bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Suicidal behaviors in depressed adolescents: role of perceived relationships in the family
Authors: Consoli Angèle , Peyre Hugo , Speranza Mario , Hassler Christine , Falissard Bruno , Touchette Evelyne , Cohen David , Moro Marie-Rose , Révah-Lévy Anne 
Published: March 2013

AbstractContextSuicide is the second leading cause of death in adolescents and young adults in Europe. Reducing suicides is therefore a key public health target. Previous studies have shown associations between suicidal behaviors, depression and family factors.ObjectiveTo assess the role of family factors in depression and suicidality in a large community-based sample of adolescents and to explore specific contributions (e.g. mother vs. father; conflict vs. no conflict; separation vs. no separation) taking into account other risk factors.MethodsA cross-sectional sample of adolescents aged 17 years was recruited in 2008. 36,757 French adolescents (18,593 girls and 18,164 boys) completed a questionnaire including socio-demographic characteristics, drug use, family variables, suicidal ideations and attempts. Current depression was assessed with the Adolescent Depression Rating Scale (ADRS). Adolescents were divided into 4 groups according to suicide risk severity (grade 1 = depressed without suicidal ideation and without suicide attempts, grade 2 = depressed with suicidal ideations and grade 3 = depressed with suicide attempts; grade 0 = control group). Multivariate regressions were applied to assess the Odds Ratio of potential risk factors comparing grade 1, 2 or 3 risk with grade 0.Results7.5% of adolescents (10.4% among girls vs. 4.5% among boys) had ADRS scores compatible with depression; 16.2% reported suicidal ideations in the past 12 months and 8.2% reported lifetime suicide attempts. Repeating a year in school was significantly associated to severity grade of suicide risk (1 and 3), as well as all substance use, tobacco use (severity grades 2 and 3) and marijuana use (severity grade 3), for girls and boys. After adjustment, negative relationships with either or both parents, and parents living together but with a negative relationship were significantly associated with suicide risk and/or depression in both genders (all risk grades), and Odds Ratios increased according to risk severity grade.ConclusionFamily discord and negative relationship with parents were associated with an increased suicide risk in depressed adolescents. So it appears essential to take intrafamilial relationships into account in depressed adolescents to prevent suicidal behaviours.
Experimental infection of cotton rats and bobwhite quail with Rickettsia parkeri
Authors: Moraru Gail Miriam , Goddard Jerome , Paddock Christopher D , Varela-Stokes Andrea 
Published: March 2013

Abstract

Background

Amblyomma maculatum is the primary vector for Rickettsia parkeri, a spotted fever group rickettsia (SFGR) and human pathogen. Cotton rats and quail are known hosts for larval and nymphal A. maculatum; however, the role of these hosts in the ecology of R. parkeri is unknown.

Methods
Cotton rats and quail were inoculated with low or high doses of R. parkeri (strain Portsmouth) grown in Vero cells to evaluate infection by R. parkeri in these two hosts species. Animals were euthanized 2, 4, 7, 10, and 14 days post-injection (dpi) and blood, skin, and spleen samples were collected to analyze by Vero cell culture and polymerase chain reaction (PCR). In a second trial, cotton rats and quail were inoculated with R. parkeri and nymphal A. maculatum ticks were allowed to feed on animals. Animals were euthanized on 14, 20, 28, 31, and 38 dpi and blood and tissues were collected for serology and PCR assays. Fed ticks were tested for R. parkeri by PCR and Vero cell culture.

Results

Rickettsia parkeri was isolated in cell culture and detected by PCR in skin, blood, and spleen tissues of cotton rats in the initial trial 2, 4, and 7 dpi, but not in quail tissues. In the second trial, no ticks tested positive for R. parkeri by PCR or cell culture.

Conclusions
These studies demonstrate that viable R. parkeri rickettsiae can persist in the tissues of cotton rats for at least 7 days following subcutaneous inoculation of these bacteria; however, quail are apparently resistant to infection. Rickettsia parkeri was not detected in nymphal ticks that fed on R. parkeri-inoculated cotton rats or quail, suggesting an alternate route of transmission to naïve ticks.
Iodine-131 induced hepatotoxicity in previously healthy patients with Grave’s disease
Authors: Jhummon Navina Priya , Tohooloo Bhavna , Qu Shen 
Published: March 2013

Abstract

Objective
To describe the association of the rare and serious complication of liver toxicity in previously healthy Grave’s disease (GD) patients after the treatment with radioactive iodine 131I (RAI).

