bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Cerebral Hemodynamic Reserve and Vascular Remodeling in C57/BL6 Mice Are Influenced by Age
Authors: Hecht Nils , He Jin , Kremenetskaia Irina , Nieminen Melina , Vajkoczy Peter , Woitzik Johannes 
Published: August 2012

Background and Purpose—
Age is the most important risk factor for ischemic stroke. Recent experiments evidenced an age-associated rarefaction of the native collateral vasculature. The purpose of this study was to assess in what way age and arteriogenesis influence cortical perfusion and recovery of hemodynamic impairment in aged and young C57/BL6 mice.

Methods—
After model establishment of chronic cerebral hypoperfusion in the C57/BL6 strain, sustained hemodynamic impairment was induced by permanent unilateral internal carotid artery occlusion in animals aged 4 to 6 weeks, 12 weeks, and 18 months. Functional and morphological outcome was assessed by laser speckle imaging before and during acetazolamide challenge on Days 0, 3, 7, and 14 and latex/carbon black angiography and immunohistochemistry on Day 21.

Results—
Although internal carotid artery occlusion did not result in a reduction of baseline perfusion, it led to significant hemodynamic impairment in all age groups. Furthermore, baseline perfusion in sham and cerebrovascular reactivity after internal carotid artery occlusion were significantly lower in animals aged 18 months (468±57 Flux; 20.8%±17%) compared with mice aged 4 to 6 weeks (568±120 Flux; 30.3%±17%) and 12 weeks (591±72 Flux; 34.2%±12%) from the beginning until Day 7 of the monitoring period. Functional outcome was in line with a 27% reduction of native leptomeningeal anastomoses in aged mice and only limited collateral outgrowth compared with young animals. Strikingly, all age groups reached spontaneous functional compensation by Day 14.

Conclusions—
Next to limited collateral remodeling, our results suggest that a hampered cerebrovascular response with age could intensify the risk for hemodynamic stroke in the elderly.
Increased Cerebral Arterial Pulsatility in Patients With Leukoaraiosis
Authors: Webb Alastair J.S. , Simoni Michela , Mazzucco Sara , Kuker Wilhelm , Schulz Ursula , Rothwell Peter M. 
Published: August 2012

Background and Purpose—
Arterial stiffening reduces damping of the arterial waveform and hence increases pulsatility of cerebral blood flow, potentially damaging small vessels. In the absence of previous studies in patients with recent transient ischemic attack or stroke, we determined the associations between leukoaraiosis and aortic and middle cerebral artery stiffness and pulsatility.

Methods—
Patients were recruited from the Oxford Vascular Study within 6 weeks of a transient ischemic attack or minor stroke. Leukoaraiosis was categorized on MRI by 2 independent observers with the Fazekas and age-related white matter change scales. Middle cerebral artery (MCA) stiffness (transit time) and pulsatility (Gosling's index: MCA-PI) were measured with transcranial ultrasound and aortic pulse wave velocity and aortic systolic, diastolic, and pulse pressure with applanation tonometry (Sphygmocor).

Results—

In 100 patients, MCA-PI was significantly greater in patients with leukoaraiosis (0.91 versus 0.73,
P
<0.0001). Severity of leukoaraiosis was associated with MCA-PI and aortic pulse wave velocity (Fazekas: χ
2
=0.39, MCA-PI
P
=0.01, aortic pulse wave velocity
P
=0.06; age-related white matter change: χ
2
=0.38, MCA-PI
P
=0.015; aortic pulse wave velocity
P
=0.026) for periventricular and deep white matter lesions independent of aortic systolic blood pressure, diastolic blood pressure, and pulse pressure and MCA transit time with MCA-PI independent of age. In a multivariate model (
r
2
=0.68,
P
<0.0001), MCA-PI was independently associated with aortic pulse wave velocity (
P
=0.016) and aortic pulse pressure (
P
<0.0001) and inversely associated with aortic diastolic blood pressure (
P
<0.0001) and MCA transit time (
P
=0.001).

