bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Political Consumerism: How Communication and Consumption Orientations Drive “Lifestyle Politics”
Authors: Shah Dhavan V. , McLeod Douglas M. , Kim Eunkyung , Sun Young Lee  , Gotlieb Melissa R. , Ho Shirley S. , Breivik Hilde
Published: April 2007

Historians and cultural theorists have long asserted that a desire to express political concerns often guides consumer behavior, yet such political consumerism has received limited attention from social scientists. Here, the authors explore the relationship of political consumerism with dispositional factors, communication variables, and consumption orientations using data collected from a panel survey conducted in the United States between February 2002 and July 2005. The authors test a theorized model using both cross-sectional and auto-regressive panel analyses. The static and change models reveal that conventional and online news use encourage political consumerism indirectly through their influence on political talk and environmental concerns. However, media use may also have some suppressive effects by reducing the desire to protect others from harmful messages. Results demonstrate how communication practices and consumption orientations work together to influence political consumerism beyond previously delineated factors. Implications for declines in political and civic participation and youth socialization are discussed.
Downshifting Consumer = Upshifting Citizen? An Examination of a Local Freecycle Community
Authors: Nelson Michelle R. , Rademacher Mark A. , Paek Hye-Jin
Published: April 2007

Critics suggest that contemporary consumer culture creates overworked and overshopped consumers who no longer engage in civic life. The authors challenge this conventional criticism against consumption within an individualistic lifestyle and argue instead that consumers who are “downshifting” do engage in civic life. In particular, this research examines downshifting attitudes among members of freecycle.org, a grassroots “gift economy” community. Results of an online survey show that downshifting consumers are indeed less materialistic and brand-conscious. They also tend to practice political consumption (e.g., boycotts, buycotts). Most important, they tend to engage in a digital form, but not a traditional form, of civic and political participation. The authors contend that alternative forms of consumption might be a new form of civic engagement.
In Defense of Consumer Critique: Revisiting the Consumption Debates of the Twentieth Century
Authors: Schor Juliet B.
Published: April 2007

In the past twenty-five years, the literature on consumption has gained analytic power by positioning itself against the consumer critics of the twentieth century (Veblen, Adorno and Horkheimer, Galbraith, Baudrillard), arguing that these accounts were totalizing, theorized consumers as too passive, and simplified motives. The literature moved to micro-level, interpretive studies that are often depoliticized and lack a critical approach to the subject matter. The author argues that developments such as the emergence of a global production system, ecological degradation, and new findings on well-being warrant a reengagement with the critical tradition and macro-level critiques. This article considers three traditions—Veblenian accounts of status seeking, the Frankfurt School, and Galbraith and the economic approach to consumer demand— arguing that the flaws of these models are not necessarily fatal and that the debate about producer versus consumer sovereignty should be revisited in light of the changing political power of transnational corporations.
Value Orientations and Environmental Beliefs in Five Countries
Authors: De Groot Judith I.M. , Steg Linda
Published: April 2007

Various scholars argue that egoistic, altruistic, and biospheric value orientations are important for understanding environmental beliefs and behavior. However, little empirical evidence has been provided for the distinction between altruistic and biospheric values. This study examines whether this distinction is valid across different countries (i.e., Austria, Czech Republic, Italy, the Netherlands, and Sweden) by using a new value instrument. Relationships between these value orientations and behavior-specific beliefs (i.e., awareness of environmental consequences and personal norms) are investigated to further examine the validity of the value instrument. Results provide support for the generalization of the three-way distinction. Furthermore, value orientations were related to behavior-specific beliefs in all countries. The authors conclude that the distinction between the three value orientations is valid and useful for examining environmentally relevant behavior.
Mapping the Minds of Retirement Planners
Authors: Hershey Douglas A. , Henkens Kène , Van Dalen Hendrik P.
Published: April 2007

This study explored the psychological mechanisms that underlie the retirement planning and saving tendencies of Dutch and American workers. Participants were 988 Dutch and 429 Americans, 25 to 64 years of age. Analyses were designed to (a) examine the extent to which structural variables were related to planning tendencies and (b) develop culture-specific path analysis models to identify the mechanisms that underlie perceived financial preparedness for retirement. Findings revealed striking differences across countries not only among structural variables predictive of key psychological and retirement planning constructs, but also in the robustness of the path models. These findings suggest policy analysts should take into account both individual and cultural differences in the psychological predispositions of workers when considering pension reforms that stress individual responsibility for planning and saving.
Whatever Became of the Monetary Aggregates?
Authors: Goodhart Charles
Published: April 2007

My title intentionally harks back to Maurice Peston's slim, but excellent, 1980 book, entitled Whatever Happened to Macro-economics. In this book, a compilation of three lectures, Maurice asks how much then remained of traditional Keynesian macroeconomics in the aftermath of the monetarist counter-revolution, and of the development of Lucasian rational expectations. Maurice was much more impressed by the new contributions of the rational expectations school than he was of those by the more traditional monetarists.
Measuring Mao Zedong Thought and Interpreting Organizational Communication in China
Authors: Canchu Lin  , Clair Robin Patric
Published: April 2007

