bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Prevalence of Positional Plagiocephaly in Teens Born after the “Back to Sleep” Campaign
Authors: Roby Brianne Barnett , Finkelstein Marsha , Tibesar Robert J. , Sidman James D.
Published: January 2012

Objectives

To determine the prevalence of positional plagiocephaly and brachycephaly in teenagers born after the “Back to Sleep” campaign but before orthotic helmet treatment became widely available and to provide long‐term outcomes data on those children with plagiocephaly who were not treated with remolding therapy.

Study Design

Cross‐sectional analysis.

Setting

Local high schools in the Minneapolis–St Paul Metro area.

Subjects and Methods

Subjects were selected if they attended participating high schools and were born after the Back to Sleep campaign began. Skull measurements, including transcranial diameter, length, and width, were taken. Overall facial appearance was inspected for any apparent abnormal characteristics. Cranial vault asymmetry and cephalic index were calculated for each participant. Plagiocephaly was diagnosed if cranial vault asymmetry was >1 cm. Brachycephaly was diagnosed if the cephalic index was >0.90.

Results

There were 1045 participants, ranging from 12 to 17 years old, with an average age of 15.7 years. The prevalence of plagiocephaly was 1.1%. The prevalence of brachycephaly was 1.0%. The overall prevalence of a deformational cranial abnormality was 2.0%. Of those who met diagnostic criteria of plagiocephaly or brachycephaly, 38.1% were noted to have abnormal facial characteristics.

Conclusions

The prevalence of plagiocephaly and brachycephaly in teenagers is significantly lower than the 20% to 48% prevalence found in infants in previous studies, suggesting most children will outgrow the condition without intervention. Additional studies are needed to determine which patients might benefit from treatment and which will likely have resolution without intervention, since treating all infants who meet criteria results in significant overtreatment.
Autonomic Dysfunction in Childhood Guillain-Barré Syndrome
Authors: DiMario Francis J. , Edwards Carrie
Published: January 2012

This investigation correlated incidence and degree of autonomic dysfunction with the degree of motor impairment in children hospitalized with Guillain-Barré syndrome. Motor weakness varies, as does the effect on autonomic function including heart rate, vasomotor stability, sweating, continence, and blood pressure. After Institutional Review Board approval, hospitalized patients with Guillain-Barré syndrome <19 years were included for retrospective chart review. There were 26 patients (12 boys), with a mean age of 11.3 years (range, 6-17 years). The average hospital stay was 10.6 days. Twenty-four (92%) recovered by 2 to 6 months without functional disability. Bradycardia and sweating disturbances were not observed. Hypertension occurred in 18 of 26 (69%) and tachycardia in 20 of 26 (77%) patients. The proportion of children with hypertension and/or tachycardia increased, as did the motor disability grade ( P < .043 and P < .018, respectively). Hypertension occurred 9 to 15 days from symptom onset and within 24 to 48 hours of maximum motor disability in 89%. Multiple autonomic disturbances compound the course of childhood Guillain-Barré syndrome.
Electrophysiological Examination of Embodiment in Vision and Action
Authors: Goslin Jeremy , Dixon Thomas , Fischer Martin H. , Cangelosi Angelo , Ellis Rob
Published: January 2012

A wealth of behavioral data has shown that the visual properties of objects automatically potentiate motor actions linked with them, but how deeply are these affordances embedded in visual processing? In the study reported here, we used electrophysiological measures to examine the time course of affordance resulting from the leftward or rightward orientation of the handles of common objects. Participants were asked to categorize those objects using a left- or right-handed motor response. Lateralized readiness potentials showed rapid motor preparation in the hand congruent with the affordance provided by the object only 100 to 200 ms after stimulus presentation and up to 400 ms before the actual response. Examination of event-related potentials also revealed an effect of handle orientation and response-hand congruency on the visual P1 and N1 components. Both of these results suggest that activity in the early sensory pathways is modulated by the action associations of objects and the intentions of the viewer.
Making the criminal addict: Subjectivity and social control in a strong-arm rehab
Authors: Gowan Teresa , Whetstone Sarah
Published: January 2012

The mandatory, state-subsidized treatment opened up by drug courts and other jail and prison diversion programs have massively expanded the numbers of the nation’s poor and working class who are labeled addicts and sent to rehab, making drug rehabilitation a primary site for the re-socialization and control of the poor. Drawing on ethnographic and interview data, this article examines the institutional form at the center of this process: the ‘strong-arm’ rehabilitation facilities most closely tied to drug courts, probation, and parole. The therapeutic community tradition’s long-standing practices of moral reform through intensive behavior modification are now mobilized by the state on a large scale, transformed into a ‘fuzzy edge’ of the criminal justice system which resocializes far more intensively than most forms of incarceration. We understand the ‘medicalization’ represented by strong-arm rehab not as a reprieve from judgment, but instead as a process of translation and amplification. Translated by staff into therapeutic, moral, and finally cultural versions, the biochemical ‘diagnosis’ of pathology comes to serve as a neutral, medicalized front behind which the systemic injuries of race and class disappear. Instead, the strong-arm process amplifies the taint of addiction into a new biologization of poverty and race.
The Intratourist Gaze: Grey Nomads and ‘Other Tourists’
Authors: Holloway Donell , Green Lelia , Holloway David
Published: January 2012

