bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Dehydroglyasperin C, a component of liquorice, attenuates proliferation and migration induced by platelet-derived growth factor in human arterial smooth muscle cells
Authors: Kim Hyo Jung , Cha Byung-Yoon , Park In Sil , Lim Ji Sun , Woo Je-Tae , Kim Jong-Sang 
Published: January 2013

Liquorice is one of the botanicals used frequently as a traditional medicine in the West and in the East. Platelet-derived growth factor (PDGF)-BB is involved in the development of CVD by inducing abnormal proliferation and migration of vascular smooth muscle cells. In our preliminary study, dehydroglyasperin C (DGC), an active compound of liquorice, showed strong antioxidant activity. Since phytochemicals with antioxidant activities showed beneficial effects on chronic inflammatory diseases, the present study aimed to investigate the effects of DGC on PDGF-induced proliferation and migration of human aortic smooth muscle cells (HASMC). Treatment of HASMC with DGC for 24 h significantly decreased PDGF-induced cell number and DNA synthesis in a dose-dependent manner without any cytotoxicity, as demonstrated by the 3-(4,5-dimethyl-thiazol-2-yl)-2,5-diphenyltetrazolium bromide test and thymidine incorporation. Upon cell cycle analysis, DGC blocked the PDGF-induced progression through the G0/G1 to S phase of the cell cycle, and down-regulated the expression of cyclin-dependent kinase (CDK); 2, cyclin E, CDK4 and cyclin D1. Furthermore, DGC significantly attenuated PDGF-stimulated phosphorylation of PDGF receptor-β, phospholipase C-γ1, AKT and extracellular-regulated kinase 1/2, and DGC inhibited cell migration and the dissociation of actin filaments by PDGF. In a rat vascular balloon injury model, DGC suppressed an excessive reduction in luminal diameters and neointimal formation compared with the control group. These results demonstrate the mechanistic basis for the prevention of CVD and the potential therapeutic properties of DGC.
RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN ENDOGENOUS SALICYLIC ACID AND ANTIOXIDANT ENZYME ACTIVITIES IN MAIZE SEEDLINGS UNDER CHILLING STRESS
Authors: WANG YANG , WEN TINGTING , HU JIN , HAN RUI , ZHU YANFANG , GUAN YAJING , ZHU SHUIJIN 
Published: January 2013

SUMMARYSalicylic acid (SA) can induce multiple stress tolerance in plants. This study investigated the relationship between SA and antioxidant enzyme activities in maize seedlings under chilling stress. Changes of endogenous SA, antioxidant enzyme activities and malondialdehyde (MDA) concentrations were assessed in two different chilling-tolerant maize inbred lines (Huang C and Mo17) under chilling stress. The results showed that both endogenous free and bound salicylic acid contents increased in roots and leaves of both lines. MDA concentrations also increased significantly in roots and leaves of both lines after chilling stress. In addition, in Huang C, chilling stress increased the activities of four antioxidant enzymes, ascorbate peroxidase (APX), catalase (CAT), glutathione reductase (GR) and peroxidase, while in Mo17, only CAT and APX increased. Furthermore, a regression analysis was conducted between SA and MDA concentrations or antioxidant enzyme activities under chilling stress. The results indicated that MDA concentrations were positively correlated with total SA contents in roots (r = 0.9776, p = 0.0224) and bound SA in leaves (r = 0.9974, p = 0.0458), respectively. Total SA contents had positive correlations with APX activities both in roots (r = 0.9993, p = 0.002) and leaves (r = 0.9630, p = 0.037) and GR in leaves (r = 0.9298, p = 0.0221). Together, these results suggested that chilling stress improved the biosynthesis of endogenous SA, and lipid peroxidation and antioxidant enzyme activities could be indicated by endogenous SA contents of maize seedlings under chilling stress. Furthermore, increased activities of antioxidant enzymes, especially in roots, may contribute to the chilling tolerance of maize seedlings.
Combining two semidwarfing genesd60andsd1for reduced height in ‘Minihikari’, a new rice germplasm in the ‘Koshihikari’ genetic background
Authors: TOMITA MOTONORI 
Published: January 2013

