bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Vascular Smooth Muscle Cell–Derived Transforming Growth Factor-β Promotes Maturation of Activated, Neointima Lesion–Like Macrophages
Authors: Ostriker Allison , Horita Henrick N. , Poczobutt Joanna , Weiser-Evans Mary C.M. , Nemenoff Raphael A. 
Published: February 2014

Objective—
To define the contribution of vascular smooth muscle cell (SMC)–derived factors to macrophage phenotypic modulation in the setting of vascular injury.

Approach and Results—
By flow cytometry, macrophages (M4) were the predominant myeloid cell type recruited to wire-injured femoral arteries, in mouse, compared with neutrophils or eosinophils. Recruited macrophages from injured vessels exhibited a distinct expression profile relative to circulating mononuclear cells (peripheral blood monocytes; increased: interleukin-6, interleukin-10, interleukin-12b, CC chemokine receptor [CCR]3, CCR7, tumor necrosis factor-α, inducible nitric oxide synthase, arginase 1; decreased: interleukin-12a, matrix metalloproteinase [MMP]9). This phenotype was recapitulated in vitro by maturing rat bone marrow cells in the presence of macrophage-colony stimulating factor and 20% conditioned media from cultured rat SMC (sMφ) compared with maturation in macrophage-colony stimulating factor alone (M0). Recombinant transforming growth factor (TGF)-β1 recapitulated the effect of SMC conditioned media. Macrophage maturation studies performed in the presence of a pan-TGF-β neutralizing antibody, a TGF-β receptor inhibitor, or conditioned media from TGF-β–depleted SMCs confirmed that the SMC-derived factor responsible for macrophage activation was TGF-β. Finally, the effect of SMC-mediated macrophage activation on SMC biology was assessed. SMCs cocultured with sMφ exhibited increased rates of proliferation relative to SMCs cultured alone or with M0 macrophages.

Conclusions—
SMC-derived TGF-β modulates the phenotype of maturing macrophages in vitro, recapitulating the phenotype found in vascular lesions in vivo. SMC-modulated macrophages induce SMC activation to a greater extent than control macrophages.
Muscle-Specific RING Finger 1 Negatively Regulates Pathological Cardiac Hypertrophy Through Downregulation of Calcineurin A
Authors: Maejima Yasuhiro , Usui Soichiro , Zhai Peiyong , Takamura Masayuki , Kaneko Shuichi , Zablocki Daniela , Yokota Mitsuhiro , Isobe Mitsuaki , Sadoshima Junichi 
Published: February 2014

Background—
Muscle-specific RING finger protein-1 (MuRF1) is an E3 ligase that inhibits cardiac hypertrophy. However, how MuRF1 regulates cardiac hypertrophy and function during pressure overload (PO) remains poorly understood. We investigated the role of endogenous MuRF1 in regulating cardiac hypertrophy in response to PO in vivo.

Methods and Results—

Transverse aortic constriction (TAC) for 4 weeks significantly reduced expression of MuRF1 in the mouse heart. After 2 and 4 weeks of TAC, MuRF1 knockout (
Murf1
−/−
) mice exhibited enhanced cardiac hypertrophy and left ventricular (LV) dysfunction compared with that of nontransgenic (NTg) mice. Histological analyses showed that
Murf1
−/−
mice exhibited more severe fibrosis and apoptosis than NTg mice after TAC. TAC-induced increases in the activity of a nuclear factor of activated T cells (NFAT) luciferase reporter were significantly greater in
Murf1
−/−
than in NTg mice. TAC-induced increases in calcineurin A (CnA) expression were also significantly enhanced in
Murf1
−/−
compared with that in NTg mice. Coimmunoprecipitation assays showed that endogenous MuRF1 and CnA interact with one another. Polyubiquitination of CnA was attenuated in
Murf1
−/−
mouse hearts at baseline and in response to TAC, and the protein stability of CnA was enhanced in cardiomyocytes, in which MuRF1 was downregulated in vitro. Furthermore, MuRF1 directly ubiquitinated CnA in vitro. Cardiac-specific overexpression of ZAKI-4β, an endogenous inhibitor of CnA, significantly suppressed the enhancement of TAC-induced cardiac hypertrophy and dysfunction, as well as increases in cardiac fibrosis and apoptosis, in
Murf1
−/−
mice.

