bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Intranasally administered serelaxin abrogates airway remodelling and attenuates airway hyperresponsiveness in allergic airways disease
Authors: Royce S. G. , Lim C. X. F. , Patel K. P. , Wang B. , Samuel C. S. , Tang M. L. K. 
Published: August 2014

SummaryBackgroundThe peptide hormone relaxin plays a key role in the systemic hemodynamic and renovascular adaptive changes that occur during pregnancy, which is linked to its antiremodelling effects. Serelaxin (a recombinant form of human gene‐2 relaxin) has been shown to inhibit lung fibrosis in various disease models and reverse airway remodelling and airway hyperresponsiveness (AHR) in allergic airways disease (AAD).ObjectiveAlthough continuous systemic delivery of exogenous serelaxin alleviates allergic fibrosis and AHR, more direct routes for administration into the lung have not been investigated. Thus, intranasal administration of serelaxin was evaluated for its ability to reverse airway remodelling and AHR associated with AAD.MethodsFemale Balb/c mice were subjected to a 9‐week model of chronic AAD. Subgroups of animals (n = 12/group) were then treated intranasally with serelaxin (0.8 mg/mL) or vehicle once daily for 14 days (from weeks 9–11). Saline‐sensitized/challenged mice treated with intranasal saline served as additional controls. Differential bronchoalveolar lavage (BAL) cell counts, ovalbumin (OVA)‐specific IgE levels, tissue inflammation, parameters of airway remodelling and AHR were then assessed.ResultsChronic AAD was associated with significant increases in differential BAL cell counts, OVA‐specific IgE levels, inflammation, epithelial thickening, goblet cell metaplasia, TGF‐β1 expression, epithelial Smad2 phosphorylation (pSmad2), subepithelial collagen thickness, total lung collagen concentration and AHR (all P < 0.05 vs. respective measurements from saline‐treated mice). Daily intranasal delivery of serelaxin significantly diminished AAD‐induced epithelial thickening, epithelial pSmad2, subepithelial and total lung collagen content (fibrosis) and AHR (all P < 0.05 vs. vehicle‐treated AAD mice).Conclusions and Clinical RelevanceIntranasal delivery of serelaxin can effectively reduce airway remodelling and AHR, when administered once daily. Respirable preparations of serelaxin may have therapeutic potential for the prevention and/or reversal of established airway remodelling and AHR in asthma.
Relationship of CD146 expression to secretion of interleukin (IL)-17, IL-22 and interferon-γ by CD4+ T cells in patients with inflammatory arthritis
Authors: Wu C , Goodall J C , Busch R , Gaston J S H 
Published: August 2014

SummaryExpression of the adhesion molecule, CD146/MCAM/MelCAM, on T cells has been associated with recent activation, memory subsets and T helper type 17 (Th17) effector function, and is elevated in inflammatory arthritis. Th17 cells have been implicated in the pathogenesis of rheumatoid arthritis (RA) and spondyloarthritides (SpA). Here, we compared the expression of CD146 on CD4+ T cells between healthy donors (HD) and patients with RA and SpA [ankylosing spondylitis (AS) or psoriatic arthritis (PsA)] and examined correlations with surface markers and cytokine secretion. Peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMC) were obtained from patients and controls, and synovial fluid mononuclear cells (SFMC) from patients. Cytokine production [elicited by phorbol myristate acetate (PMA)/ionomycin] and surface phenotypes were evaluated by flow cytometry. CD146+ CD4+ and interleukin (IL)-17+ CD4+ T cell frequencies were increased in PBMC of PsA patients, compared with HD, and in SFMC compared with PBMC. CD146+ CD4+ T cells were enriched for secretion of IL-17 [alone or with IL-22 or interferon (IFN)-γ] and for some putative Th17-associated surface markers (CD161 and CCR6), but not others (CD26 and IL-23 receptor). CD4+ T cells producing IL-22 or IFN-γ without IL-17 were also present in the CD146+ subset, although their enrichment was less marked. Moreover, a majority of cells secreting these cytokines lacked CD146. Thus, CD146 is not a sensitive or specific marker of Th17 cells, but rather correlates with heterogeneous cytokine secretion by subsets of CD4+ helper T cells.
Prolonged ingestion of ovalbumin diet by sensitized mice improves the metabolic consequences induced by experimental food allergy
Authors: Batista N V , Pereira R V S , Noviello M L M , Dourado L P A , Perez D A , Foureaux G , Ferreira A J , Ferreira A V M , Cara D C 
Published: August 2014

