bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Role of DISC1 Interacting Proteins in Schizophrenia Risk from Genome‐Wide Analysis of Missense SNPs
Authors: Costas Javier , Suárez‐Rama Jose Javier , Carrera Noa , Paz Eduardo , Páramo Mario , Agra Santiago , Brenlla Julio , Ramos‐Ríos Ramón , Arrojo Manuel 
Published: July 2013

SummaryA balanced translocation affecting DISC1 cosegregates with several psychiatric disorders, including schizophrenia, in a Scottish family. DISC1 is a hub protein of a network of protein–protein interactions involved in multiple developmental pathways within the brain. Gene set‐based analysis has been proposed as an alternative to individual analysis of single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) to get information from genome‐wide association studies. In this work, we tested for an overrepresentation of the DISC1 interacting proteins within the top results of our ranked list of genes based on our previous genome‐wide association study of missense SNPs in schizophrenia. Our data set consisted of 5100 common missense SNPs genotyped in 476 schizophrenic patients and 447 control subjects from Galicia, NW Spain. We used a modification of the Gene Set Enrichment Analysis adapted for SNPs, as implemented in the GenGen software. The analysis detected an overrepresentation of the DISC1 interacting proteins (permuted P‐value = 0.0158), indicative of the role of this gene set in schizophrenia risk. We identified seven leading‐edge genes, MACF1, UTRN, DST, DISC1, KIF3A, SYNE1, and AKAP9, responsible for the overrepresentation. These genes are involved in neuronal cytoskeleton organization and intracellular transport through the microtubule cytoskeleton, suggesting that these processes may be impaired in schizophrenia.
Finite Element Modeling of Stress Distribution in Intervertebral Spacers of Different Surface Geometries
Authors: Lee Jae Hyup , Baek Myong‐Hyun , Kim Young Eun , Seo Jun‐Hyuk , Song Dong Ryul , Ryu Hyun‐Seung , Lee Choon‐Ki , Chang Bong‐Soon 
Published: July 2013

AbstractIntervertebral disc spacers using bioactive ceramics have been used to treat degenerative spinal disease. Tooth‐shaped spacers are commonly used to prevent migration, but there is a possibility of fracture when inserted or after insertion. Intervertebral disc spacers with either an isosceles triangle‐shaped tooth (T1) or a right triangle‐shaped tooth (T2) were used as a control group. The design factors for the experimental group were modified to prevent fractures induced by stress concentration, and the surfaces of the spacers were designed as either an isosceles triangle‐shaped valley (V1) or a right triangle‐shaped valley (V2). Linear analysis using finite element model (FEM) was performed, and Von Mises stress distribution was calculated by applying 1000 N of uniformly distributed load. Samples of the V2 design were made with bioactive glass‐ceramics (BGS‐7) and evaluated for compressive strength, fatigue degree, and impact strength. Von Mises stress was highest at the first tooth from the posterior side for the control group and at the center for the experimental group. Compared with the control group, the experimental group showed 18.4% and 82.5% reduction (V1 vs. T1 and V2 vs. T2, respectively) in the maximum stress at the bottom of the valleys. The FEM analysis revealed that the V2 design had the most even load distribution. The V2 samples with bioactive glass‐ceramics were evaluated for compressive strength, and all six samples were not fractured up to 24 000 N. However, the average impact strength was 19.42 kN, suggesting that momentary force caused damage at a lower load than compression with a steady speed. The BGS‐7 intervertebral disc spacer with V2 design was not fractured during the fatigue test at maximum pressure of 8000 N, R ≥10, 5 Hz, and 5 million cycles. These data confirm that the BGS‐7 spacer with the V2 design may be clinically applicable. Collectively, the modified surface geometry of the experimental group significantly lowered Von Mises stress values at the bottom of the valleys, and thus the possibility of fracture by compressive load was greatly reduced. Also, impact during insertion was confirmed to cause fracture more easily, as the impact strength was lower than the compressive strength in the experimental group.
Psychopharmacological treatment of young people with substance dependence: a survey of prescribing practices in England
Authors: Bateman Johanna , Gilvarry Eilish , Tziggili Maria , Crome Ilana B , Mirza Kah , McArdle Paul 
Published: July 2013