This study examines the impact of Maoist (Mao Zedong Thought; MZT) influence on organizational communication practices in the People's Republic of China. The authors developed an instrument from a thematic analysis of Mao's writings. Findings from the thematic analysis were used to create an instrument to measure MZT from an organizational communication perspective that was subsequently tested in a survey of more than 400 mainland Chinese employees working across 15 different organizations. Results suggest that MZT can be measured with some confidence with respect to reliability and validity. The results also suggest that MZT influences organizational communication practices to varying degrees in various mainland Chinese organizations. The findings are especially useful in today's global market for understanding organizational communication practices in China as well as other cultures.
Operationalizing Evidence-Based Practice
Authors: Regehr Cheryl , Stern Susan , Shlonsky Aron
Published: April 2007

Although evidence-based practice (EBP) has received increasing attention in social work in the past few years, there has been limited success in moving from academic discussion to engaging social workers in the process of implementing EBP in practice. This article describes the challenges, successes, and future aims in the process of developing a university-based institute for evidence-based social work. Aspects of the development include attempting to address concerns and critiques through developing an inclusive model of EBP; engaging community agency partners as active participants in the process; developing collaborative research projects with community partners to further the research evidence available for practice; conducting systematic reviews; finding means of disseminating review and research findings broadly in order to effect social policy revisions and lead to the development of effective programs and practices; and training agency personnel and social work students in the process of EBP and conducting practice evaluation research.
Improving Quality of Life and Career Attitudes of Youth With Disabilities
Authors: Wolf-Branigin Michael , Schuyler Vincent , White Patience
Published: April 2007

Improving quality of life is the primary focus as adolescents with disabilities enter adulthood. They increasingly, however, encounter difficulties transitioning into domains such as employment as these services occur near the end of their high school experience. Using an ecosystems model within a developmental approach, the program sought to improve the likelihood that adolescents will find and maintain meaningful employment as adults. The authors measured physical health, psychosocial functioning, and attitude toward employment of adolescents participating in the program during a 2-year period. Physical health, school functioning, and total functioning improved during the 2 years. Career attitudes were above the norms in earlier grades but fell in later grades. This suggests the need for early and continued intervention.
Assessing Nursing Staffing Ratios
Authors: Upenieks Valda V. , Kotlerman Jenny , Akhavan Jaleh , Esser Jennifer , Ngo Myha J.
Published: April 2007

In 2004, California became the first state to implement specific nurse-to-patient ratios for all hospitals. These mandated enactments have caused significant controversy among health care professionals as well as nursing unions and professional organizations. Supporters of minimum nurse-to-patient ratios cite patient care quality, safety, and outcomes, whereas critics point to the lack of solid data and the use of a universally standardized acuity tool. Much more remains to be learned about staffing policies before mature links may be made regarding set staffing ratios and patient outcomes—specifically, how nurses spend their time in terms of variability in their daily work. This study examines two comparable telemetry units with a 1:3 staffing ratio within a California hospital system to determine the relative rates of variability in nursing activities. The results demonstrate significant differences in categorical nursing activities (e.g., direct care, indirect care, etc.) between the two telemetry units ( χ 2 = 91.2028; p ≤ .0001). No correlation was noted between workload categories with daily staffing ratios and staffing mix between the two units. Although patients were grouped in a similar telemetry classification category and care was mandated at a set ratio, patient needs were variable, creating a significant difference in registered nurse (RN) categorical activities on the two units.
Compounding Tragedy
Authors: Keepnews David M.
Published: April 2007

The case of six health professionals imprisoned and facing execution in Libya only deepens the tragedy of an HIV outbreak among hospitalized children in the late 1990s. Worldwide attention has been focused on this case. Among the issues at stake is the ability of health professionals to provide critically needed services without fear of being turned into pawns or victims.
Weaning from mechanical ventilation
Authors: Boles J-M. , Bion J. , Connors A. , Herridge M. , Marsh B. , Melot C. , Pearl R. , Silverman H. , Stanchina M. , Vieillard-Baron A. , Welte T.
Published: April 2007

Weaning covers the entire process of liberating the patient from mechanical support and from the endotracheal tube. Many controversial questions remain concerning the best methods for conducting this process. An International Consensus Conference was held in April 2005 to provide recommendations regarding the management of this process. An 11-member international jury answered five pre-defined questions. 1) What is known about the epidemiology of weaning problems? 2) What is the pathophysiology of weaning failure? 3) What is the usual process of initial weaning from the ventilator? 4) Is there a role for different ventilator modes in more difficult weaning? 5) How should patients with prolonged weaning failure be managed?

