bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Safety of retained microcatheters: an evaluation of radiofrequency heating in endovascular microcatheters with nitinol, tungsten, and polyetheretherketone braiding at 1.5 T and 3 T
Authors: Losey Aaron D , Lillaney Prasheel , Martin Alastair J , Halbach Van V , Cooke Daniel L , Dowd Christopher F , Higashida Randall T , Saloner David A , Wilson Mark W , Saeed Maythem , Hetts Steven W
Published: May 2013

Background

The use of ethylene-vinyl alcohol copolymer for liquid embolization of cranial vascular lesions has resulted in microcatheter fragments entrapped in patients following endovascular procedures. Undergoing subsequent diagnostic MRI examinations poses a safety concern due to the possibility of radiofrequency heating of the metallic braid incorporated into the microcatheter. Heating of nitinol, tungsten, and polyetheretherketone (PEEK) braided microcatheters was assessed and compared using a phantom model.

Methods

Microcatheters coupled with fluoroptic temperature probes were embedded in a polyacrylamide gel within a head and torso phantom. Experiments were performed at 1.5 T and 3 T, analyzing the effects of different catheter immersion lengths, specific absorption rate (SAR) levels, short clinical scans, long clinical scans, and microcatheter fragment lengths.

Results

The maximal increase in temperature for the nitinol braided microcatheter during a 15 min scan was 3.06°C using the T1 fast spin echo sequence at 1.5 T and 0.45°C using the balanced steady state free precession sequence at 3 T. The same scans for fragment lengths of 9, 18, 36, and 72 cm produced maximal temperature rises of 0.68, 0.80, 1.70, and 1.07°C at 1.5 T, respectively. The temperature changes at 3 T for these fragment lengths were 0.66, 0.83, 1.07, and 0.72°C, respectively. The tungsten and PEEK braided microcatheters did not demonstrate heating.

Conclusions

Substantial heating of nitinol braided microcatheters occurred and was a function of SAR level and geometric considerations. SAR and time limitations on MR scanning are proposed for patients with this microcatheter entrapped in their vasculature. In contrast, tungsten and PEEK braided microcatheters showed potential safe use in MRI.
Immunosuppressive therapy in adults with aplastic anaemia: single-institution experience from India
Authors: Nair Velu , Sharma Ajay , Das Satyaranjan , Sondhi Vishal , Sharma Sanjeevan
Published: May 2013

Objective

To determine overall survival and factors predicting survival after immunosuppressive therapy in patients with acquired aplastic anaemia.

Design

Retrospective.

Setting

Tertiary care hospital.

Patients

120 adults diagnosed as having acquired aplastic anaemia between 1 January 1996 and 31 December 2009.

Interventions

Anti-thymocyte globulin (ATG) followed by ciclosporin was administered to all patients for 15–18 months as the initial treatment. Haematological response was assessed 6 months after ATG administration and 6-monthly thereafter. Platelets were transfused if levels were <10 × 103/l and for symptomatic bleeding. Transfusions of red blood cells were given for haemoglobin levels <70 g/l or symptomatic anaemia. Febrile neutropenia was managed with antibiotics, with the addition of antifungal agents after 3–4 days of unresponsive fever. Granulocyte colony-stimulating factor was administered at a dose of 5 µg/kg/day (maximum 300 µg/day) subcutaneously for infective episodes.

Main outcome measures

Primary outcome: overall survival. Secondary outcome: response to immunosuppressive therapy, failure-free survival, relapse and clonal evolutions. The response and relapse criteria were defined in accordance with the British Council for Standards in Haematology guidelines.

Results

Overall response at 6 months after initiation of treatment was 85.8% (103/120). Overall survival at 76 months was 83.4%. Overall survival correlated with presence of response (complete response or partial response) at 6 months after ATG administration (HR=0.021, 95% CI 0.006 to 0.079, p<0.001). The occurrence of infectious complications adversely affected the overall survival (HR=5.71, 95% CI 1.22 to 26.77, p=0.027). Six patients relapsed. There were no deaths or adverse events 12 months after treatment among responders.

Conclusions

In our study, overall survival was 83.4% at a median follow-up of 76 months. The two variables that significantly affected overall survival were response to therapy at 6 months and occurrence of infectious complications.
Eradication of BVDV in cattle: the Norwegian project
Authors: Løken T. , Nyberg O.
Published: May 2013

The intention of this collaborative project was eradication of pestivirus from the Norwegian cattle population of about 30,000 dairy and beef herds, primarily by identification and culling of persistently infected (PI) animals. Testing was performed in four tiers, with examination for pestivirus antibodies by indirect ELISA in (1) bulk milk, (2) pooled milk from primiparous dairy cows and (3) pooled blood from young stock. The herds positive in the third tier were examined for pestivirus antigen in blood from all antibody‐negative individuals by ­antigen‐capture ELISA, and these animal composed tier (4). Following culling of the PI animals, a herd was considered free from pestivirus when pooled blood from young stock was antibody‐negative on two sampling occasions three months apart. Number of herds with PI animals peaked at about 3000 (10 per cent) in the 2nd project year, then decreased steadily; only three herds (0.01 per cent) contained PI animals 10 years later. Solid, continuous information flow to all relevant partners was crucial to project success. The project saved losses of between 50 million and 200 million Norwegian crowns (NOK) annually (approximately 4.5 million to 18 million GBP). Project running costs for 10 years were 52.4 million NOK. Following project completion, surveillance of the Norwegian cattle population for pestivirus has continued.
INSTITUTIONALISATION OF MANAGEMENT ACCOUNTING IN FAMILY BUSINESSES — EMPIRICAL EVIDENCE FROM AUSTRIA AND GERMANY
Authors: HIEBL MARTIN R. W. , FELDBAUER-DURSTMÜLLER BIRGIT , DULLER CHRISTINE , NEUBAUER HERBERT
Published: May 2013