The presence of other tourists is an integral part of the tourist experience. Hence, gazing upon other tourists is an inevitable part of being a tourist. This paper introduces the concept of the intratourist gaze, a tourist gaze where tourists are both the subjects and objects of the gaze. An analysis from ethnographic fieldwork carried out with senior tourists in rural and remote Australia indicates that the intratourist gaze has the potential to be a disciplinary gaze which, in this case, privileges and safeguards the natural environment. This paper explores the important influence other tourists have on tourists’ behaviours and sense of identity. It also contributes to discussion regarding tourist/tourist interactions in the under-explored area of qualitative research into senior tourism.
The characteristics and outcomes of parainfluenza virus infections in 200 patients with leukemia or recipients of hematopoietic stem cell transplantation
Authors: Chemaly Roy F. , Hanmod Santosh S. , Rathod Dhanesh B. , Ghantoji Shashank S. , Jiang Ying , Doshi Arpan , Vigil Karen , Adachi Javier A. , Khoury Andrew M. , Tarrand Jeffery , Hosing Chitra , Champlin Richard
Published: January 2012

Community respiratory viruses are significant causes of morbidity and mortality in patients with leukemia and hematopoietic stem cell transplant (HSCT) recipients. Data on characteristics and outcomes of parainfluenza virus (PIV) infections in these patients are limited. We reviewed the records of patients with leukemia and HSCT recipients who developed PIV infections to determine the characteristics and outcomes of such infections. We identified 200 patients with PIV infections, including 80 (40%) patients with leukemia and 120 (60%) recipients of HSCT. At presentation, most patients (70%) had an upper respiratory tract infection and the remaining patients (30%) had pneumonia. Neutropenia, APACHE II score more than 15, and respiratory coinfections were independent predictors of progression to pneumonia on multivariate analysis. Overall mortality rate was 9% at 30 days after diagnosis and 17% among patients who had PIV pneumonia, with no significant difference between patients with leukemia and HSCT recipients (16% vs 17%). On multivariate analysis, independent predictors of death were relapsed or refractory underlying malignancy, APACHE II score more than 15, and high-dose steroid use. Patients with leukemia and HSCT are at risk for serious PIV infections, including PIV pneumonia, with a significant mortality rate. We identified multiple risk factors for progression to pneumonia and death.
Interaction of matrix metalloproteinases with pulmonary pollutants: Table 1–
Authors: Dagouassat M. , Lanone S. , Boczkowski J.
Published: January 2012

An air pollutant consists of any atmospheric substance that may harm humans, animals, vegetation or material. Various air pollutants have been reported, differing in their physicochemical characteristics. They can be grouped into four categories: gaseous pollutants (e.g.ozone, sulfur dioxide, oxides of nitrogen, carbon monoxide and volatile organic compounds), persistent organic pollutants, heavy metals (e.g.cadmium, lead and mercury) and particulate matter (coarse, fine and ultrafine). These pollutants can reach the respiratory system, eliciting pulmonary and/or systemic effects. These effects include inflammation, tissue remodelling and carcinogenesis: all phenomena where matrix metalloproteases (MMPs) play critical roles, given their broad effects on matrix remodelling and modulation of inflammation and cell signalling. Moreover, since expression and activity of MMPs can be induced by such stimuli, the hypothesis has been raised that MMPs could be involved in the health effects of pollutants. Until now, the implication of MMPs in these effects has been studied only for some pollutants and for a restricted selection of MMPs (mainly MMP-1, -2, -9 and -12), while evidence for a link between MMP induction/activation and health effects remains scarce. A larger number of studies is, therefore, needed in order to better understand the implication of MMPs in health effects associated with air pollution.
Ambulatory investigation of sleep-disordered breathing
Authors: Kent B.D. , McNicholas W.T.
Published: January 2012

Educational aims

To outline the importance of improved diagnosis of sleep-disordered breathing and the need for ambulatory monitoring.

To discuss the currently available options for home monitoring and the recommendations for their use, as well as novel modalities.

To outline the issues surrounding patient selection and the need for further study.

Obstructive sleep apnoea syndrome (OSAS) is under-diagnosed, and attended in-patient sleep studies are resource intensive and inconvenient for the patient; therefore, there is increasing interest in the ambulatory diagnosis of OSAS. Full unattended polysomnography does not confer any advantage over more limited measurements. Ambulatory diagnosis of OSAS with cardiorespiratory polygraphy is suitable for use in patients with a high pre-test probability. Ambulatory monitoring by oximetry or ECG are not recommended by current guidelines, but a number of novel diagnostic modalities show some promise. Further studies are needed to address issues of cost-effectiveness, patient selection and device performance.
Anticancer treatment for advanced non-small cell lung cancer
Authors: Sculier J-P
Published: January 2012

Educational aims

To propose a practical approach for the medical treatment of the patient with advanced non-small cell lung cancer, taking into account the fitness or unfitness of the patient for standard chemotherapy.

To provide evidence supporting the recommended approach.

Practical management of the patient with advanced non-small cell lung cancer is reviewed. First-line and salvage treatments are discussed as well as special situations, such as elderly, poor performance status and organ dysfunction. Special attention has been given to recently developed drugs that are registered within the European Union.
The place of radiotherapy in the palliative management of NSCLC
Authors: Putora P.M. , Früh M. , Kern L.
Published: January 2012

Educational aims

To explain the basic rationale of radiation oncology.

To set out the typical indications for palliative radiotherapy and its limitations.