Conclusions—
MCA pulsatility was the strongest physiological correlate of leukoaraiosis, independent of age, and was dependent on aortic diastolic blood pressure and pulse pressure and aortic and MCA stiffness, supporting the hypothesis that large artery stiffening results in increased arterial pulsatility with transmission to the cerebral small vessels resulting in leukoaraiosis.
The mechanical and tribological properties of grafted LDPE-filled SiO2/PTFE composite
Authors: Chang Daofang , Huang Youfang , Tang Gang , Huang Jiahui , Huang Wanjuan 
Published: August 2012

In this article, low-density polyethylene (LDPE) rubber and silica (SiO2) particles were employed to modify polytetrafluorethylene (PTFE) simultaneously. The distribution and dispersion of LDPE and SiO2 particles in PTFE matrix can be adjusted by the wettability of SiO2 particles toward PTFE and LDPE, so as to achieve a simultaneous enhancement of toughness and modulus of PTFE. A unique structure with the majority of PTFE surrounded by SiO2 particles was first observed using maleic anhydride (MAH)-grafted LDPE, resulting in a dramatical increase in Izod impact strength as the rubber content in the range of brittle–ductile transition (4–16 wt%). The friction and wear properties were obviously improved with the addition of MAH-grafted LDPE regardless of the content of SiO2.
Sickle cell pain: a critical reappraisal
Authors: Ballas Samir K. , Gupta Kalpna , Adams-Graves Patricia 
Published: August 2012

AbstractSickle cell pain includes 3 types: acute recurrent painful crises, chronic pain syndromes, and neuropathic pain. The acute painful crisis is the hallmark of the disease and the most common cause of hospitalization and treatment in the emergency department. It evolves through 4 phases: prodromal, initial, established, and resolving. Each acute painful episode is associated with inflammation that worsens with recurrent episodes, often culminating in serious complications and organ damage, such as acute chest syndrome, multiorgan failure, and sudden death. Three pathophysiologic events operate in unison during the prodromal phase of the crisis: vaso-occlusion, inflammation, and nociception. Aborting the acute painful episode at the prodromal phase could potentially prevent or minimize tissue damage. Our hypothesis is that managing these events with hydration, anti-inflammatory drugs, aggressive analgesia, and possibly vasodilators could abort the crisis and prevent or minimize further damage. Chronic pain syndromes are associated with or accompany avascular necrosis and leg ulcers. Neuropathic pain is not well studied in patients with sickle cell disease but has been modeled in the transgenic sickle mouse. Management of sickle cell pain should be based on its own pathophysiologic mechanisms rather than borrowing guidelines from other nonsickle pain syndromes.
How I treat transfusional iron overload
Authors: Hoffbrand A. Victor , Taher Ali , Cappellini Maria Domenica 
Published: August 2012

Abstract
Patients with β-thalassemia major (TM) and other refractory anemias requiring regular blood transfusions accumulate iron that damages the liver, endocrine system, and most importantly the heart. The prognosis in TM has improved remarkably over the past 10 years. This improvement has resulted from the development of magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) techniques, especially T2*, to accurately measure cardiac and liver iron, and from the availability of 3 iron-chelating drugs. In this article we describe the use of MRI to determine which adult and pediatric patients need to begin iron chelation therapy and to monitor their progress. We summarize the properties of each of the 3 drugs, deferoxamine (DFO), deferiprone (DFP), and deferasirox (DFX), including their efficacy, patient acceptability, and side effects. We describe when to initiate or intensify therapy, switch to another drug, or use combined therapy. We also discuss the management of refractory anemias other than TM that may require multiple blood transfusions, including sickle cell anemia and myelodysplasia. The development of a potential fourth chelator FBS 0701 and the combined use of oral chelators may further improve the quality of life and survival in patients with TM and other transfusion-dependent patients.
Sampling issues in quantitative analysis of dendritic spines morphology
Authors: Ruszczycki Błażej , Szepesi Zsuzsanna , Wilczynski Grzegorz M , Bijata Monika , Kalita Katarzyna , Kaczmarek Leszek , Wlodarczyk Jakub 
Published: August 2012

Abstract

Background
Quantitative analysis of changes in dendritic spine morphology has become an interesting issue in contemporary neuroscience. However, the diversity in dendritic spine population might seriously influence the result of measurements in which their morphology is studied. The detection of differences in spine morphology between control and test group is often compromised by the number of dendritic spines taken for analysis. In order to estimate the impact of dendritic spine diversity we performed Monte Carlo simulations examining various experimental setups and statistical approaches. The confocal images of dendritic spines from hippocampal dissociated cultures have been used to create a set of variables exploited as the simulation resources.

Results
The tabulated results of simulations given in this article, provide the number of dendritic spines required for the detection of hidden morphological differences between control and test groups in terms of spine head-width, length and area. It turns out that this is the head-width among these three variables, where the changes are most easily detected. Simulation of changes occurring in a subpopulation of spines reveal the strong dependence of detectability on the statistical approach applied. The analysis based on comparison of percentage of spines in subclasses is less sensitive than the direct comparison of relevant variables describing spines morphology.

