bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Testosterone reduces vascular relaxation by altering cyclic adenosine monophosphate pathway and potassium channel activation in male Sprague Dawley rats fed a high-salt diet
Authors: Oloyo Ahmed K. , Sofola Olusoga A. , Anigbogu Chikodi N. , Nair Renuka R. , Vijayakumar Harikrishnan S. , Fernandez Adelaide C. 
Published: March 2013

Objectives: Male gender and high-salt diet are risk factors for hypertension. The effect of chronic exposure to testosterone is an increase in vascular tone but its influence upon responses induced by other vasoactive agents is not clear. We considered the possibility of interactions between testosterone and a high-salt diet in the mechanisms that are involved in the regulation of vascular tone. Therefore, we designed experiments to assess the involvement of the cyclic adenosine monophosphate (cAMP) pathway and potassium channel activation on vascular relaxation elicited by testosterone deficiency that was induced by orchidectomy in Sprague Dawley rats on a normal or high-salt diet. Method: Weanling male rats were randomly divided into eight groups ( n = 6 each) that were either orchidectomized or sham operated with or without testosterone replacement (10 mg/kg body weight of Sustanon 250 intramuscularly, Organon, Holland) and were placed on a normal or high-salt (0.3% or 8% NaCl) diet, respectively, for 6 weeks. Arterial blood pressure was determined before and weekly throughout the experiment using the tail-cuff method. Relaxation responses to forskolin and diazoxide were studied in noradrenaline (0.1 µM) precontracted aortic rings. Results: There was an increase in the systolic blood pressure of rats placed on a high-salt diet compared with control or orchidectomized rats. Orchidectomy elicited a reduction in the systolic blood pressure while testosterone replacement restored systolic blood pressure to values seen in intact rats. A high-salt diet reduced the relaxation response to forskolin and diazoxide but not in orchidectomized rats while testosterone replacement re-established the blunted relaxation response to forskolin and diazoxide. Conclusion: Inhibition of potassium channel or adenylyl cyclase activation appears to contribute to the mechanisms by which a high-salt diet increases vascular tone. These effects were counteracted by orchidectomy in male Sprague Dawley rats.
Endomicroscopy in bile duct: Inflammation interferes with pCLE applied in the bile duct: A prospective study of 54 patients
Authors: Caillol Fabrice , Bories Erwan , Poizat Flora , Pesenti Christian , Esterni Benjamin , Monges Geneviève , Giovannini Marc 
Published: March 2013

BackgroundThe preoperative diagnosis of biliary stenosis is associated with low accuracy. As a consequence, probe‐based confocal laser endomicroscopy (pCLE), an in‐vivo histological imaging technique, was applied in the bile duct. The aim of this study was to establish whether previous inflammation of the bile duct affects confocal interpretation. The findings from pCLE were compared in two groups of patients: those in whom there had been no cholangitis nor stenting and those in whom stents had been used and subsequently retrieved or who had suffered cholangitis.Patients and methodspCLE was performed on 54 patients (mean age 66 years; 31 men, 23 women) from September 2008 to July 2011. Patients were divided in two groups: group 1: 39 patients who had not undergone a biliary procedure in the month preceding the pCLE procedure; and group 2: 15 patients who had undergone stent placement or presented with cholangitis in the month preceding the pCLE procedure. Endoscopic and pCLE data were collected prospectively. pCLE results were compared to benchmark histology (surgery, endoultrasonography, percutaneous biopsy). Patients with a benign stricture who did not undergo operation were followed for 1 year. pCLE images of the bile duct were obtained during endoscopic retrograde cholangiopancreatography procedures. pCLE images were interpreted prospectively using the Miami classification in vivo and in real time.ResultsIn group 1, sensitivity, specificity, and accuracy were 88, 83, and 87%, respectively. In group 2, sensitivity, specificity, and accuracy were 75, 71, and 73%, respectively. Diagnostic accuracy of pCLE was lower when applied to group 2 (p  < 0,001). The investigation is less reliable in bile ducts affected by inflammation from cholangitis or previous stenting.ConclusionsInflammatory lesions of the bile duct interfere with interpretation of pCLE. A refined pCLE description of inflammatory lesions should improve accuracy of pCLE in bile duct stenosis.
The use of a multimodal enhanced recovery program for patients undergoing radical cystectomy
Authors: Blick C , Hadway P , Patel N , Lal S , Kelleher JP , Haldar N , Muneer A 
Published: March 2013

