bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
The Rebirth of Flemish Nationalism: Assessing the Impact of N‐VA Chairman Bart De Wever's Charisma
Authors: Rochtus Dirk 
Published: October 2012

AbstractFlemish nationalism is back on the scene. The Nieuw‐Vlaamse Alliantie (N‐VA), the political voice of democratic Flemish nationalism, emerged as the big winner of Belgium's 7 June 2009 regional elections. To a significant extent, the N‐VA owes its success to the charismatic leadership of its chairman, Bart De Wever. This article investigates the nature of De Wever's charismatic authority, as well as its tenability. As the N‐VA becomes a more prominent participant in the Flemish government, will the effect of De Wever's charisma wane? If the success of the N‐VA is not structural but tied to the charisma of its chairman, will the party lose its prominence if De Wever fades?
Oral Histories in Meteoritics and Planetary Science – XX: Dale Cruikshank
Authors: SEARS Derek W. G. 
Published: October 2012

Abstract– In this interview, Dale Cruikshank (Fig. 1) explains how as an undergraduate at Iowa State University he was a summer student at Yerkes Observatory where he assisted Gerard Kuiper in work on his Photographic Lunar Atlas. Upon completing his degree, Dale went to graduate school at the University of Arizona with Kuiper where he worked on the IR spectroscopy of the lunar surface. After an eventful 1968 trip to Moscow via Prague, during which the Soviets invaded Czechoslovakia, Dale assumed a postdoc position with Vasili Moroz at the Sternberg Astronomical Institute and more observational IR astronomy. Upon returning to the United States and after a year at Arizona, Dale assumed a position at the University of Hawai’i that he held for 17 years. During this period Dale worked with others on thermal infrared determinations of the albedos of small bodies beyond the asteroid Main Belt, leading to the recognition that low‐albedo material is prevalent in the outer solar system that made the first report of complex organic solids on a planetary body (Saturn’s satellite Iapetus). After moving to Ames Research Center, where he works currently, he continued this work and became involved in many outer solar system missions. Dale has served the community through his involvement in developing national policies for science‐driven planetary exploration, being chair of the DPS 1990–1991 and secretary/treasurer for 1982–1985. He served as president of Commission 16 (Physics of Planets) of the IAU (2001–2003). He received the Kuiper prize in 2006. Dale P. Cruikshank.image
Renal Denervation in a Hypertensive Patient With End‐Stage Renal Disease and Small Arteries: A Direction for Future Research
Authors: Ott Christian , Schmid Axel , Ditting Tilmann , Sobotka Paul A. , Veelken Roland , Uder Michael , Schmieder Roland E. 
Published: October 2012

J Clin Hypertens (Greenwich). 2012;14:799–801. ©2012 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.Sympathetic overactivity plays a crucial pathogenetic role in the maintenance and aggravation of arterial hypertension in patients with end‐stage renal disease (ESRD). Renal denervation has been shown to be effective and safe in reducing blood pressure (BP) in patients with treatment‐resistant hypertension; however, there are only case reports in hypertensive patients with ESRD and data are lacking about possibility of renal denervation in small renal arteries. A woman with uncontrolled treatment‐resistant hypertension on chronic hemodialysis underwent bilateral native kidney, catheter‐based renal denervation. Both native renal arteries were <4 mm. After 6 months without any change of antihypertensive medication or hemodialysis parameters, the authors observed a remarkable BP reduction of 38/30 mm Hg (from baseline 172/100 mm Hg to 134/70 mm Hg) as evaluated by 24‐hour ambulatory BP monitoring. The authors report that renal denervation seems to be effective in controlling hypertension in patients with ESRD, even in cases of small renal arteries.
Indirect Estimation of Semiparametric Binary Choice Models*
Authors: Westerlund Joakim , Hjertstrand Per 
Published: October 2012

AbstractOne of the most cited studies within the field of binary choice models is that of Klein and Spady (1993), in which the authors propose a semiparametric estimator for use when the distribution of the error term is unknown. However, although theoretically appealing, the estimator has been found to be difficult to implement, and therefore not very attractive from an applied point of view. The current study offers an indirect inference‐based solution to this problem. The new estimator is not only simple with good small‐sample properties, but also consistent and asymptotically normal.
Identification of unique sensitizing targets for anti‐inflammatory CDDO‐Me in metastatic melanoma by a large‐scale synthetic lethal RNAi screening
Authors: Qin Yong , Deng Wuguo , Ekmekcioglu Suhendan , Grimm Elizabeth A. 
Published: October 2012

