bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Blueberry treatment attenuates D‐galactose‐induced oxidative stress and tissue damage in rat liver
Authors: Çoban Jale , Betül‐Kalaz Esra , Küçükgergin Canan , Aydın A Fatih , Doğan‐Ekici Işın , Doğru‐Abbasoğlu Semra , Uysal Müjdat 
Published: June 2013

Aimd‐galactose (GAL) causes aging‐related changes and oxidative stress in the organism. We investigated the effect of whole fresh blueberry (BB; Vaccinium corymbosum L.) treatment on oxidative stress in age‐related liver injury model.MethodsRats received GAL (300 mg/kg, s.c.; 5 days per week) alone or together with 5% (BB1) and 10% (BB2) BB‐containing chow for 2 months. Serum alanine aminotransferase (ALT) and aspartate aminotransferase (AST) activities, and hepatic malondialdehyde (MDA), protein carbonyl (PC) and glutathione (GSH) levels, and CuZn‐superoxide dismutase (SOD1), glutathione peroxidase (GPx1) and glutathione transferase (GST) activities together with mRNA expressions of SOD1, GPx1, MnSOD (SOD2) and phospholipid hydroperoxide glutathione peroxidase (GPx4) were determined in GAL‐treated rats.ResultsMDA and PC levels increased, but GSH levels, SOD1 and GPx1 activities decreased together with histopathological structural damage in the liver in GAL‐treated rats. There was no change in hepatic mRNA expressions of SOD2 and GPx1, but SOD1 and GPx4 expressions decreased. BB1 and BB2 caused significant decreases in serum ALT and AST activities together with the amelioration in histopathological findings in GAL‐treated rats. Both BB1 and BB2 reduced MDA and PC levels, and elevated GSH levels, and SOD1 and GPx1 activities. However, hepatic mRNA expressions of SOD1, SOD2, GPx1 and GPx4 remained unchanged in GAL‐treated rats.ConclusionsThese results show that BB restored liver pro‐oxidant status together with histopathological amelioration by acting as an anti‐oxidant (radical scavenger) itself without affecting mRNA expressions of anti‐oxidant enzymes in GAL‐treated rats. Geriatr Gerontol Int 2014; 14: 490–497.
Spray drying of ACE‐inhibitory enzyme‐modified white cheese
Authors: Amighi Fatemeh , Emam‐Djomeh Zahra , Madadlou Ashkan 
Published: June 2013

SummaryAn angiotensin‐I converting enzyme (ACE)‐inhibitory enzyme‐modified cheese (EMC) was spray‐dried at different inlet drying air temperatures, feeding pump rates and spraying air flow rates. Powder moisture content, bulk density, porosity, production yield and particles size were responses of interest measured. Response surface optimisation determined that if the cheese paste is pumped at feeding pump rate of 5%, sprayed with the compressed air at rate of 400 L h−1 and dried by an air at temperature of 154 °C, minimum moisture content is achieved for the produced powder. Spray drying decreased the ACE‐inhibitory of EMC significantly, but the powder was still extremely bioactive. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) images revealed that inlet drying air temperature of 150 °C yielded a powder with relatively well‐separated particles. Higher drying air temperatures resulted in lower browning indices for the EMC powder.
Childhood obesity prevention and control in city recreation centres and family homes: the MOVE/me Muevo Project
Authors: Elder J. P. , Crespo N. C. , Corder K. , Ayala G. X. , Slymen D. J. , Lopez N. V. , Moody J. S. , McKenzie T. L. 
Published: June 2013