Case presentation
We report the clinical, laboratory and pathologic findings of 2 cases of severe liver toxicity associated with the treatment with RAI in previously healthy patients with GD. Clinical examination and laboratory investigations excluded viral hepatitis, autoimmune hepatitis, granulomatous disease, primary biliary disease, extrahepatic biliary obstruction, and heart failure.
Case 1: A previously healthy 52-years old man reportedly having a typical GD but following RAI treatment, concomitantly developed severe liver toxicity that required 1 week of treatment in hospital.
Case 2: A previously healthy 34-years old woman is reported as having a typical GD but developed jaundice following RAI treatment that required several weeks of in hospital treatment in the hepato-biliary department.
In both cases, the liver dysfunction resolved after intensive treatment with hepato-protective agents. In this report the therapeutic considerations as well as the pathogenetic possibilities are reviewed.

Conclusion
To the best of our knowledge, this is the first description of the association observed, which is rare but may be severe and should be considered in any case of thyrotoxicosis where a liver dysfunction develops after the treatment with radioactive iodine 131I.
Silvestrol exhibits significant in vivo and in vitro antileukemic activities and inhibits FLT3 and miR-155 expressions in acute myeloid leukemia
Authors: Alachkar Houda , Santhanam Ramasamy , Harb Jason G , Lucas David M , Oaks Joshua J , Hickey Christopher J , Pan Li , Kinghorn A Douglas , Caligiuri Michael A , Perrotti Danilo , Byrd John C , Garzon Ramiro , Grever Michael R , Marcucci Guido 
Published: March 2013

Abstract

Background
Activating mutations [internal tandem duplication (ITD)] or overexpression of the FMS-like tyrosine kinase receptor-3 (FLT3) gene are associated with poor outcome in acute myeloid leukemia (AML) patients, underscoring the need for novel therapeutic approaches. The natural product silvestrol has potent antitumor activity in several malignancies, but its therapeutic impact on distinct molecular high-risk AML subsets remains to be fully investigated. We examined here the preclinical activity of silvestrol in FLT3-ITD and FLT3 wild-type (wt) AML.

Methods
Silvestrol in vitro anti-leukemic activity was examined by colorimetric cell viability assay, colony-forming and flow cytometry assays assessing growth inhibition and apoptosis, respectively. Pharmacological activity of silvestrol on FLT3 mRNA translation, mRNA and protein expression was determined by RNA-immunoprecipitation, qRT-PCR and immunoblot analyses, respectively. Silvestrol in vivo efficacy was investigated using MV4-11 leukemia-engrafted mice.

Results
Silvestrol shows antileukemia activity at nanomolar concentrations both in FLT3-wt overexpressing (THP-1) and FLT3-ITD (MV4-11) expressing AML cell lines (IC50 = 3.8 and 2.7 nM, respectively) and patients’ primary blasts [IC50 = ~12 nM (FLT3-wt) and ~5 nM (FLT3-ITD)]. Silvestrol increased apoptosis (~4fold, P = 0.0001), and inhibited colony-formation (100%, P < 0.0001) in primary blasts. Silvestrol efficiently inhibited FLT3 translation reducing FLT3 protein expression by 80–90% and decreased miR-155 levels (~60%), a frequently co-regulated onco-miR in FLT3-ITD-positive AML. The median survival of silvestrol-treated vs vehicle-treated mice was 63 vs 29 days post-engraftment, respectively (P < 0.0001).

Conclusions
Silvestrol exhibits significant in vivo and in vitro antileukemic activities in AML through a novel mechanism resulting in inhibition of FLT3 and miR-155 expression. These encouraging results warrant a rapid translation of silvestrol for clinical testing in AML.
Mining basic active structures from a large-scale database
Authors: Takada Naoto , Ohmori Norihito , Okada Takashi 
Published: March 2013

Abstract

Background
The Pubchem Database is a large-scale resource for chemical information, containing millions of chemical compound activities derived by high-throughput screening (HTS). The ability to extract characteristic substructures from such enormous amounts of data is steadily growing in importance. Compounds with shared basic active structures (BASs) exhibiting G-protein coupled receptor (GPCR) activity and repeated dose toxicity have been mined from small datasets. However, the mining process employed was not applicable to large datasets owing to a large imbalance between the numbers of active and inactive compounds. In most datasets, one active compound will appear for every 1000 inactive compounds. Most mining techniques work well only when these numbers are similar.

