bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Left Ventricular Pacing Threshold and Outcome in MADIT‐CRT
Authors: PIRES LUIS A. , MCNITT SCOTT , SOLOMON SCOTT , GOLDENBERG ILAN , ZAREBA WOJCIECH , MOSS ARTHUR J. 
Published: April 2014

LV Pacing Threshold and CRT OutcomeIntroductionHigh left ventricular (LV) pacing threshold (PT) may in some cases indicate the presence of scarred myocardium, a predictor of poor outcome in cardiac resynchronization therapy (CRT) treated patients. We hypothesized that intraoperative LVPT can be used to determine echocardiographic and clinical responses to CRT.Methods and ResultsThe study comprised 975 patients enrolled in the CRT‐D arm of the Multicenter Automatic Defibrillator Implantation Trial with Cardiac Resynchronization Therapy (MADIT‐CRT). Multivariate regression analysis was performed to evaluate the relationship between LVPT and percent reduction in LV end‐systolic volume (ESV) and left atrial volume (LAV) 1 year after CRT. Cox proportional hazards analysis was used to evaluate the relationship between LVPT and heart failure (HF) events or death (primary endpoint) and all‐cause death (secondary endpoint). An increasing LVPT was inversely related to percent reduction in both LVESV (P = 0.02) and LAV (P<0.01). Patients with LVPT in the highest quartile (>1.8 V) were less likely to achieve reverse LV remodeling (≥15% LVESV reduction from baseline) than those with LVPT in the lower quartiles (hazard ratios [HR] OR 0.56, P = 0.02). Mean percent reduction in LAV and LVESV was also significantly greater among those with lowest quartile LVPT. Multivariate analysis showed borderline significant 13% (P = 0.06) and significant 22% (P = 0.03) increase in the risk of HF/death and death alone, respectively, per 1 volt increase in LVPT.ConclusionHigh intraoperative LVPT is associated with significantly lower echocardiographic and clinical response to CRT‐D.
Curcumin attenuates angiogenesis in liver fibrosis and inhibits angiogenic properties of hepatic stellate cells
Authors: Zhang Feng , Zhang Zili , Chen Li , Kong Desong , Zhang Xiaoping , Lu Chunfeng , Lu Yin , Zheng Shizhong 
Published: April 2014

AbstractHepatic fibrosis is concomitant with sinusoidal pathological angiogenesis, which has been highlighted as novel therapeutic targets for the treatment of chronic liver disease. Our prior studies have demonstrated that curcumin has potent antifibrotic activity, but the mechanisms remain to be elucidated. The current work demonstrated that curcumin ameliorated fibrotic injury and sinusoidal angiogenesis in rat liver with fibrosis caused by carbon tetrachloride. Curcumin reduced the expression of a number of angiogenic markers in fibrotic liver. Experiments in vitro showed that the viability and vascularization of rat liver sinusoidal endothelial cells and rat aortic ring angiogenesis were not impaired by curcumin. These results indicated that hepatic stellate cells (HSCs) that are characterized as liver‐specific pericytes could be potential target cells for curcumin. Further investigations showed that curcumin inhibited VEGF expression in HSCs associated with disrupting platelet‐derived growth factor‐β receptor (PDGF‐βR)/ERK and mTOR pathways. HSC motility and vascularization were also suppressed by curcumin associated with blocking PDGF‐βR/focal adhesion kinase/RhoA cascade. Gain‐ or loss‐of‐function analyses revealed that activation of peroxisome proliferator‐activated receptor‐γ (PPAR‐γ) was required for curcumin to inhibit angiogenic properties of HSCs. We concluded that curcumin attenuated sinusoidal angiogenesis in liver fibrosis possibly by targeting HSCs via a PPAR‐γ activation‐dependent mechanism. PPAR‐γ could be a target molecule for reducing pathological angiogenesis during liver fibrosis.
Association of the variants in the BUD13‐ZNF259 genes and the risk of hyperlipidaemia
Authors: Aung Lynn Htet Htet , Yin Rui‐Xing , Wu Dong‐Feng , Wang Wei , Liu Cheng‐Wu , Pan Shang‐Ling 
Published: April 2014

