bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
A Tripartite SNARE-K+ Channel Complex Mediates in Channel-Dependent K+ Nutrition inArabidopsis
Authors: Honsbein Annegret , Sokolovski Sergei , Grefen Christopher , Campanoni Prisca , Pratelli Réjane , Paneque Manuel , Chen Zhonghua , Johansson Ingela , Blatt Michael R. 
Published: October 2009

AbstractA few membrane vesicle trafficking (SNARE) proteins in plants are associated with signaling and transmembrane ion transport, including control of plasma membrane ion channels. Vesicle traffic contributes to the population of ion channels at the plasma membrane. Nonetheless, it is unclear whether these SNAREs also interact directly to affect channel gating and, if so, what functional impact this might have on the plant. Here, we report that the Arabidopsis thaliana SNARE SYP121 binds to KC1, a regulatory K+ channel subunit that assembles with different inward-rectifying K+ channels to affect their activities. We demonstrate that SYP121 interacts preferentially with KC1 over other Kv-like K+ channel subunits and that KC1 interacts specifically with SYP121 but not with its closest structural and functional homolog SYP122 nor with another related SNARE SYP111. SYP121 promoted gating of the inward-rectifying K+ channel AKT1 but only when heterologously coexpressed with KC1. Mutation in any one of the three genes, SYP121, KC1, and AKT1, selectively suppressed the inward-rectifying K+ current in Arabidopsis root epidermal protoplasts as well as K+ acquisition and growth in seedlings when channel-mediated K+ uptake was limiting. That SYP121 should be important for gating of a K+ channel and its role in inorganic mineral nutrition demonstrates an unexpected role for SNARE–ion channel interactions, apparently divorced from signaling and vesicle traffic. Instead, it suggests a role in regulating K+ uptake coordinately with membrane expansion for cell growth.
Non‐haematological uses of cord blood stem cells
Authors: Harris David T. 
Published: October 2009

SummaryEmbryonic stem (ES) cell therapies are often promoted as the optimal stem cell source for regenerative medicine applications because of their ability to develop into any tissue in the body. Unfortunately, ES cell applications are currently limited by ethical, political, biological and regulatory hurdles. However, multipotent non‐ES cells are available in large numbers in umbilical cord blood (CB). CB stem cells are capable of giving rise to hematopoietic, epithelial, endothelial and neural tissues bothin vitroandin vivo. Thus, CB stem cells are amenable to treat a wide variety of diseases including cardiovascular, ophthalmic, orthopaedic, neurological and endocrine diseases. In addition, the recent use of CB in several regenerative medicine clinical studies has demonstrated its pluripotent nature. Here we review the latest developments in the use of CB in regenerative medicine. Examples of these usages include cerebral palsy and type I diabetes. The numbers of individuals affected with each of these diseases are estimated at 10 000 infants diagnosed with cerebral palsy annually and 15 000 youths diagnosed with type 1 diabetes annually. A summary of the initial results from such clinical studies using autologous cord blood stem cells will be presented.
Cord blood transplantation for haematological malignancies: conditioning regimens, double cord transplant and infectious complications
Authors: Delaney Colleen , Gutman Jonathan A. , Appelbaum Frederick R. 
Published: October 2009

SummaryGrowing evidence supports the efficacy of cord blood transplantation (CBT) to treat patients with haematological malignancies, and the number of CBTs is rapidly increasing. Herein, we review considerations regarding conditioning regimens for CBT, the impact of double unit transplantation on CBT outcomes, and data regarding infectious complications following CBT.
Matched unrelated donor stem cell transplant in 131 patients with follicular lymphoma: an analysis from the Lymphoma Working Party of the European Group for Blood and Marrow Transplantation
Authors: Avivi Irit , Montoto Silvia , Canals Carme , Maertens John , Al‐Ali Haifa , Mufti Ghulam J. , Finke Jürgen , Schattenberg Anton , Fanin Renato , Cornelissen Jan J. , Vernant Jean‐Paul , Russell Nigell , Beguin Yves , Thomson Kirsty , Verdonck Leo F. , Kobbe Guido , Tilly Herve , Socié Gerard , Sureda Anna ,   for the EBMT Lymphoma Working Party
Published: October 2009

