bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Proteomics‐based discovery of biomarkers for paediatric acute lymphoblastic leukaemia: challenges and opportunities
Authors: López Villar Elena , Wu Duojiao , Cho William C. , Madero Luis , Wang Xiangdong 
Published: June 2014

AbstractThere are important breakthroughs in the treatment of paediatric acute lymphoblastic leukaemia (ALL) since 1950, by which the prognosis of the child majority suffered from ALL has been improved. However, there are urgent needs to have disease‐specific biomarkers to monitor the therapeutic efficacy and predict the patient prognosis. The present study overviewed proteomics‐based research on paediatric ALL to discuss important advances to combat cancer cells and search novel and real protein biomarkers of resistance or sensitivity to drugs which target the signalling networks. We highlighted the importance and significance of a proper phospho‐quantitative design and strategy for paediatric ALL between relapse and remission, when human body fluids from cerebrospinal, peripheral blood, or bone‐marrow were applied. The present article also assessed the schedule for the analysis of body fluids from patients at different states, importance of proteomics‐based tools to discover ALL‐specific and sensitive biomarkers, to stimulate paediatric ALL research via proteomics to ‘build’ the reference map of the signalling networks from leukemic cells at relapse, and to monitor significant clinical therapies for ALL‐relapse.
Epigenetic silencing of DACH1 induces the invasion and metastasis of gastric cancer by activating TGF‐β signalling
Authors: Yan Wenji , Wu Kongming , Herman James G. , Brock Malcolm V. , Zhou Yusen , Lu Youyong , Zhang Zhiqian , Yang Yunsheng , Guo Mingzhou 
Published: June 2014

AbstractGastric cancer (GC) is the fourth most common malignancy in males and the fifth most common malignancy in females worldwide. DACH1 is frequently methylated in hepatic and colorectal cancer. To further understand the regulation and mechanism of DACH1 in GC, eight GC cell lines, eight cases of normal gastric mucosa, 98 cases of primary GC and 50 cases of adjacent non‐tumour tissues were examined. Methylation‐specific PCR, western blot, transwell assay and xenograft mice were used in this study. Loss of DACH1 expression correlated with promoter region methylation in GC cells, and re‐expression was induced by 5‐Aza‐2′‐deoxyazacytidine. DACH1 is methylated in 63.3% (62/98) of primary GC and 38% (19/50) of adjacent non‐tumour tissues, while no methylation was found in normal gastric mucosa. Methylation of DACH1 correlated with reduced expression of DACH1 (P < 0.01), late tumour stage (stage III/IV) (P < 0.01) and lymph node metastasis (P < 0.05). DACH1 expression inhibited epithelial–mesenchymal transition and metastasis by inhibiting transforming growth factor (TGF)‐β signalling and suppressed GC cell proliferation through inducing G2/M phase arrest. The tumour size is smaller in DACH1‐expressed BGC823 cell xenograft mice than in unexpressed group (P < 0.01). Restoration of DACH1 expression also sensitized GC cells to docetaxel. These studies suggest that DACH1 is frequently methylated in human GC and expression of DACH1 was controlled by promoter region methylation. DACH1 suppresses GC proliferation, invasion and metastasis by inhibiting TGF‐β signalling pathways both in vitro and in vivo. Epigenetic silencing DACH1 may induce GC cells' resistance to docetaxel.
Altered β1,6‐GlcNAc branched N‐glycans impair TGF‐β‐mediated Epithelial‐to‐Mesenchymal Transition through Smad signalling pathway in human lung cancer
Authors: Li Na , Xu Haineng , Fan Kun , Liu Xijun , Qi Jingjing , Zhao Chao , Yin Peng , Wang Liying , Li Zengxia , Zha Xiliang 
Published: June 2014

