bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
P268S in NOD2 associates with susceptibility to Parkinson’s disease in Chinese population
Authors: Ma Qilin , An Xingkai , Li Zhiming , Zhang Huanjing , Huang Wenqing , Cai Liangliang , Hu Peng , Lin Qing , Tzeng Chi-Meng 
Published: May 2013

AbstractBackgroundThe cause of almost all cases of Parkinson’s disease (PD) remains unknown. Recent years have seen an explosion in the rate of discovery of genetic defects linked to PD. Different racial and geographical populations may have different distributions of genetic variants.MethodsIn the current study, we screened the following genetic variants, including some rare mutations and single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs), in a pedigree and cases-controls. To best of our knowledge, we first screened these variants known to be associated with neurodegeneration disease, E46K (rs104893875) inSNCA, A1442P inLRRK2, IVS9 inPARK2, A350V inSLC41A1, P268S (rs2066842), R702W (rs2066844), G908R (rs2066845), 1007fs (rs2066847) inNOD2and G2385R (rs34778348) inLRRK2from southern China population. Genotyping was performed by jointly using primers overlapping polymerase chain reaction (PCR) site-directed mutagenesis, restriction fragment length polymorphism (RFLP), and capillary electrophoresis (CE).ResultsWe didn’t discover above 9 variants in the family members of the pedigree. Furthermore, of 237 patients with sporadic Parkinson’s disease and 190 controls, no heterozygosity or homozygosity were found from E46K, A1442P, A350V, R702W, G908R, or 1007fs but heterozygosity onto G2385R, IVS9, and P268S. No significant difference between cases and controls was found in both allele frequency (P = 0.572) and genotype frequency (P = 0.348) of IVS9. However, significant differences in genotype frequency (P = 0.009) of G2385R were consistent with prior observation. Eight patients with Parkinson’s disease (2 women and 6 men are over the age of 50 years at onset of PD) carried the P268S heterozygous variation inNOD2. There was no heterozygosity or homozygosity of P268S in the controls. Genotype frequency of P268S (P = 0.0450) had significant differences.ConclusionsOur results suggested that the P268S variant inNOD2might be a risk factor for susceptibility to sporadic Parkinson’s disease in Chinese populations. It also implied that the inflammatory response may play a role in PD.
The effect of introducing IGRA to screen French healthcare workers for tuberculosis and potential conclusions for the work organisation
Authors: Moucaut Adrien , Nienhaus Albert , Courtois Benedicte , Nael Virginie , Longuenesse Claire , Ripault Bruno , Rucay Pierre , Moisan Stéphanie , Roquelaure Yves , Tripodi Dominique 
Published: May 2013

Abstract

Introduction
In France, pre-employment screening for tuberculosis (TB) is performed for healthcare workers (HCW). Screening is repeated when exposure to TB patients or infectious material occurs. The results of these TB screenings were analysed in a retrospective analysis.

Method
Tuberculin skin tests (TST) and interferon-gamma release assays (QuantiFERON® Gold In-Tube – QFT) were used to perform the TB screenings. The screening results of 637 HCWs on whom QFT was performed were taken from the records of the University Hospital of Nantes.

Results
In three (0.5%) HCW, the QFT was indeterminate. In 22.2%, the QFT was positive. A second QFT was performed in 118 HCWs. The reversion rate was 42% (5 out of 17). The conversion rate was 6% (6 out of 98). A TST was performed on 466 (73.5%) of the HCWs. Results for TST > 10 mm were 77.4%. In those with a TST < 10 mm, QFT was positive in 14% and in those with a TST ≥ 10 mm, QFT was positive in 26.7%. Depending on the definition for conversion in the QFT, the annual attack rate was 4.1% or 7.3%. X-ray and pneumology consultation was based on positive QFT rather than TST alone (52 out of 56). No active TB was detected.