Summary
The prevalence of food allergy is rising in the western world. Allergen restriction is the chosen treatment in this condition, but continuous ingestion of the antigen has shown positive results in clinical trials. In a previous study, we have shown several allergic and metabolic alterations after 7 days of ovalbumin (OVA) ingestion by sensitized mice. The aim of this study was to investigate whether prolonged ingestion of antigen by sensitized mice would reverse the metabolic consequences caused by experimental food allergy. For this, allergic and metabolic parameters were analysed after prolonged ingestion of an OVA diet by OVA-sensitized mice. As shown previously, after 7 days of OVA consumption, sensitized mice showed increased serum levels of anti-OVA immunoglobulin (Ig)E and IgG1, aversion to the antigen ingestion, marked body and adipose tissue weight loss, followed by adipose tissue inflammation and decreased serum levels of adipokines, glucose and triglycerides. However, after 14 days of oral challenge, sensitized mice showed an anti-OVA IgE level similar to the mice that were only sensitized, but the specific IgG1 did not change. With this prolonged ingestion of OVA, sensitized mice were protected from OVA-induced anaphylaxis when the antigen was given systemically at a dose of 2 mg/animal. Moreover, various parameters analysed were significantly ameliorated, including adipose tissue inflammation, body and adipose tissue loss, as well as serum levels of adipokines and triglycerides. Therefore, our data suggest that prolonged ingestion of OVA by sensitized mice results in an improvement of the metabolic consequences caused by experimental food allergy.
History of corneal transplantation in Australia
Authors: Coster Douglas J 
Published: August 2014

AbstractCorneal transplantation is a triumph of modern ophthalmology. The possibility of corneal transplantation was first raised in 1797 but a century passed before Zirm achieved the first successful penetrating graft in 1905. Gibson reported the first corneal graft in Australia from Brisbane in 1940 and English established the first eye bank there a few years later. Corneal transplantation evolved steadily over the twentieth century. In the second half of the century, developments in microsurgery, including surgical materials such as monofilament nylon and strong topical steroid drops, accounted for improvements in outcomes. In 2013, approximately 1500 corneal transplants were done in Australia. Eye banking has evolved to cope with the rising demands for donor corneas. Australian corneal surgeons collaborated to establish and support the Australian Corneal Graft Registry in 1985. It follows the outcomes of their surgery and has become an important international resource for surgeons seeking further improvement with the procedure.
Remapping the Edge: Informality and Legality in the Harrison Road Night Market, Baguio City, Philippines
Authors: MILGRAM B. LYNNE 
Published: August 2014

AbstractSince the 1970s, in the Philippines, increasing rural to urban migration and a lack of income‐generating employment have led to new forms of livelihood characterized by complex intersections of formal/informal and legal/illegal work and public space use. This paper uses Baguio City's new Harrison Road Night Market to argue that both street vendors and city officials are complicit in reconfiguring informality and legality as urban organizing logics—unmapping and remapping urban public space and livelihoods to their mutual advantages—increased rental income for the city and viable jobs for vendors. To this end, street vendors use everyday and insurgent public space activism to secure their right to street‐based work. Simultaneously, the municipal government, variably tolerates, regularizes, or penalizes street trade as it gauges its potential to enrich city coffers. Such political‐economic manoeuvering by both parties, moreover, also reveals insights about the intersection of different forms of power—that between vendors and the city, between vendor associations, and among vendors themselves. By successfully securing government permission to establish a “legal” used clothing night street market on Harrison Road, a main city artery, Baguio City's previously marginalized street vendors visibly assert their legitimacy and rights to livelihood in arenas of power from which they have been largely excluded.
Making Contracts Public in Ngaoundéré, Cameroon
Authors: MUÑOZ JOSÉ‐MARÍA 
Published: August 2014