SummaryMatched unrelated donor stem cell transplantation (MUD‐SCT) provides the only curative option for patients with follicular lymphoma (FL) who fail conventional therapies and do not have a sibling donor. The purpose of this study was to analyse the outcome of patients with FL treated with MUD‐SCT included in the European Group for Blood and Marrow Transplantation registry. 131 patients treated with reduced‐intensity conditioning (RIC, n = 87) or conventional myeloablative (CONV, n = 44) MUD‐SCT between 2000 and 2005 were included. Median time from diagnosis to MUD‐SCT was 47 months and the median number of previous therapeutic regimens was 4 (previous autograft: 47%). RIC recipients were significantly older, with a longer interval from diagnosis to MUD‐SCT and had failed a previous autograft more frequently than CONV recipients. Non‐relapse mortality (NRM) was 24% and 30% at 100‐d and 1‐year, respectively. After a median follow‐up of 36 months, 17% of the patients developed disease progression, the 3‐year progression‐free survival (PFS) being 47%. Three‐year overall survival (OS) for the whole series was 51%. On multivariate analysis, RIC regimens were associated with at lower NRM and a significantly longer PFS and OS. This retrospective study demonstrated that MUD‐SCT results, even in heavily pre‐treated populations, in a meaningful PFS and OS.
Temporal stability of individual feeding specialization may promote speciation
Authors: Knudsen Rune , Primicerio Raul , Amundsen Per‐Arne , Klemetsen Anders 
Published: October 2009

Summary1. Inter‐individual differences in trophic behaviour are considered important in the disruptive selection process for resource specialization and may represent an early phase in the evolution of polymorphism and adaptive radiation. Here, we provide evidence of high stability of individual trophic niches of a fish predator from a 15‐year study.2. Individual resource specialization was investigated by combining data from analyses of stomach contents (recent trophic niche), trophically transmitted parasites (long‐term niche) and trophic morphology (niche adaptations) from single specimens of a postglacial fish (Arctic charr) population sampled from contrasting pelagic and littoral habitats.3. Based on the relationships between morphology, parasites and diet, high inter‐individual temporal consistency of narrow niches (zooplanktivorous vs.benthivorous) was evident through the ontogeny of the charr, indicating low degree of switching both in habitat utilization and feeding strategy of individual fish. Co‐occurrence of differently specialized behavioural phenotypes was sustained over multiple generations.4. The stable long‐term habitat and feeding specializations may represent an important initial step in an adaptive radiation process, and our findings suggest a case of sympatric speciation into two incipient forms diverging along the littoral–pelagic resource axis.
Alternative pollinator taxa are equally efficient but not as effective as the honeybee in a mass flowering crop
Authors: Rader Romina , Howlett Bradley G. , Cunningham Saul A. , Westcott David A. , Newstrom‐Lloyd Linda E. , Walker Melanie K. , Teulon David A.J. , Edwards Will 
Published: October 2009