Conclusion
The TST overestimated the prevalence of LTBI in this cohort. The decision about X-ray and consultation regarding preventive treatment should be based on the QFT rather than the TST results. The high reversion rate should be taken into consideration when consulting with HCWs regarding preventive treatment. The high conversion rate seems to indicate that preventive measures such as wearing masks should be improved.
Evidence of effective scrapie transmission via colostrum and milk in sheep
Authors: Konold Timm , Moore S Jo , Bellworthy Susan J , Terry Linda A , Thorne Leigh , Ramsay Andrew , Salguero F Javier , Simmons Marion M , Simmons Hugh A 
Published: May 2013

Abstract

Background
Evidence for scrapie transmission from VRQ/VRQ ewes to lambs via milk was first reported in 2008 but in that study there were concerns that lateral transmission may have contributed to the high transmission rate observed since five control lambs housed with the milk recipients also became infected. This report provides further information obtained from two follow-up studies, one where milk recipients were housed separately after milk consumption to confirm the validity of the high scrapie transmission rate via milk and the second to assess any difference in infectivity from colostrum and subsequent milk. Protein misfolding cyclic amplification (PMCA) was also used to detect prion protein in milk samples as a comparison with the infectivity data and extended to milk samples from ewes without a VRQ allele.

Results
Seven pairs of lambs fed colostrum and milk individually from seven scrapie-affected sheep (pre-clinical or clinical) presented with disease-associated prion protein, PrPd, in rectal lymphoid tissue at 4–5 months of age. Five further pairs of lambs fed either colostrum or subsequent milk from five pre-clinical scrapie-affected sheep equally presented with PrPd in lymphoid tissue by 9 months of age. Nine sheep were lost due to intercurrent diseases but all remaining milk or colostrum recipients, including those in the original study with the lateral transmission controls, developed clinical signs of scrapie from 19 months of age and scrapie was confirmed by brain examination. Unexposed control sheep totalling 19 across all three studies showed no evidence of infection.
Scrapie PrP was amplified repeatedly by PMCA in all tested milk samples from scrapie-affected VRQ/VRQ sheep, and in one scrapie-affected ARQ/ARQ sheep. By contrast, milk samples from five VRQ/VRQ and 11 ARQ/ARQ scrapie-free sheep did not have detectable scrapie PrP on repeated tests.

Conclusions
Feeding of milk from scrapie-affected sheep results in a high transmission rate in VRQ/VRQ sheep and both colostrum and milk transmit scrapie. Detection of scrapie prion protein in individual milk samples from scrapie-affected ewes confirms PMCA as a valuable in vitro test.
Epicardial unipolar radiofrequency ablation for left ventricular aneurysm related ventricular arrhythmia
Authors: Yu Yang , Gao Ming-xin , Gu Cheng-xiong 
Published: May 2013

Abstract
We report a case of a 62-year-old Chinese man with typical triple-vessel lesions and apical left ventricular aneurysm accompanied with ventricular tachycardia. Off-pump coronary artery bypass (OPCAB) grafting was performed in combination with epicardial unipolar radiofrequency ablation and linear closure of left ventricular aneurysm. The patient recovered well without postoperative complications. Holter monitoring showed no recurrence of the ventricular arrhythmia and the attack frequency of arrhythmia decreased significantly. The patient has been angina-free for 25 months since the operation and shows increasing exercise tolerance. Thus, left ventricular aneurysm plication combined with epicardial unipolar radiofrequency ablation during OPCAB may be beneficial for patients with ventricular aneurysm and preoperative malignant ventricular arrhythmia.
Investigation of ginkgo biloba leave extracts as corrosion and Oil field microorganism inhibitors
Authors: Chen Gang , Zhang Min , Zhao Jingrui , Zhou Rui , Meng Zuchao , Zhang Jie 
Published: May 2013

Abstract

Ginkgo biloba (Ginkgoaceae), originating from China, now distributes all over the world. Wide application of Ginkgo biloba extracts is determined by the main active substances, flavonoids and terpenoids, which indicates its extracts suitable to be used as an effective corrosion inhibitor. The extracts of Ginkgo biloba leave have been investigated on the corrosion inhibition of Q235A steel with weight loss and potentiodynamic polarisation techniques. The inhibition efficiency of the extracts varies with extract concentration. The extracts inhibit corrosion mainly by adsorption mechanism. Potentiodynamic polarisation studies show that extracts are mixed type inhibitors. The antibacterial activity of the extracts against oil field microorganism (SRB, IB and TGB) was also investigated.
Dieselzymes: development of a stable and methanol tolerant lipase for biodiesel production by directed evolution
Authors: Korman Tyler P , Sahachartsiri Bobby , Charbonneau David M , Huang Grace L , Beauregard Marc , Bowie James U 
Published: May 2013

