bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Influence of clinically significant portal hypertension on survival after hepatic resection for hepatocellular carcinoma in cirrhotic patients
Authors: Giannini Edoardo G. , Savarino Vincenzo , Farinati Fabio , Ciccarese Francesca , Rapaccini Gianludovico , Marco Mariella Di , Benvegnù Luisa , Zoli Marco , Borzio Franco , Caturelli Eugenio , Chiaramonte Maria , Trevisani Franco ,   The Italian Liver Cancer (ITA.LI.CA) group
Published: April 2013

AbstractBackgroundThe role of clinically significant portal hypertension on the prognosis of cirrhotic patients undergoing hepatic resection for hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is debated.AimsIn this study, our aim was to assess the role of clinically significant portal hypertension after hepatic resection for HCC in patients with cirrhosis.MethodsWe assessed the prognostic role of the presence of clinically significant portal hypertension (oesophageal/gastric varices/portal hypertensive gastropathy or a platelet count <100 × 109/L associated with splenomegaly) in 152 patients with compensated cirrhosis who underwent hepatic resection for HCC at the Italian Liver Cancer centres. Survival rates were assessed in the whole series, in the subgroup of Child‐Pugh score 5 patients with uninodular HCC ≤5 cm, and in Child‐Pugh score 5 patients with uninodular HCC ≤2 cm and normal bilirubin.ResultsMedian survival was similar in patients with and without clinically significant portal hypertension (79 vs 77 months, P = 0.686). Child‐Pugh score 5 was the only variable significantly associated with survival by Cox multiple regression (P = 0.007). In Child‐Pugh score 5 patients with single HCC ≤5 cm or in those with single HCC ≤2 cm and normal bilirubin, there was no survival difference between patients with and without clinically significant portal hypertension (median survival: 94 vs 78 months, P = 0.121 and >100 vs 86 months, P = 0.742).ConclusionsPresence of clinically significant portal hypertension has no influence on survival of patients with well‐compensated cirrhosis undergoing hepatic resection for HCC.
The inpatient economic and mortality impact of hepatocellular carcinoma from 2005 to 2009: analysis of the US nationwide inpatient sample
Authors: Mishra Alita , Otgonsuren Munkhzul , Venkatesan Chapy , Afendy Mariam , Erario Madeline , Younossi Zobair M. 
Published: April 2013

AbstractBackgroundHepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is an important complication of cirrhosis. Our aim was to assess the inpatient economic and mortality of HCC in the USAMethodsFive cycles of Nationwide Inpatient Sample (NIS) conducted from 2005 to 2009 were used. Demographics, inpatient mortality, severity of illness, payer type, length of stay (LoS) and charges were available. Changes and associated factors related to inpatient HCC were assessed using simple linear regression. Odds ratios and 95% CIs for hospital mortality were analysed using log‐linked regression model. To estimate the sampling variances for complex survey data, we used Taylor series approach. SAS® v.9.3 was used for statistical analysis.ResultsFrom 2005 to 2009, 32,697,993 inpatient cases were reported to NIS. During these 5 years, primary diagnosis of HCC increased from 4401 (2005), 4170 (2006), 5065 (2007), 6540 (2008) to 6364 (2009). HCC as any diagnosis increased from 68 per 100 000 discharges (2005) to 99 per 100 000 (2009). However, inpatient mortality associated with HCC decreased from 12% (2005) to 10% (2009) (P < 0.046) and LoS remained stable. However, median inflation‐adjusted charges at the time of discharge increased from $29,466 per case (2005) to $31,656 per case (2009). Total national HCC charges rose from $1.0 billion (2005) to $2.0 billion (2009). In multivariate analysis, hospital characteristic was independently associated with decreasing in‐hospital mortality (all P < 0.05). Liver transplantation for HCC was the main contributor to high inpatient charges. Longer LoS and other procedures also contributed to higher inpatient charges.ConclusionsThere is an increase in the number of inpatient cases of HCC. Although inpatient mortality is decreasing and the LoS is stable, the inpatient charges associated with HCC continue to increase.
Association of age‐dependent liver injury and fibrosis with immune cell populations
Authors: Collins Bradley H. , Holzknecht Zoie E. , Lynn Kellie A. , Sempowski Gregory D. , Smith Catherine C. , Liu Songling , Parker William , Rockey Don C. 
Published: April 2013

