bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Multi‐sensor synthesis of the mesoscale structure of a cold‐air comma cloud system
Authors: Browning K A , Panagi P , Dicks E M 
Published: July 2002

AbstractA multiscale study of a cold‐air comma cloud that produced an area of heavy rain and locally severe weather has been undertaken by synthesising data from a research microwave Doppler radar and VHF and UHF Doppler wind profilers, along with routinely available radar‐network, satellite, in situ and mesoscale‐model data. The rain area was generated in the exit region of an upper‐level jet characterised by laminated velocity perturbations. Some of the perturbations were attributable to inertia‐gravity wave activity. The rain area itself is shown to have been composed of a well‐organised set of mesoscale rainbands each being due to a mixture of upright and slantwise convection. The existence of the multiple rainbands may have been related to the multi‐layered atmospheric structure upwind. Each of the rainbands had cold‐frontal and warm‐frontal portions, so as to form a series of mini warm sectors stacked along the axis of the comma cloud at roughly 70 km intervals. The multiple rainbands were accompanied by multiple fingers of overrunning low‐θw air from part of a dry intrusion originating from just below a major tropopause fold. The fold contained an intense potential‐vorticity maximum which appeared to be the focus of the overall system. The operational mesoscale version of the Met. Office's Unified Model, with its 12 km grid, is shown to have resolved many but not all of the key features of the rainbands. It is suggested that further improvements in very‐short‐range forecasting of important local detail could be achieved by further increasing its resolution and assimilating more mesoscale observational data. Copyright © 2002 Royal Meteorological Society
Analysing effects of meteorological variables on weather codes by logistic regression
Authors: Merenti‐Välimäki Hanna‐Leena , Laininen Pertti 
Published: July 2002

AbstractThe qualitative parameters describing present weather are particularly difficult to automate. The weather types which create most of these difficulties are known, but little attention has been given to investigating the reasons for disagreements between the primary reference, the professional observer and an automated instrument. This paper provides a method –multiple logistic regression –to compare the WMO present weather codes detected by a professional observer and an automated system. A new approach is introduced to explain the errors relative to the official weather variables. Many weather periods have been analysed, but here results are presented for a snow period with slight and very slight precipitation. The best predictive variables were the dew point temperature, wind direction, relative humidity and visibility. The catalyst for this study was the need for better quality control and for tools to enable the development and the manufacture of better instruments and systems to detect present weather. Copyright © 2002 Royal Meteorological Society
Deafness resulting from mutations in the GJB2 (connexin 26) gene in Brazilian patients
Authors: Oliveira CA , Maciel‐Guerra AT , Sartorato EL 
Published: July 2002

Congenital deafness occurs in approximately 1 in 1000 live births. In developed countries about 60% of hearing loss is genetic. However, in Brazil most cases of hearing loss are due to environmental factors, such as congenital infections (mainly rubella), perinatal anoxia, kernicterus and meningitis. Recently, it has been demonstrated that the GJB2 gene is a major gene underlying congenital sensorial deafness. Mutations in this gene cause 10–20% of all genetic sensory hearing loss. One specific mutation, 35delG, accounts for the majority of mutant alleles. The extent of the hearing impairment varies from mild/moderate to profound, even within the patients homozygous for the common 35delG mutation. There may also be progression with age. Mutation analysis in the GJB2 gene was performed on 36 families (group A) presenting with at least one individual with non‐syndromic deafness (NSD). An unselected series of 26 deaf individuals referred by other services where the environmental factors were not completely excluded was also part of the study (group B).Mutations in the GJB2 gene were found in 22% (eight patients) of the families tested in group A, and 11.5% (three patients) of individuals within group B. This finding should facilitate diagnosis of congenital deafness and allow early treatment of the affected subjects.
Thrombopoietin serum levels do not correlate with thrombocytopenia in hepatic schistosomiasis
Authors: Souza MRa , Aguiar LAK , Goto JM , Carvente CT , Toledo CF , Borges DR. , Souza Mo^ônica R. A. , Aguiar Luciane A. K. , Goto Janaina M. , Carvente Cla´áudia T. , Toledo Carlos F. , Borges Durval R. 
Published: July 2002

