bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
MicroRNA-155 Deficiency Results in Decreased Macrophage Inflammation and Attenuated Atherogenesis in Apolipoprotein E–Deficient Mice
Authors: Du Fen , Yu Fang , Wang Yuzhen , Hui Yvonne , Carnevale Kevin , Fu Mingui , Lu Hong , Fan Daping 
Published: February 2014

Objective—
microRNA-155 (miR155) plays a critical role in immunity and macrophage inflammation. We aim to investigate the role of miR155 in atherogenesis.

Approach and Results—

Quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction showed that miR155 was expressed in mouse and human atherosclerotic lesions. miR155 expression in macrophages was correlated positively with proinflammatory cytokine expression. Lentivirus-mediated overexpression of miR155 in macrophages enhanced their inflammatory response to lipopolysaccharide through targeting suppressor of cytokine signaling-1 and impaired cholesterol efflux from acetylated low-density lipoprotein–loaded macrophages, whereas deficiency of miR155 blunted macrophage inflammatory responses and enhanced cholesterol efflux possibly via enhancing lipid loading–induced macrophage autophagy. We next examined the atherogenesis in apolipoprotein E–deficient (apoE
−/−
) and miR155
−/−
/apoE
−/−
(double knockout) mice fed a Western diet. Compared with apoE
−/−
mice, the double knockout mice developed less atherosclerosis lesion in aortic root, with reduced neutral lipid content and macrophages. Flow cytometric analysis showed that there were increased number of regulatory T cells and reduced numbers of Th17 cells and CD11b+/Ly6C
high
cells in the spleen of double knockout mice. Peritoneal macrophages from the double knockout mice had significantly reduced proinflammatory cytokine expression and secretion both in the absence and presence of lipopolysaccharide stimulation. To determine whether miR155 in leukocytes contributes to atherosclerosis, we performed a bone marrow transplantation study. Deficiency of miR155 in bone marrow–derived cells suppressed atherogenesis in apoE
−/−
mice, demonstrating that hematopoietic cell–derived miR155 plays a critical role.

Conclusions—

miR155 deficiency attenuates atherogenesis in apoE
−/−
mice by reducing inflammatory responses of macrophages, enhancing macrophage cholesterol efflux and resulting in an antiatherogenic leukocyte profile. Targeting miR155 may be a promising strategy to halt atherogenesis.
Chronic Dipeptidyl Peptidase-4 Inhibition With Sitagliptin Is Associated With Sustained Protection Against Ischemic Left Ventricular Dysfunction in a Pilot Study of Patients With Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus and Coronary Artery Disease
Authors: McCormick Liam M. , Kydd Anna C. , Read Philip A. , Ring Liam S. , Bond Simon J. , Hoole Stephen P. , Dutka David P. 
Published: February 2014

Background—
The incretin hormone, glucagon-like peptide-1, promotes myocardial glucose uptake and may improve myocardial tolerance to ischemia. Endogenous glucagon-like peptide-1 (7–36) is augmented by pharmacological inhibition of dipeptidyl peptidase-4. We investigated whether chronic dipeptidyl peptidase-4 inhibition by sitagliptin protected against ischemic left ventricular dysfunction during dobutamine stress in patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus and coronary artery disease.

Methods and Results—

A total of 19 patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus underwent dobutamine stress echocardiography with tissue Doppler imaging on 2 separate occasions: the first (control) while receiving oral hypoglycemic agents, and the second after the addition of sitagliptin (100 mg once daily) for ≈4 weeks. Sitagliptin increased plasma glucagon-like peptide-1 (7–36) levels and, at peak stress, enhanced both global (ejection fraction, 70.5±7.0 versus 65.7±8.0%;
P
<0.0001; mitral annular systolic velocity, 11.7±2.6 versus 10.9±2.3 cm/s;
P
=0.01) and regional left ventricular function, assessed by peak systolic velocity and strain rate in 12 paired, nonapical segments. This was predominantly because of a cardioprotective effect on ischemic segments (strain rate in ischemic segments, −2.27±0.65 versus −1.98±0.58 s
−1
;
P
=0.001), whereas no effect was seen in nonischemic segments (−2.19±0.48 versus −2.18±0.54 s
−1
;
P
=0.87). At 30 minutes recovery, dipeptidyl peptidase-4 inhibition mitigated the postischemic stunning seen in the control scan.