AbstractBackground & AimsThe liver's response to injury is fibrosis, and when chronic, cirrhosis. Age is a critical factor impacting many immune‐mediated processes, potentially including the liver's wounding response to injury.MethodsThe effects of age on acute and chronic liver injury were evaluated using a carbon tetrachloride model in mice. Lymphocyte and macrophage populations were assessed by flow cytometry and immunohistochemical analysis.ResultsAcute liver injury was greater in 18‐month‐old (old) mice than in 9‐month‐old (middle‐aged) mice as judged by changes in aminotransferases. Similarly, livers of 18‐month‐old mice had a significantly greater fibrogenic response to injury than did livers of 9‐month‐old mice after chronic injury (assessed by col1α1 mRNA expression, morphometric analysis and hydroxyproline measurement). Interestingly, livers from young mice (6 weeks old) also exhibited an increase in fibrogenesis compared to 9‐month‐old mice, albeit not to the same degree as in old mice. Consistent with a role for macrophages in fibrogenesis, the number of liver macrophages in young and 9‐month‐old mice increased, while in chronically injured livers of 18‐month‐old mice, the number of macrophages was reduced, and was less than in the livers of young and 9‐month‐old injured livers.ConclusionsOur data indicate that the fibrogenic response to injury varies substantially with age, and moreover that macrophage recruitment and dynamics may be an important component in differential age‐associated fibrotic disease.
Depositional processes on oceanic island shelves – Evidence from storm‐generated Neogene deposits from the mid‐North Atlantic
Authors: Meireles Ricardo P. , Quartau Rui , Ramalho Ricardo S. , Rebelo Ana C. , Madeira José , Zanon Vittorio , Ávila Sérgio P. 
Published: April 2013

AbstractOceanic islands – such as the Azores in the mid‐North Atlantic – are periodically exposed to large storms that often remobilize and transport marine sediments along coastlines, and into deeper environments. Such disruptive events create deposits – denominated tempestites – whose characteristics reflect the highly dynamic environment in which they were formed. Tempestites from oceanic islands, however, are seldom described in the literature and little is known about storm‐related sediment dynamics affecting oceanic island shelves. Therefore, the geological record of tempestite deposits at oceanic islands can provide invaluable information on the processes of sediment remobilization, transport and deposition taking place on insular shelves during and after major storms. In Santa Maria Island (Azores), a sequence of Neogene tempestite deposits was incorporated in the island edifice by the ongoing volcanic activity (thus preserved) and later exposed through uplift and erosion. Because it was overlain by a contemporary coastal lava delta, the water depth at the time of deposition could be inferred, constituting an excellent case‐study to gain insight on the still enigmatic processes of insular shelf deposition. Sedimentological, palaeontological, petrographic and palaeo‐water depth information allowed the reconstruction of the depositional environment of these sediments. The sequence typifies the characteristics of a tempestite (or successive tempestites) formed at ca 50 m depth, in a steep, energetic open insular shelf, and with evidence for massive sediment remobilization from the nearshore to the middle or outer shelf. The authors claim that cross‐shelf transport induced by storm events is the main process of sediment deposition acting on steep and narrow shelves subjected to high‐energetic environments, such as the insular shelves of open‐sea volcanic islands.
Neonatal stress augments the hypoxic chemoreflex of adult male rats by increasing AMPA receptor‐mediated modulation
Authors: Gulemetova Roumiana , Drolet Guy , Kinkead Richard 
Published: April 2013

