bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Neuroprotection by urate on 6‐OHDA‐lesioned rat model of Parkinson's disease: linking to Akt/GSK3β signaling pathway
Authors: Gong Li , Zhang Qi‐Lin , Zhang Ning , Hua Wen‐Yan , Huang Yi‐Xian , Di Ping‐Wei , Huang Tingting , Xu Xing‐Shun , Liu Chun‐Feng , Hu Li‐Fang , Luo Wei‐Feng 
Published: October 2012

AbstractHigher plasma urate level is reported to be associated with a reduced risk and slower progression of Parkinson's disease (PD). In this study, we explored the effects of urate on dopaminergic neurons in nigrostriatal pathway in the 6‐hydroxydopamine (6‐OHDA) unilaterally lesioned rats. Uric acid (UA), when given twice daily at 200 mg/kg intraperitoneally for 10 consecutive days, elevated urate (the anionic form of UA) in plasma and striatum by 55% and 36.8%, respectively, as compared with vehicle group. This regimen of UA was found to ameliorate the behavioral deficits, dopaminergic neuron loss as well as dopamine depletion in the nigrostriatal system. Moreover, UA administration was capable of increasing glutathione level and superoxide dismutase activity while decreasing malondialdehyde accumulation in striatum. In addition, the phosphorylation of both protein kinase B (Akt) and glycogen synthase kinase 3 beta (GSK3β) in the lesioned striata of 6‐OHDA‐lesioned rats was dramatically reduced as compared with sham‐operated rats. This reduction was attenuated in the Parkinsonian rats receiving UA treatment. Similarly, in vitro findings showed that UA alleviated the decrease in Akt activation and the increase in GSK3β activity caused by 6‐OHDA. Furthermore, neuroprotection by urate and its regulation on GSK3β phosphorylation at Ser9 was found to be abolished in the presence of PI3K inhibitor. Therefore, our findings demonstrated that urate was able to protect dopaminergic neurons in rat nigrostriatal pathway against the neurotoxicity of 6‐OHDA, and showed that its beneficial effects may be related to its regulation on Akt/GSK3β signaling.
Omega‐3 fatty acid eicospentaenoic acid attenuates MPP+‐induced neurodegeneration in fully differentiated human SH‐SY5Y and primary mesencephalic cells
Authors: Luchtman Dirk W. , Meng Qingjia , Wang Xiaofeng , Shao Di , Song Cai 
Published: October 2012

AbstractEicosapentaenoic acid (EPA), a neuroactive omega‐3 fatty acid, has been demonstrated to exert neuroprotective effects in experimental models of Parkinson's disease (PD), but the cellular mechanisms of protection are unknown. Here, we studied the effects of EPA in fully differentiated human SH‐SY5Y cells and primary mesencephalic neurons treated with MPP+. In both in‐vitro models of PD, EPA attenuated an MPP+‐induced reduction in cell viability. EPA also prevented the presence of electron‐dense cytoplasmic inclusions in SH‐SY5Y cells. Then, possible mechanisms of the neuroprotection were studied. In primary neurons, EPA attenuated an MPP+‐induced increase in Tyrosine‐related kinase B (TrkB) receptors. In SH‐SY5Y cells, EPA down‐regulated reactive oxygen species and nitric oxide. This antioxidant effect of EPA may have been mediated by its inhibition of neuronal NADPH oxidase and cyclo‐oxygenase‐2 (COX‐2), as MPP+ increased the expression of these enzymes. Furthermore, EPA prevented an increase in cytosolic phospholipase A2 (cPLA2), an enzyme linked with COX‐2 in the potentially pro‐inflammatory arachidonic acid cascade. Lastly, EPA attenuated an increase in the bax:bcl‐2 ratio, and cytochrome c release. However, EPA did not prevent mitochondrial enlargement or a decrease in mitochondrial membrane potential. This study demonstrated cellular mechanisms by which EPA provided neuroprotective effects in experimental PD.
Consumer‐Based Optimization of Blackberry, Blueberry and Concord Juice Blends
Authors: Lawless Lydia J. R. , Threlfall Renee T. , Meullenet Jean‐François , Howard Luke R. 
Published: October 2012

