bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
New species of Spartiella and Legeriosimilis from mayflies and other arthropod-associated trichomycetes from Nova Scotia, Canada
Authors: White Merlin M. , Strongman D.B.
Published: November 2012

The digestive tracts of non-predaceous, aquatic insects and other arthropods living in moist habitats harbour a group of fungal and protistan microorganisms known as trichomycetes or “gut fungi”. A former class of Zygomycota, “trichomycetes” now refers to an ecological group of gut microbes. This report adds to the growing inventory of gut fungi that have been described from Atlantic Canada, with two new fungal trichomycetes, Legeriosimilis hiemalis sp. nov. Strongman and M.M. White and Spartiella aurensis sp. nov. Strongman and M.M. White, both from Ephemeroptera (mayfly) nymphs. Legeriosimilis hiemalis is now the fourth of seven known species of the genus to be recorded only from Canadian sites. Spartiella aurensis displays an unusual feature, with thalli apparently able to grow from the hindgut back into the midgut of its host, a growth pattern not typically observed in other gut fungi. The potential significance of this development is discussed. Despite the focus on immature freshwater insects and their habitats, we also record a species of Orchesellaria from Collembola (springtails) and Astreptonema corophii from the amphipod crustacean Corophium volutator.
Complex integrons containing qnrB4-ampC (blaDHA-1) in plasmids of multidrug-resistant Citrobacter freundii from wastewater
Authors: Yim Grace , Kwong Waldan , Davies Julian , Miao Vivian
Published: November 2012

Microbial populations in wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) are increasingly being recognized as environmental reservoirs of antibiotic resistance genes. PCR amplicons for plasmid-mediated quinolone resistance determinants qnrA, qnrB, and qnrS were recorded in samples from a WWTP in Vancouver, British Columbia. Six strains of ciprofloxacin-resistant Citrobacter freundii were isolated and found to carry mutations in gyrA and parC, as well as multiple plasmid-borne resistance genes, collectively including qnrB; aac(6′)-Ib-cr; β-lactamase-encoding genes from molecular classes A (blaTEM-1), C (ampC), D (blaOXA-1, blaOXA-10); and genes for resistance to 5 other types of antibiotics. In 3 strains, large (>60 kb) plasmids carried qnrB4 and ampC as part of a complex integron in a 14 kb arrangement that has been reported worldwide but, until recently, only among pathogenic strains of Klebsiella. Analysis of single-nucleotide polymorphisms in the qnrB4-ampC regions infers 2 introductions into the WWTP environment. These results suggest recent passage of plasmid-borne fluoroquinolone and β-lactam resistance genes from pathogens to bacteria that may be indigenous inhabitants of WWTPs, thus contributing to an environmental pool of antibiotic resistance.
Velocity distributions near the inlet of corrugated steel pipe culverts
Authors: Hunt Martin , Clark Shawn , Tkach Rob
Published: November 2012

This paper presents the findings of a study examining the velocity field within the inlet region of a corrugated steel pipe (CSP) culvert model with vertical headwall, 45° wingwall, and projecting end inlet treatments. Also examined are the effects of embedding the culvert below the stream bed and backfilling the culvert with granular material. Three-dimensional velocity distributions were measured in an effort to better understand how these inlet treatments may affect fish passage. The study examined velocity structure within a CSP culvert with a diameter of 0.8 m at a flow rate of 0.175 m3/s. Measurements were recorded using acoustic Doppler velocimeters at four locations; 0.25, 0.5, 1, and 2 diameters downstream of the inlet. The velocity field of each inlet configuration was dominated by a central jet of high velocity flow surrounded by a low velocity recirculation zone. Analysis of the percent area less than Uavg for each inlet treatment found that the projecting end configuration contained the largest low velocity zone. The usefulness of the low velocity recirculation zone as a fish passage corridor may however be limited by the presence of significant vertical and spanwise velocities as well as high shear zones.
Mammalian PER2 regulates AKT activation and DNA damage response
Authors: Yang Xiaoming , He Xuezhong , Yang Zhengguan , Jabbari Esmaiel
Published: November 2012

PER2 is a key mammalian circadian clock protein. It also has a tumor suppressive function. Down regulation of PER2 in the cultured cancer cells accelerates cell proliferation, while overexpression of PER2 inhibits cell growth and induces apoptosis. The Per2 mutant mice have a cancer prone phenotype and an altered DNA damage response. Here we report that PER2 regulates AKT activity. Cells with down-regulated PER2 expression have prolonged high levels of AKT T308 phosphorylation after growth factor stimulation or DNA damage. PER2 down-regulation delays DNA damage induced Chk2 activation and overrides DNA damage induced apoptosis and cell cycle arrest.
PANC-1 cells proliferative response to ionizing radiation is related to GSK-3β phosphorylation
Authors: Mohamad Nora A. , Cricco Graciela P. , Cocca Claudia M. , Rivera Elena S. , Bergoc Rosa M. , Martín Gabriela A.
Published: November 2012