The main recommendations were as follows. 1) Patients should be categorised into three groups based on the difficulty and duration of the weaning process. 2) Weaning should be considered as early as possible. 3) A spontaneous breathing trial is the major diagnostic test to determine whether patients can be successfully extubated. 4) The initial trial should last 30 min and consist of either T-tube breathing or low levels of pressure support. 5) Pressure support or assist–control ventilation modes should be favoured in patients failing an initial trial/trials. 6) Noninvasive ventilation techniques should be considered in selected patients to shorten the duration of intubation but should not be routinely used as a tool for extubation failure.
Transbronchial decompression of emphysematous bullae: a new therapeutic approach
Authors: Bhattacharyya P. , Sarkar D. , Nag S. , Ghosh S. , Roychoudhury S.
Published: April 2007

Bullae are common accompaniments of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease especially emphysema. They contribute to increased lung volume and worsen the mechanical disadvantage of the inspiratory muscles by increasing the residual volume (RV) and RV/total lung capacity ratio. Thus effective decompression of a large bulla or bullae is thus important to improve the lung function of affected patients and also to provide symptomatic relief. Surgery and thoracoscopy are two commonly performed procedures used to treat bullae. Although bronchoscopic lung volume reduction has been successfully accomplished for emphysema, isolated decompression of bullae bronchoscopically has not been tried to date.

A large emphysematous bulla in the left lower lobe of a surgically unfit patient was bronchoscopically punctured with a transbronchial aspiration needle; the position of the needle inside the bulla was confirmed and the air from the bulla was aspirated slowly to allow collapse. Finally, some autologous blood was instilled into the bulla before the needle was withdrawn.

The patient had immediate and sustained symptomatic relief with significant improvement in lung function.

Bronchoscopic transbronchial decompression of emphysematous bullae can be an effective therapeutic option and warrants further investigation.
Bronchiolitis obliterans following haematopoietic stem cell transplantation
Authors: Soubani A. O. , Uberti J. P.
Published: April 2007

The aim of the present article is to review the available clinical data on bronchiolitis obliterans following haematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HSCT).

The data sources used were the Medline database and references from the identified articles related to bronchiolitis obliterans, noninfectious pulmonary complications and HSCT.

HSCT is an important treatment for a variety of malignant and nonmalignant conditions. However, the procedure is limited by significant complications that may involve every organ of the body. Pulmonary complications are seen in 40–60% of HSCT recipients. The recent advances in prophylaxis and treatment of infectious complications have increased the significance of late noninfectious pulmonary conditions.

Currently, bronchiolitis obliterans is one of the most challenging pulmonary complications facing clinicians who are taking care of haematopoietic stem cell transplantation recipients. This article reviews the clinical and pathological features of this condition, sheds some light on potential mechanisms of pathogenesis, and discusses the available management options.
Histamine and tryptase modulate asthmatic airway smooth muscle GM-CSF and RANTES release
Authors: Chhabra J. , Li Y-Z. , Alkhouri H. , Blake A. E. , Ge Q. , Armour C. L. , Hughes J. M.
Published: April 2007

Degranulating mast cells are increased in the airway smooth muscle (ASM) of asthmatics, where they may influence ASM function. The aim of the present study was to determine whether histamine and tryptase modulate ASM cell granulocyte-macrophage colony-stimulating factor (GM-CSF) and RANTES (regulated on activation, normal T-cell expressed and secreted) release and also to examine which receptors are involved in this release.

Confluent, quiescent ASM cells from asthmatic and nonasthmatic donors were treated with histamine (1 μM–100 μM) with and without histamine receptor antagonist pre-treatment, or the protease-activated receptor (PAR)-2 agonists tryptase (0.5–5 nM) and SLIGKV (100 and 400 μM). The cells were then stimulated with interleukin (IL)-1β and/or tumour necrosis factor (TNF)-α (10 ng·mL−1) or left unstimulated for 24 h. Release of GM-CSF and RANTES was determined by ELISA and prostaglandin (PG)E2measured by enzyme immunoassay.

Neither histamine nor tryptase induced ASM GM-CSF or RANTES secretion. However, histamine increased IL-1β-induced GM-CSF release and markedly reduced TNF-α-induced RANTES release by both asthmatic and nonasthmatic cells to a similar extent, but did not modulate PGE2release. All changes involved activation of the histamine H1 receptor as they were partially or fully blocked by chlorpheniramine, but not ranitidine. Tryptase,viaits proteolytic activity, also potentiated GM-CSF, but not RANTES, release from asthmatic and nonasthmatic ASM cells induced by both cytokines. PAR-2 involvement in the tryptase potentiation was unlikely because SLIGKV had no effect.

In conclusion, mast cells, through histamine and tryptase, may locally modulate airway smooth muscle-induced inflammation in asthma.
Airway smooth muscle dynamics: a common pathway of airway obstruction in asthma
Authors: An S. S. , Bai T. R. , Bates J. H. T. , Black J. L. , Brown R. H. , Brusasco V. , Chitano P. , Deng L. , Dowell M. , Eidelman D. H. , Fabry B. , Fairbank N. J. , Ford L. E. , Fredberg J. J. , Gerthoffer W. T. , Gilbert S. H. , Gosens R. , Gunst S. J. , Halayko A. J. , Ingram R. H. , Irvin C. G. , James A. L. , Janssen L. J. , King G. G. , Knight D. A. , Lauzon A. M. , Lakser O. J. , Ludwig M. S. , Lutchen K. R. , Maksym G. N. , Martin J. G. , Mauad T. , McParland B. E. , Mijailovich S. M. , Mitchell H. W. , Mitchell R. W. , Mitzner W. , Murphy T. M. , Paré P. D. , Pellegrino R. , Sanderson M. J. , Schellenberg R. R. , Seow C. Y. , Silveira P. S. P. , Smith P. G. , Solway J. , Stephens N. L. , Sterk P. J. , Stewart A. G. , Tang D. D. , Tepper R. S. , Tran T. , Wang L.
Published: April 2007

Excessive airway obstruction is the cause of symptoms and abnormal lung function in asthma.