AbstractThe constant fight against aging increases the demand for products that have the potential to promote health. Dark‐pigmented fruits such as blackberries, blueberries and Concord grapes show potential to fulfill this demand. Four techniques (response surface, ideal point, desirability function and intuition) were used to optimize a mixture of blackberry, blueberry and Concord grape juice based on sensory and potential health properties. Participants (n = 108) evaluated 10 blending treatments for overall impression on the 9‐point verbal hedonic scale and ideal intensities of attributes on the ideal point scale. In a validation study (n = 78), the juice blend formulated using the desirability function solution (87% Concord + 13% blackberry) had the highest overall liking mean (7.6), although it was not statistically different from the ideal point solution (9% blackberry + 20% blueberry + 71% Concord) (7.0), the intuitive optimum (66% Concord + 34% blueberry) (6.9) or 100% Concord (7.3). When consumers were informed about the anthocyanin content of the juices, they were more likely to buy the three juice samples highest in anthocyanins and less likely to buy the two juice samples lowest in anthocyanins. This suggests that pursuing research that validates the health information and informing consumers of this information could have positive results in the marketplace.Practical ApplicationsDuring product development, sensory properties are heavily emphasized as important factors in the final product. However, the impact of potential health properties on purchase intent and consumer liking should be considered. Approaches that investigated the role of both sensory properties and presence of potentially health beneficial compounds in product optimization are presented.
High gene flow on a continental scale in the polyandrous Kentish plover Charadrius alexandrinus
Authors: Küpper Clemens , Edwards Scott V. , Kosztolányi András , Alrashidi Monif , Burke Terry , Herrmann Philipp , Argüelles‐Tico Araceli , Amat Juan A. , Amezian Mohamed , Rocha Afonso , Hötker Hermann , Ivanov Anton , Chernicko Joseph , Székely Tamás 
Published: October 2012

AbstractGene flow promotes genetic homogeneity of species in time and space. Gene flow can be modulated by sex‐biased dispersal that links population genetics to mating systems. We investigated the phylogeography of the widely distributed Kentish plover Charadrius alexandrinus. This small shorebird has a large breeding range spanning from Western Europe to Japan and exhibits an unusually flexible mating system with high female breeding dispersal. We analysed genetic structure and gene flow using a 427‐bp fragment of the mitochondrial (mtDNA) control region, 21 autosomal microsatellite markers and a Z microsatellite marker in 397 unrelated individuals from 21 locations. We found no structure or isolation‐by‐distance over the continental range. However, island populations had low genetic diversity and were moderately differentiated from mainland locations. Genetic differentiation based on autosomal markers was positively correlated with distance between mainland and each island. Comparisons of uniparentally and biparentally inherited markers were consistent with female‐biased gene flow. Maternally inherited mtDNA was less structured, whereas the Z‐chromosomal marker was more structured than autosomal microsatellites. Adult males were more related than females within genetic clusters. Taken together, our results suggest a prominent role for polyandrous females in maintaining genetic homogeneity across large geographic distances.
Clinical and mycological features of onychomycosis in central Tunisia: a 22 years retrospective study (1986–2007)
Authors: Dhib I. , Fathallah A. , Yaacoub A. , Zemni R. , Gaha R. , Said M. B. 
Published: October 2012

SummaryOnychomycosis is the most frequently encountered nail disease and may be difficult to diagnose and treat. The objective of this study was to determine the prevalence, the clinical and mycological characteristics of onychomycosis in central Tunisia. It is a retrospective study performed over a 22‐year period (1986–2007). It included 7151 patients (4709 women and 2442 men) with suspected fingernails and/or toenails onychomycosis. The patients were referred to the Mycology‐Parasitology Laboratory of Farhat Hached hospital in Sousse for mycological examination. Both direct microscopy and culture of the nail material were performed to diagnose and identify the causative fungal species. Onychomycosis was confirmed in 78.6% of investigated patients (5624/7151). The positivity rate was higher in women as compared with men. In both men and women, fingernails were most frequently involved than toenails. No significant relation was found between gender and toenails onychomycosis, whereas fingernails were frequently involved in women. As far as aetiological agents are considered, dermatophytes, yeast and moulds were responsible for 49.9%, 47.4% and 2.7% of onyxis cases respectively. In fingernail infections, yeast were the most frequent fungi (83.6%), Candida albicans being the leading species (51.6%). In contrast, in toenail infections, dermatophytes were more frequent (74.1%). Trichophyton rubrum was by far the dominant species (88.1%). Yeast were observed more frequently in women whereas dermatophytes were more common in men. Moulds were involved in 4.2% of cases. The most frequent species were Aspergillus sp. and Chrysosporium sp. Onychomycosis is a frequent disease in central Tunisia. T. rubrum is the predominant agent in toenails infection and yeast, mainly C. albicans, in fingernails onychomycosis.
Psychological morbidity in chronic orofacial pain and headaches
Authors: Yazdi M. , Yilmaz Z. , Renton T. , Page L. 
Published: October 2012