AbstractThe change of oligosaccharide structure has been revealed to be crucial for glycoproteins' biological functions and cell biological characteristics. N‐acetylglucosaminy transferase V (GnT‐V), a key enzyme catalysing the reaction of adding β1, 6‐N‐acetylglucosamine (GlcNAc) on asparagine‐linked oligosaccharides of cell proteins, has been implicated to a metastastic‐promoting oncoprotein in some carcinomas. However, this correlation might not be subjected to all types of cancers, for example, in non‐small cell lung cancers, low level of GnT‐V expression is associated with relatively short survival time and poor prognosis. To explain the role of GnT‐V in lung cancer progression, we studied the association of GnT‐V expression with lung cancer EMT behaviour. We found that GnT‐V expression was correlated with epithelial marker positively and mesenchymal marker negatively. GnT‐V levels, as well as β1,6‐GlcNAc branched N‐glycans, were strongly reduced in TGF‐β1‐induced EMT of human lung adenocarcinoma A549 cells. Further studies showed that suppression of β1,6‐GlcNAc branched N‐glycans by inhibitor or GnT‐V silencing in A549 cells could promote TGF‐β1‐induced EMT‐like changes, cell migration and invasion. Meanwhile, overexpression of GnT‐V impaired TGF‐β1‐induced EMT, migration and invasion. It suggests that GnT‐V suppresses the EMT process of lung cancer cells through inhibiting the TGF‐β/Smad signalling and its downstream transcription factors in a GnT‐V catalytic activity–dependent manner. Taken together, the present study reveals a novel mechanism of GnT‐V as a suppressor of both EMT and invasion in human lung cancer cells, which may be useful for fully understanding N‐glycan's biological roles in lung cancer progression.
Ultrasound analysis of gray‐scale median value of carotid plaques is a useful reference index for cerebro‐cardiovascular events in patients with type 2 diabetes
Authors: Ariyoshi Kyoko , Okuya Shigeru , Kunitsugu Ichiro , Matsunaga Kimie , Nagao Yuko , Nomiyama Ryuta , Takeda Komei , Tanizawa Yukio 
Published: June 2014

AbstractAims/IntroductionMeasurements of plaque echogenicity, the gray‐scale median (GSM), were shown to correlate inversely with risk factors for cerebro‐cardiovascular disease (CVD). The eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA)/arachidonic acid (AA) ratio is a potential predictor of CVD risk. In the present study, we assessed the usefulness of carotid plaque GSM values and EPA/AA ratios in atherosclerotic diabetics.Materials and MethodsA total of 84 type 2 diabetics with carotid artery plaques were enrolled. On admission, platelet aggregation and lipid profiles, including EPA and AA, were examined. Using ultrasound, mean intima media thickness and plaque score were measured in carotid arteries. Plaque echogenicity was evaluated using computer‐assisted quantification of GSM. The patients were then further observed for approximately 3 years.ResultsGray‐scale median was found to be a good marker of CVD events. On multivariate logistic regression analysis, GSM <32 and plaque score ≥5 were significantly associated with past history and onset of CVD during the follow‐up period, the odds ratios being 7.730 (P = 0.014) and 4.601 (P = 0.046), respectively. EPA/AA showed a significant correlation with GSM (P = 0.012) and high‐density lipoprotein cholesterol (P = 0.039), and an inverse correlation with platelet aggregation (P = 0.046) and triglyceride (P = 0.020). Although most patients with CVD had both low GSM and low EPA/AA values, an association of EPA/AA with CVD events could not be statistically confirmed.ConclusionsThe present results suggest the GSM value to be useful as a reference index for CVD events in high‐risk atherosclerotic diabetics. Associations of the EPA/AA ratio with known CVD risk factors warrant a larger and more extensive study to show the usefulness of this parameter.
Improving phenological forecasting models for rape stem weevil,Ceutorhynchus napiGyll., based on long‐term multisite datasets
Authors: Eickermann M. , Ulber B. , Hoffmann L. , Junk J. 
Published: June 2014