This study investigates whether family businesses (FBs) differ from non-family businesses (NFBs) regarding the institutionalisation of management accounting. Furthermore, it analyses whether FB-specific contextual factors such as the existence of non-family management and the level of family influence affect the establishment of discrete management accounting departments. Six hypotheses are formulated and tested based on survey results from 479 firms from Austria and 418 firms from Germany. Our results indicate that FBs establish fewer management accounting departments than NFBs do and that the heads of management accounting in FBs are less likely to hold a university degree compared with their counterparts in NFBs. Moreover, within FBs, larger firm size and the existence of non-family management are positively correlated with the establishment of management accounting departments, where firm size acts as the strongest predictor. As firm type (FB vs. NFB) emerged as a significant contextual factor for the institutionalisation of management accounting, this factor should be included in future studies of the organisation and set-up of the corporate management accounting function. Moreover, deeper investigation into the drivers and outcomes of FB-specific management accounting institutionalisation is needed.
ACHIEVING LEGITIMACY IN ENTREPRENEURSHIP EDUCATION: A CASE STUDY
Authors: RADU LEFEBVRE MIRUNA , REDIEN-COLLOT RENAUD
Published: May 2013

This paper examines the legitimating process of a French higher education institution entirely dedicated to entrepreneurship. Management and entrepreneurship education strive both for academic and market legitimacies. We think entrepreneurship education is confronted with an additional challenge: building political legitimacy. We analyze the "extreme case" study of Advancia, a Paris business school. We examined the business school's legitimation process over a period of six years, from 2004 to 2010. This "extreme case" may be informative for other business schools willing to reach academic, market and political legitimacies while at the same time trying to develop a coherent and stable global strategy in a competitive higher education landscape. This is the first article dealing with the topic of legitimacy acquisition processes, with the aim of emphasizing the institutionalization of entrepreneurial mindset in French entrepreneurship higher education.
Weakly coupled relaxor behavior of BaTiO3-Bi(Mg1/2Ti1/2)O3 lead-free ceramics
Authors: Zhang Qiang , Li Zhenrong
Published: May 2013

(1-x) BaTiO 3-x Bi ( Mg 1/2 Ti 1/2) O 3 (BT-BMT, 0.3 ≤ x ≤ 0.6) ceramics were prepared by the conventional mixed oxide method. Dielectric measurements showed highly diffusive and dispersive relaxor-like characteristics for all compositions. For 0.3 ≤ x ≤ 0.4, all these compositions possess a stable dielectric permittivity of approximately 1500 and low loss tangent (tan δ < 2%) in the temperature range 200–400°C, which may have great potential for high-temperature applications. For all samples, examination of the polarization hysteresis behavior shows an obvious linear hysteresis loops at 120°C. It was found that the energy density of about 0.7 J/cm3 could be achieved at 120°C for x = 0.4 sample, indicating a high energy density.
Transfer joint embedding for cross-domain named entity recognition
Authors: Pan Sinno Jialin , Toh Zhiqiang , Su Jian
Published: May 2013

Named Entity Recognition (NER) is a fundamental task in information extraction from unstructured text. Most previous machine-learning-based NER systems are domain-specific, which implies that they may only perform well on some specific domains (e.g.,
Newswire
) but tend to adapt poorly to other related but different domains (e.g.,
Weblog
). Recently, transfer learning techniques have been proposed to NER. However, most transfer learning approaches to NER are developed for binary classification, while NER is a multiclass classification problem in nature. Therefore, one has to first reduce the NER task to multiple binary classification tasks and solve them independently. In this article, we propose a new transfer learning method, named
Transfer Joint Embedding
(TJE), for cross-domain multiclass classification, which can fully exploit the relationships between classes (labels), and reduce domain difference in data distributions for transfer learning. More specifically, we aim to embed both labels (outputs) and high-dimensional features (inputs) from different domains (e.g., a source domain and a target domain) into a unified low-dimensional latent space, where 1) each label is represented by a prototype and the intrinsic relationships between labels can be measured by Euclidean distance; 2) the
distance
in data distributions between the source and target domains can be reduced; 3) the source domain labeled data are closer to their corresponding label-prototypes than others. After the latent space is learned, classification on the target domain data can be done with the simple nearest neighbor rule in the latent space. Furthermore, in order to scale up TJE, we propose an efficient algorithm based on stochastic gradient descent (SGD). Finally, we apply the proposed TJE method for NER across different domains on the ACE 2005 dataset, which is a benchmark in Natural Language Processing (NLP). Experimental results demonstrate the effectiveness of TJE and show that TJE can outperform state-of-the-art transfer learning approaches to NER.
Sparse hashing for fast multimedia search
Authors: Zhu Xiaofeng , Huang Zi , Cheng Hong , Cui Jiangtao , Shen Heng Tao
Published: May 2013