AbstractThe single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in the BUD13 homolog (BUD13) and zinc finger protein 259 (ZNF259) genes have been associated with one or more serum lipid traits in the European populations. However, little is known about such association in the Chinese populations. Our objectives were to determine the association of the BUD13/ZNF259 SNPs and their haplotypes with hypercholesterolaemia (HCH)/hypertriglyceridaemia (HTG) and to identify the possible gene–gene interactions among these SNPs. Genotyping of 6 SNPs was performed in 634 hyperlipidaemic and 547 normolipidaemic participants. The ZNF259 rs2075290, ZNF259 rs964184 and BUD13 rs10790162 SNPs were significantly associated with serum lipid levels in both HCH and non‐HCH populations (P < 0.008–0.001). On single locus analysis, only BUD13 rs10790162 was associated with HCH (OR: 2.23, 95% CI: 1.05, 4.75, P = 0.015). The G‐G‐A‐A‐C‐C haplotype, carrying rs964184‐G‐allele, was associated with increased risk of HCH (OR: 1.35, 95% CI: 1.10, 1.66, P = 0.005) and HTG (OR: 1.75, 95% CI: 1.39, 2.21, P = 0.000). The A‐C‐G‐G‐C‐C and A‐C‐A‐G‐T‐C haplotypes, carrying rs964184‐C‐allele, were associated with reduced risk of HCH (OR: 0.77, 95% CI: 0.61, 0.99, P = 0.039 and OR: 0.66, 95% CI: 0.47, 0.94, P = 0.021 respectively). On multifactor dimensionality reduction analyses, the two‐ to three‐locus models showed a significant association with HCH and HTG (P < 0.01–0.001). The BUD13/ZNF259 SNPs, which were significant in the European populations, are also replicable in the Southern Chinese population. Moreover, inter‐locus interactions may exist among these SNPs. However, further functional studies are required to clarify how these SNPs and genes actually affect the serum lipid levels.
TGF‐beta signalling in the adult neurogenic niche promotes stem cell quiescence as well as generation of new neurons
Authors: Kandasamy Mahesh , Lehner Bernadette , Kraus Sabrina , Sander Paul Ramm , Marschallinger Julia , Rivera Francisco J. , Trümbach Dietrich , Ueberham Uwe , Reitsamer Herbert A. , Strauss Olaf , Bogdahn Ulrich , Couillard‐Despres Sebastien , Aigner Ludwig 
Published: April 2014

AbstractMembers of the transforming growth factor (TGF)‐β family govern a wide range of mechanisms in brain development and in the adult, in particular neuronal/glial differentiation and survival, but also cell cycle regulation and neural stem cell maintenance. This clearly created some discrepancies in the field with some studies favouring neuronal differentiation/survival of progenitors and others favouring cell cycle exit and neural stem cell quiescence/maintenance. Here, we provide a unifying hypothesis claiming that through its regulation of neural progenitor cell (NPC) proliferation, TGF‐β signalling might be responsible for (i) maintaining stem cells in a quiescent stage, and (ii) promoting survival of newly generated neurons and their functional differentiation. Therefore, we performed a detailed histological analysis of TGF‐β1 signalling in the hippocampal neural stem cell niche of a transgenic mouse that was previously generated to express TGF‐β1 under a tetracycline regulatable Ca‐Calmodulin kinase promoter. We also analysed NPC proliferation, quiescence, neuronal survival and differentiation in relation to elevated levels of TGF‐β1 in vitro and in vivo conditions. Finally, we performed a gene expression profiling to identify the targets of TGF‐β1 signalling in adult NPCs. The results demonstrate that TGF‐β1 promotes stem cell quiescence on one side, but also neuronal survival on the other side. Thus, considering the elevated levels of TGF‐β1 in ageing and neurodegenerative diseases, TGF‐β1 signalling presents a molecular target for future interventions in such conditions.
Cross‐communication between histone H3 and H4 acetylation and Akt‐mTOR signalling in prostate cancer cells
Authors: Makarević Jasmina , Tawanaie Nassim , Juengel Eva , Reiter Michael , Mani Jens , Tsaur Igor , Bartsch Georg , Haferkamp Axel , Blaheta Roman A. 
Published: April 2014