Abstract

Background
Biodiesels are methyl esters of fatty acids that are usually produced by base catalyzed transesterification of triacylglyerol with methanol. Some lipase enzymes are effective catalysts for biodiesel synthesis and have many potential advantages over traditional base or acid catalyzed transesterification. Natural lipases are often rapidly inactivated by the high methanol concentrations used for biodiesel synthesis, however, limiting their practical use. The lipase from Proteus mirabilis is a particularly promising catalyst for biodiesel synthesis as it produces high yields of methyl esters even in the presence of large amounts of water and expresses very well in Escherichia coli. However, since the Proteus mirabilis lipase is only moderately stable and methanol tolerant, these properties need to be improved before the enzyme can be used industrially.

Results
We employed directed evolution, resulting in a Proteus mirabilis lipase variant with 13 mutations, which we call Dieselzyme 4. Dieselzyme 4 has greatly improved thermal stability, with a 30-fold increase in the half-inactivation time at 50°C relative to the wild-type enzyme. The evolved enzyme also has dramatically increased methanol tolerance, showing a 50-fold longer half-inactivation time in 50% aqueous methanol. The immobilized Dieselzyme 4 enzyme retains the ability to synthesize biodiesel and has improved longevity over wild-type or the industrially used Brukholderia cepacia lipase during many cycles of biodiesel synthesis. A crystal structure of Dieselzyme 4 reveals additional hydrogen bonds and salt bridges in Dieselzyme 4 compared to the wild-type enzyme, suggesting that polar interactions may become particularly stabilizing in the reduced dielectric environment of the oil and methanol mixture used for biodiesel synthesis.

Conclusions
Directed evolution was used to produce a stable lipase, Dieselzyme 4, which could be immobilized and re-used for biodiesel synthesis. Dieselzyme 4 outperforms the industrially used lipase from Burkholderia cepacia and provides a platform for still further evolution of desirable biodiesel production properties.
Compensating for literature annotation bias when predicting novel drug-disease relationships through Medical Subject Heading Over-representation Profile (MeSHOP) similarity
Authors: Cheung Warren A , Ouellette BF Francis , Wasserman Wyeth W 
Published: May 2013

Abstract

Background
Using annotations to the articles in MEDLINE®/PubMed®, over six thousand chemical compounds with pharmacological actions have been tracked since 1996. Medical Subject Heading Over-representation Profiles (MeSHOPs) quantitatively leverage the literature associated with biological entities such as diseases or drugs, providing the opportunity to reposition known compounds towards novel disease applications.

Methods
A MeSHOP is constructed by counting the number of times each medical subject term is assigned to an entity-related research publication in the MEDLINE database and calculating the significance of the count by comparing against the count of the term in a background set of publications. Based on the expectation that drugs suitable for treatment of a disease (or disease symptom) will have similar annotation properties to the disease, we successfully predict drug-disease associations by comparing MeSHOPs of diseases and drugs.

Results
The MeSHOP comparison approach delivers an 11% improvement over bibliometric baselines. However, novel drug-disease associations are observed to be biased towards drugs and diseases with more publications. To account for the annotation biases, a correction procedure is introduced and evaluated.

Conclusions
By explicitly accounting for the annotation bias, unexpectedly similar drug-disease pairs are highlighted as candidates for drug repositioning research. MeSHOPs are shown to provide a literature-supported perspective for discovery of new links between drugs and diseases based on pre-existing knowledge.
Prevalence of Excessive Tearing in Women With Early Breast Cancer Receiving Adjuvant Docetaxel-Based Chemotherapy
Authors: Chan Arlene , Su Charles , de Boer Richard H. , Gajdatsy Adam 
Published: May 2013

