bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Disordered Eating and Group Membership Among Members of a Pro‐anorexic Online Community
Authors: Rodgers Rachel F. , Skowron Sabrina , Chabrol Henri
Published: February 2011

Objective

The objective of this study was to explore motivations to become a member of a French‐language ‘pro‐ana’ online community, perceptions of support provided by other members and the nature of the information provided.

Method

A sample of 29 members of an online community were assessed for disordered eating and responded to open‐ended questions exploring perceptions of the online community.

Results

All participants reported high levels of disordered eating (Eating Attitudes Test > 30). The main motive for joining the online community was to be provided with both advice regarding weight loss and support. The majority of them equated thinness with happiness and were satisfied with their membership. Participants also described the types of advice that they had received concerning weight loss.

Conclusions

Members of pro‐ana online communities are likely to display high levels of disordered eating. Furthermore, membership to the online community was motivated not only by weight concerns but also by the support provided. Our findings confirmed the role of these online communities in encouraging harmful weight‐loss and weight‐control practices. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd and Eating Disorders Association.
Reluctance to Recover in Anorexia Nervosa
Authors: Nordbø Ragnfrid H. S. , Espeset Ester M. S. , Gulliksen Kjersti S. , Skårderud Finn , Geller Josie , Holte Arne
Published: February 2011

Objective

Reluctance to recover may explain poor treatment outcome and high dropout and relapse rates in the treatment of anorexia nervosa (AN). This study systematically explored what AN patients describe as interfering with their wish to recover.

Method

Two independent samples of women with AN (totalN = 36) were interviewed in‐depth using a phenomenological study design. Interviews were tape recorded, transcribed and analysed usingQSR‐NVivo7(QSR International, Melbourne, Australia) software.

Results

Seven core obstacles were found to interfere with informants' wish to recover as follows: (i) ‘perceiving judgements’; (ii) ‘feeling stuck’; (iii) ‘feeling distressed’; (iv) ‘denying AN’; (v) ‘eating’; (vi) ‘gaining weight’; and (vii) ‘appreciating the benefits’.

Conclusion

The wish to recover is an autonomously based, fundamental motivational requirement for becoming ready to change. Understanding factors that contribute to this wish adds to the clinician's toolbox in motivational work with AN patients. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd and Eating Disorders Association.
Psychometric Evaluation of SAFA P Test for Eating Disorders in Adolescents: Comparative Validation with EDI‐2
Authors: Pellicciari Alessandro , Gualandi Stefano , Iero Luisa , Monti Morena , Di Pietro Elena , Sacrato Leonardo , Gualandi Paola , Franzoni Emilio
Published: February 2011

Objective

This study evaluates the psychometric properties of self‐administered psychiatric scale for children and adolescents with psychogenic eating disorders (SAFA P)—a brief self‐report designed to screen and assess eating disorders (ED) in children and adolescents. Although SAFA P belongs to a broad battery of tests (SAFA) that explores different psychiatric conditions, it has not undergone appropriate validation until now.

Method

We administered SAFA P and Eating Disorder Inventory 2 (EDI‐2) to 87 ED patients, with an average age of 15.4 ± 1.6 years.

Results

The internal reliability of SAFA P is good (Cronbach α = .776). Convergent validity with EDI‐2 was assessed: both SAFA P subscale P1 (p < .005) and EDI‐2 subscale bulimia (p < .001) showed a statistically significant difference among the three diagnostic categories (anorexia nervosa, bulimia nervosa and eating disorder not otherwise specified). Sensibility and specificity range from 62 to 91%, depending on the subscales. McNemar's test did not reveal statistically significant differences in assessing the concordance of the two measures. Statistically significant correlations were found between specific couples of subscales (p < .001).

Conclusions

Cross‐validation with EDI‐2 showed good results. SAFA P may be an alternative, useful and reliable instrument for assessing cursory ED in childhood and adolescence. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd and Eating Disorders Association.
Conducting site-specific assessments of selenium bioaccumulation in aquatic systems
Authors: Ohlendorf Harry M , Covington Sean M , Byron Earl R , Arenal Christine A
Published: February 2011

Selenium (Se) is a chemical of concern at many locations across North America and elsewhere, and site-specific conditions are important when evaluating its bioaccumulation and effects in aquatic ecosystems. Most regulatory criteria and guidelines are based on waterborne Se concentrations. In contrast, the draft water quality chronic criterion of the US Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA) is based on Se concentrations in whole-body fish, and current information suggests the agency will issue a new draft criterion based in part on fish egg and/or ovary Se concentrations. However, implementation guidance is not available from the agency for either of these tissue-based criteria. Therefore, we describe a phased approach for field and laboratory assessments of Se bioaccumulation in fish and aquatic-dependent birds that can be applied in different environmental settings with the goal of developing and interpreting a tissue-based Se value. We recommend here the use of decision trees, conceptual models, and data quality objectives toward defining what should be done during the assessment, plus sampling and monitoring procedures for the assessment. First, available tissue or waterborne Se concentrations should be compared to tissue residue guidelines or adopted water quality criteria and guidelines. When needed, reproductive toxicity testing and assessment of fish populations should also be conducted in the area of interest. In addition, extensive data on the effects of Se on fish and bird species have been developed, and describing the associations between fish or bird egg tissue, aqueous Se, and potential effects is important for sites where Se may be a concern. Selenium bioaccumulation and toxicity also are of concern for amphibians and oviparous reptiles, but interpretive information is very limited for those species. Recent science indicates that effects are more strongly related to tissue concentrations of Se (especially in the eggs or ovaries of oviparous vertebrates) than to waterborne concentrations. Overall, we conclude that the approach for site-specific assessment must be flexible enough to allow what is appropriate for the situation. Furthermore, risk management and remediation decisions should be based on combined biology and chemistry data, using multiple lines of evidence in the assessment. Integr Environ Assess Manag 2011;7:314–324. © 2011 SETAC
Sugars in diet and risk of cancer in the NIH‐AARP Diet and Health Study
Authors: Tasevska Nataša , Jiao Li , Cross Amanda J. , Kipnis Victor , Subar Amy F. , Hollenbeck Albert , Schatzkin Arthur , Potischman Nancy
Published: February 2011