Summary 1.
The honeybee Apis mellifera is currently in decline worldwide because of the combined impacts of Colony Collapse Disorder and the Varroa destructor mite. In order to gain a balanced perspective of the importance of both wild and managed pollination services, it is essential to compare these services directly, a priori, within a cropping landscape. This process will determine the capacity of other flower visitors to act as honeybee replacements. 2.
In a highly modified New Zealand agricultural landscape, we compared the pollination services provided by managed honeybees to unmanaged pollinator taxa (including flies) within a Brassica rapa var. chinensis mass flowering crop. 3.  We evaluate overall pollinator effectiveness by separating the pollination service into two components: efficiency (i.e. per visit pollen deposition) and visit rate (i.e. pollinator abundance per available flower and the number of flower visits per minute). 4.
We observed 31 species attending flowers of B. rapa. In addition to A. mellifera, seven insect species visited flowers frequently. These were three other bees (Lasioglossum sordidum, Bombus terrestris and Leioproctus sp.) and four flies (Dilophus nigrostigma, Melanostoma fasciatum, Melangyna novae‐zelandiae and Eristalis tenax). 5.
Two bee species, Bombus terrestris and Leioproctus sp. and one fly, Eristalis tenax were as efficient as the honeybee and as effective (in terms of rate of flower visitation). A higher honeybee abundance, however, resulted in it being the more effective pollinator overall. 6.
Synthesis and applications. Alternative land management practices that increase the population sizes of unmanaged pollinator taxa to levels resulting in visitation frequencies as high as A. mellifera, have the potential to replace services provided by the honeybee. This will require a thorough investigation of each taxon’s intrinsic biology and a change in land management practices to ensure year round refuge, feeding, nesting and other resource requirements of pollinator taxa are met.
Camera trapping photographic rate as an index of density in forest ungulates
Authors: Rovero Francesco , Marshall Andrew R. 
Published: October 2009

Summary1.Calibrating indices of animal abundance to true densities is critical in wildlife studies especially when direct density estimations are precluded by high costs, lack of required data or model parameters, elusiveness and rarity of target species. For studies deploying camera traps, the use of photographic rate (photographs per sampling time) as an index of abundance potentially applies to the majority of terrestrial mammals where individual recognition, and hence capture–recapture analysis, are unfeasible. The very few studies addressing this method have either been limited by lack of independence between trapping rates and density estimations, or because they combined different species, thus introducing potential bias in camera trap detection rates. This study uses a single model species from several sites to analyse calibration of trapping rates to independently derived estimations of density. The study also makes the first field test of the method byRowcliffeet al.(2008)for density derivation from camera trapping rates based on modelling animal‐camera contacts.2.We deployed camera traps along line transects at six sites in the Udzungwa Mountains of Tanzania and correlated trapping rates of Harvey’s duikerCephalophus harveyiwith densities estimated from counts made along the same transects.3.We found a strong, linear relationship (R2 = 0·90) between trapping rate and density. Sampling precision analysis indicates that camera trapping rates reach satisfactory precision when trapping effort amounts to 250–300 camera days. Density estimates usingRowcliffeet al.’s (2008)gas model conversion are higher than from transect censuses; we discuss the possible reasons and stress the need for more field tests.4.Synthesis and applications. Subject to rigorous and periodic calibration, and standardization of sampling procedures in time and over different sites, camera trapping rate is shown to be, in this study, a valid index of density in the target species. Comparative data indicate that this may also apply to forest ungulates in general. The method has great potential for standardizing monitoring programmes and reducing the costs of wildlife surveys, especially in remote areas.
Integral projection models perform better for small demographic data sets than matrix population models: a case study of two perennial herbs
Authors: Ramula Satu , Rees Mark , Buckley Yvonne M. 
Published: October 2009

Summary 1. Matrix population models are widely used to describe population dynamics, conduct population viability analyses and derive management recommendations for plant populations. For endangered or invasive species, management decisions are often based on small demographic data sets. Hence, there is a need for population models which accurately assess population performance from such small data sets. 2. We used demographic data on two perennial herbs with different life histories to compare the accuracy and precision of the traditional matrix population model and the recently developed integral projection model (IPM) in relation to the amount of data. 3. For large data sets both matrix models and IPMs produced identical estimates of population growth rate (λ). However, for small data sets containing fewer than 300 individuals, IPMs often produced smaller bias and variance for λ than matrix models despite different matrix structures and sampling techniques used to construct the matrix population models. 4.
Synthesis and applications. Our results suggest that the smaller bias and variance of λ estimates make IPMs preferable to matrix population models for small demographic data sets with a few hundred individuals. These results are likely to be applicable to a wide range of herbaceous, perennial plant species where demographic fate can be modelled as a function of a continuous state variable such as size. We recommend the use of IPMs to assess population performance and management strategies particularly for endangered or invasive perennial herbs where little demographic data are available.
Taxonomic homogenization and differentiation across Southern Ocean Islands differ among insects and vascular plants
Authors: Shaw Justine D. , Spear Dian , Greve Michelle , Chown Steven L. 
Published: October 2009