Abstract:  Background:  In severe forms of cirrhosis reduced liver synthesis of thrombopoietin (Tpo) can contribute to thrombocytopenia. In the hepatosplenic form of schistosomiasis, portal hypertension is the most evident clinical complication, although a deficiency of protein synthesis may be detected early. Our aim was to determine, for the first time in schistosomiasis, Tpo serum concentrations in patients with chronic forms of the disease.Method:  Twenty‐four patients with the pure form of schistosomiasis were studied; 13 had the hepatosplenic form (HE, with portal hypertension) and 11 had the hepatointestinal form (HI, without portal hypertension). Patients were HBsAg, anti‐HBc and anti‐HCV negative, and reported alcohol ingestion below 160 g/week.Results:  The Tpo serum concentration, determined in 10 healthy volunteers, varied from undetectable (< 15 pg/mL) to 489 pg/mL (median 208 pg/mL). The HE and HI groups differed (p = 0.004) in regard to the prothrombin index, thrombocytemia and γ‐glutamyltransferase but not in regard to Tpo (p = 0.622). No significant correlation was found between Tpo and the other parameters (p > 0.05).Conclusions: The results suggest that Tpo serum concentration does not mirror and/or has no significant participation in the mechanisms responsible for the thrombocytopenia observed in schistosomiasis patients with splenomegaly and portal hypertension.
Viral dynamics in chronic hepatitis B patients during lamivudine therapy
Authors: Wolters LMM , Hansen BE , Niesters HGM , Zeuzem S , Schalm SW , RA de Man. , Wolters Lonieke M. M. , Hansen Bettina E. , Niesters Hubert G. M. , Zeuzem Stefan , Schalm Solko W. , De Man Robert A. 
Published: July 2002

Abstract:  Rationale and aim: Recently, we described a first‐order decay model for the description of a decrease in viral load during treatment with lamivudine for a chronic hepatitis B virus infection (HBV). However, more frequent sampling of viral load during the first month of treatment shows a bi‐phasic viral decline. We therefore compared several mathematical models which are currently in use to describe the dynamics of various viruses and treatments.Methods: HBV DNA positive chronic hepatitis B patients were treated with lamivudine 150–600 mg daily for four weeks. During the first two days, blood samples were drawn every 6 h, then daily during the first week and weekly during the following three weeks. HBV DNA was measured with the Digene Hybrid Capture II HBV DNA test and the sensitive Roche PCR assay, both calibrated on the Eurohep standard.Results: Our HBV DNA data are most accurately described if we use the bi‐phasic model previously described by Neumann et al. while introducing all consecutive data of all patients simultaneously (mixed effects model). This results in an effectiveness of blocking of viral replication of 93%, a half‐life of free virus of 17 h and a half‐life of infected hepatocytes of 7 day in patients treated with 150 mg of lamivudine.Conclusion: HBV dynamics during treatment with lamivudine can be explained by blocking of virion production with or without blocking of de novo infection. The bi‐phasic model as described by Neumann et al. in combination with frequent blood sampling provides the most accurate fit and can be used to compare new nucleoside analogue profiles to lamivudine therapy.
Protective effects of M40403, a selective superoxide dismutase mimetic, in myocardial ischaemia and reperfusion injury in vivo
Authors: Masini Emanuela , Cuzzocrea Salvatore , Mazzon Emanuela , Marzocca Cosimo , Mannaioni Pier Francesco , Salvemini Daniela 
Published: July 2002