Palliative treatment may be needed for many patients with nonsmall cell lung cancer (NSCLC) at diagnosis or during the course of their disease. For many palliative problems, including bleeding, pain, superior vena cava syndrome and obstruction, there are various treatment options, with radiotherapy being one of them. Consequently, multidisciplinary evaluation before a treatment decision is made is very important.
Strong convergence theorems by a hybrid extragradient-like approximation method for asymptotically nonexpansive mappings in the intermediate sense in Hilbert spaces
Authors: Naraghirad Eskandar , Wong Ngai-Ching , Yao Jen-Chih
Published: January 2012

Let C be a nonempty closed convex subset of a real Hilbert space H. Let S : C → C be an asymptotically nonexpansive map in the intermediate sense with the fixed point set F(S). Let A : C → H be a Lipschitz continuous map, and VI(C, A) be the set of solutions u ∈ C of the variational inequality

⟨

A
u
,
v
-
u

⟩

≥
0
,

∀
v
∈
C
.

The purpose of this study is to introduce a hybrid extragradient-like approximation method for finding a common element in F(S) and VI(C, A). We establish some strong convergence theorems for sequences produced by our iterative method.

AMS subject classifications: 49J25; 47H05; 47H09.
Genome-wide association scan and phased haplotype construction for quantitative trait loci affecting boar taint in three pig breeds
Authors: Gregersen Vivi R , Conley Lene N , Sørensen Kirsten K , Guldbrandtsen Bernt , Velander Ingela H , Bendixen Christian
Published: January 2012

Background

Boar taint is the undesirable smell and taste of pork meat derived from some entire male pigs. The main causes of boar taint are the two compounds androstenone and skatole (3-methyl-indole). The steroid androstenone is a sex pheromone produced in the testis of the boars. Skatole is produced from tryptophan by bacteria in the intestine of the pigs. In many countries pigs are castrated as piglets to avoid boar taint, however, this is undesirable for animal welfare reasons. Genetic variations affecting the level of boar taint have previously been demonstrated in many breeds. In the study presented in this paper, markers and haplotypes, which can be applied to DNA-based selection schemes in order to reduce or eliminate the boar taint problem, are identified.

Results

Approximately 30,000 SNPs segregating in 923 boars from three Danish breeds; Duroc, Landrace, and Yorkshire, were used to conduct genome wide association studies of boar taint compounds. At 46 suggestive quantitative trait loci (QTL), 25 haplotypes and three single markers with effects were identified. Furthermore, 40% of the haplotypes mapped to previously identified regions. Haplotypes were also analysed for effects of slaughter weight and meat content. The most promising haplotype was identified on Sus scrofa chromosome 1. The gain in fixed effect of having this haplotype on level of androstenone in Landrace was identified to be high (1.279 μg/g). In addition, this haplotype explained 16.8% of the phenotypic variation within the trait. The haplotype was identified around the gene CYB5A which is known to have an indirect impact on the amount of androstenone. In addition to CYB5A, the genes SRD5A2, LOC100518755, and CYP21A2 are candidate genes for other haplotypes affecting androstenone, whereas, candidate genes for the indolic compounds were identified to be SULT1A1 and CYP2E1.

Conclusions

Despite the small sample size, a total of 25 haplotypes and three single markers were identified including genomic regions not previously reported. The haplotypes that were analysed showed large effects on trait level. However, little overlap of QTL between breeds was observed.
Characterization of the biotin uptake system encoded by the biotin-inducible bioYMN operon of Corynebacterium glutamicum
Authors: Schneider Jens , Peters-Wendisch Petra , Stansen K Corinna , Götker Susanne , Maximow Stanislav , Krämer Reinhard , Wendisch Volker F
Published: January 2012

Background

The amino acid-producing Gram-positive Corynebacterium glutamicum is auxotrophic for biotin although biotin ring assembly starting from the precursor pimeloyl-CoA is still functional. It possesses AccBC, the α-subunit of the acyl-carboxylases involved in fatty acid and mycolic acid synthesis, and pyruvate carboxylase as the only biotin-containing proteins. Comparative genome analyses suggested that the putative transport system BioYMN encoded by cg2147, cg2148 and cg2149 might be involved in biotin uptake by C. glutamicum.

Results

By comparison of global gene expression patterns of cells grown with limiting or excess supply of biotin or with dethiobiotin as supplement replacing biotin revealed that expression of genes coding for enzymes of biotin ring assembly and for the putative uptake system was regulated according to biotin availability. RT-PCR and 5'-RACE experiments demonstrated that the genes bioY, bioM, and bioN are transcribed from one promoter as a single transcript. Biochemical analyses revealed that BioYMN catalyzes the effective uptake of biotin with a concentration of 60 nM biotin supporting a half-maximal transport rate. Maximal biotin uptake rates were at least five fold higher in biotin-limited cells as compared to cells grown with excess biotin. Overexpression of bioYMN led to an at least 50 fold higher biotin uptake rate as compared to the empty vector control. Overproduction of BioYMN alleviated biotin limitation and interfered with triggering L-glutamate production by biotin limitation.