Prospective epidemiologic data on the effects of different types of dietary sugars on cancer incidence have been limited. In this report, we investigated the association of total sugars, sucrose, fructose, added sugars, added sucrose and added fructose in the diet with risk of 24 malignancies. Participants (n = 435,674) aged 50–71 years from the NIH‐AARP Diet and Health Study were followed for 7.2 years. The intake of individual sugars was assessed using a 124‐item food frequency questionnaire (FFQ). Cox proportional hazards regression was used to estimate hazard ratios (HR) and 95% confidence intervals (CI) in multivariable models adjusted for confounding factors pertinent to individual cancers. We identified 29,099 cancer cases in men and 13,355 cases in women. In gender‐combined analyses, added sugars were positively associated with risk of esophageal adenocarcinoma (HRQ5 vs. Q1: 1.62, 95% CI: 1.07–2.45; ptrend = 0.01), added fructose was associated with risk of small intestine cancer (HRQ5 vs. Q1: 2.20, 95% CI: 1.16–4.16; ptrend = 0.009) and all investigated sugars were associated with increased risk of pleural cancer. In women, all investigated sugars were inversely associated with ovarian cancer. We found no association between dietary sugars and risk of colorectal or any other major cancer. Measurement error in FFQ‐reported dietary sugars may have limited our ability to obtain more conclusive findings. Statistically significant associations observed for the rare cancers are of interest and warrant further investigation.
Galbanic acid decreases androgen receptor abundance and signaling and induces G1 arrest in prostate cancer cells
Authors: Zhang Yong , Kim Kwan‐Hyun , Zhang Wei , Guo Yinglu , Kim Sung‐Hoon , Lü Junxuan
Published: February 2011

Androgen receptor (AR) signaling is crucial for the genesis and progression of prostate cancer (PCa). We compared the growth responses of AR(+) LNCaP and LNCaP C4‐2 vs. AR(−) DU145 and PC‐3 PCa cell lines to galbanic acid (GBA) isolated from the resin of medicinal herb Ferula assafoetida and assessed their connection to AR signaling and cell cycle regulatory pathways. Our results showed that GBA preferentially suppressed AR(+) PCa cell growth than AR(−) PCa cells. GBA induced a caspase‐mediated apoptosis that was attenuated by a general caspase inhibitor. Subapoptotic GBA downregulated AR protein in LNCaP cells primarily through promoting its proteasomal degradation, and inhibited AR‐dependent transcription without affecting AR nuclear translocation. Whereas docking simulations predicted binding of GBA to the AR ligand binding domain with similarities and differences with the AR antagonist drug bicalutamide (Bic), LNCaP cell culture assays did not detect agonist activity of GBA. GBA and Bic exerted greater than additive inhibitory effect on cell growth when used together. Subapoptotic GBA induced G1 arrest associated with an inhibition of cyclin/CDK4/6 pathway, especially cyclin D1 without the causal involvement of cyclin‐dependent kinase (CDK) inhibitory proteins P21Cip1 and P27Kip1. In summary, the novelty of GBA as an anti‐AR compound resides in the distinction between GBA and Bic with respect to AR protein turnover and a lack of agonist effect. Our observations of anti‐AR and cell cycle arrest actions plus the anti‐angiogenesis effect reported elsewhere suggest GBA as a multitargeting drug candidate for the prevention and therapy of PCa.
IGFBP7 downregulation is associated with tumor progression and clinical outcome in hepatocellular carcinoma
Authors: Tomimaru Yoshito , Eguchi Hidetoshi , Wada Hiroshi , Kobayashi Shogo , Marubashi Shigeru , Tanemura Masahiro , Umeshita Koji , Kim Tonsok , Wakasa Kenichi , Doki Yuichiro , Mori Masaki , Nagano Hiroaki
Published: February 2011