AbstractInternational agendas around the promotion of good governance and the fight against corruption have translated into numerous reform processes across the world. As a result, public contracts have become objects of intense scrutiny. In spite of their role in shaping urban infrastructure and their salience in the experience of urban residents, public contracts have received scant ethnographic attention. Drawing on long‐term fieldwork in a context marked by evolving ideals of what is civic and what is civil, this article explores how public officials and contractors based in Ngaoundéré, a city in the north of Cameroon, have in the last decade engaged shifting bureaucratic procedures. Cameroon's public contracting system is the result of ongoing cycles of reform that have supplemented intense legislative production with campaigns, seminars, and workshops aimed at enlarging the publics of public contracts. The article reflects on the intersections of two processes: that of contracting works through a set of distinctive procedures that have been designed to safeguard public interest and that of creating a public for this type of contracts.
Potential Negative Ecological Effects of Corridors
Authors: HADDAD NICK M. , BRUDVIG LARS A. , DAMSCHEN ELLEN I. , EVANS DANIEL M. , JOHNSON BRENDA L. , LEVEY DOUGLAS J. , ORROCK JOHN L. , RESASCO JULIAN , SULLIVAN LAUREN L. , TEWKSBURY JOSH J. , WAGNER STEPHANIE A. , WELDON AIMEE J. 
Published: August 2014

AbstractDespite many studies showing that landscape corridors increase dispersal and species richness for disparate taxa, concerns persist that corridors can have unintended negative effects. In particular, some of the same mechanisms that underlie positive effects of corridors on species of conservation interest may also increase the spread and impact of antagonistic species (e.g., predators and pathogens), foster negative effects of edges, increase invasion by exotic species, increase the spread of unwanted disturbances such as fire, or increase population synchrony and thus reduce persistence. We conducted a literature review and meta‐analysis to evaluate the prevalence of each of these negative effects. We found no evidence that corridors increase unwanted disturbance or non‐native species invasion; however, these have not been well‐studied concerns (1 and 6 studies, respectively). Other effects of corridors were more often studied and yielded inconsistent results; mean effect sizes were indistinguishable from zero. The effect of edges on abundances of target species was as likely to be positive as negative. Corridors were as likely to have no effect on antagonists or population synchrony as they were to increase those negative effects. We found 3 deficiencies in the literature. First, despite studies on how corridors affect predators, there are few studies of related consequences for prey population size and persistence. Second, properly designed studies of negative corridor effects are needed in natural corridors at scales larger than those achievable in experimental systems. Third, studies are needed to test more targeted hypotheses about when corridor‐mediated effects on invasive species or disturbance may be negative for species of management concern. Overall, we found no overarching support for concerns that construction and maintenance of habitat corridors may result in unintended negative consequences. Negative edge effects may be mitigated by widening corridors or softening edges between corridors and the matrix. Other negative effects are relatively small and manageable compared with the large positive effects of facilitating dispersal and increasing diversity of native species.Efectos Negativos Potenciales de los Corredores
The role of the cytopathologist's interpretation in achieving diagnostic adequacy of head and neck fine needle aspirates
Authors: Chng C. L. , Beale T. , Adjei‐Gyamfi Y. , Gupta Y. , Kocjan G. 
Published: August 2014

ObjectiveWe aimed to assess the potential role of interpretation by cytopathologists on the level of diagnostic adequacy of head and neck fine needle aspirations (FNAs).MethodsAn audit (‘first audit’) was performed between 1 May 2007 and 30 April 2008 using data from three different hospitals (A, B and C). The specimens were interpreted by two cytopathologists with specific experience in head and neck pathology in hospitals A and B, and by any of the eight cytopathologists (only two of whom were experienced in head and neck cytopathology) in hospital C. Following the analysis of the initial findings, there was a change in practice in hospital C, after which specimens were also read only by two experienced cytopathologists. A new audit (‘second audit’) was then performed between 20 January 2011 and 20 December 2012 in the same three hospitals.ResultsDuring the first audit, the diagnostic adequacy of FNAs from hospital C was 84.2% compared with 96.6% in hospital A and 97.7% in hospital B (P = 0.000). No significant difference in the diagnostic adequacy rate of the FNAs performed in hospitals A and B was found when comparing the first and second audits. The FNA diagnostic adequacy for hospital C increased significantly in the second relative to the first audit (95.5% versus 84.2%, P = 0.000).ConclusionsOur study confirms that expert cytology interpretation is important in achieving optimal diagnostic adequacy of head and neck FNAs.
Female fetus is associated with greater maternal insulin resistance in pregnancy
Authors: Xiao L. , Zhao J. P. , Nuyt A. M. , Fraser W. D. , Luo Z. C. 
Published: August 2014