SummaryCDDO‐Me has been shown to exert potent anti‐inflammatory activity for chronic kidney disease and antitumor activity for several tumors, including melanoma, in early clinical trials. To improve CDDO‐Me response in melanoma, we utilized a large‐scale synthetic lethal RNAi screen targeting 6000 human druggable genes to identify targets that would sensitize melanoma cells to CDDO‐Me. Based on screening results, five unique genes (GNPAT, SUMO1, SPINT2, FLI1, and SSX1) significantly potentiated the growth inhibitory effects of CDDO‐Me and induced apoptosis in A375, a BRAF mutated melanoma line (P < 0.001). These five genes were then individually validated as targets to potentiate CDDO‐Me activity, and related downstream signaling pathways of these genes were analyzed. In addition, the levels of phosphorylated Erk1/2, Akt, GSK‐2, and PRAS40 were dramatically decreased by downregulating each of these five genes separately, suggesting a set of common mediators. Our findings indicate that GNPAT, SUMO1, SPINT2, FLI1, and SSX1 play critical roles in synergy with inflammation pathways in modulating melanoma cell survival and could serve as sensitizing targets to enhance CDDO‐Me efficacy in melanoma growth control.
Grb14 mRNA Levels During Follicular Deviation in Cattle are Higher in Granulosa Cells of Subordinate Compared to Dominant Follicles
Authors: Bohrer RC , Rosa PRA , Ferreira R , Bordignon V , Oliveira JFC , Gonçalves PBD 
Published: October 2012

ContentsThe growth factor receptor‐bound protein 14 (Grb14) is a cellular adapter protein belonging to the Grb7 family of proteins. Studies with human and rodent cells have demonstrated that Grb14 acts as a negative regulator of tyrosine kinase receptor signalling through the MAPK and PI3K pathways. In cattle, tyrosine kinase receptors are activated during follicular development but the role of Grb14 in this process has not yet been investigated. Therefore, the aim of the present study was to characterize Grb14 mRNA expression in ovarian somatic cells during follicular growth and deviation in cattle. We found Grb14 mRNA expressed in both granulosa and theca cells derived from follicles at different stages of development (3–5 , 6–8, >8 mm in diameter). The abundance of mRNA for Grb14 was higher in granulosa cells of subordinate compared with those from dominant follicles at days 3 and 4 of the follicular wave (p < 0.05). Further, there was a negative correlation between the abundance of mRNA for Grb14 and P450Arom in granulosa cells (R2 = 0.367; p < 0.05) and between the abundance of mRNA for Grb14 in granulosa cells and concentration of oestradiol in follicular fluid (R2 = 0.545; p < 0.05). In theca cells, the expression of Grb14 mRNA did not differ between dominant and subordinate follicles (p > 0.05). These findings suggest that Grb14 may play a regulatory role in granulosa cells during follicular deviation in cattle.
The Synergy of ‐260T T CD14 and ‐308GG TNF‐α Genotypes in Survival of Critically Ill Patients
Authors: Fallavena P. R. V. , de Jesus Borges T. , Paskulin D. D. , Thurow H. S. , de Oliveira Paludo F. J. , dos Santos Froes C. , Graebin P. , Dias F. S. , de Toledo Nóbrega O. , Alho C. S. 
Published: October 2012