Objective: Radical cystectomy is a major oncological procedure, which is associated with a morbidity rate of 30% and a hospital stay of approximately 15 days. The aim of this study was to examine the effect of a multimodal enhanced recovery program on the post-operative recovery period. Patients: Forty-six patients underwent radical cystectomy for invasive or high-grade bladder cancer with curative intent at a single urology unit between June 2005 and March 2009. All patients were placed on an enhanced recovery pathway, which included a change in the surgical technique and alterations in pre-, peri- and post-operative management. The main outcome measures were length of stay, time to full diet, transfusion requirement, complications and readmission rates. Results: The median length of stay in this unit was reduced from 17 to eight days (range 6–22). There were five major complications and a readmission rate of 10.6%. Transfusion rates were not affected and there were no deaths within three months of surgery. Conclusions: We have demonstrated that this multimodal pathway, which also utilises a modification in the surgical technique, is both feasible and effective in order to improve the post-operative recovery and shorten hospital stay.
NK cell CD16 surface expression and function is regulated by a disintegrin and metalloprotease-17 (ADAM17)
Authors: Romee Rizwan , Foley Bree , Lenvik Todd , Wang Yue , Zhang Bin , Ankarlo Dave , Luo Xianghua , Cooley Sarah , Verneris Mike , Walcheck Bruce , Miller Jeffrey 
Published: March 2013

Key PointsActivated NK cells loose CD16 (FcRγIII) and CD62L through a metalloprotease called ADAM17. Inhibition of ADAM17 enhances CD16 mediated NK cell function by preserving CD16 on the NK cell surface to enhance ADCC.
A CALM-derived nuclear export signal is essential for CALM-AF10–mediated leukemogenesis
Authors: Conway Amanda E. , Scotland Paula B. , Lavau Catherine P. , Wechsler Daniel S. 
Published: March 2013

Key Points
An NES within CALM is necessary and sufficient for CALM-AF10–mediated transformation. Presence of the CALM NES confers transformation potential to AF10 through perturbation of H3K79 methylation and Hoxa cluster expression.
A role for miR-155 in enabling tumor-infiltrating innate immune cells to mount effective antitumor responses in mice
Authors: Zonari Erika , Pucci Ferdinando , Saini Massimo , Mazzieri Roberta , Politi Letterio S. , Gentner Bernhard , Naldini Luigi 
Published: March 2013

Key Points
miR-155 knockdown in myeloid cells accelerates spontaneous breast cancer development. miR-155 is required by TAMs for deploying antitumoral activity.
CGAP: a new comprehensive platform for the comparative analysis of chloroplast genomes
Authors: Cheng Jinkui , Zeng Xu , Ren Guomin , Liu Zhihua 
Published: March 2013

Abstract

Background
Chloroplast is an essential organelle in plants which contains independent genome. Chloroplast genomes have been widely used for plant phylogenetic inference recently. The number of complete chloroplast genomes increases rapidly with the development of various genome sequencing projects. However, no comprehensive platform or tool has been developed for the comparative and phylogenetic analysis of chloroplast genomes. Thus, we constructed a comprehensive platform for the comparative and phylogenetic analysis of complete chloroplast genomes which was named as chloroplast genome analysis platform (CGAP).

Results
CGAP is an interactive web-based platform which was designed for the comparative analysis of complete chloroplast genomes. CGAP integrated genome collection, visualization, content comparison, phylogeny analysis and annotation functions together. CGAP implemented four web servers including creating complete and regional genome maps of high quality, comparing genome features, constructing phylogenetic trees using complete genome sequences, and annotating draft chloroplast genomes submitted by users.