Radiotherapy may be used to treat pancreatic cancer and relieve pain. We have previously reported that histamine modulates pancreatic adenocarcinoma PANC-1 cell proliferation. This work was aimed to evaluate whether histamine improves radiosensitivity of PANC-1 cells in relation to phosphorylation/inhibition of glycogen synthase kinase-3β (GSK-3β). Immediately after γ irradiation, intracellular hydrogen peroxide was markedly decreased together with a rapid increase in catalase activity. Although histamine diminished catalase activity in nonirradiated cells, it only partially hindered the increase observed in irradiated cells and could not modify radiosensitivity. In control cells, a high expression of total and a very low expression of phosphorylated/inactive GSK-3β were found. An increment in reactive oxygen species levels produced an augmentation in GSK-3β phosphorylation and suppressed cell proliferation. In both control and histamine-treated irradiated cells, the rise in catalase activity lowered reactive oxygen species levels and only a small increase in phosphorylated GSK-3β was detected. Alternatively, 3-aminotriazole, an irreversible inhibitor of catalase, reduced the survival fraction in irradiated control cells along with an increment in phosphorylated GSK-3β. These results suggest that upon irradiation, early catalase activation may be responsible for keeping GSK-3β active conceding cells a survival advantage toward cytotoxic effects of ionizing radiation.
Utp22p acts in concert with Utp8p to channel aminoacyl-tRNA from the nucleolus to the nuclear tRNA export receptor Los1p but not Msn5p
Authors: Eswara Manoja B.K. , Clayton Ashley , Mangroo Dev
Published: November 2012

Utp8p is an essential nucleolar protein that channels aminoacyl-tRNAs from aminoacyl-tRNA synthetases in the nucleolus to the nuclear tRNA export receptors located in the nucleoplasm and nuclear pore complex in Saccharomyces cerevisiae . Utp8p is also part of the U3 snoRNA-associated protein complex involved in 18S rRNA biogenesis in the nucleolus. We report that Utp22p, which is another member of the U3 snoRNA-associated protein complex, is also an intranuclear component of the nuclear tRNA export machinery. Depletion of Utp22p results in nuclear retention of mature tRNAs derived from intron-containing and intronless precursors. Moreover, Utp22p copurifies with the nuclear tRNA export receptor Los1p, the aminoacyl-tRNA synthetase Tys1p and Utp8p, but not with the RanGTPase Gsp1p and the nuclear tRNA export receptor Msn5p. Utp22p interacts directly with Utp8p and Los1p in a tRNA-independent manner in vitro. Utp22p also interacts directly with Tys1p, but this binding is stimulated when Tys1p is bound to tRNA. However, Utp22p, unlike Utp8p, does not bind tRNA saturably. These data suggest that Utp22p recruits Utp8p to aminoacyl-tRNA synthetases in the nucleolus to collect aminoacyl-tRNA and then accompanies the Utp8p–tRNA complex to deliver the aminoacyl-tRNAs to Los1p but not Msn5p. It is possible that Nrap/Nol6, the mammalian orthologue of Utp22p, plays a role in channelling aminoacyl-tRNA to the nuclear tRNA export receptor exportin-t.
ECO-EPIDEMIOLOGICAL MODELS OF SALTON SEA WITH INFECTED PREY
Authors: KHAN Q. J. A. , BALAKRISHNAN E. , AL HARTHI AZZA HAMOOD
Published: November 2012

Two models for the interaction of susceptible and infected Tilapia population with Pelican population are studied. Here, we considered that Pelican interact with both susceptible and infected Tilapia in proportion to their abundance. Stability near nonzero equilibria is presented. In the second model, time delay is incorporated in the disease transmission term and Hopf bifurcation is analyzed by taking time delay as a bifurcation parameter. Numerical simulations are performed to support the analytical results.
NONLINEARITY IN CICADA SOUND SIGNALS
Authors: EDOH KOSSI , HUGHES DERKE , KATZ RICHARD
Published: November 2012

The nonlinearity of acoustic signals produced by male cicadas and their propagation in the atmosphere using the theory of dynamical systems and partial differential equations are explored in this paper. Previous research using a Volterra equation has shown that the signal data from the vibrations of cicada tymbals and that from the recordings of the acoustic signals about 5 inches away from the cicada exhibit some nonlinear characteristics. The experimental results shown in this paper confirm the nonlinearity of the signals farther from the cicada. A number of nonlinear acoustic signal propagation models are discussed — among them the Burgers' equation which has been implemented and whose results are quite promising.
C*-TERNARY HOMOMORPHISMS, C*-TERNARY DERIVATIONS, JB*-TRIPLE HOMOMORPHISMS AND JB*-TRIPLE DERIVATIONS
Authors: PARK CHOONKIL
Published: November 2012

Park and Rassias proved the superstability of C*-ternary homomorphisms, C*-ternary derivations, JB*-triple homomorphisms and JB*-triple derivations, associated with the following Apollonius type additive functional equation [Formula: see text] by using direct method. Under the conditions of the theorems, we can show that the mappings f must be zero. In this paper, we correct the conditions. Furthermore, we prove the superstability of C*-ternary homomorphisms, C*-ternary derivations, JB*-triple homomorphisms and JB*-triple derivations by using fixed point method.
Towards a net-zero data center
Authors: Banerjee Prithviraj , Patel Chandrakant , Bash Cullen , Shah Amip , Arlitt Martin
Published: November 2012