Conclusions—
The addition of dipeptidyl peptidase-4 inhibitor therapy with sitagliptin to the treatment regime of patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus and coronary artery disease is associated with a sustained improvement in myocardial performance during dobutamine stress and a reduction in postischemic stunning.

Clinical Trial Registration—

URL:
http://www.isrctn.org
. Unique identifier ISRCTN61646154.
Decision Making in Asymptomatic Aortic Regurgitation in the Era of Guidelines
Authors: Kusunose Kenya , Agarwal Shikhar , Marwick Thomas H. , Griffin Brian P. , Popović Zoran B. 
Published: February 2014

Background—
The decision-making role of exercise echocardiography in the surgical timing for aortic regurgitation remains a matter of debate because of limited data on its link with outcome. The aim of this study was to assess the role of echocardiographic measurements at rest and during exercise as predictors of valve surgery in asymptomatic aortic regurgitation.

Methods and Results—

Comprehensive resting and exercise echocardiography was performed in 159 consecutive patients (50±15 years; 80% male) with isolated moderately severe to severe aortic regurgitation and preserved left ventricular (LV) function (LV ejection fraction >50%, LV end-diastolic dimension ≤70 mm, LV end-systolic dimension ≤50 mm or ≤25 mm/m
2
) in whom initial management was expectant. Echocardiographic measurements were performed at rest and during exercise. LV and right ventricular (RV) longitudinal strain was analyzed at rest using velocity vector imaging. Valve surgery was performed in 50 patients (31%) during 30±21 months. After adjustment for age and sex in a multivariable Cox proportional-hazards model, exercise tricuspid annular plane systolic excursion (TAPSE; hazards ratio [HR], 0.48;
P
=0.001) was associated with valve surgery-free, independent of resting LV strain (HR, 1.63;
P
=0.005), exercise LV end-diastolic volume (HR, 1.38;
P
=0.048), and resting RV strain (HR, 1.69;
P
=0.002). In sequential Cox models, a model based on clinical data (χ
2
, 20.4) was improved by resting LV strain (χ
2
, 30.1;
P
=0.001), resting RV strain (χ
2
, 49.7;
P
<0.001), and further increased by exercise TAPSE (χ
2
, 64.4;
P
<0.001).

Conclusions—
In asymptomatic aortic regurgitation, resting LV strain, resting RV strain, and exercise TAPSE were independently associated with the need for earlier aortic surgery.
Der ‚dekadente‘ Feldherr
Authors: Sannicandro Lisa 
Published: February 2014

Abstract
The portrayal of Caesar’s dalliance with Cleopatra in Lucan’s Bellum civile (book 10) exploits the motif of the general who, seduced by a foreign woman, forgets his responsabilities to his country. This motif occurs from Homer through the Greek and Latin epic tradition to Latin historiography and Greek biography. The lexicon for the concept of forgetting is a recurring Leitmotiv.1
Dialectic and Who We Are in the Alcibiades
Authors: Joosse Albert 
Published: February 2014

Abstract
In the Platonic Alcibiades, Socrates raises two central philosophical questions: Who are we? and: How ought we to take care of ourselves? He answers these questions, I argue, in his famous comparison between eyes and souls. Both answers hinge upon dialectic: self-care functions through dialectic because we are communicating beings. I adduce arguments for this from the set-up and language of the comparison passage. Another important indication is that Socrates expressly refers back to an earlier, aborted attempt to describe who we are in terms of using discourse. Rather than recommending to Alcibiades a life of contemplation apart from interpersonal exchange, Socrates presents such exchange as central to our self-improvement and identity.
Charles Dickens and the Victorian “Mormon Moment”
Authors: Dransfield Scott 
Published: February 2014