Purpose To define the incidence and impact of tearing in patients receiving adjuvant docetaxel-based chemotherapy and assess for lacrimal duct obstruction (LDO) as a causative factor. Patients and Methods Consecutive patients with early breast cancer recommended for docetaxel-based chemotherapy with no prior ocular symptoms were included. Before and after completion of chemotherapy, patients underwent lacrimal drainage evaluation by computed tomographic dacrocystography (CT-DCG) and ophthalmic assessment. Eye symptoms were assessed at baseline, during, and after completion of chemotherapy. Results Over a 22-month period, 100 patients were recruited. Asymptomatic LDO was present at baseline in 17% and 18% of patients, as assessed by ophthalmic review and CT-DCG, respectively. Overall, 86% of patients developed tearing, with no significant difference between those who did and did not have LDO (94% v 84%; P = .45). Blepharitis occurred in 37% and minor corneal epitheliopathy in 22% of patients, with neither condition predicting for the development of tearing. Impairment of visual activities was greatest after cycle one (70% of patients) but had decreased to < 5% by 4 months after treatment. Conclusion Tearing occurs in the majority of patients receiving adjuvant docetaxel-based chemotherapy regimens and occurred similarly in patients with and without LDO. There was poor concordance between CT-DCG and ophthalmic examination in the detection of LDO. Tearing and other eye symptoms impaired visual activities, but in nearly all patients, both symptoms and functional impairment were mild and had resolved by 4 months after chemotherapy. Our study demonstrates docetaxel-related tearing is not caused by LDO, and as such, evaluation or stenting of the duct is not considered necessary.
Genetic Mediators of Neurocognitive Outcomes in Survivors of Childhood Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia
Authors: Krull Kevin R. , Bhojwani Deepa , Conklin Heather M. , Pei Deqing , Cheng Cheng , Reddick Wilburn E. , Sandlund John T. , Pui Ching-Hon 
Published: May 2013

Purpose Survivors of childhood acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) are at increased risk for neurocognitive problems, with significant interindividual variability in outcome. This study examined genetic polymorphisms associated with variability in neurocognitive outcome. Patients and Methods Neurocognitive outcomes were evaluated at the end of therapy in 243 survivors treated on an institutional protocol featuring risk-adapted chemotherapy without prophylactic cranial irradiation. Polymorphisms in genes related to pharmacokinetics or pharmacodynamics of antileukemic agents, drug metabolism, oxidative stress, and attention problems in noncancer populations were examined as predictors of outcome, using multiple general linear models and controlling for age at diagnosis, sex, race, and treatment intensity. Results Compared with national norms, the cohort demonstrated significantly higher rates of problems on direct assessment of sustained attention (P = .01) and on parent ratings of attention problems (P = .02). Children with the A2756G polymorphism in methionine synthase (MS) were more likely to demonstrate deficits in attentiveness (P = .03) and response speed (P = .02), whereas those with various polymorphisms in glutathione S-transferase demonstrated increased performance variability (P = .01) and reduced attentiveness (P = .003). Polymorphisms in monoamine oxidase (T1460CA) were associated with increased attention variability (P = .03). Parent-reported attention problems were more common in children with the Cys112Arg polymorphism in apoliopoprotein E4 (P = .01). Conclusion These results are consistent with our previous report of association between attention problems and MS in an independent cohort of long-term survivors of childhood ALL treated with chemotherapy only. The results also raise the possibility of an impact from genetic predispositions related to oxidative stress and CNS integrity.
An Approximation Algorithm for the Bipartite Traveling Tournament Problem
Authors: Hoshino Richard , Kawarabayashi Ken-ichi 
Published: May 2013

The bipartite traveling tournament problem (BTTP) is an NP-complete scheduling problem whose solution is a double round-robin inter-league tournament with minimum total travel distance. The 2n-team BTTP is a variant of the well-known traveling salesman problem (TSP), albeit much harder as it involves the simultaneous coordination of 2n teams playing a sequence of home and away games under fixed constraints, rather than a single entity passing through the locations corresponding to the teams' home venues. As the BTTP requires a distance-optimal schedule linking venues in close proximity, we provide an approximation algorithm for the BTTP based on an approximate solution to the corresponding TSP. We prove that our polynomial-time algorithm generates a 2n-team inter-league tournament schedule whose total distance is at most 1 + 2c/3 + (3 − c)/(3n) times the total distance of the optimal BTTP solution, where c is the approximation factor of the TSP. In practice, the actual approximation factor is far better; we provide a specific example by generating a nearly-optimal inter-league tournament for the 30-team National Basketball Association, with total travel distance just 1.06 times the trivial theoretical lower bound.
The diagnostic value of fine needle aspiration in parotid lumps
Authors: Mallon DH , Kostalas M , MacPherson FJ , Parmar A , Drysdale A , Chisholm E 
Published: May 2013