A world consisting of billions of service-oriented client devices and thousands of data centers can deliver a diverse range of services, from social networking to management of our natural resources. However, these services must scale in order to meet the fundamental needs of society. To enable such scaling, the total cost of ownership of the data centers that host the services and comprise the vast majority of service delivery costs will need to be reduced. As energy drives the total cost of ownership of data centers, there is a need for a new paradigm in design and management of data centers that minimizes energy used across their lifetimes, from “cradle to cradle”. This tutorial article presents a blueprint for a “net-zero data center”: one that offsets any electricity used from the grid via adequate on-site power generation that gets fed back to the grid at a later time. We discuss how such a data center addresses the total cost of ownership, illustrating that contrary to the oft-held view of sustainability as “paying more to be green”, sustainable data centers—built on a framework that focuses on integrating supply and demand management from end-to-end—can concurrently lead to lowest cost and lowest environmental impact.
Sampling and classifying interference patterns in a wireless sensor network
Authors: Boers Nicholas M. , Nikolaidis Ioanis , Gburzynski Pawel
Published: November 2012

The low-powered transmissions in a wireless sensor network (WSN) are highly susceptible to interference from external sources. Our work is a step towards enabling WSN devices to better understand the interference in their environment so that they can adapt to it and communicate more efficiently. We extend our previous work in which we collected received signal strength traces using mote-class synchronized receivers at sample rates that are, to the best of our knowledge, higher than previously described in the literature. These traces contain distinct interference patterns, each with a different potential for being exploited by cognitive radio strategies. In order to exploit a pattern, however, a node must first recognize it. Given the energy and space constraints of a node, we explore succinct decision tree classifiers for the two most disruptive patterns. We expand on a basic feature set to incorporate attributes based on the dip statistic and the Lomb periodogram, both of which address specific, empirically observed behaviour, and we show their positive impact on both the decision tree structure and the overall classification performance. Moreover, we present an approximation of the periodogram that makes its construction feasible for mote-class devices, and we describe the simplification's impact on classification performance.
Quantum quests
Authors: Goth Gregory
Published: November 2012

Three breakthrough experiments involving photons have extended coherence times and indicated scalable production.
Zoom in, zoom out
Authors: Anthes Gary
Published: November 2012

Drilling down to more detail on a computer screen, or moving out to see the context, is basic. But it's hardly simple and, after 20 years, innovations are still occurring.
Moods
Authors: Denning Peter J.
Published: November 2012

Recognizing and working with moods---your own, your team's, and your customers'---is essential to professional success.
Anatomy of a solid-state drive
Authors: Cornwell Michael
Published: November 2012

While the ubiquitous SSD shares many features with the hard-disk drive, under the surface they are completely different.
Q&A: As good as it gets
Authors: Hoffmann Leah
Published: November 2012

Sanjeev Arora talks about proof, intractability, and finding the best way to approximate problems.
Detecting and Tracking Topics and Events from Web Search Logs
Authors: Liu Hongyan , He Jun , Gu Yingqin , Xiong Hui , Du Xiaoyong
Published: November 2012

Recent years have witnessed increased efforts on detecting topics and events from Web search logs, since this kind of data not only capture web content but also reflect the users’ activities. However, the majority of existing work is focused on exploiting clustering techniques for topic and event detection. Due to the huge size and the evolving nature of Web data, existing clustering approaches are limited to meet the real-time demand. To that end, in this article, we propose a method called
LETD
to detect evolving topics in a timely manner. Also, we design the techniques to extract events from topics and to infer the evolving relationship among the events. For topic detection, we first provide a measurement to select the important URLs, which are most likely to describe a real-life topic. Then, starting from these selected URLs, we exploit the local expansion method to find other topic-related URLs. Moreover, in the LETD framework, we design algorithms based on Random Walk and
Markov Random Fields
(MRF), respectively. Because the
LETD
method exploits a divide-and-conquer strategy to process the data, it is more efficient than existing methods based on clustering techniques. To better illustrate the LETD framework, we develop a demo system
StoryTeller
which can discover hot topics and events, infer the evolving relationships among events, and visualize information in a storytelling way. This demo system can provide a global view of the topic development and help users target the interesting events more conveniently. Finally, experimental results on real-world Microsoft click-through data have shown that StoryTeller can find real-life hot topics and meaningful evolving relationships among events, and has also demonstrated the efficiency and effectiveness of the LETD method.
Aggregation Methods for Proximity-Based Opinion Retrieval
Authors: Gerani Shima , Carman Mark , Crestani Fabio
Published: November 2012

The enormous amount of user-generated data available on the Web provides a great opportunity to understand, analyze, and exploit people’s opinions on different topics. Traditional Information Retrieval methods consider the relevance of documents to a topic but are unable to differentiate between subjective and objective documents.
Opinion retrieval
is a retrieval task in which not only the relevance of a document to the topic is important but also the amount of opinion expressed in the document about the topic. In this article, we address the
blog post opinion retrieval
task and propose methods that rank blog posts according to their relevance and opinionatedness toward a topic. We propose estimating the opinion density at each position in a document using a general opinion lexicon and kernel density functions. We propose and investigate different models for aggregating the opinion density at query terms positions to estimate the opinion score of every document. We then combine the opinion score with the relevance score based on a probabilistic justification. Experimental results on the BLOG06 dataset show that the proposed method provides significant improvement over the standard TREC baselines. The proposed models also achieve much higher performance compared to all state of the art methods.
Adversarial stylometry
Authors: Brennan Michael , Afroz Sadia , Greenstadt Rachel
Published: November 2012