AbstractMolecular tumour targeting has significantly improved anti‐cancer protocols. Still, the addition of molecular targeting to the treatment regime has not led to a curative breakthrough. Combined mammalian target of Rapamycin (mTOR) and histone deacetylase (HDAC) inhibition has been shown not only to enhance anti‐tumour potential, but also to prevent resistance development seen under mono‐drug therapy. This investigation was designed to evaluate whether cross‐communication exists between mTOR signalling and epigenetic events regulated by HDAC. DU‐145 prostate cancer cells were treated with insulin‐like growth factor (IGF) to activate the Akt‐mTOR cascade or with the HDAC‐inhibitor valproic acid (VPA) to induce histone H3 and H4 acetylation (aH3, aH4). Subsequently, mTOR, Rictor, Raptor, p70s6k, Akt (all: total and phosphorylated), H3 and H4 (total and acetylated) were analysed by western blotting. Both techniques revealed a link between mTOR and the epigenetic machinery. IGF activated mTOR, Rictor, Raptor, p70s6k and Akt, but also enhanced aH3 and aH4. Inversely, IGFr blockade and knock‐down blocked the Akt‐mTOR axis, but simultaneously diminished aH3 and aH4. VPA treatment up‐regulated histone acetylation, but also activated mTOR‐Akt signalling. HDAC1 and 2 knock‐down revealed that the interaction with the mTOR system is initiated by histone H3 acetylation. HDAC‐mTOR communication, therefore, is apparent whereby tumour‐promoting (Akt/mTORhigh, aH3/aH4low) and tumour‐suppressing signals (Akt/mTORlow, aH3/aH4high) are activated in parallel. Combined use of an HDAC‐ and mTOR inhibitor might then diminish pro‐tumour effects triggered by the HDAC‐ (Akt/mTORhigh) or mTOR inhibitor (aH3/aH4low) alone.
Probabilistic flood hazard maps for Jakarta derived from a stochastic rain‐storm generator
Authors: Nuswantoro R. , Diermanse F. , Molkenthin F. 
Published: April 2014

AbstractGenerally, the methods to derive design events in a flood‐modelling framework do not take into account the full range of extreme storm events and therefore do not take into account all aleatory uncertainties originating from rainfall intensity and spatial variability. The design event method uses a single simulation in order to represent an extreme event. The study presents a probabilistic method to derive flood inundation maps in an area where rainfall is the predominant cause of flooding. The case study area is the Jakarta Basin, Indonesia. It typically experiences high‐intensity and short‐duration storms with high spatial variability. The flood hazard estimation framework is a combination of a Monte Carlo (MC)‐based simulation and a simplified stochastic storm generator. Several thousands of generated extreme events are run in the Sobek rainfall–runoff and 1D‐2D model. A frequency analysis is then conducted at each location in the flood plain in order to derive flood maps. The result shows that in general, design events overestimate the flood maps in comparison with the proposed MC approach. The MC approach takes into account spatial variability of the rainfall. However, this means that there is a need to have a high number of MC‐generated events in order to better estimate the extreme quantiles. As a consequence, the MC approach needs much more computational resources and it is time‐consuming if a full hydrodynamic model is used. Hence, a simplified flood model may be required to reduce the simulation time.
Comparison of viral burden and disease progression in Chinese‐origin rhesus macaques infected with common experimentally applied chimeric virus: SHIV‐1157ipd3N4, SHIV‐162P3, or SHIV‐KB9
Authors: Wang Wei , Cong Zhe , Jiang Hong , Chen Ting , Jin Guang , Xiong Jing , Qin Chuan , Wei Qiang 
Published: April 2014

AbstractBackgroundLittle is known about the comparative susceptibility and differential pathogenic characteristics of Chinese‐origin rhesus macaques upon infection with the chimeric SHIVs most commonly applied in experimental research.MethodsIn vivo infectivity, viral replication, and disease progression related to SHIV‐1157ipd3N4, SHIV‐162P3, and SHIV‐KB9 infections were assessed after intravenous inoculation of Chinese‐origin rhesus macaques (n = 10 each).ResultsSHIV‐KB9‐infected monkeys had higher plasma viral loads than those infected with SHIV‐1157ipd3N4 or SHIV‐162P3 (P < 0.05). The SHIV‐KB9 group had a member that progressed rapidly to simian acquired immunodeficiency syndrome and was moribund at 155 days post‐inoculation. SHIV‐KB9 and SHIV‐162P3 showed reverse trends in the effects on levels of memory T‐cell subpopulations.ConclusionsThis study provides foundational data for future efficacy testing of candidate vaccine and antiviral therapy using a Chinese‐origin rhesus macaque system.
CITIES, TASKS, AND SKILLS
Authors: Kok Suzanne , Weel Bas ter 
Published: April 2014