AbstractAimTo explore the hypothesis that female fetus is associated with greater maternal insulin resistance during pregnancy.MethodsIn a singleton pregnancy cohort study (n = 299), we compared maternal insulin resistance according to fetal sex, based on plasma biomarkers from a 50‐g 1‐h oral glucose tolerance test at 24–28 weeks gestation. The primary outcome was plasma glucose‐to‐insulin ratio. Other outcomes included plasma proinsulin‐to‐insulin ratio, and insulin, proinsulin, leptin, adiponectin and insulin‐like growth factor I and II concentrations.ResultsAfter adjusting for maternal race, age, parity, education, pre‐pregnancy BMI, smoking and alcohol use, history of gestational diabetes, and gestational age at blood sampling, plasma insulin concentrations were significantly higher (mean ± sd: 66.4 ± 50.5 vs 51.0 ± 46.1 mU/l; adjusted P = 0.001), and glucose‐to‐insulin ratios significantly lower (2.60 ± 2.03 vs 3.77 ± 4.98 mg/dl/mU/l; adjusted P = 0.002) in women bearing a female vs those bearing a male fetus, despite similar glucose levels (116.4 ± 27.2 vs 117.0 ± 31.9 mg/dl; adjusted P = 0.92).There were no significant differences in proinsulin‐to‐insulin ratios, or leptin, adiponectin, insulin‐like growth factor I and insulin‐like growth factor II concentrations by fetal sex.ConclusionFemale fetus may be associated with greater maternal insulin resistance during pregnancy.
Applicability of the Chinese version of the 16‐item Prodromal Questionnaire (CPQ‐16) for identifying attenuated psychosis syndrome in a college population
Authors: Chen Fazhan , Wang Lu , Wang Jikun , Heeramun‐Aubeeluck Anisha , Yuan Jiabei , Zhao Xudong 
Published: August 2014

AbstractAimThe aim of this study was to examine the reliability, validity, sensitivity and specificity of the Chinese version of the 16‐item Prodromal Questionnaire (CPQ‐16) for identifying attenuated psychosis syndrome (APS) in a college population.MethodsThe participants were recruited from a university. Five hundred seventy‐nine students completed the CPQ‐16 and the Symptom Checklist‐90. One class (n = 79) was randomly selected to be retested with the CPQ‐16 after 2 weeks. A randomly selected group of 49 individuals who tested positive and 50 individuals who tested negative were interviewed using the Structured Interview for Prodromal Syndromes (SIPS).ResultsThe internal consistency reliability was good (Cronbach's α = 0.72). The test–retest reliability was 0.88. The total score on the CPQ‐16 was moderately to highly correlated with the total score on the Symptom Checklist‐90 and all of the subscales (r = 0.39–0.67, P < 0.001). A cut‐off CPQ‐16 score of 9 was used to differentiate between those with a APS diagnosis on the SIPS versus those with no SIPS diagnoses; this cut‐off value yielded 85% sensitivity, 87% specificity, a positive predictive value of 63% and a positive likelihood ratio of 6.69. The area under the ROC curve (AUC) was significant for the CPQ‐16 total score (AUC = 0.93, SE = 0.026, 95% CI = 0.87–0.98, P < 0.001). Based on the proposed cut‐off score, the CPQ‐16 yielded a positive rate of 5.0% (29/579).ConclusionsThe CPQ‐16, administered in a face‐to‐face interview, demonstrated high reliability and the ability to identify college students at risk for psychosis.
The detection of neural autoantibodies in patients with antiepileptic‐drug‐resistant epilepsy predicts response to immunotherapy
Authors: Iorio R. , Assenza G. , Tombini M. , Colicchio G. , Della Marca G. , Benvenga A. , Damato V. , Rossini P. M. , Vollono C. , Plantone D. , Marti A. , Batocchi A. P. , Evoli A. 
Published: August 2014