AbstractLiterature suggests that the analysis of several polymorphic genetic markers is more informative than the analysis of a single polymorphism. In this study, we tested whether the shared inheritance of TLR2 and TLR4 and TNF‐α allelic variants may act in synergy with ‐260C>T CD14 SNP on the outcome from critical conditions. We monitored 524 critically ill patients from South Brazilian, daily from the ICU admission to their discharge from hospital, or death. Our results revealed that TLR2, TLR4 or TNF‐α SNPs alone did not show a significant role in the outcome from critical illness. However, when we performed a combined analysis with the CD14 inheritance, we detected a significant higher survivor rate in ‐260TT CD14/‐308GG TNF‐α individuals (P = 0.037). In the adjusted analysis including the main clinical predictors to mortality, we observed that ‐260TT/‐308GG double‐genotype was a significant protective factor towards survival (P = 0.046). An increased probability for survival of ‐260TT/‐308GG was also observed by ‘pathway genetic load’ analysis (unweighted: P = 0.041; weighted: P = 0.036). When we applied a hazard function analysis with the ‐260TT/‐308GG variable as a discriminating factor, ‐260TT/‐308GG patients group had, in fact, a higher survivor rate (P = 0.024). Connected to the beneficial effect of ‐260TT CD14, the ‐308GG TNF‐α genotype was protective against the reported over expression of TNF‐α caused by ‐308A rare allele. Results support the hypothesis that the interaction between ‐260C>T CD14 and ‐308G>A TNF‐α functional SNPs may be synergistically influencing the outcome of critically ill patients.
Alacrity of Cells Engaged in the Immune Response
Authors: Lefkovits I. 
Published: October 2012

AbstractA hypothesis is postulated and experimental findings are given that a special kind of cell heterogeneity exists that renders cells differentially sensitive to the epitopal stimulus with the consequence that only a portion of ligand‐specific cells engages in the response. The differential sensitivity is based on epigenetically driven cell‐to‐cell variations in the expressed gene products, such that every cell becomes unique in its molecular profile, and will preserve its individuality in ‘sensing’ the boundary conditions of the response milieu. The readiness of cells to engage in the response will be termed alacrity. High‐alacrity cells are ready to respond under given conditions because their molecular expression pattern – both in qualitative and in quantitative terms – matches the response milieu. This heterogeneity has little to do with the BCR and TCR specificity, that is, not all antigen‐specific cells respond to a stimulus, and cells failing to respond do so because their overall molecular pattern is inadequate to the conditions of the response milieu. The corollary to this proposition is that whatever physiological conditions prevail, some ligand‐specific cells will likely be ready to engage in the response, because their uniqueness makes them differentially reactive to external signals. Although the pool of cells available for any response is restricted under any given boundary condition, some idle cells are saved to be ‘in reserve’. Experiments are described that are compatible with this proposition, and approaches are suggested to elucidate the mechanism of developing and maintaining alacrity. This paper is a contribution to the Centennial conference in honour of Niels Kaj Jerne, held in Lisbon November 2011.
Clinical and Molecular Characterization of Thai Patients with Wiskott–Aldrich Syndrome
Authors: Amarinthnukrowh P. , Ittiporn S. , Tongkobpetch S. , Chatchatee P. , Sosothikul D. , Shotelersuk V. , Suphapeetiporn K. 
Published: October 2012

AbstractWiskott–Aldrich syndrome (WAS) is an X‐linked recessive primary immunodeficiency disorder caused by mutations in the gene encoding the WAS protein (WASP). Classic WAS is characterized by thrombocytopenia with small‐sized platelets, recurrent infections, eczema and increased susceptibility to autoimmune diseases and haematologic malignancies. Here, we reported on seven unrelated Thai individuals with classic WAS. In addition to clinical and immunologic characterization, mutation analysis by PCR‐sequencing the entire coding region of WASP was performed. Recurrent and novel mutations were successfully identified. A nonsense mutation, the c.55C>T (p.Q19X), has not been previously described, expanding the mutational spectrum of WASP. The patient with this newly described mutation developed cow's milk allergy manifesting as angioedema and urticaria and had cytomegalovirus infection that was successfully treated with long‐term ganciclovir. This study reported long‐term follow‐up of seven patients with molecular confirmation of WAS and infrequent features in the patient with classic WAS carrying the novel nonsense mutation.
The HLA‐B gene and Hashimoto disease in Han Chinese children: a case‐control and family‐based study
Authors: Huang C.‐Y. , Chang T.‐Y. , Chu C.‐C. , Lo F.‐S. , Ting W.‐H. , Lin C.‐H. , Wu Y.‐L. , Chu S.‐Y. , Chang S.‐C. , Chen W.‐F. , Lin C.‐L. , Lin W.‐S. , Lee Y.‐J. 
Published: October 2012