ABSTRACTThis research applies a task‐based approach to measure and interpret changes in the employment structure of the 168 largest U.S. cities in the period 1990–2009. As a result of technological change some tasks can be placed at distance, while others require proximity. We construct a measure of task connectivity to investigate which tasks are more likely to require proximity relative to others. Our results suggest that cities with higher shares of connected tasks experienced higher employment growth. This result is robust to a variety of other explanations including industry composition, routinization, and the complementarity between skills and cities.
A rapid and sensitive UFLC-MS/MS method for the simultaneous determination of gentiopicroside and swertiamarin in rat plasma and its application in pharmacokinetics
Authors: Feng Bo , Zhu Heyun , Guan Jiao , Zhao Longshan , Gu Jingkai , Yin Lei , Fawcett J Paul , Liu Wenshu 
Published: April 2014

Abstract

Objectives
R adix Gentianae is a traditional Chinese medicine derived from medicinal plants of the family Gentianaceae. Its pharmacological effects have been primarily attributed to the presence of a number of secoiridoid glycosides, in particular gentiopicroside and swertiamarin. In this study, a rapid and sensitive method based on ultrafast liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry has been developed for the simultaneous determination of gentiopicroside and swertiamarin in rat plasma using paeoniflorin as internal standard (IS).

Methods
After liquid-liquid extraction with ethyl acetate-isopropanol (95 : 5, v/v), separation was achieved on a Shim-pack XR-ODS C18 column (75 mm × 3.0 mm, 2.2 μm) with a mobile phase consisting of methanol : 0.1% formic acid (30 : 70, v/v) at a flow rate of 0.4 ml/min. Detection on an API 3200 QTRAP mass spectrometer equipped with an electrospray ionization source operated in the negative ionization mode was performed by multiple reaction monitoring of the precursor-to-product ion transitions of gentiopicroside, swertiamarin and IS at m/z 401.0 → 179.0, 419.0 → 179.1 and 525.1 → 121.0 respectively. The calibration curves were linear over the concentration range of 20–10 000 and 2–1000 ng/ml for gentiopicroside and swertiamarin with corresponding lower limits of quantification of 20 and 2 ng/ml. The limits of detection were 4 and 0.5 ng/ml for gentiopicroside and swertiamarin, respectively. The intraday and interday precisions were below 11.9% for gentiopicroside and below 9.5% for swertiamarin in terms of relative standard deviation, and the accuracy was within ±8.3% for gentiopicroside and within ±10.2% for swertiamarin in terms of relative error. Extraction recovery, matrix effect and stability were satisfactory in rat plasma. The method was fully validated and applied to a pharmacokinetic study involving oral administration of a Radix Gentianae extract to groups of male and female rats.

Key findings
Results showed that in female rats, both compounds were absorbed to a greater extent and eliminated more slowly than in male rats, although the rate of absorption was similar in the two groups.

Conclusions
There were remarkable differences in pharmacokinetic properties of gentiopicroside and swertiamarin between male and female rats. The results will provide helpful information for the development of suitable dosage forms and clinical references on rational administration.
Comparison of urine and bladder or urethral mucosal biopsy culture obtained by transurethral cystoscopy in dogs with chronic lower urinary tract disease: 41 cases (2002 to 2011)
Authors: Sycamore K. F. , Poorbaugh V. R. , Pullin S. S. , Ward C. R. 
Published: April 2014

OBJECTIVESTo compare aerobic bacterial culture of urine to cystoscopically obtained mucosal biopsies of the lower urinary tract in dogs.METHODSRetrospective review of case records from dogs that had transurethral cystoscopy at a veterinary teaching hospital between 2002 and 2011. Dogs that had culture results from cystocentesis obtained urine and transurethral cystoscopically obtained mucosal samples were included in the study. Pathogens identified were compared between sampling methods.RESULTSForty dogs underwent transurethral cystoscopy for lower urinary tract disease on 41 occasions. There was significant (P = 0 · 0003) agreement between urine and mucosal biopsy cultures. Both cultures were negative in 66% and positive in 17% of dogs. There was a 17% disagreement between the sampling methods. Although not statistically significant, more mucosal samples than urine cultures were positive forEscherichia coli.CLINICAL SIGNIFICANCEThere was a good agreement between pathogen identification from urine and lower urinary tract mucosal cultures. These results do not support the utilisation of transurethral cystoscopy to obtain biopsy samples for culture in dogs with urinary tract infection and positive urine culture. Individual cases with possible chronic urinary tract infection and negative urine culture may benefit from transurethral cystoscopy to obtain biopsies for culture.
Application of Ultrasound to the Evaluation of Rheological Properties of Raw Asian Noodles Fortified with Barley β‐Glucan
Authors: Hatcher D.W. , Salimi A. , Daugelaite D. , Strybulevych A. , Scanlon M.G. , Page J.H. 
Published: April 2014