Conclusions
Both CGAP and source code are available at http://www.herbbol.org:8000/chloroplast. CGAP will facilitate the collection, visualization, comparison and annotation of complete chloroplast genomes. Users can customize the comparative and phylogenetic analysis using their own unpublished chloroplast genomes.
A high throughput multiplex PCR assay for simultaneous detection of seven aminoglycoside-resistance genes in Enterobacteriaceae
Authors: Hu Xiumei , Xu Banglao , Yang Yinmei , Liu Dayu , Yang Mengjie , Wang Ji , Shen Hongwei , Zhou Xiaomian , Ma Xuejun 
Published: March 2013

Abstract

Background
The aminoglycoside-resistance genes encoding aminoglycoside modifying enzymes and 16S rRNA methyltransferases are main factors contributing to increasing resistance to aminoglycosides. Characterization and distribution of antimicrobial resistance gene profiles provide important information on the potential difficulty of treatment of bacteria. Several molecular methods have been developed to investigate the prevalence of aminoglycoside-resistance genes. These existing methods are time-consuming, labor-intensive, expensive or limited sensitivity in the epidemiological investigation. Therefore, it is necessary to develop a rapid, less-costly and high throughput and sensitive method to investigate the distribution of antimicrobial resistance gene in clinical isolates.

Results
In this study, we developed a GeXP analyzer-based multiplex PCR assay to simultaneously detect seven aminoglycoside-resistance genes, including aac(3)-II, aac(6′
)-Ib, aac(6′
)-II, ant(3″
)-I,
aph(3′
)-VI,
armA and rmtB, and to analyze the distribution of these genes in clinical Enterobacteriaceae isolates. Under optimized conditions, this assay achieved a limit-of-detection as low as 10 copies of each of the seven genes. The presented method was applied to analyze the distribution of aminoglycoside-resistance genes in 56 clinical Enterobacteriaceae isolates, and the results were compared with that of the conventional single PCR assay. Kappa values of the two methods for detecting each of the seven resistance genes were 0.831, 0.846, 0.810, 0.909, 0.887, 0.810 and 0.825, respectively.

Conclusion
This GeXP assay is demonstrated to be a rapid, cost-effective and high throughput method with high sensitivity and specificity for simultaneously detecting seven common aminoglycoside-resistance genes.
Observation of sonified movements engages a basal ganglia frontocortical network
Authors: Schmitz Gerd , Mohammadi Bahram , Hammer Anke , Heldmann Marcus , Samii Amir , Münte Thomas F , Effenberg Alfred O 
Published: March 2013

AbstractBackgroundProducing sounds by a musical instrument can lead to audiomotor coupling, i.e. the joint activation of the auditory and motor system, even when only one modality is probed. The sonification of otherwise mute movements by sounds based on kinematic parameters of the movement has been shown to improve motor performance and perception of movements.ResultsHere we demonstrate in a group of healthy young non-athletes that congruently (sounds match visual movement kinematics) vs. incongruently (no match) sonified breaststroke movements of a human avatar lead to better perceptual judgement of small differences in movement velocity. Moreover, functional magnetic resonance imaging revealed enhanced activity in superior and medial posterior temporal regions including the superior temporal sulcus, known as an important multisensory integration site, as well as the insula bilaterally and the precentral gyrus on the right side. Functional connectivity analysis revealed pronounced connectivity of the STS with the basal ganglia and thalamus as well as frontal motor regions for the congruent stimuli. This was not seen to the same extent for the incongruent stimuli.ConclusionsWe conclude that sonification of movements amplifies the activity of the human action observation system including subcortical structures of the motor loop. Sonification may thus be an important method to enhance training and therapy effects in sports science and neurological rehabilitation.
Active inclusion bodies of acid phosphatase PhoC: aggregation induced by GFP fusion and activities modulated by linker flexibility
Authors: Huang Ziliang , Zhang Chong , Chen Shuo , Ye Fengchun , Xing Xin-Hui 
Published: March 2013

Abstract

Background
Biologically active inclusion bodies (IBs) have gained much attention in recent years. Fusion with IB-inducing partner has been shown to be an efficient strategy for generating active IBs. To make full use of the advantages of active IBs, one of the key issues will be to improve the activity yield of IBs when expressed in cells, which would need more choices on IB-inducing fusion partners and approaches for engineering IBs. Green fluorescent protein (GFP) has been reported to aggregate when overexpressed, but GFP fusion has not been considered as an IB-inducing approach for these fusion proteins so far. In addition, the role of linker in fusion proteins has been shown to be important for protein characteristics, yet impact of linker on active IBs has never been reported.