Abstract
The growth of Mormonism in England in the middle of the nineteenth century presented a number of challenges relating to the cultural status of the new religion and its followers. Charles Dickens’s “uncommercial traveller” sketch describing a group of 800 Mormon converts preparing to emigrate to the United States, “Bound for the Great Salt Lake,” represents the challenge effectively. While Mormons were quickly identified by their heresies and by those qualities that characterized cultural and religious otherness, they were also observed to possess traits of Englishness, reflecting the image of a healthy working class. This article considers the tensions among these contradictory qualities and traces them to a middle-class “secular gospel” that Dickens articulates in his novels. Dickens utilizes this “gospel”—an ethic that valorizes work and domestic order as bearing religious significance—to perceive the followers of the new religion.
Introduction: Rethinking Asian Media and Film
Authors: Hobart Mark 
Published: February 2014

AbstractThis Introduction pulls together the main themes of the papers in this special issue, which covers major regions in Asia from Japan, Korea and China to Indonesia, India and Iran. The papers are all critical of the implications of imposing Eurocentric and metropolitan frameworks on the diverse assemblages of practices of producing, distributing and engaging with Asian media and film. Bringing a wide range of disciplinary backgrounds to bear, the contributors question existing approaches and concepts, reconsider what should count as objects of study and propose new theoretical approaches appropriate to the study of such large and rapidly changing industries. What emerges, however, is the extent to which issues of knowledge and power permeate not just the debates, but also the critiques. Drawing upon the papers, the Introduction concludes by suggesting the possibilities of a more rigorous and sustained analysis in terms of practice.
Transnational Culture in East Asia and the Logic of Assemblage
Authors: Berry Chris 
Published: February 2014

AbstractThis essay examines the growth of transnational culture in East Asia, drawing heavily on the example of Chinese cinema. It notes the growth of a variety of transborder-based Chinese cinema cultures, ranging from blockbuster productions to independent documentary culture, and argues that similar phenomena can be found in other parts of East Asia and with other arts and media. Until now, the tendency has been to tag such phenomena as “transnational” without further elaboration. This essay argues that the time has come for a more rigorous interrogation of the transnational. It argues that the transnational order should be distinguished from both the earlier international order of nation-states and from the ideology of globalisation. Further, it argues that the cultural formations that grow under the logic of transnational and flexible production operate not as part of a stable national system but according to the contingent and fluid logic of assemblage.
Locating Advantages
Authors: Pan Yihong 
Published: February 2014

Among all the states that emerged during the Period of Division in China, the Särbi (Ch. Xianbei) Tuyuhun kingdom was the longest lasting. Why was it able to keep its ethnic and political identity for so long? Tuyuhun’s geographical location and ecological conditions in the northeast section of the Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau benefited the state in several ways. They enabled the development of a multi-ethnic power with a self-sufficient mixed economy. Its distance from major powers in North and South China and on the Mongolian steppe protected Tuyuhun from annexation and offered it space to develop. Tuyuhun’s control over the so-called Qinghai road, a branch of the Silk Road south of the Hexi corridor, raised its status as a crucial intermediary for trade and regional diplomacy during the Period of Division. Tuyuhun was able to rise and flourish when North China was weak but lost its locational advantage when caught between the unified and expansive Tang and Tibetan empires; its land was subsequently incorporated into the Tibetan empire. Understanding Tuyuhun history illuminates important interactions between nomadic and agrarian societies in the history of Inner Asia and East Asia. D’entre tous les États qui ont émergé pendant la période de division en Chine, le plus durable a été le royaume Särbi (ch. Xianbei) de Tuyuhun. Comment a-t-il réussi à préserver son identité ethnique et politique aussi longtemps? Sa situation géographique et l’écologie de la partie nord-est du plateau tibétain qu’il occupait y ont contribué de plusieurs façons. Elles ont favorisé le développement d’un système de pouvoir pluriethnique appuyé sur une économie mixte autosuffisante. La distance séparant le royaume Tuyuhun des puissances qui dominaient la Chine du Nord et du Sud et la steppe mongole le protégeait des tentatives d’annexation et lui laissait un espace de développement. En contrôlant la “route du Qinghai” — une branche de la Route de la Soie au sud du corridor du Hexi —, L’État Tuyuhun a acquis le statut d’intermédiaire indispensable en matière de commerce et de diplomatie régionale pendant la période de division. Mais s’il avait pu prospérer grâce à la faiblesse de la Chine du Nord, il a perdu son avantage géographique lorsqu’il s’est trouvé pris entre deux empires unifiés et en pleine expansion, les Tang et le Tibet, ce dernier ayant fini par incorporer son territoire. La compréhension de l’histoire des Tuyuhun met en évidence d’importantes interactions entre les sociétés nomades et agrariennes au cours de l’histoire de l’Asie centrale et orientale.
My Servant Nebuchadnezzar
Authors: Smelik Klaas A. D. 
Published: February 2014