Results
This difficulty was overcome by sampling an equal number of active and inactive compounds. The sampling process was repeated to maintain the structural diversity of the inactive compounds. An interactive KNIME workflow that enabled effective sampling and data cleaning processes was created. The application of the cascade model and subsequent structural refinement yielded the BAS candidates. Repeated sampling increased the ratio of active compounds containing these substructures. Three samplings were deemed adequate to identify all of the meaningful BASs. BASs expressing similar structures were grouped to give the final set of BASs. This method was applied to HIV integrase and protease inhibitor activities in the MDL Drug Data Report (MDDR) database and to procaspase-3 activators in the PubChem BioAssay database, yielding 14, 12, and 18 BASs, respectively.

Conclusions
The proposed mining scheme successfully extracted meaningful substructures from large datasets of chemical structures. The resulting BASs were deemed reasonable by an experienced medicinal chemist. The mining itself requires about 3 days to extract BASs with a given physiological activity. Thus, the method described herein is an effective way to analyze large HTS databases.
Reversible alopecia in Vogt-Koyanagi-Harada disease and sympathetic ophthalmia
Authors: Chuang Chiu-Tung , Huang Po-Sian , Chen Shih-Chou , Sheu Shwu-Jiuan 
Published: March 2013

Abstract

Background
Vogt-Koyanagi-Harada (VKH) disease and sympathetic ophthalmia (SO) are both autoimmune disorders targeting melanin-bearing cells, even though their etiologies are different. Both shared many ocular and systemic manifestations, including integumentary findings. Most of the literature focused on the ocular manifestations and related treatment. Alopecia was seldom mentioned.

Findings
We report one case of VKH disease and one case of SO. Both developed severe alopecia and early sunset glow fundus, which are probably due to incomplete treatment. Fortunately, the alopecia improved soon after systemic steroid treatment.

Conclusions
Early and complete treatments are important in the management of VKH or SO and prevent integumentary manifestation. Alopecia can be reversible after steroid treatment in time.
Symmetric Snapback Primers for Scanning and Genotyping of the Cystic Fibrosis Transmembrane Conductance Regulator Gene
Authors: Zhou Luming , Palais Robert A , Ye Felix , Chen Jimmy , Montgomery Jesse L , Wittwer Carl T 
Published: March 2013

BACKGROUND
High-resolution melting of PCR products is an efficient and analytically sensitive method to scan for sequence variation, but detected variants must still be identified. Snapback primer genotyping uses a 5′ primer tail complementary to its own extension product to genotype the resulting hairpin via melting. If the 2 methods were combined to analyze the same PCR product, the residual sequencing burden could be reduced or even eliminated.

METHODS
The 27 exons and neighboring splice sites of the CFTR [cystic fibrosis transmembrane conductance regulator (ATP-binding cassette sub-family C, member 7)] gene were amplified by the PCR in 39 fragments. Primers included snapback tails for genotyping 7 common variants and the 23 CFTR mutations recommended for screening by the American College of Medical Genetics. After symmetric PCR, the amplicons were analyzed by high-resolution melting to scan for variants. Then, a 5-fold excess of H2O was added to each reaction to produce intramolecular hairpins for snapback genotyping by melting. Each melting step required &lt;10 min. Of the 133 DNA samples analyzed, 51 were from CFTR patient samples or cell lines.

RESULTS
As expected, the analytical sensitivity of heterozygote detection in blinded studies was 100%. Snapback genotyping reduced the need for sequencing from 7.9% to 0.5% of PCR products; only 1 amplicon every 5 patients required sequencing to identify nonanticipated rare variants. We identified 2 previously unreported variants: c.3945A&gt;G and c.4243–5C&gt;T.

CONCLUSIONS
CFTR analysis by sequential scanning and genotyping with snapback primers is a good match for targeted clinical genetics, for which high analytical accuracy and rapid turnaround times are important.
Improved Reversible Jump Algorithms for Bayesian Species Delimitation
Authors: Rannala Bruce , Yang Ziheng 
Published: March 2013

Abstract
Several computational methods have recently been proposed for delimiting species using multilocus sequence data. Among them, the Bayesian method of Yang and Rannala uses the multispecies coalescent model in the likelihood framework to calculate the posterior probabilities for the different species-delimitation models. It has a sound statistical basis and is found to have nice statistical properties in simulation studies, such as low error rates of undersplitting and oversplitting. However, the method suffers from poor mixing of the reversible-jump Markov chain Monte Carlo (rjMCMC) algorithms. Here, we describe several modifications to the algorithms. We propose a flexible prior that allows the user to specify the probability that each node on the guide tree represents a true speciation event. We also introduce modifications to the rjMCMC algorithms that remove the constraint on the new species divergence time when splitting and alter the gene trees to remove incompatibilities. The new algorithms are found to improve mixing of the Markov chain for both simulated and empirical data sets.
Geophysical Evidence through a CSAMT Survey of the Deep Geological Structure at a Potential Radioactive Waste Site at Beishan, Gansu, China
Authors: An Zhiguo , Di Qingyun , Fu Changmin , Xu Cheng , Cheng Bo 
Published: March 2013

