bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Role of the GapA and CrmA Cytadhesins of Mycoplasma gallisepticum in Promoting Virulence and Host Colonization
Authors: Indiková Ivana , Much Peter , Stipkovits László , Siebert-Gulle Karin , Szostak Michael P. , Rosengarten Renate , Citti Christine 
Published: March 2013

ABSTRACT

Mycoplasma gallisepticum
is an important avian pathogen that commonly induces chronic respiratory disease in chicken. To better understand the mycoplasma factors involved in host colonization, chickens were infected via aerosol with two hemadsorption-negative (HA
−
) mutants, mHAD3 and RCL2, that were derived from a low passage of the pathogenic strain R (R
low
) and are both deficient in the two major cytadhesins GapA and CrmA. After 9 days of infection, chickens were monitored for air sac lesions and for the presence of mycoplasmas in various organs. The data showed that mHAD3, in which the
crmA
gene has been disrupted, did not promote efficient colonization or significant air sac lesions. In contrast, the spontaneous HA
−
RCL2 mutant, which contains a point mutation in the
gapA
structural gene, successfully colonized the respiratory tract and displayed an attenuated virulence compared to that of R
low
. It has previously been shown
in vitro
that the point mutation of RCL2 spontaneously reverts with a high frequency, resulting in on-and-off switching of the HA phenotype. Detailed analyses further revealed that such an event is not responsible for the observed
in vivo
outcome, since 98.4% of the mycoplasma populations recovered from RCL2-infected chickens still display the mutation and the associated phenotype. Unlike R
low
, however, RCL2 was unable to colonize inner organs. These findings demonstrate the major role played by the GapA and CrmA proteins in
M. gallisepticum
host colonization and virulence.
Roles of STAT3 in Protein Secretion Pathways during the Acute-Phase Response
Authors: Ahyi Ayele-Nati N. , Quinton Lee J. , Jones Matthew R. , Ferrari Joseph D. , Pepper-Cunningham Zachary A. , Mella Juan R. , Remick Daniel G. , Mizgerd Joseph P. 
Published: March 2013

ABSTRACTThe acute-phase response is characteristic of perhaps all infections, including bacterial pneumonia. In conjunction with the acute-phase response, additional biological pathways are induced in the liver and are dependent on the transcription factors STAT3 and NF-κB, but these responses are poorly understood. Here, we demonstrate that pneumococcal pneumonia and other severe infections increase expression of multiple components of the cellular secretory machinery in the mouse liver, including the endoplasmic reticulum (ER) translocon complex, which mediates protein translation into the ER, and the coat protein complexes (COPI and COPII), which mediate vesicular transport of proteins to and from the ER. Hepatocyte-specific mutation of STAT3 prevented the induction of these secretory pathways during pneumonia, with similar results observed following pharmacological activation of ER stress by using tunicamycin. These findings implicate STAT3 in the unfolded protein response and suggest that STAT3-dependent optimization of secretion may apply broadly. Pneumonia also stimulated the binding of phosphorylated STAT3 to promoter regions of secretion-related genes in the liver, supporting a direct role for STAT3 in their transcription. Altogether, these results identify a novel function of STAT3 during the acute-phase response, namely, the induction of secretory machinery in hepatocytes. This may facilitate the processing and delivery of newly synthesized loads of acute-phase proteins, enhancing innate immunity and preventing liver injury during infection.
The Early Dissemination Defect Attributed to Disruption of Decorin-Binding Proteins Is Abolished in Chronic Murine Lyme Borreliosis
Authors: Imai Denise M. , Samuels D. Scott , Feng Sunlian , Hodzic Emir , Olsen Kim , Barthold Stephen W. 
Published: March 2013

