bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Histone Deacetylases Enzyme, Copper, and IL-8 Levels in Patients With Alzheimer’s Disease
Authors: Alsadany Mohamad A. , Shehata Hanan H. , Mohamad Magda I. , Mahfouz Riham G. 
Published: December 2012

Background: Alzheimer's disease (AD) is a neurodegenerative disorder characterized by progressive loss of cognitive abilities. Epigenetic modification, oxidative stress, and inflammation play an important role in the pathogenesis of the disease. We aimed to detect noninvasive peripheral biomarkers with a high degree of sensitivity and specificity in diagnosis and progression of AD. Methods: A total of 25 elderly patients with AD and 25 healthy control participants were selected and subjected to cognitive assessment and laboratory measures including histone deacetylases (HDACs), copper, and interleukin 8 (IL-8) levels. Results: The levels of HDACs, copper, and IL-8 were significantly higher in patients with AD ( P < .001) and had a significant negative effect on all cognitive assessment tests. Receiver–operating curve (ROC) analysis revealed that HDACs and copper levels had higher sensitivity and specificity. Conclusions: Plasma levels of HDACs and copper may be used as peripheral biomarkers in diagnosis of AD, while IL-8 level could be a useful biomarker in following AD progression.
Dysfunction of the PI3 kinase/Rap1/integrin αIIbβ3 pathway underlies ex vivo platelet hypoactivity in essential thrombocythemia
Authors: Moore Samantha F. , Hunter Roger W. , Harper Matthew T. , Savage Joshua S. , Siddiq Samreen , Westbury Sarah K. , Poole Alastair W. , Mumford Andrew D. , Hers Ingeborg 
Published: December 2012

Key PointsPlatelets from essential thrombocythemia patients have an intrinsic impairment in the P13kinase/Rap1/integrin αIIbβ3 signaling pathway. This explains the clinical observation that in vitro platelet aggregation is impaired in patients with essential thrombocythemia.
Distinct characteristics of antibody responses against factor VIII in healthy individuals and in different cohorts of hemophilia A patients
Authors: Whelan Shawn F. J. , Hofbauer Christoph J. , Horling Frank M. , Allacher Peter , Wolfsegger Martin J. , Oldenburg Johannes , Male Christoph , Windyga Jerzy , Tiede Andreas , Schwarz Hans Peter , Scheiflinger Friedrich , Reipert Birgit M. 
Published: December 2012

Key Points
Antibodies against factor VIII show distinct characteristics in healthy individuals and different cohorts of hemophilia A patients. IgG4 antibodies against FVIII are only found in patients with inhibitors but not in healthy individuals or patients without inhibitors.
A novel role of BMP4 in adult hematopoietic stem and progenitor cell homing via Smad independent regulation of integrin-α4 expression
Authors: Khurana Satish , Buckley Shannon , Schouteden Sarah , Ekker Stephen , Petryk Anna , Delforge Michel , Zwijsen An , Verfaillie Catherine M. 
Published: December 2012

Key PointsCytokine-induced loss of murine as well as human HSPC homing during ex vivo culture can be prevented by addition of BMP4. In HSPCs, BMP4 directly regulates Integrin-α4 expression through SMAD-independent p38 MAPK-mediated signaling.
A catalytically inactive mutant of the deubiquitylase YOD-1 enhances antigen cross-presentation
Authors: Sehrawat Sharvan , Koenig Paul-Albert , Kirak Oktay , Schlieker Christian , Fankhauser Manuel , Ploegh Hidde L. 
Published: December 2012

Key PointsAntigen cross-presentation is regulated by the activity of deubiquitylase YOD1 that influences the control of viral infections. The enhanced cross-presentation depends on the proteasomal activity and the acidification status of APCs but is independent of functional TAP1.
Inhibitory KIR/HLA incompatibility between sexual partners confers protection against HIV-1 transmission
Authors: Jennes Wim , Verheyden Sonja , Mertens Julie W. , Camara Makhtar , Seydi Moussa , Dieye Tandakha N. , Mboup Souleymane , Demanet Christian , Kestens Luc 
Published: December 2012