AbstractAimsThe study aims to investigate the levels of anxiety and depression in patients experiencing orofacial pain and to explore similarities in psychological morbidity between patients experiencing chronic orofacial pain and those with chronic daily headaches. The study also aims to gain insight into the interference with functionality in chronic orofacial pain patients.Materials and methodsThe sample consisted of 150 new patients with chronic orofacial pain, 112 female and 38 male. Patients completed a retrospective facial pain questionnaire that included the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS), as well as the Brief Pain Inventory (BPI), to assess functionality interference. The chronic orofacial pain HADS were compared with HADS normative data and existing HADS data from a sample with chronic daily headache.ResultsTemporomandibular joint dysfunction was the most common diagnosis for chronic orofacial pain, affecting 75 patients. According to the BPI scores, patients mostly complained that the pain interfered with their enjoyment of life (49%), mood (44%) and sleep (44%), followed by general activity (39%), relationships with other people (35%) and work (34%). Both clinical HADS groups scored significantly higher than the normative group on the HADS (P < 0.001), while there were no statistical differences between the clinical groups.ConclusionChronic orofacial pain can have a considerable detrimental effect on daily life and is associated with significantly greater levels of anxiety and depression than seen in general population samples. The levels of anxiety and depression seen in chronic orofacial pain patients were similar to the psychological morbidity found in patients with chronic daily headache.
SULTR3;1 is a chloroplast‐localized sulfate transporter in Arabidopsis thaliana
Authors: Cao Min‐Jie , Wang Zhen , Wirtz Markus , Hell Ruediger , Oliver David J. , Xiang Cheng‐Bin 
Published: October 2012

SummaryPlants play a prominent role as sulfur reducers in the global sulfur cycle. Sulfate, the major form of inorganic sulfur utilized by plants, is absorbed and transported by specific sulfate transporters into plastids, especially chloroplasts, where it is reduced and assimilated into cysteine before entering other metabolic processes. How sulfate is transported into the chloroplast, however, remains unresolved; no plastid‐localized sulfate transporters have been previously identified in higher plants. Here we report that SULTR3;1 is localized in the chloroplast, which was demonstrated by SULTR3;1‐GFP localization, Western blot analysis, protein import as well as comparative analysis of sulfate uptake by chloroplasts between knockout mutants, complemented transgenic plants, and the wild type. Loss of SULTR3;1 significantly decreases the sulfate uptake of the chloroplast. Complementation of the sultr3;1 mutant phenotypes by expression of a 35S‐SULTR3;1 construct further confirms that SULTR3;1 is one of the transporters responsible for sulfate transport into chloroplasts.
Content‐based retrieval of brain tumor in contrast‐enhanced MRI images using tumor margin information and learned distance metric
Authors: Yang Wei , Feng Qianjin , Yu Mei , Lu Zhentai , Gao Yang , Xu Yikai , Chen Wufan 
Published: October 2012

Purpose:A content‐based image retrieval (CBIR) method for T1‐weighted contrast‐enhanced MRI (CE‐MRI) images of brain tumors is presented for diagnosis aid. The method is thoroughly evaluated on a large image dataset.Methods:Using the tumor region as a query, the authors’ CBIR system attempts to retrieve tumors of the same pathological category. Aside from commonly used features such as intensity, texture, and shape features, the authors use a margin information descriptor (MID), which is capable of describing the characteristics of tissue surrounding a tumor, for representing image contents. In addition, the authors designed a distance metric learning algorithm calledMaximum mean average Precision Projection (MPP) to maximize the smooth approximated mean average precision (mAP) to optimize retrieval performance.Results:The effectiveness of MID and MPP algorithms was evaluated using a brain CE‐MRI dataset consisting of 3108 2D scans acquired from 235 patients with three categories of brain tumors (meningioma, glioma, and pituitary tumor). By combining MID and other features, the mAP of retrieval increased by more than 6% with the learned distance metrics. The distance metric learned by MPP significantly outperformed the other two existing distance metric learning methods in terms of mAP. The CBIR system using the proposed strategies achieved a mAP of 87.3% and a precision of 89.3% when top 10 images were returned by the system. Compared with scale‐invariant feature transform, the MID, which uses the intensity profile as descriptor, achieves better retrieval performance.Conclusions:Incorporating tumor margin information represented by MID with the distance metric learned by the MPP algorithm can substantially improve the retrieval performance for brain tumors in CE‐MRI.
4D cone beam CT via spatiotemporal tensor framelet
Authors: Gao Hao , Li Ruijiang , Lin Yuting , Xing Lei 
Published: October 2012