Insulin‐like growth factor‐binding protein 7 (IGFBP7) functions in several cellular processes including proliferation, senescence and apoptosis. This study analyzed IGFBP7 function in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) cells by gene manipulation and investigated the prognostic significance of IGFBP7 expression in clinical HCC samples. In this study, we investigated changes in malignant potential such as cell growth and invasiveness in an HCC cell line, PLC/PRF/5, after transfection with shRNA against IGFBP7. The extent of apoptosis and cell cycle progression were examined after the transfection. The correlation between immunohistochemically determined IGFBP7 expression and long‐term postoperative prognosis after curative resection was also investigated in clinical HCC specimens obtained from 104 patients. PLC/PRF/5 cells transfected with shRNA against IGFBP7 showed significantly more rapid growth and stronger invasiveness than control cells. Annexin V assays showed that the IGFBP7‐depleted cells were significantly more resistant to apoptosis than the control cells, and showed decreased expression of cleaved caspase‐3 and PARP. Cell cycle progression was more rapid in the IGFBP7‐suppressed cells. In clinical HCC specimens, IGFBP7 expression was judged as positive in 67 patients (64.4%) and negative in the remaining 37 patients (35.6%). The IGFBP7 downregulation correlated significantly with poor postoperative prognosis, and IGFBP7 status was identified as an independent significant prognostic factor. Our results indicated that IGFBP7 expression correlated significantly with the malignant potential in HCC cells, suggesting that the expression could be a useful prognostic marker for HCC.
Counterion Interaction and Association in Metal‐Oxide Cluster Macroanionic Solutions and the Consequent Self‐Assembly
Authors: Yin Panchao , Li Dong , Liu Tianbo
Published: February 2011

The interaction between large metal‐oxide polyanions and their counterions is unique. Owing to their size disparity, there is a moderate ion‐pairing effect and loose distribution of counterions around macroions, which leads to the unique solution behavior and the self‐assembly of the macroions in polar solvents, and the counterion exchange capability around macroions. Furthermore, the macroion–counterion interaction also affects the catalytic behavior of the polyoxometalate (POM) clusters. Replacement of functionalized cations helps to modify the POM anions through static charge attraction. At the same time, the strong POM–counterion interaction can also lead to counterion‐dependent synthesis. Recent developments on theoretical simulations help to understand this interaction at the molecular scale. This review summarizes the chronological progress of the exploration of macroion–counterion interaction (both theoretically and experimentally) and its impact on related research fields.
The frequency structure matrix: A representation of color filter arrays
Authors: Li Yan , Hao Pengwei , Lin Zhouchen
Published: February 2011

This article introduces the frequency structure matrix as a new representation of color filter arrays (CFAs). The matrix records the frequency components of CFA filtered images and their positions in the spectrum. The matrix can be conveniently obtained by applying the symbolic DFT to the CFA pattern. With this new representation, it is easy to analyze the characteristics of CFAs and to formulate the CFA design as an optimization problem. © 2011 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Int J Imaging Syst Technol, 21, 101–106, 2011.
Local image segmentation with geometric filters
Authors: Veelaert Peter
Published: February 2011

We propose a mathematical framework for designing filter banks that detect simple geometric features in an image, such as the planarity of the intensity function. Several theoretical results are given on how the geometry of the filters is related to the discriminative power of the filter bank. The experiment results show how the filters can be used to perform a fast segmentation of an image patch into planar segments. © 2011 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Int J Imaging Syst Technol, 21, 3–13, 2011.
A new algorithm for triangulation from cross sections and its application to surface area estimation
Authors: Wiederhold Petra , Villafuerte Mario
Published: February 2011

This article proposes a new heuristic (locally determined) algorithm for the triangulation between point sequences representing cross‐sectional contours of a surface. Such point sequence is required to be the set of vertices of a polygon representing a Jordan curve and approximating the contour. The algorithm which is applied directly to the whole point sequence, is very simple since it is based on comparisons between coordinates within a plane. The triangulation algorithm is applied to surface area estimation, where we use the polygonal approximations of cross sectional contours given by the sequences of MLP (minimal length polygon) vertices or of DSS (maximal digital straight segments) vertices. The test surfaces of known area are ellipsoids of revolution and hyperboloids of one sheet. © 2011 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Int J Imaging Syst Technol, 21, 58–66, 2011.
Measure of straight lines for digital contour analysis
Authors: Coeurjolly David , Sivignon Isabelle
Published: February 2011

In digital geometry, objects such as digital straight lines can be considered as equivalent classes of Euclidean straight lines with respect to a digitization process. This article investigates the analysis of the set of straight lines whose digitization is a given digital straight segment with the help of tools from integral geometry. After a definition of a measure on such sets, we illustrate several applications of it in digital geometry for contour analysis. © 2011 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Int J Imaging Syst Technol, 21, 67–75, 2011.
Optimal consensus set for digital line and plane fitting
Authors: Zrour Rita , Kenmochi Yukiko , Talbot Hugues , Buzer Lilian , Hamam Yskandar , Shimizu Ikuko , Sugimoto Akihiro
Published: February 2011

This article presents a new method for fitting a digital line or plane to a given set of points in a 2D or 3D image in the presence of noise by maximizing the number of inliers, namely the consensus set. By using a digital model instead of a continuous one, we show that we can generate all possible consensus sets for model fitting. We present a deterministic algorithm that efficiently searches the optimal solution with time complexity O(Nd log N) for dimension d, where d = 2,3, together with space complexity O(N) where N is the number of points. © 2011 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Int J Imaging Syst Technol, 21, 45–57, 2011.
Cubical cohomology ring of 3D photographs
Authors: Gonzalez‐Diaz Rocio , Jimenez Maria Jose , Medrano Belen
Published: February 2011