BackroundPrescribing for substance‐dependent youth requires expert knowledge of developmental and contextual issues and use of largely unlicensed medicines. This first national survey aimed to determine the nature of pharmacological treatments delivered in England including the extent of maintenance therapy, supervised consumption and specialties prescribing.MethodData were gathered regarding opiate substitutes & other medications prescribed for opiate, alcohol & benzodiazepine dependence, drug & alcohol relapse prevention and comorbidities. Evidence of distinct approaches to younger compared with older adolescents was sought.ResultsThe overall response rate was 73%. The majority treated were over 16 years. 85% treatments were opiate substitute therapies; many received longer term maintenance therapy. Prescribing for alcohol dependence & comorbidity was low; the largest prescribing group were General Practitioners.ConclusionsQuestions remain about the scale of youth dependence, the use of substitute agents in maintenance treatment and the number of adolescent addiction specialists in the treatment cadre.
Family resources for families of children with cerebral palsy in Jordan: psychometric properties of the Arabic‐Family Resources Scale
Authors: Almasri N. A. , Saleh M. , Dunst C. J. 
Published: July 2013

AbstractBackgroundResource‐based, family‐centred practices are associated with better health, emotional, and social well‐being of children with disabilities. The adequacy of resources available for families of children with disabilities in Middle Eastern countries has not been described adequately in part because of lack of measures that are culturally adapted to be used in Arabic countries. Therefore, this study aims to (1) to evaluate the psychometric properties of the Arabic‐Family Resource Scale (A‐FRS) on a sample of families of children cerebral palsy (CP); (2) examine the adequacy of family resources as perceived by parents of children with CP in Jordan; and (3) examine the influence of child and family demographic variables on how parents report resources available to their families.MethodA cross‐section design was applied. One‐hundred fifteen parents of children with CP with mean age 4.6 years (SD = 4.4) and their parents participated in the study. Research assistants interviewed the participants to complete the A‐FRS, and family and child demographic questionnaire, and determined the Gross Motor Function Classification System level of children.ResultsThe principal axis factoring of the A‐FRS yielded a six‐factor solution that accounted for 67.39% of the variance and that is different than the factor structure reported by the developers of the FRS. Cronbach's coefficient alpha of the total score of family resources was 0.86 indicating a good internal consistency and the test–retest reliability for the total scale score was r = 0.92 (P = 0.000) indicating excellent test–retest reliability. Child health and family income were significantly associated with the total score of the A‐FRS.ConclusionsThe A‐FRS is a valid and reliable measure of family resources for Jordanian families of children with CP. Service providers are encouraged to use A‐FRS with families to plan resource‐based interventions in which family resources are mobilized to meet family needs.
Paternal ADHD symptoms and child conduct problems: is father involvement always beneficial?
Authors: Romirowsky A. M. , Chronis‐Tuscano A. 
Published: July 2013

AbstractBackgroundMaternal psychopathology robustly predicts poor developmental and treatment outcomes for children with attention‐deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). Despite the high heritability of ADHD, few studies have examined associations between paternal ADHD symptoms and child adjustment, and none have also considered degree of paternal involvement in childrearing. Identification of modifiable risk factors for child conduct problems is particularly important in this population given the serious adverse outcomes resulting from this comorbidity.MethodsThis cross‐sectional study examined the extent to which paternal involvement in childrearing moderated the association between paternal ADHD symptoms and child conduct problems among 37 children with ADHD and their biological fathers.ResultsNeither paternal ADHD symptoms nor involvement was independently associated with child conduct problems. However, the interaction between paternal ADHD symptoms and involvement was significant, such that paternal ADHD symptoms were positively associated with child conduct problems only when fathers were highly involved in childrearing.ConclusionsThe presence of adult ADHD symptoms may determine whether father involvement in childrearing has a positive or detrimental influence on comorbid child conduct problems.
Associations between children's socioeconomic status and prefrontal cortical thickness
Authors: Lawson Gwendolyn M. , Duda Jeffrey T. , Avants Brian B. , Wu Jue , Farah Martha J. 
Published: July 2013