AbstractAim  To investigate taxonomic homogenization and/or differentiation of insect and vascular plant assemblages across the Southern Ocean Islands (SOI), and how they differ with changing spatial extent and taxonomic resolution.Location  Twenty‐two islands located across the Southern Ocean, further subdivided into five island biogeographical provinces. These islands are used because comprehensive data on both indigenous and non‐indigenous insect and plant species are available.Methods  An existing database was updated, using newly published species records, identifying the indigenous and non‐indigenous insect and vascular plant species recorded for each island. Homogenization and differentiation were measured using Jaccard’s index (JI) of similarity for assemblages across all islands on a pairwise basis, and for island pairs within each of the biogeographical provinces. The effects of taxonomic resolution (species, genus, family) and distance on levels of homogenization or differentiation were examined. To explore further the patterns of similarity among islands for each of the taxa and groupings (indigenous and non‐indigenous), islands were clustered based on JI similarity matrices and using group averaging.Results  Across the SOI, insect assemblages have become homogenized (0.7% increase in similarity at species level) while plant assemblages have become differentiated at genus and species levels. Homogenization was recorded only when pairwise distances among islands exceeded 3000 km for insect assemblages, but distances had to exceed 10,000 km for plant assemblages. Widely distributed non‐indigenous plant species tend to have wider distributions across the SOI than do their insect counterparts, and this is also true of the indigenous species.Main conclusions  Insect assemblages across the SOI have become homogenized as a consequence of the establishment of non‐indigenous species, while plant assemblages have become more differentiated. The likely reason is that indigenous plant assemblages are more similar across the SOI than are insect assemblages, which show greater regionalization. Thus, although a suite of widespread, typically European, weedy, non‐indigenous plant species has established on many islands, the outcome has largely been differentiation. Because further introductions of insects and vascular plants are probable as climates warm across the region, the patterns documented here are likely to change through time.
Dietary antioxidant intake, allergic sensitization and allergic diseases in young children
Authors: Patel S. , Murray C. S. , Woodcock A. , Simpson A. , Custovic A. 
Published: October 2009

Background:  Allergic diseases have risen in prevalence over recent decades. The aetiology remains unclear but is likely to be a result of changing lifestyle and/or environment. A reduction in antioxidant intake, consequent to reduced intake of fresh fruits and vegetables, has been suggested as a possible cause.Objective:  To investigate whether dietary antioxidant intake at age 5 was related to atopy at 5 and 8 years of age amongst children in an unselected birth cohort.Methods:  Children were followed from birth. Parents completed a validated respiratory questionnaire and children were  skin prick tested at 5 and 8 years of age. Serum IgE levels were measured at age 5. At age 5, antioxidant intake was assessed using a semi‐quantitative food frequency questionnaire (FFQ). A nutrient analysis program computed nutrient intake, and frequency counts of foods high in the antioxidant vitamins A, C and E were assessed.Results:  Eight hundred and sixty‐one children completed both the respiratory and FFQ. Beta‐carotene intake was associated with reduced risk of allergic sensitization at age 5 [0.80 (0.68–0.93)] and 8 [0.81 (0.70–0.94)]. In addition, beta‐carotene intake was negatively associated with total IgE levels (P = 0.002). Vitamin E intake was associated with an increased risk of allergic sensitization [1.19 (1.02–1.39)], only at age 5. There was no association between antioxidant intakes and wheeze or eczema.Conclusion:  Increased beta‐carotene intake was associated with a reduced risk of allergic sensitization and lower IgE levels, in  5‐ and 8‐year‐old children. Dietary antioxidants may play a role in the development of allergic sensitization.
Characterization of the methylation patterns of MS4A2 in atopic cases and controls
Authors: Ferreira M. A. R. , Oates N. A. , Van Vliet J. , Zhao Z. Z. , Ehrich M. , Martin N. G. , Montgomery G. W. , Whitelaw E. , Duffy D. L. 
Published: October 2009

