bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
A Volume Comparison Estimate with Radially Symmetric Ricci Curvature Lower Bound and Its Applications
Authors: Hu Zisheng , Jin Yadong , Xu Senlin
Published: April 2010

We extend the classical Bishop‐Gromov volume comparison from constant
Ricci curvature lower bound to radially symmetric Ricci curvature lower bound, and
apply it to investigate the volume growth, total Betti number, and finite topological
type of manifolds with nonasymptotically almost nonnegative Ricci curvature.
Effects of Melatonin and Pycnogenol on Small Artery Structure and Function in Spontaneously Hypertensive Rats
Authors: Rezzani Rita , Porteri Enzo , De Ciuceis Carolina , Bonomini Francesca , Rodella Luigi F. , Paiardi Silvia , Boari Gianluca E.M. , Platto Caterina , Pilu Annamaria , Avanzi Daniele , Rizzoni Damiano , Agabiti Rosei Enrico
Published: April 2010

It was suggested that oxidative stress has a key role in the development of endothelial dysfunction, as well as microvascular structural alterations. Therefore, we have investigated 2 substances with antioxidant properties: melatonin and Pycnogenol. We treated 7 spontaneously hypertensive rats (SHRs) with melatonin and 7 with Pycnogenol for 6 weeks. We compared results obtained with those observed in 7 SHRs and 7 Wistar-Kyoto normotensive control rats kept untreated. Mesenteric small resistance arteries were dissected and mounted on a wire myograph, and a concentration-response curve to acetylcholine was performed. Aortic contents of metalloproteinase 2, Bax, inducible NO synthase, and cyclooxygenase 2 were evaluated, together with the aortic content of total collagen and collagen subtypes and apoptosis rate. A small reduction in systolic blood pressure was observed. A significant improvement in mesenteric small resistance artery structure and endothelial function was observed in rats treated with Pycnogenol and melatonin. Total aortic collagen content was significantly greater in untreated SHRs compared with Wistar-Kyoto control rats, whereas a full normalization was observed in treated rats. Apoptosis rate was increased in the aortas of untreated SHRs compared with Wistar-Kyoto control rats; an even more pronounced increase was observed in treated rats. Bax and metalloproteinase 2 expressions changed accordingly. Cyclooxygenase 2 and inducible NO synthase were more expressed in the aortas of untreated SHRs compared with Wistar-Kyoto control rats; this pattern was normalized by both treatments. In conclusion, our data suggest that treatment with Pycnogenol and melatonin may protect the vasculature, partly independent of blood pressure reduction, probably through their antioxidant effects.
Stratospheric Gravity Waves Generated by Typhoon Saomai (2006): Numerical Modeling in a Moving Frame Following the Typhoon
Authors: Kim So-Young , Chun Hye-Yeong
Published: April 2010

Stratospheric gravity waves generated by Typhoon Saomai (2006) were simulated using a mesoscale model in a moving frame of reference following the typhoon. Waves with large amplitudes appear near the domain center because of strong convection in the eyewall of the typhoon. Convection bands propagating outward from the storm center also generate waves propagating to the stratosphere. Convective forcing is significant in various propagation directions, with maximum power in slowly moving eastward components due to convection in the eyewall. The forcing exhibits large amplitude at a speed of 8–16 m s−1 in the eastward direction in which spiral bands are mainly developed. Induced gravity waves in the stratosphere are dominant in the eastward, northeastward, and southeastward propagation directions, since westward waves are mostly filtered by the background wind below z = 25 km. While the typhoon moves northwestward for 78 h, the wave characteristics vary through time depending on the evolution of the eyewall and spiral bands. Horizontal wavelengths of waves are longer in the mature and decaying stages than in the developing stage of the typhoon, likely because of a more dominant concentric eyewall in the mature and decaying stages. The spectral peak of the waves is at ∼20 km (∼50 km) horizontal wavelength in the developing (mature) stage, and the wave amplitudes are larger in the developing stages. The dominant contribution to the momentum flux is from waves with horizontal wavelengths longer than 80 km. Positive momentum flux decreases with overall height and the resultant positive drag can cause deceleration of northeasterly background wind. Sensitivity of the model results to horizontal resolution reveals that small-scale waves resolved in the present simulations with 3-km resolution cannot be fully represented with 9- or 27-km resolutions.
Multidisciplinary Analysis of an Unusual Tornado: Meteorology, Climatology, and the Communication and Interpretation of Warnings*
Authors: Schumacher Russ S. , Lindsey Daniel T. , Schumacher Andrea B. , Braun Jeff , Miller Steven D. , Demuth Julie L.
Published: April 2010