Cohomology groups and the cohomology ring of three‐dimensional (3D) objects are topological invariants that characterize holes and their relations. Cohomology ring has been traditionally computed on simplicial complexes. Nevertheless, cubical complexes deal directly with the voxels in 3D images, no additional triangulation is necessary. This could facilitate efficient algorithms for the computation of topological invariants in the image context. In this article, we present a constructive process, made up by several algorithms, to compute the cohomology ring of 3D binary‐valued digital photographs represented by cubical complexes. Starting from a cubical complex Q that represents such a 3D picture whose foreground has one connected component, we first compute the homological information on the boundary of the object, ∂Q, by an incremental technique; using a face reduction algorithm, we then compute it on the whole object; finally, applying explicit formulas for cubical complexes (without making use of any additional triangulation), the cohomology ring is computed from such information. © 2011 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Int J Imaging Syst Technol, 21, 76–85, 2011.
Topology preserving parallel thinning algorithms
Authors: Németh Gábor , Palágyi Kálmán
Published: February 2011

Thinning is an iterative object reduction technique for extracting medial curves from binary objects. During a thinning process, some border points that satisfy certain topological and geometric constraints are deleted in iteration steps. Parallel thinning algorithms are composed of parallel reduction operators that delete a set of object points simultaneously. This article presents 21 parallel thinning algorithms for (8,4) binary pictures that are derived from the sufficient conditions for topology preservation accommodated to the three parallel thinning approaches. © 2011 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Int J Imaging Syst Technol, 21, 37–44, 2011.
A soft‐tissue coupling for wound closure
Authors: Melvin Alan J. , Melvin David B. , Kitzmiller William J. , Fath Kyle R. , Biddinger Paul W. , Juncosa‐Melvin Natalia
Published: February 2011

Wounds often cannot be successfully closed by conventional means of closure such as sutures or staples. Our group developed the FiberSecure™ device to close soft tissue wounds reliably, surpassing native tissue strength. We closed cross‐fiber muscle incisions, to evaluate (1) four different configurations of FiberSecure™ for 30 days, then (2) the resulting preferred configuration for 180 days. The four treatment groups each placed 21,504 polyester (PET) 12‐μm fibers (cross‐sectional area 1% of muscle) traversing the incision, in the form of (A) Four large (No.7 suture) non‐textured bundles, (B) Eight small (No.2 suture) non‐textured, (C) Four large textured, or (D) Eight small textured. Four incisions were closed in the external oblique muscle of 16 Sinclair minipigs. At 30 days, specimens were removed for biomechanics, histology, and total collagen content. Group (B) was selected for 180‐day evaluations in the same wound model in eight animals, four closures each (n = 32), again with biomechanics and histology. In strength testing, every specimen tore through muscle remotely, while the repair region remained intact. Maximum forces were (A) 37.8 ± 3.9 N, (B) 37.1 ± 4.7 N, (C) 39.0 ± 5.3 N, and (D) 32.4 ± 3.4 N at 30 days, and 37.2 ± 11.3 N at 180 days (mean ± SEM). No significant difference was observed among the groups or time points (p > 0.05). © 2011 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Biomed Mater Res Part B: Appl Biomater, 2011.
Hypothalamic leptin gene therapy prevents weight gain without long-term detrimental effects on bone in growing and skeletally mature female rats
Authors: Iwaniec Urszula T , Boghossian Stéphane , Trevisiol Cynthia H , Wronski Thomas J , Turner Russell T , Kalra Satya P
Published: February 2011

Hypothalamic leptin gene therapy normalizes the mosaic skeletal phenotype of leptin-deficient ob/ob mice. However, it is not clear whether increased hypothalamic leptin alters bone metabolism in animals already producing the hormone. The objective of this study was to evaluate the long duration effects of recombinant adeno-associated virus-rat leptin (rAAV-Lep) hypothalamic gene therapy on weight gain and bone metabolism in growing and skeletally mature leptin-replete female Sprague-Dawley rats. Rats were either unoperated or implanted with cannulas in the third ventricle of the hypothalamus and injected with either rAAV-Lep or rAAV-GFP (control vector encoding green fluorescent protein) and maintained on standard rat chow fed ad libitum for either 5 or 10 weeks (starting at 3 months of age) or 18 weeks (starting at 9 months of age). Tibias, femurs, or lumbar vertebrae were analyzed by micro–computed tomography and/or histomorphometry. In comparison with age-matched rAAV-GFP rats, rAAV-Lep rats maintained a lower body weight for the duration of studies. At 5 weeks after vector administration, rAAV-Lep rats had lower cancellous bone volume and bone marrow adiposity but higher osteoblast perimeter compared with nonoperated controls. However, these values did not differ between the two groups at 10 weeks after vector administration. Differences in cancellous bone volume and architecture were not detected between the rAAV-Lep and rAAV-GFP groups at either time point. Also, rAAV-Lep had no negative effects on bone in the 9-month-old skeletally mature rats at 18 weeks after vector administration. We hypothesize that the transient reductions in bone mass and bone marrow adiposity at 5 weeks after vector administration were due to hypothalamic surgery. We conclude that increased hypothalamic leptin, sufficient to prevent weight gain, has minimal specific effects (rAAV-Lep versus rAAV-GFP) on bone metabolism in normal female rats. © 2011 American Society for Bone and Mineral Research.
Effects of osteopontin on functional activity of late endothelial progenitor cells
Authors: Yu Min , Liu Qian , Yi Kaihong , Wu Libiao , Tan Xuerui
Published: February 2011