As airway smooth muscle (ASM) is the effecter controlling airway calibre, it is suspected that dysfunction of ASM contributes to the pathophysiology of asthma. However, the precise role of ASM in the series of events leading to asthmatic symptoms is not clear. It is not certain whether, in asthma, there is a change in the intrinsic properties of ASM, a change in the structure and mechanical properties of the noncontractile components of the airway wall, or a change in the interdependence of the airway wall with the surrounding lung parenchyma. All these potential changes could result from acute or chronic airway inflammation and associated tissue repair and remodelling.

Anti-inflammatory therapy, however, does not “cure” asthma, and airway hyperresponsiveness can persist in asthmatics, even in the absence of airway inflammation. This is perhaps because the therapy does not directly address a fundamental abnormality of asthma, that of exaggerated airway narrowing due to excessive shortening of ASM.

In the present study, a central role for airway smooth muscle in the pathogenesis of airway hyperresponsiveness in asthma is explored.
Light chain deposition disease involving the airways: diagnosis by fibreoptic bronchoscopy
Authors: Colombat M. , Gounant V. , Mal H. , Callard P. , Milleron B.
Published: April 2007

Light chain deposition disease (LCDD) infrequently affects the lungs and usually causes damage to the parenchyma, while bronchial involvement appears to be very rare. The present authors report the case of a 64-yr-old female with LCDD characterised by asymptomatic airway involvement.

Ten months after excision of a poorly differentiated vaginal carcinoma, a routine chest computed tomography (CT) scan revealed two lung cysts, several bilateral nodules and diffuse bronchial thickening. Pulmonary function tests were normal. Fibreoptic bronchoscopy showed marked diffuse mucosal thickening with highly conspicuous vascular plexuses. Nonamyloidal deposits were found in the bronchial wall, but no definite diagnosis could be proposed.

On follow-up, the patient was still asymptomatic and the CT scan and endoscopic appearance remained unchanged. The final diagnosis of κ LCDD was established 18 months later by another series of bronchial biopsies with frozen samples. Interestingly, electron microscopy showed dense granular deposits associated with nonamyloidal fibrils. An increased number of lung cysts were observed 32 months after identification of bronchial abnormalities, confirming the progressive nature of the disease. No extrapulmonary deposits or immunoproliferative disorder were found.

In conclusion, light chain deposition disease, which may remain latent for several years, can entirely involve large airways and may be diagnosed by bronchial biopsy.
Multiple non-collinear TF-map alignments of promoter regions
Authors: Blanco Enrique , Guigó Roderic , Messeguer Xavier
Published: April 2007

Background

The analysis of the promoter sequence of genes with similar expression patterns is a basic tool to annotate common regulatory elements. Multiple sequence alignments are on the basis of most comparative approaches. The characterization of regulatory regions from co-expressed genes at the sequence level, however, does not yield satisfactory results in many occasions as promoter regions of genes sharing similar expression programs often do not show nucleotide sequence conservation.

Results

In a recent approach to circumvent this limitation, we proposed to align the maps of predicted transcription factors (referred as TF-maps) instead of the nucleotide sequence of two related promoters, taking into account the label of the corresponding factor and the position in the primary sequence. We have now extended the basic algorithm to permit multiple promoter comparisons using the progressive alignment paradigm. In addition, non-collinear conservation blocks might now be identified in the resulting alignments. We have optimized the parameters of the algorithm in a small, but well-characterized collection of human-mouse-chicken-zebrafish orthologous gene promoters.

Conclusion

Results in this dataset indicate that TF-map alignments are able to detect high-level regulatory conservation at the promoter and the 3'UTR gene regions, which cannot be detected by the typical sequence alignments. Three particular examples are introduced here to illustrate the power of the multiple TF-map alignments to characterize conserved regulatory elements in absence of sequence similarity. We consider this kind of approach can be extremely useful in the future to annotate potential transcription factor binding sites on sets of co-regulated genes from high-throughput expression experiments.
A decline in transcript abundance for Heterodera glycines homologs of Caenorhabditis elegans uncoordinatedgenes accompanies its sedentary parasitic phase
Authors: Klink Vincent P , Martins Veronica E , Alkharouf Nadim W , Overall Christopher C , MacDonald Margaret H , Matthews Benjamin F
Published: April 2007

Background

Heterodera glycines (soybean cyst nematode [SCN]), the major pathogen of Glycine max (soybean), undergoes muscle degradation (sarcopenia) as it becomes sedentary inside the root. Many genes encoding muscular and neuromuscular components belong to the uncoordinated (unc) family of genes originally identified in Caenorhabditis elegans. Previously, we reported a substantial decrease in transcript abundance for Hg-unc-87, the H. glycines homolog of unc-87 (calponin) during the adult sedentary phase of SCN. These observations implied that changes in the expression of specific muscle genes occurred during sarcopenia.