Conclusions

The operon bioYMN from C. glutamicum was shown to be induced by biotin limitation. Transport assays with radio-labeled biotin revealed that BioYMN functions as a biotin uptake system. Overexpression of bioYMN affected L-glutamate production triggered by biotin limitation.
Second-line Treatment of Stage III/IV Non-Small-Cell Lung Cancer (NSCLC) with pemetrexed in routine clinical practice: Evaluation of performance status and health-related quality of life
Authors: Schuette Wolfgang , Tesch Hans , Büttner Hartwig , Krause Thomas , Soldatenkova Victoria , Stoffregen Clemens
Published: January 2012

Background

Second-line treatment of advanced non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC) improves overall survival. There is a lack of data regarding the impact on patients' overall health condition. This prospective, non-interventional study evaluated performance status (PS) and health-related quality of life (HR-QoL) during second-line pemetrexed treatment in routine clinical practice.

Methods

Stage III/IV NSCLC patients who initiated second-line pemetrexed (standard vitamin and dexamethasone supplementation) were observed for a maximum of 9 treatment cycles. The primary objective was to evaluate the proportion of patients achieving improvement of Karnofsky Index (KI) of ≥ 10% (absolute) or maintaining KI ≥ 80% after the second treatment cycle ("KI benefit response"). HR-QoL was self-rated using the EuroQoL-5D questionnaire (EQ-5D). Factors potentially associated with KI benefit response were evaluated using logistic regression models.

Results

Of 521 eligible patients (73.5% Stage IV, median age 66.3 yrs, 36.1% ≥ 70 yrs, 62.0% with KI ≥ 80%), 471 (90.4%) completed at least 2 treatment cycles. 58.0% (95%CI 53.6%;62.2%) achieved KI benefit response after the second cycle. Patients with baseline KI ≥ 80%, no Grade 3/4 toxicities during the first 2 cycles, or combination regimen as prior first-line therapy were more likely to achieve a KI benefit response. EQ-5D scores improved over time. Grade 3/4 toxicities were reported in 23.8% of patients (mainly fatigue/asthenia 15.9%, neutropenia 8.7%).

Conclusions

In this large prospective, non-interventional study of second-line pemetrexed treatment in patients with advanced NSCLC, including 36% elderly patients ( ≥ 70 years), physician-rated PS and self-rated HR-QoL were maintained or improved in the majority of patients.

Trial registration

Registered on ClinicalTrials.gov (NCT00540241) on October 4, 2007
Sex-specific association of ACAT-1 rs1044925 SNP and serum lipid levels in the hypercholesterolemic subjects
Authors: Wu Dong-Feng , Yin Rui-Xing , Aung Lynn Htet Htet , Li Qing , Yan Ting-Ting , Zeng Xiao-Na , Huang Ke-Ke , Huang Ping , Wu Jin-Zhen , Pan Shang-Ling
Published: January 2012

Background

Acyl-CoA:cholesterol acyltransferase (ACAT) is a key enzyme in cellular cholesterol homeostasis and in atherosclerosis. The cellular cholesterol efflux correlated with serum high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C) concentrations has shown to be impaired in hyperlipidemic mice. The present study was carried out to clarify the association of ACAT-1 rs1044925 single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) and serum lipid levels in the hyperlipidemic subjects.

Methods

A total of 821 unrelated subjects (hyperlipidemia, 476; normolipidemia, 345) aged 15-80 were included in the study. Genotyping of the ACAT-1 rs1044925 SNP was performed by polymerase chain reaction and restriction fragment length polymorphism combined with gel electrophoresis, and then confirmed by direct sequencing.

Results

There was no significant difference in the genotypic and allelic frequencies of ACAT-1 rs1044925 SNP between the normolipidemic and hyperlipidemic subjects. The levels of total cholesterol (TC), HDL-C and apolipoprotein (Apo) AI in hyperlipidemic subjects were different between the AA and AC/CC genotypes in male but not in female (P < 0.05-0.01), the C allele carriers had higher serum TC, HDL-C and ApoAI levels than the C allele noncarriers. The association of genotypes and serum HDL-C and ApoAI levels in hyperlipidemia was found mainly in the male subjects with hypercholesterolemia but not in those with hypertriglyceridemia. There were no significant differences in serum lipid levels between the AA and AC/CC genotypes in the normolipidemic subjects.

Conclusions

The present study shows that the C allele carriers of ACAT-1 rs1044925 SNP in male hyperlipidemic subjects had higher serum TC, HDL-C and ApoAI levels than the C allele noncarriers. There is a sex (male)-specific association of ACAT-1 rs1044925 SNP and serum HDL-C and ApoAI levels in the hypercholesterolemic subjects.
NADPH oxidase and reactive oxygen species contribute to alcohol-induced microglial activation and neurodegeneration
Authors: Qin Liya , Crews Fulton T
Published: January 2012

Background

Activation of microglia causes the production of proinflammatory factors and upregulation of NADPH oxidase (NOX) that form reactive oxygen species (ROS) that lead to neurodegeneration. Previously, we reported that 10 daily doses of ethanol treatment induced innate immune genes in brain. In the present study, we investigate the effects of chronic ethanol on activation of NOX and release of ROS, and their contribution to ethanol neurotoxicity.

Methods

Male C57BL/6 and NF-κB enhanced GFP mice were treated intragastrically with water or ethanol (5 g/kg, i.g., 25% ethanol w/v) daily for 10 days. The effects of chronic ethanol on cell death markers (activated caspase-3 and Fluoro-Jade B), microglial morphology, NOX, ROS and NF-κB were examined using real-time PCR, immunohistochemistry and hydroethidine histochemistry. Also, Fluoro-Jade B staining and NOX gp91phox immunohistochemistry were performed in the orbitofrontal cortex (OFC) of human postmortem alcoholic brain and human moderate drinking control brain.