AbstractHashimoto disease (HD) is an autoimmune thyroid disease resulting from complex interactions between genetic and environmental factors. The human leukocyte antigen (HLA) gene has been established to be involved in the susceptibility to HD. We aim to investigate the associations between HLA‐B alleles and Han Chinese children with HD by both case‐control and family‐based studies. A total of 108 unrelated children with HD, 380 unrelated healthy controls, 58 trios of affected patients and their parents, and 75 trios of unaffected siblings and their parents were recruited. HLA‐B genotyping was performed by polymerase chain reaction and detected with a sequence‐specific oligonucleotide probes system. We found that B*46:01 allele (OR = 2.31, 95% CI 1.60–3.34, Pc = 9.99 × 10−5) and carrier (OR = 3.28, 95% CI 2.10–5.11, Pc = 1.35 × 10−6) were associated with HD risk. Transmission/disequilibrium test further confirmed an overtransmission of the B*46:01 (OR 2.55, 95% CI 1.36–6.10, P = 6.5 × 10−3). The findings were similar in females when stratified by gender. In conclusion, our results clearly identify that HLA‐B*46:01 confers susceptibility to HD in Han Chinese children. Further studies with larger children cohort are required to confirm the role of B*46:01 in the development of HD.
Tracheal occlusion conditioning causes stress, anxiety and neural state changes in conscious rats
Authors: Pate K. M. , Davenport P. W. 
Published: October 2012

New Findings
What is the central question of this study?Airway obstructions appear to evoke stress and to cause compensatory behaviours; individuals with respiratory obstructive diseases experience affective disorders. Respiratory patterns can be conditioned, but it is unknown whether healthy animals develop stress or anxiety following respiratory occlusion conditioning and whether persistent neural changes are involved in that development.
What is the main finding and its importance?Respiratory occlusion conditioning caused both stress and anxiety in healthy rats, which were accompanied by increased basal neural activity in important respiratory, stress and discriminative and affective sensory processing centres. Affective disorders may follow the development of a respiratory obstructive disease through the modulation of basal activity in specific neural regions.
Evidence from human and animal studies indicates that mechanical loads to breathing are stressful stimuli and evoke compensatory behaviours. Conditioning of stressful stimuli is known to cause changes in basal stress levels and behaviour. Individuals with respiratory obstructive diseases repeatedly experience bouts of airway obstruction, which may act as a form of conditioning, and often have affective disorders, such as anxiety and depression. It is unknown whether the development of affective disorders in these individuals results from the unexpected recurring respiratory perturbations. To investigate this possibility, we developed a model to elicit tracheal occlusion (TO) in conscious rats and exposed them to 10 days of TO conditioning. We hypothesized that healthy, conscious animals exposed to TO conditioning would develop stress and anxiety and would have modulated neural activity in respiratory, stress, discriminative and affective neural regions. Following TO conditioning, rats had increased basal corticosterone levels, greater adrenal weights and elevated anxiety levels compared with animals not receiving TO. Significant increases in cytochrome oxidase staining were found in brainstem respiratory nuclei, periaqueductal grey, dorsal raphe, thalamus and insular cortex. These results suggest that healthy animals develop stress and anxiety responses to respiratory load conditioning via inescapable tracheal occlusions, which may be mediated through state changes in specific brain nuclei.
On The Nonlinear Dynamics of Two Types of Backup Bearings — Theoretical and Experimental Aspects
Authors: Lahriri Said , Santos Ilmar F. , Weber Hans I. , Hartmann Henning 
Published: October 2012