AbstractNew threshold‐based models to predict the start of invasion by the stem‐boring pest, the rape stem weevil (Ceutorhynchus napiGyll.) of winter oilseed rape (Brassica napusL.), were developed and compared to published models using long‐term datasets on weather and weevil phenology from experimental locations in Germany and Luxembourg. Threshold values for daily records of maximum air temperature, mean soil temperature, sunshine duration and total precipitation were adjusted to local conditions on the date of first weevil migration in spring. Mean error and the root mean squared error were used to assess model quality, where the error is defined as the number of days between predicted and observed arrival of weevils on the crop (regardless of sign). Best model results predicted first crop invasion by rape stem weevil when the thresholds of daily maximum air temperature ≥7.8°C, mean soil temperature ≥6.6°C, daily total precipitation ≤1.0 mm and sunshine duration ≥1 h were matched. This model takes into account meteorological variables likely to influence conditions at the overwintering site of the weevils in the soil, as well as variables that may limit weevil flight. Adjusted air temperature threshold values were consistently lower for Luxembourg sites than for those optimized for Germany. A simple model relating the date of first weevil invasion to accumulated daily maximum air temperature above 0°C (from 1 January) was also evaluated. This proved less suitable for forecasting crop invasion byC. napi. We suggest that phenological models using locally adjusted meteorological‐based thresholds have the potential to offer sufficiently accurate forecasts of first immigration flights byC. napifor appropriate timing of insecticide application. In addition, the developed models are suitable tools to be used in climate change impact studies.
Capacity of Japanese Asobara species (Hymenoptera; Braconidae) to parasitize a fruit pest Drosophila suzukii (Diptera; Drosophilidae)
Authors: Nomano F. Y. , Mitsui H. , Kimura M. T. 
Published: June 2014

AbstractDrosophila suzukii is a pest of soft fruit such as cherry, strawberry or blueberry and recently colonized North America and Europe from Asia. In this study, we assessed the utility of Japanese Asobara species as agents for the biological control of this pest species by examining their host use in nature and their capacity to parasitize this pest species. From Japan, eight Asobara species including putative three undescribed species were found; Asobara japonica was recorded from all over Japan, Asobara tabida from high altitude areas in central and northern Japan, Asobara rossica and Asobara rufescens from central to northern Japan, three undescribed species from central to western or southern Japan and Asobara pleuralis from a subtropical island of Japan. Among them, an undescribed species Asobara sp. TK1 may be useful as an agent for the biological control because it was recorded only from D. suzukii. All of the remaining seven species were generalists mainly using drosophilid species associated with fermenting fruits, and four of them had no or very low abilities to parasitize D. suzukii, indicating that these seven species are not or less appropriate as agents for biological control.
Structured Pharmaceutical Analysis of the Systematic Tool to Reduce Inappropriate Prescribing Is an Effective Method for Final‐Year Medical Students to Improve Polypharmacy Skills: A Randomized Controlled Trial
Authors: Keijsers Carolina J. P. W. , van Doorn Adriaan B. D. , van Kalles Anouk , de Wildt Dick J. , Brouwers Jacobus R. B. J. , van de Kamp Henrieke J. , Jansen Paul A. F. 
Published: June 2014

Medical students may not be adequately trained to prescribe appropriately to older adults with polypharmacy. This study addressed how to teach students to minimize inappropriate polypharmacy. Final‐year medical students (N = 106) from two Dutch schools of medicine participated in this randomized controlled trial with a pre/posttest design. The Systematic Tool to Reduce Inappropriate Prescribing (STRIP) was used as the intervention. This medication review tool consists of five steps and is part of the Dutch multidisciplinary guideline on polypharmacy. Step two is a structured pharmaceutical analysis of drug use, assessed using six questions regarding undertreatment, ineffective treatment, overtreatment, potential adverse effects, contraindications or interactions, and dose adjustments. It is used in combination with the Screening Tool to Alert doctors to Right Treatment and the Screening Tool of Older Person's Prescriptions checklists. Students were asked to optimize the medication lists of real people, making use, or not, of the STRIP. The number of correct or potentially harmful decisions that the students made when revising the lists was determined by comparison with expert consensus. Students who used the STRIP had better scores than control students; they made more correct decisions (9.3 vs 7.0, 34%; P < .001, correlation coefficient (r) = 0.365) and fewer potentially harmful decisions (3.9 vs 5.6, −30%; P < .001, r = 0.386). E‐learning did not have a different effect from that of non‐E‐learning methods. Students were satisfied with the method. The STRIP method is effective in helping final‐year medical students improve their prescribing skills.
Randomized Controlled Trial of a Prehospital Decision System by Emergency Medical Services to Ensure Optimal Treatment for Older Adults in Sweden
Authors: Vicente Veronica , Svensson Leif , Wireklint Sundström Birgitta , Sjöstrand Fredrik , Castren Maaret 
Published: June 2014