SummaryWhat is already known about this subject
Child overweight and obesity is a significant public health problem.
Mixed method strategies that involve parents and community organizations are promising approaches to prevent and control childhood obesity.
Few studies have targeted city recreation centres to promote healthy eating and physical activity behaviours.
What this study adds
This study presents the primary results of a family‐ and recreation centre‐based childhood obesity prevention and control intervention.
The study was carried out in neighbourhoods of a socioeconomically diverse county of more than 1 000 000 inhabitants.
Primary results showed no significant reductions in child's body mass index (BMI); however, secondary analyses showed that girls in the intervention condition reduced BMI significantly more than girls in the control condition.
Children in the intervention condition improved on several obesity‐related behaviours compared with those in the control condition.
BackgroundInterventions to prevent and control childhood obesity have shown mixed results in terms of short‐ and long‐term changes.Objectives‘MOVE/me Muevo’ was a 2‐year family‐ and recreation centre‐based randomized controlled trial to promote healthy eating and physical activity among 5‐ to 8‐year‐old children. It was hypothesized that children in the intervention group would demonstrate lower post‐intervention body mass index (BMI) values and improved obesity‐related behaviours compared with the control group children.MethodsThirty recreation centres in San Diego County, California, were randomized to an intervention or control condition. Five hundred forty‐one families were enrolled and children's BMI, diet, physical activity and other health indicators were tracked from baseline to 2 years post‐baseline. Analyses followed an intent‐to‐treat approach using mixed‐effects models.ResultsNo significant intervention effects were observed for the primary outcomes of child's or parent's BMI and child's waist circumference. Moderator analyses, however, showed that girls (but not boys) in the intervention condition reduced their BMI. At the 2‐year follow‐up, intervention condition parents reported that their children were consuming fewer high‐fat foods and sugary beverages.ConclusionsFavourable implementation fidelity and high retention rates support the feasibility of this intervention in a large metropolitan area; however, interventions of greater intensity may be needed to achieve effects on child's BMI. Also, further research is needed to develop gender‐specific intervention strategies so that both genders may benefit from such efforts.
Human‐facilitated jump dispersal of a non‐native frog species on Hawai'i Island
Authors: Everman Elizabeth , Klawinski Paul 
Published: June 2013

AbstractAimThe coqui frog (Eleutherodactylus coqui) was introduced to the Hawai'ian archipelago in the late 1980s and became established as a widespread species on Hawai'i Island over a short timespan, suggesting that humans are facilitating their movement. To determine the importance of human facilitation, we assessed dispersal patterns and genetic structure of coqui populations using microsatellite data.LocationHawai'i Island.MethodsWe obtained genotype data using seven microsatellites from coqui specimens collected from 25 populations on Hawai'i Island. The dispersal mechanism was examined using a Mantel test in GenAlEx and a genetic distance tree analysis in Phylip. Allelic diversity, measures of equilibrium, and genetic structure were analysed in GenAlEx and Arlequin. The correlation between genetic distance and geographical distance was used to distinguish between diffusion dispersal (positive correlation) and jump dispersal (zero or negative correlation).ResultsThe Mantel test for isolation by distance found no significant correlation between genetic and geographical distance (r2 = 0.002, P = 0.4401). The genetic distance tree topology is consistent with this result and exhibited a pattern expected if population establishment occurred through jump dispersal. Migration rates were high (NM = 4.228), inbreeding was high, genetic differentiation between populations was low, and significant genetic structure was detected among populations (4% of total variation, P < 0.002).Main conclusionsGenetic distance is not correlated with geographical distance, suggesting that humans are important facilitators of coqui dispersal. Migration rate was high, indicating that the rapid expansion of coquies on Hawai'i Island was human‐facilitated, while high levels of inbreeding and significant genetic structure suggest low post‐establishment dispersal. If this is the case, early detection of coqui populations will be crucial for management due to their propensity to be spread through human‐facilitated jump dispersal, followed by slow rates of diffusion dispersal from these newly established populations.
Integration of Metabolomics and Subcellular Organelle Expression Microarray to Increase Understanding the Organic Acid Changes in Post‐harvest Citrus Fruit
Authors: Sun Xiaohua , Zhu Andan , Liu Shuzhen , Sheng Ling , Ma Qiaoli , Zhang Li , Nishawy Elsayed Mohamed Elsayed , Zeng Yunliu , Xu Juan , Ma Zhaocheng , Cheng Yunjiang , Deng Xiuxin 
Published: June 2013