AbstractAn ultrasonic technique (1 MHz) was employed to investigate the capability of ultrasound to evaluate barley β‐glucan (BBG) supplementation (0%, 2.5% and 5%) on the mechanical properties of raw noodles. The noodles were subjected to a 20% strain using a texture analyzer in which a custom holder for ultrasonic transducers enabled stress relaxation and ultrasonic propagation to be observed over 300 s. Ultrasonic velocity and attenuation increased and decreased, respectively, with an increase in noodle BBG content. Similarly, the longitudinal storage modulus M′ increased, while the long‐time values of the longitudinal loss modulus M″ decreased, as the BBG content was increased. The stress relaxation parameter %SR20s decreased significantly, while Peleg's K1 and K2 values increased with increasing BBG content, supporting the ultrasonic findings that the noodles displayed an enhanced resistance to deformation with an increase of BBG content. The ultrasonic technique discerned changes in the mechanical behavior of functional food products.Practical ApplicationsThis research describes the use of a relatively inexpensive ultrasonic technique to discriminate and quantify desirable improvements in raw Asian white salted noodles on the basis of their fundamental rheological parameters. The test is rapid and allows the calculation of multiple parameters to highlight the texture benefits of adding BBG to noodle flour.
Impact of Drying Processes on Strawberry (Fragaria var. Camarosa) Texture: Identification of Crispy and Crunchy Features by Instrumental Measurement
Authors: Alonzo‐Macías Maritza , Montejano‐Gaitán Gerardo , Allaf Karim 
Published: April 2014

AbstractThe aim of this study was to evaluate the effect of hot air drying, freeze drying and swell drying (which is a coupling of hot air drying to instant controlled pressure drop DIC) on strawberry to compare and contrast its quality in terms of texture, such as crunchy and crispy features, correlated with the expansion ratios and the microstructure's modification. The obtained results showed that swell‐dried strawberry had a high crispness behavior. Also, its relative expansion ratio was thrice more than air‐dried samples. Moreover, it was observed that saturated steam pressure of DIC texturing operation compared with the thermal holding time had a significant effect on the maximum penetration distance and the average of microruptures force on crunchiness and crispness, respectively. Hence, these structural changes provide a versatile swell‐dried strawberry as highly functional snack that was able to be evaluated instrumentally by puncture test.Practical ApplicationsPuncture test is an instrumental measurement that helps to describe the crispness of snacks, biscuits, extruded products, etc. Swell‐drying process is defined as instant controlled pressure drop (DIC)‐assisted hot air drying. The thermomechanical effects of DIC are mainly induced by the abrupt pressure drop toward a vacuum (about 5 kPa) after shortly subjecting the material to saturated steam pressure (from 0.1 up to 0.6 MPa). The abrupt pressure drop rate (ΔP/Δt > 0.5 MPa/s) causes an autovaporization of product's water, promoting instant cooling of the product, which immediately decrease the product's temperature under its Tg allowing to cross the glass transition Tg, which immediately stops the thermal effects avoiding any resulting degradation. The impact of DIC on strawberry can be observed in expansion ratio and much better through texture content as crispy and/or crunchy snacking. Hence, it is necessary to instrumentally describe the mechanical behavior of such a brittle‐dried strawberry. The texture measurements allow using it as one of multicriteria optimization of DIC texturing processing parameters.
Sweeping the house clean: burrow architecture and seasonal digging activity in theEastAfrican root rat fromTanzania
Authors: Katandukila J. V. , Chimimba C. T. , Bennett N. C. , Makundi R. H. , Le Comber S. C. , Faulkes C. G. 
Published: April 2014

AbstractWe investigated changes in burrow architecture and fractal dimension across seasons and between the sexes in the solitaryEastAfrican root ratTachyoryctes splendensover an entire calendar year. The basic burrow system comprised a main tunnel reticulating into foraging tunnels, a nest consisting of food store chamber, latrine and sleeping area, and a bolt hole. Main tunnel length was strongly affected by sex, and contrary to expectations, it was longer for females than for males (during both the dry and the wet seasons). The number and the length of foraging tunnels were affected by both sex and season, with females' burrows having more foraging tunnels than males in both the dry and the wet seasons. Females also had burrows with higher fractal dimension than males, while fractal dimension increased with burrow length for both sexes. We suggest that unlike the solitary bathyergid mole‐rats, maleT. splendensdo not construct larger burrows than females in the search for mates, but rather females have larger burrows with more foraging tunnels resulting from the increased need for provisioning of their young.