ObjectivesTo evaluate the feasibility and appropriateness of a prehospital system allowing ambulance nurses to transport older adults directly to geriatric care at a community‐based hospital (CH) or to an emergency department (ED).DesignRandomized controlled trial.SettingEmergency medical services in Stockholm, Sweden.ParticipantsOlder adults who called the emergency number were randomized to an intervention group (n = 410) or a control group (n = 396).InterventionThe dispatcher randomized the individuals. Those randomized to the intervention group were transported to several alternative destinations decided by a trained nurse performing a comprehensive assessment, using the new prehospital system. Those randomized to the control group were transported to the ED.MeasurementsPrimary endpoint: number of individuals triaged directly to a CH (feasibility). Secondary endpoint: number of subsequent transfers (appropriateness) from CH to ED within 24 hours after initial admission.ResultsAfter exclusion and crossover, the control group consisted of 217 and the intervention group of 449 older adults. The nurse sent 20% of the intervention group (90/449) (95% confidence interval (CI) = 16.6–24.0) directly to the CH when using the prehospital system. Six of those individuals (6.7%) (95% CI = 3.1–13.8) were subsequently transferred from the CH to the ED. Overall, the nurse appropriately triaged 93.3% of the participants (84/90) and transferred them to the CH, avoiding an ED visit.ConclusionAmbulance nurses are able to send older adults to an alternative healthcare facility with the help of a prehospital decision support system. In this geographical setting, this appears to be a promising method to optimize resources and improve emergency care of elderly adults.
Morphometric analysis of variation in the ribs with age and sex
Authors: Weaver Ashley A. , Schoell Samantha L. , Stitzel Joel D. 
Published: June 2014

AbstractRib cage morphology changes with age and sex are expected to affect thoracic injury mechanisms and tolerance, particularly for vulnerable populations such as pediatrics and the elderly. The size and shape variation of the external geometry of the ribs was characterized for males and females aged 0–100 years. Computed tomography (CT) scans from 339 subjects were analyzed to collect between 2700 and 10 400 homologous landmarks from each rib. Rib landmarks were analyzed using the geometric morphometric technique known as Procrustes superimposition. Age‐ and sex‐specific functions of 3D rib morphology were produced representing the combined size and shape variation and the isolated shape variation. Statistically significant changes in the size and shape variation (P < 0.0001) and shape variation (P < 0.0053) of all 24 ribs were found to occur with age in males and females. Rib geometry, location, and orientation varied according to the rib level. From birth through adolescence, the rib cage experienced an increase in size, a decrease in thoracic kyphosis, and inferior rotation of the ribs relative to the spine within the sagittal plane. From young adulthood into elderly age, the rib cage experienced increased thoracic kyphosis and superior rotation of the ribs relative to the spine within the sagittal plane. The increased roundedness of the rib cage and horizontal angling of the ribs relative to the spine with age influences the biomechanical response of the thorax. With the plane of the rib oriented more horizontally, loading applied in the anterior‐posterior direction will result in increased deformation within the plane of the rib and an increased risk for rib fractures. Thus, morphological changes may be a contributing factor to the increased incidence of rib fractures in the elderly. The morphological functions derived in this study capture substantially more information on thoracic skeleton morphology variation with age and sex than is currently available in the literature. The developed models of rib cage anatomy can be used to study age and sex variations in thoracic injury patterns due to motor vehicle crashes or falls, and clinically relevant changes due to chronic obstructive pulmonary disease or other diseases evidenced by structural and anatomic changes to the chest.
The cubital tunnel: a radiologic and histotopographic study
Authors: Macchi Veronica , Tiengo Cesare , Porzionato Andrea , Stecco Carla , Sarasin Gloria , Tubbs Shane , Maffulli Nicola , De Caro Raffaele 
Published: June 2014

SummaryEntrapment of the ulnar nerve at the elbow is the second most common compression neuropathy in the upper limb. The present study evaluates the anatomy of the cubital tunnel. Eighteen upper limbs were analysed in unembalmed cadavers using ultrasound examination in all cases, dissection in nine cases, and microscopic study in nine cases. In all cases, thickening of the fascia at the level of the tunnel was found at dissection. From the microscopic point of view, the ulnar nerve is a multifascicular trunk (mean area of 6.0 ± 1.5 mm2). The roof of the cubital tunnel showed the presence of superimposed layers, corresponding to fascial, tendineous and muscular layers, giving rise to a tri‐laminar structure (mean thickness 523 ± 235 μm). This multilayered tissue was hyperechoic (mean thickness 0.9 ± 0.3 mm) on ultrasound imaging. The roof of the cubital tunnel is elastic, formed by a myofascial trilaminar retinaculum. The pathological fusion of these three layers reduces gliding of the ulnar nerve during movements of the elbow joint. This may play a role in producing the symptoms typical of cubital tunnel syndrome. Independent from the surgical technique, decompression should span the ulnar nerve from the triceps brachii muscle to the flexor carpi ulnaris fascia.
Assessment of occlusion after placement of stainless steel crowns in children – a pilot study
Authors: Gallagher S. , O'Connell B. C. , O'Connell A. C. 
Published: June 2014