Results

Ethanol treatment of C57BL/6 mice showed increased markers of neuronal death: activated caspase-3 and Fluoro-Jade B positive staining with Neu-N (a neuronal marker) labeling in cortex and dentate gyrus. The OFC of human post-mortem alcoholic brain also showed significantly more Fluoro-Jade B positive cells colocalized with Neu-N, a neuronal marker, compared to the OFC of human moderate drinking control brain, suggesting increased neuronal death in the OFC of human alcoholic brain. Iba1 and GFAP immunohistochemistry showed activated morphology of microglia and astrocytes in ethanol-treated mouse brain. Ethanol treatment increased NF-κB transcription and increased NOX gp91phox at 24 hr after the last ethanol treatment that remained elevated at 1 week. The OFC of human postmortem alcoholic brain also had significant increases in the number of gp91phox + immunoreactive (IR) cells that are colocalized with neuronal, microglial and astrocyte markers. In mouse brain ethanol increased gp91phox expression coincided with increased production of O2
- and O2
- - derived oxidants. Diphenyleneiodonium (DPI), a NOX inhibitor, reduced markers of neurodegeneration, ROS and microglial activation.

Conclusions

Ethanol activation of microglia and astrocytes, induction of NOX and production of ROS contribute to chronic ethanol-induced neurotoxicity. NOX-ROS and NF-κB signaling pathways play important roles in chronic ethanol-induced neuroinflammation and neurodegeneration.
High hepatitis B virus load is associated with hepatocellular carcinomas development in Chinese chronic hepatitis B patients: a case control study
Authors: Zhou Jin-Yong , Zhang Le , Li Lei , Gu Guang-Yu , Zhou Yi-Hua , Chen Jun-Hao
Published: January 2012

Background

Persistent hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection is a risk factor for hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) development. This study aimed to clarify whether the high HBV DNA level is associated with HCC development by comparing HBV DNA levels between HBV infected patients with and without HCC.

Results

There were 78 male and 12 female patients in each group and there was no statistical difference between these two group patients' average ages. The HBV DNA level in the HCC patients was 4.73 ± 1.71 Log10 IU/ml while 3.90 ± 2.01 Log10 IU/ml in non-HCC patients (P < 0.01). The HBeAg positive rate was 42.2% (38/90) in the HCC group while 13.3% (12/90) in the non-HCC group (P < 0.001). Compared with patients with HBV DNA level of < 3 Log10 IU/ml, the patients with level of 3 to < 4, 4 to < 5, 5 to < 6, or ≥ 6 Log10 IU/ml had the odds ratio for HCC of 1.380 (95% CI, 0.544-3.499), 3.671 (95% CI, 1.363-9.886), 5.303 (95% CI, 1.847-15.277) or 3.030 (95% CI, 1.143-8.036), respectively.

Conclusions

HBV-related HCC patients had higher HBV DNA level than non-HCC counterparts. Our findings imply that active HBV replication is associated with the HCC development.
Expression of GSK-3β in renal allograft tissue and its significance in pathogenesis of chronic allograft dysfunction
Authors: Yan Qiang , Wang Baoyao , Sui Weiguo , Zou Guimian , Chen Huaizhou , Xie Shenping , Zou Hequn
Published: January 2012

Objective

To explore the expression of Glycogen synthase kinase 3 beta (GSK-3β) in renal allograft tissue and its significance in the pathogenesis of chronic allograft dysfunction.

Methods

Renal allograft biopsy was performed in all of the renal allograft recipients with proteinuria or increased serum creatinine level who came into our hospital from January 2007 to December 2009. Among them 28 cases was diagnosed as chronic allograft dysfunction based on pahtological observation, including 21 males with a mean age of 45 ± 10 years old and 7 females with a mean age of 42 ± 9 years old. The time from kidney transplantation to biopsy were 1-9 (3.5) years. Their serum creatinine level were 206 ± 122 umol/L. Immunohistochemical assay and computer-assisted genuine color image analysis system (imagepro-plus 6.0) were used to detect the expression of GSK-3β in the renal allografts of 28 cases of recipients with chronic allograft dysfunction. Mean area and mean integrated optical density of GSK-3β expression were calculated. The relationship between expression level of GSK-3β and either the grade of inflammatory cell infiltration or interstitial fibrosis/tubular atrophy in renal allograft was analyzed. Five specimens of healthy renal tissue were used as controls.

Results

The expression level of the GSK-3β was significantly increased in the renal allograft tissue of recipients with chronic allograft dysfunction, compared to normal renal tissues, and GSK-3β expression became stronger along with the increasing of the grade of either inflammatory cell infiltration or interstitial fibrosis/tubular atrophy in renal allograft tissue.

Conclusion

There might be a positive correlation between either inflammatory cell infiltration or interstitial fibrosis/tubular atrophy and high GSK-3β expression in renal allograft tissue.