The aim of this study is to investigate the effect of osteopontin (OPN) on functional activity of late endothelial progenitor cells (EPCs). Total mononuclear cells (MNCs) were isolated from human umbilical cord blood by Ficoll density gradient centrifugation, and then the cells were plated on fibronectin‐coated culture plates. Late EPCs were positive for both 1,1‐dioctadecyl‐3,3,3,3‐tetramethylindocarbocyanine‐labeled acetylated low‐density lipoprotein (DiI‐acLDL) and fluorescein‐isothiocyanate‐conjugated Ulex europaeus agglutinin lectin (UEA‐1). Expression of von Willbrand factor (vWF) and kinase insert domain receptor (KDR) were detected by indirect immunofluorescence staining. Late EPCs of 3–5 passages were treated for 24 h with OPN (to make a series of final concentration: 0.005 µg/ml, 0.01 µg/ml, 0.05 µg/ml, 0.5 µg/ml, 2.5 µg/ml), or vehicle control. The proliferation, migration, and in vitro vasculogenesis activity of late EPCs were assayed by 3‐(4,5‐dimethylthiazol‐2‐yl)‐2,5‐diphenyltetrazolium bromide (MTT) assay, modified Boyden chamber assay and an in vitro angiogenesis assay, respectively. Late EPCs adhesion assay was performed by replating cells on fibronectin‐coated plates, and then adherent cells were counted. Incubation with OPN dose‐dependently inhibited the proliferative, adhesive, and in vitro vasculogenesis capacity and increased migratory activity of late EPCs. J. Cell. Biochem. 112: 1730–1736, 2011. © 2011 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
Molecular cytogenetic characterization of telomere‐specific repetitive DNA sequences in Rana rugosa
Authors: Suda Mari , Uno Yoshinobu , Mori Yumiko , Matsuda Yoichi , Nakamura Masahisa
Published: February 2011

We performed a molecular cloning of the glutamic oxaloacetic transaminase (GOT1) gene from R. rugosa, and determined its chromosomal location. This gene was reportedly localized near the sex‐determining region of the ZW sex chromosomes in the frog Buergeria buergeri; however, the GOT1 gene was mapped to the distal end of chromosome 9 in R. rugosa using a GOT1 cDNA FISH probe. This was also the case when a 46.3 kb genomic clone containing exon 8 and 9 and the 3′‐neighboring region of the GOT1 gene, designated clone B, was used as probe. However, weak signals were also detected at the telomeric ends of other autosomes and the Z sex chromosome, and near the centromeric region of the W sex chromosome. To intensify the signals, we used eight internal fragments in clone B and applied them to chromosome mapping. Consequently, only two fragments containing repeated sequence blocks produced hybridization signals; those signals were observed on autosomes and ZW sex chromosomes. The 3′‐neighboring region contained two types of repeated sequence elements: a 41 bp element, designated 41‐REL, localized to telomeric ends of autosomes and a 31 bp element, designated 31‐REL, localized to telomeric ends of all autosomes and the ZW sex chromosomes, and also near the centromere on the W long arm. The results collectively suggest that the two repeated sequence elements were independently amplified around the chromosomal telomeres in R. rugosa, indicating that they will be useful cytogenetic markers for studying karyotypic evolution—especially the W chromosome differentiation—in this species. J. Exp. Zool. 315A:222–231, 2011. © 2011 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
Innovation, tangible and intangible resources: the ‘space of slacks interaction’
Authors: Renzi Antonio , Simone Cristina
Published: February 2011

Complex interactions between different slack resources may affect the profitability of the firm in the medium and long term, while slack financial capital can trigger important and urgent innovative processes under certain conditions.
Corporate social responsibility performance in the Greek telecommunication sector
Authors: Giannarakis Grigoris , Litinas Nikolaos
Published: February 2011

The size and visibility of companies in the telecommunication sector are important factors affecting their social responsibility performance.
Oxidation of small unsaturated methyl and ethyl esters
Authors: Bennadji Hayet , Coniglio Lucie , Billaud Francis , Bounaceur Roda , Warth Valerie , Glaude Pierre‐Alexandre , Battin‐Leclerc Frédérique
Published: February 2011

The ignition delay times were measured behind reflected shock waves for temperatures from 1280 to 1930 K, pressures from of 7–9.65 atm, fuel concentrations of 0.4, 0.5, and 1%, and equivalence ratios equal to 0.25, 1.0, and 2.0 in the cases of four unsaturated esters: methyl crotonate, methyl acrylate, ethyl crotonate, and ethyl acrylate. Ignition delay times were measured using chemiluminescence emission from OH at 306 nm and piezoelectric pressure measurements made at the shock tube sidewall. No important difference of reactivity was observed between methyl and ethyl unsaturated esters, methyl and ethyl crotonate having the same reactivity as methyl butanoate. The reactivity of acrylates is greater than that of crotonates especially at the lowest investigated temperatures. Detailed mechanisms for the combustion of the four studied unsaturated esters have been automatically generated using the version of EXGAS software recently improved to take into account this class of oxygenated reactants. These mechanisms have been validated through satisfactory comparison of simulated and experimental results. The main reaction pathways have been derived from flow rate and sensitivity analyses. © 2011 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Int J Chem Kinet 43: 204–218, 2011
Autoignition of methanol: Experiments and computations
Authors: Kumar Kamal , Sung Chih‐Jen
Published: February 2011