On 22 May 2008, a strong tornado—rated EF3 on the enhanced Fujita scale, with winds estimated between 136 and 165 mi h−1 (61 and 74 m s−1)—caused extensive damage along a 55-km track through northern Colorado. The worst devastation occurred in and around the town of Windsor, and in total there was one fatality, numerous injuries, and hundreds of homes significantly damaged or destroyed. Several characteristics of this tornado were unusual for the region from a climatological perspective, including its intensity, its long track, its direction of motion, and the time of day when it formed. These unusual aspects and the high impact of this tornado also raised a number of questions about the communication and interpretation of information from National Weather Service watches and warnings by decision makers and the public. First, the study examines the meteorological circumstances responsible for producing such an outlier to the regional severe weather climatology. An analysis of the synoptic and mesoscale environmental conditions that were favorable for significant tornadoes on 22 May 2008 is presented. Then, a climatology of significant tornadoes (defined as those rated F2 or higher on the Fujita scale, or EF2 or higher on the Enhanced Fujita scale) near the Front Range is shown to put the 22 May 2008 event into climatological context. This study also examines the communication and interpretation of severe weather information in an area that experiences tornadoes regularly but is relatively unaccustomed to significant tornadoes. By conducting interviews with local decision makers, the authors have compiled and chronicled the flow of information as the event unfolded. The results of these interviews demonstrate that the initial sources of warning information varied widely. Decision makers’ interpretations of the warnings also varied, which led to different perceptions on the timeliness and clarity of the warning information. The decision makers’ previous knowledge of the typical local characteristics of tornadoes also affected their interpretations of the tornado threat. The interview results highlight the complex series of processes by which severe weather information is communicated after a warning is issued by the National Weather Service. The results of this study support the growing recognition that societal factors are just as important to the effectiveness of weather warnings as the timeliness of and information provided in those warnings, and that these factors should be considered in future research in addition to the investments and attention given to improving detection and warning capabilities.
The Swedish Reserve Officer: Filling Vacancies or Using Competences
Authors: Danielsson Erna , Carlstedt Berit
Published: April 2010

The aim of this study is to examine the reserve force’s role in and contribution to the new Swedish expeditionary armed forces. Survey data were obtained from 418 reservists. The results show that reserve officers are well educated and hold high positions in the civil society. According to the reserve officers themselves, the Armed Forces do not ask for their nonmilitary competence. The discontent with this situation is greater among the younger reservists as opposed to the older ones. Four different opinions on the need for the reserve officers are suggested. First, reserve officers are requested to fill vacancies, that is, a volume regulator. Second, the reserve officers are needed because they have unique competences other than military that are used by the armed forces. Third, reserve officers are needed from an economic point of view. Finally, reserve officers contribute to the civil–military relationship. However, when using a framework intended for regular officers, the contribution of the reserve officers’ civil professional competence has not been recognized.
Practicing physical geography: An actor-network view of physical geography exemplified by the rock art stability index
Authors: Allen Casey D. , Lukinbeal Chris
Published: April 2010

This paper explores the use of a new pedagogy, the rock art stability index (RASI), to engender deeper understanding of weathering science concepts by students. Owing to its dynamic nature, RASI represents a quintessential actor network for weathering science, because it links task in the landscape with an active material practice and an alternative materialistic world-view recently called for in positivistic science, to create place. Using concept maps as an assessment tool, 571 college undergraduate students and 13 junior high school integrated science students (ages 12—13) were evaluated for increased learning potential between pre- and post-field experiences. Further, this article demonstrates that when students use RASI to learn the fundamental complex science of weathering they make in-depth connections between weathering form and process not achieved through traditional, positivistic weathering pedagogy. We argue that RASI draws upon inherent actor networks which allow students to link weathering form and process to an animate conceptualization of landscape. Conceptualizing landscape as sentient actor networks removes weathering science disciplinary connections and their inherent pedagogic practices. Our focus in this paper is not to challenge weathering ontology and epistemology, but rather to argue that there is a need for a pedagogical paradigm shift in weathering science.
Synthesis of zeolite phases from combustion by-products
Authors: Pimraksa Kedsarin , Chindaprasirt Prinya , Setthaya Naruemon
Published: April 2010

Synthesis of zeolites from combustion by-products, including fly ash, bottom ash and rice husk ash, was studied. A molar ratio of SiO2/Al2O3 of 1.5 was used for the syntheses. Refluxing and hydrothermal methods were also used for synthesis for comparison. The reaction temperatures of refluxing and hydrothermal methods were 100°C and 130°C, respectively. Sodalite, phillipsite-K, and zeolite P1 with analcime were obtained when fly ash, bottom ash and rice husk ash were used as starting materials, respectively. With rice husk ash as a starting material, zeolite P1 was produced. This result had advantages over previous studies as there was no prior activation required for the synthesis. The concentrations and types of alkaline used in the synthesis also determined the zeolite type. The different zeolites obtained from three systems were measured for specific surface area and pore size by using BET and Hg-porosimetry, respectively. Ammonium exchange capacities of the synthesised powders containing zeolites, sodalite, zeolite P1 and phillipsite-K were 38.5, 65.0 and 154.7 meq 100 g -1, respectively.
The Effect of Corporate Social Responsibility on Social Capital Creation in Social Cooperatives
Authors: Degli Antoni Giacomo , Portale Elisa
Published: April 2010