Virtual slides

The virtual slide(s) for this article can be found here:

http://www.diagnosticpathology.diagnomx.eu/vs/9924478946162998.
The genetic control of growth rate: a systems biology study in yeast
Authors: Pir Pınar , Gutteridge Alex , Wu Jian , Rash Bharat , Kell Douglas B , Zhang Nianshu , Oliver Stephen G
Published: January 2012

Background

Control of growth rate is mediated by tight regulation mechanisms in all free-living organisms since long-term survival depends on adaptation to diverse environmental conditions. The yeast, Saccharomyces cerevisiae, when growing under nutrient-limited conditions, controls its growth rate via both nutrient-specific and nutrient-independent gene sets. At slow growth rates, at least, it has been found that the expression of the genes that exert significant control over growth rate (high flux control or HFC genes) is not necessarily regulated by growth rate itself. It has not been determined whether the set of HFC genes is the same at all growth rates or whether it is the same in conditions of nutrient limitation or excess.

Results

HFC genes were identified in competition experiments in which a population of hemizygous diploid yeast deletants were grown at, or close to, the maximum specific growth rate in either nutrient-limiting or nutrient-sufficient conditions. A hemizygous mutant is one in which one of any pair of homologous genes is deleted in a diploid, These HFC genes divided into two classes: a haploinsufficient (HI) set, where the hemizygous mutants grow slower than the wild type, and a haploproficient (HP) set, which comprises hemizygotes that grow faster than the wild type. The HI set was found to be enriched for genes involved in the processes of gene expression, while the HP set was enriched for genes concerned with the cell cycle and genome integrity.

Conclusion

A subset of growth-regulated genes have HFC characteristics when grown in conditions where there are few, or no, external constraints on the rate of growth that cells may attain. This subset is enriched for genes that participate in the processes of gene expression, itself (i.e. transcription and translation). The fact that haploproficiency is exhibited by mutants grown at the previously determined maximum rate implies that the control of growth rate in this simple eukaryote represents a trade-off between the selective advantages of rapid growth and the need to maintain the integrity of the genome.
Human papillomavirus 18 E6 inhibits phosphorylation of p53 expressed in HeLa cells
Authors: Ajay Amrendra K , Meena Avtar S , Bhat Manoj K
Published: January 2012

Background

In HPV infected cells p53 function is abrogated by E6 and even ectopically expressed p53 is unable to perform tumor suppressor functions. In addition to facilitating its degradation, E6 may also inhibit p53 transactivity, though the mechanisms are still poorly understood. It has been reported that inhibition of p300, an acetyltransferase responsible for p53 acetylation is inactivated by E6. Activation of overexpressed p53 to cause cell growth inhibition is facilitated by its phosphorylation. Previously, we reported that non-genotoxically overexpressed p53 in HeLa cells needs to be phosphorylated to perform its cell growth inhibitory functions. Since over expressed p53 by itself was not activated, we hypothesized an inhibitory role for E6.

Results

Majority of reports proposes E6 mediated degradation of p53 as a possible reason for its inactivation. However, results presented here for the first time demonstrate that overexpressed p53 is not directly associated with E6 and therefore free, yet it is not functionally active in HPV positive cells. Also, the stability of overexpressed p53 does not seem to be an issue because inhibition of proteasomal degradation did not increase the half-life of overexpressed p53, which is more than endogenous p53. However, inhibition of proteasomal degradation prevents the degradation of endogenous p53. These findings suggest that overexpressed p53 and endogenous p53 are differentially subjected to proteasomal degradation and the reasons for this discrepancy remain unclear. Our studies demonstrate that p53 over expression has no effect on anchorage independent cell-growth and E6 nullifies its cell growth inhibitory effect. E6 overexpression abrogates OA induced p53 occupancy on the p21 promoter and cell death as well. E6 did not decrease p53 protein but phospho-p53 level was significantly reduced.

Conclusion

We report for the first time that E6 de-activates p53 by inhibiting its phosphorylation. This prevents p53 binding to p21 promoter and thereby restraining its cell-growth inhibitory functions. Our study provides new evidence indicating that viral protein E6 inhibits p53 transactivity by mechanism independent of degradation pathway.
United Airlines is For Lovers?
Authors: Murphy Ryan Patrick
Published: January 2012

“United Airlines is for Lovers” turns to the U.S. airline industry to analyze the relationship between gay rights activism and workplace austerity measures in the 1990s. In February of 1997, United Airlines sued the City of San Francisco in an effort to exempt itself from a local ordinance requiring all employers to provide domestic partner benefits for frontline employees and their lovers. The move came as airline management intensified efforts to lower costs by extracting wage and benefit concessions from all unionized employees. This article traces an alliance among United flight attendants, their union, grassroots gay and AIDS activists, and mainstream LGBT political organizations that successfully challenged that lawsuit and won new medical and retirement benefits. By 1990, both conservatives and many LGBT activists were framing nuclear family as the organizing principle of the economy, making monogamy, domesticity, and partnership conduits for material resources. But as they did so, fewer and fewer working people — and less than half of flight attendants — lived within the boundaries of traditional family, instead organizing their households as single people, unmarried parents, cohabitating friends, and in inter-generational families. Tracing the theories and strategies that guided the domestic partner benefits campaign, this article demonstrates that the desires, needs, and political claims of non-traditional families are critically important resources to the broader effort to contest neoliberalism in the workplace.
Possessed by Death
Authors: Dillon Stephen
Published: January 2012