Results

We developed a bioinformatics database that compares expressed sequence tag (est) and genomic data of
C

.

e

legans and
H

.

g

lycines (CeHg database). We identify H. glycines homologs of C. elegans unc genes whose protein products are involved in muscle composition and regulation. RT-PCR reveals the transcript abundance of H. glycines unc homologs at mobile and sedentary stages of its lifecycle. A prominent reduction in transcript abundance occurs in samples from sedentary nematodes for homologs of actin, unc-60B (cofilin), unc-89, unc-15 (paromyosin), unc-27 (troponin I), unc-54 (myosin), and the potassium channel unc-110 (twk-18). Less reduction is observed for the focal adhesion complex gene Hg-unc-97.

Conclusion

The CeHg bioinformatics database is shown to be useful in identifying homologs of genes whose protein products perform roles in specific aspects of H. glycines muscle biology. Our bioinformatics comparison of C. elegans and H. glycines genomic data and our Hg-unc-87 expression experiments demonstrate that the transcript abundance of specific H. glycines homologs of muscle gene decreases as the nematode becomes sedentary inside the root during its parasitic feeding stages.
The evolution of the vertebrate metzincins; insights from Ciona intestinalis and Danio rerio
Authors: Huxley-Jones Julie , Clarke Toni-Kim , Beck Christine , Toubaris George , Robertson David L , Boot-Handford Raymond P
Published: April 2007

Background

The metzincins are a large gene superfamily of proteases characterized by the presence of a zinc protease domain, and include the ADAM, ADAMTS, BMP1/TLL, meprin and MMP genes. Metzincins are involved in the proteolysis of a wide variety of proteins, including those of the extracellular matrix. The metzincin gene superfamily comprises eighty proteins in the human genome and ninety-three in the mouse. When and how the level of complexity apparent in the vertebrate metzincin gene superfamily arose has not been determined in detail. Here we present a comprehensive analysis of vertebrate metzincins using genes from both Ciona intestinalis and Danio rerio to provide new insights into the complex evolution of this gene superfamily.

Results

We have identified 19 metzincin genes in the ciona genome and 83 in the zebrafish genome. Phylogenetic analyses reveal that the expansion of the metzincin gene superfamily in vertebrates has occurred predominantly by the simple duplication of pre-existing genes rather than by the appearance and subsequent expansion of new metzincin subtypes (the only example of which is the meprin gene family). Despite the number of zebrafish metzincin genes being relatively similar to that of tetrapods (e.g. man and mouse), the pattern of gene retention and loss within these lineages is markedly different. In addition, we have studied the evolution of the related TIMP gene family and identify a single ciona and four zebrafish TIMP genes.

Conclusion

The complexity seen in the vertebrate metzincin gene families was mainly acquired during vertebrate evolution. The metzincin gene repertoire in protostomes and invertebrate deuterostomes has remained relatively stable. The expanded metzincin gene repertoire of extant tetrapods, such as man, has resulted largely from duplication events associated with early vertebrate evolution, prior to the sarcopterygian-actinopterygian split. The teleost repertoire of metzincin genes in part parallels that of tetrapods but has been significantly modified, perhaps as a consequence of a teleost-specific duplication event.
The taxonomy of Enterobacter sakazakii: proposal of a new genus Cronobacter gen. nov. and descriptions of Cronobacter sakazakii comb. nov. Cronobacter sakazakii subsp. sakazakii, comb. nov., Cronobacter sakazakii subsp. malonaticus subsp. nov., Cronobacter turicensis sp. nov., Cronobacter muytjensii sp. nov., Cronobacter dublinensis sp. nov. and Cronobacter genomospecies 1
Authors: Iversen Carol , Lehner Angelika , Mullane Niall , Bidlas Eva , Cleenwerck Ilse , Marugg John , Fanning Séamus , Stephan Roger , Joosten Han
Published: April 2007

Background

Enterobacter sakazakii is an opportunistic pathogen that can cause infections such as necrotizing enterocolitis, bacteraemia, meningitis and brain abscess/lesions. When the species was defined in 1980, 15 biogroups were described and it was suggested that these could represent multiple species. In this study the taxonomic relationship of strains described as E. sakazakii was further investigated.

Results

Strains identified as E. sakazakii were divided into separate groups on the basis of f-AFLP fingerprints, ribopatterns and full-length 16S rRNA gene sequences. DNA-DNA hybridizations revealed five genomospecies. The phenotypic profiles of the genomospecies were determined and biochemical markers identified.