This article analyzes the empirical relationship between corporate social responsibility (CSR) and social capital. The focus is on a specific kind of nonprofit organizations: the social cooperatives. With respect to the previous studies on the relationship between participation in nonprofit organizations and social capital creation, this article reveals a main reason of interest. The article points out the operational characteristics of nonprofit organizations and shows the importance of the adoption of CSR good practices in fostering the creation of workers’ social capital intended as cooperative social network, generalized trust, and relational skills.
Josiah Royce’s Philosophy of Loyalty as Philanthropy
Authors: Goldfarb Nancy D.
Published: April 2010

This article draws on philosophy and literature to explore philanthropy as an ethical act informed by a vision of a better world. Josiah Royce’s ideas on loyalty, which are exemplified in Steinbeck’s The Grapes of Wrath, demonstrate that communitarian ideals as well as individualism helped to shape our contemporary understanding of American philanthropy. Royce’s notion of loyalty, particularly its concept of the Absolute, to which we all belong and whose purpose we all fulfill by fulfilling our individual purposes, helps individuals and individual communities transcend their differences and find common cause. In addition, Royce’s ethical ideal of “loyalty to loyalty” is a mechanism by which individual and local concerns are united into a single universal cause that brings together not only all humanity but also the animal and natural worlds.
Estimating Giving and Volunteering: New Ways to Measure the Phenomena
Authors: Cnaan Ram A. , Jones Kathleen H. , Dickin Allison , Salomon Michele
Published: April 2010

Estimating the levels of giving and volunteering in the United States relies on a few different sources: Independent Sector (until 2001) as well as by Center on Philanthropy Panel Studies (COPPS; since 2004) and the United States Census Bureau. Each of these sources uses different methodologies to measure levels of giving and volunteering in the United States yielding significantly different results. The purpose of this article is to examine current methodologies for assessing U.S. levels and characteristics of giving and volunteering and to evaluate the extent to which online methods are reliable, concurrently valid, inexpensive, and offer a flexible survey approach. The authors used six waves of a Harris Interactive online survey known as Donor Pulse, conducted within a 3-year span, as the case example.
The music of argument: the portrayal of argument in Ian McEwan’s On Chesil Beach
Authors: Spitz Alice
Published: April 2010

In this article I explore how the authenticity of the argument in the final section of Ian McEwan’s novella On Chesil Beach is achieved by exploiting the underlying mechanisms of real-life conflict talk. The momentum and coherence of argument structure tends toward automatization in the sense that once a conflict sequence is in progress, disagreement prompts (and makes structurally expectable) further disagreement in the subsequent turns, lending arguments a self-perpetuating quality, and this property lends itself well to the creation of confrontational dialogue in fiction. I first trace the trajectory of Edward and Florence’s argument, showing how the structure of conflict talk apparently leads them along — independent of what their original intentions might have been. I also look at the various kinds of oppositional moves that are employed in the course of the dispute, showing that the argumentative techniques deployed by the characters bear a close resemblance to those found in authentic conflict talk and thus contribute to the realistic texture of the interaction as well as its intensity. Finally, I examine the characters’ various attempts at attenuating and terminating the confrontation and defusing the tension and consider why they fail. It appears that the heatedness of the argument and the significance of its topic have an important influence on the effectiveness of attempts at terminating the dispute, on the efficacy of humour and on the trajectory of the interaction.
Voice-over and self-narrative in film: A multimodal analysis of Antonioni’s When Love Fails (Tentato Suicidio)
Authors: Piazza Roberta
Published: April 2010

Stylistic research on film discourse is growing; however, studies rarely take into consideration cinema’s complex message resulting from the combination of the verbal and visual codes. This article proposes a multimodal analysis of Italian auteur Antonioni’s When Love Fails to show how dialogue artfully interacts with elements of the mise-en-scène. The short film, part of a 1953 compilation, is an inquiry into the reality of suicide through the narratives of five women who at one point of their lives attempted suicide. Introducing and orchestrating the stories is a male voice-over and an invisible journalist/interviewer. The study analyses the women’s recollections from a narrative approach and follows how, through their self-presentation strategies, the five survivors project their identity. Not all narratives and narrators are the same; some are interviewer-orchestrated, while two display a better control of their narratives and stronger authorship, which are interpreted here as signs of greater agency. The narrative styles of the more autonomous narrators are various: the creation of vectors and deictic centres through the use of deixis and gaze accompanied by camera movement, and the use of reported speech that construes a complex double plane narrative revolving around the switch from the verbal to the visual plane. In conclusion, the study demonstrates that a stylistic multimodal approach offers a viable tool for a richer understanding of cinema’s semiotic by providing an interface between the levels of verbal and visual communication.
Kafkaesque worlds in real time
Authors: Troscianko Emily
Published: April 2010