Conclusions—
Endogenous MuRF1 negatively regulates cardiac hypertrophy and dysfunction in response to PO through inhibition of the calcineurin–NFAT pathway.
Fibroblast Growth Factor–23 and Cardiac Structure and Function
Authors: Agarwal Isha , Ide Noriko , Ix Joachim H. , Kestenbaum Bryan , Lanske Beate , Schiller Nelson B. , Whooley Mary A. , Mukamal Kenneth J. 
Published: February 2014

Background

Fibroblast growth factor–23 (
FGF
‐23) is a phosphaturic factor previously associated with left ventricular hypertrophy and systolic dysfunction among individuals with chronic kidney disease. Whether
FGF
‐23 acts directly to induce left ventricular hypertrophy, potentially independent of its klotho coreceptor, remains uncertain. We investigated associations of
FGF
‐23 with cardiac structural abnormalities among individuals with a broad range of kidney function and explored potential biological mechanisms using cardiac magnetic resonance imaging and histology in
klotho
‐null mice, an established model of constitutively elevated
FGF
‐23.

Methods and Results

Among 887 participants with coronary artery disease in the
H
eart and
S
oul
S
tudy,
FGF
‐23 was modestly associated with worse left ventricular ejection fraction (−1.0% per standard deviation increase in ln
FGF
‐23; standard error, 0.4%), but was not associated with the overall prevalence of concentric hypertrophy (odds ratio, 1.5;
CI
, 0.9 to 2.4) or eccentric hypertrophy (odds ratio, 1.1;
CI
, 0.9 to 1.3).
FGF
‐23 was only associated with concentric hypertrophy among individuals with diminished kidney function (
eGFR
<60 mL/min per 1.73 m
2
; odds ratio, 2.3;
CI
, 1.0 to 5.3;
P
‐interaction=0.28). Comparing
klotho
‐null with wild‐type mice, null mice did not have greater left ventricular mass (
P
=0.37) or a lower ejection fraction (
P
=0.94).

Conclusions

Together, our results suggest that
FGF
‐23 is unlikely to have major effects on cardiovascular structure and function among patients free of substantial chronic kidney disease, and these effects may not be independent of the klotho coreceptor.
Upper Limb Recovery After Stroke Is Associated With Ipsilesional Primary Motor Cortical Activity
Authors: Favre Isabelle , Zeffiro Thomas A. , Detante Olivier , Krainik Alexandre , Hommel Marc , Jaillard Assia 
Published: February 2014

Background and Purpose—
Although neuroimaging studies have revealed specific patterns of reorganization in the sensorimotor control network after stroke, their role in recovery remains unsettled. To review the existing evidence systematically, we performed activation likelihood estimation meta-analysis of functional neuroimaging studies investigating upper limb movement-related brain activity after stroke.

Methods—
Twenty-four studies using sensorimotor tasks in standardized coordinates were included, totaling 255 patients and 145 healthy controls. Across the entire brain, we compared task-related activity patterns in good and poor recovery and assessed the magnitude of spatial shifts in sensorimotor activity in cortical motor areas after stroke.

Results—
When compared with healthy controls, patients showed higher activation likelihood estimation values in contralesional primary motor soon after stroke that abated with time, but were not related to motor outcome. The observed activity changes were consistent with restoration of typical interhemispheric balance. In contrast, activation likelihood estimation values in ipsilesional medial-premotor and primary motor cortex were associated with good outcome, reorganization that may reflect vicarious processes associated with ventral activity shifts from BA4a to 4p. In the anterior cerebellum, a novel finding was the association of poor recovery with increased vermal activity, possibly reflecting behaviorally inadequate compensatory strategies engaging the fastigio-thalamo-cortical and corticoreticulospinal systems.

Conclusions—
Activity in ipsilesional primary motor and medial-premotor cortices in chronic stroke signals good motor recovery, whereas cerebellar vermis activity signals poor recovery. Functional MRI may be useful in identifying recovery biomarkers.
Urgent Carotid Surgery and Stenting May Be Safe After Systemic Thrombolysis for Stroke
Authors: Koraen-Smith Linn , Troëng Thomas , Björck Martin , Kragsterman Björn , Wahlgren Carl-Magnus ,   This work was supported by the Steering Committee of the Swedish Vascular Registry (Swedvasc):, Kragsterman Björn , Hager Jakob , Wellander Erik , Nordanstig Joakim , Sigvant Birgitta , Björses Katarina , Wigelius Ann ,   It was also supported by the Steering Committee of the Riks-Stroke Collaboration:, Asplund Kjell , Appelros Peter , Bjarne Daniela , Engberg Wania , von Euler Mia , Norrving Bo , Stegmayr Birgitta , Térent Andreas , Wallin Sari , Ytterberg Marianne 
Published: February 2014

Background and Purpose—
Early carotid surgery or stenting after thrombolytic treatment for stroke has become more common during recent years. It is unclear whether this carries an increased risk of postoperative complications and death. The aim of this nationwide population-based study was, therefore, to investigate the safety of urgently performed carotid procedures in patients treated with thrombolysis for stroke.