This paper describes a controlled-source audio-frequency magnetotellurics (CSAMT) survey conducted in August 2009 over a potential high-level radioactive waste (HLRW) disposal site in northwestern China. The site is primarily covered with well-developed metamorphic rocks. The purpose of the CSAMT survey was to map the outcropped faults to depth and identify any hidden faults or weakened zone in the subsurface. The site is located in the arid Beishan area, Gansu Province. Substantial challenges were encountered in acquiring quality electrical field data because of the highly resistive ground. Satisfactory electrode contact conditions were generally maintained by applying salt-saturated water to both the transmitting electrodes and the receiving electrodes. The excitation frequency ranges from 9,600 Hz to 1 Hz with a target depth of investigation of 1,000 m. The CSAMT data were processed in several steps. Low-pass filtering was applied to remove the static effect caused by the local electrical inhomogeneities near the ground surface. An optimum filter length was found through experiment to yield the maximum static effect reduction. The pre-processed data are inverted for geoelectrical cross sections using a 2-D inversion method. Inversion artifacts were suppressed by imposing a model smoothness constraint. The inversion reveals several important results. First, the inversion cross sections correctly recognized the fractures and deformation bands mapped at the surface. The cross sections also identified four new faults that were not observed in the geological survey. The inversion profiles suggested that the narrow factures and deformation bands observed along survey line 1 extend to a great depth. The profile helped identify a possible weak mineralization zone along survey line 2. Considering the regional tectonic stress direction, the lower resistivity zone suggests that the faults parallel to survey line 2 are subject to an extensional or transtensional force that produces a broad and broken alteration zone. Although subject to further drilling confirmation, these interpretation results greatly enhance the understanding of the deep geological hazards at the Beishan site.
The Puroindoline b‐2 Variants are Expressed at Low Levels Relative to the Puroindoline D1 Genes in Wheat Seeds
Authors: Giroux M. J. , Kim K.‐H. , Hogg A. C. , Martin J. M. , Beecher B. 
Published: March 2013

ABSTRACTGrain hardness in wheat is largely controlled by the Hardness locus. This locus contains the Puroindoline a (Pina) and b (Pinb) genes, thought to exist as single‐copy genes only on chromosome 5D. However, four additional copies of Pinb have been reported. These new genes termed Pinb‐2v1 to Pinb‐2v4 map to the group 7 chromosomes of wheat (Triticum aestivum L.). Since PINA and PINB cooperatively bind to starch granules and PINB limits grain softness, we set out to determine Pinb‐2 gene variant expression levels relative to Pinb. The tested genotypes included the soft wheat cultivar Alpowa, Chinese Spring, and two Chinese Spring group 7 nullisomic‐tetrasomic lines. Deletion of chromosome 7A (and Pinb‐2v4) or 7D (and Pinb‐2v1) did not impact either the level of total or starch‐bound puroindolines, indicating that the expression level of the Pinb‐2 genes is not sufficient to modify grain hardness. Due to cross‐hybridization, northern blots were not useful in accurately quantifying Pinb‐2 transcript levels. Therefore, RNA sequencing was used to accurately measure transcript levels of Pina, Pinb, and each of the four Pinb‐2 variants in developing wheat seeds. Relative to Pinb, Pinb‐2v1 expression levels averaged 1%, whereas Pinb‐2v2 levels ranged up to 7.6%. Pinb‐2v3 transcripts were detectable only in Alpowa at 1% of Pinb‐D1a, whereas Pinb‐2v4 transcripts were undetectable in all genotypes. Given the relative low expression levels of each Pinb‐2, it is unlikely that they substantially contribute to grain hardness variation.
Influence of Small Ruminant Lentivirus Infection on Reproductive Traits in Ewes
Authors: Lipecka Czesława , Junkuszew Andrej , Kuźmak Jacek , Gruszeck Tomasz M. , Kozaczyńska Bożena , Olech Monika , Bojar Wiktor , Osiński Zbigniew 
Published: March 2013