Key Points
HIV-1 transmission is influenced by the compatibility of sexual partners for two immune system genes, KIR and HLA. KIR/HLA incompatibility likely allows alloreactive NK cells from the exposed partner to reject incoming cells from the HIV-1–infected partner.
The effectiveness of cognitive behavioral therapy on the quality of life of patients with inflammatory bowel disease: multi-center design and study protocol (KL!C- study)
Authors: Evertsz’ Floor Bennebroek , Bockting Claudi LH , Stokkers Pieter CF , Hinnen Chris , Sanderman Robbert , Sprangers Mirjam AG 
Published: December 2012

Abstract

Background
Inflammatory Bowel Disease (IBD) patients report poorer quality of life (QoL) and more anxiety and depressive symptoms than controls from the general population. Cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) is effective for anxiety and depression, but questionable in case of co-morbidity with IBD. Therefore, an adapted new CBT specifically designed for IBD patients was developed. The objective of this study is to evaluate the effectiveness of adapted CBT on QoL.

Methods/design
IBD patients with a poor level of mental QoL (score less than or equal to 23 on the mental health scale of SF-36) will be randomly assigned to the experimental (n = 40) or waiting-list control condition (n = 40). The experimental condition will then immediately start CBT. The waiting-list control condition will wait 3,5 months before CBT begins with pre- and post assessments. Both conditions will complete a baseline and follow-up assessment following CBT and a mid-treatment assessment. The primary outcome is IBD-specific QoL (IBDQ). Secondary outcomes are generic QoL (SF-36) and anxiety and depression complaints (HADS, CES-D). Additionally, we will examine the working mechanism of the psychological intervention by investigating the impact of the intervention on illness-related cognitions, attitudes, coping styles and their associations with outcome. Data will be analysed on an intention to treat (ITT) as well as treatment completer basis (greater than or equal to five sessions followed).

Discussion
If found effective, this IBD-specific CBT is a first step to enhance poor QoL in IBD patients and possibly, other gastroenterological diseases. By enhancing IBD patients’ QoL, we may also improve their mental and physical health, and lower unnecessary health care consumption.

Trial registration number
NTR (TC = 1869)
Regulation of lipid metabolism-related gene expression in whole blood cells of normo- and dyslipidemic men after fish oil supplementation
Authors: Schmidt Simone , Willers Janina , Stahl Frank , Mutz Kai-Oliver , Scheper Thomas , Hahn Andreas , Schuchardt Jan Philipp 
Published: December 2012

Abstract

Background
Beneficial effects of omega-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids (n-3 PUFAs) on the lipid levels of dyslipidemic subjects are widely described in the literature. However, the underlying molecular mechanisms are largely unknown. The aim of this study was to investigate the effects of n-3 PUFAs on the expression of lipid metabolism-related genes in normo- and dyslipidemic men to unveil potential genes and pathways affecting lipid metabolism.

Methods
Ten normo- and ten dyslipidemic men were supplemented for twelve weeks with six fish oil capsules per day, providing 1.14 g docosahexaenoic acid and 1.56 g eicosapentaenoic acid. The gene expression levels were determined by whole genome microarray analysis and quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction.

Results
Several transcription factors (peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor α (PPARα), retinoid X receptor (RXR) α, RXRγ, hepatic nuclear factor (HNF) 6, and HNF1ß) as well as other genes related to triacylglycerol (TG) synthesis or high-density lipoprotein (HDL-C) and cholesterol metabolism (phospholipids transfer protein, ATP-binding cassette sub-family G member 5, 2-acylglycerol O-acyltransferase (MOGAT) 3, MOGAT2, diacylglycerol O-acyltransferase 1, sterol O-acyltransferase 1, apolipoprotein CII, and low-density lipoprotein receptor) were regulated after n-3 PUFA supplementation, especially in dyslipidemic men.

Conclusion
Gene expression analyses revealed several possible molecular pathways by which n-3 PUFAs lower the TG level and increase the HDL-C and low-density lipoprotein level, whereupon the regulation of PPARα appear to play a central role.