SummaryDwarfing in rice has dramatically improved and stabilized rice yields worldwide, often controlled by a single dwarf gene,sd1. A novel semidwarf gened60complements the gametic lethal genegal, such that the F1between ‘Hokuriku 100’ (genotyped60d60GalGal,Gal: mutant non-lethal allele) and ‘Koshihikari’ (D60D60galgal,D60: tall allele) would show 25% sterility due to deterioration of gametes bearing bothgalandd60. The F2would segregate as one semidwarf (1d60d60GalGal) : two tall and 25% sterile (2D60d60Galgal) : six tall (2D60d60GalGal: 1D60D60GalGal: 2D60D60Galgal: 1D60D60galgal), skewed from a Mendelian segregation ratio of one semidwarf : three tall for a single recessive gene. To pyramidd60andsd1, into the Japanese super-variety ‘Koshihikari’, the F1(D60d60Galgal) of ‘Koshihikari’ × ‘Hokuriku 100’ was first backcrossed with ‘Koshihikari’, and the BCF1segregated into a ratio of one tall and 25% sterile (D60d60Galgal): two tall (1D60D60Galgal: 1D60D60galgal). Tall, 25% sterile BC1F1plants (D60d60Galgal) were then selected for pollen sterility and backcrossed with ‘Koshihikari’ as the recurrent parent. It is unnecessary to grow out and select a semidwarf from the BCnF2if a pollen parent with ∼70% pollen fertility is chosen from the BCnF1to backcross with the recurrent parent. Semidwarfing genesd60andsd1were successfully pyramided into the ‘Koshihikari’ genome by crossing isogenic lines ‘Koshihikarid60’ and ‘Koshihikarisd1’, to produce ‘Minihikari’, a new parental source of bothd60andsd1. ‘Minihikari’ displayed super-short stature due to the combination ofsd1andd60, which are genetically and functionally independent.
On the measurements of genetic differentiation among populations
Authors: WANG J. 
Published: January 2013

SummaryFST, a measurement of the genetic differentiation among subpopulations, is a fundamental parameter in population genetics, with many valuable applications in molecular biology, evolutionary biology, conservation and forensics. One of its close relatives,GST, has been widely used to measure differentiation from highly polymorphic markers such as microsatellites. However, because of the high mutation rate of such markers,GSTmay underestimate the genomic differentiation due to demographic causes such as migration rate and subpopulation size. A new statistic proposed recently, Jost'sD, was claimed to have better properties thanGSTand was advocated to replaceGSTas a measure of differentiation. This paper shows thatDis not a proper measure of differentiation because it fails to meet some fundamental requirements as a differentiation statistic, and is hardly estimable without bias in practice.Dis highly dependent on the gene diversity of a marker and on the unknown parameter of the number of subpopulations, is highly sensitive to how alleles and loci are defined and how data are analysed, does not increase monotonically with either divergence time or drift, and does not always have a maximal value of 1. The maximalDvalue can be zero or close to zero, depending on the number of alleles at a locus relative to the number of subpopulations. I suggest continuing the use ofGST, with caution in its interpretation when highly polymorphic markers are used, before a better estimator ofFSTthat explicitly accounts for mutations is developed.
BUILDING THE CITY OF THE FUTURE: VISIONS AND EXPERIENCES OF MODERNITY IN GHANA'S AKOSOMBO TOWNSHIP
Authors: MIESCHER STEPHAN F. 
Published: January 2013

ABSTRACTAkosombo Township, designed by the Greek urbanist Constantinos Doxiadis, is the model city at the foot of the hydroelectric Akosombo Dam, Ghana's largest development project. The article explores different visions of high modernist planning for Akosombo and juxtaposes it with the desires for and imaginations of modernity among its residents. Officials of the Volta River Authority, the agency in charge of the township, promoted specific ideas about housing, husbandry, and hygiene, while residents engaged with and resisted this kind of social engineering. These tensions came to the fore, when the squatters of Combine struggled to remain in the township. In conversation with residents, VRA officials produced a form of ‘high modernist local knowledge’.
Temporal variation in the dispersion patterns of metazoan parasites of a coastal fish species from the Gulf of Mexico
Authors: Vidal-Martínez V.M. , Pal P. , Aguirre-Macedo M.L. , May-Tec A.L. , Lewis J.W. 
Published: January 2013