Conclusions
We evaluated the sampling aspect and effect of systematic morphological variation on detecting the differences in spine morphology. The results provided here may serve as a guideline in selecting the number of samples to be studied in a planned experiment. Our simulations might be a step towards the development of a standardized method of quantitative comparison of dendritic spines morphology, in which different sources of errors are considered.
Yellow lupin (Lupinus luteus L.) transcriptome sequencing: molecular marker development and comparative studies
Authors: Parra-González Lorena B , Aravena-Abarzúa Gabriela A , Navarro-Navarro Cristell S , Udall Joshua , Maughan Jeff , Peterson Louis M , Salvo-Garrido Haroldo E , Maureira-Butler Iván J 
Published: August 2012

AbstractBackgroundYellow lupin (Lupinus luteusL.) is a minor legume crop characterized by its high seed protein content. Although grown in several temperate countries, its orphan condition has limited the generation of genomic tools to aid breeding efforts to improve yield and nutritional quality. In this study, we report the construction of 454-expresed sequence tag (EST) libraries, carried out comparative studies betweenL. luteusand model legume species, developed a comprehensive set of EST-simple sequence repeat (SSR) markers, and validated their utility on diversity studies and transferability to related species.ResultsTwo runs of 454 pyrosequencing yielded 205 Mb and 530 Mb of sequence data for L1 (young leaves, buds and flowers) and L2 (immature seeds) EST- libraries. A combined assembly (L1L2) yielded 71,655 contigs with an average contig length of 632 nucleotides. L1L2 contigs were clustered into 55,309 isotigs. 38,200 isotigs translated into proteins and 8,741 of them were full length. Around 57% ofL. luteussequences had significant similarity with at least one sequence ofMedicago,Lotus,Arabidopsis, orGlycine, and 40.17% showed positive matches with all of these species.L. luteusisotigs were also screened for the presence of SSR sequences. A total of 2,572 isotigs contained at least one EST-SSR, with a frequency of one SSR per 17.75 kbp. Empirical evaluation of the EST-SSR candidate markers resulted in 222 polymorphic EST-SSRs. Two hundred and fifty four (65.7%) and 113 (30%) SSR primer pairs were able to amplify fragments fromL. hispanicusandL. mutabilisDNA, respectively. Fifty polymorphic EST-SSRs were used to genotype a sample of 64 L. luteusaccessions. Neighbor-joining distance analysis detected the existence of several clusters amongL. luteusaccessions, strongly suggesting the existence of population subdivisions. However, no clear clustering patterns followed the accession’s origin.ConclusionL. luteusdeep transcriptome sequencing will facilitate the further development of genomic tools and lupin germplasm. Massive sequencing of cDNA libraries will continue to produce raw materials for gene discovery, identification of polymorphisms (SNPs, EST-SSRs, INDELs, etc.) for marker development, anchoring sequences for genome comparisons and putative gene candidates for QTL detection.
Chagasic patients are able to respond against a viral antigen from influenza virus
Authors: Lasso Paola , Mesa Diana , Bolaños Natalia , Cuéllar Adriana , Guzmán Fanny , Cucunuba Zulma , Rosas Fernando , Velasco Víctor , Thomas Maria C , López Manuel Carlos , González John Mario , Puerta Concepción Judith 
Published: August 2012

AbstractBackgroundTrypanosoma cruzi,the etiological agent of Chagas’ disease,is an obligate intracellular parasite which induces a CD8+T cell immune response with secretion of cytokines and release of cytotoxic granules. Although an immune-suppressive effect ofT. cruzion the acute phase of the disease has been described, little is known about the capacity of CD8+T cell from chronic chagasic patients to respond to a non-T. cruzimicrobial antigen.MethodsIn the present paper, the frequency, phenotype and the functional activity of the CD8+T cells specific from Flu-MP*, an influenza virus epitope, were determined in 13 chagasic patients and 5 healthy donors.ResultsThe results show that Flu-MP* peptide specific CD8+T cells were found with similar frequencies in both groups. In addition, Flu-MP* specific CD8+T cells were distributed in the early or intermediate/late differentiation stages without showing enrichment of a specific sub-population. The mentioned Flu-MP* specific CD8+T cells from chagasic patients were predominately TEM(CCR7- CD62L-), producing IL-2, IFNγ, CD107a/b and perforin, and did not present significant differences when compared with those from healthy donors.ConclusionsOur results support the hypothesis that there is no CD8+T cell nonspecific immune-suppression during chronic Chagas disease infection. Nonetheless, other viral antigens must be studied in order to confirm our findings.
Stromal proteome expression profile and muscle-invasive bladder cancer research
Authors: Niu Haitao , Jiang Haiping , Cheng Bo , Li Xinhui , Dong Qian , Shao Leping , Liu Shiguo , Wang Xinsheng 
Published: August 2012