AbstractCitric acid plays an important role in fresh fruit flavor and its adaptability to post‐harvest storage conditions. In order to explore organic acid regulatory mechanisms in post‐harvest citrus fruit, systematic biological analyses were conducted on stored Hirado Buntan Pummelo (HBP; Citrus grandis) fruits. High‐performance capillary electrophoresis, subcellular organelle expression microarray, real‐time quantitative reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction, gas chromatography mass spectrometry (GC‐MS), and conventional physiological and biochemical analyses were undertaken. The results showed that the concentration of organic acids in HBP underwent a regular fluctuation. GC‐MS‐based metabolic profiling indicated that succinic acid, γ‐aminobutyric acid (GABA), and glutamine contents increased, but 2‐oxoglutaric acid content declined, which further confirmed that the GABA shunt may have some regulatory roles in organic acid catabolism processes. In addition, the concentration of organic acids was significantly correlated with senescence‐related physiological processes, such as hydrogen peroxide content as well as superoxide dismutase and peroxidase activities, which showed that organic acids could be regarded as important parameters for measuring citrus fruit post‐harvest senescence processes.
When the Going Gets Tough: The “Why” of Goal Striving Matters
Authors: Ntoumanis Nikos , Healy Laura C. , Sedikides Constantine , Duda Joan , Stewart Brandon , Smith Alison , Bond Johanna 
Published: June 2013

AbstractNo prior research has examined how motivation for goal striving influences persistence in the face of increasing goal difficulty. This research examined the role of self‐reported (Study 1) and primed (Study 2) autonomous and controlled motives in predicting objectively assessed persistence during the pursuit of an increasingly difficult goal. In Study 1, 100British athletes (64 males;Mage = 19.89 years,SDage = 2.43) pursued a goal of increasing difficulty on a cycle ergometer. In Study 2, 90British athletes (43 males;Mage = 19.63 years,SDage = 1.14) engaged in the same task, but their motivation was primed by asking them to observe a video of an actor describing her or his involvement in an unrelated study. In Study 1, self‐reported autonomous goal motives predicted goal persistence via challenge appraisals and task‐based coping. In contrast, controlled goal motives predicted threat appraisals and disengagement coping, which, in turn, was a negative predictor of persistence. In Study 2, primed autonomous (compared to controlled) goal motives predicted greater persistence, positive affect, and future interest for task engagement. The findings underscore the importance of autonomous motivation for behavioral investment in the face of increased goal difficulty.
Risk factors for oral mucositis in children receiving hematopoietic cell transplantation for primary immunodeficiencies: A retrospective study
Authors: Bardellini E. , Schumacher F. , Conti G. , Porta F. , Campus G. , Majorana A. 
Published: June 2013

AbstractOM is a frequent complication for patients undergoing HSCT. The aim of this study was to evaluate the possible risk factors for OM in children undergoing HSCT for PI. A retrospective study was carried out on 55 consecutive medical records of patients with PI (including osteopetrosis) who underwent HSCT. Age at the time of HSCT, gender, diagnosis, type of donor, conditioning regimen, engraftment, graft‐versus‐host disease, and severity and duration of OM were collected at the beginning of the conditioning until day 100 post‐HSCT or death. OM was measured using the WHO scale. Patients' age range at the time of HSCT was quite wide; 59.2% of the patients who were under nine months (n = 13) developed OM vs. 87.8% of the patients older than nine months (n = 29) (p = 0.01). T‐cell positive patients had a statistically significant higher risk of developing OM (p = 0.04), as did those receiving a more intensive conditioning regimen (p < 0.01). PI patients undergoing HSCT are at higher risk of developing OM if the PI is a T‐lymphocyte‐positive disease and/or if the HSCT recipient is over nine months of age.
Two Models of Minimalist, Incremental Syntactic Analysis
Authors: Stabler Edward P. 
Published: June 2013