Conclusion

This study clarifies the taxonomy of E. sakazakii and proposes a reclassification of these organisms.
Detection of mitochondrial insertions in the nucleus (NuMts) of Pleistocene and modern muskoxen
Authors: Kolokotronis Sergios-Orestis , MacPhee Ross DE , Greenwood Alex D
Published: April 2007

Background

Nuclear insertions of mitochondrial sequences (NuMts) have been identified in a wide variety of organisms. Trafficking of genetic material from the mitochondria to the nucleus has occurred frequently during mammalian evolution and can lead to the production of a large pool of sequences with varying degrees of homology to organellar mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) sequences. This presents both opportunities and challenges for forensics, population genetics, evolutionary genetics, conservation biology and the study of DNA from ancient samples. Here we present a case in which difficulties in ascertaining the organellar mtDNA sequence from modern samples hindered their comparison to ancient DNA sequences.

Results

We obtained mitochondrial hypervariable region (HVR) sequences from six ancient samples of tundra muskox (Ovibos moschatus) that were reproducible but distinct from modern muskox sequences reported previously. Using the same PCR primers applied to the ancient specimens and the primers used to generate the modern muskox DNA sequences in a previous study, we failed to definitively identify the organellar sequence from the two modern muskox samples tested. Instead of anticipated sequence homogeneity, we obtained multiple unique sequences from both hair and blood of one modern specimen. Sequencing individual clones of a >1 kb PCR fragment from modern samples did not alleviate the problem as there was not a consistent match across the entire length of the sequences to Ovibos when compared to sequences in GenBank.

Conclusion

In specific taxa, due to nuclear insertions some regions of the mitochondrial genome may not be useful for the characterization of modern or ancient DNA.
A single nucleotide mutation in Nppc is associated with a long bone abnormality in lbab mice
Authors: Jiao Yan , Yan Jian , Jiao Feng , Yang HongBin , Donahue Leah Rae , Li Xinmin , Roe Bruce A , Stuart John , Gu Weikuan
Published: April 2007

Background

The long bone abnormality (lbab) mouse is a new autosomal recessive mutant characterized by overall smaller body size with proportionate dwarfing of all organs and shorter long bones. Previous linkage analysis has located the lbab mutation on chromosome 1 between the markers D1Mit9 and D1Mit488.

Results

A genome-based positional approach was used to identify a mutation associated with lbab disease. A total of 122 genes and expressed sequence tags at the lbab region were screened for possible mutation by using genomic DNA from lbabl/lbab, lbab/+, and +/+ B6 mice and high throughput temperature gradient capillary electrophoresis. A sequence difference was identified in one of the amplicons of gene Nppc between lbab/lbab and +/+ mice. One-step reverse transcriptase polymerase chain reaction was performed to validate the difference of Nppc in different types of mice at the mRNA level. The mutation of Nppc was unique in lbab/lbab mice among multiple mouse inbred strains. The mutation of Nppc is co-segregated with lbab disease in 200 progenies produced from heterozygous lbab/+ parents.

Conclusion

A single nucleotide mutation of Nppc is associated with dwarfism in lbab/lbab mice. Current genome information and technology allow us to efficiently identify single nucleotide mutations from roughly mapped disease loci. The lbab mouse is a useful model for hereditary human achondroplasia.
The use of global transcriptional analysis to reveal the biological and cellular events involved in distinct development phases of Trichophyton rubrum conidial germination
Authors: Liu Tao , Zhang Qian , Wang Lingling , Yu Lu , Leng Wenchuan , Yang Jian , Chen Lihong , Peng Junping , Ma Li , Dong Jie , Xu Xingye , Xue Ying , Zhu Yafang , Zhang Wenliang , Yang Li , Li Weijun , Sun Lilian , Wan Zhe , Ding Guohui , Yu Fudong , Tu Kang , Qian Ziliang , Li Ruoyu , Shen Yan , Li Yixue , Jin Qi
Published: April 2007

Background

Conidia are considered to be the primary cause of infections by Trichophyton rubrum.

Results

We have developed a cDNA microarray containing 10250 ESTs to monitor the transcriptional strategy of conidial germination. A total of 1561 genes that had their expression levels specially altered in the process were obtained and hierarchically clustered with respect to their expression profiles. By functional analysis, we provided a global view of an important biological system related to conidial germination, including characterization of the pattern of gene expression at sequential developmental phases, and changes of gene expression profiles corresponding to morphological transitions. We matched the EST sequences to GO terms in the Saccharomyces Genome Database (SGD). A number of homologues of Saccharomyces cerevisiae genes related to signalling pathways and some important cellular processes were found to be involved in T. rubrum germination. These genes and signalling pathways may play roles in distinct steps, such as activating conidial germination, maintenance of isotropic growth, establishment of cell polarity and morphological transitions.

Conclusion

Our results may provide insights into molecular mechanisms of conidial germination at the cell level, and may enhance our understanding of regulation of gene expression related to the morphological construction of T. rubrum.
Diagnosis of invasive candidiasis by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay using the N-terminal fragment of Candida albicans hyphal wall protein 1
Authors: Laín Ana , Elguezabal Natalia , Brena Sonia , García-Ruiz Juan Carlos , del Palacio Amalia , Moragues María D , Pontón José
Published: April 2007

Background

The diagnosis of invasive candidiasis is difficult because there are no specific clinical manifestations of the disease and colonization and infection are difficult to distinguish. In the last decade, much effort has been made to develop reliable tests for rapid diagnosis of invasive candidiasis, but none of them have found widespread clinical use.