We read in a linear fashion, page by page, and we seem also to experience the world around us thus, moment by moment. But research on visual perception shows that perceptual experience is not pictorially representational: it does not consist in a linear, cumulative, totalizing process of building up a stream of internal picture-like representations. Current enactive, or sensorimotor, theories describe vision and imagination as operating through interactive potentiality. Kafka’s texts, which evoke perception as non-pictorial, provide scope for investigating the close links between vision and imagination in the context of the reading of fiction. Kafka taps into the fundamental perceptual processes by which we experience external and imagined worlds, by evoking fictional worlds through the characters’ perceptual enaction of them. The temporality of Kafka’s narratives draws us in by making concessions to how we habitually create ‘proper’, linear narratives out of experience, as reflected in traditional Realist narratives. However, Kafka also unsettles these processes of narrativization, showing their inadequacies and superfluities. Kafka’s works engage the reader’s imagination so powerfully because they correspond to the truth of perceptual experience, rather than merely to the fictions we conventionally make of it. Yet these texts also unsettle because we are unused to thinking of the real world as being just how these truly realistic, Kafkaesque worlds are: inadmissible of a complete, linear narrative, because always emerging when looked for, just in time.
Using Mixed-Model Item Response Theory to Analyze Organizational Survey Responses: An Illustration Using the Job Descriptive Index
Authors: Carter Nathan T. , Dalal Dev K. , Lake Christopher J. , Lin Bing C. , Zickar Michael J.
Published: April 2010

In this article, the authors illustrate the use of mixed-model item response theory (MM-IRT) and explain its usefulness for analyzing organizational surveys. The authors begin by giving an overview of MM-IRT, focusing on both technical aspects and previous organizational applications. Guidance is provided on how researchers can use MM-IRT to check scoring assumptions, identify the influence of systematic responding that is unrelated to item content (i.e., response sets), and evaluate individual and group difference variables as predictors of class membership. After summarizing the current body of research using MM-IRT to address problems relevant to organizational researchers, the authors present an illustration of the use of MM-IRT with the Job Descriptive Index (JDI), focusing on the use of the ‘‘?’’ response option. Three classes emerged, one most likely to respond in the positive direction, one most likely to respond in the negative direction, and another most likely to use the ‘‘?’’ response. Trust in management, job tenure, age, race, and sex were considered as correlates of class membership. Results are discussed in terms of the applicability of MM-IRT and future research endeavors.
Global civilizing processes and the ambiguities of human interconnectedness
Authors: Linklater Andrew
Published: April 2010

Increased social power over the millennia has led to remarkable achievements in varied spheres of endeavour while introducing new possibilities for more destructive forms of harm over greater distances. Efforts to create moral frameworks to protect persons from senseless harm have been critical replies to the ambiguities of human interconnectedness. Over the millennia, societies have become entangled in global ‘civilizing processes’ such as the systems of communication that now encompass humanity as a whole, enabling different peoples to become better attuned to each other. Societies of states have immense significance for that long-term development. They have been arenas in which independent communities have discovered the prospects for, as well as the constraints on, agreements on norms that can be anchored in the most readily available points of solidarity between strangers — those vulnerabilities to mental and physical suffering that are shared by human beings everywhere. The recovery of ‘universal history from a cosmopolitan point of view’ can examine the contribution that international societies have made to global civilizing processes that harness such solidarities to restrain the human capacity to cause violent and non-violent harm to distant peoples. It can support the normative project of promoting global civilizing processes that employ unprecedented levels of collective power to reduce the tragic effects of the ambiguities that have accompanied long-term trends towards higher levels of human interconnectedness.
Participant expectancies in double-blind randomized placebo-controlled trials: potential limitations to trial validity
Authors: Colagiuri Ben
Published: April 2010

Background Randomized controlled trials (RCTs) that use placebo controls to achieve double-blinding intend to establish the efficacy of a treatment over and above expectancy and other forms of bias. Despite this, a growing body of research suggests that participant expectancies can influence the outcomes of these trials. Purpose and Methods This nonsystematic review examines research assessing the role of participant expectancies in double-blind placebo-controlled RCTs in order to determine if and how they can limit these types of trials.

Results There appear to be at least three ways in which participant expectancies can limit the validity of double-blind placebo-controlled RCTs. First, when blinding fails researches cannot determine whether any observed improvement in the group receiving active treatment resulted because of the treatment’s effect or because of participants’ expectancies. Second, participant expectancies could create ceiling effects if there are strong placebo effects in each treatment arm and this may falsely suggest that the active treatment is ineffective without expectancy. Third, the knowledge that a participant will be allocated active treatment or placebo in double-blind placebo-controlled RCTs is likely to lead to weaker treatment responses than would be expected in standard clinical practice, in which patients are unlikely to doubt that they have been given an active treatment.