Background and purposeThe detection of antibodies binding neural antigens in patients with epilepsy has led to the definition of ‘autoimmune epilepsy’. Patients with neural antibodies not responding to antiepileptic drugs (AEDs) may benefit from immunotherapy. Aim of this study was to evaluate the frequency of autoantibodies specific to neural antigens in patients with epilepsy and their response to immunotherapy.MethodsEighty‐one patients and 75 age‐ and sex‐matched healthy subjects (HS) were enrolled in the study. Two groups of patients were included: 39 patients with epilepsy and other neurological symptoms and/or autoimmune diseases responsive to AEDs (group 1) and 42 patients with AED‐resistant epilepsy (group 2). Patients' serum and cerebrospinal fluid were evaluated for the presence of autoantibodies directed to neural antigens by indirect immunofluorescence on frozen sections of mouse brain, cell‐based assays and a radioimmunoassay. Patients with AED‐resistant epilepsy and neural autoantibodies were treated with immunotherapy and the main outcome measure was the reduction in seizure frequency.ResultsNeural autoantibodies were detected in 22% of patients (18/81), mostly from the AED‐resistant epilepsy group (P = 0.003), but not in HS. Indirect immunofluorescence on mouse brain revealed antibodies binding to unclassified antigens in 10 patients. Twelve patients received immunotherapy and nine (75%) achieved >50% reduction in seizure frequency.ConclusionsA significant proportion of patients with AED‐resistant epilepsy harbor neural‐specific autoantibodies. The detection of these antibodies, especially of those binding to synaptic antigens, may predict a favorable response to immunotherapy, thus overcoming AED resistance.
Serum‐induced neurite retraction in CAD cells – involvement of an ATP‐actin retractile system and the lack of microtubule‐associated proteins
Authors: Chesta María E. , Carbajal Agustín , Arce Carlos A. , Bisig Carlos G. 
Published: August 2014

Cultured catecholamine‐differentiated cells [which lack the microtubule‐associated proteins (MAPs): MAP1B, MAP2, Tau, STOP, and Doublecortin] proliferate in the presence of fetal bovine serum, and, in its absence, cease dividing and generate processes similar to the neurites of normal neurons. The reintroduction of serum induces neurite retraction, and proliferation resumes. The neurite retraction process in catecholamine‐differentiated cells was partially characterized in this study. Microtubules in the cells were found to be in a highly dynamic state, and tubulin in the microtubules consisted primarily of the tyrosinated and deacetylated isotypes. Increased levels of acetylated or Δ2‐tubulin (which are normally absent) did not prevent serum‐induced neurite retraction. Treatment of differentiated cells with lysophosphatidic acid or adenosine deaminase induced neurite retraction. Inhibition of Rho‐associated protein kinase, ATP depletion and microfilament disruption each (individually) blocked serum‐induced neurite retraction, suggesting that an ATP‐dependent actomyosin system underlies the mechanism of neurite retraction. Nocodazole treatment induced neurite retraction, but this effect was blocked by pretreatment with the microtubule‐stabilizing drug paclitaxel (Taxol). Paclitaxel did not prevent serum‐induced or lysophosphatidic acid‐induced retraction, suggesting that integrity of microtubules (despite their dynamic state) is necessary to maintain neurite elongation, and that paclitaxel‐induced stabilization alone is not sufficient to resist the retraction force induced by serum. Transfection with green fluorescent protein–Tau conferred resistance to retraction caused by serum. We hypothesize that, in normal neurons (cultured or in vivo), MAPs are necessary not only to stabilize microtubules, but also to establish interactions with other cytoskeletal or membrane components to form a stable structure capable of resisting the retraction force.
Edge effects on moisture reduce wood decomposition rate in a temperate forest
Authors: Crockatt Martha E. , Bebber Daniel P. 
Published: August 2014

AbstractForests around the world are increasingly fragmented, and edge effects on forest microclimates have the potential to affect ecosystem functions such as carbon and nutrient cycling. Edges tend to be drier and warmer due to the effects of insolation, wind, and evapotranspiration and these gradients can penetrate hundreds of metres into the forest. Litter decomposition is a key component of the carbon cycle, which is largely controlled by saprotrophic fungi that respond to variation in temperature and moisture. However, the impact of forest fragmentation on litter decay is poorly understood. Here, we investigate edge effects on the decay of wood in a temperate forest using an experimental approach, whereby mass loss in wood blocks placed along 100 m transects from the forest edge to core was monitored over 2 years. Decomposition rate increased with distance from the edge, and was correlated with increasing humidity and moisture content of the decaying wood, such that the decay constant at 100 m was nearly twice that at the edge. Mean air temperature decreased slightly with distance from the edge. The variation in decay constant due to edge effects was larger than that expected from any reasonable estimates of climatic variation, based on a published regional model. We modelled the influence of edge effects on the decay constant at the landscape scale using functions for forest area within different distances from edge across the UK. We found that taking edge effects into account would decrease the decay rate by nearly one quarter, compared with estimates that assumed no edge effect.