ABSTRACT

The laboratory mouse model of Lyme disease has revealed that
Borrelia burgdorferi
differentially expresses numerous outer surface proteins that influence different stages of infection (tick-borne transmission, tissue colonization, dissemination, persistence, and tick acquisition). Deletion of two such outer surface proteins, decorin-binding proteins A and B (DbpA/B), has been documented to decrease infectivity, impede early dissemination, and, possibly, prevent persistence. In this study, DbpA/B-deficient spirochetes were confirmed to exhibit an early dissemination defect in immunocompetent, but not immunodeficient, mice, and the defect was found to resolve with chronicity. Development of disease (arthritis and carditis) was attenuated only in the early stage of infection with DbpA/B-deficient spirochetes in both types of mice. Persistence of the DbpA/B-deficient spirochetes occurred in both immunocompetent and immunodeficient mice in a manner indistinguishable from that of wild-type spirochetes. Dissemination through the lymphatic system was evaluated as an underlying mechanism for the early dissemination defect. At 12 h, 3 days, 7 days, and 14 days postinoculation, DbpA/B-deficient spirochetes were significantly less prevalent and in lower numbers in lymph nodes than wild-type spirochetes. However, in immunodeficient mice, deficiency of DbpA/B did not significantly decrease the prevalence or spirochete numbers in lymph nodes. Complementation of DbpA/B restored a wild-type phenotype. Thus, the results indicated that deficiency of DbpA/B allows the acquired immune response to restrict early dissemination of spirochetes, which appears to be at least partially mediated through the lymphatic system.
A Two-Phase Framework for Learning Logical Structures of Paragraphs in Legal Articles
Authors: Bach Ngo Xuan , Minh Nguyen Le , Oanh Tran Thi , Shimazu Akira 
Published: March 2013

Analyzing logical structures of texts is important to understanding natural language, especially in the legal domain, where legal texts have their own specific characteristics. Recognizing logical structures in legal texts does not only help people in understanding legal documents, but also in supporting other tasks in legal text processing.In this article, we present a new task, learning logical structures of paragraphs in legal articles, which is studied in research on Legal Engineering. The goals of this task are recognizing logical parts of law sentences in a paragraph, and then grouping related logical parts into some logical structures of formulas, which describe logical relations between logical parts. We present a two-phase framework to learn logical structures of paragraphs in legal articles. In the first phase, we model the problem of recognizing logical parts in law sentences as a multi-layer sequence learning problem, and present a CRF-based model to recognize them. In the second phase, we propose a graph-based method to group logical parts into logical structures. We consider the problem of finding a subset of complete subgraphs in a weighted-edge complete graph, where each node corresponds to a logical part, and a complete subgraph corresponds to a logical structure. We also present an integer linear programming formulation for this optimization problem. Our models achieve 74.37% in recognizing logical parts, 80.08% in recognizing logical structures, and 58.36% in the whole task on the Japanese National Pension Law corpus. Our work provides promising results for further research on this interesting task.
An interdisciplinary methodology for designing and implementing educational tools for children and youth with special needs
Authors: Bossavit Benoît , Pina Alfredo 
Published: March 2013

This paper describes our research project where we are working in bringing closer new advanced technologies, like Augmented Reality (AR), Virtual Reality (VR) or Natural User Interaction (NUI), to children and youth with special needs.
With this aim, we have created an interdisciplinary workgroup consisting of a sustainable platform for the design, development and evaluation of educational tools. After experimental sessions with a group of children testing our prototypes, we are defining a working methodology to carry out our project. We discuss our current progress, open questions, and benefits for the accessibility field.
MicroRNA29
Authors: Dawson Kristin , Wakili Reza , Ördög Balázs , Clauss Sebastian , Chen Yu , Iwasaki Yuki , Voigt Niels , Qi Xiao Yan , Sinner Moritz F. , Dobrev Dobromir , Kääb Stefan , Nattel Stanley 
Published: March 2013

Background—
Congestive heart failure (CHF) causes atrial fibrotic remodeling, a substrate for atrial fibrillation (AF) maintenance. MicroRNA29 (miR29) targets extracellular matrix proteins. In the present study, we examined miR29b changes in patients with AF and/or CHF and in a CHF-related AF animal model and assessed its potential role in controlling atrial fibrous tissue production.