Conclusions Participants’ expectancies can undermine the validity of double-blind placebo-controlled RCTs. Researchers conducting these trials should assess participants’ beliefs about their treatment allocation and actively investigate if and how these beliefs may have influenced the trial’s outcome. Clinical Trials 2010; 7: 246—255. http://ctj.sagepub.com
Nursing home culture, teamwork, and culture change
Authors: Tyler Denise A. , Parker Victoria A.
Published: April 2010

Aims: Most developed countries are taking steps to move away from institutional models of care for the aged, in an attempt to both improve quality of life for those receiving care and improve the work of those providing care. In the USA, the concept of ‘culture change’ (CC) encompasses a variety of philosophical and practice models being employed to de-institutionalise skilled nursing facilities, also known as long-term care (LTC) facilities. Teamwork among direct-care workers is often promoted as an important aspect of culture change. However, a recent study found that, among facilities attempting CC, teamwork was the least commonly implemented CC component. This suggests that facilities may be having difficulty implementing teamwork and also raises questions about the link between teamwork and facility organisational culture. This study examined the relationship between teamwork and organisational culture in the LTC setting. Methods: Observations in 20 LTC facilities were used to identify facilities with high and low amounts of teamwork. Interviews with nursing staff from four high-teamwork and five low-teamwork facilities were compared to determine the aspects of organisational culture associated with teamwork, and explore how teamwork might be sustained in LTC facilities. Findings: Aspects of culture, including positive staff attitudes toward co-workers, were associated with high-teamwork facilities. Managerial modelling of these attitudes may be one factor that helps sustain teamwork. Conclusions: LTC facility managers may need to adjust their own attitudes and behaviour to support teamwork in their facilities. This has implications for facilities attempting to de-institutionalise.
What “They” Want From “Us”
Authors: Brown Tim , Collins Steven
Published: April 2010

As new delivery methods for traditional journalism emerge, the lack of a clear direction from the industry creates curriculum problems for educators. Through a national survey, researchers asked newspaper and television news personnel which skills they think are most important for job applicants to have. Results show that news organizations still want the same skills they’ve always sought with two additions: (a) an awareness among reporters, photographers, producers, and copy editors of what multimedia elements might add to their stories and (b) a select few students who want to become online producers who can maximize the multimedia elements. The results indicate that educators might want to hold off abandoning the teaching of traditional, medium-specific skills for the time being, while incorporating more multimedia education into their curricula.
Beyond “Anchorman”
Authors: Ryan Kathleen M. , Mapaye Joy Chavez
Published: April 2010

In 2006, network news seemed to enter a new period of racial and gender diversity: Katie Couric was appointed anchor of the CBS Evening News, NBC’s Ann Curry filled multiple roles, and Martin Bashir anchored ABC’s Nightline. However, although researchers have analyzed representation on specific news programming (such as the evening newscast), talent demographics in the overall news picture have gone unexamined. This study involves a content analysis of all network news programs from a sample week in 2007, comparing results with similar data gathered in 1987. It finds in the 20-year period, networks have become more diverse, with women and minorities (men and women) anchoring and reporting on a regular basis across the news spectrum. At the same time, networks demonstrate a shift in news covered, with a move to what some have dubbed increased commercialization, or “soft” news. The study argues these findings indicate that our definition of news might be changing from the traditional hard/soft divide.
Monazite structure from dehydrated CaSeO4·2H2O
Authors: Crichton W. A. , Müller H. , Merlini M. , Roth T. , Detlefs C.
Published: April 2010

The structure of the high-temperature form of CaSeO4, formed by dehydration of the gyspum-type structure dihydrate is presented. The material is equivalent to that described previously as aP212121form, but is however, a monazite with unit cella= 6.85661(16) Å,b= 7.04962(15) Å,c= 6.68817(15) Å and β = 104.2675(21)° in space groupP121/n1. Also presented is evidence for two intermediate trigonal and pseudo-trigonal phases related to the structurally similar minerals rhabdophane, bassanite, and γ-CaSO4. This result permits closer comparisons between intermediate-temperature structures of the selenate with related sulphates, and orthophosphates with a view to extending structural stabilityviasynthesis of solid-solutions.
Structural evolution of aqueous mercury sulphide precipitates: energy-dispersive X-ray diffraction studies
Authors: Bell A. M. T. , Pattrick R. A. D. , Vaughan D. J.
Published: April 2010

In situ, high-temperature energy-dispersive X-ray powder diffraction (EDXRD) data have been collected on synthetic and a natural sample of mercury sulphide (HgS). These measurements were made between temperatures of 295 and 798 K. Synthetic samples of HgS were prepared by reaction between sulphide and mercury in aqueous solution. In a subsequently dried and aged synthetic HgS sample, heated in vacuo, there is a change from a poorly crystalline pseudocubic material into a well crystalline cubic material in the temperature region 583–623 K. At higher temperature (748 K), there is evidence for a partial phase transition to the high temperature hypercinnabar HgS structure. In a neoformed synthetic sample, heated in a sealed Ti container, the initial ‘pseudocubic’ metacinnabar phase partially transforms to a previously unknown phase (XHgS) in the temperature range 467–522 K. This phase disappears at 527 K, and the metacinnabar phase changes to a well crystalline cubic phase; cinnabar develops at 542 K. The proportion of cinnabar continues to increase up to 647 K. Both metacinnabar and cinnabar phases are retained on cooling. No phase transitions were observed for the natural cinnabar sample.
XBP1s levels are implicated in the biology and outcome of myeloma mediating different clinical outcomes to thalidomide-based treatments
Authors: Bagratuni Tina , Wu Ping , Gonzalez de Castro David , Davenport Emma L. , Dickens Nicholas J. , Walker Brian A. , Boyd Kevin , Johnson David C. , Gregory Walter , Morgan Gareth J. , Davies Faith E.
Published: April 2010