Results

Antibodies against a recombinant N-terminal fragment of the Candida albicans germ tube-specific antigen hyphal wall protein 1 (Hwp1) generated in Escherichia coli were detected by both immunoblotting and ELISA tests in a group of 36 hematological or Intensive Care Unit patients with invasive candidiasis and in a group of 45 control patients at high risk for the mycosis who did not have clinical or microbiological data to document invasive candidiasis. Results were compared with an immunofluorescence test to detect antibodies to C. albicans germ tubes (CAGT). The sensitivity, specificity, positive and negative predictive values of a diagnostic test based on the detection of antibodies against the N-terminal fragment of Hwp1 by immunoblotting were 27.8 %, 95.6 %, 83.3 % and 62.3 %, respectively. Detection of antibodies to the N-terminal fragment of Hwp1 by ELISA increased the sensitivity (88.9 %) and the negative predictive value (90.2 %) but slightly decreased the specificity (82.6 %) and positive predictive values (80 %). The kinetics of antibody response to the N-terminal fragment of Hwp1 by ELISA was very similar to that observed by detecting antibodies to CAGT.

Conclusion

An ELISA test to detect antibodies against a recombinant N-terminal fragment of the C. albicans germ tube cell wall antigen Hwp1 allows the diagnosis of invasive candidiasis with similar results to those obtained by detecting antibodies to CAGT but without the need of treating the sera to adsorb the antibodies against the cell wall surface of the blastospore.
Interaction between ATM and PARP-1 in response to DNA damage and sensitization of ATM deficient cells through PARP inhibition
Authors: Aguilar-Quesada Rocío , Muñoz-Gámez José Antonio , Martín-Oliva David , Peralta Andreína , Valenzuela Ma Teresa , Matínez-Romero Rubén , Quiles-Pérez Rosa , Murcia Josiane Menissier-de , de Murcia Gilbert , de Almodóvar Mariano Ruiz , Oliver F Javier
Published: April 2007

ATM and PARP-1 are two of the most important players in the cell's response to DNA damage. PARP-1 and ATM recognize and bound to both single and double strand DNA breaks in response to different triggers. Here we report that ATM and PARP-1 form a molecular complex in vivo in undamaged cells and this association increases after γ-irradiation. ATM is also modified by PARP-1 during DNA damage. We have also evaluated the impact of PARP-1 absence or inhibition on ATM-kinase activity and have found that while PARP-1 deficient cells display a defective ATM-kinase activity and reduced γ-H2AX foci formation in response to γ-irradiation, PARP inhibition on itself is able to activate ATM-kinase. PARP inhibition induced γ H2AX foci accumulation, in an ATM-dependent manner. Inhibition of PARP also induces DNA double strand breaks which were dependent on the presence of ATM. As consequence ATM deficient cells display an increased sensitivity to PARP inhibition. In summary our results show that while PARP-1 is needed in the response of ATM to gamma irradiation, the inhibition of PARP induces DNA double strand breaks (which are resolved in and ATM-dependent pathway) and activates ATM kinase.
From perception to action: phase-locked gamma oscillations correlate with reaction times in a speeded response task
Authors: Fründ Ingo , Busch Niko A , Schadow Jeanette , Körner Ursula , Herrmann Christoph S
Published: April 2007

Background

Phase-locked gamma oscillations have so far mainly been described in relation to perceptual processes such as sensation, attention or memory matching. Due to its very short latency (≈90 ms) such oscillations are a plausible candidate for very rapid integration of sensory and motor processes.

Results

We measured EEG in 13 healthy participants in a speeded reaction task. Participants had to press a button as fast as possible whenever a visual stimulus was presented. The stimulus was always identical and did not have to be discriminated from other possible stimuli. In trials in which the participants showed a fast response, a slow negative potential over central electrodes starting approximately 800 ms before the response and highly phase-locked gamma oscillations over central and posterior electrodes between 90 and 140 ms after the stimulus were observed. In trials in which the participants showed a slow response, no slow negative potential was observed and phase-locked gamma oscillations were significantly reduced. Furthermore, for slow response trials the phase-locked gamma oscillations were significantly delayed with respect to fast response trials.

Conclusion

These results indicate the relevance of phase-locked gamma oscillations for very fast (not necessarily detailed) integration processes.
Prognostic significance of bcl-2 expression in stage III breast cancer patients who had received doxorubicin and cyclophosphamide followed by paclitaxel as adjuvant chemotherapy
Authors: Lee Kyung-Hun , Im Seock-Ah , Oh Do-Youn , Lee Se-Hoon , Chie Eui Kyu , Han Wonshik , Kim Dong-Wan , Kim Tae-You , Park In Ae , Noh Dong-Young , Heo Dae Seog , Ha Sung Whan , Bang Yung-Jue
Published: April 2007

Background

Bcl-2 is positively regulated by hormonal receptor pathways in breast cancer. A study was conducted to assess the prognostic significances of clinico-pathologic variables and of ER, PR, p53, c-erbB2, bcl-2, or Ki-67 as markers of relapse in breast cancer patients who had received the identical adjuvant therapy at a single institution.