Hash-based methods achieve fast similarity search by representing high-dimensional data with compact binary codes. However, both generating binary codes and encoding unseen data effectively and efficiently remain very challenging tasks. In this article, we focus on these tasks to implement approximate similarity search by proposing a novel hash based method named sparse hashing (SH for short). To generate interpretable (or semantically meaningful) binary codes, the proposed SH first converts original data into low-dimensional data through a novel nonnegative sparse coding method. SH then converts the low-dimensional data into Hamming space (i.e., binary encoding low-dimensional data) by a new binarization rule. After this, training data are represented by generated binary codes. To efficiently and effectively encode unseen data, SH learns hash functions by taking a-priori knowledge into account, such as implicit group effect of the features in training data, and the correlations between original space and the learned Hamming space. SH is able to perform fast approximate similarity search by efficient bit XOR operations in the memory of a modern PC with short binary code representations. Experimental results show that the proposed SH significantly outperforms state-of-the-art techniques.
Exercise training normalizes the blunted central component of the baroreflex in rats with heart failure: role of the PVN
Authors: Patel Kaushik P. , Salgado Helio C. , Liu Xuefei , Zheng Hong
Published: May 2013

Exercise training (ExT) normalizes the increased sympathetic outflow in chronic heart failure (HF). The underlying mechanisms are not clearly understood. We hypothesized that ExT normalized the blunted central component of the baroreflex control of renal sympathetic nerve activity (RSNA) in HF. Four groups of rats [sham operated (sham)-sedentary (Sed), sham-ExT, HF-Sed, and HF-ExT] were used. HF was induced by left coronary artery ligation, and ExT consisted of 3 wk of treadmill running. In anesthetized rats, the decrease in RSNA in response to aortic depressor nerve stimulation (5–40 Hz) in the HF-Sed group was significantly lower than that in the sham-Sed group (−37 ± 7% vs. −63 ± 8% at 40 Hz, P < 0.05). In the HF-ExT group, responses in RSNA, mean arterial pressure (MAP), and heart rate (HR) were not significantly different from those in the sham-Sed or sham-ExT groups. ExT normalized blunted RSNA, MAP, and HR responses to bicuculline microinjections into the paraventricular nucleus (PVN) in rats with HF. Activation of the PVN by blockade of GABA receptors with bicuculline in normal control rats blunted the centrally component of the baroreflex arc. GABAA-α1 and -β1 receptor protein expression were significantly lower (by 48% and 30%) in the HF-Sed group, but ExT normalized this difference between the HF and sham groups. These data suggest that one mechanism by which ExT alleviates elevated sympathetic outflow in HF may be through normalization of central integrative mechanisms, perhaps via improving the inhibitory GABAergic mechanism within the PVN, on the baroreflex arc.
Mechanisms of cardiovascular actions of urocortins in the hypothalamic arcuate nucleus of the rat
Authors: Chitravanshi Vineet C. , Kawabe Kazumi , Sapru Hreday N.
Published: May 2013

The presence of urocortins (UCNs) and corticotropin-releasing factor (CRF) receptors has been reported in the hypothalamic arcuate nucleus (ARCN). We have previously reported that UCNs are involved in central cardiovascular regulation. Based on this information, we hypothesized that the ARCN may be one of the sites where UCNs exert their central cardiovascular actions. Experiments were done in artificially ventilated, adult male Wistar rats anesthetized with urethane. Unilateral microinjections (30 nl) of UCN1 (0.12–2 mM) elicited decreases in mean arterial pressure (MAP) and heart rate (HR). Maximum cardiovascular responses were elicited by a 1 mM concentration of UCN1. Microinjections of UCN2 and UCN3 (1 mM each) into the ARCN elicited similar decreases in MAP and HR. UCN1 was used as a prototype for the other experiments described below. HR responses elicited by UCN1 were significantly attenuated by bilateral vagotomy. Prior microinjections of NBI-27914 (CRF-1 receptor antagonist) and astressin (CRF-1 receptor and CRF-2 receptor antagonist) (1 mM each) into the ARCN significantly attenuated the cardiovascular responses elicited by UCN1 microinjections at the same site. Microinjections of UCN1 into the ARCN decreased efferent renal sympathetic nerve activity. It was concluded that microinjections of UCN1, UCN2, and UCN3 into the ARCN elicited decreases in MAP and HR. Decreases in MAP, HR, and renal sympathetic nerve activity elicited by UCN1 microinjections into the ARCN were mediated via CRF receptors. Bradycardic responses to UCN1 were mediated via the activation of vagus nerves, and decreases in MAP may be mediated via decreases in sympathetic nerve activity.
Oxidative stress augments pulmonary hypertension in chronically hypoxic mice overexpressing the oxidized LDL receptor
Authors: Ogura Sayoko , Shimosawa Tatsuo , Mu ShengYu , Sonobe Takashi , Kawakami-Mori Fumiko , Wang Hong , Uetake Yuzaburo , Yoshida Kenichi , Yatomi Yutaka , Shirai Mikiyasu , Fujita Toshiro
Published: May 2013

Chronic hypoxia is one of the main causes of pulmonary hypertension (PH) associated with ROS production. Lectin-like oxidized low-density lipoprotein receptor (LOX)-1 is known to be an endothelial receptor of oxidized low-density lipoprotein, which is assumed to play a role in the initiation of ROS generation. We investigated the role of LOX-1 and ROS generation in PH and vascular remodeling in LOX-1 transgenic (TG) mice. We maintained 8- to 10-wk-old male LOX-1 TG mice and wild-type (WT) mice in normoxia (room air) or hypoxia (10% O2 chambers) for 3 wk. Right ventricular (RV) systolic pressure (RVSP) was comparable between the two groups under normoxic conditions; however, chronic hypoxia significantly increased RVSP and RV hypertrophy in LOX-1 TG mice compared with WT mice. Medial wall thickness of the pulmonary arteries was significantly greater in LOX-1 TG mice than in WT mice. Furthermore, hypoxia enhanced ROS production and nitrotyrosine expression in LOX-1 TG mice, supporting the observed pathological changes. Administration of the NADPH oxidase inhibitor apocynin caused a significant reduction in PH and vascular remodeling in LOX-1 TG mice. Our results suggest that LOX-1-ROS generation induces the development and progression of PH.
Lipoxin A4-mediated KATP potassium channel activation results in cystic fibrosis airway epithelial repair
Authors: Buchanan Paul J. , McNally Paul , Harvey Brian J. , Urbach Valerie
Published: May 2013