Abstract

Background
To globally characterize the cancer stroma expression profile of muscle-invasive transitional cell carcinoma and to discuss the cancer biology as well as biomarker discovery from stroma. Laser capture micro dissection was used to harvest purified muscle-invasive bladder cancer stromal cells and normal urothelial stromal cells from 4 paired samples. Two-dimensional liquid chromatography tandem mass spectrometry was used to identify the proteome expression profile. The differential proteins were further analyzed using bioinformatics tools and compared with the published literature.

Results
We identified 868/872 commonly expressed proteins and 978 differential proteins from 4 paired cancer and normal stromal samples using laser capture micro dissection coupled with two-dimensional liquid chromatography tandem mass spectrometry. 487/491 proteins uniquely expressed in cancer/normal stroma. Differential proteins were compared with the entire list of the international protein index (IPI), and there were 42/42 gene ontology (GO) terms exhibited as enriched and 8/5 exhibited as depleted in cellular Component, respectively. Significantly altered pathways between cancer/normal stroma mainly include metabolic pathways, ribosome, focal adhesion, etc. Finally, descriptive statistics show that the stromal proteins with extremes of PI and MW have the same probability to be a biomarker.

Conclusions
Based on our results, stromal cells are essential component of the cancer, biomarker discovery and network based multi target therapy should consider neoplastic cells itself and corresponding stroma as whole one.
Dichotomy effects of Akt signaling in breast cancer
Authors: Peng Zhengang , Weber Jennifer Chao , Han Zhaosheng , Shen Rulong , Zhou Wenchao , Scott James R , Chan Michael WY , Lin Huey-Jen L 
Published: August 2012

Abstract

Background
The oncogenic roles contributed by the Akt/PKB kinase family remain controversial and presumably depend on cell context, but are perceived to be modulated by an interplay and net balance between various isoforms. This study is intended to decipher whether distinct Akt kinase isoforms exert either redundant or unique functions in regulating neoplastic features of breast cancer cells, including epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT), cell motility, and stem/progenitor cell expansion.

Results
We demonstrate that overactivation of Akt signaling in nonmalignant MCF10A cells and in primary cultures of normal human mammary epithelial tissue results in previously unreported inhibitory effects on EMT, cell motility and stem/progenitor cell expansion. Importantly, this effect is largely redundant and independent of Akt isoform types. However, using a series of isogenic cell lines derived from MCF-10A cells but exhibiting varying stages of progressive tumorigenesis, we observe that this inhibition of neoplastic behavior can be reversed in epithelial cells that have advanced to a highly malignant state. In contrast to the tumor suppressive properties of Akt, activated Akt signaling in MCF10A cells can rescue cell viability upon treatment with cytotoxic agents. This feature is regarded as tumor-promoting.

Conclusion
We demonstrate that Akt signaling conveys novel dichotomy effects in which its oncogenic properties contributes mainly to sustaining cell viability, as opposed to the its tumor suppressing effects, which are mediated by repressing EMT, cell motility, and stem/progenitor cell expansion. While the former exerts a tumor-enhancing effect, the latter merely acts as a safeguard by restraining epithelial cells at the primary sites until metastatic spread can be moved forward, a process that is presumably dictated by the permissive tumor microenvironment or additional oncogenic insults.
An explicit construction of fast cocyclic jacket transform on the finite field with any size
Authors: Guo Ying , Lee Moon Ho , Kim Kyeong Jin 
Published: August 2012