Methods

A cohort of 151 curatively resected stage III breast cancer patients (M:F = 3:148, median age 46 years) who had 4 or more positive lymph nodes and received doxorubicin and cyclophosphamide followed by paclitaxel (AC/T) as adjuvant chemotherapy was analyzed for clinico-pathologic characteristics including disease-free survival (DFS) and overall survival (OS). Patients with positive ER and/or PR expression received 5 years of tamoxifen following AC/T. The protein expressions of biomarkers were assessed immunohistochemically.

Results

The median follow-up duration was 36 months, and 37 patients (24.5%) experienced a recurrence. Univariate analyses indicated that the tumor size (P = 0.038) and the number of involved lymph nodes (P < 0.001) significantly affected the recurrences. However, the type of surgery, the histology, histologic grade, the presence of endolymphatic emboli, and a close resection margin did not. Moreover, ER positivity (P = 0.013), bcl-2 positivity (P = 0.002) and low p53 expression (P = 0.032) were found to be significantly associated with a prolonged DFS. Furthermore, multivariate analysis identified 10 or more involved lymph nodes (HR 7.366; P < 0.001), negative bcl-2 expression (HR 2.895; P = 0.030), and c-erbB2 over-expression (HR 3.535; P = 0.001) as independent indicators of poorer DFS. In addition, bcl-2 expression was found to be significantly correlated with the expressions of ER and PR, and inversely correlated with the expressions of p53, c-erbB2 and Ki-67. Patients with bcl-2 expression had a significantly longer DFS than those without, even in the ER (+) subgroup. Moreover, OS was significantly affected by ER, bcl-2 and c-erbB2.

Conclusion

Bcl-2 is an independent prognostic factor of DFS in curatively resected stage III breast cancer patients and appears to be a useful prognostic factor in combination with c-erbB2 and the number of involved lymph nodes.
Cyclophosphamide "metronomic" chemotherapy for palliative treatment of a young patient with advanced epithelial ovarian cancer
Authors: Samaritani Riccardo , Corrado Giacomo , Vizza Enrico , Sbiroli Carlo
Published: April 2007

Background

Evaluation of the clinical efficacy and tolerance of metronomic chemotherapy as salvage therapy in a young patient with advanced, platinum resistant, ovarian carcinoma and bad performance status.

Case presentation

We tried palliative chemotherapy with daily low dose oral cyclophosphamide with a patient suffering from stage IIIC ovarian cancer that responded to daily cyclophosphamide (CTX) after no response to chemotherapy with paclitaxel and carboplatin as first line and progression after second line with topotecan.

The progression-free survival time on daily low dose oral cyclophosphamide treatment was 65 months without side effects. She was well during the chemotherapy and lived a normal working and social life.

Conclusion

We think that use of low dose of oral CTX should be investigated further as a strategy against tumour progression after standard chemotherapy in patients who are platinum resistant with poor performance status.
ETBreceptor polymorphism is associated with airway obstruction
Authors: Taillé Camille , Guénégou Armelle , Almolki Abdelhamid , Piperaud Marie , Leynaert Bénédicte , Vuillaumier Sandrine , Neukirch Françoise , Boczkowski Jorge , Aubier Michel , Benessiano Joëlle , Crestani Bruno
Published: April 2007

Background

Endothelin-1 (EDN1) has been involved in the development of airway obstruction and inflammation in asthma. Several polymorphisms have been identified among the genes encoding for preproET1, an inactive precursor of ET-1, and for ETA (EDNRA) and ETB (EDNRB), the two receptors for EDN1. In the present work, we hypothesised that molecular variation in these genes could be a major determinant of the degree of bronchial obstruction. The purpose of this study was to investigate whether the genetic polymorphisms of preproET-1, EDNRA and EDNRB genes were associated with the degree of airway obstruction, assessed by FEV1.

Methods

Polymorphisms of preproET-1, EDNRA and EDNRB were first studied in a population of adult asthmatic patients. Results were confirmed in a large population of adults from the general population from the ECRHS II study.

Results

In our population of adult asthmatic patients, the EDNRB-30G>A (Leu277Leu) polymorphism (GG genotype) is strongly associated with a low FEV1 and with a higher percentage of patients with FEV1 < 80% of predicted value. No relationship was found between pulmonary function and EDNRA-1363C>T (His323His) or preproET-1-595G>T (Lys198Asp) polymorphism. In the adult population from the ECRHS II, we found a similar association between GG genotype and a low FEV1 or a higher percentage of subjects with FEV1 < 80% predicted, especially in the subgroups of asthmatics subjects (OR = 4.31 (95%CI 1.03 – 18.04)) and smokers (OR = 7.42 (95%CI 1.69 – 32.6)).

Conclusion

the EDNRB-30G>A polymorphism could be a determinant of airway obstruction in humans with predisposing factors such as tobacco smoke exposure or asthma.