The main cause of morbidity and mortality in cystic fibrosis (CF) is progressive lung destruction as a result of persistent bacterial infection and inflammation, coupled with reduced capacity for epithelial repair. Levels of the anti-inflammatory mediator lipoxin A4 (LXA4) have been reported to be reduced in bronchoalveolar lavages of patients with CF. We investigated the ability of LXA4 to trigger epithelial repair through the initiation of proliferation and migration in non-CF (NuLi-1) and CF (CuFi-1) airway epithelia. Spontaneous repair and cell migration were significantly slower in CF epithelial cultures (CuFi-1) compared with controls (NuLi-1). LXA4 triggered an increase in migration, proliferation, and wound repair of non-CF and CF airway epithelia. These responses to LXA4 were completely abolished by the ALX/FPR2 receptor antagonist, Boc2 and ALX/FPR2 siRNA. The KATP channel opener pinacidil mimicked the LXA4 effect on migration, proliferation, and epithelial repair, whereas the KATP channel inhibitor, glibenclamide, blocked the responses to LXA4. LXA4 did not affect potassium channel expression but significantly upregulated glibenclamide-sensitive (KATP) currents through the basolateral membrane of NuLi-1 and CuFi-1 cells. MAP kinase (ERK1/2) inhibitor, PD98059 , also inhibited the LXA4-induced proliferation of NuLi-1 and CuFi-1 cells. Finally, both LXA4 and pinacidil stimulated ERK-MAP kinase phosphorylation, whereas the effect of LXA4 on ERK phosphorylation was inhibited by glibenclamide. Taken together, our results provided evidence for a role of LXA4 in triggering epithelial repair through stimulation of the ALX/FPR2 receptor, KATP potassium channel activation, and ERK phosphorylation. This work suggests exogenous delivery of LXA4, restoring levels in patients with CF, perhaps as a potential therapeutic strategy.
Induction of nitric oxide synthase expression by lipopolysaccharide is mediated by calcium-dependent PKCα-β1 in alveolar epithelial cells
Authors: Boncoeur Émilie , Bouvet Guillaume F. , Migneault Francis , Tardif Valérie , Ferraro Pasquale , Radzioch Danuta , de Sanctis Juan B. , Eidelman David , Govindaraju Karuthapillai , Dagenais André , Berthiaume Yves
Published: May 2013

Nitric oxide (NO) plays an important role in innate host defense and inflammation. In response to infection, NO is generated by inducible nitric oxide synthase (iNOS), a gene product whose expression is highly modulated by different stimuli, including lipopolysaccharide (LPS) from gram-negative bacteria. We reported recently that LPS from Pseudomonas aeruginosa altered Na+transport in alveolar epithelial cells via a suramin-dependent process, indicating that LPS activated a purinergic response in these cells. To further study this question, in the present work, we tested whether iNOS mRNA and protein expression were modulated in response to LPS in alveolar epithelial cells. We found that LPS induced a 12-fold increase in iNOS mRNA expression via a transcription-dependent process in these cells. iNOS protein, NO, and nitrotyrosine were also significantly elevated in LPS-treated cells. Ca2+chelation and protein kinase C (PKCα-β1) inhibition suppressed iNOS mRNA induction by LPS, implicating Ca2+-dependent PKC signaling in this process. LPS evoked a significant increase of extracellular ATP. Because PKC activation is one of the signaling pathways known to mediate purinergic signaling, we evaluated the hypothesis that iNOS induction was ATP dependent. Although high suramin concentration inhibited iNOS mRNA induction, the process was not ATP dependent, since specific purinergic receptor antagonists could not inhibit the process. Altogether, these findings demonstrate that iNOS expression is highly modulated in alveolar epithelial cells by LPS via a Ca2+/PKCα-β1 pathway independent of ATP signaling.
Rac1 pathway mediates stretch response in pulmonary alveolar epithelial cells
Authors: DiPaolo Brian C. , Davidovich Nurit , Kazanietz Marcelo G. , Margulies Susan S.
Published: May 2013

Alveolar epithelial cells (AECs) maintain the pulmonary blood-gas barrier integrity with gasketlike intercellular tight junctions (TJ) that are anchored internally to the actin cytoskeleton. We have previously shown that AEC monolayers stretched cyclically and equibiaxially undergo rapid magnitude- and frequency-dependent actin cytoskeletal remodeling to form perijunctional actin rings (PJARs). In this work, we show that even 10 min of stretch induced increases in the phosphorylation of Akt and LIM kinase (LIMK) and decreases in cofilin phosphorylation, suggesting that the Rac1/Akt pathway is involved in these stretch-mediated changes. We confirmed that Rac1 inhibitors wortmannin or EHT-1864 decrease stretch-stimulated Akt and LIMK phosphorylation and that Rac1 agonists PIP3 or PDGF increase phosphorylation of these proteins in unstretched cells. We also confirmed that Rac1 pathway inhibition during stretch modulated stretch-induced changes in occludin content and monolayer permeability, actin remodeling and PJAR formation, and cell death. As further validation, overexpression of Rac GTPase-activating protein β2-chimerin also preserved monolayer barrier properties in stretched monolayers. In summary, our data suggest that constitutive activity of Rac1, which is necessary for stretch-induced activation of the Rac1 downstream proteins, mediates stretch-induced increases in permeability and PJAR formation.
Chronic hypoxia selectively enhances L- and T-type voltage-dependent Ca2+ channel activity in pulmonary artery by upregulating Cav1.2 and Cav3.2
Authors: Wan Jun , Yamamura Aya , Zimnicka Adriana M. , Voiriot Guillaume , Smith Kimberly A. , Tang Haiyang , Ayon Ramon J. , Choudhury Moumita S. R. , Ko Eun A. , Wang Jun , Wang Chen , Makino Ayako , Yuan Jason X.-J.
Published: May 2013