AbstractMinimalist grammars (MGs) and multiple context‐free grammars (MCFGs) are weakly equivalent in the sense that they define the same languages, a large mildly context‐sensitive class that properly includes context‐free languages. But in addition, for each MG, there is an MCFG which is strongly equivalent in the sense that it defines the same language with isomorphic derivations. However, the structure‐building rules of MGs but not MCFGs are defined in a way that generalizes across categories. Consequently, MGs can be exponentially more succinct than their MCFG equivalents, and this difference shows in parsing models too. An incremental, top‐down beam parser for MGs is defined here, sound and complete for all MGs, and hence also capable of parsing all MCFG languages. But since the parser represents its grammar transparently, the relative succinctness of MGs is again evident. Although the determinants of MG structure are narrowly and discretely defined, probabilistic influences from a much broader domain can influence even the earliest analytic steps, allowing frequency and context effects to come early and from almost anywhere, as expected in incremental models.
Effect of resistance exercise contraction mode and protein supplementation on members of the STARS signalling pathway
Authors: Vissing Kristian , Rahbek Stine K. , Lamon Severine , Farup Jean , Stefanetti Renae J. , Wallace Marita A. , Vendelbo Mikkel H. , Russell Aaron 
Published: June 2013

Key points
Myocellular protein signalling constitutes an important regulatory process influencing skeletal muscle cell size and remodelling as an adaptation to exercise and training.
Findings suggest that the striated muscle activator of Rho signalling (STARS) pathway is involved in exercise‐induced muscle hypertrophy and/or remodelling, but its regulation by different exercise modes is not well understood.
In a comparative study including single‐bout exercise and training, we investigated the mRNA and protein regulation of STARS and members of its signalling pathway in response to eccentric versus concentric resistance exercise and protein supplementation.
Our data show that components of the STARS signalling pathway exhibit transient regulation in response to resistance exercise, but not to resistance training, and show contraction mode‐specific regulation at the level of gene and protein expression.
The results suggest that STARS signalling is important for the initiation of myocellular adaptations to resistance exercise that are dependent on contraction mode, but independent of protein supplement.
Abstract  The striated muscle activator of Rho signalling (STARS) pathway is suggested to provide a link between external stress responses and transcriptional regulation in muscle. However, the sensitivity of STARS signalling to different mechanical stresses has not been investigated. In a comparative study, we examined the regulation of the STARS signalling pathway in response to unilateral resistance exercise performed as either eccentric (ECC) or concentric (CONC) contractions as well as prolonged training; with and without whey protein supplementation. Skeletal muscle STARS, myocardian‐related transcription factor‐A (MRTF‐A) and serum response factor (SRF) mRNA and protein, as well as muscle cross‐sectional area and maximal voluntary contraction, were measured. A single‐bout of exercise produced increases in STARS and SRF mRNA and decreases in MRTF‐A mRNA with both ECC and CONC exercise, but with an enhanced response occurring following ECC exercise. A 31% increase in STARS protein was observed exclusively after CONC exercise (P < 0.001), while pSRF protein levels increased similarly by 48% with both CONC and ECC exercise (P < 0.001). Prolonged ECC and CONC training equally stimulated muscle hypertrophy and produced increases in MRTF‐A protein of 125% and 99%, respectively (P < 0.001). No changes occurred for total SRF protein. There was no effect of whey protein supplementation. These results show that resistance exercise provides an acute stimulation of the STARS pathway that is contraction mode dependent. The responses to acute exercise were more pronounced than responses to accumulated training, suggesting that STARS signalling is primarily involved in the initial phase of exercise‐induced muscle adaptations.
Real‐time x‐ray fluoroscopy‐based catheter detection and tracking for cardiac electrophysiology interventions
Authors: Ma YingLiang , Gogin Nicolas , Cathier Pascal , Housden R. James , Gijsbers Geert , Cooklin Michael , O'Neill Mark , Gill Jaswinder , Rinaldi C. Aldo , Razavi Reza , Rhode Kawal S. 
Published: June 2013