Myocardial injury caused by ischaemia and reperfusion comes from multiple pathogenic events, including endothelial damage, neutrophil extravasation into tissue, mast cell activation, and peroxidation of cell membrane lipids. These events are followed by myocardial cell alterations resulting eventually in cell necrosis. An enhanced formation of reactive oxygen species is widely accepted as a stimulus for tissue destruction and cardiac failure.
In this study, we have investigated the cardioprotective effects of M40403 in myocardial ischaemia‐reperfusion injury. M40403 is a low molecular weight, synthetic manganese containing superoxide dismutase mimetic (SODm) that selectively removes superoxide anion. Ischaemia was induced in rat hearts in vivo by ligating the left anterior descending coronary artery. Thirty minutes after the induction of ischaemia, the ligature was removed and reperfusion allowed to occur for at least 60 min. M40403 (0.1–1 mg kg−1) was given intravenously 15 min before ischaemia.
The results obtained in this study showed that M40403 significantly reduced the extent of myocardial damage, mast cell degranulation and the incidence of ventricular arrhythmias. Furthermore, M40403 significantly attenuated, in a dose‐dependent manner, neutrophil infiltration in the myocardium as well as the associated induction of lipid peroxidation. Calcium overload seen post‐reperfusion of the ischaemic myocardium was also reduced by M40403.
Immunohistochemical analysis for nitrotyrosine revealed a positive staining in cardiac tissue taken after reperfusion: this was attenuated by M40403. Moreover reperfused cardiac tissue sections showed positive staining for P‐selectin and for anti‐intercellular adhesion molecule (ICAM‐1) in the vascular endothelial cells. M40403 treatment markedly reduced the intensity and degree of P‐selectin and ICAM‐1 in these tissues. No staining for nitrotyrosine, P‐selectin or ICAM‐1 was found in cardiac tissue taken at the end of the ischaemic period.
Overall, M40403 treatment reduced the morphological signs of myocardial cell injury and significantly improved survival.
Taken together, these results clearly indicate that M40403 treatment exerts a protective effect against ischaemia‐reperfusion‐induced myocardial injury, supporting a key role for superoxide anion in reperfusion injuries. This suggests that synthetic enzymes of SOD such as M40403, offer a novel therapeutic approach for the treatment of ischaemic heart disease where superoxide anion plays a dominant role.

British Journal of Pharmacology (2002) 136, 905–917. doi:10.1038/sj.bjp.0704774
Reduction of Yersinia enterocolitica load in deliberately inoculated blood: the effects of blood prestorage temperature and WBC filtration
Authors: Siblini Loubna , Lafeuillade Bruno , Ros Alain , Le Petit Jean‐Claude , Pozzetto Bruno 
Published: July 2002

BACKGROUND: Yersinia enterocolitica is known to cause severe infections in patients who receive transfusions. STUDY DESIGN AND METHODS: The aim of the study was to define the best strategy for reducing the bacterial load in blood that was deliberately contaminated with Y. enterocolitica by combining prestorage temperature and WBC filtration with conditions of blood processing close to those applied in blood banks. RESULTS: The effects of three prestorage temperatures (4°C, 20°C, 37°C) were evaluated at various times after infection. The best reduction of bacterial load was achieved after 3 hours at 20°C. In further experiments, conducted according to the former specifications, filtration of whole blood from eight and six donors with an inoculum of 100 and 500 to 1000 CFUs per mL, respectively, resulted in a total inhibition of bacterial growth up to 42 days after infection. After fractionation of blood components, in contrast to plasma and RBCs, filtration was shown to reduce dramatically the bacterial growth in buffy coats, demonstrating that the antibacterial effect of filtration was supported by the removal of infected WBCs from blood samples. CONCLUSION: These results provide support for the systematic use of blood filtration in the preparation of blood components to prevent Y. enterocolitica infection of patients receiving transfusions.
The transfusion trigger and number of units transfused in patients with HIV: associations with disease stage and functional status
Authors: Kennedy Melanie S. , Kalish Leslie A. , Mohandas Kala , Gernsheimer Terry , Townsend‐McCall Dee , For The Viral Activation Transfusion Study Group  
Published: July 2002

BACKGROUND: The influence of quality of life (QOL), physical functioning, and HIV disease stage on the transfusion trigger and the number of units transfused was investigated. STUDY DESIGN AND METHODS: The Viral Activation Transfusion Study, a randomized, double‐blind study at 11 participating sites, enrolled HIV‐positive patients with anemia who required RBC transfusion; 428 patients were included in the analysis of the first transfusion. The QOL scores, Perceived Health Index, Karnofsky score, CD4+ cell count, HIV viral load, and site were analyzed for relationships with the Hb level and the number of units transfused. RESULTS: The transfusion trigger was lower in patients with higher levels of Karnofsky score, Perceived Health Index, CD4+ cell count, and a number of QOL scales. Both the Hb trigger and the number of units transfused had a significant site variation. Males were transfused at a significantly lower Hb level than females. In multivariate analysis, the CD4+ cell count remained significant, but the Karnofsky score or the Perceived Health Index did not. The number of RBC units transfused was associated with the Hb level, CD4+ cell counts, and Karnofsky scores in unadjusted analysis but with only Hb in adjusted analysis. CONCLUSIONS: In this group of HIV+ patients, lower CD4+ cell counts prompted transfusion at higher Hb levels. However, after controlling for the Hb level, the number of units transfused was associated with only the Hb level. The HIV stage appears to influence the decision to transfuse at a particular Hb level but not to influence the number of RBC units transfused. The functional status does not appear to influence the decision to transfuse.
The Efficacy of an Educational Treatment Program for Patients with Epilepsy (MOSES): Results of a Controlled, Randomized Study
Authors: May Theodor W. , Pfäfflin Margarete 
Published: July 2002