Methods—
Using the national Vascular and Stroke registries, we identified 3998 patients who had undergone carotid endarterectomy or carotid artery stenting for symptomatic carotid stenosis between May 2008 and December 2012. Among these, 2% (79 of 3998) had undergone previous thrombolysis for stroke. We conducted a retrospective review of registry data and individual case records with regard to postoperative complications, including surgical-site bleeding, stroke, and death. The outcome was compared with the results for the remaining patient cohort (3919 of 3998) undergoing carotid surgery and stenting during the study period.

Results—

The median time between thrombolysis and the carotid procedure was 10 days. Seventy-one patients underwent carotid endarterectomy, and 6 patients underwent carotid artery stenting. The 30-day death and stroke rate for the thrombolysis cohort was 2.5% (2 of 79), and for the whole cohort, it was 3.8% (139 of 3626;
P
=0.55). The postoperative bleeding rates requiring reoperation were not significantly different between the groups (3.8% [3 of 79] in the thrombolysis group versus 3.3% [119 of 3626] in the whole cohort;
P
=0.79). There was no correlation between time from lysis to surgery or stenting and complications at 30 days postoperatively.

Conclusions—
Urgent carotid endarterectomy or carotid artery stenting after thrombolysis for stroke may be safe without increased risk of serious complications.
Serial Alberta Stroke Program Early CT Score From Baseline to 24 Hours in Solitaire Flow Restoration With the Intention for Thrombectomy Study
Authors: Liebeskind David S. , Jahan Reza , Nogueira Raul G. , Jovin Tudor G. , Lutsep Helmi L. , Saver Jeffrey L. 
Published: February 2014

Background and Purpose—
The Alberta Stroke Program Early CT Score (ASPECTS) on baseline imaging is an established predictor of acute ischemic stroke outcomes. We analyzed change on serial ASPECTS at baseline and 24-hour imaging in the Solitaire Flow Restoration with the Intention for Thrombectomy (SWIFT) study to determine prognostic value and to identify subgroups with extensive injury after intervention.

Methods—
ASPECTS at baseline and 24 hours was independently scored in all anterior circulation SWIFT cases, blinded to all other trial data. ASPECTS at baseline, at 24 hours, and serial changes were analyzed with univariate and multivariate approaches.

Results—

One hundred thirty-nine patients (mean age, 67 [SD, 12] years; 52% women; median National Institutes of Health Stroke Scale, 18 [interquartile range, 8–28]) with complete data at both time points were studied. Multivariate analyses showed that higher 24-hour ASPECTS predicted good clinical outcome (day 90 modified Rankin Scale, 0–2; odds ratio, 1.67;
P
<0.001). Among patients with high baseline ASPECTS (8–10; n=109), dramatic infarct progression (decrease in ASPECTS ≥6 points at 24 hours) was noted in 31 of 109 (28%). Such serial ASPECTS change was predicted by higher baseline systolic blood pressure (
P
=0.019), higher baseline blood glucose (
P
=0.133), and failure to achieve Thrombolysis in Cerebral Infarction score of 2b/3 reperfusion (
P
<0.001), culminating in worse day 90 modified Rankin Scale outcomes (mean modified Rankin Scale, 4.4 versus 2.7;
P
<0.001).

Conclusions—
Twenty-four-hour ASPECTS provides better prognostic information compared with baseline ASPECTS. Predictors of dramatic infarct progression on ASPECTS are hyperglycemia, hypertension, and nonreperfusion. Serial ASPECTS change from baseline to 24 hours predicts clinical outcome, providing an early surrogate end point for thrombectomy trials.