The use of stylometry, authorship recognition through purely linguistic means, has contributed to literary, historical, and criminal investigation breakthroughs. Existing stylometry research assumes that authors have not attempted to disguise their linguistic writing style. We challenge this basic assumption of existing stylometry methodologies and present a new area of research: adversarial stylometry. Adversaries have a devastating effect on the robustness of existing classification methods. Our work presents a framework for creating adversarial passages including
obfuscation
, where a subject attempts to hide her identity, and
imitation
, where a subject attempts to frame another subject by imitating his writing style, and
translation
where original passages are obfuscated with machine translation services. This research demonstrates that manual circumvention methods work very well while automated translation methods are not effective. The obfuscation method reduces the techniques' effectiveness to the level of random guessing and the imitation attempts succeed up to 67% of the time depending on the stylometry technique used. These results are more significant given the fact that experimental subjects were unfamiliar with stylometry, were not professional writers, and spent little time on the attacks. This article also contributes to the field by using human subjects to empirically validate the claim of high accuracy for four current techniques (without adversaries). We have also compiled and released two corpora of adversarial stylometry texts to promote research in this field with a total of 57 unique authors. We argue that this field is important to a multidisciplinary approach to privacy, security, and anonymity.
Traceability between service component and class
Authors: Chanda Jayeeta , Sengupta Sabnam , Kanjilal Ananya , Bhattacharya Swapan
Published: November 2012

Service components are the key to the development of a serviceoriented solution as they provide the implementation of the services. The implementation of Service components provides the actual function of the component and can be defined with one or more Java classes. We propose a model named Service Component to Class (SC2C) that maps the service components of an application with that of the classes that implement the service components. We also propose a visual model as a part of SC2C that represents the classes and relationship among classes. This model helps to establish traceability among service components and classes. We also introduce some traceability metrics to measure traceability between the artifacts of Service Oriented Architecture (SOA) and Object Oriented (OO) paradigms. This work, along with our earlier work, help in Software Configuration Management of a SOA application. We provide an insurance system case study to illustrate our approach.
Prevention of XSS attacks using STCD
Authors: Brahmasani Siva , Selvakumar Subramanian , Sivasankar E.
Published: November 2012

Variability (the ability of a software system or software artifact to be adapted for use in a specific context) is reflected in and facilitated through the software architecture. The Second International Workshop on Variability in Software Architecture (VARSA) was held in conjunction with the Joint 10th Working IEEE/IFIP Conference on Software Architecture & 6th European Conference on Software Architecture 2012 in Helsinki, Finland. The workshop aimed at exploring current and emerging methods, languages, notations technologies and tools to model, implement, and manage variability in the software architecture. It featured one industrial talk, five research paper presentations, and three working group discussions. Working groups discussed topics that emerged during the workshop. This report summarizes the themes of the workshop and presents the results of the working group discussions.
Role of the fragility of the pulmonary blood-gas barrier in the evolution of the pulmonary circulation
Authors: West John B.
Published: November 2012

In 1953 Frank Low published the first high-resolution electron micrographs of the human pulmonary blood-gas barrier. These showed that a structure only 0.3-μm thick separated the capillary blood from the alveolar gas, immediately suggesting that the barrier might be vulnerable to mechanical failure if the capillary pressure increased. However, it was 38 years before stress failure was recognized. Initially it was implicated in the pathogenesis of High Altitude Pulmonary Edema, but it was soon clear that stress failure of pulmonary capillaries is common. The vulnerability of the blood-gas barrier is a key factor in the evolution of the pulmonary circulation. As evolution progressed from the ancestors of fishes to amphibians, reptiles, and finally birds and mammals, two factors challenged the integrity of the barrier. One was the requirement for the barrier to become increasingly thin because of the greater oxygen consumption. The other was the high pulmonary capillary pressures that were inevitable before there was complete separation of the pulmonary and systemic circulations.
Renal ammonia excretion in response to hypokalemia: effect of collecting duct-specific Rh C glycoprotein deletion
Authors: Lee Hyun-Wook , Verlander Jill W. , Bishop Jesse M. , Handlogten Mary E. , Han Ki-Hwan , Weiner I. David
Published: November 2012