An experimental and computational investigation into the autoignition of methanol under high‐pressure and low‐to‐intermediate temperature conditions is conducted. The ignition delay results have been obtained using a heated rapid compression machine, over a pressure range of 7–30 bar, a temperature range of 850–1100 K, and an equivalence ratio range of 0.25–2.0. Using kinetic schemes recently reported in the literature for the combustion of methanol, the experimental results are compared to computationally obtained values. The kinetic schemes studied are found to significantly underpredict ignition delays for the conditions investigated. A sensitivity analysis of the computed results to reaction rate constants is also conducted. It is shown that the reaction of methanol with HO2 radical is critical to the predicted values of ignition delays under the current experimental conditions. © 2011 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Int J Chem Kinet 43: 175–184, 2011
Improved facial nerve identification with novel fluorescently labeled probe
Authors: Wu Amy P. , Whitney Michael A. , Crisp Jessica L. , Friedman Beth , Tsien Roger Y. , Nguyen Quyen T.
Published: February 2011

Objectives/Hypothesis:

By phage display, we have developed a novel peptide (NP41) that binds selectively to nerves following systemic administration. We evaluated the pattern of facial nerve labeling with fluorescently‐labeled NP41 (F‐NP41). We also tested whether F‐NP41 highlights facial nerves well enough to identify nerve stumps accurately several weeks after nerve transection.

Study Design:

Forty‐seven wild‐type mice were studied prospectively. One surgeon performed the nerve transection, reanastomoses, and monitoring of functional recovery.

Methods:

Fluorescent labeling: F‐NP41 was administered intravenously (20 mice). Nerve labeling was studied with fluorescence microscopy. Transection and reanastomosis: the right facial nerve was transected (25 mice). Three weeks after transection, F‐NP41 was administered intravenously and fluorescence microscopy was used to identify the nerve stumps and reanastomosis in one group. Nerve identification and renastomosis was performed with white light in another group without F‐NP41. The control group underwent sham surgery. Time to nerve identification was recorded. Functional recovery was monitored for at least 8 weeks.

Results:

We found excellent labeling of intact and transected facial nerves following F‐NP41 administration. Several weeks following nerve transection, F‐NP41 provided accurate identification of the proximal and distal nerve stumps. Following reanastomosis, time to recovery and level of functional recovery was similar in the absence and presence of F‐NP41.

Conclusions:

We show improved visualization of facial nerves with a novel systemically applied fluorescently labeled probe. Use of F‐NP41 resulted in accurate identification of facial nerve stumps several weeks following transection. Functional recovery was similar with and without the use of F‐NP41. Laryngoscope, 2011
Increased serum interleukin‐17 levels in patients with myasthenia gravis
Authors: Roche Jose C. , Capablo Jose L. , Larrad Luis , Gervas‐Arruga Javier , Ara Jose R. , SáNCHEZ Alejandro , Alarcia Raquel
Published: February 2011

It has been suggested that interleukin‐17 (IL‐17) plays a crucial role in the development of several autoimmune diseases. However, there are no data about the relationship between myasthenia gravis and IL‐17. The aim of this study was to measure the concentration of IL‐17 and determine whether levels depend on the severity of MG. Serum IL‐17 concentrations were measured in 25 patients. IL‐17 concentrations were higher in generalized MG compared with controls and correlated with anti‐acetylcholinesterase receptor antibody titers. Muscle Nerve, 2011
Fetal ventriculomegaly secondary to isolated large choroid plexus cysts: prenatal findings and postnatal outcome
Authors: Fong Katherine , Chong Karen , Toi Ants , Uster Tami , Blaser Susan , Chitayat David
Published: February 2011

Objective

To report the prenatal findings and postnatal outcome of fetal ventriculomegaly associated with isolated large choroid plexus cysts (CPCs).

Method

Cases of isolated fetal ventriculomegaly and large CPCs (>10 mm) were identified through a search of patient records from 2003 to 2006. Ultrasound (US) findings were reviewed: unilateral or bilateral ventriculomegaly, ventricular size, size of CPCs, and changes on serial scans. Correlation was made with fetal magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), pregnancy outcome, and long‐term follow‐up.

Results

Six cases of isolated large CPCs (12–30 mm) with ventriculomegaly (11–17 mm) were detected on US at 18 to 26 weeks of gestation. Serial prenatal US showed the CPCs resolved (one case) or decreased in size (five cases). Ventricular size became normal during pregnancy in five cases and decreased in size in one case. Fetal MRI performed in three cases showed no additional findings. Five patients had amniocentesis which showed normal karyotype. There was one termination of pregnancy (the fetus showed no abnormality on external examination). There were five healthy newborns, with follow‐up to 4.5 years of age (one), 5.5 years (one), and 6 years (three). All had normal physical and developmental outcome.

Conclusion

Large isolated CPCs may transiently dilate the fetal cerebral ventricles. Follow‐up to 6 years has shown normal growth and development. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Effect of fenofibrate treatment on the low molecular weight urinary proteome of healthy volunteers
Authors: Foucher Christelle , Schiffer Eric , Mischak Harald , Ansquer Jean‐Claude , Wilbraham Darren
Published: February 2011

Purpose: Urinary peptidome changes and discrimination for potential renal glomerular and tubular damage after 6 wk of fenofibrate treatment were evaluated in 26 healthy subjects.