Immunoglobulin production by myeloma plasma cells depends on the unfolded protein response for protein production and folding. Recent studies have highlighted the importance of IRE1α and X box binding protein 1 (XBP1), key members of this pathway, in normal B-plasma cell development. We have determined the gene expression levels of IRE1α, XBP1, XBP1UNSPLICED (XBP1u), and XBP1SPLICED (XBP1s) in a series of patients with myeloma and correlated findings with clinical outcome. We show that IRE1α and XBP1 are highly expressed and that patients with low XBP1s/u ratios have a significantly better overall survival. XBP1s is an independent prognostic marker and can be used with β2 microglobulin and t(4;14) to identify a group of patients with a poor outcome. Furthermore, we show the beneficial therapeutic effects of thalidomide in patients with low XBP1s/u ratios. This study highlights the importance of XBP1 in myeloma and its significance as an independent prognostic marker and as a predictor of thalidomide response. This trial was registered at www.controlled-trials.com/ISRCTN68454111/68454111 as #ISRCTN684541111.
Structural fragment clustering reveals novel structural and functional motifs in α-helical transmembrane proteins
Authors: Marsico Annalisa , Henschel Andreas , Winter Christof , Tuukkanen Anne , Vassilev Boris , Scheubert Kerstin , Schroeder Michael
Published: April 2010

Background

A large proportion of an organism's genome encodes for membrane proteins. Membrane proteins are important for many cellular processes, and several diseases can be linked to mutations in them. With the tremendous growth of sequence data, there is an increasing need to reliably identify membrane proteins from sequence, to functionally annotate them, and to correctly predict their topology.

Results

We introduce a technique called structural fragment clustering, which learns sequential motifs from 3D structural fragments. From over 500,000 fragments, we obtain 213 statistically significant, non-redundant, and novel motifs that are highly specific to α-helical transmembrane proteins. From these 213 motifs, 58 of them were assigned to function and checked in the scientific literature for a biological assessment. Seventy percent of the motifs are found in co-factor, ligand, and ion binding sites, 30% at protein interaction interfaces, and 12% bind specific lipids such as glycerol or cardiolipins. The vast majority of motifs (94%) appear across evolutionarily unrelated families, highlighting the modularity of functional design in membrane proteins. We describe three novel motifs in detail: (1) a dimer interface motif found in voltage-gated chloride channels, (2) a proton transfer motif found in heme-copper oxidases, and (3) a convergently evolved interface helix motif found in an aspartate symporter, a serine protease, and cytochrome b.

Conclusions

Our findings suggest that functional modules exist in membrane proteins, and that they occur in completely different evolutionary contexts and cover different binding sites. Structural fragment clustering allows us to link sequence motifs to function through clusters of structural fragments. The sequence motifs can be applied to identify and characterize membrane proteins in novel genomes.
Phylogeography of the Italian vairone (Telestes muticellus, Bonaparte 1837) inferred by microsatellite markers: evolutionary history of a freshwater fish species with a restricted and fragmented distribution
Authors: Marchetto Flavio , Zaccara Serena , Muenzel Frauke M , Salzburger Walter
Published: April 2010

Background

Owing to its independence from the main Central European drainage systems, the Italian freshwater fauna is characterized by a high degree of endemicity. Three main ichthyogeographic districts have been proposed in Italy. Yet, the validity of these regions has not been confirmed by phylogenetic and population genetic analyses and a phylogeographic scenario for Italy's primary freshwater fish fauna is still lacking. Here, we investigate the phylogeography of the Italian vairone (Telestes muticellus).

Results

We sampled 38 populations representing the species' entire distribution range and covering all relevant drainage systems, and genotyped 509 individuals at eight variable microsatellite loci. Applying various population genetic analyses, we identify five distinct groups of populations that are only partly in agreement with the proposed ichthyogeographic districts. Our group I, which is formed by specimens from Veneto and the Po River system draining into the Adriatic Sea, corresponds to the Padano-Venetian ichthyogeographic district (PV), except for two Middle Adriatic drainages, which we identify as a separate group (III). The Tuscano-Latium district (TL) is equivalent to our group V. A more complex picture emerges for the Ligurian drainages: populations from Central Liguria belong to group I, while populations from West (group II) and East Liguria (group IV) form their own groups, albeit with affinities to PV and TL, respectively.