AbstractGlobal climate change (GCC) is expected to affect key environmental variables such as temperature and rainfall, which in turn influence the infection dynamics of metazoan parasites in tropical aquatic hosts. Thus, our aim was to determine how temporal patterns of temperature and rainfall influence the mean abundance and aggregation of three parasite species of the fish Cichlasoma urophthalmus from Yucatán, México. We calculated mean abundance and the aggregation parameter of the negative binomial distribution k for the larval digeneans Oligogonotylus manteri and Ascocotyle (Phagicola) nana and the ectoparasite Argulus yucatanus monthly from April 2005 to December 2010. Fourier analysis of time series and cross-correlations were used to determine potential associations between mean abundance and k for the three parasite species with water temperature and rainfall. Both O. manteri and A. (Ph.) nana exhibited their highest frequency peaks in mean abundance at 6 and 12 months, respectively, while their peak in k occurred every 24 months. For A. yucatanus the frequency peaks in mean abundance and k occurred every 12 months. We suggest that the level of aggregation at 24 months of O. manteri increases the likelihood of fish mortality. Such a scenario is less likely for A. (Ph.) nana and A. yucatanus, due to their low infection levels. Our findings suggest that under the conditions of GCC it would be reasonable to expect higher levels of parasite aggregation in tropical aquatic hosts, in turn leading to a potential increase in parasite-induced host mortality.
The need to ‘belong’: social connectedness and spatial attachment in Polar Eskimo settlements
Authors: Leonard Stephen Pax 
Published: January 2013

ABSTRACTClimate and environmental change places a variety of different pressures on remote, indigenous Arctic communities. The sea ice is the platform on which the Inugguit culture of northwest Greenland is based and thus it is inevitable that its retreat will have implications for the indigenous notion of place and for the manner in which the Inugguit articulate their sense of belonging with respect to the natural environment. With the demise of story-telling, the traditional vehicle for knowledge transmission, and the squeeze on hunting by consumer society and the Greenland Self Rule imposed quota system, it is apparent that some younger people are now engaging with more western ontologies of place. The relationship between man and nature is for some beginning to be expressed in terms of detachment and not extension. Whilst the way the Inugguit relate to their immediate natural environment might be in flux, other social practices of belonging such as naming and visiting are unchanged and still characterise these communities. In northwest Greenland, the need to ‘belong’ remains the social imperative that it has always been and the mechanisms used to reinforce this remain intact.
Obese youths are not more likely to become depressed, but depressed youths are more likely to become obese
Authors: Roberts R. E. , Duong H. T. 
Published: January 2013

BackgroundOverweight/obesity and depression are both major public health problems among adolescents. However, the question of a link between overweight/obesity and depression remains unresolved in this age group. We examined whether obesity increases risk of depression, or depression increases risk of obesity, or whether there is a reciprocal effect.MethodA two-wave prospective cohort study of adolescents aged 11–17 years at baseline (n = 4175) followed up a year later (n = 3134) sampled from the Houston metropolitan area. Overweight was defined as 95th percentile >body mass index (BMI) ⩽85th percentile and obese as BMI >95th percentile. Three indicators of depression were examined: any DSM-IV mood disorder, major depression, and symptoms of depression.ResultsData for the two-wave cohort indicated no evidence of reciprocal effects between weight and depression. Weight status predicted neither major depression nor depressive symptoms. However, mood disorders generally and major depression in particular increased risk of future obesity more than twofold. Depressed males had a sixfold increased risk of obesity. Females with depressive symptoms had a marginally increased risk of being overweight but not obese.ConclusionsOur findings, combined with those of recent meta-analyses, suggest that obese youths are not more likely to become depressed but that depressed youths are more likely to become obese.
Care-giving expectations and challenges among elders and their adult children in Southern Sri Lanka
Authors: WATT MELISSA H. , PERERA BILESHA , ØSTBYE TRULS , RANABAHU SHYAMA , RAJAPAKSE HARSHINI , MASELKO JOANNA 
Published: January 2013