Methods and Results—

Control dogs were compared with dogs subjected to ventricular tachypacing for 24 hours, 1 week, or 2 weeks to induce CHF. Atrial miR29b expression decreased within 24 hours in both whole atrial tissue and atrial fibroblasts (−87% and −92% versus control, respectively;
p
<0.001 for both) and remained decreased throughout the time course. Expression of miR29b extracellular matrix target genes collagen-1A1 (COL1A1), collagen-3A1 (COL3A1), and fibrillin increased significantly in CHF fibroblasts. Lentivirus-mediated miR29b knockdown in canine atrial fibroblasts (−68%;
p
<0.01) enhanced COL1A1, COL3A1, and fibrillin mRNA expression by 28% (
p
<0.01), 19% (
p
<0.05), and 20% (
p
<0.05), respectively, versus empty virus–infected fibroblasts and increased COL1A1 protein expression by 90% (
p
<0.05). In contrast, 3-fold overexpression of miR29b decreased COL1A1, COL3A1, and fibrillin mRNA by 65%, 62%, and 61% (all
p
<0.001), respectively, versus scrambled control and decreased COL1A1 protein by 60% (
p
<0.05). MiR29b plasma levels were decreased in patients with CHF or AF (by 53% and 54%, respectively; both
p
<0.001) and were further decreased in patients with both AF and CHF (by 84%;
p
<0.001). MiR29b expression was also reduced in the atria of chronic AF patients (by 54% versus sinus rhythm;
p
<0.05). Adenoassociated viral–mediated knockdown of miR29b in mice significantly increased atrial COL1A1 mRNA expression and cardiac tissue collagen content.

Conclusions—
MiR29 likely plays a role in atrial fibrotic remodeling and may have value as a biomarker and/or therapeutic target.
The WxChallenge: Forecasting Competition, Educational Tool, and Agent of Cultural Change
Authors: Illston Bradley G. , Basara Jeffrey B. , Weiss Christopher , Voss Mike 
Published: March 2013

The WxChallenge, a project developed at the University of Oklahoma, brings a state-of-the-art, fun, and exciting forecast contest to participants at colleges and universities across North America. The challenge is to forecast the maximum and minimum temperatures, precipitation, and maximum wind speeds for select locations across the United States over a 24-h prediction period. The WxChallenge is open to all undergraduate and graduate students, as well as higher-education faculty, staff, and alumni. Through the use of World Wide Web interfaces accessible by personal computers, tablet computer, and smartphones, the WxChallenge provides a state-of-the-art portal to aid participants in submitting forecasts and alleviate many of the administrative issues (e.g., tracking and scoring) faced by local managers and professors.
Since its inception in 2006, 110 universities have participated in the contest and it has been utilized as part of the curricula for 140 classroom courses at various institutions. The inherently challenging nature of the WxChallenge has encouraged its adoption as an educational tool. As its popularity has grown, professors have seen the utility of the Wx-Challenge as a teaching aid and it has become an instructional resource of many meteorological classes at institutions for higher learning. In addition to evidence of educational impacts, the competition has already begun to leave a cultural and social mark on the meteorological learning experience.
Medial Patellofemoral Ligament Reconstruction
Authors: Goyal Deepak 
Published: March 2013

Background: Medial patellofemoral ligament (MPFL) reconstruction is a routine procedure for patellar instability. The majority of the techniques require hardware fixation or a bony procedure at the patella. However, most of the complications described in the literature can be attributed to patellar fixation. The “superficial quad technique” uses the superficial slip of the quadriceps tendon as the graft material, which provides a better anatomic match to the native MPFL. Hypothesis: The superficial quad technique provides anatomic patellar fixation without a bony procedure and without patellar complications. Study Design: Case series; Level of evidence, 4. Methods: The study included 32 patients (10 male, 22 female; mean age, 25 years) who underwent MPFL reconstruction using the superficial quad technique and who were followed for a mean duration of 38 months. Objective assessment was performed and Kujala scores were obtained preoperatively and at the time of final follow-up. Results: There were no patellar complications, including redislocation, in the present study. The mean Kujala score improved to 91.25 (range, 73-100) from a preoperative score of 49.31 (range, 23-62). Conclusion: The results were comparable with those of other studies in the literature that used hamstring grafts, but without associated patellar complications. The superficial quad technique uses graft material that is a better anatomic match to the native MPFL. It provides anatomic patellar fixation without a bony procedure.
Assessment of Early Tibiofemoral Joint Space Width Changes After Anterior Cruciate Ligament Injury and Reconstruction
Authors: Tourville Timothy W. , Johnson Robert J. , Slauterbeck James R. , Naud Shelly , Beynnon Bruce D. 
Published: March 2013