New Findings
What is the central question of this study?Early life exposure to stress augments the hypoxic chemoreflex of adult male rats. This effect predisposes to respiratory instability during sleep. We used pharmacological and neuroanatomical approaches to determine whether a change in glutamatergic neurotransmission contributes to this abnormal respiratory phenotype.
What is the main finding and its importance?We initially showed that neonatal stress augments sensitivity to an AMPA/kainate receptor antagonist. Results from autoradiography experiments support this observation because they demonstrate that neonatal stress increases expression of AMPA receptors in key regions that regulate breathing. Region‐specific changes in brain‐derived neurotrophic factor expression may contribute to these changes in glutamatergic neurotransmission. These results bring new insight into the pathophysiology of sleep‐disordered breathing.
Neonatal stress disrupts the developmental trajectory of homeostatic systems. Adult (8‐ to 10‐week‐old) male rats exposed to maternal separation (a form of neonatal stress) display several traits reported in patients suffering from sleep‐disordered breathing, including an augmented hypoxic chemoreflex. To understand the mechanisms behind this effect, we tested the hypothesis that neonatal stress augments glutamatergic neurotransmission in three regions involved in respiratory regulation, namely the nucleus of the solitary tract, the paraventricular nucleus of the hypothalamus and the phrenic motor nucleus. Maternal separation was performed for 3 h day−1 from postnatal day 3 to 12. Control pups were undisturbed. Adult rats were instrumented for intracerebroventricular injection of the AMPA/kainate receptor antagonist CNQX (0–4.3 μm). Using plethysmography, ventilatory activity was measured at rest in awake animals during normoxia (fractional inspired O2= 0.21) and during acute hypoxia (fractional inspired O2= 0.12; 20 min). Following vehicle injection, the hypoxic ventilatory response of stressed rats was 35% greater than that of controls. Microinjection of CNQX attenuated the hypoxic ventilatory response, but the effect observed in stressed rats was greater than that in control animals. Autoradiography experiments showed that neonatal stress augments expression of AMPA receptors within the paraventricular nucleus of the hypothalamus and the phrenic motor nucleus. Quantification of brain‐derived neurotrophic factor showed that neonatal stress augments brain‐derived neurotrophic factor expression only within the paraventricular nucleus. We conclude that neonatal stress augments the hypoxic chemoreflex by increasing the efficacy of glutamatergic synaptic inputs projecting onto key respiratory structures, especially the paraventricular nucleus of the hypothalamus. These data provide new insight into the aetiology of sleep‐disordered breathing.
A novel approach to the Langendorff technique: preparation of isolated cardiomyocytes and myocardial samples from the same rat heart
Authors: MacDougall David A. , Calaghan Sarah 
Published: April 2013

New Findings
What is the central question of this study?The isolation of cardiomyocytes and the homogenization of myocardium are commonly performed on separate rodent hearts. We asked whether it might be viable to derive cells as well as whole muscle (homogenized or cryopreserved) from one organ.
What is the main finding and its importance?We provide examples of six diverse experiments that can be performed using cells and tissue samples generated by a modified Langendorff technique. The volume and power of resultant data are increased, and the method may be especially beneficial in models of cardiovascular disease.
Researchers in biomedical sciences must continually re‐evaluate their investment in experiments using laboratory animals. Our group is interested in various signalling pathways that underlie physiological and pathophysiological functioning of the mammalian heart. Two important resources for this type of work are isolated cardiomyocytes and homogenized or preserved sections of whole myocardium. In order to improve our experimental approach ethically, we devised an adaptation of the Langendorff whole‐heart retrograde perfusion technique that allows the isolation of adult rat ventricular cardiomyocytes and processing/storage of myocardium from the same heart. This could result in a 50% reduction in the number of animals required for certain experiments. We believe that a generalized adoption of this method would represent a meaningful reduction of animal use in our field of research and, furthermore, strengthen data sets by permitting correlation between myocyte function and various parameters of myocardial biochemistry/structure in individual hearts. This approach is of particular relevance for studies of cardiac pathology, given the cost and time involved in generating experimental disease models.
Physiological Changes in Rhizobia after Growth in Peat Extract May Be Related to Improved Desiccation Tolerance
Authors: Casteriano Andrea , Wilkes Meredith A. , Deaker Rosalind 
Published: April 2013

ABSTRACT

Improved survival of peat-cultured rhizobia compared to survival of liquid-cultured cells has been attributed to cellular adaptations during solid-state fermentation in moist peat. We have observed improved desiccation tolerance of
Rhizobium leguminosarum
bv. trifolii TA1 and
Bradyrhizobium japonicum
CB1809 after aerobic growth in water extracts of peat. Survival of TA1 grown in crude peat extract was 18-fold greater than that of cells grown in a defined liquid medium but was diminished when cells were grown in different-sized colloidal fractions of peat extract. Survival of CB1809 was generally better when grown in crude peat extract than in the control but was not statistically significant (
P
> 0.05) and was strongly dependent on peat extract concentration. Accumulation of intracellular trehalose by both TA1 and CB1809 was higher after growth in peat extract than in the defined medium control. Cells grown in water extracts of peat exhibit morphological changes similar to those observed after growth in moist peat. Electron microscopy revealed thickened plasma membranes, with an electron-dense material occupying the periplasmic space in both TA1 and CB1809. Growth in peat extract also resulted in changes to polypeptide expression in both strains, and peptide analysis by liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry indicated increased expression of stress response proteins. Our results suggest that increased capacity for desiccation tolerance in rhizobia is multifactorial, involving the accumulation of trehalose together with increased expression of proteins involved in protection of the cell envelope, repair of DNA damage, oxidative stress responses, and maintenance of stability and integrity of proteins.
Electrochemical Investigation of a Microbial Solar Cell Reveals a Nonphotosynthetic Biocathode Catalyst
Authors: Strycharz-Glaven Sarah M. , Glaven Richard H. , Wang Zheng , Zhou Jing , Vora Gary J. , Tender Leonard M. 
Published: April 2013