Purpose:X‐ray fluoroscopically guided cardiac electrophysiology (EP) procedures are commonly carried out to treat patients with arrhythmias. X‐ray images have poor soft tissue contrast and, for this reason, overlay of a three‐dimensional (3D) roadmap derived from preprocedural volumetric images can be used to add anatomical information. It is useful to know the position of the catheter electrodes relative to the cardiac anatomy, for example, to record ablation therapy locations during atrial fibrillation therapy. Also, the electrode positions of the coronary sinus (CS) catheter or lasso catheter can be used for road map motion correction.Methods:In this paper, the authors present a novel unified computational framework for image‐based catheter detection and tracking without any user interaction. The proposed framework includes fast blob detection, shape‐constrained searching and model‐based detection. In addition, catheter tracking methods were designed based on the customized catheter models input from the detection method. Three real‐time detection and tracking methods are derived from the computational framework to detect or track the three most common types of catheters in EP procedures: the ablation catheter, the CS catheter, and the lasso catheter. Since the proposed methods use the same blob detection method to extract key information from x‐ray images, the ablation, CS, and lasso catheters can be detected and tracked simultaneously in real‐time.Results:The catheter detection methods were tested on 105 different clinical fluoroscopy sequences taken from 31 clinical procedures. Two‐dimensional (2D) detection errors of 0.50 ± 0.29, 0.92 ± 0.61, and 0.63 ± 0.45 mm as well as success rates of 99.4%, 97.2%, and 88.9% were achieved for the CS catheter, ablation catheter, and lasso catheter, respectively. With the tracking method, accuracies were increased to 0.45 ± 0.28, 0.64 ± 0.37, and 0.53 ± 0.38 mm and success rates increased to 100%, 99.2%, and 96.5% for the CS, ablation, and lasso catheters, respectively. Subjective clinical evaluation by three experienced electrophysiologists showed that the detection and tracking results were clinically acceptable.Conclusions:The proposed detection and tracking methods are automatic and can detect and track CS, ablation, and lasso catheters simultaneously and in real‐time. The accuracy of the proposed methods is sub‐mm and the methods are robust toward low‐dose x‐ray fluoroscopic images, which are mainly used during EP procedures to maintain low radiation dose.
Distinction between the Cfr Methyltransferase Conferring Antibiotic Resistance and the Housekeeping RlmN Methyltransferase
Authors: Atkinson Gemma C. , Hansen Lykke H. , Tenson Tanel , Rasmussen Anette , Kirpekar Finn , Vester Birte 
Published: June 2013

ABSTRACT

The
cfr
gene encodes the Cfr methyltransferase that primarily methylates C-8 in A2503 of 23S rRNA in the peptidyl transferase region of bacterial ribosomes. The methylation provides resistance to six classes of antibiotics of clinical and veterinary importance. The
rlmN
gene encodes the RlmN methyltransferase that methylates C-2 in A2503 in 23S rRNA and A37 in tRNA, but RlmN does not significantly influence antibiotic resistance. The enzymes are homologous and use the same mechanism involving radical
S
-adenosyl methionine to methylate RNA via an intermediate involving a methylated cysteine in the enzyme and a transient cross-linking to the RNA, but they differ in which carbon atom in the adenine they methylate. Comparative sequence analysis identifies differentially conserved residues that indicate functional sequence divergence between the two classes of Cfr- and RlmN-like sequences. The differentiation between the two classes is supported by previous and new experimental evidence from antibiotic resistance, primer extensions, and mass spectrometry. Finally, evolutionary aspects of the distribution of Cfr- and RlmN-like enzymes are discussed.
Pharmacokinetics of a Multipurpose Pod-Intravaginal Ring Simultaneously Delivering Five Drugs in an Ovine Model
Authors: Moss John A. , Malone Amanda M. , Smith Thomas J. , Kennedy Sean , Nguyen Cali , Vincent Kathleen L. , Motamedi Massoud , Baum Marc M. 
Published: June 2013

ABSTRACT
Multipurpose technologies that simultaneously protect from sexually transmitted infections and unintended pregnancy are urgently needed. Pod-intravaginal rings (IVRs) formulated with the antiretroviral agents (ARVs) tenofovir, nevirapine, and saquinavir and the contraceptives etonogestrel and estradiol were evaluated in sheep. Steady-state concentrations were maintained for 28 days with controlled, sustained delivery. This proof-of-principle study demonstrates that pod IVRs can deliver three ARVs from different mechanistic classes and a progestin-estrogen combination over the wide range needed for putative preventative efficacy.