Purpose:On‐board 4D cone beam CT (4DCBCT) offers respiratory phase‐resolved volumetric imaging, and improves the accuracy of target localization in image guided radiation therapy. However, the clinical utility of this technique has been greatly impeded by its degraded image quality, prolonged imaging time, and increased imaging dose. The purpose of this letter is to develop a novel iterative 4DCBCT reconstruction method for improved image quality, increased imaging speed, and reduced imaging dose.Methods:The essence of this work is to introduce the spatiotemporal tensor framelet (STF), a high‐dimensional tensor generalization of the 1D framelet for 4DCBCT, to effectively take into account of highly correlated and redundant features of the patient anatomy during respiration, in a multilevel fashion with multibasis sparsifying transform. The STF‐based algorithm is implemented on a GPU platform for improved computational efficiency. To evaluate the method, 4DCBCT full‐fan scans were acquired within 30 s, with a gantry rotation of 200°; STF is also compared with a state‐of‐art reconstruction method via spatiotemporal total variation regularization.Results:Both the simulation and experimental results demonstrate that STF‐based reconstruction achieved superior image quality. The reconstruction of 20 respiratory phases took less than 10 min on an NVIDIA Tesla C2070 GPU card. The STF codes are available athttps://sites.google.com/site/spatiotemporaltensorframelet.Conclusions:By effectively utilizing the spatiotemporal coherence of the patient anatomy among different respiratory phases in a multilevel fashion with multibasis sparsifying transform, the proposed STF method potentially enables fast and low‐dose 4DCBCT with improved image quality.
Impact of the number of discrete angles used during dose computation for TomoTherapy treatments
Authors: Sterpin E. , Verboomen C. , Vynckier S. 
Published: October 2012

Purpose:To quantify systematically the effect on accuracy of discretizing gantry rotation during the dose calculation process of TomoTherapy treatments.Methods:Up to version 4.0.x included, TomoTherapy treatment planning system (TPS) approximates gantry rotation by computing dose from 51 discrete angles corresponding to the center of the projections used to control the binary multileaf collimator. Potential effects on dose computation accuracy for off‐axis targets and low modulation factors have been shown previously for a few treatment configurations. In versions 4.1.x and later, TomoTherapy oversamples the projections to better account for gantry rotation, but only during full scatter optimization and final calculation (i.e., not during optimization in “beamlet” mode). The effect on accuracy of changing the number of angles was quantified with the following framework: (1) predict the impact of the discretization of gantry rotation for various modulation factors, target sizes, and off‐axis positions using a simplified analytical algorithm; (2) perform regular quality assurance using measurements with EDR2 radiographic films; (3) isolating the effect of changing the number of discretized angles only (51, 153, and 459) using a previously validated Monte Carlo model (TomoPen). The diameters of the targets were 2, 3, and 5 cm; off‐axis central positions of target volumes were 5, 10 and 15, and 17 cm (when accepted by the treatment unit); planned modulation factors were 1.3 and 2.0.Results:For extreme configurations (3 cm tumor, 1.3 modulation factor, 15 cm off‐axis position), effects on dose distributions were significant with 89.3% and 95.4% of the points passing gamma tests with 2%/2 mm and 3%/3 mm criteria, respectively, for TPS software version 4.0.x (51 gantry angles). The passing rate was 100% for both gamma criteria for the 4.1.x version (153 gantry angles). Those differences could be attributed almost completely to gantry motion discretization using TomoPen. Using 51 gantry angles for dose computation, TomoPen reproduced within statistical uncertainties (<1% standard deviation) dose distributions computed with version 4.0.x. Using 153 and 459 gantry angles, TomoPen reproduced within statistical uncertainties measurements and dose distributions computed with version 4.1.x.Conclusions:When low modulation factors and significant off‐axis positions are used, accounting for gantry rotation during dose computation using at least 153 gantry angles is required to ensure optimal accuracy.
Australopithecus afarensisScapular Ontogeny, Function, and the Role of Climbing in Human Evolution
Authors: Green David J. , Alemseged Zeresenay 
Published: October 2012