This article offers a critical genealogy of the neoliberal-carceral state by engaging the writing of Black Liberation Army member Assata Shakur. Shakur's work is read as a black feminist theorization of neoliberalism at the very moment of its emergence. By engaging Shakur's discussion of race, gender, time, and the market, the article pursues a connection between chattel slavery and the present that has yet to garner attention among scholars: slavery's haunting possession of neoliberalism. Although slavery's antiblack technologies inhabit and structure the prison, they also live on in the operations of the market. In particular, this article examines the relationship between the carceral, the market, the body, and population to consider how the necropolitics of slavery possess and drive the biopolitics of neoliberalism. The author argues that under neoliberalism, the market not only colludes with the prison, but also mimics it.
Spectral Frequencies
Authors: Melillo Edward D.
Published: January 2012

This article examines the history of neoliberal enclosures in the oscillating electrical and magnetic fields that surround us, the electromagnetic Commons. The relationship between the neoliberal phase of capitalism and the expansion of such new frontiers for privatization remains undertheorized. In “Spectral Frequencies,” the author contends that neoliberal appropriations of the electromagnetic spectrum have generated recurring apparitions for their proponents. These institutional anxieties about the expanding use-values in the spectrum that defy regulation demonstrate the contingency and instability of electromagnetic enclosures, features that make them susceptible to forms of targeted resistance.
Neoliberalism, Historiography, Identity Politics
Authors: Rossini Jon D. , Ybarra Patricia
Published: January 2012

This article argues that the history of Latino Theater is coemergent with the rise of neoliberalism in the United States and suggests that many of the major shifts in Latino theater production must be viewed within the development of artistic practices impacted by privatization, the development of transnational labor markets, and the incursion of market-based practices in arts funding. In doing so, it breaks with the decade-by-decade historiography of most Latino theater histories and with traditional understandings of identity-based art movements that posit a revolution-and-retrenchment argument from the 1960s to the present. The authors consider the funding records of major Latino theaters, their conditions of production, and the historiography embedded in the plays of Chicano, Nuyorican, and Cuban American artists.
The Persistence of Philanthropy
Authors: Singer Amy
Published: January 2012

One of the most profound Ottoman legacies to contemporary Turkey is the central role of private philanthropy as a vehicle for shaping culture and society. Two principal legacies of Ottoman philanthropy exist in Turkey today. The first is cultural, apparent in the thriving practice of elite philanthropy; the second is physical, readily discovered in the urban fabric of most Turkish cities, notably Istanbul. This article examines these legacies in order to analyze the nature of state building and society formation in modern Turkey from a new perspective. Both continuities and changes are apparent from imperial to republican times: in the identity of the donors, the sources and locus of wealth, the importance of foundations, the motivations for giving, the choice of projects, the physical impact of donations, and the identity of the beneficiaries. The dynamic contemporary culture of private charitable giving in Turkey results from a unique interaction of inherited Ottoman ideology and practices, themselves the result of combined Muslim, Turco-Mongol, Byzantine, and Arab influences; the observed example of modern Western philanthropy, notably that of the United States; and the specific experiences of the republican Turkish state and society since 1923. The economic elite have replaced the sultans and pashas as premier benefactors, with personal or corporate donations even rivaling government sources of assistance. The motivations for contemporary philanthropy echo the Muslim consciousness of Ottoman donors, while philanthropy functions more to legitimize wealth than to ensure political legitimacy. Nonetheless, philanthropy remains the means to contribute to a wider community, whether it is the community of Turkish citizens; of Muslims or another confessional group; or of a town, a neighborhood, or a profession. As in Ottoman times, the beneficiaries are not limited to the materially poor and needy. Rather, private elite philanthropy contributes to many segments of society and in this reflects the manifold motivations for giving.
Novel Tfap2-mediated control ofsoxEexpression facilitated the evolutionary emergence of the neural crest
Authors: Van Otterloo Eric , Li Wei , Garnett Aaron , Cattell Maria , Medeiros Daniel Meulemans , Cornell Robert A.
Published: January 2012

Gene duplication has been proposed to drive the evolution of novel morphologies. After gene duplication, it is unclear whether changes in the resulting paralogs’ coding-regions, or in their cis-regulatory elements, contribute most significantly to the assembly of novel gene regulatory networks. The Transcription Factor Activator Protein 2 (Tfap2) was duplicated in the chordate lineage and is essential for development of the neural crest, a tissue that emerged with vertebrates. Using a tfap2-depleted zebrafish background, we test the ability of available gnathostome, agnathan, cephalochordate and insect tfap2 paralogs to drive neural crest development. With the exception of tfap2d (lamprey and zebrafish), all are able to do so. Together with expression analyses, these results indicate that sub-functionalization has occurred among Tfap2 paralogs, but that neo-functionalization of the Tfap2 protein did not drive the emergence of the neural crest. We investigate whether acquisition of novel target genes for Tfap2 might have done so. We show that in neural crest cells Tfap2 directly activates expression of sox10, which encodes a transcription factor essential for neural crest development. The appearance of this regulatory interaction is likely to have coincided with that of the neural crest, because AP2 and SoxE are not co-expressed in amphioxus, and because neural crest enhancers are not detected proximal to amphioxus soxE. We find that sox10 has limited ability to restore the neural crest in Tfap2-deficient embryos. Together, these results show that mutations resulting in novel Tfap2-mediated regulation of sox10 and other targets contributed to the evolution of the neural crest.
Genetic ablation of Rest leads to in vitro-specific derepression of neuronal genes during neurogenesis
Authors: Aoki Hitomi , Hara Akira , Era Takumi , Kunisada Takahiro , Yamada Yasuhiro
Published: January 2012