AbstractThe possible contact between rotor and stator can for some cases be considered a serious malfunction that may lead to catastrophic failure. Rotor rub is considered a secondary phenomenon caused by a primary source that leads to a disruption of the normal operational condition. It arises from sudden mass unbalance, instabilities generated by aerodynamic and hydrodynamic forces in seals and bearings among others. The contact event gives rise to normal and friction forces exerted on the rotor at impact events. The friction force plays a significant role by transferring some rotational energy of the rotor to lateral motion, impacting the stator. This event results in persistent coupled lateral vibration of the rotor and stator. This paper proposes a new unconventional backup bearing design in order to reduce the rub related severity in friction. The idea is to utilize pin connections that center the rotor during impacts. In this way, the rotor is forced to the center and the lateral motion is mitigated. The four pins are passively adjustable, which allows the clearance to be customized. A mathematical model has been developed to capture phenomena arising from impact for the conventional backup bearing (annular guide) and for the new disk-pin backup bearing. For the conventional annular guide setup, it is reasonable to superpose an impact condition to the rub, where the rotor spin energy can be fully transformed into rotor lateral movements. Using a nonideal drive, i.e., an electric motor without any kind of velocity feedback control, it is even possible to almost stop the rotor spin under rubbing conditions. All the rotational energy will be transformed in a kind of “self-excited” rotor lateral vibration with repeated impacts against the housing. The vibration of the housing is coupled through the interaction force. The experimental and numerical analysis shows that for the conventional annular guide setup, the rotational energy is fully transformed into lateral motion and the rotor spin is stopped. However, by employing the new disk-pin design the analysis shows that the rotor at impact is forced to the center of the backup bearing and the lateral motion is mitigated. As a result of this, the rotor spin is kept constant.
Expression of Shewanella oneidensis MR-1 [FeFe]-Hydrogenase Genes in Anabaena sp. Strain PCC 7120
Authors: Gärtner Katrin , Lechno-Yossef Sigal , Cornish Adam J. , Wolk C. Peter , Hegg Eric L. 
Published: October 2012

ABSTRACT

H
2
generated from renewable resources holds promise as an environmentally innocuous fuel that releases only energy and water when consumed. In biotechnology, photoautotrophic oxygenic diazotrophs could produce H
2
from water and sunlight using the cells' endogenous nitrogenases. However, nitrogenases have low turnover numbers and require large amounts of ATP. [FeFe]-hydrogenases found in other organisms can have 1,000-fold higher turnover numbers and no specific requirement for ATP but are very O
2
sensitive. Certain filamentous cyanobacteria protect nitrogenase from O
2
by sequestering the enzyme within internally micro-oxic, differentiated cells called heterocysts. We heterologously expressed the [FeFe]-hydrogenase operon from
Shewanella oneidensis
MR-1 in
Anabaena
sp. strain PCC 7120 using the heterocyst-specific promoter P

hetN

. Active [FeFe]-hydrogenase was detected in and could be purified from aerobically grown
Anabaena
sp. strain PCC 7120, but only when the organism was grown under nitrate-depleted conditions that elicited heterocyst formation. These results suggest that the heterocysts protected the [FeFe]-hydrogenase against inactivation by O
2
.
Response of the Soil Microbial Community to Changes in Precipitation in a Semiarid Ecosystem
Authors: Cregger Melissa A. , Schadt Christopher W. , McDowell Nate G. , Pockman William T. , Classen Aimée T. 
Published: October 2012

ABSTRACT

Microbial communities regulate many belowground carbon cycling processes; thus, the impact of climate change on the structure and function of soil microbial communities could, in turn, impact the release or storage of carbon in soils. Here we used a large-scale precipitation manipulation (+18%, −50%, or ambient) in a piñon-juniper woodland (
Pinus edulis-Juniperus monosperma
) to investigate how changes in precipitation amounts altered soil microbial communities as well as what role seasonal variation in rainfall and plant composition played in the microbial community response. Seasonal variability in precipitation had a larger role in determining the composition of soil microbial communities in 2008 than the direct effect of the experimental precipitation treatments. Bacterial and fungal communities in the dry, relatively moisture-limited premonsoon season were compositionally distinct from communities in the monsoon season, when soil moisture levels and periodicity varied more widely across treatments. Fungal abundance in the drought plots during the dry premonsoon season was particularly low and was 4.7 times greater upon soil wet-up in the monsoon season, suggesting that soil fungi were water limited in the driest plots, which may result in a decrease in fungal degradation of carbon substrates. Additionally, we found that both bacterial and fungal communities beneath piñon pine and juniper were distinct, suggesting that microbial functions beneath these trees are different. We conclude that predicting the response of microbial communities to climate change is highly dependent on seasonal dynamics, background climatic variability, and the composition of the associated aboveground community.