Experimental design: Peptide profiling was performed in urine samples before and after treatment using high‐resolution capillary electrophoresis coupled with electrospray ionization mass spectrometry.

Results: A panel of 88 fenofibrate‐sensitive peptides was detected with a frequency of ≥50% before and after treatment. This was reduced to 36 peptides by repeating the comparison ten times by randomly excluding samples at each time‐point. Nineteen peptides were consistent and reliable biomarkers after an additional comparison with an age and sex‐matched subject control group. Levels of peptides identified as fragments of Collagen α‐1 (I), Collagen α‐1 (XVII), Collagen α‐2 (VIII) or sodium/potassium‐transporting ATPase subunit gamma were reduced after fenofibrate treatment. Classification scores for renal tubular and glomerular damages determined by support vector machine based biomarker models increased after treatment but remained below pathological score cutoff values.

Conclusions and clinical relevance: Fenofibrate treatment led to minor modifications of the urinary proteomic profile in a way that does not create safety issues affecting glomerular and tubular functions. Urinary peptide profiling proved to be appropriate to monitor drug pharmacological effects in a clinical setting.
Oxidative stress occurs early in Down syndrome pregnancy: A redox proteomics analysis of amniotic fluid
Authors: Perluigi Marzia , di Domenico Fabio , Fiorini Ada , Cocciolo Annalisa , Giorgi Alessandra , Foppoli Cesira , Butterfield D. Allan , Giorlandino Maurizio , Giorlandino Claudio , Eugenia Schininà M. , Coccia Raffaella
Published: February 2011

Purpose: The present study aims to evaluate a set of oxidative stress biomarkers in the amniotic fluid (AF) of women carrying Down syndrome (DS) fetuses that could prove in vivo the early occurrence of oxidative damage in DS.

Experimental design: To assess the extent of protein oxidation in DS AF, we measured protein carbonylation and protein‐bound HNE by slot‐blot analysis, total and oxidized GSH levels by enzymatic assay and heat shock proteins (HSPs) thioredoxin (Trx) induction by Western blot. Further, by a redox proteomics approach specific targets of protein carbonylation were identified.

Results: We found increased levels of oxidative stress, as indexed by increased protein oxidation, lipid peroxidation, reduction of GSH and Trx levels and induction of the HSP response. By a redox proteomics approach, we identified selective proteins which showed increased oxidation in DS fetuses compared with healthy controls. The identified proteins are involved in iron homeostasis (ceruloplasmin and transferin), lipid metabolism (zinc‐α2‐glycoprotein, retinol‐binding protein 4 and apolipoprotein A1) and inflammation (complement C9, α‐1B‐glycoprotein, collagen α‐1V chain) with critical relevance in the clinical outcome of DS.

Conclusions and clinical relevance: Our results indicate that oxidative damage is an early event in the DS pathogenesis and might contribute to the development of deleterious DS phenotypes, including abnormal development and AD‐like neuropathology.
Development of a sandwich ELISA for the 5.9‐kDa fibrinogen alpha C chain fragment detected by serum proteome analysis
Authors: Noda Kenta , Sogawa Kazuyuki , Kikuchi Wataru , Kiyokawa Iwao , Miura Toshihide , Kojima Ryo , Katayama Katsuhiro , Kodera Yoshio , Nomura Fumio
Published: February 2011

Purpose: We previously identified novel biomarker candidates in heavy consumers of alcohol using serum proteome analysis. Among several candidates, a 5.9 kDa peptide identified as a fragment of the fibrinogen alpha C chain (FIC5.9) was the most promising. To move FIC5.9 toward potential diagnostic use, we developed an enzyme immunoassay that enables measurement of serum FIC5.9 levels.

Experimental design: Two monoclonal antibodies specific to the N and C‐termini of the 5.9‐kDa peptide were used to develop a FIC5.9 sandwich ELISA. The assay was evaluated by comparing the results with those obtained by the stable isotope‐labeled dilution mass spectrometry (SID‐MS) using the ClinProt™ system.

Results: The ELISA results correlated with the SID‐MS findings (slope=0.795, intercept=−0.011, r2=0.908) and the performance of the ELISA was satisfactory in terms of recovery (98.5–103.0%) and within‐run (1.4–4.7%) and between‐day (2.8–8.4%) reproducibility. The assay was capable of detecting changes in FIC5.9 during abstinence from drinking in patients with alcohol dependency (p<0.0001).