Conclusions

We propose a phylogeographic scenario for T. muticellus in which an initial T. muticellus stock became isolated from the 'Alpine' clade and survived the various glaciation cycles in several refugia. These were situated in the Upper Adriatic (groups I and II), the Middle Adriatic (group III), (East) Liguria (group IV) and Tuscano-Latium (group V). The population structure in the vairone is, in principal, in agreement with the two main ichthyogeographic districts (PV and TL), except for the two populations in the Middle Adriatic, which we identify as additional major "district".
Aryl hydrocarbon receptor (AHR)-regulated transcriptomic changes in rats sensitive or resistant to major dioxin toxicities
Authors: Moffat Ivy D , Boutros Paul C , Chen Hanbo , Okey Allan B , Pohjanvirta Raimo
Published: April 2010

Background

The major toxic effects of 2,3,7,8-tetrachlorodibenzo-p-dioxin (TCDD) appear to result from dysregulation of mRNA levels mediated by the aryl hydrocarbon receptor (AHR). Dioxin-like chemicals alter expression of numerous genes in liver, but it remains unknown which lie in pathways leading to major toxicities such as hepatotoxicity, wasting and lethality. To identify genes involved in these responses we exploited a rat genetic model. Rats expressing an AHR splice-variant lacking a portion of the transactivation domain are highly resistant to dioxin-induced toxicities. We examined changes in hepatic mRNA abundances 19 hours after TCDD treatment in two dioxin-resistant rat strains/lines and two dioxin-sensitive rat strains/lines.

Results

Resistant rat strains/lines exhibited fewer transcriptional changes in response to TCDD than did rats with wildtype AHR. However, well-known AHR-regulated and dioxin-inducible genes such asCYP1A1,CYP1A2, andCYP1B1remained fully responsive to TCDD in all strains/lines. Pathway analysis indicated that the genes which respond differently to TCDD between sensitive and resistant rats are mainly involved in lipid metabolism, cellular membrane function and energy metabolism. These pathways previously have been shown to respond differently to dioxin treatment in dioxin-sensitive versus dioxin-resistant rats at a biochemical level and in the differential phenotype of toxicologic responses.

Conclusion

The transactivation-domain deletion in dioxin-resistant rats does not abolish global AHR transactivational activity but selectively interferes with expression of subsets of genes that are candidates to mediate or protect from major dioxin toxicities such as hepatotoxicity, wasting and death.
Differences in transcription between free-living and CO2-activated third-stage larvae of Haemonchus contortus
Authors: Cantacessi Cinzia , Campbell Bronwyn E , Young Neil D , Jex Aaron R , Hall Ross S , Presidente Paul JA , Zawadzki Jodi L , Zhong Weiwei , Aleman-Meza Boanerges , Loukas Alex , Sternberg Paul W , Gasser Robin B
Published: April 2010

Background

The disease caused by Haemonchus contortus, a blood-feeding nematode of small ruminants, is of major economic importance worldwide. The infective third-stage larva (L3) of this gastric nematode is enclosed in a cuticle (sheath) and, once ingested with herbage by the host, undergoes an exsheathment process that marks the transition from the free-living (L3) to the parasitic (xL3) stage. This study explored changes in gene transcription associated with this transition and predicted, based on comparative analysis, functional roles for key transcripts in the metabolic pathways linked to larval development.

Results

Totals of 101,305 (L3) and 105,553 (xL3) expressed sequence tags (ESTs) were determined using 454 sequencing technology, and then assembled and annotated; the most abundant transcripts encoded transthyretin-like, calcium-binding EF-hand, NAD(P)-binding and nucleotide-binding proteins as well as homologues of Ancylostoma-secreted proteins (ASPs). Using an in silico-subtractive analysis, 560 and 685 sequences were shown to be uniquely represented in the L3 and xL3 stages, respectively; the transcripts encoded ribosomal proteins, collagens and elongation factors (in L3), and mainly peptidases and other enzymes of amino acid catabolism (in xL3). Caenorhabditis elegans orthologues of transcripts that were uniquely transcribed in each L3 and xL3 were predicted to interact with a total of 535 other genes, all of which were involved in embryonic development.

Conclusion

The present study indicated that some key transcriptional alterations taking place during the transition from the L3 to the xL3 stage of H. contortus involve genes predicted to be linked to the development of neuronal tissue (L3 and xL3), formation of the cuticle (L3) and digestion of host haemoglobin (xL3). Future efforts using next-generation sequencing and bioinformatic technologies should provide the efficiency and depth of coverage required for the determination of the complete transcriptomes of different developmental stages and/or tissues of H. contortus as well as the genome of this important parasitic nematode. Such advances should lead to a significantly improved understanding of the molecular biology of H. contortus and, from an applied perspective, to novel methods of intervention.
Characterization of microRNA expression in bovine adipose tissues: a potential regulatory mechanism of subcutaneous adipose tissue development
Authors: Jin Weiwu , Dodson Michael V , Moore Stephen S , Basarab John A , Guan Le Luo
Published: April 2010

Background

MicroRNAs (miRNAs), a family of small non-coding RNA molecules, appear to regulate animal lipid metabolism and preadipocyte conversion to form lipid-assimilating adipocytes (i.e.adipogenesis). However, no miRNA to date has been reported to modulate adipogenesis and lipid deposition in beef cattle.