The Rhesus factor protein, Rh C glycoprotein (Rhcg), is an ammonia transporter whose expression in the collecting duct is necessary for normal ammonia excretion both in basal conditions and in response to metabolic acidosis. Hypokalemia is a common clinical condition associated with increased renal ammonia excretion. In contrast to basal conditions and metabolic acidosis, increased ammonia excretion during hypokalemia can lead to an acid-base disorder, metabolic alkalosis, rather than maintenance of acid-base homeostasis. The purpose of the current studies was to determine Rhcg's role in hypokalemia-stimulated renal ammonia excretion through the use of mice with collecting duct-specific Rhcg deletion (CD-Rhcg-KO). In mice with intact Rhcg expression, a K+-free diet increased urinary ammonia excretion and urine alkalinization and concurrently increased Rhcg expression in the collecting duct in the outer medulla. Immunohistochemistry and immunogold electron microscopy showed hypokalemia increased both apical and basolateral Rhcg expression. In CD-Rhcg-KO, a K+-free diet increased urinary ammonia excretion and caused urine alkalinization, and the magnitude of these changes did not differ from mice with intact Rhcg expression. In mice on a K+-free diet, CD-Rhcg-KO increased phosphate-dependent glutaminase (PDG) expression in the outer medulla. We conclude that hypokalemia increases collecting duct Rhcg expression, that this likely contributes to the hypokalemia-stimulated increase in urinary ammonia excretion, and that adaptive increases in PDG expression can compensate for the absence of collecting duct Rhcg.
Transient spatiotopic integration across saccadic eye movements mediates visual stability
Authors: Cicchini Guido M. , Binda Paola , Burr David C. , Morrone M. Concetta
Published: November 2012

Eye movements pose major problems to the visual system, because each new saccade changes the mapping of external objects on the retina. It is known that stimuli briefly presented around the time of saccades are systematically mislocalized, whereas continuously visible objects are perceived as spatially stable even when they undergo large transsaccadic displacements. In this study we investigated the relationship between these two phenomena and measured how human subjects perceive the position of pairs of bars briefly displayed around the time of large horizontal saccades. We show that they interact strongly, with the perisaccadic bar being drawn toward the other, dramatically altering the pattern of perisaccadic mislocalization. The interaction field extends over a wide range (200 ms and 20°) and is oriented along the retinotopic trajectory of the saccade-induced motion, suggesting a mechanism that integrates pre- and postsaccadic stimuli at different retinal locations but similar external positions. We show how transient changes in spatial integration mechanisms, which are consistent with the present psychophysical results and with the properties of “remapping cells” reported in the literature, can create transient craniotopy by merging the distinct retinal images of the pre- and postsaccadic fixations to signal a single stable object.
Psoriatic Arthritis during Treatment with Bevacizumab for Anaplastic Oligodendroglioma
Authors: Graceffa D. , Maiani E. , Pace A. , Solivetti F. M. , Elia F. , De Mutiis C. , Bonifati C.
Published: November 2012

Bevacizumab is a recombinant humanised monoclonal antibody directed against the vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF). The drug, alone or in combination with other anticancer agents, has been shown to be effective against several types of neoplasms. We report a case of a woman with a history of severe psoriasis who developed psoriatic arthritis during a course of bevacizumab, which was administered for a malignant glioma.
Acquired Inhibitors: A Special Case of Bleeding in Older Adults
Authors: Stefanacci Richard G.
Published: November 2012

This literature review is intended to familiarize physicians and healthcare providers of older adults with the potential causes of acute bleeding in older adults and to review diagnostic approaches that can produce prompt identification of acute bleeding and facilitate timely treatment. Adverse events from anticoagulant treatment and nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drug (NSAID) and aspirin use and abuse are among the most common causes of bleeding in older adults. Diagnoses infrequently considered—mild congenital hemophilia, acquired hemophilia, von Willebrand disease, and platelet dysfunction—can contribute to acute bleeding in older adults. The approach to management of bleeding varies. Management of acute bleeding in older adults can be challenging because these patients often have chronic comorbidity and have been prescribed long-term concomitant medications that can complicate diagnosis and treatment. Prompt recognition of acquired hemophilia, referral to an expert hematologist, and timely initiation of treatment could improve outcome in older patients who experience bleeding episodes resulting from this condition.
Initial Report on Differential Expression of Sprouty Proteins 1 and 2 in Human Epithelial Ovarian Cancer Cell Lines
Authors: Moghaddam Samar Masoumi , Amini Afshin , Wei Ai-Qun , Pourgholami Mohammad Hossein , Morris David Lawson
Published: November 2012

Sprouty (Spry) proteins, modulators of receptor tyrosine kinase signaling pathways, have been shown to be deregulated in a variety of pathological conditions including cancer. In the present study we investigated the expression of Spry1 and Spry2 isoforms in a panel of human ovarian cancer cell lines in vitro. Our western blot analysis showed nonuniform patterns of Spry expression in the cancer cells, none of which conformed to the pattern observed in the normal ovarian epithelial cells employed as the control. Among the seven cancer cell lines studied, Spry1 was expressed lower in four cell lines and higher in one as compared with the control. As for Spry2, four cell lines showed lower and two exhibited higher expression. Results from RT-PCR assay raised the possibility that Spry protein levels may not necessarily correspond with its expression at mRNA level. Our immunostaining study revealed that Spry2 was predominantly distributed within the whole cytoplasm in vesicular structures whereas Spry1 was found in both the cytoplasm and nucleus. This might provide clues to further investigation of Spry mode of action and/or function. Collectively, our study unveiled the differential expression of Spry1 and Spry2 proteins in various ovarian cancer cell lines.
Characteristic Seismic Waves Associated with Cryosphere Dynamics in Eastern Dronning Maud Land, East Antarctica
Authors: Kanao Masaki , Yamada Akira , Yamashita Mikiya
Published: November 2012