To cite this article: Ferreira MAR, Oates NA, van Vliet J, Zhao ZZ, Ehrich M, Martin NG, Montgomery GW, Whitelaw E, Duffy DL. Characterization of the methylation patterns of MS4A2 in atopic cases and controls. Allergy 2010; 65: 333–337.AbstractBackground:  It is largely unknown whether epigenetic modifications of key genes may contribute to the reported maternal effects in atopy. The aim of this study was to characterize the methylation patterns of the membrane‐spanning 4‐domains, subfamily A, member 2 gene (MS4A2) (β‐chain of the IgE high‐affinity receptor), a key gene in the allergic cascade.Methods:  Mass spectrometry and bisulphite sequencing were used to measure the methylation of two potential substrates for epigenetic regulation of MS4A2, namely a predicted promoter and a CpG‐rich AluSp repeat. Methylation was measured in DNA extracted from peripheral blood lymphocytes of 38 atopic cases and 37 controls. Cases were positive for atopy, asthma, bronchial hyper‐responsiveness and had high IgE levels. Both parents of eight atopic cases were also tested.Results:  The AluSp element was highly methylated across all individuals (mean 0.92, range 0.87–0.94), a pattern inconsistent with classical imprinting. Variation in methylation at this locus was not associated with age, sex, daily steroid use or atopic status, and there were no differences in methylation between mothers and fathers of atopic cases. Bisulphite sequencing analysis of the promoter region showed that it was also not imprinted, and there was no evidence for allele‐specific methylation, but we were unable to test for association with atopy status.Conclusions:  Methylation levels at the AluSp repeat analysed in MS4A2 were inconsistent with classical imprinting mechanisms and did not associate with atopy status. The promoter region was less methylated but further analysis of this region in larger cohorts is warranted to investigate its role in allergic disease.
The importance of environment on respiratory genotype/phenotype relationships in the Inuit
Authors: Candelaria P. V. , Backer V. , Khoo S.‐K. , Bizzintino J. A. , Hayden C. M. , Baynam G. , Laing I. A. , Zhang G. , Porsbjerg C. , Goldblatt J. , Le Souëf P. N. ,   The Greenlandic Study Population Group
Published: October 2009

To cite this article: Candelaria PV, Backer V, Khoo S‐K, Bizzintino JA, Hayden CM, Baynam G, Laing IA, Zhang G, Porsbjerg C, Goldblatt J, LeSouëf PN, The Greenlandic Study Population Group. The importance of environment on respiratory genotype/phenotype relationships in the Inuit. Allergy 2010; 65: 229–237.AbstractBackground:  Genetic and environmental influences and their interactions are central to asthma pathogenesis. This study aimed to investigate the effects of different macro‐environments on asthma genotype–phenotype associations in two geographically separated populations with common ancestry.Methods:  To accomplish this, two unselected populations of Inuit were recruited, one living in Greenland (n = 618) and the other in Denmark (n = 739). Subjects were genotyped for CD14 C‐159T, SCGB1A1 A38G, ADRB2 Arg16Gly and Gln27Glu. The resulting genetic data were analysed for relationships with asthma‐related parameters including lung function, ever asthma, atopy, rhinitis and dermatitis.Results:  The results showed contrasting magnitude and direction of genetic associations between the two geographically separate Inuit populations. In Greenland, the ADRB2 16Arg allele was associated with male‐specific lower lung function, but in Denmark the same allele was associated with male‐specific higher lung function. This allele was also associated with higher incidence of ever asthma in Denmark but not in Greenland. The SCGB1A1 38A allele was associated with lower rhinitis prevalence in Greenland but not in Denmark.Conclusions:  These associations suggest that environment interacts with candidate asthma genes to modulate asthma pathogenesis in the Inuit.