Background: Progression of primary knee osteoarthritis (OA) is often quantified by measuring structural alterations of the joint such as those in tibiofemoral joint space width (JSW) over time. Limited information is available regarding changes that occur during the onset and progression of posttraumatic OA (PTOA) that are often associated with anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) injury. Furthermore, there is a paucity of information regarding JSW changes in healthy patients, making JSW interpretation challenging during early PTOA progression. Purpose: To evaluate tibiofemoral JSW after ACL injury, ACL reconstruction, and rehabilitation compared with healthy, matched controls. Study Design: Cohort study; Level of evidence, 2. Methods: A total of 39 ACL-injured patients and 32 matched controls were evaluated. Injured patients were assessed at presurgical baseline and after ACL reconstruction (mean follow-up, 46 months), as were controls. Bilateral, standing, fluoroscopy-assisted, and posterior-anterior metatarsal-phalangeal view knee radiographs were obtained at each visit and JSW was measured. Results: The JSW differences between knees in control patients were not significantly different and did not change over time. Baseline JSW differences in the ACL group were significantly different than in controls. Three patients (7.9% of total) had an increased JSW difference, and 1 patient (2.6%) had a decreased medial JSW difference. In the lateral compartment, 6 patients (15.8%) had a decreased JSW difference. At follow-up, 2 patients in the ACL group (5%) had a decreased medial JSW difference, and 3 (7.9%) had a significantly increased difference in relation to controls. Lateral compartment analyses revealed 7 (18.4%) patients with a significantly decreased JSW difference and no patients with an increased difference compared with controls. Conclusion: One third of ACL-injured knees underwent significant JSW change soon after injury; consequently, evaluation of within-knee JSW changes over time in ACL-injured patients may not be appropriate with a study based on case-control analysis. The JSWs in the healthy knee of ACL-injured patients do not change over time, allowing this knee to be used as a control for the injured knee. This is important when evaluating the earliest stages of PTOA after ACL injury, when patients are asymptomatic and intervention may be most beneficial.
A new computerised cognitive test for the detection of information processing speed impairment in multiple sclerosis
Authors: Ruet Aurélie , Deloire Mathilde SA , Charré-Morin Julie , Hamel Delphine , Brochet Bruno 
Published: March 2013

Background: Cognitive impairment in multiple sclerosis (MS) primarily applies to information processing speed (IPS). Objective: To evaluate psychometric properties of a new digit/symbol substitution test in healthy subjects and patients with MS, and assess its ability to detect IPS impairment in patients with MS. Methods: A sample of MS patients, 60 relapsing–remitting (RRMS) and 41 primary progressive MS (PPMS), and 415 healthy controls (HCs) underwent an IPS battery, including assessment of reaction times of subtests of the Test of Attentional Performance battery and a newly developed in-house digit/symbol substitution task, the Computerised Speed Cognitive Test (CSCT). The CSCT was additionally evaluated in a second cohort of 31 RRMS and 12 progressive MS patients, for comparison with the Symbol Digit Modalities Test (SDMT). Results: The CSCT had good reliability in both HCs and patients with MS. It showed a weak practice effect at the 6-month time point. This test had good ecological validity in MS patients. There was a strong correlation between the CSCT with the SDMT and with other IPS tests in patients with MS. The CSCT had the best sensitivity for predicting IPS impairment and was one of the most accurate tests among the IPS battery. Conclusion: The CSCT appeared as a good candidate for detecting IPS impairment in MS patients.
Depicting current case management models
Authors: Mas-Expósito Laia , Amador-Campos Juan Antonio , Gómez-Benito Juana , Lalucat-Jo Lluís 
Published: March 2013