Several kinds of natural source signals are recorded by seismic exploration stations on the continental ice sheet in Eastern Dronning Maud Land, East Antarctica, during 2002 austral summer. They include not only tectonic earthquakes, but also ice-related phenomena possibly involving recent global climate change. The recorded signals are classified into (1) teleseismic events, (2) local ice quakes, and (3) unidentified events (X-phases). The teleseismic waves show the high signal-to-noise ratio in spite of the small magnitude of the event; this indicates that it is highly feasible to study not only the local shallow structure but also the deep structure of the earth by using teleseismic events. Frequency spectra of the all waveforms represent discordances along the observation seismic profile. The abrupt change of topography in the valley along the seismic profile might cause both the anomalous frequency content and travel times. Finally, an origin of the X-phases is speculated as the intraplate earthquakes or possibly large ice-quakes (glacial earthquakes) around Antarctica, involving global warming appeared in polar region.
Commitment of Satellite Cells Expressing the Calcium Channel α2δ1 Subunit to the Muscle Lineage
Authors: Tamayo Tammy , Grajales Liliana , García Jesús
Published: November 2012

Satellite cells can maintain or repair muscle because they possess stem cell properties, making them a valuable option for cell therapy. However, cell transplants into skeletal muscle of patients with muscular dystrophy are limited by donor cell attachment, migration, and survival in the host tissue. Cells used for therapy are selected based on specific markers present in the plasma membrane. Although many markers have been identified, there is a need to find a marker that is expressed at different states in satellite cells, activated, quiescent, or differentiated cell. Furthermore, the marker has to be present in human tissue. Recently we reported that the plasma membrane α2δ1 protein is involved in cell attachment and migration in myoblasts. The α2δ1 subunit forms a part of the L-type voltage-dependent calcium channel in adult skeletal muscle. We found that the α2δ1 subunit is expressed in the majority of newly isolated satellite cells and that it appears earlier than the α1 subunits and at higher levels than the β or γ subunits. We also found that those cells that expressed α2δ1 would differentiate into muscle cells. This evidence indicates that the α2δ1 may be used as a marker of satellite cells that will differentiate into muscle.
Substance Abuse Treatment, HIV/AIDS, and the Continuum of Response for People Who Inject Drugs
Authors: Kresina Thomas F. , Lubran Robert , Clark H. Westley , Cheever Laura W.
Published: November 2012

The continuum of response (CoR) to HIV/AIDS is a framework for implementation of HIV prevention, care, and treatment programs based on a national strategic plan for HIV/AIDS services. The CoR for people who inject drugs (PWID) is an important extension of the developed CoR to HIV/AIDS. The CoR-PWID employs stakeholders who together plan, develop, pilot, and provide a full range of services that address the various prevention, care/support, and treatment needs of people, families, and communities infected or affected by HIV/AIDS and injection drug use. The CoR-PWID comprises a broad range of services that include but are not limited to the World Health Organization priority interventions for HIV/AIDS prevention, treatment, and care in the health sector and the package of essential interventions for the prevention, treatment, and care of HIV for people who inject drugs. Implementation of these well-defined, essential prevention, care/support, and treatment services, in addition to locally defined needed services, in a coordinated fashion is important to clients, their families, and communities. The CoR-PWID is, therefore, a necessary framework essential for service development for countries that address HIV/AIDS in populations of PWID.
Gaps in Capacity in Primary Care in Low-Resource Settings for Implementation of Essential Noncommunicable Disease Interventions
Authors: Mendis S. , Al Bashir Igbal , Dissanayake Lanka , Varghese Cherian , Fadhil Ibtihal , Marhe Esha , Sambo Boureima , Mehta Firdosi , Elsayad Hind , Sow Idrisa , Algoe Maltie , Tennakoon Herbert , Truong Lai Die , Lan Le Thi Tuyet , Huiuinato Dismond , Hewageegana Neelamni , Fahal Naiema A. W. , Mebrhatu Goitom , Tshering Gado , Chestnov Oleg
Published: November 2012

Objective.The objective was to evaluate the capacity of primary care (PC) facilities to implement basic interventions for prevention and management of major noncommunicable diseases (NCDs), including cardiovascular diseases and diabetes.Methods.A cross-sectional survey was done in eight low- and middle-income countries (Benin, Bhutan, Eritrea, Sri Lanka, Sudan, Suriname, Syria, and Vietnam) in 90 PC facilities randomly selected. The survey included questions on the availability of human resources, equipment, infrastructure, medicines, utilization of services, financing, medical information, and referral systems.Results and Conclusions.Major deficits were identified in health financing, access to basic technologies and medicines, medical information systems, and the health workforce. The study has provided the foundation for strengthening PC to address noncommunicable diseases. There are important implications of the findings of this study for all low- and middle-income countries as capacity of PC is fundamental for equitable prevention and control of NCDs.
Monocrotaline: Histological Damage and Oxidant Activity in Brain Areas of Mice
Authors: Honório Junior José Eduardo Ribeiro , Vasconcelos Germana Silva , Rodrigues Francisca Taciana Sousa , Sena Filho José Guedes , Barbosa-Filho José Maria , Aguiar Carlos Clayton Torres , Leal Luzia Kalyne Almeida Moreira , Soares Pedro Marcos Gomes , Woods David John , Fonteles Marta Maria de França , Vasconcelos Silvânia Maria Mendes
Published: November 2012