Clinical Trial Registration—

URL:
http://www.clinicaltrials.gov
. Unique identifier: NCT01054560.
Xiongnu “Kings” and the Political Order of the Steppe Empire
Authors: Miller Bryan K. 
Published: February 2014

AbstractDescriptions of the political order of the Xiongnu empire rely heavily upon Chinese historical narratives and, as a result, often simplify steppe politics and gloss over provincial political agents. This paper therefore discusses the entire spectrum of “kings” and regional elites in the steppes in order to elucidate shifting power politics over the course of the Xiongnu empire. Furthermore, a comparison of historical dynamics with the archaeological record suggests that competition from local leaders against the ruling factions spurred changes in material regimes of the imperial political culture, leading to a bifurcation of the steppe elite and pronounced expressions of authority.
Indian Ocean Trade and Sultanic Authority: The nāẓir of Jedda and the Mamluk Political Economy
Authors: Wing Patrick 
Published: February 2014

AbstractFaced with a mounting economic crisis, the Mamluk sultan al-Ashraf Barsbāy (r. 1422-1438) sought new sources of revenue from the commercial economy of the Red Sea port of Jedda, which was emerging in the 15th century as a hub for maritime trade between the Indian Ocean and Mediterranean. This article examines the career of the firstnāẓir, or financial supervisor, of Jedda, a Coptic secretary appointed by Sultan Barsbāy. A glimpse at his career sheds light on strategies employed by the Mamluk sultan to align his household bureaucracy with the business of trade at Jedda and the interests of influential merchant networks, as well as the limitations of such strategies.
Fueling the Boom: Coal as the Primary Source of Energy for Processing Zinc in China and Comparison with Europe, ca. 1720-1820
Authors: Chen Hailian 
Published: February 2014

AbstractStemming from an examination of the zinc industry in early modern China, this article centers on a detailed survey of coal, the primary source of energy for processing zinc. On the basis of Qing archival documents, this article investigates the previously unknown spatial relationship of zinc ore deposits, coal mines, and zinc smelters; provides quantitative evidence of coal use by estimating the annual consumption of coal in processing zinc; offers a new perspective on the general use of coal in Qing China; and compares the coal-fuel efficiency problem in early European and Chinese zinc production.
Travel, Liquidity and Order in Malaysian Modernity
Authors: Lee Raymond L. M. 
Published: February 2014

AbstractThe transition from solid to liquid modernity has led Bauman to suggest that nowadays people have come to be like tourists living from one moment to another. Addressing this behavior as the tourist syndrome, he proposes to treat the contemporary meaning of social interaction as inseparable from the consumption of sensations and looseness of ties. This is most apparent in the case of leisure travel where the organization of escapism is premised on the excitement of rapidly changing scenery and absence of belonging. In these scenarios of impermanence, order and regularity are overshadowed by the impulse for disengagement, flexibility and transience. Yet the fluidity of travel is not simply a metaphor for the fading of structured expectations, ordered modalities and patterned perceptions. Many people exposed to the asperity of being on the road do not want to be alienated from the familiar and the predictable. A description of Malaysian travellers on packaged tours suggests that their attraction to the liquid sensationalism of distant travels does not necessarily rule out the predilection for order and habitual attachments. As an aspect of Malaysian modernity, the popularity of packaged tourism reflects the attraction of the affluent middle class to the promotion of liquid leisure in planned travels that do not deny them their sense of order.
Sailing-Trading Livelihoods in Southeastern Indonesia: Adapting to Change
Authors: Carnegie Michelle 
Published: February 2014

Abstract
Sailing-trading livelihoods in southeastern Indonesia have undergone significant change during the later half of the twentieth century and into the twenty-first century. This study identifies how geopolitical, economic, legal and technological drivers of change shape sailing-trading livelihoods. Using an integrated approach, it shows how these macro-level drivers articulate with sailor-traders’ individual and group-based responses at the local level. The findings highlight that over the study period, small-scale inter-island trading within Indonesia’s borders became increasingly competitive and monopolised. In response, sailor-traders strategically adopted new opportunities that involve international border crossings, including to Australia to harvest sea cucumber, transport asylum seekers and undertake work while serving prison terms. The concluding remarks are that while aspects of contemporary sailing-trading livelihoods are temporal and unsustainable, the overall ebb and flow of livelihoods reflects a broader pattern of adaptive responses amidst ongoing change.
Painting Naked Truth: The Colóquios of Garcia da Orta (1563)
Authors: Pimentel Juan , Soler Isabel 
Published: February 2014