Climbing Like an ApeRecently, studies of several early human leg and foot fossils have implied that in some early species—even after humans became bipedal—climbing may have still been important. Shoulder bones, which would provide i mportant complementary information, are scarce, however. One of the few examples is fromAustralopithecus afarensisskeleton (DIK-1-1), which includes both scapula.Green and Alemseged(p.514; see the Perspective ofLarson) provide an analysis of the fossil's shoulders and show that, unlike modern humans, they retain several traits that are common in climbing apes, which may indicate thatA. afarensiswas an active climber.
Immune Complexes Isolated from Patients with Pulmonary Tuberculosis Modulate the Activation and Function of Normal Granulocytes
Authors: Senbagavalli P. , Hilda J. Nancy , Ramanathan V. D. , Kumaraswami V. , Nutman Thomas B. , Babu Subash 
Published: October 2012

ABSTRACTCirculating immune complexes (ICs) are associated with the pathogenesis of several diseases. Very little is known about the effect of ICs on the host immune response in patients with tuberculosis (TB). The effects of ICs isolated from patients with TB in modulating the release of calcium, cytokines, and granular proteins were studied in normal granulocytes, as were their chemotactic, phagocytic, and oxidative burst processes. ICs from TB patients induced decreased production of cytokines and platelet-activating factor (PAF) from normal granulocytes. ICs from TB patients also induced enhanced chemotaxis and phagocytosis but caused diminished oxidative burst. This was accompanied by an increased release in intracellular calcium. On the other hand, ICs from TB patients induced increased release of the granular proteins human neutrophil peptides 1 to 3 (HNP1–3). Thus, ICs from patients with TB exhibit a profound effect on granulocyte function with activation of certain effector mechanisms and dampening of others.
Quantitative Estimation of the Stability of Methicillin-Resistant Staphylococcus aureus Strain-Typing Systems by Use of Kaplan-Meier Survival Analysis
Authors: O'Sullivan Matthew V. N. , Sintchenko Vitali , Gilbert Gwendolyn L. 
Published: October 2012

ABSTRACT

Knowledge concerning stability is important in the development and assessment of microbial molecular typing systems and is critical for the interpretation of their results. Typing system stability is usually measured as the fraction of isolates that change type after several
in vivo
passages, but this does not necessarily reflect
in vivo
stability. The aim of this study was to utilize survival analysis to provide an informative quantitative measure of
in vivo
stability and to compare the stabilities of various techniques employed in typing methicillin-resistant
Staphylococcus aureus
(MRSA). We identified 100 MRSA pairs (isolated from the same patient ≥1 month apart) and typed them using multilocus sequence typing (MLST), phage-derived open reading frame (PDORF) typing, toxin gene profiling (TGP), staphylococcal cassette chromosome
mec
(SCC
mec
) subtyping, pulsed-field gel electrophoresis (PFGE), and
spa
sequence typing. Discordant isolate pairs, belonging to different MLST clonal complexes, were excluded, leaving 81 pairs for analysis. The stabilities of these methods were examined using Kaplan-Meier survival analysis, and discriminatory power was measured by Simpson's index of diversity. The probability percentages that the type remained unchanged at 6 months for
spa
sequence typing, TGP, multilocus variable number of tandem repeats analysis (MLVA), SCC
mec
subtyping, PDORF typing, and PFGE were 95, 95, 88, 82, 71, and 58, respectively, while the Simpson's indices of diversity were 0.48, 0.47, 0.70, 0.72, 0.89, and 0.88, respectively. Survival analysis using sequential clinical isolates adds an important quantitative dimension to the measurement of stability of a microbial typing system. Of the methods compared here, PDORF typing provides high discriminatory power, comparable with that of PFGE, and a level of stability suitable for MRSA surveillance and outbreak investigations.