This work was designed to study MCT effect in histopathological analysis of hippocampus (HC) and parahippocampal cortex (PHC) and in oxidative stress (OS) parameters in brain areas such as hippocampus (HC), prefrontal cortex (PFC), and striatum (ST). Swiss mice (25–30 g) were administered a single i.p. dose of MCT (5, 50, or 100 mg/kg) or 4% Tween 80 in saline (control group). After 30 minutes, the animals were sacrificed by decapitation and the brain areas (HC, PHC, PFC, or ST) were removed for histopathological analysis or dissected and homogenized for measurement of OS parameters (lipid peroxidation, nitrite, and catalase) by spectrophotometry. Histological evaluation of brain structures of rats treated with MCT (50 and 100 mg/kg) revealed lesions in the hippocampus and parahippocampal cortex compared to control. Lipid peroxidation was evident in all brain areas after administration of MCT. Nitrite/nitrate content decreased in all doses administered in HC, PFC, and ST. Catalase activity was increased in the MCT group only in HC. In conclusion, monocrotaline caused cell lesions in the hippocampus and parahippocampal cortex regions and produced oxidative stress in the HC, PFC, and ST in mice. These findings may contribute to the neurological effects associated with this compound.
Two-Dimensional Analytical Solution of the Laminar Forced Convection in a Circular Duct with Periodic Boundary Condition
Authors: Astaraki M. R. , Ghiasi Tabari N.
Published: November 2012

In the present study analytical solution for forced convection heat transfer in a circular duct with a special boundary condition has been presented, because the external wall temperature is a periodic function of axial direction. Local energy balance equation is written with reference to the fully developed regime. Also governing equations are two-dimensionally solved, and the effect of duct wall thickness has been considered. The temperature distribution of fluid and solid phases is assumed as a periodic function of axial direction and finally temperature distribution in the flow field, solid wall, and local Nusselt number, is obtained analytically.
MUC1 Drives c-Met–Dependent Migration and Scattering
Authors: Horm Teresa M. , Bitler Benjamin G. , Broka Derrick M. , Louderbough Jeanne M. , Schroeder Joyce A.
Published: November 2012

The transmembrane mucin MUC1 is overexpressed in most ductal carcinomas, and its overexpression is frequently associated with metastatic progression. MUC1 can drive tumor initiation and progression via interactions with many oncogenic partners, including β-catenin, the EGF receptor (EGFR) and Src. The decoy peptide protein transduction domain MUC1 inhibitory peptide (PMIP) has been shown to inhibit the tumor promoting activities of MUC1 in breast and lung cancer, including cell growth and invasion, and its usage suppresses metastatic progression in mouse models of breast cancer. To further characterize the reduced metastasis observed upon PMIP treatment, we conducted motility assays and observed that PMIP inhibits cell motility of breast cancer cells. To determine the mechanism by which PMIP inhibits motility, we evaluated changes in global gene transcription upon PMIP treatment, and identified a number of genes with altered expression in response to PMIP. Among these genes is the metastatic mediator, c-Met, a transmembrane tyrosine kinase that can promote cell scattering, migration, and invasion. To further investigate the role of c-Met in MUC1-dependent metastatic events, we evaluated the effects of MUC1 expression and EGFR activation on breast cancer cell scattering, branching, and migration. We found that MUC1 strongly promoted all of these events and this effect was further amplified by EGF treatment. Importantly, the effect of MUC1 and EGF on these phenotypes was dependent upon c-Met activity. Overall, these results indicate that PMIP can block the expression of a key metastatic mediator, further advancing its potential use as a clinical therapeutic. Mol Cancer Res; 10(12); 1544–54. ©2012 AACR.
Trends in Age-Standardized and Age-Specific Cerebrovascular Mortality in Germany between 1980 and 2009
Authors: Rieks Stephan , Willich Stefan N. , Mueller-Riemenschneider Falk
Published: November 2012

Background: It has been proposed that the declining stroke mortality trends will stop due to high and increasing levels of stroke risk factors. Accordingly, it has been reported that the declining mortality from coronary heart diseases, whose aetiology is comparable to that of stroke, has already started to level off in major population groups in western countries. However, there are no recent data on the development and possible change in stroke mortality trends. Aim: The objective of this study was to investigate overall as well as age- and sex-specific stroke mortality trends between 1980 and 2009 in Germany and to identify changes in these trends. Methods: Data of the German Federal Statistical Office were used to calculate age-standardized and age-specific mortality trends for women and men between 1980 and 2009. Joinpoint software was used to calculate annual percentage changes and detect changes in the direction of mortality trends. Additionally, sensitivity analyses were conducted separately for West Germany and East Germany to analyse the stroke mortality trends in the two parts of Germany. Trends of ischaemic and haemorrhagic stroke were analysed separately. Results: Between 1980 and 2009, the overall stroke mortality has decreased by 68.4% in women and 70.6% in men. The decrease was relatively constant throughout the whole period and trends were comparable across age groups and sexes. The overall percent decline was less pronounced in the younger age groups compared with the older ones. Additionally, the analyses showed that between 1990 and 1991, following the reunification of Germany, the stroke mortality in Germany as a whole increased in most of the population subgroups. After 2000, a flattening in the mortality trends could be detected in the age-standardized mortality of women as well as in the subgroups of women aged ≥55 and men aged 65–84. Conclusion: Between 1980 and 2009, stroke mortality decreased substantially in the entire population. The increase in stroke mortality after the reunification was possibly caused by changes in the coding practice in former East Germany. During the whole period, a flattening of the decrease was observed in some population subgroups, which may be the result of relatively high levels of important risk factors. The decreasing stroke mortality rate may flatten in the entire population in the future. The results may aid in designing and improving preventive strategies.
A Widespread and Distinctive Form of Amphipod Intersexuality Not Induced by Known Feminising Parasites
Authors: Short S. , Yang G. , Kille P. , Ford A.T.
Published: November 2012