Abstract
This article aims to reassess the figure of Garcia da Orta and his work, Colóquios dos simples e drogas da Índia (Goa, 1563), a dialogue between Oriental and Western knowledge, by addressing aspects of the author’s origins and education in the Iberian Peninsula. As a member of the Jewish community and the son of refugees, Garcia da Orta was accustomed to frontiers. He was a traveling convert particularly well-prepared for cultural interchange and mediation. As a physician trained in the Humanist universities of Salamanca and Alcalá de Henares he was familiar with philological projects based on translation and transculturalism. We thus present the Colóquios as a polyglot materia medica (by analogy with the Polyglot Bible), and his motto painting naked truth as the vindication of an experience which can only be gained away from the center on the periphery.
Malebranche’s Neoplatonic Semantic Theory
Authors: Martin John N. 
Published: February 2014

AbstractThis paper argues that Malebranche’s semantics sheds light on his metaphysics and epistemology, and is of interest in its own right. By recasting issues linguistically, it shows that Malebranche assumes a Neoplatonic semantic structure within Descartes’ dualism and Augustine’s theory of illumination, and employs linguistic devices from the Neoplatonic tradition. Viewed semantically, mental states of illumination stand to God and his ideas as predicates stand in Neoplatonic semantics to ideas ordered by a privative relation on “being.” The framework sheds light on interpretive puzzles in Malebranche studies such as the way ideas reside in God’s mind, the notion of resemblance by which bodies imitate their exemplar causes, and the issue of direct vs. indirect perception through a mechanism by which agents can see bodies by “seeing” ideas. Malebranche’s semantics is of interest in its own right because it gives a full (if implausible) account of the mediating relations that determine indirect reference; lays out a correspondence theory of truth for necessary judgments; defines contingent truth as based on an indirect reference relation that is both descriptive and causal but that does not appeal to body-mind causation; and within his theory of perception, works out an account of singular reference in which singular terms carry existential import, refer indirectly via causal relations, but describe their referents only in a general way.
Wave Forcing of the Quasi-Biennial Oscillation in the Max Planck Institute Earth System Model
Authors: Krismer Thomas R. , Giorgetta Marco A. 
Published: February 2014

Abstract
This study investigates the resolved wave forcing of the quasi-biennial oscillation (QBO) in the Max Planck Institute Earth System Model truncated at T63 with 95 vertical levels. The model, which parameterizes unresolved gravity waves, internally generates a QBO. The resolved waves contribute up to 50% and 30% to the total wave forcing (resolved plus parameterized) of the QBO westerly and easterly jet, respectively, mostly owing to waves with zonal wavenumbers lower than 20 and frequencies lower than 0.5 cpd. At higher frequencies and wavenumbers, the model underestimates the strength of the tropospheric wave sources when compared to Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission (TRMM) observations and applies strong horizontal diffusion, which explains the shortage of wave momentum at these scales (relative to recent studies based on high-resolution models). The study further relates the vertical structure of equatorial Kelvin waves, which contribute most to the transport and deposition of westerly wave momentum, to their radiative dissipation and compares the role of longwave radiation and horizontal diffusion in the dissipation of the resolved waves in general. The Kelvin waves adjust their vertical wavelength according to their intrinsic phase speed and are efficiently damped by longwave radiation within westerly flow, where the vertical wavelength strongly decreases. Waves with zonal wavenumbers larger than 10, however, are mostly damped by horizontal diffusion. The latitudinal distribution of the resolved wave forcing reflects the latitudinal structure of the waves and is asymmetric with respect to the equator.
Ensemble-Based Parameter Estimation in a Coupled GCM Using the Adaptive Spatial Average Method*
Authors: Liu Y. , Liu Z. , Zhang S. , Rong X. , Jacob R. , Wu S. , Lu F. 
Published: February 2014

Abstract
Ensemble-based parameter estimation for a climate model is emerging as an important topic in climate research. For a complex system such as a coupled ocean–atmosphere general circulation model, the sensitivity and response of a model variable to a model parameter could vary spatially and temporally. Here, an adaptive spatial average (ASA) algorithm is proposed to increase the efficiency of parameter estimation. Refined from a previous spatial average method, the ASA uses the ensemble spread as the criterion for selecting “good” values from the spatially varying posterior estimated parameter values; these good values are then averaged to give the final global uniform posterior parameter. In comparison with existing methods, the ASA parameter estimation has a superior performance: faster convergence and enhanced signal-to-noise ratio.