Results

The expression patterns of 89 miRNAs including four bovine specific miRNAs in subcutaneous adipose tissues from three groups of crossbred steers differing in backfat thickness were compared using qRT-PCR analysis. Eighty-six miRNAs were detectable in all samples, with 42 miRNAs differing among crossbreds (P < 0.05) and 15 miRNAs differentially expressed between tissues with high and low backfat thickness (P < 0.05). The expression levels of 18 miRNAs were correlated with backfat thickness (P < 0.05). The miRNA most differentially expressed and the most strongly associated with backfat thickness was miR-378, with a 1.99-fold increase in high backfat thickness tissues (r = 0.72).

Conclusions

MiRNA expression patterns differed significantly in response to host genetic components. Approximately 20% of the miRNAs in this study were identified as being correlated with backfat thickness. This result suggests that miRNAs may play a regulatory role in white adipose tissue development in beef animals.
Intravenous administration of mesenchymal stem cells exerts therapeutic effects on parkinsonian model of rats: Focusing on neuroprotective effects of stromal cell-derived factor-1α
Authors: Wang Feifei , Yasuhara Takao , Shingo Tetsuro , Kameda Masahiro , Tajiri Naoki , Yuan Wen Ji , Kondo Akihiko , Kadota Tomohito , Baba Tanefumi , Tayra Judith Thomas , Kikuchi Yoichiro , Miyoshi Yasuyuki , Date Isao
Published: April 2010

Background

Mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) are pluripotent stem cells derived from bone marrow with secretory functions of various neurotrophic factors. Stromal cell-derived factor-1α (SDF-1α) is also reported as one of chemokines released from MSCs. In this research, the therapeutic effects of MSCs through SDF-1α were explored. 6-hydroxydopamine (6-OHDA, 20 μg) was injected into the right striatum of female SD rats with subsequent administration of GFP-labeled MSCs, fibroblasts, (i.v., 1 × 107 cells, respectively) or PBS at 2 hours after 6-OHDA injection. All rats were evaluated behaviorally with cylinder test and amphetamine-induced rotation test for 1 month with consequent euthanasia for immunohistochemical evaluations. Additionally, to explore the underlying mechanisms, neuroprotective effects of SDF-1α were explored using 6-OHDA-exposed PC12 cells by using dopamine (DA) assay and TdT-mediated dUTP-biotin nick-end labeling (TUNEL) staining.

Results

Rats receiving MSC transplantation significantly ameliorated behaviorally both in cylinder test and amphetamine-induced rotation test compared with the control groups. Correspondingly, rats with MSCs displayed significant preservation in the density of tyrosine hydroxylase (TH)-positive fibers in the striatum and the number of TH-positive neurons in the substantia nigra pars compacta (SNc) compared to that of control rats. In the in vitro study, SDF-1α treatment increased DA release and suppressed cell death induced by 6-OHDA administration compared with the control groups.

Conclusions

Consequently, MSC transplantation might exert neuroprotection on 6-OHDA-exposed dopaminergic neurons at least partly through anti-apoptotic effects of SDF-1α. The results demonstrate the potentials of intravenous MSC administration for clinical applications, although further explorations are required.
A European study on alcohol and drug use among young drivers: the TEND by Night study design and methodology
Authors: Siliquini Roberta , Piat Simone Chiadò , Alonso Francisco , Druart Axel , Kedzia Marcin , Mollica Antonio , Siliquini Valeria , Vankov Daniel , Villerusa Anita , Manzoli Lamberto ,   TEND Group
Published: April 2010

Background

Young individuals are the age group with the highest risk of car accidents. One of main explanations relies on the use of psychoactive substances (alcohol, illegal and medicinal drugs), which are known to be major risk factors of road accidents, and whose consumption is almost universally more common among younger drivers. Although the correlation between psychoactive substances use and decrease in driving performance has been established in controlled experimental or laboratory settings, few studies were conducted in naturalistic circumstances. The TEND by Night project has been designed to evaluate the relationship between driving performance and psychoactive substances assumption in young drivers enrolled at typical places of consumption.

Methods/Design

The TEND by Night project, endorsed by the European Commission, is a multidisciplinary, multi-centric, cross-sectional study conducted in six European countries (Italy, Belgium/Netherlands, Bulgaria, Spain, Poland and Latvia). The study population consists of 5000 young drivers aged 16-34 years, attending recreational sites during weekend nights. The intervention is based on the portal survey technique and includes several steps at the entrance and exit of selected sites, including the administration of semi-structured questionnaires, breath alcohol test, several drug assumption test, and measurement of the reaction time using a driving simulator. The main outcome is the difference in reaction time between the entrance and exit of the recreation site, and its correlation with psychoactive substances use. As a secondary outcome it will be explored the relationship between reaction time difference and the amount of consumption of each substance. All analyses will be multivariate.

Discussion

The project methodology should provide some relevant advantages over traditional survey systems. The main strengths of the study include the large and multicentric sample, the objective measurement of substance assumption (which is typically self-reported), the application of a portal survey technique and the simultaneous evaluation of several psychoactive substances.