Abstract
In the book of Jeremiah, the title עבדי (“my servant”) is conferred on the Babylonian king Nebuchadnezzar, the personal suffix referring to God. However, in the same book of the Hebrew Bible, this king is depicted as a cruel enemy. This makes it difficult to understand why in three instances, Jeremiah 25:9; 27:6 and 43:10, the title עבדי is nevertheless used in relation to the Babylonian king. In this article, various solutions to this problem are discussed and a new one is proposed.
Physiological cost of maternal care? Effect of pre- and post-hatching care on the clutch size in the earwig Anisolabis maritima
Authors: Suzuki Seizi 
Published: February 2014

There may be a trade-off between parental care and future reproductive success. Parental care usually consists of multiple components, and quantifying the cost of each component is necessary to assess the exact costs of parental care. In this study, I examined the trade-offs associated with maternal care in the earwig Anisolabis maritima (Dermaptera: Anisolabididae). I evaluated how many clutches A. maritima can produce and how the number and size of the clutch are affected by maternal care, distinguishing the cost of each component. The interval from the time point at which the mothers were removed from their eggs or young to produce the next clutch differed with treatment, and a significant interaction was observed between the effects of clutch order and presence of care on the size of the next clutch when the first clutch was removed immediately. However, longevity and total lifetime fecundity were not different in the presence or absence of care. This showed that females which were removed from a clutch produced the second or later clutches more rapidly although the clutch sizes were smaller. Because the total lifetime fecundity did not differ, irrespective of the presence or absence of care, it is possible that the costs of such care in A. maritima have a small effect.
Parental behaviour of prairie voles (Microtus ochrogaster) and meadow voles (M. pennsylvanicus) in relation to sex of offspring
Authors: McGuire Betty , Bemis William E. , Vermeylen Francoise 
Published: February 2014

Monogamous parents are predicted to invest equally in male and female offspring whereas polygynous parents in good condition are predicted to invest more in male than female offspring. Sex-biased parental investment can occur in three ways: (1) mothers and fathers invest different amounts of care in their offspring (effect of parent sex); (2) parents invest different amounts of care in male and female offspring (effect of offspring sex); and (3) one parent, but not the other, invests different amounts of care in male and female offspring (interaction between parent sex and offspring sex). Studies of parent–offspring interactions in rodents have focused on either effect of parent sex or effect of offspring sex, but not the interaction between parent sex and offspring sex, and most studies have examined only one species. We studied prairie voles (Microtus ochrogaster), a monogamous species, and meadow voles (M. pennsylvanicus), a polygynous (or promiscuous) species, under laboratory conditions designed to simulate field conditions. For each species, we recorded the frequency and duration with which mothers and fathers licked their male and female offspring. We found that meadow vole fathers licked male offspring for longer durations than female offspring. However, prairie vole fathers, prairie vole mothers, and meadow vole mothers did not lick male and female pups for different durations. From the standpoint of the pups, male prairie vole pups, female prairie vole pups, and female meadow vole pups were licked for longer durations by their mothers than by their fathers. In contrast, for male meadow vole pups there was no difference in the duration with which they were licked by mothers and fathers. We also detected effects of litter size: as litter size increased, the frequency and duration of pup licking decreased for mothers and increased for fathers. For duration (but not frequency) of pup licking, these changes were more dramatic in meadow voles than in prairie voles. Our data are generally consistent with predictions that monogamous parents, such as prairie voles, should invest equally in male and female offspring whereas polygynous (or promiscuous) parents, such as meadow voles, should invest more in male offspring when conditions are favourable. Our data also highlight the complexity of parent–offspring interactions in rodents and emphasize the need to examine whether male and female offspring within a species differ in their behaviour or ability to obtain parental care.
The retinoid-X receptor gene from the freshwater prawn Macrobrachium nipponense: cloning, expression pattern and different responses of two splice variants during the molting cycle
Authors: Shen Huaishun , Zhou Xin , Bai Aixu , Ren Xiufang 
Published: February 2014