Hypoxia-induced pulmonary hypertension (HPH) is characterized by sustained pulmonary vasoconstriction and vascular remodeling, both of which are mediated by pulmonary artery smooth muscle cell (PASMC) contraction and proliferation, respectively. An increase in cytosolic Ca2+ concentration ([Ca2+]cyt) is a major trigger for pulmonary vasoconstriction and an important stimulus for cell proliferation in PASMCs. Ca2+ influx through voltage-dependent Ca2+ channels (VDCC) is an important pathway for the regulation of [Ca2+]cyt. The potential role for L- and T-type VDCC in the development of HPH is still unclear. Using a hypoxic-induced pulmonary hypertension mouse model, we undertook this study to identify if VDCC in pulmonary artery (PA) are functionally upregulated and determine which type of VDCC are altered in HPH. Mice subjected to chronic hypoxia developed pulmonary hypertension within 4 wk, and high-K+- and U-46619-induced contraction of PA was greater in chronic hypoxic mice than that in normoxic control mice. Additionally, we demonstrate that high-K+- and U-46619-induced Ca2+ influx in PASMC is significantly increased in the hypoxic group. The VDCC activator, Bay K8864, induced greater contraction of the PA of hypoxic mice than in that of normoxic mice in isometric force measurements. L-type and T-type VDCC blockers significantly attenuated absolute contraction of the PA in hypoxic mice. Chronic hypoxia did not increase high-K+- and U-46619-induced contraction of mesenteric artery (MA). Compared with MA, PA displayed higher expression of calcium channel voltage-dependent L-type α1C-subunit (Cav1.2) and T-type α1H-subunit (Cav3.2) upon exposure to chronic hypoxia. In conclusion, both L-type and T-type VDCC were functionally upregulated in PA, but not MA, in HPH mice, which could result from selectively increased expression of Cav1.2 and Cav3.2.
Proprotein convertases play an important role in regulating PKGI endoproteolytic cleavage and nuclear transport
Authors: Kato Shin , Zhang Ruiguang , Roberts Jesse D.
Published: May 2013

Nitric oxide and cGMP modulate vascular smooth muscle cell (SMC) phenotype by regulating cell differentiation and proliferation. Recent studies suggest that cGMP-dependent protein kinase I (PKGI) cleavage and the nuclear translocation of a constitutively active kinase fragment, PKGIγ, are required for nuclear cGMP signaling in SMC. However, the mechanisms that control PKGI proteolysis are unknown. Inspection of the amino acid sequence of a PKGI cleavage site that yields PKGIγ and a protease database revealed a putative minimum consensus sequence for proprotein convertases (PCs). Therefore we investigated the role of PCs in regulating PKGI proteolysis. We observed that overexpression of PCs, furin and PC5, but not PC7, which are all expressed in SMC, increase PKGI cleavage in a dose-dependent manner in human embryonic kidney (HEK) 293 cells. Moreover, furin-induced proteolysis of mutant PKGI, in which alanines were substituted into the putative PC consensus sequence, was decreased in these cells. In addition, overexpression of furin increased PKGI proteolysis in LoVo cells, which is an adenocarcinoma cell line expressing defective furin without PC activity. Also, expression of α1-PDX, an engineered serpin-like PC inhibitor, reduced PC activity and decreased PKGI proteolysis in HEK293 cells. Last, treatment of low-passage rat aortic SMC with membrane-permeable PC inhibitor peptides decreased cGMP-stimulated nuclear PKGIγ translocation. These data indicate for the first time that PCs have a role in regulating PKGI proteolysis and the nuclear localization of its active cleavage product, which are important for cGMP-mediated SMC phenotype.
Bicarbonate disruption of the pulmonary endothelial barrier via activation of endogenous soluble adenylyl cyclase, isoform 10
Authors: Obiako Boniface , Calchary Wendy , Xu Ningyong , Kunstadt Ryan , Richardson Bianca , Nix Jessica , Sayner Sarah L.
Published: May 2013

It is becoming increasingly apparent that cAMP signals within the pulmonary endothelium are highly compartmentalized, and this compartmentalization is critical to maintaining endothelial barrier integrity. Studies demonstrate that the exogenous soluble bacterial toxin, ExoY, and heterologous expression of the forskolin-stimulated soluble mammalian adenylyl cyclase (AC) chimera, sACI/II, elevate cytosolic cAMP and disrupt the pulmonary microvascular endothelial barrier. The barrier-disruptive effects of cytosolic cAMP generated by exogenous soluble ACs are in contrast to the barrier-protective effects of subplasma membrane cAMP generated by transmembrane AC, which strengthens endothelial barrier integrity. Endogenous soluble AC isoform 10 (AC10 or commonly known as sAC) lacks transmembrane domains and localizes within the cytosolic compartment. AC10 is uniquely activated by bicarbonate to generate cytosolic cAMP, yet its role in regulation of endothelial barrier integrity has not been addressed. Here we demonstrate that, within the pulmonary circulation, AC10 is expressed in pulmonary microvascular endothelial cells (PMVECs) and pulmonary artery endothelial cells (PAECs), yet expression in PAECs is lower. Furthermore, pulmonary endothelial cells selectively express bicarbonate cotransporters. While extracellular bicarbonate generates a phosphodiesterase 4-sensitive cAMP pool in PMVECs, no such cAMP response is detected in PAECs. Finally, addition of extracellular bicarbonate decreases resistance across the PMVEC monolayer and increases the filtration coefficient in the isolated perfused lung above osmolality controls. Collectively, these findings suggest that PMVECs have a bicarbonate-sensitive cytosolic cAMP pool that disrupts endothelial barrier integrity. These studies could provide an alternative mechanism for the controversial effects of bicarbonate correction of acidosis of acute respiratory distress syndrome patients.
Pressure Dependence of the Electrical Resistivity in Polymer Polyaniline
Authors: Huang Daihui , Xie Dong , Gao Jingjing , Lv Wangchun , Hong Shiming
Published: May 2013