Rest (RE1-silencing transcription factor, also called Nrsf) is involved in the maintenance of the undifferentiated state of neuronal stem/progenitor cells in vitro by preventing precocious expression of neuronal genes. However, the function of Rest during neurogenesis in vivo remains to be elucidated because of the early embryonic lethal phenotype of conventional Rest knockout mice. In the present study, we have generated Rest conditional knockout mice, which allow the effect of genetic ablation of Rest during embryonic neurogenesis to be examined in vivo. We show that Rest plays a role in suppressing the expression of neuronal genes in cultured neuronal cells in vitro, as well as in non-neuronal cells outside of the central nervous system, but that it is dispensable for embryonic neurogenesis in vivo. Our findings highlight the significance of extrinsic signals for the proper intrinsic regulation of neuronal gene expression levels in the specification of cell fate during embryonic neurogenesis in vivo.
Control of neuronal cell fate and number by integration of distinct daughter cell proliferation modes with temporal progression
Authors: Ulvklo Carina , MacDonald Ryan , Bivik Caroline , Baumgardt Magnus , Karlsson Daniel , Thor Stefan
Published: January 2012

During neural lineage progression, differences in daughter cell proliferation can generate different lineage topologies. This is apparent in the Drosophila neuroblast 5-6 lineage (NB5-6T), which undergoes a daughter cell proliferation switch from generating daughter cells that divide once to generating neurons directly. Simultaneously, neural lineages, e.g. NB5-6T, undergo temporal changes in competence, as evidenced by the generation of different neural subtypes at distinct time points. When daughter proliferation is altered against a backdrop of temporal competence changes, it may create an integrative mechanism for simultaneously controlling cell fate and number. Here, we identify two independent pathways, Prospero and Notch, which act in concert to control the different daughter cell proliferation modes in NB5-6T. Altering daughter cell proliferation and temporal progression, individually and simultaneously, results in predictable changes in cell fate and number. This demonstrates that different daughter cell proliferation modes can be integrated with temporal competence changes, and suggests a novel mechanism for coordinately controlling neuronal subtype numbers.
Multiple sclerosis: a chronic infective cerebrospinal venulitis?
Authors: Thibault P K
Published: January 2012

The aetiology proposed for the development of chronic cerebrospinal venous insufficiency (CCSVI) associated with multiple sclerosis (MS) has been the presence of congenital truncular venous malformations. However, this hypothesis is not consistent with the epidemiology or geographical incidence of MS and is not consistent with many of the ultrasonographic or radiographical findings of the venous disturbances found in MS patients. However, the probability of a venous aetiology of MS remains strong based on evidence accumulated from the time the disorder was first described.

The method used in this review was to search PubMed for all past medical publications related to vascular, venous, haematological, epidemiological, biochemical, and genetic investigations and treatments of MS.

Epidemiological and geographical findings of prevalence of MS indicate the involvement of an infective agent. This review of the venous pathology associated with MS describes a hypothesis that the pathogenesis of the venous disease could be initiated by a respiratory infective agent such as Chlamydophila pneumonia, which causes a specific chronic persistent venulitis affecting the cerebrospinal venous system. Secondary spread of the agent would initially be via the lymphatic system to specifically involve the azygos, internal jugular and vertebral veins. The hypothesis proposes mechanisms by which an infective venous vasculitis could result in the specific neural damage, metabolic, immunological and vascular effects observed in MS. The hypothesis described is consistent with many of the known facts of MS pathogenesis and therefore provides a framework for further research into a venous aetiology for the disease.

If MS does result from a chronic infective venulitis rather than a syndrome involving congenital truncular venous malformations, then additional therapies to the currently used angioplasties will be required to optimize results.
Enzyklopädisten und Lexika im Dienst der Diktatur?
Authors: Keiderling Thomas
Published: January 2012

Vorspann

Sie sind Teil jeder Hochkultur: Enzyklopädien, Lexika, Nachschlagewerke oder nun auch eine Internetenzyklopädie wie Wikipedia. Aber wie „objektiv“ sind eigentlich diese Kompendien unseres Wissens? Wie weit haben etwa die Ideologien und die politischen Verwerfungen des 20. Jahrhunderts dort ihre Spuren hinterlassen? Thomas Keiderling untersucht dies an einem besonders prononcierten Fall und stellt dabei die Frage, wie weit eine so hochentwickelte Lexikon-Kultur wie die deutsche durch die Herrschaft des Nationalsozialismus beeinflusst und beschädigt wurde.
The Rosamond Plots
Authors: Mitchell Rebecca N.
Published: January 2012

In both Charlotte Brontë’s Jane Eyre (1847) and George Eliot’s Middlemarch (1871–72) an earnest and ambitious man falls in love with a superficial and beautiful woman named Rosamond. This essay explores the “Rosamond plots” to argue that Middlemarch stages a radical revision of the version of subjectivity vaunted in Jane Eyre. Via its invocation of Jane Eyre’s Rosamond plot, Middlemarch challenges the very nature of self-knowledge, questions the status of identification in intersubjective relationships, and insists upon the unknowability of the other. In Eliot’s retelling, the self-awareness promoted in Jane Eyre is not only insufficient, but also verges on self-absorption and even solipsism. One way in which Eliot enacts this revision is by shifting the focus of positive affective relationships away from models of identification. The change marks an evolution in our understanding of the way in which character and communal life is conceived by each author. More specifically, Eliot’s revisions situate empathic response as being dependent upon the recognition of the radical alterity of the other.