Abstract

Abstract
An orthogonal cocyclic framework of the block-wise inverse Jacket transform (BIJT) is proposed over the finite field. Instead of the conventional block-wise inverse Jacket matrix (BIJM), we investigate the cocyclic block-wise inverse Jacket matrix (CBIJM), where the high-order CBIJM can be factorized into the low-order sparse CBIJMs with a successive block architecture. It has a recursive fashion that leads to a fast algorithm concerned for reducing computational load. The fast transforms are also developed for the two-dimensional cocyclic block-wise inverse Jacket transform (CBIJT). The present CBIJM may be used for many matrix-based applications, such as the DFT signal processing, combinatorics, and the Reed-Muller code design.
Exosomal cell-to-cell transmission of alpha synuclein oligomers
Authors: Danzer Karin M , Kranich Lisa R , Ruf Wolfgang P , Cagsal-Getkin Ozge , Winslow Ashley R , Zhu Liya , Vanderburg Charles R , McLean Pamela J 
Published: August 2012

AbstractBackgroundAggregation of alpha-synuclein (αsyn) and resulting cytotoxicity is a hallmark of sporadic and familial Parkinson’s disease (PD) as well as dementia with Lewy bodies, with recent evidence implicating oligomeric and pre-fibrillar forms of αsyn as the pathogenic species. Recentin vitrostudies support the idea of transcellular spread of extracellular, secreted αsyn across membranes. The aim of this study is to characterize the transcellular spread of αsyn oligomers and determine their extracellular location.ResultsUsing a novel protein fragment complementation assay where αsyn is fused to non-bioluminescent amino-or carboxy-terminus fragments of humanized Gaussia Luciferase we demonstrate here that αsyn oligomers can be found in at least two extracellular fractions: either associated with exosomes or free. Exosome-associated αsyn oligomers are more likely to be taken up by recipient cells and can induce more toxicity compared tofreeαsyn oligomers. Specifically, we determine that αsyn oligomers are present on both the outside as well as inside of exosomes. Notably, the pathway of secretion of αsyn oligomers is strongly influenced by autophagic activity.ConclusionsOur data suggest that αsyn may be secreted via different secretory pathways. We hypothesize that exosome-mediated release of αsyn oligomers is a mechanism whereby cells clear toxic αsyn oligomers when autophagic mechanisms fail to be sufficient. Preventing the early events in αsyn exosomal release and uptake by inducing autophagy may be a novel approach to halt disease spreading in PD and other synucleinopathies.
Potentially preventable incidence of diabetes due to risk factor modification
Authors: Motamedi Seyed Mohammad Kalantar , Majdzadeh Reza , Larijani Fatemeh Ardeshir , Raheem Fakher , Koleini Zahra , Larijani Bagher 
Published: August 2012

Abstract
Background
Increasing diabetes incidence demands investigation of risk factors, prioritization and designing modification interventions. We calculated the potential modifiable incidence of diabetes due to reduction in risk factors.

Methods
We used counterfactual analysis model to estimate avoidable burden of incident diabetes related to each risk factor. The potential impact fraction (PIF) index calculated utilizing the data of current prevalence, magnitude of impact and counterfactual status of risk factors. We considered the levels of evidence while giving higher priority to domestic data.

Results
The estimated PIF regarding minimum feasible risk for the impaired fasting glucose (IFG), impaired glucose tolerance (IGT), combined IFG/IGT, low HDL, high triglyceride, high total cholesterol, hypertension, general obesity, central obesity and physical inactivity were 0.13, 0.10, 0.18, 0.01, 0.12, 0.03, 0.13, 0.03, 0.02 and 0.10, respectively.

Conclusion
While the combined risk factors of IFG and IGT should be noticed as the most important potential factor in prevention of diabetes and reducing its incidence burden, among the other risk factors, modification of hypertension, high triglyceride, and physical inactivity could have more impact.
Platelets: key players in vascular inflammation
Authors: Projahn Delia , Koenen Rory R 
Published: August 2012

Abstract
Review on platelet function in inflammation and atherosclerosis.
Platelets play a crucial role in the physiology of the primary hemostasis and in the pathophysiological activity of arterial thrombosis, provide rapid protection against bleeding, and catalyze the formation of stable blood clots via the coagulation cascade. Over the past years, it has become clear that platelets are important, not only in hemostasis and thrombosis but also in inflammation and in distinct aspects of atherosclerosis. Nowadays, platelets are known to have a large variety of functions. Platelets are able to interact with a large variety of cell types, such as leukocytes, endothelial cells, and SMCs, and these interactions have been implicated in the pathophysiology of vascular inflammation. In addition, platelets carry a highly inflammatory payload and are able to transport, synthesize, and deposit cytokines, chemokines, and lipid mediators, thereby initiating and propagating atherosclerotic disease. In this review, the current state of the art of the proinflammatory functions in the context of atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease will be outlined.