SummaryMany stainless steel crowns (SSCs) disrupt the occlusion in children, but stabilisation appears to occur within a short period post‐placement. The extent and mechanism of these short‐term occlusal changes in children are unknown. This study sought to determine whether placement of a SSC changes the maximum intercuspation position (MIP) in children, whether the MIP returns to normal within 4 weeks and whether local anaesthesia had an effect on the child's ability to achieve MIP. The T‐Scan® III was used for the measurement of occlusal contacts. Reliability and reproducibility of the system was determined using a calibration exercise where MIP recordings were taken of eleven children not undergoing any dental treatment. For the main study, the percentage of total occlusal force on each tooth was recorded in 20 children preoperatively, after local anaesthesia, after SSC placement and 4 weeks postoperatively. There was no significant difference in MIP (P = 0·435) preoperatively and post‐administration of local anaesthesia. There was a significant difference between the preoperative force on a tooth and the reading after crown placement (P = 0·0013, Wilcoxon test). By 4 weeks, there was no significant difference overall between post‐SSC placement and the preoperative value for the tooth (P = 0·3). Administration of local anaesthesia did not affect the ability of a child to attain MIP. Maximum intercuspation position was disturbed by the placement of a SSC in seven of 20 cases. When MIP was disturbed, in most cases, it returned to preoperative status within 4 weeks of crown placement.
Holocene fire regimes, vegetation and biogeochemistry of an ecotone site in the Great Lakes Region of North America
Authors: Morris Jesse L. , Mueller Joshua R. , Nurse Andrea , Long Colin J. , McLauchlan Kendra K. 
Published: June 2014

AbstractQuestionAs anthropogenic change pushes ecosystems towards historically novel states, understanding how landscape disturbances interact with climate variability becomes increasingly important. We reconstructed the Holocene vegetation and fire history of a small watershed to investigate the linkages among disturbance regimes, biogeochemical cycling and ecosystem structure. Specifically we asked: (i) how do compositional and structural changes in forest ecosystems modify fire regimes; and (ii) how do changes in fuel type and fire regimes impact biogeochemical cycling?LocationComstock Lake, Wisconsin, USA, a small kettle lake at the modern prairie–forest ecotone in the Great Lakes Region of North America.MethodsWe analysed a lacustrine sediment core from Comstock Lake, Wisconsin, for paleoecological proxies including charcoal quantity and morphotype, pollen composition, magnetic susceptibility, organic matter concentration and stable carbon and nitrogen isotopes. These paleoecological variables were used to reconstruct climate‐mediated shifts in vegetation, fire disturbance and biogeochemical cycling during the last 13 200 calendar years before present (cal yr BP).ResultsForest composition in the landscape surrounding Comstock Lake varied among coniferous forest, deciduous forest and savanna over the Holocene. Independent of the vegetation changes, five distinct fire regimes were identified, ranging from frequent, low‐intensity surface fires to infrequent, high‐intensity crown fires. The main feature of our vegetation reconstruction is a shift from Pinus to Quercus forest that occurred between 10 000 and 11 000 cal yr BP. However, changes in fuel source and forest structure were apparently more important than shifts of species composition in determining fire regimes. We observed an inverse relationship between non‐arboreal fuel sources and biomass burning throughout all five fire regimes. The biogeochemical consequences of fires were apparent during some, but not all regime transitions. Generally, the sediments were composed of relatively small clastic inputs from the catchment and mostly autochthonous organic sources.ConclusionThe location of Comstock Lake on the prairie–forest boundary meant that regional climate signals during the Holocene were filtered through vegetation. Both compositional changes in dominant tree taxa and structural changes in canopy openness influenced fire regimes.