Summary:  Purpose: To evaluate the efficacy of the educational program MOSES (Modular Service Package Epilepsy). It was developed to improve patients' knowledge and understanding about their epilepsy, its treatment, and psychosocial consequences. The program intends to improve patients' coping with the disease, to strengthen self‐esteem, and to support patients to become experts in managing their epilepsy.Methods: A controlled, randomized study design was used to examine the efficacy of MOSES. Patients from 22 epilepsy centers in Germany, Austria, and Switzerland were randomly allocated to either MOSES group (treatment group) or waiting‐list group (control group). The 242 patients were aged from 16 to 80 years. The MOSES group (n = 113) completed the questionnaires immediately before the educational course (T1) and 6 months later (T2), and the control group (n = 129), 6 months before (T1) and immediately before (T2) the course. The questionnaires included generic instruments (SF‐36, Rosenberg self‐esteem Scale, von Zerssen Depression Scale), and epilepsy‐specific scales (Restrictions in Daily Life, Epilepsy‐Related Fears, Coping with Epilepsy and Adaptation). Depression was used as a moderator variable. Seizure frequency and satisfaction with therapy also were assessed. Multivariate analysis of variance (MANOVA) with repeated measurements and univariate analyses of variance were performed.Results: The MANOVA showed that participants of the educational program improved significantly. Univariate analyses revealed improvements in knowledge (p < 0.001) and coping with epilepsy (p = 0.004), whereas important effects of MOSES on other epilepsy‐specific measures and on generic questionnaires (SF‐36, self‐esteem) were not found. Participants of the MOSES program also improved in seizure outcome (p = 0.041) and became more satisfied with the therapy [better tolerability of antiepileptic drug (AED) therapy, fewer side effects; p = 0.014]. In addition, participants expressed being highly satisfied with the program.Conclusions: The study clearly indicates the need for patient education. Even patients with a long history of epilepsy and with additional handicaps or diseases benefitted from the MOSES program.
Evaluating an interpolation approach for modelling spatial variability in pest development
Authors: Jarvis C.H. , Collier R.H. 
Published: July 2002

AbstractAir temperatures estimated by partial thin plate spline interpolation, or from the ‘nearest station’ (Voronoi polygon method), were used to model the phenology of three pests of horticultural crops throughout England and Wales. Temperatures for a particularly hot (1976) and a particularly cold (1986) year were interpolated to a grid resolution of 1 km. Estimates were made of the timing of spring emergence (Cecidophyopsis ribis (Westwood)), the maximum number of generations completed during the summer (Plutella xylostella (Linnaeus)) and the numbers of days when mating was possible (Merodon equestris (Fabricius)). The relative accuracy of the two temperature estimation methods was compared using jack-knife cross-validation. For C. ribis and P. xylostella, modelling with interpolated temperature input data was more accurate than using data from the ‘nearest station’. Of the three phenology models used, the one that relied on an activity threshold (M. equestris) was the most sensitive to both types of input data. Spatial variability in the activity of M. equestris adults was investigated in the two main areas (south-west peninsula and Lincolnshire) where its host crop (Narcissus) is grown. Modelling at cruder scales (up to 25*25 km) masked local variation, but the degree to which this was important varied from region to region and over time, as did the geography of the variability itself. The results indicate that interpolated data, computed to a resolution of 1 km using the UK synoptic network, have the potential for wider use within agricultural decision support systems for horticultural crops.
Exon discovery by genomic sequence alignment
Authors: Morgenstern Burkhard , Rinner Oliver , Abdeddaïm Saïd , Haase Dirk , Mayer Klaus F. X. , Dress Andreas W. M. , Mewes Hans-Werner 
Published: July 2002