AbstractChildhood socioeconomic status (SES) predicts executive function performance and measures of prefrontal cortical function, but little is known about its anatomical correlates. Structural MRI and demographic data from a sample of 283 healthy children from the NIH MRI Study of Normal Brain Development were used to investigate the relationship between SES and prefrontal cortical thickness. Specifically, we assessed the association between two principal measures of childhood SES, family income and parental education, and gray matter thickness in specific subregions of prefrontal cortex and on the asymmetry of these areas. After correcting for multiple comparisons and controlling for potentially confounding variables, parental education significantly predicted cortical thickness in the right anterior cingulate gyrus and left superior frontal gyrus. These results suggest that brain structure in frontal regions may provide a meaningful link between SES and cognitive function among healthy, typically developing children.
Association between Presystolic Ventricular Flash and Left Ventricular Functional Recovery after Cardiac Resynchronization Therapy
Authors: Ito Takahide , Kizawa Shun , Nogi Shimpei , Shimamoto Shinsaku , Yokoyama Kaori , Ishizaka Nobukazu 
Published: July 2013

The presence of septal flash (SF), an early inward/outward motion of the ventricular septum, has been reported to predict a fair response to cardiac resynchronization therapy (CRT) in patients with heart failure. Using speckle tracking echocardiography, we investigated whether the extent of pre‐CRT SF was associated with left ventricular (LV) functional recovery after CRT device implantation. Fifteen patients with left bundle branch block with a mean LV ejection fraction of 23 ± 9% were enrolled in this study. The extent of presystolic ventricular flash (PSVF), which was defined if there was a peak in the radial strain curve in the preejection period, was semiquantified by counting the number of PSVF‐positive segments. Patients underwent radial strain analysis before and between 3 and 6 months after CRT. After CRT device implantation, LV end‐diastolic and end‐systolic volumes were decreased, LV ejection fraction was increased, and LV filling time corrected by RR interval was increased. The number of PSVF‐positive segments at baseline showed a graded association with improvement in both LV ejection fraction and LV filling time. In conclusion, the finding that a larger number of PSVF‐positive segments before CRT predicted fair LV functional recovery after CRT suggests that PSVF may represent a substrate that is amenable to functional response to CRT.
Atrial Electromechanical Interval May Predict Cardioembolic Stroke in Apparently Low Risk Elderly Patients with Paroxysmal Atrial Fibrillation
Authors: Hoshi Yoko , Nozawa Yukinaga , Ogasawara Makoto , Yuda Satoshi , Sato Shoko , Sakasai Takuya , Oka Makoto , Katayama Harumi , Sato Masaya , Kouzu Hidemichi , Nishihara Masahiro , Doi Atsushi , Nishimiya Takatoshi , Miura Tetsuji 
Published: July 2013