Conclusions and clinical relevance: The sandwich ELISA developed in this study will be useful for validation of the diagnostic significance of serum FIC5.9 levels in various pathological conditions, including alcoholism.
Predicted structures of agonist and antagonist bound complexes of adenosine A3 receptor
Authors: Kim Soo‐Kyung , Riley Lindsay , Abrol Ravinder , Jacobson Kenneth A. , Goddard William A.
Published: February 2011

We used the GEnSeMBLE Monte Carlo method to predict ensemble of the 20 best packings (helix rotations and tilts) based on the neutral total energy (E) from a vast number (10 trillion) of potential packings for each of the four subtypes of the adenosine G protein‐coupled receptors (GPCRs), which are involved in many cytoprotective functions. We then used the DarwinDock Monte Carlo methods to predict the binding pose for the human A3 adenosine receptor (hAA3R) for subtype selective agonists and antagonists. We found that all four A3 agonists stabilize the 15th lowest conformation of apo‐hAA3R while also binding strongly to the 1st and 3rd. In contrast the four A3 antagonists stabilize the 2nd or 3rd lowest conformation. These results show that different ligands can stabilize different GPCR conformations, which will likely affect function, complicating the design of functionally unique ligands. Interestingly all agonists lead to a trans χ1 angle for W6.48 that experiments on other GPCRs associate with G‐protein activation while all 20 apo‐AA3R conformations have a W6.48 gauche+ χ1 angle associated experimentally with inactive GPCRs for other systems. Thus docking calculations have identified critical ligand‐GPCR structures involved with activation. We found that the predicted binding site for selective agonist Cl‐IB‐MECA to the predicted structure of hAA3R shows favorable interactions to three subtype variable residues, I2536.58, V169EL2, and Q167EL2, while the predicted structure for hAA2AR shows weakened to the corresponding amino acids: T2566.58, E169EL2, and L167EL2, explaining the observed subtype selectivity. Proteins 2011; © 2011 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
Structure‐guided forcefield optimization
Authors: Song Yifan , Tyka Michael , Leaver‐Fay Andrew , Thompson James , Baker David
Published: February 2011

Accurate modeling of biomolecular systems requires accurate forcefields. Widely used molecular mechanics (MM) forcefields obtain parameters from experimental data and quantum chemistry calculations on small molecules but do not have a clear way to take advantage of the information in high‐resolution macromolecular structures. In contrast, knowledge‐based methods largely ignore the physical chemistry of interatomic interactions, and instead derive parameters almost exclusively from macromolecular structures. This can involve considerable double counting of the same physical interactions. Here, we describe a method for forcefield improvement that combines the strengths of the two approaches. We use this method to improve the Rosetta all‐atom forcefield, in which the total energy is expressed as the sum of terms representing different physical interactions as in MM forcefields and the parameters are tuned to reproduce the properties of macromolecular structures. To resolve inaccuracies resulting from possible double counting of interactions, we compare distribution functions from low‐energy modeled structures to those from crystal structures. The structural and physical bases of the deviations between the modeled and reference structures are identified and used to guide forcefield improvements. We describe improvements resolving double counting between backbone hydrogen bond interactions and Lennard‐Jones interactions in helices; between sidechain‐backbone hydrogen bonds and the backbone torsion potential; and between the sidechain torsion potential and Lennard‐Jones interactions. Discrepancies between computed and observed distributions are also used to guide the incorporation of an explicit Cα‐hydrogen bond in β sheets. The method can be used generally to integrate different sources of information for forcefield improvement. Proteins 2011; © 2011 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
Multibody coarse‐grained potentials for native structure recognition and quality assessment of protein models
Authors: Gniewek Pawel , Leelananda Sumudu P. , Kolinski Andrzej , Jernigan Robert L. , Kloczkowski Andrzej
Published: February 2011

Multibody potentials have been of much interest recently because they take into account three dimensional interactions related to residue packing and capture the cooperativity of these interactions in protein structures. Our goal was to combine long range multibody potentials and short range potentials to improve recognition of native structure among misfolded decoys. We optimized the weights for four‐body nonsequential, four‐body sequential, and short range potentials to obtain optimal model ranking results for threading and have compared these data against results obtained with other potentials (26 different coarse‐grained potentials from the Potentials ‘R’Us web server have been used). Our optimized multibody potentials outperform all other contact potentials in the recognition of the native structure among decoys, both for models from homology template‐based modeling and from template‐free modeling in CASP8 decoy sets. We have compared the results obtained for this optimized coarse‐grained potentials, where each residue is represented by a single point, with results obtained by using the DFIRE potential, which takes into account atomic level information of proteins. We found that for all proteins larger than 80 amino acids our optimized coarse‐grained potentials yield results comparable to those obtained with the atomic DFIRE potential. Proteins 2011; © 2011 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
A multiple‐template approach to protein threading
Authors: Peng Jian , Xu Jinbo
Published: February 2011

Most threading methods predict the structure of a protein using only a single template. Due to the increasing number of solved structures, a protein without solved structure is very likely to have more than one similar template structures. Therefore, a natural question to ask is if we can improve modeling accuracy using multiple templates. This article describes a new multiple‐template threading method to answer this question. At the heart of this multiple‐template threading method is a novel probabilistic‐consistency algorithm that can accurately align a single protein sequence simultaneously to multiple templates. Experimental results indicate that our multiple‐template method can improve pairwise sequence‐template alignment accuracy and generate models with better quality than single‐template models even if they are built from the best single templates (P‐value <10−6) while many popular multiple sequence/structure alignment tools fail to do so. The underlying reason is that our probabilistic‐consistency algorithm can generate accurate multiple sequence/template alignments. In another word, without an accurate multiple sequence/template alignment, the modeling accuracy cannot be improved by simply using multiple templates to increase alignment coverage. Blindly tested on the CASP9 targets with more than one good template structures, our method outperforms all other CASP9 servers except two (Zhang‐Server and QUARK of the same group). Our probabilistic‐consistency algorithm can possibly be extended to align multiple protein/RNA sequences and structures. Proteins 2011; © 2011 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.