Trial registration
ClinicalTrials.gov (ID: NCT01089231)
Management of degenerative rotator cuff tears: a review and treatment strategy
Authors: Clement Nicholas D , Nie Yuan X , McBirnie Julie M 
Published: December 2012

AbstractThe aim of this review was to present an over view of degenerative rotator cuff tears and a suggested management protocol based upon current evidence. Degenerative rotator cuff tears are common and are a major cause of pain and shoulder dysfunction. The management of these tears is controversial, as to whether they should be managed non-operatively or operatively. In addition when operative intervention is undertaken, there is question as to what technique of repair should be used. This review describes the epidemiology and natural history of degenerative rotator cuff tears. The management options, and the evidence to support these, are reviewed. We also present our preferred management protocol and method, if applicable, for surgical fixation of degenerative rotator cuff tears.
Figures Taken for Signs: Symbol, Allegory, Mise En Abyme
Authors: Emery Jacob 
Published: December 2012

This essay examines situations where a single trope is implicated in two traditionally opposed rhetorical structures: mise en abyme, in which an internal text provides a miniature model of the framing text, and allegory, a figure in which the text at hand is only the key to some single and essentially external reading. Where mise en abyme is typically associated with the self-enclosed autonomy of the artwork, allegory tends in the opposite direction by treating the text as a disposable means to a proper meaning. Through readings of the chess motifs in Vladimir Nabokov's The Real Life of Sebastian Knight and statuary tropes in an Edna St. Vincent Millay sonnet, the essay argues that the two tropes are better thought of as versions of each other, not least because allegories signal their presence precisely through interpolated texts that resist paraphrase.
Our difficulty in reconciling them relates to our inevitable temptation to reduce undecidable figures to mechanically decodable signs and involves a complex of related binaries: figure and sign, symbol and allegory, inside and outside. The essay traces these binaries from the German Romantics into more contemporary theory in an effort to make their dynamic a productive one — first by treating the interaction of mise en abyme and allegory as analogous to the relation of part to whole in the hermeneutic circle, and then by relating texts as metaphors of production processes to texts as metonymically resulting from those same production processes. Approached in this way, mise en abyme generates a model by which we can conceptualize the artwork in relation to the larger work of economic production in which it participates and of which it is a miniature model.
Direct and correlated responses to laboratory selection for body melanisation inD. melanogaster: support for melanism- desiccation resistance hypothesis.
Authors: Ramniwas Seema , Kajla Babita , Dev Kapil , Parkash Ravi 
Published: December 2012

SummaryFor Drosophila melanogaster, cuticular melanisation is a quantitative trait, varying from no melanin to complete dark. Variation in melanisation has been linked with stress resistance, especially desiccation, in D. melanogaster and other species. As melanism has a genetic component, we selected melanic and non- melanic phenotypes of D. melanogaster, in order to confirm the association of desiccation resistance and rate of water loss with cuticular melanisation previously reported for this species. A bidirectional selection experiment for dark (D1- D4) and light (L1- L4) body color in D. melanogaster was conducted for 60 generations. In 60 generations of selection for pigmentation, an increase of 1.6 fold in selected dark strain and decrease of 14 folds in selected light strain was observed as compared to control populations. Desiccation hour increased significantly in the dark selected morphs as compared with control. The observed increase in desiccation resistance appeared as a consequence of decrease in cuticular permeability. Our results show that water balance related traits were significantly correlated with abdominal melanisation and were simultaneously selected bidirectionally along with melanisation.
Spontaneous magnetic orientation in larval Drosophila shares properties with learned magnetic compass responses in adult flies and mice.
Authors: Painter Michael S. , Dommer David H. , Altizer William W. , Muheim Rachel , Phillips John B. 
Published: December 2012