Summary Case management (CM) is one of the principal components of service delivery in mental health services. Over time, it has evolved into new models, and various meta-analytic studies have been carried out to establish its effects. Those studies have yielded non-homogeneous results, which might be related in part to the progress of case management models. Therefore, there is a need to understand the relationship between CM models and CM effects. This paper deals with this issue by reviewing and updating the literature regarding case management models and effects in order to help understand its current role and suggest how CM could be reorganized. Findings Assertive community treatment and any other case management model seem to have fused and turned into two models that differ mainly with regard to the intensity of care provided to patients. The results of the meta-analyses on the efficacy/effectiveness of case management are not homogeneous across all studies, which seems to be related to the case management model used and the strictness of the methodology followed. When the model of case management used is congruent with clinical practice, the results favor case management over standard care and show that intensive and non-intensive case management may be provided depending on the previous use of hospital resources. Application The argument suggests that case management models could be reconfigured by offering an intensive form of care based on patients’ needs.
Powerful parent educators and powerless parents: The ‘empowerment paradox’ in parent education
Authors: Lam Ching-Man , Kwong Wai-Man 
Published: March 2013

Summary In an action research project to develop an empowering mode of parent education in Hong Kong, premised on an empowerment discourse and a social constructionist epistemology, a pilot design was developed through a series of four “reflective seminars”. These seminars engaged parents and professionals in a process of participatory inquiry, three parent groups with Chinese parents, followed by two focused group interviews and six individual interviews to tap participants’ narratives of their learning experience. Findings Although parent empowerment has been widely advocated in parenting work, the authority of expert knowledge as perceived by participants and the power imbalance between parent educators and parents posed a new “empowerment paradox”. In our attempt to practice a new empowering mode of parent education for local parents was developed. Addressing this “empowerment paradox” requires a paradigm shift from the education model to an approach based on reflexive practice. Applications Parent educators need to be sensitive to social, cultural, discursive and institutional forces in order to negotiate a power relation that is characterized by collaboration and partnership but is also responsive to parents’ pedagogical expectation in the Chinese cultural context.
Transcriptome analysis of the bloodstream stage from the parasite Trypanosoma vivax
Authors: Greif Gonzalo , Ponce de Leon Miguel , Lamolle Guillermo , Rodriguez Matías , Piñeyro Dolores , Tavares-Marques Lucinda M , Reyna-Bello Armando , Robello Carlos , Alvarez-Valin Fernando 
Published: March 2013

Abstract

Background

Trypanosoma vivax is the earliest branching African trypanosome. This crucial phylogenetic position makes T. vivax a fascinating model to tackle fundamental questions concerning the origin and evolution of several features that characterize African trypanosomes, such as the Variant Surface Glycoproteins (VSGs) upon which antibody clearing and antigenic variation are based. Other features like gene content and trans-splicing patterns are worth analyzing in this species for comparative purposes.

Results
We present a RNA-seq analysis of the bloodstream stage of T. vivax from data obtained using two complementary sequencing technologies (454 Titanium and Illumina).
Assembly of 454 reads yielded 13385 contigs corresponding to proteins coding genes (7800 of which were identified). These sequences, their annotation and other features are available through an online database presented herein. Among these sequences, about 1000 were found to be species specific and 50 exclusive of the T. vivax strain analyzed here. Expression patterns and levels were determined for VSGs and the remaining genes. Interestingly, VSG expression level, although being high, is considerably lower than in Trypanosoma brucei. Indeed, the comparison of surface protein composition between both African trypanosomes (as inferred from RNA-seq data), shows that they are substantially different, being VSG absolutely predominant in T. brucei, while in T. vivax it represents only about 55%. This raises the question concerning the protective role of VSGs in T. vivax, hence their ancestral role in immune evasion.
It was also found that around 600 genes have their unique (or main) trans-splice site very close (sometimes immediately before) the start codon. Gene Ontology analysis shows that this group is enriched in proteins related to the translation machinery (e.g. ribosomal proteins, elongation factors).

Conclusions
This is the first RNA-seq data study in trypanosomes outside the model species T. brucei, hence it provides the possibility to conduct comparisons that allow drawing evolutionary and functional inferences. This analysis also provides several insights on the expression patterns and levels of protein coding sequences (such as VSG gene expression), trans-splicing, codon patterns and regulatory mechanisms. An online T. vivax RNA-seq database described herein could be a useful tool for parasitologists working with trypanosomes.