Polyaniline (PAN) was prepared by using a technique of chemical synthesis to obtain the insulating emeraldine base form. And then PAN was doped with toluenesulfonic acid (TSA), HCl, or camphor sulfonic acid (CSA) to protonate it into conducting salt form. The morphologies and electrical property of PAN under atmospheric pressure were investigated. Subsequently, the high pressure using a Bridgman anvil cell was applied on the doped PAN, and the effect of high pressure on the properties of doped PAN was analyzed. At normal pressure, the conductivity of PAN increases as the PH value increases. While at high pressures, the conductivity of PAN increases, and then it becomes independent of pressure. The results indicate that the conductivity of PAN is related to the presence of the polaron band, and the doped PAN under high pressure will be enhanced strongly in conductivity because of overlap of polaron band andπband. However, with the further increase of the applied pressure, scattering mechanisms of carriers limit the conductivity of PAN.
An Improved Computer Vision Method for White Blood Cells Detection
Authors: Cuevas Erik , Díaz Margarita , Manzanares Miguel , Zaldivar Daniel , Perez-Cisneros Marco
Published: May 2013

The automatic detection of white blood cells (WBCs) still remains as an unsolved issue in medical imaging. The analysis of WBC images has engaged researchers from fields of medicine and computer vision alike. Since WBC can be approximated by an ellipsoid form, an ellipse detector algorithm may be successfully applied in order to recognize such elements. This paper presents an algorithm for the automatic detection of WBC embedded in complicated and cluttered smear images that considers the complete process as a multiellipse detection problem. The approach, which is based on the differential evolution (DE) algorithm, transforms the detection task into an optimization problem whose individuals represent candidate ellipses. An objective function evaluates if such candidate ellipses are actually present in the edge map of the smear image. Guided by the values of such function, the set of encoded candidate ellipses (individuals) are evolved using the DE algorithm so that they can fit into the WBCs which are enclosed within the edge map of the smear image. Experimental results from white blood cell images with a varying range of complexity are included to validate the efficiency of the proposed technique in terms of its accuracy and robustness.
Weighted Composition Operators from the Bloch Space and the Analytic Besov Spaces into the Zygmund Space
Authors: Colonna Flavia , Li Songxiao
Published: May 2013

We provide several characterizations of the bounded and the compact weighted composition operators from the Bloch space and the analytic Besov spaces (with ) into the Zygmund space . As a special case, we show that the bounded (resp., compact) composition operators from , , and to coincide. In addition, the boundedness and the compactness of the composition operator can be characterized in terms of the boundedness (resp., convergence to 0, under the boundedness assumption of the operator) of the Zygmund norm of the powers of the symbol.
Intrusion Detection Systems in Wireless Sensor Networks: A Review
Authors: Alrajeh Nabil Ali , Khan S. , Shams Bilal
Published: May 2013

Wireless Sensor Networks (WSNs) consist of sensor nodes deployed in a manner to collect information about surrounding environment. Their distributed nature, multihop data forwarding, and open wireless medium are the factors that make WSNs highly vulnerable to security attacks at various levels. Intrusion Detection Systems (IDSs) can play an important role in detecting and preventing security attacks. This paper presents current Intrusion Detection Systems and some open research problems related to WSN security.
Brain Responses to Acupuncture Are Probably Dependent on the Brain Functional Status
Authors: Li Chuanfu , Yang Jun , Sun Jinbo , Xu Chunsheng , Zhu Yuanqiang , Lu Qi , Yuan Aihong , Zhu Yifang , Li Luoyi , Zhang Wei , Liu Junping , Huang Jianjun , Chen Dongxiao , Wang Linying , Qin Wei , Tian Jie
Published: May 2013

In recent years, neuroimaging studies of acupuncture have explored extensive aspects of brain responses to acupuncture in finding its underlying mechanisms. Most of these studies have been performed on healthy adults. Only a few studies have been performed on patients with diseases. Brain responses to acupuncture in patients with the same disease at different pathological stages have not been explored, although it may be more important and helpful in uncovering its underlying mechanisms. In the present study, we used fMRI to compare brain responses to acupuncture in patients with Bell’s palsy at different pathological stages with normal controls and found that the brain response to acupuncture varied at different pathological stages of Bell’s palsy. The brain response to acupuncture decreased in the early stages, increased in the later stages, and nearly returned to normal in the recovered group. All of the changes in the brain response to acupuncture could be explained as resulting from the changes in the brain functional status. Therefore, we proposed that the brain response to acupuncture is dependent on the brain functional status, while further investigation is needed to provide more evidence in support of this proposition.
Influence of Propolis on Hygiene, Gingival Condition, and Oral Microflora in Patients with Cleft Lip and Palate Treated with Fixed Orthodontic Appliances
Authors: Machorowska-Pieniążek Agnieszka , Morawiec Tadeusz , Mertas Anna , Tanasiewicz Marta , Dziedzic Arkadiusz , Król Wojciech
Published: May 2013