Results
Here we report that by fusing GFP and acid phosphatase PhoC via a linker region, the resultant PhoC-GFPs were expressed largely as IBs. These IBs show high levels of specific fluorescence and specific PhoC activities (phosphatase and phosphotransferase), and can account for up to over 80% of the total PhoC activities in the cells. We further demonstrated that the aggregation of GFP moiety in the fusion protein plays an essential role in the formation of PhoC-GFP IBs. In addition, PhoC-GFP IBs with linkers of different flexibility were found to exhibit different levels of activities and ratios in the cells, suggesting that the linker region can be utilized to manipulate the characteristics of active IBs.

Conclusions
Our results show that active IBs of PhoC can be generated by GFP fusion, demonstrating for the first time the potential of GFP fusion to induce active IB formation of another soluble protein. We also show that the linker sequence in PhoC-GFP fusion proteins plays an important role on the regulation of IB characteristics, providing an alternative and important approach for engineering of active IBs with the goal of obtaining high activity yield of IBs.
Dose–response tests and semi-field evaluation of lethal and sub-lethal effects of slow release pyriproxyfen granules (Sumilarv®0.5G) for the control of the malaria vectors Anopheles gambiae sensu lato
Authors: Mbare Oscar , Lindsay Steven W , Fillinger Ulrike 
Published: March 2013

Abstract

Background
Recently research has shown that larviciding can be an effective tool for integrated malaria vector control. Nevertheless, the uptake of this intervention has been hampered by the need to re-apply larvicides frequently. There is a need to explore persistent, environmentally friendly larvicides for malaria vector control to reduce intervention efforts and costs by reducing the frequency of application. In this study, the efficacy of a 0.5% pyriproxyfen granule (Surmilarv®0.5G, Sumitomo Chemicals) was assessed for the control of Anopheles gambiae sensu stricto and Anopheles arabiensis, the major malaria vectors in sub-Saharan Africa.

Methods
Dose–response and standardized field tests were implemented following standard procedures of the World Health Organization’s Pesticide Evaluation Scheme to determine: (i) the susceptibility of vectors to this formulation; (ii) the residual activity and appropriate retreatment schedule for field application; and, (iii) sub-lethal impacts on the number and viability of eggs laid by adults after exposure to Sumilarv®0.5G during larval development.

Results

Anopheles gambiae s.s. and An. arabiensis were highly susceptible to Sumilarv®0.5G. Estimated emergence inhibition (EI) values were very low and similar for both species. The minimum dosage that completely inhibited adult emergence was between 0.01-0.03 parts per million (ppm) active ingredient (ai). Compared to the untreated control, an application of 0.018 ppm ai prevented 85% (95% confidence interval (CI) 82%-88%) of adult emergence over six weeks under standardized field conditions. A fivefold increase in dosage of 0.09 ppm ai prevented 97% (95% CI 94%-98%) emergence. Significant sub-lethal effects were observed in the standardized field tests. Female An. gambiae s.s. that were exposed to 0.018 ppm ai as larvae laid 47% less eggs, and females exposed to 0.09 ppm ai laid 74% less eggs than females that were unexposed to the treatment. Furthermore, 77% of eggs laid by females exposed to 0.018 ppm ai failed to hatch, whilst 98% of eggs laid by females exposed to 0.09 ppm ai did not hatch.

Conclusion

Anopheles gambiae s.s. and An. arabiensis are highly susceptible to Sumilarv®0.5G at very low dosages. The persistence of this granule formulation in treated habitats under standardized field conditions and its sub-lethal impact, reducing the number of viable eggs from adults emerging from treated ponds, enhances its potential as malaria vector control tool. These unique properties warrant further field testing to determine its suitability for inclusion in malaria vector control programmes.
Induction chemotherapy in patients with resectable head and neck squamous cell carcinoma: a meta-analysis
Authors: Ma Jie , Liu Ying , Yang Xi , Zhang Chen-ping , Zhang Zhi-yuan , Zhong Lai-ping 
Published: March 2013

Abstract

Background
Induction chemotherapy has been investigated as a possible strategy to shrink or downstage locally advanced head and neck cancers, providing opportunity to remove the lesions completely after induction chemotherapy, especially in the patients with resectable advanced disease. The aim of this study was to investigate the definitive effect of induction chemotherapy in patients with resectable head and neck squamous cell carcinoma.