The retinoid-X receptor (RXR) is among the most conserved members of the nuclear receptor superfamily and is widely studied in vertebrate and invertebrate families. RXR plays an important role in regulation of molting and/or metamorphosis, development and reproduction. We cloned the full-length cDNA sequence of the RXR from the freshwater prawn Macrobrachium nipponense (De Haan, 1849) (MnRXR) and investigated the expression profile of MnRXR in different developmental stages of embryos, in different tissues and in the molting cycle. Two MnRXR splice variants were identified: One, MnRXR-L, the full length of which was 2472 bp, encoded a 449-amino-acid protein; the second, MnRXR-S, the full length of which was 1832 bp, encoded a 420-amino-acid protein, in which the first 29 amino-acid residues of MnRXR-L were absent. MnRXR was observed in all developmental stages of embryos and had the highest expression level in the embryonised-zoea stage, it was highly expressed in hepatopancreas, gill and intestine among the ten tissues examined. The expression of MnRXR was rapidly up-regulated in the premolt stage and rapidly down-regulated after molting. Moreover, of the two MnRXR splice variants, only MnRXR-S was induced during the molting cycle, suggesting that the two splice variants play different roles in the molting cycle.
Lepeophtheirus salmonis (Krøyer, 1837): second nauplius and copepodid locomotor appendages, surface areas and possible appendage functions
Authors: Allen Susan E. , Lewis A. G. 
Published: February 2014

Locomotor appendage-body relationships were used to examine whether swimming or reduction in sinking rate is the more important function in the second nauplius and copepodid stages ofLepeophtheirus salmonis(Krøyer, 1837). Except for the similarity in swimming appendage surface areas without setae, the appendages of the two stages are morphologically distinct. Although the nauplius is smaller than the copepodid it has long slender appendages that, with setae, provide greater total surface area than the paddle-shaped copepodid thoracic legs. Copepodid thoracic legs are more similar to those used for swimming by planktonic copepods although with more limited propulsion capability. Naupliar appendages project from the body while copepodid appendages can be folded against the ventral surface, improving hydrodynamic flow as well as body position after attachment to a host. Both copepodid and naupliar appendages are of sufficient size that they should provide escape velocities of more than 100 mm ⋅ s−1. The nature and display of the naupliar appendages suggest they could be used to reduce sinking rate by as much as 64%, reducing the need to swim to maintain a suitable location in the water. Although copepodid thoracic legs could reduce sinking rate by over 40%, their position on the ventral surface and the nature of other appendages suggests a more important use, for orientation and attachment once a host is located.
Zooplankton in Laguna Lejía, a high-altitude Andean shallow lake of the Puna in northern Chile
Authors: Muñoz-Pedreros Andrés , De los Ríos Patricio , Möller Patricia 
Published: February 2014

The Puna is a high altitude ecosystem of the Central Andes located in the desert plateaus above 3500 m a.s.l. that covers parts of north-eastern Chile, north-western Argentina, south-eastern Peru and mid-western Bolivia. It is characterised by the presence of endorheic basins. Laguna Lejía is an oligohaline shallow lake with alkaline pH, located in the Atacama Puna above 4000 m a.s.l. It is surrounded by volcanoes and enclosed in a secluded basin that is of great scientific interest, due to its ecological insularity. It has been designated by the government as a priority site for biodiversity conservation. The object of this study was to analyse the specific composition and the structure of the zooplankton community in this shallow, high altitude lake. In March 2012, zooplankton samples were taken for qualitative and quantitative analysis from 13 sampling stations in the lake and two adjacent pools. The bodies of water were characterised in the field using portable equipment, with the following parameters being measured: pH, water temperature, conductivity, and dissolved oxygen. The results indicate that the type of zooplankton community matches relatively well that observed in other low salinity, high Andean wetlands, although no calanoid copepods were found. The species found have been reported for high Andean zones and shallow lakes in countries bordering Chile. The absence of species with wide geographical distribution specific for low salinity, high Andean environments, is presumably due to the presence of geographical and environmental barriers that prevent colonization by those species.