Summary
We provide evidence for spontaneous quadramodal magnetic orientation in a larval insect. Second instar Berlin, Canton-S, and Oregon-R X Canton-S strains of Drosophila melanogaster exhibited quadramodal orientation with clusters of bearings along the four anti-cardinal compass directions (i.e. 45°, 135°, 225°, 315°). In double-blind experiments, Canton-S Drosophila larvae exhibited quadramodal orientation in the presence of an earth-strength magnetic field, while this response was abolished when the horizontal component of the magnetic field was cancelled, indicating that the quadramodal behavior is dependent on magnetic cues, and may reflect properties of the underlying magnetoreception mechanism. In addition, a reanalysis of data from studies of learned magnetic compass orientation by adult Drosophila melanogaster and C57BL/6 mice reveals patterns of response similar to those exhibited by larval flies suggesting that a common magnetoreception mechanism(s) may underlie these behaviors. Therefore, characterizing the mechanism(s) of magnetoreception in flies may hold the key to understanding the magnetic sense in a wide array of terrestrial organisms.
Phenotypic plasticity in blood-oxygen transport in highland and lowland deer mice
Authors: Tufts Danielle M. , Revsbech Inge G. , Cheviron Zachary A. , Weber Roy E. , Fago Angela , Storz Jay F. 
Published: December 2012

SummaryIn vertebrates living at high altitude, arterial hypoxemia may be ameliorated by reversible changes in the oxygen-carrying capacity of the blood (regulated by erythropoiesis) and/or changes in blood-oxygen affinity (regulated by allosteric effectors of hemoglobin function). These hematological traits often differ between taxa that are native to different elevational zones, but it is often unknown whether the observed physiological differences reflect fixed, genetically based differences or environmentally induced acclimatization responses (phenotypic plasticity). Here we report measurements of hematological traits related to blood-O2 transport in populations of deer mice (Peromyscus maniculatus) that are native to high- and low-altitude environments. We conducted a common-garden breeding experiment to assess whether altitude-related physiological differences were attributable to developmental plasticity and/or physiological plasticity during adulthood. Under conditions prevailing in their native habitats, high-altitude deer mice from the Rocky Mountains exhibited a number of pronounced hematological differences relative to low-altitude conspecifics from the Great Plains: higher hemoglobin concentrations, higher hematocrits, higher erythrocytic concentrations of 2,3-diphosphoglycerate (an allosteric regulator of hemoglobin-oxygen affinity), lower mean corpuscular hemoglobin concentrations, and smaller red cells. However, these differences disappeared after 6-weeks of acclimation to normoxia at low altitude. The measured traits were also indistinguishable between the F1 progeny of highland and lowland mice, indicating that there were no persistent differences in phenotype that could be attributed to developmental plasticity. These results indicate that the naturally occurring hematological differences between highland and lowland mice are environmentally induced and are largely attributable to physiological plasticity during adulthood.
The Status of General Aviation Airports in Disaster Response Planning
Authors: Smith James Fielding 
Published: December 2012

Abstract
This study takes three approaches to discover historical and potential future roles of general aviation (GA) airports in disaster response. A national survey was attempted with 500 randomly selected public use airports. 20 airports were asked the same questions in interviews and site visits, but these airports were selected on the basis of past involvement in disaster response or self-selected for the study. The third approach was an analysis of the seven state aviation disaster operations plans existing in 2010. The main conclusions are that GA airports are willing to serve in disaster response, that many of them actively seek response roles, and that GA airports are better reflected in local disaster plans than in state plans, and in state plans than in national plans. Several types of further research are recommended.
The Use of Imagery by Successful Hockey Players: A Comparison Among Skill Levels
Authors: Short Sandra E. , Zostautas Nick , Monsma Eva V. 
Published: December 2012

Abstract
The study provides a comprehensive examination of how successful hockey players use imagery and replicates and extends other imagery research by considering skill level (high school, college and professional). The key variables of interest were the frequency of imagery use, the perceived function of imagery, imagery direction, and confidence in using imagery. Results are presented from the subscale and individual item level as based on the Sport Imagery Questionnaire. Overall, MG-M imagery was used the most, and most images were considered to serve this function. Some images were debilitative - but they were not used very often. Athletes were confident in their ability to use imagery and in most cases confidence was positively correlated with imagery use.
The Prostitute's Allure: The Return to Beauty in Commercial Sex Work
Authors: Arunachalam Raj , Shah Manisha 
Published: December 2012