ABSTRACT

Microbial solar cells (MSCs) are microbial fuel cells (MFCs) that generate their own oxidant and/or fuel through photosynthetic reactions. Here, we present electrochemical analyses and biofilm 16S rRNA gene profiling of biocathodes of sediment/seawater-based MSCs inoculated from the biocathode of a previously described sediment/seawater-based MSC. Electrochemical analyses indicate that for these second-generation MSC biocathodes, catalytic activity diminishes over time if illumination is provided during growth, whereas it remains relatively stable if growth occurs in the dark. For both illuminated and dark MSC biocathodes, cyclic voltammetry reveals a catalytic-current–potential dependency consistent with heterogeneous electron transfer mediated by an insoluble microbial redox cofactor, which was conserved following enrichment of the dark MSC biocathode using a three-electrode configuration. 16S rRNA gene profiling showed
Gammaproteobacteria
, most closely related to
Marinobacter
spp., predominated in the enriched biocathode. The enriched biocathode biofilm is easily cultured on graphite cathodes, forms a multimicrobe-thick biofilm (up to 8.2 μm), and does not lose catalytic activity after exchanges of the reactor medium. Moreover, the consortium can be grown on cathodes with only inorganic carbon provided as the carbon source, which may be exploited for proposed bioelectrochemical systems for electrosynthesis of organic carbon from carbon dioxide. These results support a scheme where two distinct communities of organisms develop within MSC biocathodes: one that is photosynthetically active and one that catalyzes reduction of O
2
by the cathode, where the former partially inhibits the latter. The relationship between the two communities must be further explored to fully realize the potential for MSC applications.
Assessment of Virulence Factors Characteristic of Human Escherichia coli Pathotypes and Antimicrobial Resistance in O157:H7 and Non-O157:H7 Isolates from Livestock in Spain
Authors: Cabal A. , Gómez-Barrero S. , Porrero C. , Bárcena C. , López G. , Cantón R. , Gortázar C. , Domínguez L. , Álvarez J. 
Published: April 2013

ABSTRACT

The distribution of virulence factors (VFs) typical of diarrheagenic
Escherichia coli
and the antimicrobial resistance (AMR) profiles were assessed in 780 isolates from healthy pigs, broilers, and cattle from Spain. VF distribution was broader than expected, although at low prevalence for most genes, with AMR being linked mainly to host species.
Repression of Antibiotic Downregulator WblA by AdpA in Streptomyces coelicolor
Authors: Lee Han-Na , Kim Jin-Su , Kim Pil , Lee Heung-Shick , Kim Eung-Soo 
Published: April 2013

ABSTRACT

The upstream region of antibiotic downregulatory
wblA
in
Streptomyces coelicolor
was found to contain AdpA binding motifs. A key morphological regulator, AdpA was shown to specifically bind these motifs by electrophoretic mobility shift assay. An
adpA
disruption mutant exhibited increased
wblA
transcription, suggesting that AdpA negatively regulates
wblA
transcription in
S. coelicolor
.
Genetic Diversity of the Flagellin Genes of Clostridium botulinum Groups I and II
Authors: Woudstra Cedric , Lambert Dominic , Anniballi Fabrizio , De Medici Dario , Austin John , Fach Patrick 
Published: April 2013