ABSTRACTThe elderly population in Sri Lanka is growing rapidly. Elders are traditionally cared for in the homes of their adult children, but the shifting socio-economic environment in Sri Lanka challenges this arrangement. This paper describes the dynamics of elder–care-giver relationships in Southern Sri Lanka. Data included four focus group discussions and five in-depth interviews with elderly, and ten in-depth interviews with adult children of the elderly. Discussion guide topics included care-giving arrangements, and roles/responsibilities of elders and care-givers. Using a grounded theory approach, a comprehensive analytic memo was developed and discussed to explore emerging themes on the care-giver dynamic. Both elders and care-givers felt that elders should be taken care of in the home by their children. They pointed to a sense of duty and role modelling of parental care-giving that is passed down through generations. Even as elders desired support from their children, they feared losing their independence, and saw financial autonomy as important for maintaining relationship balance. Care-giving challenges included: households where both the adult child and his/her spouse worked outside the home; households where elders had a disproportionate amount of household work; economically stressed households; and lack of direct communication between elders and care-givers regarding conflicts. Results point to strong values around caring for elderly in the home, but identify challenges to this arrangement in the future.
Early life history of the ocellated icefish,Chionodraco rastrospinosus, off the Antarctic Peninsula
Authors: La Mesa Mario , Catalano Barbara , Jones Christopher D. 
Published: January 2013

AbstractAge, growth and feeding habits of early life stages ofChionodraco rastrospinosusDewitt & Hureau, the most abundant channichthyid in the larval fish assemblages of the Bransfield Strait, were studied by otolith microincrement counts and stomach content analyses. Individuals measuring 39–69 mm standard length were caught in the uppermost depth strata down to 300 m from Brabant to Joinville islands along the northern Antarctic Peninsula. The sample consisted of post-larvae and juveniles aged 105–211 days, with a mean growth rate of 0.25 mm day-1. Larval size at hatching was estimated to bec.17.2 mm. Hatching was spread over a relatively long period from August–November. Sagittal otoliths were characterized by a strong check located at 23–52 microincrements of distance from the core, tentatively associated with the onset of first exogenous feeding. The relatively long period during which larvae can rely on yolk reserves and the large size at hatching enable them to utilize a wide size range of prey, as well as cope with occasional food shortages. The stomach contents consisted exclusively of euphausiids (furcilia and adults) and larvae ofPleuragramma antarcticumBoulenger. Based on growth rate, the residence time in pelagic waters of juvenileC. rastrospinosuswas estimated to be about a year and a half.
Integrated Pharmacometrics and Systems Pharmacology Model‐Based Analyses to Guide GnRH Receptor Modulator Development for Management of Endometriosis
Authors: Riggs MM , Bennetts M , van der Graaf PH , Martin SW 
Published: January 2013

Endometriosis is a gynecological condition resulting from proliferation of endometrial‐like tissue outside the endometrial cavity. Estrogen suppression therapies, mediated through gonadotropin‐releasing hormone (GnRH) modulation, decrease endometriotic implants and diminish associated pain albeit at the expense of bone mineral density (BMD) loss. Our goal was to provide model‐based guidance for GnRH‐modulating clinical programs intended for endometriosis management. This included developing an estrogen suppression target expected to provide symptomatic relief with minimal BMD loss and to evaluate end points and study durations supportive of efficient development decisions. An existing multiscale model of calcium and bone was adapted to include systematic estrogen pharmacologic effects to describe estrogen concentration‐related effects on BMD. A logistic regression fit to patient‐level data from three clinical GnRH agonist (nafarelin) studies described the relationship of estrogen with endometrial‐related pain. Targeting estradiol between 20 and 40 pg/ml was predicted to provide efficacious endometrial pain response while minimizing BMD effects.CPT: Pharmacometrics & Systems Pharmacology (2012) 1, e11; doi:10.1038/psp.2012.10; advance online publication 17 October 2012
Hepatocyte growth factor activator inhibitor type 2 (HAI-2) modulates hepcidin expression by inhibiting the cell surface protease matriptase-2
Authors: Maurer Eva , Gütschow Michael , Stirnberg Marit 
Published: January 2013

Matriptase-2, a recently identified cell surface protease, is the key enzyme of iron homoeostasis modulating the expression of the liver peptide hormone hepcidin. HAI (hepatocyte growth factor activator inhibitor) types 1 and 2 (HAI-1 and HAI-2 respectively) have been shown to inhibit the close homologue, i.e. matriptase. By co-expressing matriptase-2 and the inhibitor HAI-2 we have identified HAI-2 displaying high inhibitory potential against matriptase-2 at the cell surface as well as in conditioned medium. Accordingly, complex formation between matriptase-2 and HAI-2 was demonstrated by isolation of the complex via immobilizing either HAI-2 or matriptase-2 from lysates and conditioned medium of co-expressing cells. Furthermore, HAI-2 indirectly influences the expression of the hepcidin-encoding gene HAMP. The inhibitor abrogates the matriptase-2-mediated suppression of HAMP expression, presumably by inhibiting the supposed potential of matriptase-2 to cleave membrane-bound HJV (haemojuvelin). Taken together, the results of the present study have characterized HAI-2 as an inhibitor of matriptase-2 that modulates the synthesis of hepcidin and provides new insights into the regulatory mechanism of iron homoeostasis, with clinical importance for a treatment of iron overload diseases.
Growth and Population Size of Grass Carp Incrementally Stocked for Hydrilla Control
Authors: Stich Daniel S. , Dicenzo Victor , Frimpong Emmanuel A. , Jiao Yan , Murphy Brian R. 
Published: January 2013