BackgroundA considerable number of patients with atrial fibrillation (AF) develop cardioembolic stroke (CE) despite low CHADS2 score. We examined the possibility that use of the atrial electromechanical interval (AEMI) improves prediction of CE in patients with paroxysmal AF (PAF), particularly those with low CHADS2 score.MethodsWe consecutively enrolled 108 patients with nonvalvular PAF and 52 healthy subjects as controls. The PAF patients were divided into 2 groups depending on presence (n = 36) or absence (n = 72) of the history of CE. Left atrial (LA) volume index (LAVI), peak myocardial velocity during late diastole (a'), and AEMI as time from onset of P‐wave to onset of lateral a' were measured.ResultsPatients with PAF had significantly larger LAVI, longer AEMI, and lower lateral a' than those in controls. Area under the curves for LAVI, lateral a', and AEMI for identifying patients with PAF were 0.70, 0.69, and 0.88, respectively. Multivariate logistic regression analysis indicated that age, use of antiarrhythmic drugs, and AEMI, but not LAVI or a', were independently associated with history of CE in patients with PAF. PAF patients were categorized into low risk by CHADS2 score (i.e. CHADS2 score = 0 or 1, n = 60), those with prolonged AEMI (>82 msec) had significantly higher rates of CE than those with ≤82 msec (48% vs. 15%, P < 0.05).ConclusionAs compared with echocardiographic parameters of LA size and LA function, AEMI appears to be more useful for identifying PAF patients. AEMI may enable to detect high risk PAF patients, especially those categorized into low risk by CHADS2 score.
Contrasting effects of necrotrophic and biotrophic plant pathogens on the aphid Aphis fabae
Authors: Al‐Naemi Fatima , Hatcher Paul E. 
Published: July 2013

AbstractPhytophagous insects have to contend with a wide variation in food quality brought about by a variety of factors intrinsic and extrinsic to the plant. One of the most important factors is infection by plant pathogenic fungi. Necrotrophic and biotrophic plant pathogenic fungi may have contrasting effects on insect herbivores due to their different infection mechanisms and induction of different resistance pathways, although this has been little studied and there has been no study of their combined effect. We studied the effect of the biotrophic rust fungus Uromyces viciae‐fabae (Pers.) Schroet (Basidiomycota: Uredinales: Pucciniaceae) and the necrotrophic fungus Botrytis cinerea Pers. (Ascomycota: Helotiales: Sclerotiniaceae) singly and together on the performance of the aphid Aphis fabae Scopoli (Hemiptera: Aphididae) on Vicia faba (L.) (Fabaceae). Alone, botrytis had an inhibitory effect on individual A. fabae development, survival, and fecundity, whereas rust infection consistently enhanced individual aphids' performance. These effects varied in linear relation to lesion or pustule density. However, whole‐plant infection by either pathogen resulted in a smaller aphid population of smaller aphids than on uninfected plants, indicating a lowering of aphid carrying capacity with infection. When both fungi were applied simultaneously to a leaf they generally cancelled the effect of each other out, resulting in most performance parameters being similar to the controls, although fecundity was reduced. However, sequential plant infection (pathogens applied 5 days apart) led to a 70% decrease in fecundity and 50% reduction in intrinsic rate of increase. The application of rust before botrytis had a greater inhibitory effect on aphids than applying botrytis before rust. Rust infection increased leaf total nitrogen concentration by 30%, whereas infection by botrytis with or without rust led to a 38% decrease. The aphids' responses to the two plant pathogens individually is consistent with the alteration in plant nutrient content by infection and also the induction of different plant defence pathways and the possible cross‐talk between them. This is the first demonstration of the complex effects of the dual infection of a plant by contrasting pathogens on insect herbivores.
c‐fos down‐regulation inhibits testosterone‐dependent male sexual behavior and the associated learning
Authors: Niessen Neville‐Andrew , Balthazart Jacques , Ball Gregory F. , Charlier Thierry D. 
Published: July 2013

AbstractEnvironmental stimulation results in an increased expression of transcription factors called immediate early genes (IEGs) in specific neuronal populations. In male Japanese quail, copulation with a female increases the expression of the IEGs zenk and c‐fos in the medial pre‐optic nucleus (POM), a key nucleus controlling male sexual behavior. The functional significance of this increased IEG expression that follows performance of copulatory behavior is unknown. We addressed this question by repeatedly quantifying the performance of appetitive (learned social proximity response) and consummatory (actual copulation) sexual behavior in castrated, testosterone‐treated males that received daily intra‐cerebroventricular injection of an antisense oligodeoxynucleotide targeting c‐fos or control vehicle. Daily antisense injections significantly inhibited the expression of copulatory behavior as well as the acquisition of the learned social proximity response. A strong reduction of the proximity response was still observed in antisense‐treated birds that copulated with a female, ruling out the indirect effect of the absence of interactions with females on the learning process. After a 2‐day interruption of behavioral testing but not of antisense injections, birds were submitted to a final copulatory test that confirmed the behavioral inhibition in antisense‐injected birds. Brains were collected at 90 min after the behavioral testing for quantification of c‐fos‐immunoreactive cells. A significant reduction of the number of c‐fos‐positive cells in the POM but not in other brain regions was observed following antisense injection. Taken together, the data suggest that c‐fos expression in the POM modulates copulatory behavior and sexual learning in male quail.
Whisker motor cortex reorganization after superior colliculus output suppression in adult rats
Authors: Veronesi Carlo , Maggiolini Emma , Franchi Gianfranco 
Published: July 2013