ABSTRACT

Botulinum neurotoxins (BoNTs) are produced by phenotypically and genetically different
Clostridium
species, including
Clostridium botulinum
and some strains of
Clostridium baratii
(serotype F) and
Clostridium butyricum
(serotype E). BoNT-producing clostridia responsible for human botulism encompass strains of group I (secreting proteases, producing toxin serotype A, B, or F, and growing optimally at 37°C) and group II (nonproteolytic, producing toxin serotype E, B, or F, and growing optimally at 30°C). Here we report the development of real-time PCR assays for genotyping
C. botulinum
strains of groups I and II based on flaVR (variable region sequence of
flaA
) sequences and the
flaB
gene. Real-time PCR typing of regions flaVR1 to flaVR10 and
flaB
was optimized and validated with 62 historical and Canadian
C. botulinum
strains that had been previously typed. Analysis of 210 isolates of European origin allowed the identification of four new
C. botulinum
flaVR types (flaVR11 to flaVR14) and one new flaVR type specific to
C. butyricum
type E (flaVR15). The genetic diversity of the flaVR among
C. botulinum
strains investigated in the present study reveals the clustering of flaVR types into 5 major subgroups. Subgroups 1, 3, and 4 contain proteolytic
Clostridium botulinum
, subgroup 2 is made up of nonproteolytic
C. botulinum
only, and subgroup 5 is specific to
C. butyricum
type E. The genetic variability of the flagellin genes carried by
C. botulinum
and the possible association of flaVR types with certain geographical areas make gene profiling of flaVR and
flaB
promising in molecular surveillance and epidemiology of
C. botulinum
.
A Double Staining Method Using SYTOX Green and Calcofluor White for Studying Fungal Parasites of Phytoplankton
Authors: Gerphagnon Mélanie , Latour Delphine , Colombet Jonathan , Sime-Ngando Télesphore 
Published: April 2013

ABSTRACT

We propose a double staining method based on the combination of two fluorochromes, calcofluor white (CFW; specific chitinous fluorochrome) and SYTOX green (nucleic acid stain), coupled to epifluorescence microscopy for counting, identifying, and investigating the fecundity of parasitic fungi of phytoplankton and the putative relationships established between hosts and their chytrid parasites. The method was applied to freshwater samples collected over two successive years during the terminal period of autumnal cyanobacterial blooms in a eutrophic lake. The study focused on the uncultured host-parasite couple
Anabaena macrospora
(cyanobacterium) and
Rhizosiphon akinetum
(Chytridiomycota). Our results showed that up to 36.6% of cyanobacterial akinetes could be parasitized by fungi. Simultaneously, we directly investigated the zoosporic content inside the sporangia and found that both the host size and intensity of infection conditioned the final size and hence fecundity of the chytrids. We found that relationships linking host size, final parasite size, and chytrid fecundity were conserved from year to year and seemed to be host-chytrid couple specific. We concluded that our double staining method was a valid procedure for improving our knowledge of uncultured freshwater phytoplankton-chytrid couples and so of the quantitative ecology of chytrids in freshwater ecosystems.
Site-Directed Mutations in the Lanthipeptide Mutacin 1140
Authors: Chen Shaorong , Wilson-Stanford Shawanda , Cromwell William , Hillman Jeffrey D. , Guerrero Adam , Allen Charlotte A. , Sorg Joseph A. , Smith Leif 
Published: April 2013

ABSTRACT

The oral bacterium
Streptococcus mutans
, strain JH1140, produces the antibiotic mutacin 1140. Mutacin 1140 belongs to a group of antibiotics called lanthipeptides. More specifically, mutacin 1140 is related to the epidermin type A(I) lanthipeptides. Mutagenesis experiments of this group of lanthipeptides have been primarily restricted to the posttranslationally modified
meso
-lanthionine and 3-methyllanthionine residues. Site-directed mutagenesis of the core peptide of mutacin 1140 was performed using the suicide vector pVA891. Substitutions of the N-terminal residue, the charged residue in the hinge region, and residues in ring A and intertwined rings C and D were investigated. A truncation and insertion of residues in ring A and intertwined rings C and D were also performed to determine whether or not they would alter the antimicrobial activity of the producing strain. Bioassays revealed that five of 14 mutants studied had improved antimicrobial activity against the indicator strain
Micrococcus luteus
ATCC 10240. MICs against
Streptococcus mutans
UA159,
Streptococcus pneumoniae
ATCC 27336,
Staphylococcus aureus
ATCC 25923,
Clostridium difficile
UK1, and
Micrococcus luteus
ATCC 10240 were determined for three mutacin 1140 variants that had the most significant increases in bioactivity in the
M. luteus
bioassay. This mutagenesis study of the epidermin group of lanthipeptides shows that antimicrobial activity can be significantly improved.
Dechlorination of Chloral Hydrate Is Influenced by the Biofilm Adhesin Protein LapA in Pseudomonas putida LF54
Authors: Zhang Wanjun , Huhe  , Pan Yuanbai , Toyofuku Masanori , Nomura Nobuhiko , Nakajima Toshiaki , Uchiyama Hiroo 
Published: April 2013

ABSTRACT

LapA is the largest surface adhesion protein of
Pseudomonas putida
that initiates biofilm formation. Here, by using transposon insertion mutagenesis and a conditional
lapA
mutant, we demonstrate for the first time that LapA influences chloral hydrate (CH) dechlorination in
P. putida
LF54.