The aim of this study was to evaluate the influence of 3% ethanol extract of propolis (EEP) on hygiene, gingival and microbiological status of oral cavity in patients with cleft lip and palate treated with fixed orthodontic appliances. The study included forty-one nonsyndromic complete unilateral of bilateral cleft lip and palate subjects with fixed appliance on at least 10 teeth. Twenty-one subjects were instructed to brush their teeth three times a day using toothpaste with propolis. Control group included twenty subjects who were asked to brush their teeth three times a day using a toothpaste without propolis. API, OPI, GI, and supragingival bacterial plaque were taken from each subject twice: baseline and after using the toothpaste for 35 days. The final examinations showed statistically significant decrease in OPI, GI, and the percentage of theActinomycesspp. andCapnocytophagaspp. compared with baseline in propolis group subjects. The improvement in oral health in these patients confirms antibacterial, anti-inflammatory, and regenerative properties of propolis.
Robust Output Feedback Stabilization of a Field-Sensed Magnetic Suspension System
Authors: Li Jen-Hsing , Chiou Juing-Shian
Published: May 2013

The magnetic suspension system (MSS) is very important in many engineering applications. This paper proposes the dynamic output feedback control of a field-sensed MSS (FSMSS). Subsequently, the mathematical model of the MSS is described by discrete-time systems. Ideally, the coefficients of a nominal polynomial can precisely determine the Schur stability. But in reality, the coefficients may contain uncertainties due to reasons such as computational errors. Therefore, there is a need to address the problem of robust stability for discrete-time systems. In this paper, the size of allowable perturbation in polynomial coefficient space was estimated for the output feedback control of the MSS. Theℓ∞-norm and a lower bound for the size of the Schur stability hypercube are provided in this paper.
A Case Study on Stratified Settlement and Rebound Characteristics due to Dewatering in Shanghai Subway Station
Authors: Wang Jianxiu , Huang Tianrong , Sui Dongchang
Published: May 2013

Based on the Yishan Metro Station Project of Shanghai Metro Line number 9, a centrifugal model test was conducted to investigate the behavior of stratified settlement and rebound (SSR) of Shanghai soft clay caused by dewatering in deep subway station pit. The soil model was composed of three layers, and the dewatering process was simulated by self‐invention of decompressing devise. The results indicate that SSR occurs when the decompression was carried out, and only negative rebound was found in sandy clay, but both positive and negative rebound occurred in the silty clay, and the absolute value of rebound in sandy clay was larger than in silty clay, and the mechanism of SSR was discussed with mechanical sandwich model, and it was found that the load and cohesive force of different soils was the main source of different responses when decompressed.
TheEscherichia coli-Derived Thymosinβ4 Concatemer Promotes Cell Proliferation and Healing Wound in Mice
Authors: Wang Xiaolei , Yang Guihua , Li Shanshuang , Gao Meifeng , Zhao Pangfeng , Zhao Lingxia
Published: May 2013

Thymosinβ4 (Tβ4) is one of the most promising thymosins for future clinical applications, and it is anticipated that commercial demand for Tβ4 will increase. In order to develop a new approach to produce recombinant Tβ4, a 168 bp DNA (termedTβ4) was designed based on the Tβ4 protein sequence and used to express a 4 ×Tβ4 concatemer (four tandem copies of Tβ4, termed 4 ×Tβ4) together with a histidine tag (6 × His) inE. coli(strain BL21). SDS-PAGE and western blot analysis were used to confirm that a recombinant 4 × Tβ4 protein of the expected size (30.87 kDa) was produced following the induction of the bacterial cultures with isopropylβ-D-thiogalactoside (IPTG). TheE. coli-derived 4 ×Tβ4 was purified by Ni-NTA resin, and its activities were examined with regard to both stimulating proliferation of the mice spleen cellsin vitroandin vivowound healing. The results demonstrate that these activities of theE. coli-derived recombinant 4 × Tβ4 were similar or even better than existing commercially obtained Tβ4. This production strategy therefore represents a potentially valuable approach for future commercial production of recombinant Tβ4.
Fuzzy Multiobjective Traffic Light Signal Optimization
Authors: Shahsavari Pour N. , Asadi H. , Pour Kheradmand M.
Published: May 2013

Traffic congestion is a major concern for many cities throughout the world. In a general traffic light controller, the traffic lights change at a constant cycle time. Hence it does not provide an optimal solution. Many traffic light controllers in current use are based on the “time-of-the-day” scheme, which use a limited number of predetermined traffic light patterns and implement these patterns depending upon the time of the day. These automated systems do not provide an optimal control for fluctuating traffic volumes. In this paper, the fuzzy traffic light controller is used to optimize the control of fluctuating traffic volumes such as oversaturated or unusual load conditions. The problem is solved by genetic algorithm, and a new defuzzification method is introduced. The performance of the new defuzzification method (NDM) is compared with the centroid point defuzzification method (CPDM) by using ANOVA. Finally, an illustrative example is presented to show the competency of proposed algorithm.
Optimal Control of Magnetorheological Fluid Dampers for Seismic Isolation of Structures
Authors: El-Sinawi Ameen H. , AlHamaydeh Mohammad H. , Jhemi Ali A.
Published: May 2013