Abstract
In weed control plans that use Grass Carp Ctenopharyngodon idella for intermediate control of hydrilla Hydrilla verticillata, the knowledge of population dynamics improves efficacy of management. Our objective was to characterize growth, mortality, and associated population metrics of long-lived (up to 16 years) triploid Grass Carp that were incrementally stocked into Lake Gaston, Virginia–North Carolina, starting in 1995. Grass Carp (ages 1–16) were collected by bowfishers during 2006–2010. Growth of Grass Carp was described by the von Bertalanffy growth model as Lt = 1,297[1 − e−0.1352(t +1.52)], where Lt is TL at age t. We used three methods to estimate Grass Carp mortality, and annual abundance and biomass of Grass Carp were estimated from each mortality estimate. Estimated annual mortality ranged from 0.20 to 0.25 depending on the method used. The use of constant mortality rates versus age-specific mortality rates produced divergent models of Grass Carp biomass and represented a different approach for tracking the progress of weed control. Grass Carp biomass (but not abundance) was related to hydrilla coverage in Lake Gaston based on several scenarios that described time lags between Grass Carp stocking in year i and decreases in hydrilla coverage (in years i, i + 1, …, i + 5). Regardless of the mortality estimate used to derive Grass Carp biomass, the strongest biomass–hydrilla coverage relationship was observed for a time lag of 4 years. Fish older than age 10 constituted nearly 50% of the total Grass Carp biomass in Lake Gaston during some years, and the relationship between Grass Carp biomass and hydrilla coverage was strongest when fish up to age 16 were included in models. These results indicate that Grass Carp up to at least age 16 are important for weed control, thus highlighting the need for stocking models and bioenergetics models that include contributions of older fish when assessing long-lived Grass Carp populations.
Received January 23, 2012; accepted October 3, 2012
Retention of Large-Format, Soft Visible Implant Alphanumeric Tags in Walleye
Authors: Meerbeek Jonathan R. , Larscheid Joseph G. , Hawkins Michael J. , Scholten George D. 
Published: January 2013

Abstract
We evaluated the effects of fish length, fish sex, and number of days posttagging on retention of large-format, soft visible implant (VI) alphanumeric tags that were injected underneath the clear tissue on the lower mandible of Walleyes Sander vitreus. We also evaluated whether the direction of insertion or the application of surgical-grade tissue adhesive to the tag incision site would affect tag retention. Adult Walleyes were collected with gill nets from natural lakes in Iowa during spring and then were transported to a hatchery, where they were measured, sexed, and tagged. One worker injected 752 Walleyes (mean TL = 21.8 in; SE = 0.16) with two identical VI tags; each side (left and right) of the lower mandible received one tag. Incisions were dried with a cloth, and tissue adhesive was applied to one of the two tag injection sites. Walleyes were released back into the lake and were recaptured with gill nets and by anglers. Of the 129 Walleyes recaptured up to 5 years posttagging, 80 fish (62%) had retained both tags and the remaining 49 fish had retained one of the tags. Retention adjusted for fish that lost both tags (n = 8; probability = 0.09) was 58% (80 of 137). Tag retention was significantly related to fish size at the time of tagging, as smaller fish lost more tags. Consequently, males (mean TL = 20.5 in; SE = 0.39) were more likely to lose tags than females (mean TL = 24.3 in; SE = 0.26). Insertion direction, adhesive application, or the number of days posttagging at recapture did not influence VI tag retention. We recommend that in studies requiring high tag retention in Walleyes, the injection of large-format, soft VI tags into the clear tissue underneath the mandible should not be considered.
Received February 16, 2012; accepted October 3, 2012