Introduction Fine needle aspiration (FNA) is a safe and quick method of diagnosing superficial lumps, which aids preoperative planning. However, FNA of the parotid gland has not gained the widespread acceptance noted in other head and neck lumps. The aim of this study was to determine the ability of FNA of the parotid gland to differentiate benign and malignant disease, and to determine the impact on surgical outcome. Methods A retrospective analysis of 201 consecutive parotid operations with preoperative FNA in a large district hospital in the UK was performed. The diagnostic characteristics were calculated for benign and malignant disease, and the impact on surgical procedure was determined. Results In identifying benign disease, FNA has a sensitivity of 85% and a specificity of 76%. In detecting malignant disease, FNA has a sensitivity and specificity of 52% and 92% respectively. A false positive on FNA was associated with a higher incidence of neck dissection. Conclusions FNA is a useful diagnostic test. However, owing to low sensitivity, it is necessary to interpret it in the context of all other clinical information.
Choosing alternatives: Using Bayesian Networks and memory-based learning to study the dative alternation
Authors: Theijssen Daphne , ten Bosch Louis , Boves Lou , Cranen Bert , van Halteren Hans 
Published: May 2013

AbstractIn existing research on syntactic alternations such as the dative alternation, (give her the apple vs. give the apple to her), the linguistic data is often analysed with the help of logistic regression models. In this article, we evaluate the use of logistic regression for this type of research, and present two different approaches: Bayesian Networks and Memory-based learning. For the Bayesian Network, we use the higher-level semantic features suggested in the literature, while we limit ourselves to lexical items in the memory-based approach. We evaluate the suitability of the three approaches by applying them to a large data set (>11,000 instances) extracted from the British National Corpus, and comparing their quality in terms of classification accuracy, their interpretability in the context of linguistic research, and their actual classification of individual cases. Our main finding is that the classifications are very similar across the three approaches, also when employing lexical items instead of the higher-level features, because most of the alternation is determined by the verb and the length of the two objects (here: her and the apple).
Voices of Innovation: Building a Model for Curriculum Transformation
Authors: Phillips Janet M. , Resnick Jerelyn , Boni Mary Sharon , Bradley Patricia , Grady Janet L. , Ruland Judith P. , Stuever Nancy L. 
Published: May 2013

AbstractInnovation in nursing education curriculum is critically needed to meet the demands of nursing leadership and practice while facing the complexities of today’s health care environment. International nursing organizations, the Institute of Medicine, and; our health care practice partners have called for curriculum reform to ensure the quality and safety of patient care. While innovation is occurring in schools of nursing, little is being researched or disseminated. The purposes of this qualitative study were to (a) describe what innovative curricula were being implemented, (b) identify challenges faced by the faculty, and (c) explore how the curricula were evaluated. Interviews were conducted with 15 exemplar schools from a variety of nursing programs throughout the United States. Exemplar innovative curricula were identified, and a model for approaching innovation was developed based on the findings related to conceptualizing, designing, delivering, evaluating, and supporting the curriculum. The results suggest implications for nursing education, research, and practice.
Tetrahydrobiopterin attenuates ischemia-reperfusion injury following organ transplantation by targeting the nitric oxide synthase: investigations in an animal model
Authors: Cardini Benno , Oberhuber Rupert , Hein Sven R. , Watschinger Katrin , Hermann Martin , Obrist Peter , Werner-Felmayer Gabriele , Brandacher Gerald , Pratschke Johann , Werner Ernst R. , Maglione Manuel 
Published: May 2013

Abstract
Ischemia-reperfusion injury is a primarily non-allospecific event leading to the depletion of the essential nitric oxide synthase cofactor and potent antioxidant tetrahydrobiopterin. Suboptimal concentrations of tetrahydrobiopterin result in a reduced biosynthesis of nitric oxide leading to vascular endothelial dysfunction. Tetrahydrobiopterin supplementation has been shown to protect from this pathological state in a plethora of cardiovascular diseases including transplant-related ischemia-reperfusion injury. Even though still controversially discussed, there is increasing evidence emerging from both human as well as animal studies that tetrahydrobiopterin-mediated actions rely on its nitric oxide synthase cofactor activity rather than on its antioxidative properties. Herein, we review the current literature regarding the role of tetrahydrobiopterin in ischemia-reperfusion injury including our experience acquired in a murine pancreas transplantation model.