Abstract
We estimate the earnings premium for beauty in an occupation where returns to physical attractiveness are likely to be important: commercial sex work. Using data from sex workers in Ecuador and Mexico, we find that a one standard deviation increase in attractiveness yields 10-15 percent higher earnings. Including controls for personal characteristics (communication ability and desirability of personality) cuts the beauty premium by up to one-half. Beautiful sex workers earn higher wages, have more clients, and enjoy a larger compensating differential for disease risk.
Hypothetical Bias in Choice Experiments: Is Cheap Talk Effective at Eliminating Bias on the Intensive and Extensive Margins of Choice?
Authors: Bosworth Ryan , Taylor Laura O. 
Published: December 2012

Abstract
We use an experimental approach to evaluate the effectiveness of the most commonly employed bias-mitigation tool in nonmarket valuation surveys: the cheap talk script. Our experimental design allows us to estimate treatment effects on two margins of choice separately: the decision to enter the market at all (the extensive margin) and the choices among alternatives offered (the intensive margin). The key result of this study is to show that a cheap talk script appears to affect both margins in ways distinctly different than when choices involve actual payments. Specifically, participants in hypothetical choice experiments including cheap talk are more inclined to enter the market but are also more price-sensitive as compared to when payments are real. Interestingly, the average influence of cheap talk on market participation and price-sensitiveness could result in total willingness to pay (WTP) estimates that are similar to real payment treatments since the two effects identified act in opposite directions when computing WTP. However, they may do so by inducing behavior that is distinctly different than those of consumers facing real choices. Our results highlight that future reliance on cheap talk as a bias mitigation tool requires extensive testing for empirical regularities to gain any confidence that the tool can be effective, and under what circumstances.
Impact of Asset Specificity on Inter-firm Transaction Structure: A Case Study
Authors: Azarian Reza 
Published: December 2012

Abstract
This article reports on the results of a case study that examines the characteristics of the transaction between a plastic producer firm and its supplier of steel injection mold in order to explore the possible effects of asset specificity on the firm�s choice of the transaction structure. The main findings indicate that once the dependence of the firm on the supplier and the ensuing vulnerability induced by the high specificity of the inter-firm trade is remedied by trust, the comparative advantages of the existing and well-functioning inter-firm relationship provide a sufficiently strong rationale of preferring it as the most adequate and satisfactory structure for the transaction.
A systematic procedure for finding Perfect Bayesian Equilibria in Incomplete Information Games
Authors: Munoz-Garcia Felix 
Published: December 2012

Abstract
This paper provides a non-technical introduction to a procedure to find Perfect Bayesian equilibria (PBEs) in incomplete information games. Despite the rapidly expanding literature on industrial organization that uses PBE as its main solution concept, most undergraduate and graduate textbooks still present a relatively theoretical introduction to PBEs. This paper offers a systematic five-step procedure that helps students find all pure-strategy PBEs in incomplete information games. Furthermore, it illustrates a step-by-step application of this procedure to a signaling game, using a worked-out example.
Grounding Public Reasons in Rationality: The Conditionally-Compassionate Medical Student and Other Challenges
Authors: Nir Eyal 
Published: December 2012

Abstract
Gillian Hadfield and Stephen Macedo argue that late-Rawlsian stability for the right reasons, that is, stability based on participants’ reciprocal cooperation, can arise even if participants start out only economically rational and indifferent to justice. As they explain, even purely rational actors have an interest in having a neutral “shared logic” to coordinate decentralized enforcement of social cooperation and in internalizing that logic. Once developed and internalized, they add, that logic renders their reasoning public, and their persons, reasonable and responsive to Rawlsian justice considerations. Hadfield and Macedo’s account seeks to lend Rawlsian contractualism a contractarian foundation. I raise five challenges to their account, focusing on the sense in which actors “start out” purely rational; on illiberal means that may serve rational citizens’ joint ends; on the counterexample of Martin Luther King; on the difficulty of specifying the mechanism for shared logic-internalization; and on the further counterexample of a medical student who internalizes compassion, only upon the condition that it serves his rational aims.