Abstract
Motivation: During evolution, functional regions in genomic sequences tend to be more highly conserved than randomly mutating ‘junk DNA’ so local sequence similarity often indicates biological functionality. This fact can be used to identify functional elements in large eukaryotic DNA sequences by cross-species sequence comparison. In recent years, several gene-prediction methods have been proposed that work by comparing anonymous genomic sequences, for example from human and mouse. The main advantage of these methods is that they are based on simple and generally applicable measures of (local) sequence similarity; unlike standard gene-finding approaches they do not depend on species-specific training data or on the presence of cognate genes in data bases. As all comparative sequence-analysis methods, the new comparative gene-finding approaches critically rely on the quality of the underlying sequence alignments.
Results: Herein, we describe a new implementation of the sequence-alignment program DIALIGN that has been developed for alignment of large genomic sequences. We compare our method to the alignment programs PipMaker, WABA and BLAST and we show that local similarities identified by these programs are highly correlated to protein-coding regions. In our test runs, PipMaker was the most sensitive method while DIALIGN was most specific.
Availability: The program is downloadable from the DIALIGN home page at http://bibiserv.techfak.uni-bielefeld.de/dialign/
Contact: burkhard@TechFak.Uni-Bielefeld.DE
* To whom correspondence should be addressed at Universität Bielefeld, Technische Fakultät, Praktische Informatik, Postfach 100131, 33501 Bielefeld, Germany.
A Bayesian network model for protein fold and remote
homologue recognition
Authors: Raval A. , Ghahramani Z. , Wild D. L. 
Published: July 2002

Abstract
Motivation: The Bayesian network approach is a framework which combines graphical representation and probability theory, which includes, as a special case, hidden Markov models. Hidden Markov models trained on amino acid sequence or secondary structure data alone have been shown to have potential for addressing the problem of protein fold and superfamily classification.
Results: This paper describes a novel implementation of a Bayesian network which simultaneously learns amino acid sequence, secondary structure and residue accessibility for proteins of known three-dimensional structure. An awareness of the errors inherent in predicted secondary structure may be incorporated into the model by means of a confusion matrix. Training and validation data have been derived for a number of protein superfamilies from the Structural Classification of Proteins (SCOP) database. Cross validation results using posterior probability classification demonstrate that the Bayesian network performs better in classifying proteins of known structural superfamily than a hidden Markov model trained on amino acid sequences alone.
Contact: alpan_raval@kgi.eduzoubin@gatsby.ucl.ac.ukdavid_wild@kgi.edu
* To whom correspondence should be addressed.
Gibberellic Acid, Synthetic Auxins, and Ethylene Differentially Modulate α-l-Arabinofuranosidase Activities in Antisense 1-Aminocyclopropane-1-Carboxylic Acid Synthase Tomato Pericarp Discs
Authors: Sozzi Gabriel O. , Greve L. Carl , Prody Gerry A. , Labavitch John M. 
Published: July 2002

Abstract
α-l-Arabinofuranosidases (α-Afs) are plant enzymes capable of releasing terminal arabinofuranosyl residues from cell wall matrix polymers, as well as from different glycoconjugates. Three different α-Af isoforms were distinguished by size exclusion chromatography of protein extracts from control tomatoes (Lycopersicon esculentum) and an ethylene synthesis-suppressed (ESS) line expressing an antisense 1-aminocyclopropane-1-carboxylic synthase transgene. α-Af I and II are active throughout fruit ontogeny. α-Af I is the first Zn-dependent cell wall enzyme isolated from tomato pericarp tissues, thus suggesting the involvement of zinc in fruit cell wall metabolism. This isoform is inhibited by 1,10-phenanthroline, but remains stable in the presence of NaCl and sucrose. α-Af II activity accounts for over 80% of the total α-Af activity in 10-d-old fruit, but activity drops during ripening. In contrast, α-Af III is ethylene dependent and specifically active during ripening. α-Af I released monosaccharide arabinose from KOH-soluble polysaccharides from tomato cell walls, whereas α-Af II and III acted on Na2CO3-soluble pectins. Different α-Af isoform responses to gibberellic acid, synthetic auxins, and ethylene were followed by using a novel ESS mature-green tomato pericarp disc system. α-Af I and II activity increased when gibberellic acid or 2,4-dichlorophenoxyacetic acid was applied, whereas ethylene treatment enhanced only α-Af III activity. Results suggest that tomato α-Afs are encoded by a gene family under differential hormonal controls, and probably have different in vivo functions. The ESS pericarp explant system allows comprehensive studies involving effects of physiological levels of different growth regulators on gene expression and enzyme activity with negligible wound-induced ethylene production.