This paper presents the modeling and control of a magnetorheological (MR) damper, installed in Chevron configuration, at the base of a 20-story benchmark building. The building structural model is created using the commercial software package ETABS. The MR damper model is derived from Bouc-Wen hysteresis model which provides the critical nonlinear dynamics that best represents the MR damper under a wide range of operating conditions. System identification is used to derive a low-order nonlinear model that best mimics the nonlinear dynamics of the actual MR damper. Dynamic behavior of this low-order model is tested and validated over a range of inputs. The damper model has proven its validity to a high degree of accuracy against the nonlinear model. A Kalman filter is designed to best estimate the state of the structure-damper system for feedback implementation purposes. Using the estimated states, an LQG-based compensator is designed to control the MR damper under earthquake loads. To demonstrate the effectiveness of this control strategy, four historical earthquakes are applied to the structure. Controlled and uncontrolled floor accelerations and displacements at key locations are compared. Results of the optimally controlled model demonstrate superior performance in comparison to the uncontrolled model.
A New SVM-Based Modeling Method of Cabin Path Loss Prediction
Authors: Zhao Xiaonan , Hou Chunping , Wang Qing
Published: May 2013

A new modeling method of cabin path loss prediction based on support vector machine (SVM) is proposed in this paper. The method is trained with the path loss values of measured points inside the cabin and can be used to predict the path loss values of the unmeasured points. The experimental results demonstrate that our modeling method is more accurate than the curve fitting method. This SVM-based path loss prediction method makes the prediction much easier and more accurate, which covers performance traditional methods in the channel propagation modeling.
Single-Incision Laparoscopic Colectomy for Cancer: Short-Term Outcomes and Comparative Analysis
Authors: Pedraza Rodrigo , Aminian Ali , Nieto Javier , Faraj Chadi , Pickron T. Bartley , Haas Eric M.
Published: May 2013

Introduction. Single-incision laparoscopic colectomy (SILC) is a viable and safe technique; however, there are no single-institution studies comparing outcomes of SILC for colon cancer with well-established minimally invasive techniques. We evaluated the short-term outcomes following SILC for cancer compared to a group of well-established minimally invasive techniques.Methods. Fifty consecutive patients who underwent SILC for colon cancer were compared to a control group composed of 50 cases of minimally invasive colectomies performed with either conventional multiport or hand-assisted laparoscopic technique. The groups were paired based on the type of procedure. Demographics, intraoperative, and postoperative outcomes were assessed.Results. With the exception of BMI, demographics were similar between both groups. Most of the procedures were right colectomies (n=33) and anterior resections (n=12). There were no significant differences in operative time (127.9 versus 126.7 min), conversions (0 versus 1), complications (14% versus 8%), length of stay (4.5 versus 4.0 days), readmissions (2% versus 2%), and reoperations (2% versus 2%). Oncological outcomes were also similar between groups.Conclusions. SILC is an oncologically sound alternative for the management of colon cancer and results in similar short-term outcomes as compared with well-established minimally invasive techniques.
Sphingosine Kinase: A Novel Putative Target for the Prevention of Infection-Triggered Preterm Birth
Authors: Vyas Vibhuti , Ashby Charles R. , Reznik Sandra E.
Published: May 2013

Preterm birth is defined as any delivery before 37 complete weeks of gestation. It is a universal challenge in the field of obstetrics owing to its high rate of mortality, long-term morbidity, associated human suffering and economic burden. In the United States, about 12.18% deliveries in 2009 were preterm, producing an exorbitant cost of $5.8 billion. Infection-associated premature rupture of membranes (PROM) accounts for 40% of extremely preterm births (<28 weeks of gestation). Major research efforts are directed towards improving the understanding of the pathophysiology of preterm birth and ways to prevent or at least postpone delivery. Endothelin-1 (ET-1) is a potent vasoconstrictor that plays a significant role in infection-triggered preterm birth. Its involvement in a number of pathological mechanisms and its elevation in preterm delivered amniotic fluid samples implicate it in preterm birth. Sphingosine kinase (SphK) is a ubiquitous enzyme responsible for the production of sphingosine-1-phosphate (S1P). S1P acts as second messenger in a number of cell proliferation and survival pathways. SphK is found to play a key role in ET-1 mediated myometrial contraction. This review highlights SphK as a prospective target with great potential to prevent preterm birth.
Adiposity and Health Status among Adult Male Mundas and Oraons of Paschim Medinipur, West Bengal, India
Authors: Das Subal , Debsharma Bigitendriya , Bose Kaushik
Published: May 2013

The present cross-sectional study was conducted among two male tribal groups Munda (n=106) and Oraon (n=104) aged 18–73 years of Paschim Medinipur, West Bengal. Objective was to evaluate the health status based on body mass index (BMI) and percent body fat (PBF). Measurements of weight, height, circumferences, and skinfolds were recorded. Results revealed that mean age of Mundas (36.2±13.3) and Oraons (35.1±15.3) in years were similar. Significant (P<0.05) ethnic differences in mean chest circumference and anterior thigh skinfold were observed. Both Munda (50.0%) and Oraon (46.2%) males suffered from very high degree of chronic energy deficiency (CED) based on BMI. Similarly, for percent body fat (PBF), Mundas (29.3%) and Oraons (35.4%) had unhealthy (too low) PBF (i.e., ≤5%) levels. Significantly negative correlations were observed between age and BMI and positive correlations between age, waist-hip ratio (WHR), and conicity index (CI) (only Mundas) among Mundas and Oraons. In Linear regression, age had a significant impact on all derived central and overall adiposity measures. Prospective studies are required to determine the associations between health status and PBF as well as nutrition status and BMI in different indigenous ethnic groups of India and elsewhere.