Abstract
The study included a sheep flock comprising five genetic groups. The ELISA was applied to perform constant monitoring (every six months) for the infection of ewes with small ruminant lentivirus (SRLV). The research results demonstrated a negative effect of SRLVs infection on lamb rearing that, depending on the genetic group, proved to be lower 1.3%-1.4% compared to the seronegative mothers. At relatively equal fertility (94%-100%) and more differentiated prolificacy (179%-198%) in all the examined groups (except the Suffolk breed), a rearing index was higher in the seronegative animals 6.8%-24.1% compared to the seropositive mothers. The Suffolk breed proved to be the genetic group most susceptible to SRLV infection. A prolificacy of infected ewes was 10% lower, a lamb rearing rate was 13% lower , and a general reproductive performance was 18% lower in comparison to healthy ewes.
Loop-Mediated Isothermal Amplification as a Simple Molecular Method for the Detection of Derzsy’s Disease Virus
Authors: Tarasiuk Karolina , Woźniakowski Grzegorz , Samorek-Salamonowicz Elżbieta 
Published: March 2013

Abstract
The objective of the study was to develop a simple and rapid molecular method for the detection of GPV. Twenty seven goose parvovirus (GPV) isolates collected from geese flocks in Poland were examined. Three pairs of specific primers: two outer primers (F3 and B3), two inner primers (FIP and BIP), and two loop primers (FL and BL) were used to accelerate the reaction. The optimum temperature and time of the reaction were 60°C and 30 min. The sensitivity of the method was 10-times higher than PCR. The method proved to be a sensitive, rapid, and specific assay for detecting GPV.
Insurance Dynamics – A Data Mining Approach for Customer Retention in Health Care Insurance Industry
Authors: Sree Hari Rao V. , Jonnalagedda Murthy V. 
Published: March 2013

Abstract
Extraction of customer behavioral patterns is a complex task and widely studied for various industrial applications under different heading viz., customer retention management, business intelligence and data mining. In this paper, authors experimented to extract the behavioral patterns for customer retention in Health care insurance. Initially, the customers are classified into three general categories - stable, unstable and oscillatory. To extract the patterns the concept of Novel index tree (a variant of K-d tree) clubbed with K-Nearest Neighbor algorithm is proposed for efficient classification of data, as well as outliers and the concept of insurance dynamics is proposed for analyzing customer behavioral patterns
Uncertainties in dissolved organic carbon load estimation in a small stream
Authors: Büttner Olaf , Tittel Jörg 
Published: March 2013

Abstract
Dissolved organic carbon (DOC) transported by rivers represents an important link between carbon pools of terrestrial and oceanic ecosystems. However, it is unclear how frequent DOC must be sampled to obtain reasonable load estimates. Here, we used continuous records of the specific UV absorption coefficient (SAC) and discharge from a headwater stream at the Ore Mountains (Germany) to calculate load errors depending on DOC sampling frequency. SAC was used as a proxy for DOC. The results show that the load was underestimated by 13-19% with monthly, 10-13% with bi-weekly and 7-9% with weekly DOC samplings, respectively. We conclude that collecting additional data from high discharge events decrease the error significantly.
Temperature influences water sorptivity of soil aggregates
Authors: Czachor Henryk , Lichner Ľubomír 
Published: March 2013

Abstract
The aim of this study was to determine the potential development of water sorptivity of soil aggregates by heating. Soil aggregates were sampled from arable layer of 5 Polish soils: Haplic Luvisol 1 from Czesławice, Haplic Luvisol 2 from Wierzchucinek, Haplic Cambisol from Felin, Gleyic Mollic Cambisol from Chylice, and Haplic Phaeozem from Grabiec. Three aggregates of each soil type with minimum diameter between 4 and 10 mm were heated in the oven for at least 3 hours at temperatures 20, 100, 200, 250, and 360ºC. After each temperature treatment the soil aggregates were conditioned at the room temperature for 16 hours. Laboratory measurements of water sorptivity of soil aggregates were performed under a negative tension h0 = -2 cm using tension infiltrometer. It was found that the exposure to temperatures between 100 and 200°C tends to decrease water sorptivity of aggregates from all the studied soils but one (Haplic Luvisol 1), followed by about two- to four-fold increase in water sorptivity for exposure to temperatures of 250°C (in Haplic Luvisol 1, Haplic Luvisol 2, and Haplic Phaeozem) or 360°C (in Haplic Cambisol and Gleyic Mollic Cambisol).