Methods
A meta-analysis of randomized trials (1965–2011) was performed on the impact of induction chemotherapy on survival, disease control, and toxicity in this population of patients. Kaplan-Meier curves were read by Engauge-Digitizer. Data combining was performed using RevMan.

Results
Fourteen trials (2099 patients) were involved in this analysis. There was no significant difference on overall survival, disease free survival, or locoregional recurrence between the patients treated with and without induction chemotherapy (P >0.05). However, the patients treated with induction chemotherapy had a lower rate of distant metastasis by 8% (95% confidence interval 1%–16%, P = 0.02) than those treated without induction chemotherapy. In patients with laryngeal cancer, comparing to radical surgery, the larynx could be preserved in responders to induction chemotherapy without survival decease (P >0.05). Induction chemotherapy-associated death was 0%–5%.

Conclusions
Based on the results above, there is a significant benefit of induction chemotherapy on decreasing distant metastasis in patients with resectable head and neck squamous cell carcinoma. In patients with laryngeal cancer, induction chemotherapy provides larynx preservation in responders to induction chemotherapy.
Protocol design and performance analysis for cognitive cooperative networks with multiple antennas
Authors: Huang Yuzhen , Wu Qihui , Wang Jinlong , Cheng Yunpeng 
Published: March 2013

Abstract
In this article, we deal with a novel access protocol design for cognitive cooperative networks with multiple antennas. According to the principles of cognitive radio, the secondary user (SU) can exploit the primary user (PU) burstiness to access the licensed spectrum in the proposed access protocol. To get more access opportunities to the licensed spectrum, the SU simultaneously relays the PU’s packets and transmits its own packets based on the superposition coding. Furthermore, to concurrent transmission of the PU’s packets and SU’s packets based on the superposition coding such that they are received without the interference at the primary receiver and secondary receiver respectively, two weight vectors at the SU equipped with multiple antennas are designed based on zero-forcing algorithm. Specifically, from a networking perspective, we analyze the performance of the proposed access protocol in terms of the maximum stable throughput and the average end-to-end delay for both the PU and SU based on the principles of queueing theory. In addition, to protect the PU’s performance and exhibit the advantage of adopting multiple antenna technology, we jointly optimize the parameter of superposition coding and the number of antennas, and define the maximum stable throughput cooperative gain compared to the non-cooperative access scheme. More importantly, the impact of imperfect channel state information (CSI) at the SU on the maximum stable throughput and the average end-to-end delay performance is evaluated in the simulations from a practical point of view. Analysis and simulation results demonstrate that the proposed access protocol achieves significant performance gains for both the PU and the SU, outperforms the existing cooperative access protocol based on the dirty-paper coding, and keeps robust against to the imperfect CSI.
Rapid resolution of acute subdural hematoma in child with severe head injury: a case report
Authors: Park Jae-Young , Moon Kyung-Sub , Lee Jung-Kil , Jeung Kyung-Woon 
Published: March 2013

Abstract

Introduction
Rapid spontaneous resolution of traumatic acute subdural hematoma is an infrequent phenomenon and mainly develops in a case of simple acute subdural hematoma without parenchymal contusion. However, it has been rarely reported in a pediatric case with severe initial head injury.

Case presentation
A 7-year-old Asian girl with traumatic acute subdural hematoma was transferred to our hospital for an emergency operation based on the results of an initial computed tomography scan and neurological examination. However, a repeat computed tomography scan two hours after trauma disclosed considerable reduction of the hematoma and midline shift with neurological improvements. Serial follow-up imaging studies demonstrated apparent redistribution of the hematoma over the cerebellar tentorium, posterior interhemispheric fissure and subarachnoid space. The patient was discharged with mild confusion 40 days after the admission.

Conclusion
A follow-up computed tomography scan is strongly recommended before surgery when a child with a severe head injury presents with any sign of neurological improvement, especially with a mixed density hematoma on the initial computed tomography scan.