Soweto, South Africa.

Participant

From among 840 Black females with sufficient data, we identified 54 matched pairs, in which a girl who became pregnant before the age of 17 years was matched with a girl who did not have a pregnancy by age 20 y. Pairs were matched on age at menarche and height-for-age z scores in the year before the case became pregnant (mean 15.0 y).

Main Outcome Measures

The two groups were compared with respect to attained height, measured at mean age 18.5 y.

Results

Mean age at conception was 15.9 years (range: 13.7 to 16.9 y). Mean height at matching was 159.4 cm in the adolescent pregnancy group and 159.3 cm in the comparison group (p = 0.3). Mean attained height was 160.4 cm in the adolescent pregnancy group and 160.3 cm in the comparison group (p = 0.7).

Conclusions

Among Black females in Soweto, South Africa, adolescent pregnancy was not associated with attained height.     

A Second Look at the Association between Gender and Mortality on Antiretroviral Therapy

Objective

We assessed the association between gender and mortality on antiretroviral therapy (ART) using identical models with and without sex-specific categories for weight and hemoglobin.

Design

Cohort study of adult patients on ART.

Setting

GHESKIO Clinic in Port-au-Prince, Haiti.

Participants

4,717 ART-naïve adult patients consecutively enrolled on ART at GHESKIO from 2003 to 2008.

Main Outcome Measure

Mortality on ART; multivariable analyses were conducted with and without sex-specific categories for weight and hemoglobin.

Results

In Haiti, male gender was associated with mortality (OR 1.61; 95% CI: 1.30–2.00) in multivariable analyses with hemoglobin and weight included as control variables, but not when sex-specific interactions with hemoglobin and weight were used.

Conclusions

If sex-specific categories are omitted, multivariable analyses indicate a higher risk of mortality for males vs. females of the same weight and hemoglobin. However, because males have higher normal values for weight and hemoglobin, the males in this comparison would generally have poorer health status than the females. This may explain why gender differences in mortality are sometimes observed after controlling for differences in baseline variables when gender-specific interactions with weight and hemoglobin are omitted.     

Titles of scientific papers

The title of an article requires close attention from both authors and editors. A title should be concise, accurate and informative, even when it appears on its own, e.g. quoted in a bibliography or listed in a current-awareness publication. Recommendations are made about the preferred length of an article title, the balancing of brevity and optimum information content, the choice and order of words, biosystematic and geographical detail, inevitable punctuation, and the omission of abbreviations, formulae and exotic letters and signs.     

Neuropeptide Y Gene Polymorphisms Confer Risk of Early-Onset Atherosclerosis

Neuropeptide Y (NPY) is a strong candidate gene for coronary artery disease (CAD). We have previously identified genetic linkage to familial CAD in the genomic region of NPY. We performed follow-up genetic, biostatistical, and functional analysis of NPY in early-onset CAD. In familial CAD (GENECARD, N=420 families), we found increased microsatellite linkage to chromosome 7p14 (OSA LOD=4.2, p=0.004) in 97 earliest age-of-onset families. Tagged NPY SNPs demonstrated linkage to CAD of a 6-SNP block (LOD=1.58–2.72), family-based association of this block with CAD (p=0.02), and stronger linkage to CAD in the earliest age-of-onset families. Association of this 6-SNP block with CAD was validated in: (a) 556 non-familial early-onset CAD cases and 256 controls (OR 1.46–1.65, p=0.01–0.05), showing stronger association in youngest cases (OR 1.84–2.20, p=0.0004–0.09); and (b) GENECARD probands versus non-familial controls (OR 1.79–2.06, p=0.003–0.02). A promoter SNP (rs16147) within this 6-SNP block was associated with higher plasma NPY levels (p=0.04). To assess a causal role of NPY in atherosclerosis, we applied the NPY1-receptor–antagonist BIBP-3226 adventitially to endothelium-denuded carotid arteries of apolipoprotein E-deficient mice; treatment reduced atherosclerotic neointimal area by 50% (p=0.03). Thus, NPY variants associate with atherosclerosis in two independent datasets (with strong age-of-onset effects) and show allele-specific expression with NPY levels, while NPY receptor antagonism reduces atherosclerosis in mice. We conclude that NPY contributes to atherosclerosis pathogenesis.     

Theoretical modeling and experimental studies on N-n-Decyl-2-oxo-5-nitro-1-benzylidene-methylamine

The Schiff base compound, N-n-Decyl-2-oxo-5-nitro-1-benzylidene-methylamine, has been -synthesized and characterized by IR, electronic spectroscopy, and X-ray single-crystal determination. Molecular geometry from X-ray experiment of the title compound in the ground state have been compared using the Hartree-Fock (HF) and density functional method (B3LYP) with 6-31G(d) basis set. Calculated results show that density functional theory (DFT) at B3LYP/6-31G(d) level can well reproduce the structure of the title compound. To investigate the solvent effect for the atomic charge distributions of the title compound, self-consistent reaction field theory with Onsager reaction field model was used. In addition, DFT calculations of the title compound, molecular electrostatic potential and thermodynamic properties were performed at B3LYP/6-31G(d) level of theory.     

Rotavirus Vaccination Coverage among Children Aged 2-59 Months: A Report from Guangzhou,China

Objective

We aimed to estimate the Lanzhou lamb rotavirus (LLR) vaccination coverage (VC) and timeliness among children aged 2 to 59 months in Guangzhou, China.

Methods

An electronic system-based VC survey was conducted using stratified cluster random sampling.

Results

We reported an overall Lanzhou lamb rotavirus vaccine coverage of 25.3% among children aged 2-59 months (2-8 months, 2.6%) in Guangzhou, China.

Conclusion

Great efforts should be taken to increase LLR VC in eligible children in Guangzhou, China.     

Inbreeding as a cause for deafness: Dadhkai study

BACKGROUND:

We report on the higher prevalence of deaf-mutes from a village in Jammu and Kashmir State of India.

MATERIALS AND METHODS:

A cross-sectional study among 79 deaf mutes using pedigree analysis, audiometry, imaging and molecular analysis.

RESULTS:

A high rate of hereditary deafness with 79 individuals diagnosed to be suffering from non-syndrome deafness in a total population of 2452 individuals residing in the village.

INTERPRETATION:

Flourishing of intermarriages led to a population with high prevalence of deafness