Intersexuality occurs in a diverse range of animals, and its study offers insights into basic reproductive biology. Investigations in amphipods suggest intersexuality results from incomplete feminisation caused by sex-distorting parasites. It has also been noted that 2 intersex phenotypes occur in males of the amphipod Echinogammarus marinus, an external phenotype, in which males possess rudimentary brood plates, and an internal phenotype, in which only an ovotestis is present. This study examines the relationship between these phenotypes and finds their prevalences are independent. In addition, a cross-species microarray reveals the testicular transcriptomes of the intersex phenotypes are distinct from that of normal males and, most crucially, each other. Furthermore, the internal intersex phenotype, unlike the external phenotype, shows no correlation with infection by known feminising parasites. These findings suggest the male intersex phenotypes should not be considered stages on a single spectrum of intersexuality. Rather, they support the hypothesis that internal and external intersexuality are divergent phenotypes with separate causal mechanisms and point to the existence of a distinct and geographically widespread form of amphipod intersexuality caused by an unknown factor.
The p.G146A and p.P125P Polymorphisms in the Steroidogenic Factor-1 (SF-1) Gene Do Not Affect the Risk for Hypospadias in Caucasians
Authors: Adamovic T. , Chen Y. , Thai H.T.T. , Zhang X. , Markljung E. , Zhao S. , Nordenskjöld A.
Published: November 2012

Hypospadias is a frequent congenital malformation in boys and is characterized by incomplete fusion of the urethral folds. The steroidogenic factor-1 (SF-1, NR5A1) gene plays a key role in hypothalamic-pituitary-steroidogenic organ development, and has previously been reported to be mutated in individuals with 46,XY disorder of sex development. Here, we investigated the role of SF-1 in hypospadias, a milder form of 46,XY disorder of sex development. We performed direct sequencing analysis of the SF-1 gene in 2 male Caucasian twins exhibiting very severe hypospadias, and in 95 Caucasian boys with mild and severe hypospadias. We further extended the analysis by investigating 332 mild and severe hypospadias cases and 422 male controls using TaqMan assays. Our sequencing revealed a novel heterozygous p.R313H (c.938G>A) missense mutation in each twin, and no mutations in the 95 Caucasian cases. Instead, a missense p.G146A (c.437G>C), and a silent known p.P125P (c.375C>T) polymorphism, respectively, was found in several of the latter cases. Further investigation of the 2 polymorphisms in the larger material of cases and controls showed no significant genotypic or allelic association. In conclusion, the SF-1 gene may not play a significant role in the development of hypospadias in Caucasians.
Relationship between Reductions in Parathyroid Hormone and Serum Phosphorus during the Management of Secondary Hyperparathyroidism with Calcimimetics in Hemodialysis Patients
Authors: Cooper Kerry , Quarles Darryl , Kubo Yumi , Tomlin Holly , Goodman William
Published: November 2012

Background/Aim: The relationship between changes in plasma parathyroid hormone (PTH) and serum phosphorus levels during treatment with cinacalcet was evaluated in hemodialysis patients with secondary hyperparathyroidism (SHPT) receiving stable doses of vitamin D. Methods: Post hoc analysis of the relationship between PTH and phosphorus levels before and during treatment with cinacalcet in adult subjects on hemodialysis with inadequately controlled SHPT (PTH ≥300 pg/ml) included: (1) correlation of absolute changes from baseline in mean PTH and phosphorus at week 2 and during weeks 13–26; (2) phosphorus levels at baseline and absolute and percent change of phosphorus after cinacalcet administration stratified by baseline PTH level; (3) two regression analyses models were fitted that (a) adjusted for baseline lab values to quantify the relationship between changes in PTH and changes in phosphorus and (b) a multivariate regression analysis that adjusted for clinically relevant subject characteristics. Results: Serum phosphorus concentrations at baseline were incrementally greater by PTH stratum from lowest to highest. Reductions in PTH from baseline after 13–26 weeks of treatment with cinacalcet were associated with corresponding reductions in serum phosphorus. Two weeks after starting treatment with cinacalcet when doses of vitamin D analogues, phosphate binders, and cinacalcet remained unchanged, there was a statistically significant association (p < 0.0001) between the decreases from baseline in PTH and phosphorus. Conclusions: Reductions in PTH during cinacalcet therapy are associated with decreases in serum phosphorus that cannot be explained by changes in vitamin D or phosphate binder therapy, and may reflect diminished phosphorus release from bone.