AbstractThe effect of unilateral superior colliculus (SC) output suppression on the ipsilateral whisker motor cortex (WMC) was studied at different time points after tetrodotoxin and quinolinic acid injections, in adult rats. The WMC output was assessed by mapping the movement evoked by intracortical microstimulation (ICMS) and by recording the ICMS‐evoked electromyographic (EMG) responses from contralateral whisker muscles. At 1 h after SC injections, the WMC showed: (i) a strong decrease in contralateral whisker sites, (ii) a strong increase in ipsilateral whisker sites and in ineffective sites, and (iii) a strong increase in threshold current values. At 6 h after injections, the WMC size had shrunk to 60% of the control value and forelimb representation had expanded into the lateral part of the normal WMC. Thereafter, the size of the WMC recovered, returning to nearly normal 12 h later (94% of control) and persisted unchanged over time (1–3 weeks). The ICMS‐evoked EMG response area decreased at 1 h after SC lesion and had recovered its baseline value 12 h later. Conversely, the latency of ICMS‐evoked EMG responses had increased by 1 h and continued to increase for as long as 3 weeks following the lesion. These findings provide physiological evidence that SC output suppression persistently withdrew the direct excitatory drive from whisker motoneurons and induced changes in the WMC. We suggest that the changes in the WMC are a form of reversible short‐term reorganization that is induced by SC lesion. The persistent latency increase in the ICMS‐evoked EMG response suggested that the recovery of basic WMC excitability did not take place with the recovery of normal explorative behaviour.
High frequency oscillations mirror disease activity in patients with focal cortical dysplasia
Authors: Kerber Karolin , LeVan Pierre , Dümpelmann Matthias , Fauser Susanne , Korinthenberg Rudolf , Schulze‐Bonhage Andreas , Jacobs Julia 
Published: July 2013

SummaryPurposeThe study analyzes the occurrence of high frequency oscillations in different types of focal cortical dysplasia in 22 patients with refractory epilepsy. High frequency oscillations are biomarkers for epileptic tissue, but it is unknown whether they can reflect increasingly dysplastic tissue changes as well as epileptic disease activity.MethodsHigh frequency oscillations (80–450 Hz) were visually marked by two independent reviewers in all channels of intracranial implanted grid, strips, and depth electrodes in patients with focal cortical dysplasia and refractory epilepsy. Rates of high frequency oscillations in patients with pathologically confirmed focal cortical dysplasia of Palmini type 1a and b were compared with those in type 2a and b.Key FindingsPatients with focal cortical dysplasia type 2 had significantly more seizures than those with type 1 (p < 0.001). Rates of high frequency oscillations were significantly higher in patients with focal cortical dysplasia type 2 versus type 1 (p < 0.001). In addition, it could be confirmed that rates of high frequency oscillations were significantly higher in presumed epileptogenic areas than outside (p < 0.001).SignificanceActivity of high frequency oscillations mirrors the higher epileptogenicity of focal cortical dysplasia type 2 lesions compared to type 1 lesions. Therefore, rates of high frequency oscillations can reflect disease activity of a lesion. This has implications for the use of high frequency oscillations as biomarkers for epileptogenic areas, because a detailed analysis of their rates may be necessary to use high frequency oscillations as a predictive tool in epilepsy surgery.